The papers of studio assistant Andre Thibault/Teabo regarding African American painter Romare Bearden measure 0.9 linear feet and date from circa 1930s to 2003 with the bulk of the material dating from 1980 to 1998. The papers consist of administrative records such as financial and gallery records. Correspondence includes letters from Romare Bearden, his wife Nanette and Andre Thibault. Of note is correspondence between Thibault and Nanette concerning the signature on a Bearden painting. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, posters, magazines, art books and source material used by Bearden. Artwork consists of a self-portrait, a sketchbook, collage pieces, and oversize drawings by Bearden. Photographic material is comprised of photographs of Bearden, his art, studio, Andre Thibault/Teabo, Russell Goings and others.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of studio assistant Andre Thibault/Teabo regarding African American painter Romare Bearden measure 0.9 linear feet and date from circa 1930s to 2003 with the bulk of the material dating from 1980 to 1998. The papers consist of administrative records such as financial and gallery records. Correspondence includes letters from Romare Bearden, his wife Nanette and Andre Thibault. Of note is correspondence between Thibault and Nanette concerning the signature on a Bearden painting. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, posters, magazines, art books and source material used by Bearden. Artwork consists of a self-portrait, a sketchbook, collage pieces, and oversize drawings by Bearden. Photographic material is comprised of photographs of Bearden, his art, studio, Andre Thibault/Teabo, Russell Goings and others.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in five series.
Series 1: Administrative Records, 1985-1988 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1987-1996 (Box 1; 3 folders)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1949-1958, 1971-2003 (Box 1-2, OV 3; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Artwork, circa 1930s-1940s, circa 1980-1988 (Box 2, OV 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographic Material, 1983-1991 (Box 2, OV 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Andre Thibault/Teabo (1948?- ) is an artist in New York, N.Y. and was Romare Bearden's studio assistant from 1980-1988.
Romare Bearden (1911-1988) was an African American painter who worked in New York, N.Y. Bearden worked in various mediums and is known for his colorful abstract paintings depicting the lives of African American people and for his work in collage. In 1963 he co-founded the African American artistic group named Spiral that endeavored to answer the question "What is Black Art?" and in 1968 was involved in founding the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. The following year Bearden co-founded the Cinque Gallery which promoted and exhibited the works of African American artists. In 1976 he received a Gold Medal from the Governor of North Carolina for the advancement of the arts and posthumously received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1988.
Provenance:
The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by André Thibault/Teabo in 2017.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to originals papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Collagists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Edward Loper conducted 1989 May 12, by Marina Pacini, for the Archives of American Art. Loper speaks of his early life and education; his work on the WPA's Federal Art Project in Delaware, on the Index of American Design and the easel project; his self-education and stylistic development; meeting Albert Barnes; studying with Violette De Mazia at the Barnes Foundation; meeting Horace Pippin; his exhibition history and his affiliation with various galleries, including the Carlen Galleries; his teaching career; his experiences as an African American artist; the art scene in Wilmington.
Biographical / Historical:
Edward L. Loper (1916-2011) was a painter and instructor of Wilmington, Del.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 33 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
The papers of contemporary Color Field painter and educator Sam Gilliam measure 7.9 linear feet and date from 1957 to 1989. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writings, business records, printed material, subject files, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographic material that document Gilliam's life beginning as a student, through to his teaching, professorial, and artistic career based in Washington D.C. The collection highlights Gilliam's close involvement with the art institutions, racial politics, and artistic innovation from the 1960s through the 1980s, and particularly showcases the planning and creation of Gilliam's large-scale three-dimensional paintings, often associated with the Washington Color School.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of contemporary Color Field painter and educator Sam Gilliam measure 7.9 linear feet and date from 1957 to 1989. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writings, business records, printed material, subject files, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographic material that document Gilliam's life beginning as a student, through to his teaching, professorial, and artistic career based in Washington D.C. The collection highlights Gilliam's close involvement with the art institutions, racial politics, and artistic innovation from the 1960s through the 1980s, and particularly showcases the planning and creation of Gilliam's large-scale three-dimensional paintings, often associated with the Washington Color School.
Biographical material includes résumés, passports, exhibition lists, artists' statements and essays, interview transcripts and recordings. Also included are audio recordings of conversations between Sam Gilliam and artist Benny Andrews, between Gilliam and artist Rockne Krebs, as well as recordings of a 1968 interview conducted by Dorothy Gilliam.
