The papers of art collectors, art patrons, and philanthropists Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman measure 4.9 linear feet and date from 1837 to 1984, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1935-1979. The papers are comprised mostly of correspondence with artists, museums, and arts organizations. Also found are scattered biographical materials, artists' autograph letters purchased by the Fleischmans, exhibition files, notes and writings, printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art collectors, art patrons, and philanthropists Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman measure 4.9 linear feet and date from 1837 to 1984, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1935-1979. The papers are comprised mostly of correspondence with artists, museums, and arts organizations. Also found are scattered biographical materials, artists' autograph letters purchased by the Fleischmans, exhibition files, notes and writings, printed material, and photographs.
One folder of biographical material includes a biographical account and a certificate of appreciation from the Common Council for the City of Detroit.
The bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence documenting the Fleischman's art related activities and interests primarily during the 1950s and 1960s. Individual correspondents include Aaron Bohrod, Charles E. Burchfield, Charles B. Culver, Philip Evergood, Earl Krentzin, John Marin, Jr., Abraham Rattner and Esther Gentle, Peter Pollack, Edgar P. and Constance Richardson, Charles Coleman Sellers, and Franklin Watkins. One letter from Charles E. Burchfield includes four etching plates used to create the color print of Hot September Wind.
Arts organizations and galleries represented in the correspondence include the American Federation of Arts, the Archives of American Art, the Arts Commission of the City of Detroit, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Detroit Institute of Art, Kennedy Galleries, M. Knoedler and Co., Inc., Kraushaar Galleries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Midtown Galleries, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the School of the Society of Arts and Crafts, the United States Information Agency, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Winterthur Museum.
Autograph letters purchased by the Fleischmans include letters written by artists Washington Allston (addressed to Thomas Sully), Albert Pinkham Ryder, and John Taylor Arms.
Exhibition files document the various exhibitions of art work from the Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman Collection at the University of Michigan Museum of Art; the Detroit Institute of Art; in Central and South America; in Greece, Israel and Russia; and at the Milwaukee Art Center. The files contain letters, notes, printed material, and photographs.
Three folders of notes and writings include "Introduction to Earl Krentzin Catalog" by Lawrence Fleischman and "Selection of Excerpts from the Soviet Press and Radio Attacking U. S. Culture" by unidentified authors.
Scattered printed material includes miscellaneous clippings and catalogs not connected with the Exhibition Files series. There is also a book John Marin: The Man and his Work by E. M. Benson that was autographed by Marin to the Fleischmans in 1953.
Photographs include portrait photographs of Lawrence Fleischman, photographs of Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman with colleagues, of art work from the Fleischman Collection, of Truman and Grace Bailey in their studio, and a copy photograph of Thomas Eakins as a boy.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1958 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1949-1984 (Boxes 1-4, 7; 3.8 linear feet)
Series 3: Autograph Letters, 1837-1942 (Box 4; 4 folders)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1953-1960 (Boxes 4-5, 7; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1957-1962 (Box 5; 3 folders)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1935-1969 (Box 5-6; 6 folders)
Series 7: Photographs, 1953-1965 (Box 6; 13 folders)
Biographical / Historical:
Lawrence Fleischman (1925-1997) of New York City was an American art collector, patron, philanthropist, and benefactor. He and his wife, Barbara Greenberg Fleischman, assembled an impressive collection of art and artifacts that they shared with the public as part of their philanthropic activities aimed at fostering a wider appreciation of the arts around the world.
Lawrence Fleischman was born on February 14, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Stella and Arthur Fleischman, the owner of a large carpet business. He attended the Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois, and studied engineering at Purdue University. In 1942, he interrupted his studies to volunteer for service in the U.S. Army during World War II. While serving in France, he met a doctor who further fostered Fleischman's ever growing interest in American art. Following the war, he graduated with a degree in physics from the University of Detroit. Fleischman met Barbara Greenberg in Detroit and they were married in 1948.
