Search Results

Creator:

Momiyama, Nanae, 1924-2002  Search this

Names:

Bruce Museum  Search this

Kenkeleba House  Search this

National Association of Women Artists (U.S.)  Search this

Kusama, Yayoi, 1929-  Search this

Secor, Johanna  Search this

Extent:

3 Linear feet

3 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Greeting cards

Interviews

Sketches

Drawings

Photographs

Place:

Japan

Date:

1928-circa 2000

bulk 1948-2000

1928-circa 2000

bulk 1948-2000

Summary:

The papers of New York painter, calligrapher, and educator, Nanae Momiyama measure 3.0 linear feet and date from 1928-circa 2000, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1948-1990s. The collection traces Momiyama's career as a first wave post-World War II Japanese-American artist through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, business records, printed material, scrapbooks, sketches and sketchbooks, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of New York painter, calligrapher, and educator, Nanae Momiyama measure 3.0 linear feet and date from 1928-circa 2000, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1948-1990s. The collection traces Momiyama's career as a first wave post-World War II Japanese-American artist through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, business records, printed material, scrapbooks, sketches and sketchbooks, and photographs.

Biographical material includes resumes, a graduation certificate, passports, artist's statements, a calendar of lectures, address books, miscellaneous biographical material, and a 1972 WGCH radio interview with Nanae Momiyama.

Correspondence is mostly professional and consists of incoming and outgoing letters with arts organizations, museums, and galleries, such as the Bruce Museum, the Japanese Artists'Association, Kenkeleba House, and the National Association of Women Artists. There is some personal correspondence from family and friends, including Yayoi Kusama and Johanna Secor.

Writings and notes contain writings and notes by Nanae Momiyama and others. Writings and notes mostly consist of drafts of lectures and press releases relating to Momiyama's class demonstrations on Sumi-e painting.

Business records include annotated painting lists, consignments, a loan agreement, a contract, and scattered receipts. Painting lists and sales receipts provide a detailed record of works sold by Nanae Momiyama from 1974-1987.

Nanae Momiyama's activities as an artist are well-documented through printed materials, including press releases, clippings, periodicals, exhibition invitations, announcements, and catalogs, periodicals, annotated checklists, and brochures. Also found is Momiyama's monograph on Sumi-e painting.

Five scrapbooks contain exhibition-related material, such as announcements, invitations, brochures, reviews, installation shots, and artwork. One scrapbook is of a more personal nature and includes notes, handmade holiday cards by the artist, and photographs of Momiyama's children.

Artwork comprises sketches, drawings, and graphic designs. Sketches are mostly studies for Nanae Momiyama's paintings. Also included are five sketchbooks; one sketchbook is devoted to Momiyama's calligraphy.

Photographs are of Nanae Momiyama and others, exhibition installations and artwork, miscellaneous photographs, and slides of artwork. Also found are six photograph albums of images of Nanae Momiyama with family, friends, and colleagues. Of interest, are two photograph albums depicting Nanae Momiyama's school life and social activities in Japan from 1928-1940s.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 9 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1948-1995 (Box 1: 0.4 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1953, 1970s-1993 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1950s-1995 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 4: Business Records, 1962-1987 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1950s-1995 (Box 1; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1948-1978 (Box 2; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Sketches and Drawings, circa 1950s-1970s (Box 2; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 8: Sketchbooks, circa 1975-1997 (Box 2; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographs, 1928-circa 2000 (Box 3; 1.0 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Nanae Momiyama (1924-2002) was a Japanese American painter, calligrapher, and educator based in New York City, New York and Greenwich, Connecticut.

In 1924, Nanae Momiyama was born in Tokyo, Japan. In 1944, she graduated from Bunka Gakuin College in Tokyo, where she later taught painting and drawing. In 1954, under the sponsorship of the Japanese government, Nanae Moimiyama attended the Art Students' League in New York City, where she was mentored by the painter, Morris Kantor. During this period, Momiyama participated in exhibitions organized by the cooperative galleries on East Tenth Street in New York City that were promoting the works of Abstract Expressionist artists.

Nanae Momiyama's artistic interests extended to the teaching of Japanese calligraphy and Sumi-e paintings at colleges, universities, and art institutions, including the National Teacher's Convention for Asian Studies at Brooklyn College, Columbia University, and Japan Society. During her career, Momiyama received commissions to design posters for movies, plays, and concerts and to illustrate books and magazines. In addition, she wrote Sumi-e, An Introduction to Ink Painting that became a standard text on the subject.

Nanae Momiyama participated in many solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad: Brata Gallery, the Bruce Museum, Gima Gallery, Ligoa Duncan Gallery, and Seibu Galleries, among others.

Nanae Momiyama was a long time resident of Greenwich, Connecticut. She died in 2002.

Provenance:

The collection was donated by Haniwa Gottlieb, Nanae Momiyama's daughter, in 2009.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

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:

Calligraphers  Search this

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

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

Topic:

Japanese American artists  Search this

Calligraphy, Japanese  Search this

Asian American art  Search this

Asian American artists  Search this

Asian American women artists  Search this

Japanese American art  Search this

Japanese American women artists  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Asian American painters  Search this

Asian American educators  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Greeting cards

Interviews

Sketches

Drawings

Photographs

Citation:

Nanae Momiyama papers, 1928-circa 2000, bulk 1948-1990s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.mominana

See more items in:

Nanae Momiyama papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-mominana

Creator:

Cheng, Ching Ho  Search this

Names:

Brown, Tally  Search this

Cheng-Wilson, Sybao  Search this

Cohen, Ira  Search this

Millard, Gregory  Search this

Myers, Vali, 1930-2003  Search this

Rattray, David  Search this

Seid, Dui  Search this

Extent:

6.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketches

Drawings

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Date:

circa 1950-2014

bulk 1970-1989

Summary:

The papers of New York City Asian American artist Ching Ho Cheng measure 6.8 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 2014, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1970-1989. The collection documents Cheng's art career and life through biographical material, correspondence, personal business and estate records, printed material, a scrapbook, photographic material, artwork, sketchbooks, and artifacts.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York City Asian American artist Ching Ho Cheng measure 6.8 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 2014, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1970-1989. The collection documents Cheng's art career and life through biographical material, correspondence, personal business and estate records, printed material, a scrapbook, photographic material, artwork, sketchbooks, and artifacts.

Biographical material includes artist's statements, biographical writings, lists, life and death documents, a memorial book, naturalization paperwork, and one file of collaborative poetry with David Rattray.

Correspondence includes letters and postcards from Cheng's friends, artists, and family, including Tally Brown, Ira Cohen, Gregory Millard, Vali Myers, David Rattray, and Dui Seid.

Personal business and estate records contain contracts, loan agreements, inventories, and other records documenting income and expenses.

Printed material is comprised of books, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, journals, magazines, newsletters, postcards, press releases, programs, and posters documenting Cheng's career.

One scrapbook contains clippings and reproductions of Cheng's work.

Photographic material includes photographs, negatives, and slides featuring portraits of Cheng, Gregory Millard, Tally Brown, Vali Myers, Sybao Cheng-Wilson, and others.

Artwork and fifteen sketchbooks contain drawings and sketches, mostly quick studies of geometric compositions done in pencil, ink, and colored pencil.

Artifacts include a metal box, various fabric scraps, a paintbrush, and a blue enamel mug, which is the subject of one of Cheng's paintings.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as nine series

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1970-1990 (0.3 linear foot; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1957-2014 (2.2 linear feet; Box 1-3)

Series 3: Personal Business and Estate Records, circa 1970-2010 (0.7 linear foot; Box 3-4)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1954-2011 (1.1 linear feet; Box 4-5, 7, OV 9)

Series 5: Scrapbook, 1982-1983 (1 folder; Box 5)

Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1950-1990 (0.4 linear feet; Box 5, 7)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1960-1990 (1linear foot; Box 5, 8, OV 10)

Series 8: Sketchbooks, circa 1970-1990 (0.5 linear feet; Box 6, 8)

Series 9: Artifacts, circa 1970-1990 (0.6 linear feet; Box 6)

Biographical / Historical:

Ching Ho Cheng (1946-1989) was a Chinese American artist based in New York City.

Cheng was born in Cuba but spent most of life in New York City. After receiving his BFA from the Cooper Union in 1968, Cheng lived in Paris and Amsterdam, where he had his first solo exhibition in 1976. Shortly after, Cheng moved back to New York City. He became associated with the Warhol circle, and took up residence in the Chelsea Hotel, where he lived until his death in 1989.

