The papers of educator, painter, and art historian William C. Seitz measure 32.5 linear feet and date from circa 1930-1995. The collection includes biographical information, correspondence, notebooks, subject and people files, thesis research files, interviews and lecture recordings, teaching files, personal business records, scattered printed materials, photographs, and artwork. The bulk of the papers focus on Seitz's research and teaching career.
Scope and Contents note:
The papers of educator, painter, and art historian William C. Seitz measure 32.5 linear feet and date from circa 1930-1995. The collection includes biographical information, correspondence, notebooks, subject and people files, thesis research files, interviews and lecture recordings, teaching files, personal business records, scattered printed materials, photographs, and artwork. The bulk of the papers focus on Seitz's research and teaching career.
Biographical materials consist of resumes and CV's, identification cards including one from the WPA, documents from the memorial held at the University of Virginia for Seitz, poetry written by Irma for William on their wedding anniversaries, and x-rays.
The majority of Seitz's correspondence is professional and concerns job offers and opportunities, lectures requests, recommendation letters for Seitz and for others by Seitz, the Kress Fellowship, exhibitions, awards, and organizations. Also found are posthumus materials to Irma Seitz concerning book royalites. Personal correspondence is scattered and includes condolence letters sent to Irma.
Personal business records focus on Seitz's personal art collection, copyright information, publishing records including royalty statements, reports, scholarship and fellowship information, and professional organization membership records.
The bulk of the collection consists of research and writing files which include notebooks, subject and people files, thesis research files and drafts, general research which include writings by Seitz, card files, and recordings of lectures and interviews. Subject and people files may include correspondence, printed materials, research notes, photographs, works of art, and writings concerning and by artists, art historians, curators, subjects, and art movements. Research files are found for Dore Ashton, Alfred H. Barr Jr., William Baziotes, Bruce Conner, Rene D'Harnoncourt, Marcel Duchamp, Arshile Gorky, Adolph Gottlieb, Rockne Krebs, George Segal, James Rosati, and Frank Stella among many others. Also found are research materials on Claude Monet, some of which are written in French.
Teaching files contains extensive reference material likely used by Seitz during his career as well as correspondence, exams, and lecture materials used in specific classes.
Printed material is scattered and includes clippings, exhibition announcements, and articles. Exhibition announcements and catalogs are for Seitz's personal works and for exhibitions he curated.
The bulk of the photographs are of works of art by William Seitz, Irma Seitz, and others which were likely owned by Seitz. Also found are photographs of exhibition installations at the Univeristy of Virginia and scattered photographs of Seitz with others.
Artwork include several pencil sketches by Seitz, two works by Ellen Banks-Woodson, and a sketch by Phil Elliott.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Information, 1930s-1974 (Box 1; 7 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1945-1995 (Boxes 1-2; 1.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, circa 1947-1990 (Boxes 2-3; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 4: Research and Writing Files, 1940s-1970s (Boxes 4-26; 23.5 linear feet)
Series 5: Teaching Files, 1945-1970s (Boxes 27-31, OV 34-35; 5 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1937-1984 (Boxes 31-2; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1940s-1981 (Box 32, 33; 11 folders)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1950s-1972 (Box 32, 33; 6 folders)
Biographical/Historical note:
William C. Seitz (1914-1974) was an art historian and scholar, painter, educator, and museum curator who worked primarily in New York and Virginia. He completed the first dissertation on Abstract Expressionism while a student at Princeton University in 1955.
Born in 1914 in Buffalo, New York, Seitz studied at the Albright Art School at the University of Buffalo and the Art Institute of Buffalo. Seitz met artist Irma J. Siegelman, whom he married in 1938. Due to the Depression, he left school and worked with the Federal Arts Project in New York City in the 1930s and worked as an aircraft fuel cell deigner for the Hewitt Rubber Company during World War II. Returning to the University of Buffalo after the war, Seitz completed his undergraduate degree and remained by accepting a teaching job.