Beginning in the late 1940s, Fleischman established a fledgling television station, developed holdings in real estate, and began purchasing art work. Initially the Fleischmans collected undervalued 20th century American art and were friends with several artists, including John Marin, Charles Burchfield, Stuart Davis, and Ben Shahn. They also expanded the scope of their collection to include 19th century American works.
During the 1950s, Lawrence Fleischman realized how there were few American art historians and college departments, as well as a lack of primary source material. Fleischman worked with Edgar P. Richardson, then director of the Detroit Institute of Art, to raise funds and they founded the Archives of American Art at the Detroit Institute of Art in 1954. The Archives of American Art was, and still is, dedicated to the collection, preservation, and study of primary source records that document the history of the visual arts in the United States. Lawrence A. Fleischman is a founding Trustee of the AAA and served as the Chairman of the Board from 1958 to 1966. His wife, Barbara joined the Board of Trustees in 1997 and served as Chair from 2003 to 2007. She is a Trustee Emerita.
Lawrence Fleischman's business and philanthropic interests included the Arthur Fleischman Carpet Company, the Lee Plaza Hotel-Motel in Detroit, Art Adventurers, the Art School of the Society of Arts and Crafts in Detroit, the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Cultural Committee of the United States Information Agency, and the Art Commission of Detroit, which governed the Detroit Institute of Art. He also served as an officer of the Board for many of the arts-related organizations.
In 1996, the Fleischmans moved their family from Detroit to New York City, where Lawrence Fleischman became a partner in the Kennedy Galleries.
The Fleischmans philanthropic activities include generous support of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Art, the Cleveland Museum, the British Museum, the Vatican Museum, and lifelong support of the Archives of American Art.
Lawrence Fleischman died on January 31, 1997 in London, England. Barbara Fleischman lives in New York City and continues to be an active supporter of the visual arts.
Related Materials:
Among the Archives holdings are two oral history interviews with Lawrence A. Fleischman. The first was conducted by Paul Cummings in 1970 and the second conducted by Gail Stavitsky in 1994 . Both interviews have transcripts available.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming, the majority of which was later donated, except for five letters on reel D197. These include one postcard from Constance Richardson, 1956; one letter from Constance Richardson, 1957; one letter from Franklin Watkins, 1955; one letter from Lawrence Fleischman to Wilbur H. Hunter, 1960; and one letter from Richard D. Tucker, 1960. This material remains with lender and is not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman papers were donated in several accretions by Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman from 1954 to 2007. Letters were also loaned for microfilming in 1965, but nearly all of them were subsequently donated.
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.
The collection consists of 8,515 color slides taken by Dr. Marilyn Houlberg during various field studies among the Yoruba in southwest Nigeria between 1961 and circa 2007. The images depict Yoruba art and culture with a special focus on artisans, art objects, body arts, costume, festivals, hairstyles, indigenous photography, weaving and textiles. Cultural events depicted include Balufon festivals, Egungun and Gelede masquerades, social events (weddings, christenings, funerals), and religious ceremonies (initiation and animal sacrifice). Also included are various scenes of daily life, architecture, food preparation, markets, portraits and landscapes. Houlberg extensively documented Yoruba artists in the process of creating their art, including carvers Yesufu Ejigboye, Runshewe, and Lamidi Fakeye, as well as the final pieces themselves. Houlberg documentated art in situ, such as Yoruba house posts, shrines, wall art and wood doors and art objects, including Gelede masks, Ibeji (twin) and Eshu figures, Osanyin staffs, and Ogboni and Shango shrines. Manuscript and printed materials, including Houlberg's resume, thesis, and numerous published articles are also available in this collection.
Scope and Contents note:
This 6,567 slide collection documents Houlberg's studies in Southwestern Nigeria spanning from 1961 to circa 2005. In 2015, Houlberg donated an additional 1,948 color slides to the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives. These slides have been added to the EEPA 2005-002 finding aid, bringing the total to 8,515 slides.