Working in the pop psychedelic style early in his career, Cheng later developed a technique of creating abstract paintings with stencils and torn paper that he treated and soaked. He was in more than fifteen exhibitions before his death, and his work has been collected posthumously by the Hirshhorn, the Whitney, and many other museums.

Provenance:

The Ching Ho Cheng papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2014 and 2016 by Sybao Cheng-Wilson, Cheng's sister and executor of the Ching Ho Cheng estate.

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:

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

Topic:

Asian American artists  Search this

Asian American art  Search this

Chinese American art  Search this

Chinese American artists  Search this

Asian American painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketches

Drawings

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Ching Ho Cheng papers, circa 1950-2014, bulk 1970-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.chenchin

See more items in:

Ching Ho Cheng papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-chenchin

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2008-12-12T21:54:04.000Z

YouTube Category:

Nonprofits & Activism  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_8XmbLd1ZnI8

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2008-12-11T22:51:01.000Z

YouTube Category:

Nonprofits & Activism  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_PRI1KjmbrRQ

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2008-12-11T16:46:36.000Z

YouTube Category:

Nonprofits & Activism  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_bV3ouOwIFEc

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2008-12-16T15:42:41.000Z

YouTube Category:

Nonprofits & Activism  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_mVvj_QFtWqk

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2008-12-12T20:34:01.000Z

YouTube Category:

Nonprofits & Activism  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_nenpF_WDEqI

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2008-12-12T21:16:49.000Z

YouTube Category:

Nonprofits & Activism  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_qxRhg1s2JN8

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2020-04-20T13:59:25.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

See more by:

americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_D-p96np-Pw4

Author:

Hall, Charles Francis, 1821-1871  Search this

Collection Creator:

Field, Cyrus  Search this

Hall, Charles Francis, 1821-1871  Search this

Franklin, John, 1786-1847  Search this

Royal Geographic Society.  Search this

Everett, Edward, 1794-1865  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (Ink on paper, 17.0" x 11".)

Container:

Box 1, Folder 4

Type:

Archival materials

Diaries

Place:

Arctic regions -- Discovery and exploration

Date:

circa 1860

Scope and Contents:

Second volume of four notebooks on arctic explorers in preparation for Hall's 1st expedition.

Local Numbers:

AC0702-0000024

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Explorers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries -- 19th century

Collection Citation:

Charles Francis Hall Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Charles Francis Hall Collection

Charles Francis Hall Collection / .006-.009, Four notebooks with notes on other arctic explorers, in preparation for Hall's 1st expedition

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0702-ref636

Interviewee:

Rabinovich, Raquel, 1929-  Search this

Rabinovich, Raquel, 1929-  Search this

Interviewer:

McElhinney, James, 1952-  Search this

Subject:

Beethoven, Ludwig van  Search this

Borges, Jorge Luis  Search this

Braque, Georges  Search this

Cézanne, Paul  Search this

Del Giocondo, Lisa  Search this

Denes, Agnes  Search this

Farina, Ernesto  Search this

Herzberg, Julia P.  Search this

Johns, Jasper  Search this

Kelly, Robert  Search this

Lenin, Vladimir Ilʹich  Search this

Lhote, André  Search this

Maggi, Marco  Search this

Martin, Agnes  Search this

Mondolfo, Rodolfo  Search this

Mondrian, Piet  Search this

Pavia, Philip  Search this

Perón, Juan Domingo  Search this

Picasso, Pablo  Search this

Quasha, George  Search this

Rockburne, Dorothea  Search this

Schwabsky, Barry  Search this

Stein, Charles  Search this

Strauss, David Levi  Search this

Velázquez, Diego  Search this

Weintraub, Linda  Search this

Zimmer, William  Search this

Hispanic American Arts Center (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Station Hill Press  Search this

Type:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Place:

Argentina -- Description and travel

Denmark -- Copenhagen -- Description and travel

Egypt -- description and travel

France -- Paris -- description and travel

India -- description and travel

Machu Picchu Site (Peru)

Nepal -- description and travel

New York (N.Y.) -- Description and travel

Thailand -- description and travel

Topic:

Buddhism  Search this

Minimal art  Search this

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

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

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

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)16067

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)338396

AAA_collcode_rabino12

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_338396

Creator:

Kraushaar Galleries  Search this

Kraushaar Galleries  Search this

Subject:

Wilson, Ralph L.  Search this

Fausett, Dean  Search this

Lasker, Joe  Search this

Murdock, Roland P.  Search this

Phillips, Duncan  Search this

Kuhn, Walt  Search this

Smith, Vernon  Search this

Robinson, Boardman  Search this

Lechay, James  Search this

Laurent, Robert  Search this

Hartell, John  Search this

Cantene, David  Search this

Schnakenberg, H. E. (Henry Ernest)  Search this

Kraushaar, Antoinette M.  Search this

Harrison, Preston  Search this

Heliker, John  Search this

Williams, Esther  Search this

Luks, George Benjamin  Search this

Glackens, Edith  Search this

Navas, Elizabeth S.  Search this

DeLonga, Leonard  Search this

Evett, Kenneth Warnock  Search this

Halberstadt, Ernst  Search this

Prendergast, Maurice Brazil  Search this

Morris, Carl  Search this

Ruellan, Andrée  Search this

Smalley, David  Search this

Flannery, Vaughn  Search this

Cowles, Russell  Search this

Penney, James  Search this

Beal, Gifford  Search this

Bacon, Peggy  Search this

Beal, Reynolds  Search this

Hardy, Thomas  Search this

Glackens, William J.  Search this

Prendergast, Charles  Search this

Demuth, Charles  Search this

Albrizio, Humbert  Search this

Lachaise, Gaston  Search this

Bignou, Etienne  Search this

Kirsch, Frederick D. (Frederick Dwight)  Search this

Sloan, John  Search this

Allard, J.  Search this

Bouché, Louis  Search this

Juley, Peter A.  Search this

Stanley, Alix W.  Search this

Arnest, Bernard  Search this

Brueming, Karen  Search this

Miller, Harriette  Search this

Kraushaar, John F.  Search this

Guillaume, Paul  Search this

Art Institute of Chicago  Search this

Toledo Museum of Art  Search this

Cleveland Museum of Art  Search this

Wichita Art Museum  Search this

Whitney Museum of American Art  Search this

New Britain Institute  Search this

Ernest Brown and Co.  Search this

Carnegie Institute  Search this

University of Nebraska--Lincoln  Search this

Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Type:

Photographs

Sketches

Drawings

Exhibition catalogs

Financial records

Notes

Sketchbooks

Topic:

Works of art  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Artists -- United States  Search this

Depressions -- 1929  Search this

Theme:

The Art Market  Search this

Art Gallery Records  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7781

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209946

AAA_collcode_kraugall

Theme:

The Art Market

Art Gallery Records

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209946

Creator:

Coffin, William A. (William Anderson), 1855-1925  Search this

Coffin, William A. (William Anderson), 1855-1925  Search this

Subject:

Stella, Joseph  Search this

Warren, Whitney  Search this

Mauer, Alfred  Search this

Benson, Frank Weston  Search this

Blashfield, Edwin Howland  Search this

Zorach, William  Search this

Gay, Walter  Search this

Gussow, Bernard  Search this

Bouché, Louis  Search this

Cortissoz, Royal  Search this

Pan-American Exposition  Search this

Société des artistes français  Search this

Exposition d'artistes de l'école Américaine  Search this

American Rights Committee  Search this

American Artists' Committee of One Hundred  Search this

Lotos Club (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Musée d'histoire et d'art (Luxembourg)  Search this

Committee for the Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture (Paris, France)  Search this

Type:

Scrapbooks

Photographs

Topic:

Harper's Weekly  Search this

New York Post  Search this

Art Exhibitions France Paris  Search this

Landscape painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art, American  Search this

World War, 1914-1918 -- Civilian relief -- France  Search this

Theme:

Lives of American Artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7476

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209634

AAA_collcode_coffwill

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209634

Creator:

Robsjohn-Gibbings, Terence Harold, 1905-  Search this

Names:

Hadrian's Villa (Tivoli, Italy)  Search this

Robsjohn-Gibbings (Firm)  Search this

Dunn, Alan, 1900-  Search this

Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, 76-138 (Homes and Haunts) -- Italy -- Tivoli  Search this

Petty, Mary  Search this

Richter, Gisela Marie Augusta, 1882-1972  Search this

Extent:

14.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Date:

1915-1977

1898

Summary:

The papers of furniture and interior designer Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings measure 14.4 linear feet and date from 1898 to 1977 with the bulk of material dating from 1915 to 1977. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, project files, printed materials, artwork including 4 sketchbooks, 30 scrapbooks documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career, and photographs of Robsjohn-Gibbings and his work.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of furniture and interior designer Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings measure 14.4 linear feet and date from 1898 to 1977, with the bulk of material dating from 1915 to 1977. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, project files, printed materials, artwork including 4 sketchbooks, 30 scrapbooks documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career, and photographs of Robsjohn-Gibbings and his work.

