Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with José Maria Mijares, 1998 Jan. 17. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Enrique Guy Garcia, 1998 Mar. 18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection measures 7.7 linear feet, dates from circa 1870 to 1992, and documents the life and career of painter Ross Moffett and, to a lesser extent, the life and career of his wife, painter, lithographer, etcher, and illustrator, Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, artwork including sketchbooks, and printed material including published writings, newspaper clippings, press releases, and exhibition catalogs.
Scope and Content Note:
The Ross and Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett papers measure 7.7 linear feet and date from circa 1870 to 1992. Because Dorothy Moffett's papers were received separately they are filed together in Series 13. Series 1-12 deal primarily with the life and career of Ross Moffett. The collection documents Ross Moffett's participation in the Provincetown community as an artist and resident through correspondence, photographs, sketchbooks and printed material, including published writings, news clippings, press releases, and exhibition catalogs. The papers of Dorothy Moffett include family letters, photographs, a journal and original artwork providing scattered documentation of her life and career as an a printmaker and illustrator.
General correspondence primarily focuses on news and financial affairs of the Moffett family farm in Iowa. Also included are letters from Provincetown artist, Edwin Dickinson, and a small amount of correspondence with other artists, collectors and dealers.
Files documenting specific projects that Ross Moffett was involved with are arranged separately and include correspondence, printed material and photographs. Project files have been established for the following projects: the publication of Art in Narrow Streets, the Eisenhower mural, the Cape Cod National Seashore Park and the renovation of the Center Methodist Church.
The series of printed material, 1918-1992, relates to Ross Moffett's career as an artist and his general interest in art. Photographs primarily focus on scenes of Provincetown and include photographs of works of art by Provincetown artists. Also included are photographs of artwork by Moffett arranged chronologically, Moffett's studio in Provincetown, and installations at the Provincetown Art Association Galleries.
Artwork found in Series 10 and 11 includes drawings by Ross Moffett and 85 annotated sketchbooks, including four by Dorothy Moffett.
The collection also houses research notes and files written by Josephine Couch Del Deo in preparation of a biography of Ross Moffett. These annotations provide useful additional information about Moffett's life.
Papers of Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett include Gregory family letters, Dorothy's correspondence with her father, and letters from other family and friends. Also found are drawings, lithographs and etchings by Dorothy and photographs of her family and friends.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into thirteen series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1888-1965 (box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1915-1972 (box 1; 0.6 linear ft)
Series 3: Financial Material, 1933-1971 (box 1; 2 folders)
Series 4: Notebook/Notes, undated (box 1; 2 folders)
Series 5: Projects, 1880-1969, undated (boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear ft.)
Series 6: Subject File, 1960-1968 (box 2; 1 folder)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1916-1992, undated (boxes 2-4, 7; 1.5 linear ft.)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1900-1975, undated (box 4; 15 folders)
Series 9: Slides of Art Association, Iowa Farmland and the Chrysler Museum, circa 1960, undated (box 4; 1 folder)
Series 10: Drawings, circa 1929-1934 (box 5; 1 folder)
Series 11: Sketchbooks, 1913-1969 (boxes 5-8; 2.5 linear ft.)
Series 12: Annotations/Item Descriptions by Josephine Couch Del Deo, undated (box 6; 2 folders)
Series 13: Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett Papers, circa 1870-1975 (boxes 9-11; 0.7 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Ross Moffett (1888-1971) was an important figure in the development of modernism in American Art after World War I. His paintings primarily depict the life and landscapes of the Provincetown, Massachusetts area. Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett is perhaps best known as a printmaker and illustrator of children's books and magazines.
Born in Iowa in 1888, Moffett trained at the Art Institute in Chicago and studied with Charles Hawthorne during the summer of 1913, in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Moffett then studied at the Art Students League and returned to Provincetown in 1915, to establish himself as an artist. He was one of the founders of the Provincetown Art Association and a leading figure in the art colony for many years. In 1920, Moffett married artist Dorothy Lake Gregory in Brooklyn, New York. Dorothy studied at the Pratt Institute and with Robert Henri and George Bellows in New York, and then went to Provincetown to study with Hawthorne as well.
During the 1920's and 1930's, Ross Moffett's success increased steadily and he had his first one-man show at the Frank Rehn Gallery in New York and also at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1928. He served on several exhibition juries around the country during this time. Between 1936 and 1938, Moffett painted four murals in two Massachusetts post offices for the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Moffett received full membership to the National Academy of Design in 1942.
While Moffett's painting slowed somewhat during World War II he continued his involvement in the arts by maintaining the Provincetown Art Association. He taught briefly at the University of Miami in Ohio from 1932 to 1933, and returned to Provincetown to pursue painting full-time. In the 1950's, Moffett became interested in archaeology and even delivered a few lectures on the subject. During this time he continued to paint and his art reflected his preoccupation with the science of archaeology. In 1954, Moffett was one of two artists selected by the National Academy of Design to paint murals depicting President Dwight D. Eisenhower's life for the Eisenhower Memorial Museum in Abilene, Kansas. Moffett was chosen to portray Eisenhower's civilian life.
