United States -- Politics and government -- 1933-1945
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
Date:
1902-1960
bulk 1932-1942
Summary:
The Edward Bruce papers measure 8.9 linear feet and date from 1902 to 1960, with the bulk of the material dating from 1932 to 1942. The collection documents Bruce's work as an artist, art collector, exhibition juror, and federal government art administrator, particularly his tenure as Director of the U. S. Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts. Well over one-half of the collection consists of extensive correspondence with artists, art collectors and dealers, arts associations, galleries, and government officials, including President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Scope and Content Note:
The Edward Bruce papers measure 8.9 linear feet and date from 1902 to 1960, with the bulk of the material dating from 1932 to 1942. The collection documents Bruce's work as an artist, art collector, exhibition juror, and federal government art administrator, particularly his tenure as Director of the U. S. Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts. Well over one-half of the collection consists of extensive correspondence with many notable artists and government officials. Also found is scattered biographical material, office diaries and speeches, personal financial material, printed material, four scrapbooks, and photographs.
A small amount of biographical material includes birth records and many awards and certificates. Bruce's correspondence files comprise over half of this collection, containing correspondence with family, friends, artists, art organizations, political figures, museums, art galleries, and government agencies. Found within the files is extensive correspondence with friend and art critic Leo Stein and artist friend Maurice Sterne. Additional artists Bruce corresponded with include George Biddle, Adrian Dornbush, and Olin Dows. Also included is correspondence documenting his career as Chief of the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts with government colleagues and officials, much of it concerning his role on various federal arts committees, including the Commission of Fine Arts. There is also extensive correspondence with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt concerning federal and public art projects.
Writings include office diaries and notebooks containing notes, addresses, lists of Section of Fine Arts projects, and dated work entries. There are copies of numerous written speeches given by Bruce on the importance of art, public art projects, and political issues. Financial material consists of a small number of items documenting Bruce's financial activity such as tax and insurance records, bills, a cash book, and house leases. Printed material documents Edward Bruce's career as an artist and federal arts projects and programs. Found are news clippings and magazine articles, exhibition catalogs, brochures, bulletins from the Section of Fine Arts, published speeches, and miscellaneous publications. Four scrapbooks contain news clippings, letters, photographs, and other printed material highlighting Bruce's career.
Extensive photographs include photographs of Bruce's artwork, portraits of Bruce, the Bruces with family and with friends and at many special events, including an NBC radio broadcast and at an exhibition with Eleanor Roosevelt. There are also photographs taken by Bruce during his travels and while living in Anticoli Carrado, Italy.
Arrangement:
The Edward Bruce collection is arranged into 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1904-1938 (Box 1, OV 11; 3 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1921-1957 (Boxes 1-6; 5.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1931-1942 (Box 6; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 4: Financial Material, circa 1909-1913, circa 1928-1943(Box 6, 0.3 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1919, circa 1926-1943, 1960 (Box 7, 0.5 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1922-1941 (Box 7-8; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1902-1943 (Box 7, 9-10; 1.0 linear foot)
Although the collection no longer matches the exact filmed order, large groups of materials have been maintained in film order, particularly the correspondence. Microfilm reel and frame number notations are provided at the folder level when known.
Biographical Note:
Edward Bruce was born in 1879 in Dover Plains, New York. Though he enjoyed painting at a young age, he pursued a career in law and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1904. He practiced law in New York and in Manila, Philippines and was actively involved in international issues. He became president of the Pacific Development Corporation of California, was a lobbyist for the Philippine Independence Bill, and, in 1933, attended the London Economic Conference as a silver expert.
In 1923 Bruce gave up his career in law and business and began to paint, particularly landscapes. He and his wife Peggy spent the next six years in Anticoli Carrado, Italy where he studied painting from his friend and fellow artist Maurice Sterne. Bruce returned to the United States in 1929 and settled in California, exhibiting his artwork to much public and critical praise. In addition, Bruce was an avid collector of Chinese art.
In 1933 Bruce was appointed Chief of the newly established Public Works of Art Project, a federal government New Deal program within the U.S. Treasury Department, that employed artists to decorate numerous public buildings and parks. Though this federal program lasted less than a year, Bruce worked with Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., to establish the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture in 1934 - later renamed the Section of Fine Arts in 1938. Bruce was appointed Director of the department and played a primary role in securing federal government support for American artists. In 1940 he was appointed to the Commission of Fine Arts by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Bruce received many honors and awards during his lifetime both for his work as an artist and for his capable and dedicated administration of federal arts programs. Despite poor health, he continued his work for the Section of Fine Arts until shortly before his death in 1943.