The collection primarily includes photos of people, including the Ogboni, Pokot, Yoruba, Turkana and Igbo, shrines, festivals and rituals, art objects, and artists. A particular strength of the collection are photos of Balufon festivals, Egungun and Gelede masquerades, social events (weddings, christenings, funerals), and religious ceremonies (initiation and animal sacrifice). Also included are various scenes of daily life, architecture, food preparation, markets, portraits and landscapes. Houlberg mostly photographed in Ilishan, Ikenne, Ilara, Shagamu, Lagos, Ijebu-Ode, and Egbe.
Houlberg extensively documented Yoruba artists in the process of creating their art, including carvers Yesufu Ejigboye, Runshewe, and Lamidi Fakeye, as well as the final pieces themselves. Houlberg documentated art in situ, such as Yoruba house posts, shrines, wall art, wood doors and art objects, including Gelede masks, Ibeji (twin) and Eshu figures, Osanyin staffs, and Ogboni and Shango shrines. Several Yoruba art forms, including photography, scarification tattoos, and textiles (both cloth and dress), are represented in the collection. Additionally, there are numerous slides of Yoruba hairstyles, many of which she published in her article, Social Hair: Tradition and Change in Yoruba Hairstyles in Southwestern Nigeria.
Yoruba ritual specialists, such as Ife-olu Solaru, Olufunke, and Yesufu Ejigboye, appear frequently throughout the collection. Houlberg documented her many stays with these individuals over the years.
There is also one binder of manuscript and printed materials, including Houlberg's resume, thesis, and numerous published articles.
Arrangement note:
The collection is organized into 29 series according to subject. The series descriptions correspond with particular subjects used in Houlberg's teaching and lectures, and based on donor's notes. All slides were kept in the order in which they were donated.
Series 1: African Hairstyles, circa 1973-1994 (Binder 1; 212 slides)
Series 2: Egungun Festival, 1961-circa 1988 (Binder 1; 362 slides)
Series 3: Gelede, circa 1969-circa 1989 (Binder 2; 301 slides)
Series 4: Ibeji Twins, circa 1969-circa 1990 (Binders 2-3; 854 slides)
Series 5: Ogboni Art Objects and Shrines, circa 1969-circa 1982 (Binder 4; 92 slides)
Series 6: Art Objects Depicting Ogun, circa 1969-circa 1983 (Binder 4; 56 slides)
Series 7: Olojufoforo Art and Festivities, circa 1968-circa 1975 (Binder 4; 21 slides)
Series 8: Yoruba People, Architecture, and Art, circa 1969-circa 1985 (Binder 4; 260 slides)
Series 9: Carving, Art Objects and Artists, and Scenes of Daily Life, circa 1973-circa 1988 (Binder 4; 201 slides)
Series 10: Yoruba Art, circa 1971-circa 1983 (Binder 5; 49 slides)
Series 11: Yoruba Textiles, circa 1973-circa 1983 (Binder 5; 84 slides)
Series 12: Yoruba, Miscellaneous, circa 1967-circa 1989 (Binder 5; 251 slides)
Series 13: African Art, Textiles People, and Dwellings, circa 1963-circa 1983 (Binder 6; 58 slides)
Series 14: Ibo Mbari and Igbo Peoples and Artwork, circa 1967-circa 1985 (Binder 6; 212 slides)
Series 15: Art and Ceremonies, circa 1967-circa 1991 (Binder 6; 493 slides)
Series 16: Body Arts, Nuba People (Sudan) and Fulani and Bororo People (Niger), circa 1973-circa 1979 (Binder 7; 64 slides)
Series 17: People, Scenic Views and Animals of Kenya, Sudan, Angola, and Ghana, circa 1972-circa 1985 (Binder 7; 168 slides)
Series 18: Peoples and Arts of Ghana, Mali, and the Ivory Coast, circa 1966-circa 1992 (Binder 7; 406 slides)
Series 19: Published Maps and Photos, circa 1968-circa 1985 (Binder 8; 70 slides)
Series 20: Nigerian Masks and Art Objects, circa 1967-circa 1978 (Binder 8; 396 slides)
Series 21: Yoruba Festivals, People, and Art in Nigeria, circa 1967-circa 1988 (Binders 8-9; 128 slides)
Series 22: Yoruba Photography and Textiles, circa 1975-circa 1983 (Binder 9; 54 slides)
Series 23: Ife-Olu, Ilishan, circa 1980-circa 1988 (Binder 9; 87 slides)
Series 24: Yoruba Festivals, People, Hairstyles, Ibeji Objects, Eshu Figures, and Oya and Orishala Priests, Priestesses, and Shrines, circa 1966-circa 1988 (Binder 9; 168 slides)
