Search Results

Creator:

Warner, Keith, 1895-1959  Search this

Names:

"291" (Gallery)  Search this

American Place (Gallery)  Search this

Whitney Museum of American Art  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Dorcely, Roland  Search this

Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973  Search this

Marin, John, 1870-1953  Search this

Mondrian, Piet, 1872-1944  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia , 1887-1986  Search this

Rosenburg, Paul  Search this

Russell, Morgan, 1886-1953  Search this

Stieglitz, Alfred, 1864-1946  Search this

Weber, Max, 1881-1961  Search this

Extent:

0.7 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Illustrated letters

Sketches

Date:

1935-1975

Summary:

The papers of American art collector Keith Warner measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1935 to 1975. Correspondence, collecting files, and artwork detail Warner's role as a collector of art in the mid-twentieth century. Present in the collection are materials related to Alexander Calder, Roland Dorcely, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Piet Mondrian, Alfred Stieglitz, and Max Weber.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of American art collector Keith Warner measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1935 to 1975. Correspondence, collecting files, and artwork detail Warner's role as a collector of art in the mid-twentieth century. Present in the collection are materials related to Alexander Calder, Roland Dorcely, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Piet Mondrian, Alfred Stieglitz, and Max Weber.

Warner's relationships with artists are documented in extensive letters which make up the bulk of the collection. Subjects range from exhibitions, the art market, artists' methods and works, art criticism, and collecting to personal subjects. Letters from Roland Dorcely and Alexander Calder include illustrated letters and postcards. Letters from Calder discuss a mix of business and personal matters, including a discussion of the design of jewelry commissioned for Warner's wife, Edna. Letters from Dorcely document Warner's cultivation, criticism, and collection of Dorcely's work, as well as the hardships of Haitian artists and Dorcely's views on art. The letters are in French with some English translations.

Correspondence with Alfred Stieglitz documents his common endeavor with Warner in collecting the paintings of John Marin, and Stieglitz's gallery, An American Place. Letters associated with An American Place continue after Stieglitz's death in 1946. Found with Alfred Stieglitz's letters are two letters from Georgia O'Keeffe. Max Weber letters include comments on his painting and sculpting, his retrospective show at the Whitney, the art press, national politics, and also refer to Stieglitz and Marin. An extensive group of correspondence with Stanton MacDonald-Wright is mostly undated; MacDonald-Wright writes freely about Stieglitz, the "291" group of artists, and his partner in Synchromism, Morgan Russell. Also included are letters from Piet Mondrian related to collecting, as well as letters from unidentified correspondents.

Warner's collecting files consist of diverse materials concerning his research, writing, and relationships with artists whose paintings he collected, particularly Roland Dorcely and Stanton MacDonald-Wright. Included are biographical sketches; writings about and by the artists, including manuscripts and published materials; newspaper and magazine clippings; exhibition announcements and catalogs; and photographs of works of art. Writings by Roland Dorcely, on the subject of his artistic process and perspective, include handwritten essays in French as well as typed English translations. Published articles from Script magazine (1945-1946) by Stanton MacDonald-Wright document his career as an art critic. Writings on Alexander Calder and Paul Rosenburg, taken from Warner's journal on Calder, and on the early relationship of Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe, documented on a visit with Stieglitz on May 3, 1944, are also present.

Artwork consists of work by Alexander Calder and Roland Dorcely. Calder's work includes sketches proposing mobiles with notations as to material, scale, and cost. Dorcely's work includes sketches in graphite and ink of abstract figures and objects.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 3 series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1940-1963 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1-2)

Series 2: Collecting Files, circa 1940-1975 (12 folders; Box 2, OV 3)

Series 3: Artwork, circa 1945-circa 1965 (2 folders; Box 2)

Biographical / Historical:

Keith Warner (1895-1959) was an American art collector. Warner was born and lived in Gloversville, New York, and maintained a manufacturing business that took him to New York City intermittently. Warner began collecting Chinese porcelains after World War I, and a few years later his interest shifted to American abstract painting. Warner retired from business in 1944. His collection was sold gradually after his death, mostly to private collectors, though some works are in museums in the United States and Japan.

Provenance:

The Keith Warner papers were donated in 1992 by Edna K. Allen, wife of Keith Warner.

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:

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.

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State)  Search this

Artists -- United States  Search this

Art -- Haiti  Search this

Art, Abstract -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art criticism  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Synchromism (Art)  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Illustrated letters

Sketches

Citation:

Keith Warner papers, 1935-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Identifier:

AAA.warnkeit

See more items in:

Keith Warner papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-warnkeit

Creator:

Solomon, Alan R., 1920-1970  Search this

Names:

Albright-Knox Art Gallery  Search this

Amsterdam (Netherlands). Stedelijk Museum  Search this

Art Gallery of Ontario  Search this

Artforum  Search this

Biennale di Venezia  Search this

Centro de Artes Visuales (Asunción, Paraguay)  Search this

Cornell University. -- Faculty  Search this

Expo 67 (Montréal, Québec)  Search this

Harvard University -- Students  Search this

Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, Mass.)  Search this

Jewish Museum (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Leo Castelli Gallery  Search this

Los Once (Artists' group)  Search this

Pasadena Art Museum  Search this

San Francisco Art Institute  Search this

University of California (System)  Search this

Velvet Underground (Musical group)  Search this

Bontecou, Lee, 1931-  Search this

Castelli, Leo  Search this

Chamberlain, John, 1927-2011  Search this

Childs, Lucinda  Search this

Dine, Jim, 1935-  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this

Dunn, Judith  Search this

Fahlström, Öyvind, 1928-1976  Search this

Finkelstein, Nat  Search this

Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011  Search this

Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994  Search this

Greenberg, Jeanine  Search this

Grisi, Laura  Search this

Hay, Alex  Search this

Hay, Deborah  Search this

Johns, Jasper, 1930-  Search this

Kron, Joan  Search this

Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997  Search this

Louis, Morris, 1912-1962  Search this

MacElroy, Robert R.  Search this

Moore, Peter  Search this

Morris, Robert  Search this

Mulas, Ugo  Search this

Namuth, Hans  Search this

Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970  Search this

Noland, Kenneth, 1924-2010  Search this

Novick, Elizabeth  Search this

Oldenburg, Claes, 1929-  Search this

Oldenburg, Patty  Search this

Paxton, Steve  Search this

Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this

Poons, Larry  Search this

Provinciali, Michele  Search this

Rainier, Yvonne  Search this

Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008  Search this

Redon, Odilon, 1840-1916  Search this

Reed, Lou  Search this

Rosenquist, James, 1933-  Search this

Sabol, Audrey, 1922-  Search this

Schute, Terry  Search this

Scull, Ethel  Search this

Scull, Robert C.  Search this

Segal, George, 1924-2000  Search this

Sisler, Mary  Search this

Sonnabend, Ileana  Search this

Stella, Frank  Search this

Warhol, Andy, 1928-  Search this

Whitman, Robert  Search this

Extent:

9.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Transcripts

Photographs

Interviews

Lithographs

Place:

Italy -- Venice

Date:

1907-1970

bulk 1944-1970

Summary:

The papers of New York art historian, museum director, curator, writer, and educator, Alan R. Solomon, measure 9.9 linear feet and date from 1907-1970, with the bulk of the material dating from 1944-1970. Through biographical material, correspondence, interview transcripts, writings and notes, teaching and study files, subject files, exhibition files, business records, printed material, and photographs, the collection documents Solomon's education, his early teaching appointments at Cornell University, and his subsequent direction of many diverse curatorial and research projects relating to contemporary American art, particularly the transition from Abstract Expressionism to later modern movements, and the thriving New York City art scene.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York art historian, museum director, curator, writer, and educator, Alan R. Solomon, measure 9.9 linear feet and date from 1907-1970, with the bulk of the material dating from 1944-1970. Through biographical material, correspondence, interview transcripts, writings and notes, teaching and study files, subject files, exhibition files, business records, printed material, and photographs, the collection documents Solomon's education, his early teaching appointments at Cornell University, and his subsequent direction of many diverse curatorial and research projects relating to contemporary American art, particularly the transition from Abstract Expressionism to later modern movements, and the thriving New York City art scene.

Biographical material includes résumés, an engagement book, and a monthly planning book from 1965, identification cards, and educational transcripts.

Correspondence documents Solomon's education at Harvard College and Harvard University, and his teaching appointments at Cornell University. Correspondence also provides some documentation of his involvement with museums and arts organizations, including the Jewish Museum, Stedlijk Museum, the San Francisco Art Institute, the University of California, and Centro de Artes Visuales; his submission of writings for publications including Artforum, Art International, and Konstrevy; and his relationships with artists and colleagues including Jim Dine, Joan Kron, Audrey Sabol, and Ileana Sonnabend. Also found is correspondence related to Solomon's work for Mary Sisler, who employed Solomon to sell her collection of artwork by Marcel Duchamp in the late 1960s.

One series comprises transcripts of interviews with many of the artists who were central to the transition from Abstract Expressionism to later modern movements that occurred in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Neo-Dada and Pop art. Artists represented in the interviews include Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Jasper Johns, Barnett Newman, Kenneth Noland, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol.

Solomon's writings include many of his essays for exhibition catalogs, magazines, and journals, and are in a combination of annotated manuscript and published formats. There are writings on Jim Dine, Barnett Newman, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns, and on the new movements in theater and performance art of the 1960s. His writings also document the art history education which informed all of his later work, with the inclusion of papers written as a student and teacher, his honors thesis on Odilon Redon, and his dissertation on Pablo Picasso. This material is supplemented by notes, and teaching and study files, documenting courses taken and taught at Harvard and Cornell universities. Also found is the manuscript of the text for New York: The New Art Scene, accompanied by a partial published copy of the book and photographs by Ugo Mulas.

Solomon's subject files augment several of the other series, comprising material on various art related subjects and individual painters and sculptors, arranged alphabetically. Material found here includes printed matter documenting exhibitions and other events, scattered letters from artists, related writings, and photographs.

One series documents Solomon's involvement with the First New York Theater Rally, which he co-produced with Steve Paxton in 1965. This material includes a drawing each by Jim Dine and Alex Hay, pieces of a combine by Robert Rauschenberg, and photographs of the group including Dine, Hay, and Rauschenberg, as well as Lucinda Childs, Judith Dunn, Deborah Hay, Robert Morris, Claes Oldenburg, the Once Group, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainier, Alan Solomon, and Robert Whitman. The series includes multiple contact sheets of photos of First New York Theater Rally events, by Peter Moore, Elizabeth Novick, and Terry Schute.

Exhibition files document Solomon's role as an organizer and curator for some of his most well-known exhibitions, including American Painting Now (1967) for Expo '67 in Montreal; Andy Warhol (1966) at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston; Dine-Oldenburg-Segal (1967) at the Art Gallery of Ontario and Albright-Knox Gallery; the American exhibition at the 1964 Venice Biennale; Young Italians (1968) at the Institute of Contemporary Art; and Painting in New York 1944-1969, a major retrospective installed for the opening of the new Pasadena Art Museum in fall, 1969. Records include correspondence, lists and notes, financial records, printed material, and photographs of artists and installations, including a series by Ugo Mulas taken at the Venice Biennale.

Solomon's business records include lists, notes, contracts, expense forms, vouchers, purchase orders, and receipts. They provide scattered documentation of exhibition-related expenses and purchases of artwork, as well as Solomon's income from teaching appointments, lectures, honorariums, and writings. Amongst Solomon's general business records is an American Federation of Musicians agreement between the Institute of Contemporary Art and "Louis Reed," with booking agent Andy Warhol, for a performance by the Velvet Underground and Nico, performing as The Exploding Plastic Inevitable on October 29, 1966. This seemingly mundane item documents an event that accompanied Solomon's landmark Warhol exhibition of nearly forty iconic works, and the accompanying show by The Exploding Plastic Inevitable was hailed by the Boston Phoenix newspaper as one of the greatest concerts in Boston history.

Printed material includes announcements, catalogs, and posters for exhibitions and art related events, including two Jasper Johns lithographs for a 1960 exhibition at Galerie Rive Droite, and a 1963 exhibition at Leo Castelli Gallery. Also found are news clippings, press releases, and other publications.