Related Material:
Other resources in the Archives relating to Edward Bruce include an oral history interview with Margaret (Peggy) Bruce on October 11, 1963 conducted by Harlan Phillips. Miscellaneous Manuscript Collections include one file of material, 1933-1960, concerning Edward Bruce that was donated by the U.S. General Services Administration in 1986 and microfilmed on reel 3960.
Also available at the Archives are two collections of records loaned by the U.S. National Archives from their Public Buildings Administration records and the records of the Public Works of Art Project for microfilming by the Archives. Microfilm reels DC1-DC 13 and DC116-DC128 contain Edward Bruce's files and correspondence, respectively.
Separated Material:
A book Art in Federal Buildings by Forbes Watson and Edward Bruce was donated to AAA with Bruce's papers and microfilmed with the rest of collection on Microfilm Reel D91-D92, and then transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library.
Provenance:
The Edward Bruce papers were donated by Margaret (Peggy) Bruce, Edward Bruce's wife, in 1962. Additional printed material, financial records, and photographs of artwork were donated by Mrs. Bruce's niece, Maria Ealand in 1979.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. The collection is partially microfilmed. Use of material not microfilmed 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.
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945 -- California -- San Francisco
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- California -- San Francisco
Date:
1934-1964
Scope and Contents:
Miscellaneous correspondence of Walter Heil, regional director of PWAP, 1934; form letters from Edward Bruce, national director; and a typescript reminiscence of the PWAP and a letter from Ray Strong addressed to Mary McChesney and dated 1964.[Microfilm title, "Ray Strong"]
Biographical / Historical:
Federally funded art project of the Treasury Department initiated in order to provide jobs for unemployed artists during the Depression. Under the PWAP the country was divided into 16 regions each of which had its own director who answered to the national director in Washington, D.C. The PWAP was succeeded by the Section of Painting and Sculpture, which subsequently became the Section of Fine Arts.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by the M.H. De Young Museum.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
New Deal, 1933-1939 -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Federal aid to the public welfare -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Art and state -- California -- San Francisco Search this
One letter to Fisher from Joseph Allen, state director, Northern California Federal Art Project; a photograph of Fisher; and four photographs of her work.
Biographical / Historical:
Bernice Fisher is a ceramist and painter from San Francisco, Calif. Painted canvases and created ceramics for the Federal Art Project.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1965 by Bernice Fisher.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Ceramicists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
An interview of Alfred Victor Frankenstein conducted 1965 Nov. 9, by Mary McChesney, for the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project.
Frankenstein speaks of the WPA mural project and its value; problems with the project; Hans Hofmann's influence; the influence of surrealism; the Coit Tower murals and the controversy surrounding them; the easel painting project and its value; political problems with the Federal Art Project; the project's relevance to current problems; art in architecture; the Index of American Design. He recalls Beniamino Bufano.
Biographical / Historical:
Alfred Victor Frankenstein (1906-1981) was an art historian from San Francisco, Calif.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- California -- Interviews Search this
2 Reels (ca.20 items (on partial microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reels
Place:
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945 -- California -- Oakland -- Photographs
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- California -- Oakland -- Photographs
Date:
1934-1958
Scope and Contents:
Photographs and clippings.
Reel NDA 1: Photographs of marble panels for the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland, California done for the Federal Art Project.
Reel NDA 3(frames 21-30): Newpaper clippings from San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles papers on Simpson's murals and mosaics, 1934 and 1958.[untitled on microfilm]
Biographical / Historical:
Marian Simpson (1899-1978) was a painter and mosaicist from Berkeley, Calif. Worked on the Federal Art Project of the Work Projects Administration.
Provenance:
Material on reel NDA 1 lent for microfilming 1964 by Marian Simpson; and material on reel NDA 3 lent 1964 by Lewis Ferbrache.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Photographs of Kingman, his family, and his work; and a New Yorker article about him.
Biographical / Historical:
Dong Kingman (1911-2000) was a Chinese American painter and illustrator based in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. Kingman taught at Columbia University and Hunter College. He worked for the Works Progress Administration.
Related Materials:
Dong Kinman papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
The lender, Lewis Ferbrache, collected papers for AAA from artists and administrators of the various government funded art programs of the Depression. It was part of a larger nation-wide, collecting project, "New Deal and the Arts."
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945 -- California
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- California
Date:
1939-1942
Scope and Contents:
Typescripts, correspondence, clippings, photographs, and building plans.