Correspondence spans over 20 years and includes letters to and from museums and galleries such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, Carl Solway Gallery, collectors, artists including David Driskell, friends, family, students, and fans.
Writings include notes, statements, and essays by and about Gilliam, writings by university students of Gilliam, and writings related to Gilliam's artwork and public commissions including measurements for artworks, material research, and information regarding prints created for the private home of Walter Mondale.
Business records primarily include the daily records of activities kept by Sam and Dorothy Gilliam's secretary, Debby, from 1973 to 1978. Also present are resumes for a studio assistant for Gilliam, certificates of originality, legal documents, receipts and invoices, a record of donated paintings, financial records, ledgers, contracts, records and paperwork for the Gilliam's company Enterprise 101, and miscellany.
Printed materials include photocopies, exhibition announcements, magazines, and clippings regarding exhibitions, specific artworks, and commissions, and Gilliam and/or his then-wife, Dorothy Gilliam.
The subject file series contains letters, photographic material, business records, sketches, and printed materials concerning specific galleries, public art commissions, arts organizations, workshops, teaching positions, Gilliam's studio, art suppliers, and other topics.
A disbound scrapbook contains photographs, notes, and printed material related to Gilliam and his studio practice.
The artwork series includes sketches, personal notes, and small preparatory drawings by Gilliam.
Photographic material includes negatives, slides, and transparencies of artworks, Gilliam in his studio, and Gilliam and staff preparing museum and gallery exhibition spaces. Also included are records of student artwork, and photos and slides of artwork sent to Gilliam by students and aspiring artists.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 9 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1958-1988, (Box 1; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1965-1989, (Boxes 1-2; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1962-1988, (Box 2; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 4: Business Records, 1957-1986, (Boxes 2-3; 1.0 linear foot)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1962-1987, (Boxes 3-4; 1.0 linear foot)
Series 6: Subject Files, 1963-1988, (Boxes 4-7; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Scrapbook, 1958-1968, (Box 7; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Artwork, 1970-1980, undated, (Boxes 7-9; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 9: Photographic Material, 1960-1985, (Boxes 8-9; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Sam Gilliam (1933-2022) was an African American artist based in Washington, D.C. He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, where he began painting as a child, eventually attending the University of Louisville where he received his B.A. in Fine Art and M.A. in Painting. He went on to teach art to high school students in the Washington D.C. public school system, and university-level students at the Corcoran School of Art, the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), the University of Maryland, and Carnegie Mellon University. His numerous grants and awards include the 1971 Solomon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and multiple Honorary Doctoral degrees.
As an artist, Gilliam is best known for his three-dimensional draped and suspended paintings, covered with large fields of poured paint, pigment, and colorful staining influenced by the movement and colors of Abstract Expressionist painters. He created many public works that incorporated new materials such as custom designed metal forms, quilted canvas, and textiles; his works often included subtle social commentaries through their titling. His suspended paintings cemented Gilliam as an innovative and influential presence in 20th century American art.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are two oral history interviews with Sam Gilliam, one conducted by Kenneth Young, September 18, 1984, and the other by Ben Forgey, November 4-11, 1989.
Provenance:
The Sam Gilliam papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Sam Gilliam in 1989.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Sam Gilliam. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
This collection is temporarily closed to researchers due to archival processing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Writings by Patricia Hills: The donor has retained all intellectual rights, including copyright, that she may own.
Collection Citation:
Patricia Hills Papers, circa 1900-2022, bulk 1968-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Emma Amos, 1968 October 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of the expatriate African American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner measure 2.3 linear feet and date from the 1860s to 1978, with the bulk of the material dating from 1890 to 1937. Found in the papers are scattered biographical, family, and legal materials; twenty-seven folders of correspondence with family, friends, patrons, and galleries; writings and notes by Tanner and others; a small amount of printed material; numerous photographs of Tanner, his studio in Paris and home in Trepied, Normandy, his family, friends, fellow artists, and his artwork. Additional photographs include a circa 1890 shot of Tanner with fellow students at the Académie Julian and another depicting Tanner with members of the American Art Club in Paris, circa 1900. Also found are a few sketches and drawings.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of the expatriate African American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner measure 2.3 linear feet and date from the 1860s to 1978, with the bulk of the material dating from 1890 to 1937. Found in the papers are scattered biographical, family, and legal materials; twenty-seven folders of correspondence with family, friends, patrons, and galleries; writings and notes by Tanner and others; a small amount of printed material; numerous photographs of Tanner, his family, friends, his artwork, and the galleries at the Chicago Art Institute; and a few sketches and drawings.