Series 25: Shango, circa 1970-circa 1983 (Binder 10, 162 slides)
Series 26: Ara Festival, 1975 (Binder 10; 174 slides)
Series 27: Ceremonies and Festivals, Portraits, Art and Ceremonial Objects, Domestic and Market Scenes, circa 1969-circa 2005 (Binders 10-11; 759 slides)
Series 28: Yoruba Art Objects, and Domestic, Work, and Festival Scenes, circa 1971-circa 1983 (Binder 11; 104 slides)
Series 29: Manuscript and Printed Materials, 1973-circa 2005 (Binder 12)
Biographical/Historical note:
Artist, anthropologist, and art historian Dr. Marilyn Hammersley Houlberg was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1939. Houlberg received an Associate of Arts degree from Wright Junior College (1959) and a BFA from the University of Chicago (1963). After graduating, she traveled to North Africa and explored Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. In 1964, Houlberg researched Haitian art, religion, and indigenous photography in Haiti and in 1965 was awarded a scholarship for graduate study from the University of Chicago. There she completed her MAT in Art History in 1967. Following graduation, Houlberg worked at the Nigerian Museum in Lagos, where she documented Yoruba sculpture, masquerades, religion, body art, and indigenous photography.
She began her teaching career at the University of Chicago as a lecturer on African art and African civilization, working there from 1971 to 1973. At the University of London, Houlberg earned a Masters in Anthropology, producing the thesis Yoruba Twin Sculpture and Ritual (1973). She also extensively photographed her travels abroad in Yorubaland. Between 1974 and 1990, Houlberg taught at the University of Chicago, Columbia College, Kalamazoo College, and Northwestern University. From 1974 to 2008 she continued teaching at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, lecturing on Yoruba art and ritual in West Africa and the New World, and the art and ritual of Vodou in Haiti.
Houlberg has lectured worldwide at numerous museums and symposiums since 1972, including in Lagos, Nigeria; Jacmel, Haiti; Toronto, Canada; Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; and Cologne, Germany. Her essays have been published in several issues of African Arts. Some of Houlberg's significant publications include Arts of the Water Spirits of Haitian Vodou, in Sacred Waters: Arts for Mami Wata and Other Divinities in Africa and the Diaspora (2008) and Water Spirits of Haitian Vodou: Lasiren, Queen of Mermaids, in Mami-Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and the African-Atlantic World (2008). The exhibition Mami-Wata at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art (2009) featured her photographs.
Provenance:
Marilyn Houlberg, 733 West 18th St., Chicago, IL 60616, Donation, 20050320, 2005-0002
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Avis Berman research material on Juliana Force measures 12.3 linear feet and dates from circa 1930-2020. The papers document Berman's research for her book Rebels on Eigth Street: Juliana Force and the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1990. Included is correspondence, writings, printed material, audio visual material, transcripts of interviews, administrative and sales records, and photographs. Photographs consist of 93 Rieser/Force family photographs, 45 photographs of Barley Sheaf Farm, Juliana Force's residence in Holicong, Pa., and a photograph album containing 23 images of "Cobweb," Force's cottage in Rosemary Lane, Haddenham, Bucks, England. Also included are 88 contemporary and reproduction photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
Avis Berman (1949- ) is a writer and art historian in New York, N.Y. Berman wrote the book Rebels on Eighth Street: Juliana Force and the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1990.
Provenance:
Donated in 2020 and 2021 by Avis Berman.
Restrictions:
This collection is temporarily closed to researchers due to archival processing. 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.
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own in the following material: all writings by Avis Berman.