Photographs are of Solomon, artists, friends and colleagues, exhibitions and other events, and artwork. They include snapshots of Solomon, and a series of photographs of him at various events and parties, many taken by Ugo Mulas, as well as a photo taken by Robert Rauschenberg of Ugo Mulas, Michele Provinciali, and Solomon. Additional photos by Ugo Mulas include some which were probably taken for New York: The New Art Scene, and a series of photos of Robert Rauschenberg and others at the Venice Biennale. Photos of artists include Lee Bontecou, John Chamberlain, Jim Dine, Marcel Duchamp, Öyvind Fahlström, Laura Grisi, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Morris Louis, Barnett Newman, Kenneth Noland, Claes and Patty Oldenburg, Larry Poons, James Rosenquist, George Segal, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol and The Factory. Photos of others include Leo Castelli, Clement and Jeanine Greenberg, and Ethel and Robert Scull. Also found are photos of the exhibition Toward a New Abstraction (1963), at The Jewish Museum, photos of Venice, and photos of artwork by many of the above named, and other, artists. In addition to Ugo Mulas, photographers represented in this series include Nat Finkelstein, Robert R. McElroy, and Hans Namuth.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as eleven series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1938-1968 (5 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1930-1970 (0.66 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Interviews, 1965-1969 (0.25 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 4: Writings and Notes, 1945-1969 (1.35 linear feet; Boxes 1-3, 11)

Series 5: Teaching and Study Files, 1944-1958 (0.25 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 6: Subject Files, 1907-1969 (2.92 linear feet; Boxes 3-6, 1, OV 12)

Series 7: First New York Theater Rally, 1963-1965 (0.15 linear feet; Boxes 6, 11)

Series 8: Exhibition Files, 1954-1969 (1.42 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 11, OV 12)

Series 9: Business Records, 1945-1970 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 7-8)

Series 10: Printed Material, 1914-1970 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 8-9, OV 12)

Series 11: Photographs, circa 1951-circa 1970 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 9-11, OV 13)

Biographical / Historical:

New York art historian, museum director, art consultant, educator, writer, and curator, Alan R. Solomon (1920-1970), organized over two hundred exhibitions in the course of his career. He was known for his skill in exhibition design, and for bringing the perception and understanding of an art historian to the field of contemporary art.

Solomon was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard College and Harvard Graduate School. In 1953, during his 1952-1962 tenure with the Cornell University department of art history, he established the Andrew Dickson White Museum of art. Solomon served as the museum's first director until 1961, whilst simultaneously pursuing his doctorate, which he received from Harvard University in 1962.

In 1962 Solomon was hired by the Jewish Museum in New York, New York, and immediately began to take the institution in a more contemporary direction, mounting Robert Rauschenberg's first retrospective in 1963, and a major Jasper Johns retrospective in 1964. Also, in 1963, Solomon was appointed the United States Commissioner for the 1964 Venice Biennale. He was determined to show "the major new indigenous tendencies, the peculiarly America spirt of the art" in works by two consecutive generations of artists, including Jasper Johns, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, and Robert Rauschenberg. With this in mind, and given the inadequacy of the existing space to house the installation he envisaged, Solomon secured a verbal agreement from Biennale officials to approve additional space for the American exhibition in an annex at the former American Consulate. The agreement was never formalized, however, and a series of administrative problems and controversies over the eligibility of the American submissions threatened to undermine Solomon's efforts. Nevertheless, Robert Rauschenberg became the first American to take the Grand Prize for foreign artist, and the attention garnered by the American exhibition monopolized press coverage of the Biennale. In response, Solomon stated publicly that "it is acknowledged on every hand that New York has replaced Paris as the world art capital."

Solomon subsequently left the Jewish Museum, having engendered resistance to leading the museum in a more experimental direction, away from the traditional Jewish educational aspects of its mission. In the mid-sixties he worked as a consultant and writer for a National Educational Television series entitled "U. S. A. Artists," which drew on artist interviews, many conducted by Solomon. He also wrote the text for Ugo Mulas's classic photographic study, New York: The New Art Scene (1967: Holt Rinehart and Winston).

In 1966 Solomon was hired by the United States Information Agency to organize the United States contribution to the Canadian World Exhibition in Montreal, known as Expo '67. His stunning American Painting Now installation placed large scale paintings by twenty-three artists, including Jim Dine, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Barnett Newman, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, and James Rosenquist, inside Buckminster Fuller's twenty-story Biosphere of Montreal.

Other important exhibitions organized by Solomon included Andy Warhol (1966) at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, which was only the second of two exhibitions dedicated to the artist; Dine-Oldenburg-Segal (1967) at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery; and Young Italians (1968) at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

Solomon was also interested in contemporary theater and organized the First New York Theater Rally with Steve Paxton in 1965, a series of performances which combined new dance and a revival of the Happenings of the early 1960s, in which Claes Oldenburg, Jim Dine and others were involved.

Following a six-week appointment as a senior lecturer at the University of California, Irvine, in spring 1968, Solomon became chairman of the University's art department and director of the art gallery. His last exhibition, Painting in New York, 1944-1969 (1969-1970), was held at the Pasadena Art Museum and closed in January 1970, just a few weeks before Solomon's sudden death at the age of forty-nine.

Provenance:

The Leo Castelli Gallery served as executor of Solomon's estate, and donated his papers to the Archives of American Art in 1974 and 2007.

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:

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:

Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painters  Search this

Topic:

Abstract expressionism  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Art -- Economic aspects  Search this

Art -- History -- Study and teaching  Search this

Performance art  Search this

Art, Abstract -- United States  Search this

Art -- Exhibitions  Search this

Art -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Authors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Sculptors  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Educators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Curators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Theater  Search this

Pop art  Search this

Museum directors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Transcripts

Photographs

Interviews

Lithographs

Citation:

Alan R. Solomon papers, 1907-1970, bulk 1944-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of the Alan R. Solomon papers is provided by the Lichtenstein Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.soloalan

See more items in:

Alan R. Solomon papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-soloalan

Interviewee:

Scarpitta, Salvatore, 1919-2007  Search this

Interviewer:

Cummings, Paul  Search this

Names:

American Academy in Rome  Search this

Castelli, Leo  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this

Guston, Philip, 1913-1980  Search this

Kline, Franz, 1910-1962  Search this

Levine, Jack, 1915-2010  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Extent:

67 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1975 January 31.-February 3

Scope and Contents:

Interview of Salvatore Scarpitta conducted 1975 January 31.-February 3, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Scarpitta speaks of his family's background; growing up and going to school in California; moving to Italy and going to art school at 17; attending the American Academy; his experiences in Europe after the war broke out in 1940; being arrested and interned for 18 months in Italy and escaping; joining the United States Navy; getting thrown out of the American Academy after being accused of being a Communist; his abstract paintings; moving back to America after Leo Castelli saw his work; his painting techniques; his thoughts on futurism and cubism; why he shifted from working on a canvas to tearing it apart and using it as materials; his use of color; how his interest in race cars influenced his art work; building race cars; living in New York and the art scene there; his successful art show on the Piazza San Marco in Venice; the reason for using belts in his paintings; how certain paintings led him to building sleds; his feelings about Leo Castelli; and teaching art. He recalls Phil Guston, Jack Levine, Franz Kline, Bill de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko, and many others.

Biographical / Historical:

Salvatore Scarpitta (1919-2007) was a sculptor.

General:

Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 11 min.

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.