Biographical material contains identification documents, awards, family and personal bibles, scattered records of his membership in the Societe Artistique de Picardie and the American Expeditionary Forces, address books, family history, a file concerning a lawsuit against the Bethel A.M.E. Church, and a few records documenting the sale of his artwork. Tanner's personal and professional correspondence is with his wife Jessie, his family, friends, patrons, art galleries, and others. Letters are from various family members, his closest friend Atherton Curtis and his wife Ingeborg, friend J.S. Carpenter who was president of the Des Moines Association of Fine Arts and arranged for sales of Tanner's work in the mid-west, Grand Central Art Galleries in New York, and J.J. Taverty who purchased Tanner's work for the High Museum in Atlanta. Topics of note covered in the correspondence include the sale and exhibition of his artwork and his work for the Red Cross.
Writings and Notes by Tanner include two small notebooks, one of which he kept during his travels in Europe and Palestine in 1897. Also found are his scattered loose writings, jottings, and other notes on various subjects, including autobiographical notes. Writings by others include notes and an essay by his wife Jessie, and a manuscript, "The Life and Works of Henry O. Tanner," by his son Jesse. Printed Materials document Tanner's career and other interests through exhibition announcements, news clippings, printed reproductions of artwork, a published autobiographical essay, and other miscellaneous items. The collection includes numerous photographs of Tanner, family and friends, his studio in Paris, his home in Trepied and in Spain, travels, and artwork. Additional photographs include a circa 1890 shot of Tanner with students at the Académie Julian and another depicting Tanner with members of the American Art Club in Paris, circa 1900. Artwork consists of an ink drawing of a Paris studio and pencil sketches by Tanner.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 6 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1890-1937 (Box 1, 4, OV 5; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1890-1978 (Box 1, OV 5; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1897-circa 1950s (Box 1-2, OV 5; 9 folders)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1897-1975 (Box 2, OV 5; 9 folders)
Series 5: Photographs, 1860s-1943 (Box 3, OV 5; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Artwork, 1891-1893 (Box 3; 2 folders)
Biographical Note:
African American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Benjamin Tucker Tanner, a college-educated teacher and minister, and Sarah Miller Tanner, who was formerly enslaved. Benjamin Tanner was very active in the African Methodist Episcopal (A. M. E.) Church, eventually becoming a bishop, and the family often moved while Henry was a small child. They settled in Philadelphia, and as a teenager, Tanner spent his free time painting, drawing, and visiting art galleries. In 1880 he enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied under several master art instructors, including Thomas Eakins who greatly influenced his early work.
Tanner moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1888 and opened a photography gallery which was not very successful. After teaching briefly at Clark College, a sponsorship from his patrons Bishop and Mrs. Joseph Crane Hartzell allowed him to travel to Europe in 1891 and study at the Académie Julian in Paris. There he was taught by Jean Joseph Benjamin-Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens. After returning to Philadelphia in late 1892, he painted many works depicting African American subjects, including The Banjo Lesson (1893). He returned to Paris in 1894. There, his work began to receive favorable reviews, particularly at the Paris Solon for his biblical scenes. Tanner began to specialize in painting bible imagery and scenes, and traveled to Palestine in 1897 and 1898 and later to Morocco to study costumes, customs, and cityscapes.
In 1899 Tanner married Jessie Macauley Olssen, a young woman from San Francisco living in Paris. Also around this time reproductions of his artwork were published in a few popular American magazines, and Tanner began to receive praise for his artwork in the United States. Tanner, however, objected to being labeled as "Negro artist". Despite their misgivings, the couple moved back to the United States for a short time. Their son, Jesee Ossawa Tanner was born in 1903. One year later Tanner and his wife returned to Paris and made it their lifelong permanent home, only occasionally visiting the United States for exhibitions of his work. They also maintained a leisure farm in Trepied, Normandy.