Biographical materials consist of a key to the city of San Francisco, an award certificate, a photograph of a table from Robsjohn-Gibbings' personal art collection, and a ring design.

Correspondence is primarily with Robsjohn-Gibbings' friends, business associates, and scholarly researchers discussing relationships, business commissions, and his professional work. Correspondents of note include illustrators Alan Dunn and Mary Petty, and classical art historian Gisela Richter.

Writings by Robsjohn-Gibbings consist of 13 essays, 2 copies of the draft manuscript The Cuckoo Sings, 2 manuscript drafts of Furniture of Classical Greece, and a notebook of collected inspirational quotations. There is also a translation of a selection of Heinz Kahler's Hadrian und Seine Villa Bei Tivoli.

Project files include photographs and portfolios of 28 commercial and residential commissions; photographs and watercolor renderings of designs produced by Robsjohn-Gibbings Ltd.; photographs and portfolios of designs for Widdicomb Furniture Company; and printed material and research related to the furniture designs for Saridis of Athens. The series also includes portfolios of residences photographed by Ezra Stoller Associates, and photographs and notes for a 25 year Interior Design retrospective exhibition.

Printed material includes published books by Robsjohn-Gibbings, annotated books on Hadrian's Villa and decorative sculpture, catalogs, clippings, press releases, and miscellaneous printed material.

Photographs are of Robsjohn-Gibbings, his friends, his New York office and Athens apartment, and photo shoots for Life and Look magazines.

There are 24 volumes documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career from 1936 to 1963, an additional 4 volumes of press coverage of his books, and 2 more volumes documenting European art and historical interior design.

Artwork includes 4 sketchbooks of classical Greek and Roman furniture designs rendered in graphite and watercolor by Robsjohn-Gibbings.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 8 series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1942-1970 (4 folders, Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1940-1976 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1930-1976 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, BV 12)

Series 4: Project Files, circa 1930-1976 (4 linear feet; Box 1-2, Box 6-8, BV 13-16, OV 42-53, OV 55)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1898-1977 (1.9 linear feet, Box 2-4, Box 9)

Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1915-1976 (0.3 linear feet; Box 4, Box 9, OV 54)

Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1936-1970 (5.9 linear feet, Box 9-11, BV 17-41)

Series 8: Artwork, circa 1930-1976 (0.5 linear feet; Box 4-5, Box 9)

Biographical / Historical:

Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings (1905-1976) was a furniture and interior designer who lived and worked in New York City and Athens, Greece.

Robsjohn-Gibbings was born in England and studied architecture at London University. In 1930, he immigrated to America, and six years later opened his own interior decorating firm, Robsjohn-Gibbings Ltd., on Madison Avenue. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, he was one of the most recognized decorators in America and designed homes for Doris Duke, Alfred Knopf, and Thelma Chrysler Foy. One of his earliest commissions was Hilda Boldt Weber's 43 room Casa Encantada mansion in Bel-Air, for which he created more than 200 custom pieces of furniture between 1934 and 1938.

From 1943 to 1956, Robsjohn-Gibbings was the principal designer for the Widdicomb Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These residential furnishings reflected an elegant, simplistic aesthetic and were regularly showcased in the magazines Town and Country, Interior Design, Vogue, and House Beautiful.

He was a critic of the prevailing taste in Bauhaus modernism and Queen Anne, Georgian, and Spanish extravagance and expressed these views on design and aesthetics in the books Goodbye, Mr. Chippendale (1944), Mona Lisa's Moustache (1947), and Homes of the Brave (1953).

In 1960, he and his collaborator, Carlton Pullin, met the Greek furniture makers Susan and Eleftherios Saridis, who commissioned Robsjohn-Gibbings to design a line for their company, Saridis of Athens. These pieces were modeled after classical Greek forms and aesthetics, and are detailed in Robsjohn-Gibbings' Furniture of Classical Greece (1963).

In 1965, Robsjohn-Gibbings moved to Athens, Greece and continued designing residential and commercial spaces until his death in 1976.

Provenance:

Portions of the Terence Robsjohn-Gibbings papers were donated by the artist in 1966. In 1977, Margaret Carson donated a manuscript copy of The Cuckoo Sings. Later in 1977, the bulk of additional material in the collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Robsjohn-Gibbing's associate and executor, Carlton Pullin.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

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:

Furniture design -- United States  Search this

Furniture designers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Citation:

Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings papers, 1898, 1915-1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Processing of this collection was funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Identifier:

AAA.robstere

See more items in:

Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-robstere

Creator:

Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943  Search this

Correspondent:

American Association of Physical Anthropologists  Search this

Names:

American Journal of Physical Anthropology  Search this

Army Medical Museum (U.S.)  Search this

Hyde Exploring Expedition (1902-1903)  Search this

Institute of Population  Search this

International Congress of Americanists  Search this

Panama-California Exposition (1915 : San Diego, Calif.)  Search this

Smithsonian Institution. Department of Anthropology. Division of Physical Anthropology  Search this

Extent:

206.71 Linear feet (294 boxes, 138 folders, 9 rolled items, and 4 folios)

Culture:

Indians of North America  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Place:

Saint Lawrence Island (Alaska) -- Archaeology

Australia

Alaska -- Archaeology

Mexico -- Anthropology

Florida -- Archaeology

Egypt -- Archaeology

Czechoslovakia

Peru -- Physical anthropology

Kodiak Island (Alaska)

Date:

1875-1966

bulk 1903-1943

Summary:

The papers of Aleš Hrdlička, curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, offer considerable insight into the development of physical anthropology in the first half of this century. The papers include honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). In addition, there is material of a personal nature. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the USNM.

Scope and Contents:

This collection is comprised of both professional and personal materials. The professional material includes honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). The personal material primarily consists of correspondence with his first wife (Marie Dieudonnée Strickler) and other family members, but there are also financial records. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Hrdlička investigated all major questions confronting physical anthropologists of his day (the fossil record of early humans, the arrival of humans in the Americas, human variation, evolution, and eugenics) and made valuable contributions in all these areas. Hrdlička's interests in the establishment of physical anthropology as a distinct and important field, the welfare of the Czech people, early hominids, and variation within the human species are all documented in the collection as are the services he performed for various United States government agencies. He pursued field studies in many different parts of the world, but there are relatively few field notes as such among his papers. There is instead the edited journal "My Journeys," photographs, and physical anthropological forms. There is also relatively little material on his administrative involvement in the USNM. There is no material from Hrdlička's time at the Pathological Institution of the New York State Hospitals; after he resigned, fire destroyed the anthropological records Hrdlička collected as a member of the staff. There are materials in the collection which contradict, or at least complicate, many long-held criticisms of Hrdlička, particularly claims that he was racist and opposed feminist ideas. The collection contains materials of interest to genetic research, including anthropometric measurements, hair clippings and fingerprints.