Reel NDA 10: Clippings, photographs, building plans, and blueprints relating to the mural decoration of Fort Ord, California, Enlisted Men's Club for the Federal Art Project by artists Carlton Lehman and Merlin Hardy; and a report from Florence Kerr and a document relating to work of the supervisors of WPA and FAP projects [The report and document are under the microfilm title Florence Kerr];
and a FAP publication, WPA GOVERNMENT AID DURING THE DEPRESSION TO PROFESSIONAL, TECHNICAL, AND OTHER SERVICE WORKERS, 1936, by Grace Overmyer [Microfilm title Grace Overmyer].
Reel NDA 14: Typescript of an article by Adele Stackpole, "Relief Again? What Will You Get for What They Give?" in which she is critical of the WPA; and CALIFORNIA'S MEDICAL STORY IN FRESNO, anon., 1939, which includes illustrations of Bernard Zakheim's murals for the medical school in Fresno; a clipping, and articles by him and his wife; and group photograph of supervisors, artists and assistants in the FAP in San Francisco, April 1936.[Microfilm titles Adele Stackpole, Bernard Zakheim, and WPA-FAP, San Francisco]
Biographical / Historical:
Supervisor, Federal Art Project, Northern California. Supervised the decoration of the Fort Ord's Enlisted Men's Club, which was the last large Federal Art Project and WPA building project in Northern California.
Other Title:
WPA-FAP, San Francisco [microfilm title]
Overmyer, Grace [microfilm title]
Stackpole, Adele [microfilm title]
Zakheim, Bernard [microfilm title]
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by Dorothy Collins.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945 -- California -- San Francisco
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- California -- San Francisco
Date:
1938-1941
Scope and Contents:
Publicity, correspondence, clippings, photographs, travel receipts, and telegrams relating to the dedication of the Noah's Ark murals by Dorothy Puccinelli and Helen Forbes at Fleishacker Mother's House in San Francisco Zoo; and correspondence, field reports, committee lists, publicity, photographs relating to National Art Week in Northern California.
Biographical / Historical:
Director of Information, Federal Art Project; Northern California.
Provenance:
The materials microfilmed are from the files of Arthur Painter, but were loaned to AAA through Lewis Ferbrache who was a collector for AAA's "New Deal and the Arts" project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Reels 3028-3030: Biographical data; correspondence with Ernest Blumenschein, Adolf Dehn, Loren Mozley, Georgia O'Keeffe and others; a transcript of an interview with Hunter's widow, Virginia Hunter Ewing, Janaury 7, 1964, regarding Hunter's tenure as State Director for the Federal Art Program of WPA in New Mexico; illustrated typescripts of Hunter's manuscripts; price lists and appraisals of his work; 4 undated sketchbooks of figure studies; annotated drawings of furniture, interior designs and mural studies; a scrapbook, 1925-1960, of newspaper clippings and other printed material; exhibition catalogs; magazine clippings; photos of Hunter, his paintings and murals, and his interior design for the Officer's Club, Army Air Base, Clovis, New Mexico.
Reel NDA 1: Press clippings and a memorial bulletin from the Roswell Museum in New Mexico where he was an administrator.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, administrator and designer; Sante Fe, New Mexico. State director of the Federal Art Project of the Work Projects Administration, a federally aided project to provide employment to artists during the Depression.
Provenance:
The lender, Mrs. Ewing, is the widow of Hunter. Material on reel NDA 1 lent by Mrs. Ewing.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview of Ben Cunningham conducted 1964 October 24, by Harlan Phillips for the Archives of American Art.
Cunningham speaks of his early career in San Francisco during the Depression; the art market there; working as a muralist in the Federal Art Project; political and media problems encountered by the project, including strikes by workers; the work of the Index of American Design in California; working on naval architecture during Work War II; and his philosophies about painting. He recalls Joseph Danysh, William Gaskin, and Hilaire Hiler.
Biographical / Historical:
Ben Cunningham (1904-1975) was a painter, educator, and mural painter in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 8 min.
Sound quality is poor.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Federal Art Project (Calif.) -- Photographs Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
Date:
circa 1937-1941
Scope and Contents:
137 b&w photographs compiled by Ferdinand Perret relating to the WPA Southern California Art Project. Depicted are the WPA-FAP Print Department, Los Angeles; Canoga Park petrachrome in progress, 1940; George Washington High School petrachrome in progress; Long Beach Municipal Auditorium tile mosaic; petrachrome seal of Santa Monica, Santa Monica City Hall, 1941; and works of art by Paul Babcock, Glenn Bannister, Grace Clements, Henry Gilbert de Kruif, Ethel Evans, Miriam Farrington, Lorser Feitelson, Henry Helmle, Donal Hord, E.D. Horsky, Harold Gebhardt, Paul Julian, Albert King, Ludwig Kuszewski, Paul Hambleton Landacre, Henry Lion, Helen Lundeberg, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Buckley MacGurrin, Benjamin Newton Messick, Marjorie Morse, Jean Swiggett, Harry Mann Waddell, and others. Many of the photographs are duplicates. Also found is a letter from California artist, Benjamin Messick to Perret regarding printed material for Perret's research libary.