Tanner continued to exhibit his work in Paris, develop his painting technique and imagery, and travel, becoming friends with many artists throughout Europe. In 1913 he became president of the Societe Artistique de Picardie and during World War I he worked for the American Red Cross in France. In 1923 he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor in France for his work as an artist. Tanner became affiliated with Grand Central Art Galleries and other dealers in the United States and had great success there during the 1920s. When Jessie Tanner died in 1925 Henry was grief stricken and remained in poor health for the remainder of his life. He continued to paint occasionally until his death in 1937.
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art are the Marcia M. Mathews papers relating to Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1937-1969, available on microfilm reels 64 and 3268. Archives of American Art microfilm reel 4399 contains the Alexander family papers relating to Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1912-1985, the originals of which are housed in the University of Pennsylvania Archives. Microfilm reel 4397 is a copy of the the Henry O. Tanner letters to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1885-1909, loaned for microfilming by the Academy.
Provenance:
The Henry Ossawa Tanner papers were donated in several increments by his son, Jesse O. Tanner, between 1967 to 1978. Additional papers were donated by Jesse O. Tanner through Marcia M. Mathews, who was in possession of Tanner's papers to write Tanner's biography. Four medals were transferred to the Archives from the National Museum of African Art.
Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
An interview of Emma Amos conducted 1968 October 3, by Al Murray, for the Archives of American Art.
Amos speaks of the development of her interest in art and her early influences, her education at Antioch, Black politics and the problems facing Black artists, image problems among Black people, her travels in Europe, her interests in different media, and the effect of marriage and motherhood on her work.
Biographical / Historical:
Emma Amos (1937-2020) was a painter and printmaker in New York, New York.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others. Funding for this interview provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Restrictions:
This interview transcript is open for research. No audio exists. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Boston University. School of Fine and Applied Arts Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Wilson, 1993 March 11-1994 August 16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of John Woodrow Wilson conducted 1993 March-1994 August, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Wilson discusses his childhood as a member of a family of middle class Black people from British Guiana (now Guyana); his father's grave disappointments in the face of racial discrimination; his parents' push for their children to succeed; early urge to read and draw; encouragement by School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston students who taught at the Roxbury Boys Club; his secondary education; and friends.
He talks about his education at the MFA School, Boston, and comments on such teachers as Ture Bengtz and Karl Zerbe and compares their exacting methods with those of Fernand Leger, his teacher in Paris.
His work of the 1940s prior to going to Paris; the importance of early awards and sales received while still a student at the MFA School; the excitement of sharing a studio with fellow students, Francesco Carbone and Leo Prince; and encouragement to stay in school during WW II with the promise of a European study fellowship after the war.
The great impact of his years in Paris (1948-49); the lack of racial prejudice; the liberating effect of Leger's teaching; his awe of the work of Masaccio and Piero della Francesca during a trip to Italy; and the deep impression made on him by seeing tribal art in the Musee de l'Homme, Paris.
Continued discussion of Leger; his teaching methods; and influences on his work.
His first teaching position at the MFA School; his involvement in civil rights in Boston; his gregariousness and the use of his studio as a meeting place for artists and political activists; his involvement with socialism in Boston and New York; and working in a socialist children's camp. He remembers meeting Paul Robeson, Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, and Bob Blackburn, who was then setting up his printmaking atelier in New York; marriage to a fellow socialist (June 1950); move to Mexico on a fellowship to study with Jose Orozco on the advice of Leger, only to find that Orozco had died; terrors of travel as an interracial couple through the U.S.; and different racial attitudes in Mexico and the U.S.
Living in Mexico (1950-56) and anecdotes of David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera; his wife's meeting with Frieda Kahlo and seeing her collection of folk art; their free and cosmopolitan, if impoverished, life in Mexico; his work in a printmaking atelier and on the production of frescoes, and a lengthy aside about his brilliant brother, Freddie, who because he was black was not allowed to pursue his first love, geology, for many years.
Continued discussion of his experiences in Mexico; the dreary year (1957) he spent doing commercial art for a meatpackers' union in Chicago, a city he disliked; his move to New York in 1958, taking on commercial work to support his family, and teaching anatomy at the Pratt Institute.
Teaching art at a junior high school in the Bronx, and his gaining respect of students through special projects; teaching drawing at Boston University (1965-86), his approach to teaching including his demanding standards, the seriousness of the students, his opposing rigid attendance and grading rules, and colleagues, such as David Aronson who had created the School, Reed Kay, Jack Kramer, Sidney Hurwitz, and the University president, John Silber.