There are a few items in the collection which are dated earlier than the collection's date span. These are publication dates, and the folders containing the items have been dated accordingly, but they have not affected the dates of the series or collection. There are also a few items which are dated after Hrdlička's death. These dates reflect the fact that the collection was added to by the Department of Physical Anthropology after Hrdlička's death and have been taken into account when formulating dates for the series and collection.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in 37 series:

(1) Miscellaneous Personal Papers, 1875-1940

(2) Early Personal Correspondence, 1883-1919

(3) Correspondence, 1885-1953

(4) News Clippings and Printed Matter, 1893-1953

(5) Financial Papers, 1910-1943

(6) Journeys to the Southwestern United States and Mexican Indians, 1898-1919

(7) Journeys to the Dakota, Chippewa, Kickapoo, and Shawnee, 1916-1917

(8) Florida Survey, 1918, 1918-1927

(9) Alaska Archeological Expeditions, 1912-1938 (bulk 1926-1938)

(10) Panama-California Exposition Expeditions, 1912-1914

(11) Journey to Egypt, Europe, and Russia, 1908-1909

(12) Journey to South America, 1910, 1910-1912

(13) Journey to the Far East, 1920, 1900-1930

(14) Journey to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe, 1924-1925

(15) Anthropometric Measurements of Indians Taken at the United States National Museum, 1904-1905, most undated

(16) Bone Studies, 1893-1929, most undated

(17) Old Americans, 1914-1930

(18) Children Who Run on All Fours, 1928-1936

(19) Early Man Studies, 1906-1930

(20) European Ethnic History, 1908-1938

(21) Miscellaneous Research Notes, 1887-1930

(22) Manuscripts of Writings, 1901-1944, most undated

(23) Writings by Other Authors, 1877-1942

(24) Anthropometry, undated

(25) "From My Journeys", 1898-1938

(26) -- American Journal of Physical Anthropology -- , 1918-1931

(27) American Association of Physical Anthropologists, 1924-1931

(28) International Congress of Americanists, 1900-1928

(29) Institute of Population, 1942

(30) Department of Anthropology, 1914-1943

(31) Lecture Notes, 1920-1932

(32) Maps and Charts, 1900-1932

(33) Miscellany, 1895-1954

(34) Index Cards, 1899-1948

(35) Bibliographic Index, undated

(36) Physical Anthropology Folios, undated

(37) Photographs, 1887-1944

Biographical Note:

Aleš Hrdlička was born in Bohemia in 1869 and came to America when he was thirteen. As a young man, he was trained in medicine at New York's Eclectic Medical College and the New York Homeopathic Medical College, receiving degrees from each. His first professional work was as a private practitioner, but he gave that up in 1894 when he joined the staff of the New York State Hospital for the Insane at Middletown. There, in addition to other duties, he began studies of the physical characteristics of inmates. This set in motion developments that would eventually lead him to become one of the world's most prominent anthropologists who has sometimes been referred to as "the founder of physical anthropology in America."

In 1896, in preparation for a research appointment with the Department of Anthropology in the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals, Hrdlička went to Paris and studied with Leon Manouvrier. After his return to America, he worked for a short period with the Pathological Institute and came into contact with G.S. Huntington of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Hrdlička arranged and studied Huntington's large collection of skeletal material, thus gaining knowledge of a well-documented collection representing largely normal persons of European ancestry. He came to the attention of Frederic Ward Putnam, of the American Museum of Natural History, who arranged for his first anthropological field studies.

It was thus that Hrdlička became a member of the Hyde Expeditions to the American Southwest and northern Mexico. In 1898, he traveled to Mexico with Carl Lumholtz to study the Tarahumaras, Huichols, and neighboring tribes. In subsequent years, he returned to Mexico and the Southwest alone and studied physical characteristics and medical conditions of several American Indian tribes. With this experience and examinations of the Trenton and Lansing skeletal material for Putnam, Hrdlička came fully into the world of anthropology. In 1903, he was appointed head of the newly formed Division of Physical Anthropology in the United States National Museum.

While in his position at the Smithsonian, Hrdlička returned to the Southwest for studies of Pima and Apache children in 1905 and, in the following year, traveled to Florida to examine allegedly ancient remains of man. In 1908, he worked among a number of Indian tribes, including the Menominee, Oglala Dakota, Quinailt, Hupa, and Mohave, in a study of tuberculosis among them. In 1909, he traveled to Egypt with an expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in order to study living Egyptians and to examine remains of Egypt's past population. The following year took him to Argentina, Peru, and Mexico. In the first of these, he again examined allegedly ancient remains of man. In Peru, he made a large collection of skeletal material near Trujillo, at Pachamac, and in the Chicama Valley.

From 1912-1914, Hrdlicka undertook a physical anthropological exhibit for the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego and, for this, traveled to eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Peru, and Florida. He also examined fossil remains of man in Europe and directed field work of other anthropologists in South and East Africa, St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, the Philippines, eastern Siberia, and the Ukraine. In 1915, for the Department of Justice, he assessed the racial makeup of Chippewas on the Leech Lake and White Earth reservations in Minnesota and also studied Dakota Indians. In 1917, his field work was directed toward white American families with longtime residence in the United States. In 1918, he carried out a survey of ancient sites in eastern Florida for the Bureau of American Ethnology. In 1920, he traveled to Hawaii, Japan, Korea, and Manchuria in connection with an appointment to lecture at the Peking Union Medical College. As director of the American School for Prehistoric Studies in France, he again studied fossil remains of man in Europe in 1922 and 1923. In 1925, he carried out work in India, Ceylon, Java, Australia, South Africa, and Europe. In 1927, he was again in Europe to deliver the Huxley Memorial Lecture before the Royal Anthropological Society in Great Britain. Between 1929 and 1938, he traveled frequently to Alaska to carry on an anthropological survey. In 1939, he traveled to Russia and Siberia.

Beginning with much of the skeletal collection of the Army Medical Museum, which had been transferred to the Smithsonian in 1898 before he was appointed there, Hrdlička amassed a bone collection that included, among many other specimens, the Huntington collection, casts of fossil remains of man, and a large and diverse North American collection. He also gathered a large collection of human brains. Over three hundred publications resulted from his study of this material, his field work, and his study of specimens in other museums. In addition, he was involved in many other activities. For United States government agencies, he provided services ranging from examinations of human remains for law enforcement officials to providing information and opinions concerning national origins and traits that were needed to interpret laws and form foreign policy. During World War II, he also advised government officials on policies to be pursued with certain national groups following the war.

In 1918, Hrdlička founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and remained its editor until 1942. In 1928, he was the major force behind the organization of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and served as its president from 1928 to 1932. He was also president of the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1907, the American Anthroplogical Association from 1925 to 1927, and the Washington Academy of Sciences from 1928 to 1929. He was chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1918 and secretary of the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council in 1917. From the 1920s to the 1940s Hrdlicka was a member of the American Eugenics Society and prepared exhibits for various eugenics congresses. In addition, Hrdlička was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. He represented the Smithsonian at several international gatherings of scholars, including meetings of the International Congress of Americanists.

Chronology

1869 March 29 -- Alois Ferdinand Hrdlička (Aleš Hrdlička) born in Humpolec, Bohemia

1882 September -- Emigrated to New York City

1888 -- While stricken with typhoid, met M. Rosenbleuth, a physician who arranged for Hrdlička to enroll at the Eclectic Medical College of New York City

1892 -- Enrolled in the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital Published first article, "Scheme of Examination (Medical)," Publications of the Eclectic Medical College Graduated first in his class from the Eclectic Medical College

1894 -- Graduated first from his class from the Homeopathic Medical College Became research intern at the State Homeopathic Hospital for the Insane in Middletown, New York, where he began his studies in physical anthropology Passed state board examination (allopathic)

1895 -- Joined staff of the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals as associate in anthropology

1896 -- Studied anthropology under Leon Manouvrier in Paris

1896 August 6 -- Married Marie Stickler (Dieudonnée)

1898 March-July(?) -- Accompanied Carl Lumholtz on his expedition to northern Mexico, sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and visited the Tarahumara, Huichol, and Tepecan Indians

1899 Spring -- Resigned from the Pathological Institute to take charge of physical and medical anthropological research on the Hyde Expeditions of the AMNH to the southwestern United States

1899 August -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to excavate the site of Pueblo Bonito and to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; visited Grand Gulch caves in southern Utah; included visits to the Navahos and southern Utes

1900 -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Colorado to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; included visits to the Apaches, Yumas, and Pueblo Indians

1902 January-September -- Hyde expeditions for AMNH to southwestern Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico to conduct somatological surveys; included visits to the Tepecanos, Papagos, Opatas, Pimas, Yaquis, Mayos, Huichols, Otomis, Tepehuanes, Maricopas, Yumas, Yavapais, Paiutes, Walapais, and Havasupais

1902 October-December -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Mexico for Hrdlička to complete his somatological investigations; included visits to the Tepehuanes, Coras, Huichols, "Nahuas," "Aztecs," and Tarascans

1903 May 1 -- Became assistant curator in charge of the new Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, at the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution

1905 -- Expedition under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology to Arizona and New Mexico to complete the observations on the tribes of this region; Hrdlička especially studied Apache and Pima Indian children