Restrictions:

Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Sculptors -- Interviews  Search this

Futurism (Art)  Search this

World War, 1939-1945  Search this

Automobile racing  Search this

Art, Abstract  Search this

Cubism  Search this

Painting -- Technique  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.scarpi75

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-scarpi75

Creator:

Kuh, Katharine  Search this

Names:

Albright-Knox Art Gallery  Search this

Art Institute of Chicago -- Faculty  Search this

Biennale di Venezia  Search this

Katharine Kuh Gallery (Chicago, Ill.)  Search this

Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984  Search this

Albers, Josef  Search this

Albright, Ivan, 1897-1983  Search this

Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964  Search this

Arensberg, Louise S. (Louise Stevenson), 1879-1953  Search this

Arensberg, Walter, 1878-1954  Search this

Arp, Jean, 1887-1966  Search this

Barnet, Will, 1911-  Search this

Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981  Search this

Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this

Breuer, Marcel, 1902-  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Campoli, Cosmo  Search this

Chagall, Marc, 1887-  Search this

Chavez Morado, José, 1909-2002  Search this

Chermayeff, Serge, 1900-  Search this

Cornell, Joseph  Search this

Cox, Richard  Search this

Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964  Search this

Day, Worden, 1916-1986  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this

Dickinson, Edwin Walter, 1891-  Search this

Dubuffet, Jean, 1901-  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this

Elizabeth, Queen of Great Britain, II, 1926-  Search this

Ernst, Jimmy, 1920-1984  Search this

Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this

Feitelson, Lorser, 1898-1978  Search this

Friendly, Fred W.  Search this

Giacometti, Alberto, 1901-1966  Search this

Golub, Leon, 1922-2004  Search this

Goto, Joseph, 1920-  Search this

Grabe, Klaus  Search this

Graves, Robert, 1895-1985  Search this

Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-  Search this

Guston, Philip, 1913-1980  Search this

Hare, David, 1917-  Search this

Hare, Denise Browne  Search this

Hayter, Stanley William, 1901-1988  Search this

Hirshhorn, Joseph  Search this

Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966  Search this

Hélion, Jean, 1904-1987  Search this

Inverarity, Robert Bruce, 1909-1999  Search this

Johns, Jasper, 1930-  Search this

Johnson, Philip, 1906-2005  Search this

Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this

Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944  Search this

Kepes, Gyorgy, 1906-2001  Search this

Kepes, Juliet  Search this

Klee, Paul, 1879-1940  Search this

Kline, Franz, 1910-1962  Search this

Knox, Seymour H., 1898-1990  Search this

Le Corbusier, 1887-1965  Search this

Lundeberg, Helen, 1908-1999  Search this

Lye, Len, 1901-1980  Search this

Léger, Fernand, 1881-1955  Search this

Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969  Search this

Millier, Arthur, 1893-  Search this

Moholy-Nagy, László, 1895-1946  Search this

Motherwell, Robert  Search this

Mérida, Carlos, 1891-1984  Search this

Nutting, Muriel Leone Tyler, b. 1892  Search this

Nutting, Myron Chester, 1890-1972  Search this

O'Higgins, Pablo, 1904-  Search this

Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949  Search this

Ozbekhan, Hasan, 1921-2007  Search this

Perkins, Frances  Search this

Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this

Putnam, Wallace, 1899-1989  Search this

Ray, Man, 1890-1976  Search this

Rich, Daniel Catton, 1904-1976  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Sandberg, Carl  Search this

Seligmann, Kurt, 1900-1962  Search this

Shackelford, Shelby  Search this

Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969  Search this

Spaeth, Otto, d. 1966  Search this

Sterne, Hedda, 1916-  Search this

Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965  Search this

Still, Clyfford, 1904-  Search this

Tanning, Dorothea, 1910-2012  Search this

Tobey, Mark  Search this

Winston, Harry Lewis  Search this

Woolf, Olga  Search this

Young, Victor  Search this

Photographer:

Pollack, Peter, 1909-1978  Search this

Extent:

12 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Illustrated letters

Resumes

Travel diaries

Minutes

Calendars

Visitors' books

Photographs

Paintings

Awards

Drawings

Sound recordings

Collages

Scrapbooks

Lithographs

Prints

Wills

Watercolors

Poetry

Lecture notes

Lectures

Sales records

Date:

1875-1994

bulk 1930-1994

Summary:

The papers of art historian, dealer, critic, and curator Katharine Kuh measure 12 linear feet and date from 1875-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930-1994. The collection documents Kuh's career as a pioneer modernist art historian and as the first woman curator of European Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues; personal business records; artwork by various artists; a travel journal; writings by Kuh and others; scrapbooks; printed material; photographs of Kuh and others; and audio recordings of Kuh's lectures and of Daniel Catton Rich reading poetry.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of art historian, dealer, critic, and curator Katharine Kuh measure 12 linear feet and date from 1875-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930-1994. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues; personal business records; artwork by various artists; a travel journal; writings by Kuh and others; scrapbooks; printed material; photographs of Kuh and others; and audio recordings of Kuh's lectures and of Daniel Catton Rich reading poetry.

Biographical material consists of copies of Kuh's birth certificate, resumés, passports, award certificates, honorary diplomas, and address books listing information about several prominent artists and colleagues.

Four linear feet of correspondence offers excellent documentation of Kuh's interest in art history, her travels, her career at the Art Institute of Chicago, her work as a corporate art advisor, and as an author. There are letters from her mother Olga Woolf, friends, and colleagues. There is extensive correspondence with various staff members of the Art Institute of Chicago, the First National Bank of Chicago, and The Saturday Review. Also of interest are letters from artists and collectors, several of whom became life-long friends including Walter and Louise Arensberg, Cosmo Campoli, Serge Chermayeff, Richard Cox, Worden Day, Claire Falkenstein, Fred Friendly, Leon Golub, Joseph Goto, David Hare, Denise Brown Hare, Jean Hélion, Ray Johnson, Gyorgy and Juliet Kepes, Len Lye, Wallace Putnam, Kurt Seligmann, Shelby Shackelford, Hedda Sterne, and Clyfford Still. Many letters are illustrated with original artwork in various media.

There are also scattered letters from various artists and other prominent individuals including Josef Albers, George Biddle, Marcel Breuer, Joseph Cornell, Stuart Davis, Edwin Dickinson, Joseph Hirshhorn, Daniel Catton Rich, and Dorothea Tanning.

Personal business records include a list of artwork, Olga Woolf's will, inventories of Kuh's personal art collection, miscellaneous contracts and deeds of gift, receipts for the sale of artwork, files concerning business-related travel, and miscellaneous receipts.