Working with the black arts entrepreneur, Elma Lewis, in setting up a visual arts program for the Boston black community (late 1960s-1970s), including the selection of a curator, Edmund Barry Gaither, a young art historian, who eventually established a museum of African-American art; his participation in various black art exhibitions, despite his belief that art should be seen regardless of the ethnic origins of artists; his move toward sculpture, beginning in the early 1960s, as a medium most expressive of black persons, culminating in the 1980s in a series of colossal heads and a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. for the U.S. Capitol (1985-86); and why he makes art and will so long as he is able.
Biographical / Historical:
John Wilson (1922- ) is an African American painter, sculptor, illustrator, printmaker, and educator from Boston, Massachusetts. Full name John Woodrow Wilson.
General:
Originally recorded on 11 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 22 digital wav files. Duration is 16 hr., 2 min.
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for the transcription and microfilming of the interview provided by the Newland Foundation.
The papers of African American painter and educator Jacob Lawrence and his wife, artist Gwendolyn Knight measure 25.35 linear feet and 0.001 GB date from 1914 to 2008, with one item from 1816 and the bulk of the material dating from 1973 to 2001. The collection includes biographical material; correspondence including condolence letters to Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death; writings by Jacob Lawrence and others; printed and digital material; photographs; personal business records; artwork; records from the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project; materials related to the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation; professional files; and material related to awards and honors received by Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of African American painter and educator Jacob Lawrence and his wife, artist Gwendolyn Knight measure 25.35 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from 1914 to 2008, with one item from 1816 and the bulk of the material dating from 1973 to 2001. The collection includes biographical material; correspondence including condolence letters to Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death; writings by Jacob Lawrence and others; printed and digital material; photographs; personal business records; artwork; records from the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project; materials related to the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation; professional files; and material related to awards and honors received by Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.
Biographical material includes appointment and address books; education and personal identification certificates and documents; awards, certificates, curriculum vitae, and chronologies; biographical material related to other individuals, including identification documents and memorial programs; and transcripts of interviews with Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.
The correspondence series includes extensive personal and professional correspondence with family, friends, artists, admirers (including students in a number of elementary and middle schools), university students, government agencies, art schools, galleries, museums, publishing houses, and others. Included in this series are condolence letters received by Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death in 2000.
Writings include published and unpublished writings by and about Jacob Lawrence, as well as writings by others. These writings include speeches, notes, essays, articles, lists, and short stories. Also included is a visitor comment book from the Los Angeles County Museum exhibition of Jacob Lawrence's Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass series.
Printed material includes books; brochures; business cards; clippings; exhibition and event announcements, invitations, catalogs, and programs; magazines; newsletters; posters; post cards; and press releases. Books in this collection may include illustrations by Jacob Lawrence or have personal inscriptions from the author to Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.
Photographs include photographs of Jacob Lawrence artwork, photographs and reproductions of Gwendolyn Knight artwork, and photographs of Jacob Lawrence, Gwendolyn Knight, and other individuals. Also included in this series are photographs and reproductions of work by others.
Personal business records include a ledger; consignment, financial, and shipping records related to the Terry Dintenfass Gallery; contracts and agreements; and estate documents.
Artwork includes sketches by Jacob Lawrence, a blank sketchbook inscribed by Jacob Lawrence to Gwendolyn Knight, and artwork by other artists.
Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project Records include materials generated by the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project, a non-profit created with the goal of producing a catalogue raisonné (and later, a digital archive) of Jacob Lawrence's work. These records include address books and phone logs; copies of Jacob Lawrence's CV; founding documents, bylaws, and meeting minutes; correspondence; writings, including draft pages of the catalogue raisonné; business records, including employment files, contracts, invoices, insurance, and tax information; printed and digital material; and photographs and artwork.
The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation and Related Material series includes founding documents and foundation bylaws, correspondence, financial documents, reports, and proposals. Found within this series are materials related to the Lawrence Center for the Visual Arts, a subsidiary foundation of the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation.
Professional files include material related to projects and exhibitions, teaching files and inclusion in curricula, files regarding possible fake Jacob Lawrence works, and gallery files.