1906 February -- Expedition to western Florida to investigate remains of alleged ancient man

1907 -- President of the Anthropological Society of Washington

1908 -- Expedition to Indian schools and reservations in Wisconsin, Washington, California, Arizona, and South Dakota to study tuberculosis for a report to the International Congress of Tuberculosis

1908 December - 1909 May -- Traveled to Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Bohemia, Russia, Poland, and Germany to examine human skeletal remains from an excavation in Egypt by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to study peoples of the Near East

1910 March 28 -- Promoted to curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology

1910 April-September -- Attended the 17th International Congress of Americanists in Buenos Aires and Mexico City Traveled to Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and Panama

1912 -- Planned and directed seven expeditions for the physical anthropology exhibit at the Panama-California Exposition held at San Diego in 1915; expeditions included Hrdlička to Siberia and Mongolia and later to Peru; Riley D. Moore to St. Lawrence Island, Alaska; Philip Newton to the Philippine Islands; Vojtech Suk to Africa; Stanislaw Poniatowski to eastern Siberia; Kazimir Stolyhwo to the Birusa caves in Siberia and to the Ukraine; and Jindřich Matiegka to Bohemia

1912 May-Summer -- Traveled to London to attend 18th International Congress of Americanists Traveled to Siberia and Mongolia for the Panama-California Exposition

1912 September -- Traveled to Geneva for the 14th International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archaeology

1913 January-April -- Expedition to Peru as part the effort for the Panama-California Exposition

1914 November 18 - 1915 January 18 -- Attended Panama-California Exposition

1915 May -- Research for the Department of Justice at the White Earth and Leech Lake reservations in Minnesota to determine non-Indian mixture among Chippewas

1915 December -- Served as General Secretary for the 19th International Congress of Americanists held in Washington

1916 Fall -- Traveled to Florida to examine remains of supposed ancient man

1917 March-July -- Served as Secretary on the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council

1917 Summer -- "Old American" research at Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of Virginia and in Tennessee

1917 August -- Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, traveled to Oklahoma to visit the Shawnee Agency in eastern Oklahoma and the Kickapoo Indians in McCloud to search for adequate samples of pure blood Indians

1918 -- Elected to the American Philosophical Society Served as Chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and became its long-time editor Surveyed prehistoric sites on the southwest coast of Florida

1918 October 8 -- Death of his wife Marie

1920 -- Anthropometry published by the Wistar Institute Elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain

1920 Summer -- Married Mina (Vilemina) Mansfield

1920 January-May -- Visited Japan, Korea, Manchuria, northern China, Mongolia, and Hawaii Lectured at Peking Union Medical College in China

1920 Fall -- Visited Minnesota Chippewa (at the White Earth Reservation?) to help the Department of Justice setter the question of mixed and pure bloods among the Chippewa

1921 -- Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

1922 -- Visited Spain, France, Germany, Moravia, and England Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from the University of Prague Chairman of the American delegation to the 20th International Congress of Americanists in Rio de Janiero

1923 -- Served three and one-half months as Director of the American School in France for Prehistoric Studies Visited England, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Croatia, and Italy

1925 -- The Old Americans published by Williams and Wilkins Co.

1925 March-October -- Traveled to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe on a trip sponsored by the Buffalo [New York] Society of Natural Science to obtain cranial measurements of Australian aborigines and Tasmanians, to investigate the Rhodesian Man site in South Africa, to survey the field of early man, and to collect data to support his hypothesis about the peopling of the Earth

1925-1926 -- President of the American Anthropological Association

1926 -- Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from University of Brno and D.Nat.Sc. degree from Brunn University

1926 May-September -- First fieldwork in Alaska: reconnaissance down the Yukon River to its mouth, around the Bering Sea and through the Bering Strait along the Alaskan coast to Point Barrow

1927 -- Received Huxley Memorial Medal and gave Huxley Lecture on "the Neanderthal Phase of Man" before the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain

1928 -- Helped found the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA)

1928-1929 -- President of the Washington Academy of Sciences

1928-1932 -- Served as first president of the AAPA

1929 -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Yukon River from Tanana to its mouth, to St. Lawrence and the Diomede Islands, to Cape Prince of Wales, up to Point Barrow and back to Unalaska Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from Charles University, Prague

1930 -- Published The Skeletal Remains of Early Man, Vol. 83 Smithsonian Miscellaneous collections Published "Anthropological Survey in Alaska," Forty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 21-374

1930 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Kuskokwim River from Bethel down river to Apogak and up river to Stony River

1931 -- Children Who Run on All Fours published by McGraw-Hill Book Co.

1931 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island

1932 -- Kober Foundation lecturer of Georgetown University

1932 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island

1934 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed Cooks Inlet sites and the mainland opposite the Our Point site

1935 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site

1936 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed the Dutch Harbor caves, some of the Aleutian Islands, and the mummy cave on Kagamil Island

1937 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands and Commander Islands

1938 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands, Dutch Harbor caves, and Commander Islands

1939 April 4 -- Testimonial dinner given by the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in honor of his 70th birthday

1939 April-June -- Recuperated in London hospital after suffering a coronary occlusion

1942 March 31 -- Retired from curatorship at United States National Museum, becoming an associate in anthropology

1942 December -- Resigned as editor of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology

1943 -- Alaska Diary published by Cattell Press

1943 September 5 -- Died of heart attack

1944 -- Anthropology of Kodiak Island published by Wistar Institute

1945 -- The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants published by Wistar Institute

1969 -- Tenth Anthropological Congress of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences dedicated to Hrdlička in the 100th anniversary year of his birth

Selected Bibliography

1908 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Physiological and Medical Observations Among the Indians of Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. Bulletin 34, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1908.

1912 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Early Man in South America. Bulletin 52, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1912.

1919 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Physical Anthropology: Its Scope and Aims. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1919.

1920 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropometry. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1920.

1925 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Old Americans. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Co., 1925.

1930 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Skeletal Remains of Early Man. Vol. 83, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. City of Washington: The Smithsonian Institution, 1930. Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropological Survey in Alaska. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1930.

1931 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Children Who Run on All Fours, and Other Animal-like Behaviors in the Human Child. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1931.

1943 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Alaska Diary, 1926-1931. Lancaster, PA: The Jacques Cattell Press, 1943.

1944 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropology of Kodiak Island. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1944.

1945 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1945.

Related Materials:

Additional material in the National Anthropological Archives relating to Aleš Hrdlička can be found in the papers of William Louis Abbott, Henry Bascom Collins, Herbert William Krieger, and Frank Spencer; records of the American Anthropological Association, Bureau of American Ethnology, Department of Anthropology of the United States National Museum (National Museum of Natural History), Science Service, Anthropological Society of Washington, and the United States Army Medical Museum (anatomical section, records relating to specimens transferred to the Smithsonian Institution); and glass negatives of Indians collected by the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution illustrations.

Additional related photographs can be found in Photo Lot 8, Division of Physical Anthropology collection; Photo Lot 9, Photographs of Indians for the Panama-California Exposition, San Diego; Photo Lot 24, Bureau of American Ethnology, United States National Museum photographs of American Indians; Photo Lot 70, Department of Anthropology portrait file; Photo Lot 78, Miscellaneous negatives; Photo Lot 97, Division of Ethnology collection ("USNM" Collection); Photo Lot 73-26B, Aleš Hrdlička photographs relating to the Panama-California Exhibition; Photo Lot 73-26G, Miscellany; Photo Lot 77-48, Group portraits of International Congress; Photo Lot 79-38, Division of World Archeology collection; Photo Lot 83-41, Division of Physical Anthropology collection of photographs of human bones; and Photo Lot 92-46, Anthropology lantern slides.

Related films can be found in the Human Studies Film Archive under the accession numbers HSFA 1982.2.1, 1982.2.2, 1986.12.1, and 2015.13.1.

Hrdlička's extensive collection of reprints is maintained in the Division of Physical Anthropology.

Frank Spencer's doctoral dissertation "Aleš Hrdlička, M.D., 1869-1943: A Chronicle of the Life and Work of an American Physical Anthropologist" (1979) is the only book length biography of Hrdlička. The Frank Spencer papers, 1836-1999, are available at the NAA and contain original correspondence between Hrdlička and his first wife, Marie Strickler; his childhood report card from 1869; copies of family photos obtained from Lucy Miller, Hrdlička's niece; and an audio recording of Hrdlička speaking at Wistar Institute.