Artwork in the collection represents a wide range of artist friends and media, such as drawings, watercolors, paintings, collages, and prints. Included are works by various artists including lithographs by David Hare and a watercolor set, Technics and Creativity, designed and autographed by Jasper Johns for the Museum of Modern Art, 1970.

Notes and writings include annotated engagement calendars, travel journals for Germany, a guest book for the Kuh Memorial gathering, and many writings and notes by Kuh for lectures and articles concerning art history topics. Of interest are minutes/notes from meetings for art festivals, conferences, and the "Conversations with Artists Program (1961). Also found are writings by others about Kuh and other art history topics.

Six scrapbooks contain clippings that document the height of Kuh's career as a gallery director and museum curator. Scrapbook 6 contains clippings about Fernand Léger, the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953.

Additional printed material includes clippings about Kuh and her interests, a comprehensive collection of clippings of Kuh's articles for The Saturday Review, exhibition announcements and catalogs, calendars of events, programs, brochures, books including Poems by Kuh as a child, and reproductions of artwork. Of particular interest are the early and exhibition catalogs from the Katharine Kuh Gallery, and rare catalogs for artists including Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Jean Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Stanley William Hayter, Hans Hofmann, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Franz Kline, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Pablo Picasso.

Photographs provide important documentation of the life and career of Katharine Kuh and are of Kuh, family members, friends, colleagues, events, residences, and artwork. Several of the photographs of Kuh were taken by Will Barnet and Marcel Breuer and there is a notable pair of photo booth portraits of Kuh and a young Ansel Adams. There are also group photographs showing Angelica Archipenko with Kuh; designer Klaus Grabe; painters José Chavez Morado and Pablo O'Higgins in San Miguel, Mexico; Kuh at the Venice Biennale with friends and colleagues including Peggy Guggenheim, Frances Perkins, Daniel Catton Rich, and Harry Winston; and "The Pre-Depressionists" including Lorser Feitelson, Robert Inverarity, Helen Lundeberg, Arthur Millier, Myron Chester Nutting, and Muriel Tyler Nutting.

Photographs of exhibition installations and openings include views of the Katharine Kuh Gallery; Fernand Léger, Man Ray, and László Moholy-Nagy at the Art Institute of Chicago; and Philip Guston, Jimmy Ernst, Seymour H. Knox, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and Mark Rothko at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. There are also photographs depicting three men posing as Léger's "Three Musicians" and the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the Art Institute of Chicago. There is a photograph by Peter Pollack of an elk skull used as a model by Georgia O'Keeffe.

Additional photographs of friends and colleagues include Ivan Albright, Alfred Barr, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Willem De Kooning, Edwin Dickinson, Marcel Duchamp, Claire Falkenstein, Alberto Giacometti, poet Robert Graves with Len Lye, Philip Johnson, Gyorgy and Juliet Kepes, Carlos Mérida, José Orozco, Hasan Ozbekhan, Pablo Picasso, Carl Sandberg, Ben Shahn, Otto Spaeth, Hedda Sterne, Adlai Stevenson, Clyfford Still, Mark Tobey, and composer Victor Young.

Photographs of artwork include totem poles in Alaska; work by various artists including Claire Falkenstein, Paul Klee, and Hedda Sterne; and work donated to the Guggenheim Museum.

Four audio recordings on cassette are of Katharine Kuh's lectures, including one about assembling corporate collections, and of Daniel Catton Rich reading his own poetry. There is also a recording of the Second Annual Dialogue between Broadcasters and Museum Educators.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 9 series. Undated correspondence, artwork, and photographs of individual artists are arranged alphabetically. Otherwise, each series is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1945-1992 (Box 1; 16 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1908-1994 (Boxes 1-5, 13-14, OV 15; 4.0 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1941-1989 (Box 5; 19 folders)

Series 4: Artwork, 1931-1986 (Boxes 5, 13-14, OVs 15-23; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1914-1994 (Boxes 5-7; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1935-1953 (Box 7; 8 folders)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1916-1992 (Boxes 7-10, 13, OV 22; 3.0 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, 1875-1993 (Boxes 10-13; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 9: Audio Recordings, 1977 (Box 12; 1 folder)

Biographical Note:

Katharine Kuh (1904-1994) worked primarily in the Chicago area as an modern art historian, dealer, critic, curator, writer, and consultant. She operated the Katharine Kuh Gallery from 1935-1943 and was the first woman curator of European and Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Katharine Kuh (née Woolf) was born on July 15, 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of the three daughters of Olga Weiner and Morris Woolf, a silk importer. In 1909, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois. While traveling with her family in Europe in 1914, Katharine contracted polio, causing her to spend the next decade in a body brace. During this time of restricted movement, she developed an interest in art history through the collecting of old master prints.

After her recovery, Katharine Woolf attended Vassar College where one of her professors, Alfred Barr, encouraged her to study modern art. She graduated from Vassar in 1925 and received a master's degree in art history from the University of Chicago in 1929. Later that year, she moved to New York to pursue a Ph.D. in Renaissance and medieval art at New York University.

In 1930, Katharine Woolf returned to Chicago and married businessman George Kuh and began to teach art history courses in the suburbs of Chicago. After divorcing George Kuh in 1935, she opened the Katharine Kuh Gallery, the first gallery devoted to avant-garde art in Chicago. It was also the first gallery to exhibit photography and typographical design as art forms, and featured the work of Ansel Adams, Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Wassily Kandinsky, Fernand Léger, and Man Ray, among others. From 1938 to1940, Kuh was the Visiting Professor of Art at the University School of Fine Arts, San Miguel, Mexico.

After the Katharine Kuh Gallery closed in 1943, Kuh was hired by museum director Daniel Catton Rich to fill a position in public relations at the Art Institute of Chicago. During the following years, Kuh edited the museum's Quarterly publication, took charge of the museum's Gallery of Interpretive Art, and began a long term relationship with Rich. In 1946, Kuh was sent on a special mission for the U. S. Office of Indian Affairs to make a detailed study of Native American totemic carvings in Alaska.

In 1949, Kuh persuaded Mr. and Mrs. Walter Arensberg of Los Angeles to exhibit their collection of modern art, creating the first post-war exhibition of modern art in Chicago. She published her first book Art Has Many Faces in 1951, and in the following year, she began writing art criticism for The Saturday Review. In 1954, Kuh was appointed the first woman curator of European Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute. She assembled the American contribution for the Venice Biennale in 1956 and during these years, Kuh helped acquire many of the works of modern art currently in the museum's collection.

A year following Daniel Catton Rich's 1958 resignation from the Art Institute of Chicago, Kuh also resigned and pursued a career in New York as an art collection advisor, most notably for the First National Bank of Chicago. In 1959, Kuh was made art critic for The Saturday Review, and she continued to publish books, including The Artist's Voice in 1962, Break-Up: The Core of Modern Art in 1965, and The Open Eye: In Pursuit of Art in 1971.