The honors series is divided into two subseries: awards and certificates, and government honors. Awards and certificates includes honorary degrees, arts prizes, and any other honors awarded to Jacob Lawrence or Gwendolyn Knight. Government honors include resolutions, proclamations, and keys to cities. Also included in this series are correspondence related to awards and honorary degrees, commencement programs, plaques, and medals.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 11 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1914-2005 (Boxes 1, 11, 26, OV 10; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1943, 1952-2005 (Boxes 1-5, 12-14, 26; 7.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1954-1959, 1973-2005, undated (Boxes 5-6, 14-15; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1816, 1926, 1937, 1945-2008 (Boxes 6-9, 15-17, 26, OV 30, OV 31; 6.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1970-1997, undated (Boxes 9, 17, OV 10; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1962-2005 (Boxes 9, 17; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork, 1984, 1990-1994, undated (Boxes 9, 18, 26; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 8: Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonne Project Records, 1982-2002 (Boxes 18-23, Box 26; 5.1 linear feet, ER01; 0.001 GB)
Series 9: Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation and Related Material, 1997-2005 (Box 23; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 10: Professional Files, 1964-2004 (Boxes 23-24; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 11: Honors, 1948, 1966-2005 (Boxes 24-25, 27-29, OV 30; 2.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Modernist painter and educator Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was born in 1917 as Jacob Armstead Lawrence in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He began his art studies at the Utopia Children's Center in New York City's Harlem district where he studied under the painter Charles Alston. Lawrence dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen to continue his art instruction with Alston, this time at the Harlem Art Workshop, where he met several artists associated with the Harlem Renaissance including the sculptor Augusta Savage.
Gwendolyn Knight (1913-2005) was born in Barbados and moved to New York City with her adoptive parents when she was seven. She attended New York's Wadleigh High School and later Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she studied fine arts with Lois Mailou Jones and James Porter. Forced to leave her studies at Howard because of the Depression, Knight returned to Harlem and continued her artistic pursuits in Augusta Savage's workshop. In 1935, Knight joined the Harlem Mural Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) working under Selma Day and Charles Alston. Lawrence and Knight met in Savage's workshop and married in the summer of 1941.
During the Depression, Lawrence also joined the WPA Federal Arts Project in Harlem. Finding WPA murals overwhelming, Lawrence concentrated on traditional painting instead. He produced his first major works in the late 1930s, most notably the Toussaint L'Ouverture series, images that document the life of the revolutionary hero and Haiti's struggle for independence. Other significant works include visual narratives of the lives of abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. In 1940, Lawrence received the prestigious Julius Rosenwald Fellowship, which made it possible for him to purchase his first art studio on 125th Street in the heart of Harlem. He soon portrayed Harlem street life in paintings that became commentaries on the role of African Americans in United States society with highly developed themes of resistance and social opposition. That same year, Lawrence began his most celebrated series, The Migration of the American Negro, multiple tempera panels depicting the exodus of African American sharecroppers in the south to northern industrial cities in search of better employment and social opportunities. Edith Halpert exhibited the works in their entirety at her Downtown Gallery in 1941, establishing Lawrence as the first African American artist to exhibit in a top New York gallery. The following year, New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC each bought half of the sixty panels in the series, helping to further Lawrence's career within the larger world of American art.
In the summer of 1946, the artist Joseph Albers invited Lawrence to teach at North Carolina's Black Mountain College. It was the first in a series of teaching positions in prestigious art schools including Pratt Institute (1956-1971), Brandeis University (1965), The New School (1966), the Art Students League (1967), and others. During the 1950s and 1960s, Lawrence's work continued to focus on racism and political activism but in the late 1960s shifted to themes of racial harmony.
Both Lawrence and Knight continued independent careers in art. Knight pursued her art studies at the New School in New York and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. In the mid-1960s, she collaborated with other female artists to form the Studio Gallery in New York City. Knight's main body of work consists of portraits and still-lifes that incorporate expressions of African sculpture, Impressionism, dance, and theater. Focusing on gesture, her art is described as light and airy with a minimum of lines allowing empty space to define the work. In 1970, Lawrence traveled to Seattle to teach as a visiting artist at the University of Washington. He was hired on a permanent basis the following year and remained on staff until his retirement in 1986.
Jacob Lawrence died June 9, 2000, in Seattle, Washington at the age of 83. Gwendolyn Knight continued to paint and exhibit her work around the country until her death on February 18, 2005 in Seattle, Washington at the age of 92.
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview with Jacob Lawrence conducted by Carroll Greene (1968 October 26), interviews conducted by Avis Berman (1982 July 20-August 4), and an oral history interview with Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight conducted by Paul Karlstrom (1998 November 18). The Archives of American Art also holds a collection of Jacob Lawrence papers, available on microfilm only, reels D286 and 4571-4573. Originals reside at Syracuse University Library, Special Collections.