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Bequest of Frank B. Bristow) The Corcoran Gallery of Art, one of the country’s first private museums, was established in 1869 to promote art and American genius. In 2014 the Works from the Corcoran Collection were distributed to institutions in Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Robins Pennell, New York, N.Y. letter to G. William Patten, Dorchester, Mass, 1931 July 2. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Woodbury, Charles H. (Charles Herbert), 1864-1940 Search this
Extent:
6 Sound tape reels (Sound recording, 5 in.)
307 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound tape reels
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1979 Aug. 30-1980 Nov. 7
Scope and Contents:
An interview of John Davis Hatch conducted 1979 Aug. 30- 1980 Nov. 7, by Robert F. Brown for the Archives of American Art.
Hatch recalls his childhood in California and training as a landscape architect, including an apprenticeship with Lockwood de Forest. He discusses his appointment as director of the Gallery of Fine Arts in Seattle at age 21 and his efforts there to develop an Asian focus for the museum and cultivate artists of the region, including Mark Tobey, Dudley Pratt, Kenneth Callahan, Emily Carr, Jose de Creeft, Frederick Varley, and Avard Fairbanks. He describes his interest in studying museums across the country and abroad and the roles played in the museum scene by the American Federation of Arts and the Museum Directors Association.
Hatch recalls his work as assistant director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and as director of government art projects in New England in the 1930s, when he worked with Edward Bruce, Oscar Bluemner, Charles Woodbury, John Wharf, and Laura Coombs Hills, among others. He describes an attempt to form the American Artists Depository, a precursor to the Archives of American Art, and his activities collecting American drawings, organizing travelling exhibitions, and promoting American art history as a discipline.
Hatch speaks of his tenure as director of the Albany Institute of History and Art and his efforts to advance an appreciation of local Dutch history and the work of Thomas Cole. He remembers encounters with Henry Francis Du Pont and Charles Franklin Montgomery. Hatch describes the start of his teaching career in Oregon and his involvement with local artists C.S. Price, Carl Morris, and Ludvik Durchanek. He talks about a stint as director of the Norfolk (Va.) Museum of Arts and Sciences and his work as a consultant to museums, especially as it pertained to the development of arts programs at black colleges in the South.
Hatch concludes with a discussion of museums near his home in Lenox, including the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and the Berkshire Museum.
Biographical / Historical:
John Hatch (1907-1996) was an art historian, collector, art consultant, and museum director.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Art historians -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
The papers of Cincinnati art historian, museum director, and Audubon and Peale scholar, Edward H. Dwight (1919-1981), measure 18.6 linear feet and date from 1821-2001, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950-1979. Dwight's papers include biographical material, writings by Dwight, and research files on John James Audubon, Raphaelle Peale, and others, documenting Dwight's extensive contribution to the study of American painting, particularly naturalist, portrait, and still-life painting.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Cincinnati art historian, museum director, and Audubon and Peale scholar, Edward H. Dwight (1919-1981), measure 18.6 linear feet and date from 1821-2001, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950-1979. Dwight's papers include biographical material, writings by Dwight, and research files on John James Audubon, Raphaelle Peale, and others, documenting Dwight's extensive contribution to the study of American painting, particularly naturalist, portrait, and still life painting.
Dwight's biographical material includes two address books, a calendar, a small amount of personal correspondence including letters and postcards from Schomer and Ruth Lichtner, and printed material documenting his work as a museum curator and director.
Writings and notes include correspondence about Dwight's writings, drafts and typescripts of articles on Audubon and other artists, and lecture notes.
The bulk of the collection comprises Dwight's research material on Audubon and includes correspondence related to his research with scholars, collectors, publications, museums, and libraries, including: the American Museum of Natural History, the Audubon Society, the Cincinnati Historical Society, the Louisiana State Museum, Annie R. coffin, Waldemar H. Fries, John Francis McDermott, and the collections of G. Edmund Gifford, Jr., Paul F. Laning, and Morris Tyler.
Copies of Audubon's correspondence, including letters from Audubon's father-in-law, Benjamin Bakewell, son Victor G. Audubon, and grandchildren, form a substantial portion of Dwight's research files. Notes and card files reflecting Dwight's research by categories such as life event, activity, geographical area, and subject of study, further illuminate his research and provide cross references to the Audubon letters and other material.