Katharine Kuh died on January 10, 1994 in New York City.

Provenance:

The Katharine Kuh papers were donated in several installments from 1971 to 1989 by Katharine Kuh and in 1994 by her estate. Artwork was donated in 1995 by Kuh's former employer, the Art Institute of Chicago.

Restrictions:

Authorization to quote, publish or reproduce requires written permission until 2019. Contact the Archives of American Art Reference Services department for additional 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.

Topic:

Art, Abstract -- United States  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Art festivals  Search this

Women museum curators -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Women art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Authors -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Women art historians -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Women art dealers -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Women art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Women art critics -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Genre/Form:

Illustrated letters

Resumes

Travel diaries

Minutes

Calendars

Visitors' books

Photographs

Paintings

Awards

Drawings

Sound recordings

Collages

Scrapbooks

Lithographs

Prints

Wills

Watercolors

Poetry

Lecture notes

Lectures

Sales records

Citation:

Katharine Kuh papers, 1875-1994, bulk 1930-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Identifier:

AAA.kuhkath

See more items in:

Katharine Kuh papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-kuhkath

Interviewee:

Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903-1974  Search this

Interviewer:

Seckler, Dorothy Gees, 1910-1994  Search this

Names:

Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Students  Search this

United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this

Cézanne, Paul, 1839-1906  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Sloan, John, 1871-1951  Search this

Extent:

2 Sound cassettes (Sound recordings (90 min.))

27 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound cassettes

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1967 Oct. 25

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Adolph Gottlieb conducted 1967 Oct. 25, in New York, by Dorothy Seckler, for the Archives of American Art.

Gottlieb speaks of his childhood in New York; his decision to pursue art and its connection to a generational rebellion against traditional middle class values; his interest in art by the age of fifteen; the cultural influence of pop culture and comic strips (Mutt and Jeff); his interrupted high school career at Stuyvesant; his eighteen month stay in Europe (1921) studying in museums and various art schools; his subsequent exposure to Matisse, Picasso, and Leger; his experiences with German Expressionism in Vienna, Munich, Dresden, and Berlin; his return to the states; his attraction to Italian and French Renaissance painting as well as Ingres Courbet, and Delacroix; his time spent attending Saturday classes at the Arts Student League under John Sloan; the influence of John Sloan's cubist side; his foresight of the transient nature of the Ashcan school; his belief in painting from the imagination and memory; Cezanne's influence insofar as the notion of how to approach the forms of nature in terms of their volume; his instinct to maintain the surface and to keep it flat; his use of muddy, gray, brown, subdued colors, applied in a rich juicy impasto style; his first exhibition with the Art Alliance; his relationship with Rothko and Avery and specifically the heavy influence of Avery on his subject matter after his marriage;his short time working for the WPA in 1936; his self-discovery in Arizona; his literary influences, Pound, Joyce, Proust, 19th century writers, and Russian writers; his return to New York City and his further abstraction and reduction of means; his use of a horizon as the result of a shift in forms; his budding interest in primitive art (particularly African Art); the formation of his pictographs and the influence of the Surrealists and the philosophy of Jung and the collective unconscious; his belief in surface techniques to achieve freshness, much like the automism; the elimination of compartmentalization in his work in the 50's; his interest in certain opposing images; art as a matter of subjective rather than objective; his more refined work, more colorful, and more subtle work of the mid 50's; his distaste for academic devises; his recent Burst paintings; and his impulse to work on a larger scale.

Biographical / Historical:

Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974) was a painter from New York, N.Y.

General:

Transferred from original acetate tape reels.

Sound quality is poor.

The recording ends before the conclusion of the interview.

Provenance:

These interviews are 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.

Topic:

Ashcan school of art  Search this

Surrealism  Search this

Abstract expressionism  Search this

Art, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Expressionism (Art)  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.gottli67

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-gottli67

Creator:

American Abstract Artists  Search this

Names:

Albers, Josef  Search this

Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964  Search this

Billings, Henry, 1901-  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956  Search this

Gurin, Ruth  Search this

Hasegawa, Saburō, 1906-1957  Search this

Holtzman, Harry  Search this

Mason, Alice Trumbull, 1904-1971  Search this

Mondrian, Piet, 1872-1944  Search this

Rabkin, Leo  Search this

Rousseau, Irene  Search this

Extent:

1.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

1936-1983

Summary:

The records of the American Abstract Artists measure 1.6 linear feet and date from 1936 through 1983. The records document the founding of the organization in 1936, membership activities, general administration, and exhibitions via correspondence, member writings, financial and legal records, printed materials, and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The records of the American Abstract Artists measure 1.6 linear feet and date from 1936 through 1983. The records document the founding of the organization in 1936, membership activities, general administration, and exhibitions via correspondence, member writings, financial and legal records, printed materials, and photographs.

Correspondence mainly relates to the exhibitions and member activities of the American Abstract Artists. There are letters from Josef Albers, Alexander Archipenko, Alexander Calder, Lyonel Feininger, Harry Holtzman, Piet Mondrian, and Irene Rousseau, President Emeritus of the American Abstract Artists. Official bulletins sent to members are also found among the correspondence.

Administrative records include founding prospectus, meeting minutes, lists of members, and drafts and amendments to the American Abstract Artists constitution.

Member writings are by Saburo Hasegawa, Henry Billings, Leo Rabkin, and Ruth Gurin. Financial and legal records include ledger books, insurance documents, and other financial material. Printed materials include announcements for the American Abstract Artists' annual exhibitions, as well as exhibition posters. Finally, there are two photographs of collage paintings by members.

Arrangement:

The arrangement and description in this finding aid refer to unmicrofilmed portions of the collection. Legacy microfilm arrangement is not reflected.

The collection is arranged as 6 series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1937-1982 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Administrative Records, 1937-1982 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 3: Member Writings, 1938-1954 (Box 1; 4 folders)

Series 4: Financial and Legal Records, 1942-1983 (Box 1-2; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed Materials, 1936-1982 (Box 2-3, OV 4; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 6: Photographs, 1963 (Box 3; 1 folder)

Biographical / Historical:

The American Abstract Artists group was established in 1936 in New York, New York by a group of painters and sculptors. The American Abstract Artists contributed to the introduction of abstract art to the American public through exhibitions, publications, and lectures.