Further material may be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

The University of Alaska Anchorage holds diaries relating to Hrdlička's Expeditions to Alaska in 1936, 1937, and 1938 in the Alan G. May papers. The finding aid for this collection is avialable online at https://archives.consortiumlibrary.org/collections/specialcollections/hmc-0690/ and a trascription of May's diaries from the expeditions is available online at https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/11850

Provenance:

Hrdlička bequeathed his papers to the Smithsonian Institution. The Division of Physical Anthropology maintained them until they were deposited in the National Anthropological Archives in the 1960s. Some papers have come into the collection since then, most recently in 2018. These new accretions came to the collection through Donald Ortner, David Hunt, T. Dale Stewart, the Department of Anthropology, and the University of Alaska.

Restrictions:

The Aleš Hrdlička papers are open for research.

Access to the Aleš Hrdlička papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

Contact the repository for terms of use.

Topic:

Human evolution  Search this

Physical anthropology  Search this

Children -- Physical anthropology  Search this

anthropometry  Search this

Ethnology  Search this

Fossil hominids  Search this

Citation:

Aleš Hrdlička papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

The Repatriation Office, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, provided funds for the arrangement and description of the Aleš Hrdlička papers

Identifier:

NAA.1974-31

See more items in:

Aleš Hrdlička papers

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-1974-31

Creator:

Okubo, Miné, 1912-2001  Search this

Names:

Central Utah Relocation Center  Search this

Hall, Gaylord  Search this

Hamilton, Howard  Search this

Leeper, Roy  Search this

Tono, Doris  Search this

Tono, Harry  Search this

Extent:

1.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Drawings

Sketches

Illustrated letters

Date:

circa 1940-2001

Summary:

The Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers measure 1.4 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 2001. Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall were long-time friends with and patrons of Okubo from the late 1950s until her death. The collection contains letters, writings, and sketches by Okubo. Among the printed materials is a copy of the 1944 special edition of Fortune magazine which was sympathetic to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and for which Okubo was hired to illustrate. Also found are scattered documents relating to Hall and Leeper.

Scope and Contents:

The Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers measure 1.4 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 2001. Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall were long-time friends with and patrons of Okubo from the late 1950s until her death. The collection contains letters, writings, and sketches by Okubo. Among the printed materials is a copy of the 1944 special edition of Fortune magazine which was sympathetic to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and for which Okubo was hired to illustrate. Also found are scattered documents relating to Hall and Leeper.

Biographical materials consist of Roy Leeper's medical licenses. The bulk of the collection is comprised of Miné Okubo's letters, many of which are illustrated, to Hall and Leeper discussing her health, career, their purchase of her artwork, and mutual friends. Other correspondents include Howard Hamilton and Doris and Harry Tono. Writings and notes by Okubo inlcude a statement about the pricing of her artwork and a list of artwork. Leeper and Hall's personal business records concern the purchase and loan of Okubo's artwork for exhibitions.

Printed materials include a 1944 edition of Fortune magazine devoted to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The issue includes reproductions of Okubo's illustrations of life in the World War II internment camp in Topaz, Utah. Photographs include snapshots of Okubo at an exhibition with her art and of works of art. Sketches and drawings depict mostly cats and flowers.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1942-1994 (1 folder; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1957-2001 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1940-circa 1970 (3 folders; Box 1)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1957-1998 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1944-2000 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1940-circa 1990s (3 folders; Box 1)

Series 7: Artwork, 1960s-1997 (0.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Biographical / Historical:

Miné Okubo (1912-2001) was a Japanese American painter, illustrator, and author. She is known for her book Citizen 13600in which she described her experience at the Topaz War Relocation Camp in Utah through prose and drawings.

Born in Riverside, California in 1912, Okubo began her arts education at Riverside Junior College and transferred to the University of California, Berkeley where she completed her BA and MA in Fine Arts (where she first met Roy Leeper). In 1938, she received an award to travel and study under Fernand Léger in Paris. When World War II began in Europe, she moved back to California and worked under the Federal Arts Project. She produced some solo murals and also assisted Diego Rivera on his Treasure Island mural Pan American Unity, (1940).

In April of 1942, Miné Okubo and one of her brothers were sent to the Tanforan Assembly Center under Executive Order 9066, which forcibly interned over 100,000 Japanese and Japanese-American citizens living on the West Coast of the United States. Six months later, they were sent to the Topaz War Relocation Camp in Topaz, Utah. There, Okubo taught art in the camp's school and often sketched camp life. She was art editor for the camp newsletter Trek, a supplement to the Topaz Times.

In 1944, Fortune magazine published a sympathetic special edition on the Japanese and Japanese American internment during World War II. The magazine hired Okubo to illustrate two of the articles. She was permitted to leave the camp and move to New York City, where she remained for the rest of her life, working as a painter and illustrator. She wrote and illustrated a book about her experiences in the Topaz confinement camp, Citizen 13600, which won the American Book Award in 1984. Miné Okubo died in 2001. Medical doctor Roy Leeper befriended Miné Okubo while they were both students at the University of California. Later, he and his partner dentist Gaylord Hall were reintroduced to Okubo and her artwork by a mutual friend. They began a life-long relationship with Okuba, both as friends and collectors.

Related Materials:

Riverside City College in Riverside, California also holds the Miné Okubo papers.

Provenance:

Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall donated the collection of Miné Okubo papers in 2001.

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:

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

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

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

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Art patronage  Search this

Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945  Search this

Asian American art  Search this

Asian American artists  Search this

Asian American women artists  Search this

Japanese American art  Search this

Japanese American artists  Search this

Japanese American women artists  Search this

Asian American painters  Search this

Asian American illustrators  Search this

Asian American authors  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Drawings

Sketches

Illustrated letters

Citation:

Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers, circa 1940-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool

Identifier:

AAA.okubmine

See more items in:

Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-okubmine

Creator:

Okada, Kenzo, 1902-1982  Search this

Extent:

0.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1965-1976

Scope and Contents:

Eight exhibition catalogs of Okada's work at the Betty Parsons Gallery, among other places.

Biographical / Historical:

Kenzo Okada (1902-1982) was a Japanese American painter based in New York City, New York.

Provenance:

Donated 1981 by Kenzo Okada.

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

Topic:

Asian American art  Search this

Asian American artists  Search this

Japanese American art  Search this

Japanese American artists  Search this

Asian American painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.okadkenz

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-okadkenz

Interviewee:

Okada, Kenzo, 1902-1982  Search this

Interviewer:

Selvig, Forrest  Search this

Names:

Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku  Search this

Giacometti, Alberto, 1901-1966  Search this

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953  Search this

Laurencin, Marie, 1883-1956  Search this

Parsons, Betty  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980  Search this

Tobey, Mark  Search this

Tomlin, Bradley Walker, 1899-1953  Search this

Extent:

44 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Date:

1968 November 22

Scope and Contents:

Interview of Kenzo Okada conducted 1968 November 22, by Forrest Selvig, for the Archives of American Art.

Okada discusses his background; wanting to be a painter since age 15 and his father being against the idea; attending Tokyo Fine Arts University and studying Western art tradition there; going to Paris in 1924 to study on his own; meeting Alberto Giacometti in Paris; returning to Japan in 1927; interest in Western art; exhibiting in Japan; his painting style; coming to the United States in 1950; and appreciating Japan and Japanese culture. Okada mentions Marie Laurencin, Bradley Tomlin, Clyfford Still, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Betty Parsons, Mark Rothko, Nishita (Japanese philosopher), and Mark Tobey.

Biographical / Historical:

Kenzo Okada (1902-1982) was a Japanese American painter based in New York City, New York.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art's 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.

Occupation:

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

Topic:

Asian American art  Search this

Asian American artists  Search this

Japanese American art  Search this

Japanese American artists  Search this

Asian American painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Identifier:

AAA.okada68

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-okada68

Creator:

National Academy of Design (U.S.)  Search this

Names:

American Federation of Arts  Search this

Abbey, Edwin Austin, 1852-1911  Search this

Durand, Asher Brown, 1796-1886  Search this

Lanyon, Ellen  Search this

Ranger, Henry Ward, 1858-1916  Search this

Extent:

92.7 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Interviews

Date:

1817-2012

Summary:

The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.

Scope and Contents:

The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.

The Academy minutes and committee files consist of official, original, and transcribed proceedings for the council, annual, business, and some committee meetings, as well as related correspondence, reports, financial documents, notes, drafts, and ballots pertaining to the Academy's administration and activities from its 1825 founding until 2006. As an organization actively engaged in the development of art and art education in the United States, the Academy minutes and committee files are a valuable resource on subjects and topics in the Academy's history; in particular, its founding, administration, school, and exhibition program.