Provenance:
The Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in five accretions between 1979 and 1997. Additional papers were donated in 2012 by the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation via Barbara Earl Thomas, representative.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers, 1816, 1914-2008, bulk 1973-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the 2007 processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Funding for the 2018 processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.
The Kimberly Camp papers measure 9.4 linear feet and date from 1970-2016. Included is biographical material, project and commission files, correspondence, writings, works of art, interviews and lectures, slides, and printed material relating to the career of Kimberly Camp as an artist and arts administrator.
Biographical material includes appointment books. Writings consist of manuscript drafts for "Defending the Dead: The Totally True Story of the Barnes Transformation" (not yet published), a Salzburg Seminar journal and notebooks and sketchbooks about Camp's art and career as an arts administrator. Audio visual material includes audio and VHS video cassettes containing interviews or lectures given by Camp as well as assorted recordings related to her work. Slides are of works of art, people and places. Printed material relates to Camp's position as an arts administrator.
Biographical / Historical:
Kimberly Camp (1956- ) is an African American painter, dollmaker, and arts administrator in Collingswood, New Jersey. Camp was executive director of the Barnes Foundation from 1999-2005.
Provenance:
Donated 2016 and 2023 by Kimberly Camp.
Restrictions:
This collection is temporarily closed to researchers due to archival processing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Manuscript drafts for Defending the Dead: The Totally True Story of the Barnes Transformation; specified illustrated journals, notebooks and sketches and Salzburg Seminar journal are ACCESS RESTRICTED; written permission is required. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The papers of African American painter and printmaker Emma Amos measure 37.1 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 2019. The collection documents Amos's family history, her professional life, and the intersection of her heritage and artwork. Found in the collection are biographical materials, family and inherited papers, correspondence, writings, project and exhibition files, teaching files, other professional records, personal business records, printed and photographic materials, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American painter and printmaker Emma Amos measure 37.1 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 2019. The collection documents Amos's family history, her professional life, and the intersection of her heritage and artwork. Found in the collection are biographical materials, family and inherited papers, correspondence, writings, project and exhibition files, teaching files, other professional records, personal business records, printed and photographic materials, and artwork.
Biographical materials include Amos's student records from Antioch and New York Universities, her personal Bible, resumes, and video recordings of interviews with bell hooks and Moira Roth. The Amos family and inherited papers of close family friends contain photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, and memorabilia from Fisk University.
Correspondence is with colleagues at galleries, museums, and arts organizations regarding exhibitions, the Spiral artist group, and Amos's other professional activities, as well as her personal letters with friends and family.
Also found in the collection are writings that include drafts, published copies of essays, autobiographical writings, lecture video recordings, mock-ups of book projects, and a few writings by others. Project and exhibition files are for the television show Show of Hands (1977), The Sky's the Limit installation at IS90, Emma Amos: Paintings and Prints 1982-1992 retrospective exhibition, and the Ralph David Abernathy Memorial Project. Teaching files are from Rutgers University where she served as Chair of Visual Arts at the Mason Gross School of the Arts.
Amos's files for her other professional activities document fellowships and residencies, memberships, presentations at conferences and workshops, travel, and exhibitions she curated such as Progressions: A Cultural Legacy (1986), also co-curated by Julia Hotton and Vivian Browne, and Resisting Categories: Finding Common Ground. Personal business records include gallery files, datebooks, donation and loan records, ledgers and sales books, invoices and receipts, and studio supply records.
Printed materials contain clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, magazines and journals, and video recordings of the documentary Emma Amos: Action Lines featuring Amos and her artwork. Photographic materials consist of photographic prints, negatives, transparencies, photographic digital prints, slides, photographs albums, and 1 electronic disc of Amos, family and friends, parties and events, art models, snapshots, and works of art. Artwork contains mainly preparatory and source materials created and collected by Amos for use in her work.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1937-2012 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 37)
Series 2: Family and Inherited Papers, circa 1900-2017 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-4, 38, OV 43)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1952-2019 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 4-7)
Series 4: Writings, 1948-2010s (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 42)
Series 5: Project and Exhibition Files, 1950s-2019 (8.2 linear feet; Boxes 8-16, 37, OV 45)
Series 6: Teaching Files, 1948-2013 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 16-20, 37, OV 44)
Series 7: Other Professional Activities, circa 1960s-2018 (4.0 linear feet; Boxes 20-24, 46)
Series 8: Personal Business Records, 1960-2019 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 24-26, OV 43)
Series 9: Printed Materials, 1908-2019 (4.5linear feet; Boxes 26-30, 39, OV 43, OV 45)
Series 10: Photographic Materials, circa 1900-2010s (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 30-33, 40)
Series 11: Artwork, circa 1940s-2010s (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 33-36, 41)
Biographical / Historical:
Emma Amos (1937-2020) was an African American painter and printmaker in New York, N.Y.