During the era of the formation of the American Abstract Artists, abstraction was not critically accepted. In 1937, the American Abstract Artists held their first exhibition at the Squibb Galleries in New York City. It received negative reactions from both the press and the public - the exhibition had a high attendance but poor reviews. The American Abstract Artists addressed the role of the critic through their publications, specifically the 1940 pamphlet "The Art Critics! How Do They Serve the Public? What Do They Say? How Much Do They Know?—Let's Look at the Record!"

The group was most active from 1937 to 1942, and supported the critical success of Abstract Expressionism in later decades.

Related Materials:

Among the holdings of the Archives of American Art are the Ruth Bowman Interviews of American Abstract Art members, 1963-1965, and Susan C. Larsen's Interviews of American Abstract Art members, 1973-1978.

Separated Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming available on 35 mm microfilm reels D539, N59-11, N69-72, N69-96, N69-97, N69-137, and N70-48. Much of this material and the papers on reels N70-48 and N59-11 were included in subsequent gifts, and may have been microfilmed again. Loaned materials not donated later are not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

The Archives of American Art acquired the American Abstract Artists records in three installments by Presidents Emeriti of the American Abstract Artists. Alice Trumball Mason first lent papers for microfilming in 1959, and she later gifted the majority of this material in 1969. Following, Leo Rabkin donated records in 1969, and Irene Rousseau gave more papers in 1983.

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.

Occupation:

Painters  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Societies, etc. -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Sculptors  Search this

Art, Abstract -- United States  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

The American Abstract Artists records, 1936-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.amerabst

See more items in:

American Abstract Artists records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-amerabst

Interviewee:

Snyder, Joan, 1940-  Search this

Interviewer:

Richards, Judith Olch, 1947-  Search this

Subject:

Cammer, Maggie  Search this

Fink, Larry  Search this

Lippard, Lucy R.  Search this

Snyder-Fink, Molly  Search this

Wilke, Ulfert  Search this

Bykert Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Hirschl & Adler Galleries  Search this

Parsons School of Design  Search this

Rutgers University  Search this

School of Visual Arts (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Women Against War  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Topic:

Women painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

AIDS (Disease) and the arts  Search this

Art, Abstract  Search this

Feminism  Search this

Feminism and art  Search this

Gay artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Poverty  Search this

Social justice  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)15788

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)288669

AAA_collcode_snyder10

Theme:

Women

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_288669

Interviewee:

Novros, David, 1941-  Search this

Interviewer:

Brennan, Michael, 1965-  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Topic:

Art, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)15634

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)281973

AAA_collcode_novros08

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_281973

Interviewee:

Novros, David, 1941-  Search this

Interviewer:

Brennan, Michael, 1965-  Search this

Extent:

38 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

2008 Oct. 22-27

Scope and Contents:

An interview of David Novros conducted 2008 Oct. 22-27, by Michael Brennan, for the Archives of American Art, at Novros' home, in New York, N.Y.

Biographical / Historical:

David Novros (1941- ) is an abstract painter who lives and works in New York, N.Y.

General:

Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 16 min.

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 administrators.

Topic:

Art, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Brown Foundation.

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.novros08

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-novros08

Interviewee:

Pindell, Howardena, 1943-  Search this

Interviewer:

Richards, Judith Olch  Search this

Extent:

5 Items (sound files (4 hr., 31 min.), digital, wav)

101 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Sound recordings

Date:

2012 Dec. 1-4

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Howardena Pindell conducted 2012 Dec. 1-4, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art, at Pindell's home and studio, in New York, N.Y.

Biographical / Historical:

Howardena Pindell (1943- ) is an abstract artist in New York, N.Y. Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is former director of iCI in New York, N.Y.

General:

Originally recorded as 5 sound digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 31 min.

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 administrators.

Occupation:

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art, Abstract  Search this

African American artists  Search this

African American painters  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Identifier:

AAA.pindel12

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-pindel12

Interviewee:

Snyder, Joan, 1940-  Search this

Interviewer:

Richards, Judith Olch  Search this

Names:

Bykert Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Hirschl & Adler Galleries  Search this

Parsons School of Design -- Faculty  Search this

Rutgers University. Institute of Jazz Studies -- Students  Search this

School of Visual Arts (New York, N.Y.) -- Faculty  Search this

Women Against War  Search this

Cammer, Maggie  Search this

Fink, Larry  Search this

Lippard, Lucy R.  Search this

Snyder-Fink, Molly  Search this

Wilke, Ulfert, 1907-1987  Search this

Extent:

6 Items (Sound recording: 6 sound files (5 hr., 18 min.), digital, wav)

91 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

2010 February 25-26

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Joan Snyder conducted 2010 February 25-26, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art, at Snyder's home and studio in Brooklyn, New York.

Snyder speaks of her childhood and education, growing up in a Jewish household in Brooklyn; education at Douglass College at Rutgers University, New Jersey; work with anti-poverty programs; her involvement in the wave of feminism, WAC (Women Art Collective), and Women Against War; Snyder's work on the magazine "Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics"; relationship with ex-husband, photographer Larry Fink; Snyder's important early showing at Bykert Gallery and Hirschl & Adler; the works Small Symphony for Women (1974), Resurrection (1977), Love's Pale Grapes (1982), Apple Tree Mass (1983), Beanfield with Music for Molly (1984), Savage Dreams, (1981-82), Women in Camps (1988), Morning Requiem for the Children (1987-88), Faces, Journey of the Souls (1993), Cherry Tree (1993), and her work into the 21st century; themes in her work that refer to the AIDS crisis, the treatment of women and female sensibility, lives of children, and religion; recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship in 2007; her teaching experience at Parsons and School of Visual Art (SVA). Snyder also recalls Ulfred Wilke, Lucy Lippard, and various individuals associated with the Feminist/women's movement, daughter Molly Snyder-Fink, and partner Maggie Cammer.

Biographical / Historical:

Joan Snyder (1940- ) is an abstract artist in Brooklyn, New York. Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is former executive director of iCI in New York, New York.

General:

Originally recorded on 6 memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 18 min.

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 administrators.

Topic:

Women painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

AIDS (Disease) and the arts  Search this

Art, Abstract  Search this

Feminism  Search this

Feminism and art  Search this

Gay artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Poverty  Search this

Social justice  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Identifier:

AAA.snyder10

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-snyder10

Interviewee:

Lipofsky, Marvin, 1938-2016  Search this

Interviewer:

Karlstrom, Paul J.  Search this

Creator:

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Names:

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Extent:

103 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

2003 July 30-August 5

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Marvin Lipofsky conducted 2003 July 30-August 5, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Berkeley, California.