Biographical / Historical:
Perret was a painter and art restorer whose work led him to begin serious art research. He amassed a large collection of material relating to California art and artists.
Related Materials:
The Ferdinand Perret research material on California art and artists collection is located at the Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian American Art Museum Library.
Provenance:
Transferred in 1993 and 2015 from the National Museum of American Art Library, where it been received in 1949 as part of the Ferdinand Perret Research Library of the Arts and Affiliated Sciences.
Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Topic:
Art, American -- California -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- California -- Photographs Search this
Typescript of Danysh's unpublished reminiscences regarding his experiences in the 1930s as Western Regional Director of the WPA Federal Art Project. Notes and drafts are also included. Danysh provides candid portraits of many WPA artists and administrators.
Biographical / Historical:
Died 1984.
Provenance:
Donated 1988 by Elizabeth D. Danysh, Danysh's widow.
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.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
28 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 October 4
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Beniamino Bufano conducted 1965 October 4 by Mary McChesney, for the Archives of American Art.
Bufano speaks of his work at the San Francisco World's Fair of 1915; other early sculpture work; other media he worked in early in his career; his education; bureaucratic and political problems and scandals in the later years of the project; the politics that surround the placement of statues; President Kennedy's programs for the arts; the future of federally supported art programs.
Biographical / Historical:
Beniamino Bufano (1898-1970) was a sculptor in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 39 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
0.6 Linear feet ((ca. 165 items))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1935-1943
Scope and Contents:
Photographs of artists at work and photographs of their works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
The Federal Art Project (FAP) fell under the jurisdiction of Federal Project No. 1 of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was established in May 1935 specifically as a work relief program for the millions of individuals left unemployed during the Depression. Its name changed to the Work Projects Administration in 1939 when it fell under the administrative hand of the newly created Federal Works Agency. The FAP was created in August 1935 to aid unemployed artists, following the precedent set by the Public Works of Art Project and other Treasury department art relief projects. The 48 states and territories were divided into regions and administered through the regional office.
Provenance:
Donated 1975 by Richard Russell.
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.
Topic:
New Deal, 1933-1939 -- California -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- California -- Photographs Search this
Art and state -- California -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to public welfare -- California -- Photographs Search this
8.5 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 11 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1896-1987
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, photographs, exhibition materials, scrapbooks, journals, printed matter, essays, gallery records and other business records, and miscellaneous papers.
REELS 3799-3806: A resume; a travel journal; an address book; appointment books; passports for Marcelle Labaudt; correspondence, including 3 illustrated Christmas cards from Walt Kuhn and letters from Edward Rowan about Lucien Labaudt's murals for the Los Angeles post office for the Section of Fine Arts; notes on costume design, geometry, and metric color scales; writings by Lucien Labaudt, including "Color Constructions--Opticolormetry", 1940; 4 sketchbooks and 70 sketches by Labaudt; prints and drawings by others; scrapbook on history of costume design; announcements; programs; reproductions; printed material concerning Labaudt's California School of Design; records of the San Francisco Women Artists organization; minutes of the Artists' Council kept by Marcelle Labaudt; artist files; guest registers; ledgers 1929 and 1939-1949, and financial records, 1943-1980, for the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery; clippings; photographs of Labaudt's family, 1911-1981; of works of art, 1913-1968; and stage and costume design.
REEL 1052: Correspondence relating to the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery and to Lucien and Marcelle; photographs (many undated and unidentified) of a gallery opening, 1950 of Max Hages, two paintings by Fred Martin, and two by R. Kaess; manuscript material; biographical material on artists who exhibited at the gallery; catalogs and announcements; printed material; and clippings.