Data compiled and supplemented with reproductions of Audubon's artwork forms another substantial portion of Dwight's research, and provides detailed information about individual Audubon works and works attributed to him.
Dwight's subject files on Audubon house collated research on individuals, subjects, and events that intersected with Audubon's life and work, as well as Audubon research from other sources and scholars. They include copies of documents, such as the journal of Audubon collaborator John G Bell, and a scrapbook of granddaughter, Maria Audubon; documents relating to Audubon collaborators such as John Bachman and Maria Martin; material related to collections of Audubon's work; and information concerning editions of his prints, such as the Havell Edition, engraved and hand-colored by the firm of Robert Havell Sr. and Jr. in the 1830s.
Printed material used by Dwight in his research includes original American newspapers, from states including New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, dating from 1821 to the 1870s, which include articles on Audubon, as well as later magazines, journals, catalogs, and news clippings on Audubon. A small number of photographs, slide transparencies, and negatives of Audubon's artwork can be found at the end of the series.
Dwight's research material on Raphaelle Peale, Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, James Peale, and other Peale family members, includes correspondence requesting and responding to requests for information; material collated by subject on Peale collectors, family history, miniatures, portraits, silhouettes, still lifes, and other subjects; and photographs of artwork.
Other research files document Dwight's interest in other artists such as Aaron H. Corwine, Robert S. Duncanson, and artists from the Cincinnati area in general. They include catalogs of data compiled on individual works of art, subject files, notes and index card files, printed material, and photographs of artwork. Of special note are eleven issues of John Held, Jr.'s, mail art correspondence sent to Dwight by the Mohammed Center for Restricted Communications.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as five series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1944-1980 (8 folders; Box 1, OV 20)
Series 2: Writings and Notes, 1954-circa 1979 (0.9 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Audubon Research Material, 1821-circa 1979 (13 linear feet; Boxes 1-14, OVs 20-23)
Series 4: Peale Research Material, circa 1930-2001 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 14-16)
Series 5: Other Research, 1881-1980 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 16-19)
Biographical / Historical:
Cincinnati art historian and museum director, Edward H. Dwight (1919-1981), conducted extensive research on American painting, in particular the works of John James Audubon, Charles Willson Peale, and Raphaelle Peale. He was also credited with rediscovering the Cincinnati artist, Aaron H. Corwine.
Dwight attended Yale and Cornell Universities, and studied art at the Cincinnati Art Academy and the School of Fine Arts of Washington University, St. Louis. From 1946 he held posts, including curator of American Art, at the Cincinnati Art Museum, until becoming director of the Milwaukee Art Center in 1955. In 1962 he left Milwaukee to direct the Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute Museum of Art, where he remained until the end of his career. He was the author of numerous articles for publications including Antiques, Audubon, Art in America, The Art Gallery, The Art Quarterly, and Canadian Art, and lectured widely on contemporary art, Spanish painting, and American painting.
In 1955 Dwight published the article "Aaron Houghton Corwine: Cincinnati Artist" in Antiques magazine. With this, and the exhibition, Rediscoveries in American Painting (1955), which he launched at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Dwight revived interest in this all but forgotten painter.
Dwight wrote many scholarly articles on Audubon's life and work throughout his career, in addition to writing catalogs for, and curating, exhibitions of Audubon's work. In 1960 he was awarded a $7,500 fellowship from the Ford foundation to pursue a reevaluation of Audubon, and to reexamine some long-held assumptions and exagerrations about Audubon's life and personality. He focused primarily on the artist-naturalist's original drawings and paintings, especially portraits and pictures of birds, animal life, and insects. Dwight was awarded an additional fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1973, to continue his research on Audubon.
Dwight was an accomplished photographer and his work was included in at least eight exhibitions from 1951 to 1972, including two one-man exhibitions at Louisiana State University (1952), and Weyhe Gallery (1972).
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with S. Lane Faison, 1981 December 14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