In 1960, Moffett became active in the movement to establish the 1400 acres known as the Province Lands as part of the Cape Cod National Seashore Park. After the park was established Moffett wrote and published a history of the first thirty-three years of the Provincetown Art Association in a book titled Art in Narrow Streets, 1964. He continued to serve as a juror for the Provincetown Art Association and was artist-in-residence for the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center in 1970.
Dorothy Moffett also pursued a successful career in art, and publishers such as Rand McNally used her illustrations for youth magazines and childrens books, such as the classic Green Fairy Book. Her work was exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum, the National Academy, and the Brooklyn Museum, and her Alice in Wonderland series of lithographs was purchased for the permanent collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Though best known as a printmaker, Moffett also worked in oil.
Ross Moffett died of cancer on March 13, 1971.
Related Material:
Related resources in the Archives of American Art include a sound recording of a transcribed interview with Ross Moffett by Dorothy Seckler, August 27, 1962; and a sound recording of an untranscribed interview with Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett by Robert F. Brown, September 22, 1972.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel D80) including 150 letters relating to art organizations, museums, and government art projects, news clippings, records of the Provincetown Art Association, and the Emergency Committee for the Protection of Province Lands, and miscellaneous publications. Lent materials were returned to Ross Moffett and are now housed at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. This material is not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Ross Moffett initally lent the Archives of American Art material for microfilming in 1962. The remainder of the collection was donated in 1974 by his widow, Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett (died 1975), via Ross Moffett's biographer, Josephine Del Deo, who turned the papers over in installments. Archaeological material and artifacts received with the papers were donated to the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
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 -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Landscape painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
The records of the Frances Wolfson Art Gallery measure 5 linear feet and date from 1973 to 1994. The Gallery was established in 1976 on the Mitchell Wolfson New World Center Campus of the Miami-Dade Community College. It focused on the art of the local Latino community in addition to serving the needs of the College's arts and humanities students. Materials document exhibitions held at the Gallery and the general administration of the Gallery through correspondence, business records and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Frances Wolfson Art Gallery comprise 5 linear feet of material dating from 1973 to 1994. The collection contains correspondence, routine business records, exhibition files, notes, printed material, and photographs of artists, installations, and works of art, and is arranged into seven series according to material type. The bulk of the material relates to exhibitions held at the Gallery from 1977 to 1992 in exhibition files measuring 4.5 linear feet. The general administration of the Gallery is also partially documented through business records and correspondence files.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as six series according to material type. Records are arranged chronologically unless otherwise noted.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1976-1994 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Business Records, 1981-1993 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Notes, 1973-1987 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1977-1992, undated (Boxes 1-5; 4.5 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1974-1994 (Box 5; 5 folders)
Series 6: Color Transparencies of Artwork, 1983-1990 (Box 5; 10 items)
Biographical / Historical:
The Frances Wolfson Art Gallery was established in 1976 on the Mitchell Wolfson New World Center Campus of the Miami-Dade Community College. It focused on the art of the local Latino community in addition to serving the needs of the College's arts and humanities students. Exhibitions and lectures reflected four major areas of emphasis: the Latino community, the Black community, the relationship of art, architecture and culture to the quality of contemporary urban civilization, and the best of new artists presented in solo or cohesive group exhibitions.
Director from 1978 to 1981, Roberta Griffin was followed in that position by Sheldon Lurie in September 1981 until his death in October 1990.
In the spring of 1987, the Frances Wolfson Art Gallery implemented an active exhibition program at the InterAmerican Center in the form of the InterAmerican Art Gallery. Located in the Little Havana section of Miami, the major thrust of this gallery is Hispanic art, reflecting the interests and needs of the surrounding community.
Provenance:
This collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by the Miami-Dade Community College in 1997
Restrictions:
Use of unmicrofilmed material in the holdings of the Archives of American Art requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C., facility.
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, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami -- Exhibitions Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Rafael Soriano, 1997 December 6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Arturo Rodríguez, 1997 November 14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ruben Torres-Llorca, 1998 January 31. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Cundo Bermúdez, 1997 December 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with José Bedia, 1998 February 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami Search this
Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture (Miami, Fla.) Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ramón Cernuda, 1998 March 28. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, Cuban -- Collectors and collecting -- Florida -- Miami Search this
Cuban American art -- Collectors and collecting -- Florida -- Miami Search this
The Ramón Carulla papers contain letters, photographs, printed material, an interview, sketchbooks, and artwork documenting the career of Cuban American painter Ramón Carulla.