Although he saw success as a painter and exhibited in one-man shows, Seitz focused his career in academia and enrolled at Princeton University for a graduate degree in Art History. Princeton faculty held divided views on Seitz's desire to write a dissertation on the Abstract Expressionist movement and debated the subject for over a year. Seitz's dissertation topic was eventually approved and in addition to writing the first dissertation on Abstract Expressionism, Seitz received the first PhD in Modern Art from Princeton. Seitz remained at Princeton as an assistant professor and advised students such as Frank Stella.
In 1960, he accepted a job as a curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. At MOMA, Seitz curated The Art of Assemblage (1961), The Responsive Eye (1965), and an exhibition on Monet (1960). Other MOMA exhibitions focused on artists Mark Tobey, Arshile Gorky, and Hans Hofmann. Additionally, he served as director of the Rose Art Museum of Brandeis University from 1965-1970. During that time, Seitz organized the United States exhibition at the Ninth Biennial in Sao Paulo (1967) and the Seventh Biennial of Canadian Painting (1968). In 1971, Seitz returned to teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia and was the Visiting Kress Professor at the National Gallery of Art from 1972-1973.
In addition to his successes in painting, education, and the curatorial field, Seitz was an accomplished writer. He published many articles, essays, and books on art and artists including Art in the Age of Aquarius, on which he worked until his death.
William C. Seitz died of cancer in 1974.
Related Archival Materials note:
The Museum of Modern Art Archives in New York City holds the William C. Seitz papers which contain exhibition files and records relating to an interview with Marcel Duchamp. Correspondence relating to the debate concerning the viability of Seitz's dissertation are found in the Alfred H. Barr, Jr. papers also at the Museum of Modern Art Archives.
Provenance:
The William C. Seitz papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Seitz's widow, Irma Seitz, in 1975 and 2003. A transcript of an interview with Mark Tobey by Seitz was donated by Rebecca Massie Lane in 1988. Seitz gave these transcripts to Lane for her graduate work and they remined in her possession after his death.
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:
Art historians -- Virginia -- Charlottesville Search this
Topic:
Painters -- Virginia -- Charlottesville Search this
An interview of Dore Ashton conducted 2010 November 21 and 2011 March 9, by George W. Sampson, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts project, at Ashton's home, in New York, New York.
Ashton talks about growing up politically active; protesting the internment of the Japanese Americans during WWII; attending The New School and then Harvard University; briefly working as a gallery receptionist; writing her first reviews for Art Digest; Howard Devree hiring her as a writer for The New York Times; travels and living in Europe; writing feature pieces about individual artists for The New York Times; writing for Cahiers d'art; her relationships Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Philip Guston, Robert Motherwell, Billy Kluver, Robert Rauschenberg, Octavio Paz, and others; marriage to Adja Yunkers; teaching at Cooper Union; interest in Latin American Art; flirting; being a "dedicated reader of Nietzsche"; visits to the Cedar Tavern; being a peacenik; and other topics. She recalls Jeanne Reynal, Mario Pedrosa, Alger Hiss, Peter Selz, Peter Orlovsky, David Smith, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Dore Ashton (1928-2017) was an art historian in New York, New York. George W. Sampson (1951-) is an arts administrator in Charlottesville, Virginia.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 memory cards. Duration is 2 hr., 57 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Dore Ashton, 2010 November 21 - 2011 March 9. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of Virginia painter Eliot Candee Clark measure 6.14 linear feet and date from 1839 to 1984. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, 21 diaries and notebooks, writings and notes, personal business records, photographs, 9 sketchbooks, and artwork and artifacts. Many of the materials relate to Clark's travels in Europe, India, and throughout the United States.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Virginia painter Eliot Candee Clark measure 6.14 linear feet and date from 1839 to 1984. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, 21 diaries and notebooks, writings and notes, personal business records, photographs, 9 sketchbooks, and artwork and artifacts. Many of the materials relate to Clark's travels in Europe, India, and throughout the United States.