Amos was born in Atlanta, Georgia to a prominent family that had connections to Hale Woodruff, Zora Neale Hurston, and W.E.B. DuBois. Her mother, India DeLaine Amos, received a degree in anthropology from Fisk University in Tennessee and her father, Miles Green Amos, was a pharmacist and graduate of Wilberforce University in Ohio. In 1923, Miles Amos, with his uncle Moses Amos, established the Amos Drug Store which became a social and intellectual center of the neighborhood.
Amos graduated from Booker T. Washington High School at 16. She enrolled at Antioch College where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1958. During her time at Antioch, Amos would spend part of the year attending classes and the rest of the year working in cities like Washington, D.C., New York, and Chicago where she frequented the local galleries and museums. During her fourth year, she traveled to study at the London Central School of Art with Anthony Harrison. After graduating from Antioch, she returned to London to get a degree in etching in 1960. She later received a Master of Art from New York University in 1966.
At the beginning of Amos's career, she went to New York because of the lack of opportunities in Atlanta. In New York, Amos began teaching art at the Dalton School. She started working with printmakers like Robert Blackburn eventually taking a job with designer Dorothy Liebes in 1961 who she worked for until 1969. Later, Amos taught textile design at Newark School of Art. In 1980, she began teaching at the Mason Gross School of Art at Rutgers University eventually becoming Chair of the Visual Arts department. Amos retired in 2008.
Amos was a member of the influential artist collectives Spiral, Heresies, and Guerilla Girls. She was the creator and host of the WGBH television program about crafts, Show of Hands (1977-1978). She has exhibited her work in numerous exhibitions including Emma Amos, Paintings and Prints, 1982–1992 and Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power.
Amos died in Bedford, N.H. in 2020.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art are: Oral history interview with Emma Amos, 1968 October 3 and Oral history interview of Emma Amos, 2011 November 19-26.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2020 by Emma Amos as part of the Archives' African American Collecting Initiative funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.
Restrictions:
Material regarding the Guerilla Girls is access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of African American painter and illustrator Ellis Wilson measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1922 to 1959, with the bulk of the collection dating from the 1940s. The collection includes certificates, correspondence, printed material, and photographic material. The bulk of this collection is composed of photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American painter and illustrator Ellis Wilson measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1922 to 1959, with the bulk of the collection dating from the 1940s. The collection includes certificates, correspondence, printed material, and photographic material. The bulk of this collection is composed of photographs.
Papers include certificates, professional correspondence, printed material and clippings, and scrapbook pages. The scrapbook pages include clippings of reviews and reproductions of Wilson's work, exhibition invitations and catalogs, and correspondence, including a letter of congratulations from Alain Locke.
Photographic material makes up the bulk of this collection. This series includes three photos of Ellis Wilson taken by Carl Van Vechten.
Ellis Wilson (1899-1977) was an African American painter and illustrator. He was born in Kentucky and studied at the Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute, and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He later worked as a commercial artist in Chicago before moving to New York in 1928. Wilson was employed by the Federal Arts Project, sponsored by the Works Progress Administration, from 1935 to 1940, and was also involved with the Harlem Artists Guild. During World War II he worked in an aircraft engine factory and was commissioned to create triptychs for military chaplains. In 1944 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and traveled throughout the Southern United States. He later traveled to Haiti. He continued to paint until his death in 1977. In 1985, his painting Funeral Procession (circa 1950) was featured on an episode of The Cosby Show.
Separated Materials:
Exhibition catalogs and news clippings were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries after microfilming.
Provenance:
The Ellis Wilson papers were loaned for microfilming in 1970 and subsequently donated by Ellis Wilson.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painting, American -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