Scope and Content Note:
This collection dates from 1971-1996, comprises 0.3 linear feet, and provides scattered documentation of the career of Cuban American painter Ramón Carulla. The collection contains letters to Carulla from artists and others; writings by others for and about Carulla; the transcript of an interview with Carulla; photographs of Carulla, friends, and his artwork; two sketchbooks; a painting; and printed matter including exhibition announcements and catalogs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into five series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Letters and Biographical Material, 1971-1996 (box 1, 3 folders)
Series 2: Writings About Carulla and Interview, 1986-1995, undated (box 1, 3 folders)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1982-1994, undated (box 1, 2 folders)
Series 4: Photographs, 1980-1989, undated (box 1, 4 folders)
Series 5: Artwork, 1986-1994 (boxes 1-2, 3 items)
Biographical Note:
Ramón Carulla was born in Havana, Cuba in 1938. In 1946 he moved to Miami with his father to attend public school, returning to Havana in 1953 to complete his schooling. In 1963 he began painting and had his first one-man show in 1967 at the Bacardi Gallery in Miami, where he had settled two years earlier. Although his work was initially abstract Carulla had moved towards figurative art by the late 1970s.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Ramón Carulla in 1997.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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 Enrique Guy Garcia conducted 1998 Mar. 18, by Juan A. Martinez, in Garcia's studio, Miami, Fla., for the Archives of American Art.
Garcia discusses his early interest in drawing; enrolling in art school as a teenager in Santiago de Cuba; attending Havana's San Alejandro Art Academy and studying painting with Leopoldo Romanach and Domingo Ramos, and modeling for sculpture classes where his interest in sculpture developed; going to Mexico City upon graduation to study fresco painting; returning to Cuba and working in organizing craft workshops; becoming dissatisfied with the political situation in Cuba and accepting an UNESCO grant to study art in Italy; seeking political asylum on his return from Italy; living in New York and working in a foundry; moving to Miami in the mid-1970s; his sculpture, which is primarily bronzes; his abstract expressionist style; his series of works in the 1980s, "Head," and "Icarus"; his current work, "Columns"; and an upcoming exhibition in Venezuela.
Biographical / Historical:
Enrique Guy Garcia (1928-) is a sculptor and painter from Miami, Fla. Born in Havana, Cuba.
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.
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview with Cundo Bermúdez conducted 1997 December 13, by Juan A. Martínez, in Bermudez's home/studio, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Cundo Bermúdez (1914-2008) was a Cuban American painter. Born in Havana, 1914.
General:
Originally recorded 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 45 min.
Poor sound quality.
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:
Painters -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of José Maria Mijares conducted 1998 Jan. 17, by Juan A. Martínez, in Mijares' home/studio, Miami, Fla., for the Archives of American Art.
Mijares discusses his background; his early interest in drawing; attending Cuba's main art school, the San Alejandro Academy of Art, Havana; his professors, Leopoldo Romanach and Armando Menocal; artistic influences of Cuban modernist painters Fidelio Ponce and Amelia Peláez; being awarded the second prize in a national exhibition in Hanava, 1944 for his work Alameda; the art movement in the 1950s "arte concreto," which involved geometric abstraction and art for art's sake; difficulties of being an artist in Cuba due to lack of galleries and collectors; teaching at San Alejandro in the late 1950s; going into exile in the mid-1960s to Miami; his work schedule of drawing and painting about 6 hours daily; favorite medium being oil on canvas, but also works with serigraphy and watercolor; briefly mentions his artistic style; and his nostalgia for Cuba which is a source of inspiration in his work.
Biographical / Historical:
José Maria Mijares (1921-2004) was a painter from Miami, Fla. Born in Cuba.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 30 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.
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Arturo Rodríguez conducted 1997 November 14, by Juan A. Martínez, in Rodriquez's home/studio, Miami, Fla., for the Archives of American Art.
Rodriguez speaks of his birthplace, Ranchuelo, Cuba, his early interest in drawing, his move to Madrid at 16, and his self-directed art education. He discusses the intertwined relationship of literature, poetry, and music. He comments on Spanish realists such as Antonio Lopez Quintanilla and American expressionists Willem de Kooning and others. He also recalls his exhibitions and art collectors, particularly Judith and William Ladner. He describes his paintings as a combination of expressionism, realism, surrealism, abstraction, and a pessimistic vision of the human condition.
Biographical / Historical:
Arturo Rodríguez (1956- ) is a painter from Miami, Fla. Rodriguez is a self-taught artist born in Cuba. His wife is the painter, Demi.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 17 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:
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Rafael Soriano conducted 1997 December 6, by Juan A. Martínez, in Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Rafael Soriano (1920-) is a Cuban born artist in Miami, Florida.
General:
Originally recorded 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 19 min.
Interview recorded at slow speed.
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:
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Ruben Torres-Llorca conducted 1998 January 31, by Juan A. Martínez, in Torres Llora's home/studio, Miami, Florida, for the Archives of American Art.
Torres Llora discusses his early interest in art; his father, whom he never met, who was a talented commercial artist; studying art at San Alejandro Academy of Art, Havana and fellow students Jose Bedia and Ricardo Rodriguez Brey; graduate studies at Havana's Instituto Superior del Arte; participating in the "Volumen I" exhibition in 1981; travels to Mexico, where he began sculpture and installations; returning to Cuba and curating exhibitions of younger artists; moving to Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and since 1993, Miami; artistic influences, including literature, anthropology, sociololgy, film, and other disciplines on him; his mixed media figurative objects of the 1990s which tell a narrative, are socially oriented, and at best, provide a shared experience for the viewer.
Biographical / Historical:
Ruben Torres-Llorca (1957-) is a Cuban born painter and sculptor in Miami, Florida.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 6 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.
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