Director files date from 1942-1990 and document the activities of four of the Academy's chief administrators, including Vernon Porter (1950-1966), Earl Tyler (1966-1967), Alice Melrose (1967-1977), and John H. Dobkin (1978-1990). Items include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and printed material.

Annual reports, dating from 1828-2003, summarize the activities of the Academy over the course of a year, and may include presidents' reports, treasurers' reports, audits of financial operations by public accountants, and printed annual reports containing summaries from multiple council officers. Information pertains to the year's activities including finances, exhibitions, membership, the school, committee activities, awards, and other business.

Academy constitutions date from 1826-2012 and include the printed constitutions and by-laws as well as constitutional proposals. Constitutions and by-laws name the current council officials, professors, academicians, associates, and honorary members, and state the mission and guidelines for operation in regards to membership, officers, annual meetings, elections, school, exhibitions, and how the constitution can be amended or altered. Constitutional proposals contain amendment drafts, alterations, and related correspondence.

Council officer files, dating from 1848-1980, contain the correspondence and subjects files of Academy officers—presidents, vice presidents, corresponding secretaries, and treasurers—concerning all matters of Academy business and operations including membership, gifts and funds, the federal charter, exhibitions, juries, the school, scholarships, committee affairs, anniversaries, publicity, administrative matters, resignations, and relationships with other organizations.

General administrative files date from 1825-1982 and include ledgers, certificates, correspondence, and legal documents pertaining to the Academy's founding, building, financial accounts, art collection, and other administrative matters.

Exhibition files, dating from 1826-2003, document the Academy's long exhibition history and includes annual, gallery, special, and museum exhibitions. Files may include exhibition catalogs, photographs, press clippings, sales records, and correspondence related to jury selection, awards and prizes, and logistical planning. Files pertaining to the Academy's annual exhibitions comprise a bulk of the series. Held since 1826, the Annuals were organized and curated by Academy members, and considered to be an important and sweeping survey of contemporary American art.

Gifts and funding files date from 1860-2009 and include financial documents, ledgers, legal material, and correspondence concerning the bequests, endowments, donations, and other gifts that financed the operations of the Academy and school. A significant number of records pertain to the Abbey Trust Fund and the Archer M. Hunting Fund.

Membership files, 1826-2012, document Academy members, honorary members, fellows, and the nominations and elections whereby members were voted into the Academy. Materials include registers, certificates, nomination ledgers and proposals, candidate biographies, and ballots.

The National Academy Association files date from 1911-1959 and contain a constitution, plan, and agreement, as well as correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports for the Association, incorporated in 1912 with the aim to erect a building shared by several New York art societies. At the time of incorporation, the Association consisted of members from the National Academy of Design, American Water Color Society, American Institute of Architects, Architectural League of New York, New York Water Color Club, National Sculpture Society, Municipal Art Society, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, Mural Painters, Society of Illustrators, and a number of city representatives and citizens.

The Ranger Fund assignment files, 1919-2008, document the distribution of artworks by living American artists to institutions throughout the United States, in accordance with the will of Henry Ward Ranger. The Ranger Fund was initiated to stimulate public interest in the work of contemporary American painters in 1919, when the Academy received a bequest from Henry Ward Ranger, totaling $400,000. Ranger stated in his will that the capital should be invested and the income used as a purchase fund to facilitate gifts of paintings by living American artists to arts institutions throughout the United States. Files document the assignment of particular works of art to institutions through the official agreement, related correspondence, and in some instances, photographs of the artwork.

Extensive school records, dating from 1826-2008, contain administrative files, enrollment records, course files, student affairs files, and printed material documenting all aspects of the school's activities aligned with the Academy's mission to educate aspiring professional artists. A bulk of this series consists of student course registrations, documented in registers, then on index cards beginning in the 1930s. While information collected varied over the decades, registrations document student names and the year, and may additionally include course name, instructor, and cost.

Twenty Academy scrapbooks document the organization's activities from 1828-1939 and include clippings and ephemera. Three of the scrapbooks are devoted to specific topics, including one for the Society of American Artists, one for both the Society of American Artists and the Society of American Fakirs, and one for the Academy's centennial exhibition.

The Society of American Artists files, 1878-1906, document the formation of the Society as a departure from the Academy in 1877, its independent operations and activities, and its eventual consolidation with the Academy in 1906. The Society's members have included Edwin Abbey, James Carroll Beckwith, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, George Inness Jr., John La Farge, Albert Pinkham Ryder, among many others.

Files from other organizations date from 1817-1997 and may include correspondence, ledgers, and printed material. Many of these organizations had business with the Academy, and records pertain to events, meetings, and exhibitions. Notable organizations include the American Academy of Fine Arts, American Federation of Arts, American Watercolor Society, Art Students League, Fine Arts Federation of New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Etching Club, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Salmagundi Club.

Oral history transcripts date from 2002-2007. Eight comprehensive interviews, conducted by Avis Berman for the Academy, are with Academy members and cover all aspects of the artists' lives, including family, early life, beginning career, mentors, contemporaries, influences, patrons, awards, residencies, as well as the artists' relationship with the Academy. The interview transcripts provide first-hand accounts of the organization, particularly from circa 1940 up to the time of the interview. Artists interviewed include Will Barnet, Hyman Bloom, Richard Haas, Ellen Lanyon, Jules Olitski, Bernard Olshan, Paul Resika, and Dorothea Rockburne.

Photographic material, dating from 1845-2010, includes a wide variety of formats and processes including 19th and 20th photographic prints, glass plate negatives, copy prints, contact sheets, slides, and 35mm negatives. Subjects include artists and others associated with the Academy, the school, exhibitions and events, Academy buildings, artwork, and reference photographs. Many 19th century photographs contain descriptive annotations. Supplementary inventories and guides prepared by Academy archivists are scattered throughout the series.

Artist files date from 1826-2004 and include the correspondence, writings, manuscripts, diaries, exhibition catalogs, and clippings of many notable artists involved with the Academy, including Asher B. Durand and Rembrandt Peale. Of particular note are two notebooks Durand gifted to the Academy, both containing notes and sketches from anatomy lectures.

While printed material is scattered throughout, the final series collects a small number of additional announcements, brochures, clippings, illustrations, and other ephemera not filed in other series.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as nineteen series.

Series 1: Minutes and Committee Files, 1825-2006 (11.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-11, BV 100-106)

Series 2: Director Files, 1942-1990 (0.5 linear feet; Box 11)

Series 3: Annual Reports, 1828-2003, circa 2010 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 11-13, OV 139-142)

Series 4: Constitutions, 1826-2012 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 13-14)

Series 5: Council Officers, 1848-1980 (4 linear feet; Boxes 14-18)

Series 6: General Administration, 1825-1982 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 18, 126)

Series 7: Exhibitions, 1826-2003, 2008 (14.4 linear feet; Boxes 18-33)

Series 8: Gifts and Funding, 1860-2009 (4.1 linear feet; Boxes 33-37)

Series 9: Membership, 1826-2012 (3.4 linear feet; Boxes 37-39, 127-131)

Series 10: National Academy Association, 1911-1959 (0.4 linear feet; Box 39)

Series 11: Ranger Fund Assignments, 1919-2008 (4.3 linear feet; Boxes 39-44)

Series 12: School, 1826-2008 (28.5 linear feet; Boxes 44-56, 68-99)

Series 13: Scrapbooks, 1828-1939 (4 linear feet; Box 56, BV 107-125)

Series 14: Society of American Artists, 1878-1906 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 56-57)

Series 15: Other Organizations, 1817-1997 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 57-59, 131)

Series 16: Oral History Transcripts, 2002-2007 (0.7 linear feet; Box 59)

Series 17: Photographic Material, 1845-2010 (6.1 linear feet; Boxes 60-63, 131-138, OV 143-144)

Series 18: Artist Files, 1826-2004 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 63-66)

Series 19: Printed Material, 1839-1954 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 67, 131, OV 145)

Biographical / Historical:

The National Academy of Design (1825- ) based in New York City, is a tripartite organization consisting of a membership body of artists, a school, and an exhibition program. The Academy was founded in 1825 by a group of professional artists with the mission to promote the fine arts in America through exhibition and education. Originally named the New York Drawing Association, the Academy was the first organization in the United States established and managed by professional artists. Samuel F.B. Morse, the Academy's first president, was influenced by the organization of the Royal Academy in London, which was comprised of professional artist members and elected government council, an art school, and a venue for exhibitions. After unsuccessful negotiations to unite with the American Academy of Fine Arts, the New York Drawing Association reformed as the National Academy of The Arts of Design on January 19, 1826. Among the founders were mostly young artists who became prominent figures in American art, including Frederick S. Agate, Thomas Cole, Thomas S. Cummings, Asher B. Durand, John Frazee, Charles C. Ingham, Henry Inman, Gerlando Marsiglia, Samuel F. B. Morse, Samuel L. Waldo, and Charles Cushing Wright.