Scattered biographical materials include awards, an address book, printed material relating to various memberships, and resumes. Records of the Fowler family are also found. Clark's correspondence is with family including Walter Clark, friends, colleagues, and galleries and institutions. Notable correspondents include Leon Sparks and Andrew Wyeth.
Twenty-one volumes of diaries and notebooks are written by Clark and his wife, Margaret Fowler Clark. The diaries contain traditional dated diary entries; others document travels. The notebooks include drafts of writings, lists of artists, financial notes, sketches, and school assignments.
Writings include drafts of articles, book manuscripts, plays, and essays by Clark. A small amount of personal business records consist of legal records, price lists, receipts for personal purchases, and sales and consignment records for Clark's works of art.
Printed materials include books containing works of art by Clark, clippings, a dismantled clippings scrapbook, exhibition announcements and catalogs, magazines, and blank postcards. Photographs are of Clark, the Clark family, friends, colleagues, events, homes, and of works of art. Travel photographs are from Clark's trips to Europe, India, Morocco, and the United States.
Nine sketchbooks depict Nova Scotia, Canada, Albemarle County, Virginia, and India. Artwork and artifacts consist of scattered sketches by Clark, and prints by others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1839-1980 (5 folders; Box 1, OV7)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1874-1984 (1 linear foot; Box 1-2)
Series 3: Diaries and Notebooks, circa 1900-1977 (0.8 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 4: Writings and Notes, circa 1940-1978 (1.6 linear feet; Box 2-4)
Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1917-1983 (0.2 linear feet: Box 4)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1878-1975 (1.0 linear feet; Box 4-5)
Series 7: Photographs, 1880s-1980 (0.5 linear feet; Box 5-6, OV7, MGP2)
Series 8: Sketchbooks, 1916-1940s (0.5 linear feet; Box 6)
Series 9: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1900-circa 1940s (0.5 linear feet; Box 6, OV7)
Biographical / Historical:
Eliot Candee Clark (1883-1980) was a landscape painter, writer, and art historian who worked primarily in Virginia.
Eliot Clark was born in 1883 in New York City to artist Walter Clark and Jennie Woodruff Clark. As a child with his father's encouragement and guidance, Eliot Clark began exhibiting as early as the age of nine. submitted works to be exhibited at various New York City clubs as a child. By 1896, at the age of thirteen, he began exhibiting regularly at the National Academy of Design. In 1900, at the age of seventeen, Clark exhibited at the Society of American Artists' Annaul. At one point he even shared a studio with his father. From 1904 to 1906, he traveled throughout Europe and painted en plein air. Clark returned to the New York City area and summered in Kent, Connecticut where he continued to paint and exhibit his work. His first one-man show was at Doll & Richards Gallery in New York City.
Eliot Clark was also an art historian, critic, and educator. In 1916 Clark published his first monograph on Alexander H. Wyant. His other works included a book on John Henry Twachtman, published in 1924 and History of the National Academy of Design (1954). Clark also served as president of the American Watercolor Society between 1920 and 1923. He taught at the Art Students League in New York City but ultimately settled in Charlottesville, Virginia where he taught summer painting classes.
Throughout his life, Clark travelled throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, India, and to Africa. A lengthy trip to India from 1937 to 1938 inspired his study of the religion, mysticism, and art of the country.
Eliot Clark served as president of the National Academy of Design in the 1950s and exhibited until his death in 1980 at the age of ninety-seven. He was survived by his second wife, Margaret Fowler Clark.
Separated Materials:
The Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Libraries also holds Eliot Candee Clark papers.
Provenance:
The Eliot Candee Clark papers were donated by his widow Margaret Fowler Clark between 1980 and 1984.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of 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.
Eliot Candee Clark papers, 1839-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