UNMICROFILMED: Biographical material regarding Marcelle Labaudt's education; correspondence, 1901-1979, with friends and associates, including Alvyne Maisonneuve, Yliane Remy, Henry and Ann Varnum Poor, Charmian London, Millard Sheets and Richard Diebenkorn (1 letter, 1950); Marcelle Labaudt's travel diary kept on a trip to France, undated; art works, undated, including a sketchbook and illustrated letter by Lucien and an unsigned print; exhibition catalogs and clippings regarding the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery; photographs, slides and negatives, 1896-1976, of friends, family and art works, and an album of photographs of Lucien's works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Lucien Labaudt was a painter, muralist, costume and set designer. He also ran a commercial art school called the California School of Design. After his death in 1943, on assignment as a war artist correspondent, his wife, Marcelle Labaudt, established the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery in San Francisco, California. She specialized in giving younger or relatively unknown artists their first exhibitions and operated the gallery until 1980.
Provenance:
Donated by Marcelle Labaudt 1974-1976, and after her death by her estate through her step-sister and executor, Simone M. Berges, 1984. After Berges' death in 1988, an additional installment was received via Berges' sister-in-law, Jill Alexander.
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.
0.9 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
4.3 Linear feet (Addition)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Date:
1927-1981
Scope and Contents:
Art works, biographical material, correspondence, an interview, exhibition material, writings, and printed materials.
REELS 3978-3979: Biographical material; letters from Selden Gile, 1927-1928, photocopies of letters from Siegriest to Mae Westaway, 1951-1956, and other letters; a typescript of an essay, "The Society of Six," by Edward Dora; a transcript of an interview with Siegriest conducted by Corinne Gilb, 1954; photographs of Siegriest, Edna Stoddart, Hazel Guggenheim, and others; financial and legal documents; and exhibition catalogs, announcements, clippings and other printed material.
UNMICROFILMED: Works of art by Siegriest, including 3 progressive proofs and 37 completed silkscreen posters for the Indian Court Federal Building, Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939; a signed silkscreen poster for the Frontiers of American Art National Exhibition, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, 1939; and nine signed studies for posters. Many of the posters were done for the Federal Art Project.
ADDITION: Correspondence, clippings, catalogs, announcements, personal photographs, junior high school notebooks, and family papers.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and graphic artist; Oakland, California.
Other Title:
Louis Siegriest and Edna Stoddart papers (microfilm title)
Provenance:
Donated 1980-1981 by Louis Siegriest, and in 1992 by the Siegriest estate via Suzanne Westaway, executor.
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.
Addition: Unmicrofilmed; use requires an appointment and is limited to AAA's Washington, DC, office.
An interview of Edward Biberman conducted 1964 April 15, by Betty Hoag, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Biberman speaks of his background and education; his early painting career; the influence of the Mexican muralists, especially Jose Clemente Orozco, upon him; coming to California; teaching at the Art Center School; murals he painted for the Los Angeles Post Office; serving on the jury to select a mural design for the Social Security Administration Building in Washington; his work methods, and how he researched the subject matter for his murals; the Federal Art Project's contribution to art in California and art in general; his opinions about government support for the arts. He recalls Diego Rivera.
Biographical / Historical:
Edward Biberman (1904-1986) was a painter, printmaker, and mural painter from Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 53 min.
Interviews of Stanton Macdonald-Wright, and Charles Rogers are also on this tape.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Muralists -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Blazek speaks of his childhood in Baltimore; early art and music training; commercial art; ceramics; working with aluminum; his move to Los Angeles; works completed for federal projects; his paintings of California missions; the lack of government censorship; and the value of federal projects. He recalls David Ebstrom, Lorser Feitelson, and Stanton Macdonald-Wright.
Biographical / Historical:
Anton Blazek (1902-1974) was a painter and sculptor in Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 22 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945 -- California
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- California
Date:
[ca. 1940]
Scope and Contents:
Photographs of Howard and his paintings and a critique; and analysis by Sidney Peterson.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Northern California. Painted for the Federal Art Project in California.
Provenance:
The lender, Lewis Ferbrache, was an administrator of the Oakland Museum of Art and collected materials relating to federally funded art projects for AAA during its New Deal and the Arts project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview of Merle Armitage conducted 1964 February 6, by Sylvia Loomis, for the Archives of American Art.
Armitage speaks of his role as Public Works of Art Project regional chairman of Southern California, including his supervision of 126 artists involved in painting, drawing, sculpture, lithography and mural projects; experimental work in PWAP easel painting projects; censorship of subject matter in a mural for the Frank Wiggins Trade School; his opposition to government subsidized art programs; his impressions of Edward Bruce, Dalzell Hatfield, James Milford Zornes, and others associated with the PWAP. Armitage also speaks of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and contemporary book design.
Biographical / Historical:
Merle Armitage (1893-1975) was an art administrator and graphic artist of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 48 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