The first Academy members were elected in January 1826, and levels of membership were established shortly thereafter. Originally there were four levels of Academy membership: associates, academicians, artists, and honorary corresponding members. The category of artists was eliminated in 1829, and the honorary member category, established to recognize American artists living outside New York, distinguished foreign artists, and patrons and friends of the Academy, was eliminated in 1862 (the constitution was not amended with this change until 1896). Since 1869, the residency requirement for election to active membership was eliminated and membership was opened to all American artists. In 1920, the classification of honorary corresponding member was re-introduced to recognize representatives of other national academies. With the 1997 constitution, the honorary corresponding member classification was again eliminated, and in 1994 the associate category was eliminated.

Artists are proposed for membership by academicians through the membership committee and are elected for life by a sixty percent majority, based on recognized excellence and significant contributions to the field. Procedures and rules for nominating and choosing new academicians changed over the years, as detailed in the constitutions. Associates were at one time required to present a portrait of themselves upon election and academicians were required to provide an additional representative work upon election. With the elimination of the category of associate in 1994, only one representative work is currently required. These works of art become part of the Academy's permanent collection.

The original classes of professional artists were painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving. These professional classes were modified over the years. In 1936 the engraving class was made more comprehensive, including all of the graphic arts. Watercolor was added as a class in 1943 and was codified in the 1945 constitution. However, the division into five distinct classes started to create difficulties in how specific works of art were to be categorized. In 1981 the council eased the rules regarding separate media classification so that members could submit a work in any medium to the annual exhibitions regardless of the class to which they had been elected. The constitution of 1994 restated four professional classes—painting, sculpture, graphics, and architecture—which were further reduced in the 2011 constitution to two: visual arts and architecture.

Until 2009, the governing body of the Academy was the council. The seven officers of the council were president, vice-president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, corresponding secretary, assistant corresponding secretary and recording secretary, all of whom were required to be academicians. In 2009, a new constitution provided for a board of governors, replacing the council. The five officers of the board of governors are chair, vice-chair, president, vice-president, and treasurer. Only the offices of president and vice-president are required to be held by academicians.

Central to the Academy's mission, the school began with an anatomy lecture for the New York Drawing Association, delivered by Dr. Frederick G. King in November 1825. The first drawing session took place in November 1826 in the Old Alms House at City Hall Park with two academicians and twenty students. In the school's early years, professional artists met with students to draw from plaster casts of antique sculpture in the academic tradition. Both lectures and studio training were central the school's early curricula. Life classes, the practice of drawing from live models, were introduced in 1837, but only to advanced male students. A life class for women was not instituted until 1857, even though women were allowed membership to the Academy since its beginning. Due to financial difficulties at the Academy, the school was forced to move locations and shut down its operations for extended periods. Mounting dissatisfaction and frustration led several students and Lemuel E. Wilmarth, one of the school's leaders and first full-time professional instructor, to leave the Academy in 1875 and form a new school, the Art Students League. While charging tuition was unpopular, the Academy realized that it was necessary to ensure the school's sustainability, and implemented fee structures with varying success over the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th. Eventually, tuition was established by 1951, when the school was reopened at a new location, 5th Avenue and 89th Street.

Exhibitions have always been an important activity for the Academy, even prior to the opening of the National Academy Museum in 1979. Since 1826, the Academy has held annual exhibitions intended to reflect contemporary art currents in America. Any American artist was eligible to submit work to be reviewed by a jury of selection, comprised of academicians. Throughout the 19th century, the annual exhibitions at the Academy were one of the most significant and influential in the country. The selection process for these exhibitions was a critical topic, at times actively discussed in the press, and continually undergoing modification and change. In addition to the Annuals, the galleries of the Academy were often rented or loaned to outside organizations such as the American Watercolor Society, Audubon Artists, and the National Association of Women Artists. The galleries also mounted special exhibitions curated by its members and hosted a certain number of travelling exhibitions organized by other museums or art organizations. The museum, opened in 1979, hosted and presented major exhibitions, many focusing on historic European subjects.

Official Names of the Academy 1825-2017

1825 -- The New York Drawing Association

1826 -- The National Academy of The Arts of Design

1828 -- The National Academy of Design

1997 -- The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Art

2017 -- The National Academy of Design

National Academy of Design Meeting, Exhibition, and School Locations

1826 -- Old Alms House at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan

1827-1830 -- Chambers Street over the Arcade Baths

1831-1840 -- Corner of Nassau and Beckman Streets, the Mercantile Library on the third floor of Clinton Hall

1841 to 1849 -- 346 Broadway (at Leonard Street), the third and fourth floors of the New York Society Library

1850-1854 -- 663 Broadway, where the Academy erected a suite of six galleries

1855-1856 -- 548 Broadway (over Dr. Chapin's Church)

1857 -- 663 Broadway

1858-1861 -- 10th Street and 4th Avenue, the upper floor of a building

1861-1863 -- 625 Broadway, the Institute of Art

1865-1899 -- 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South)

1899-1940 -- 109th Street and Amsterdam Avenue; exhibition galleries at 215 West 57th Street

1940-2017 -- 1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street

Provenance:

The bulk of the collection was donated by the National Academy of Design in 2018. The trustees' ledger book in series 6 was donated in 1979 by Warder Cadbury of the Adirondack Museum; it is unclear how Cadbury acquired the ledger. Microfilm reels 798-799 containing transcriptions of minutes were given to the Archives by Lois Fink in 1974.

Restrictions:

This bulk of this collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Function:

Art Schools -- New York (State) -- New York

Arts organizations -- New York (State) -- New York

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Interviews

Citation:

National Academy of Design records, 1817-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.natiacad

See more items in:

National Academy of Design records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-natiacad

Creator:

Moy, Seong  Search this

Extent:

0.7 Linear feet ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1946-1970

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence, sketches, clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, a few photographs and miscellaneous papers. Correspondence is mostly with museum, gallery, and university officials about the sale and exhibition of his work, appreciation of gifts, competitions, teaching appointments, and reproductions. In addition, there is a brief article about his woodcut technique and a description of his New York studio.

Correspondents include L.A. Audrain, P.N. Bowle-Evans, M.F.P. Boys, Margaret Cogswell, Mike Cohn, Fleur Cowles, Charles E. Damiani, David Durst, Peter Floud, Gordon W. Gilkey, Theodore J.H. Gusten, Una E. Johnson, Jacob Kainen, Fiske Kimball, Yeffe Kimball, Dwight Kirsch, E. Kolb, Ruth Lawrence, Frank Lieberman, Margaret Lowengrund, Robert H. Luck, Helen Macy, Betty Maurstad, Porter McCray, Margaret McKellar, Hermon More, Evelyn G. Morel, Reginald Neal, Edward A. Norman, Muriel Oxenburg, Edwin C. Rae, John Ross, Carl O. Schniewind, Gertrude Shibley, Herbert W. Simpson, Eloise Spaeth, Caryl Steinberg, Frederick A. Sweet, Soichi Tominaga, Helen Treadwell, Arthur R. Upgren, Vaclav Vytlacil, Hudson Walker, Gordon B. Washburn, Robert C. Weaver, Tetsuo Yamada, Marion Zeckendorf, and Carl Zigrosser.

Biographical / Historical:

Seong Moy (1921-2013) was a Chinese American painter and printmaker based in New York City, New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Moy was born in Canton, China. He studied at the St. Paul School of Art, Hans Hofmann School of Art and the Art Students League. He was also the director of the Seong Moy School of Painting and Graphics, Provincetown, Massachusetts in the summer.

Provenance:

Donated 1982 by Seong Moy.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Occupation:

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

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

Topic:

Asian American art  Search this

Asian American artists  Search this

Chinese American art  Search this

Chinese American artists  Search this

Asian American painters  Search this

Asian American printmakers  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.moyseon

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-moyseon