Lipofsky speaks of growing up in the retail clothing trade; relating immediately in his early career to artists Peter Voulkos and John Mason; studying industrial design at the University of Illinois and sculpture at the University of Madison, Wisconsin, where Harvey Littleton introduced him to glass blowing; traveling to Europe to learn about glass; his desire to share education experiences with others; setting up education programs at Berkeley and the California College of Arts and Crafts; establishing the Great California Glass Symposium and creating a sense of community of glass art; artists versus artisans and craftsmen; studio glass as an American phenomenon; functional versus non-functional glass art; spirituality in his work; glassblowing associated with the breath of life; the Bay Area art scene; symbolic forms and organic quality of works; influences from working in factories and other countries; his experience working at the Venini Factory in Murano, Italy; his involvement in the California College of Arts and Crafts, Glass Arts Society, and National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts; abstraction as his main subject of works; inspirations of colorful clothing and color in nature; and the "American Glass Now" exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art, the first major glass exhibit in the United States. Lipfosky also recalls Dante Marioni, Paul Marioni, Beatrice Wood, Christopher Wilmarth, Ken Holston, Dale Chihuly, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Marvin Bentley Lipofsky (1938- ) is a glass artist and educator from Berkeley, California. Paul Karlstrom (1941- ) is an art historian from San Marino, California.

General:

Originally recorded on 6 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 11 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hrs., 31 min.

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 administrators.

Restrictions:

Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

Topic:

Glass art -- California  Search this

Glass artists -- California -- Interviews  Search this

Glass blowing and working -- Technique  Search this

Glass blowing and working -- Study and teaching  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.lipofs03

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lipofs03

Interviewee:

Busa, Peter, 1914-1985  Search this

Interviewer:

Seckler, Dorothy Gees, 1910-1994  Search this

Names:

Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948  Search this

Extent:

45 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Sound recordings

Date:

1965 September 5

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Peter Busa conducted 1965 September 5, by Dorothy Seckler, for the Archives of American Art. Busa speaks of family background; influences on his work; and his work on the WPA. He recalls Arshile Gorky, Stuart Davis, Jackson Pollock, William Baziotes, Kamrowski, and discusses his work being purchased by art patron Walter Chrysler in the late 1950's.

Biographical / Historical:

Peter Busa (1914-1985) was a painter and sculptor from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

General:

Originally recorded as 2 sound tapes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 37 min.

Provenance:

These interviews are 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.

Restrictions:

Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

Topic:

Art, Abstract  Search this

Painters -- Minnesota -- Interviews  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Identifier:

AAA.busa65

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-busa65

Creator:

Manship, Paul, 1885-1966  Search this

Interviewer:

Morse, John D., 1906-  Search this

Names:

Federal Art Project  Search this

Rockefeller Center  Search this

Borglum, Solon Hannibal, 1868-1922  Search this

Extent:

13 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Sound recordings

Date:

1959 February 18

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Paul Manship conducted by John Morse for the Archives of American Art. Manship speaks of his training under Solon Borglum, his interest in Greek mythology and the influence of early Greek sculpture on his work, his views on the Federal Art Project, art and nature and modern distortion, the nature of design and the learning process, and abstract art. He discusses his "Prometheus" sculpture at Rockefeller Center.

Biographical / Historical:

Paul Manship (1885-1966) was a sculptor in New York, New York.

General:

Sound has been lost on tape reels; reels discarded.

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.

Restrictions:

Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Topic:

Art, Abstract  Search this

Mythology, Greek  Search this

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Sculpture -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Identifier:

AAA.manshi59

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-manshi59

Author:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Subject:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

Computer files

Exhibitions

Place:

United States

Washington (D.C.)

Date:

2000

[2000]

20th century

Topic:

Modernism (Art)  Search this

Art, Abstract  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Art  Search this

Call number:

N6512.5.M63

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_614978

Sculptor:

House, John V. 1926-1982  Search this

Founder:

Fonderia Francesco B  Search this

Medium:

Sculpture: cast bronze; Base: concrete

Type:

Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture

Sculptures

Owner/Location:

Administered by General Mills Art Collection One General Mills Boulevard, P. O. Box 1113 Golden Valley Minnesota 55440

Located General Mills James Ford Bell Research Center 9000 Plymouth Avenue North West side of building along entrance sidewalk Golden Valley Minnesota

Date:

1972. Relocated ca. 1985

Topic:

Abstract--Geometric  Search this

Homage  Search this

Literature--Character--Paul Bunyan  Search this

Allegory--Place--Forests  Search this

Control number:

IAS 76000122

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_121

Sculptor:

House, John V. 1926-1982  Search this

Fabricator:

Baldwin Metals  Search this

Medium:

Cor-Ten steel

Type:

Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture

Sculptures-Arch

Sculptures-Sundial

Sculptures

Owner/Location:

Administered by Quorum Protective Corporation Landon Management Company 9101 LBJ Freeway, Suite 450, Lock Box #6 Dallas Texas 75243

Located Quorum Place Quorum Drive at Dallas Parkway Dallas Texas

Date:

1981

Topic:

Landscape--Celestial--Sun  Search this

Abstract  Search this

Control number:

IAS TX000275

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_322968

Sculptor:

House, John V. 1926-1982  Search this

Founder:

Fonderia Francesco B  Search this

Medium:

Sculpture: bronze

Type:

Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture

Sculptures

Owner/Location:

Hooker Chemical Corporation Grand Island New York

Date:

1968. Installed 1969

Topic:

Abstract  Search this

Allegory--Arts & Sciences--Chemistry  Search this

Control number:

IAS 71500973

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_436206

Sculptor:

House, John V. 1926-1982  Search this

Founder:

Fonderia Muzzi  Search this

Medium:

Sculpture: bronze

Type:

Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture

Sculptures

Owner/Location:

American Telephone and Telegraph Communications Headquarters Route 206 AT&T Way Bedminster New Jersey

Date:

Commissioned 1975. Cast 1976. Installed 1977

Topic:

Abstract  Search this

Homage--Bell, Alexander Graham  Search this

Object--Other--Telephone  Search this

Control number:

IAS 78990002

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_457208

Interviewee:

Scarpitta, Salvatore, 1919-2007  Search this

Interviewer:

Cummings, Paul, 1933-1997  Search this

Subject:

De Kooning, Willem  Search this

Guston, Philip  Search this

Pollock, Jackson  Search this

Castelli, Leo  Search this

Kline, Franz  Search this

Rothko, Mark  Search this

Levine, Jack  Search this

American Academy in Rome  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Sculptors -- Interviews  Search this

Futurism (Art)  Search this

World War, 1939-1945  Search this

Automobile racing  Search this

Art, Abstract  Search this

Cubism  Search this

Painting -- Technique  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)12727

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213073

AAA_collcode_scarpi75

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_213073