Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994 Search this
Extent:
2.9 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1937-1983
Scope and Contents:
Scrapbooks, correspondence, exhibition files, photographs, and printed materials.
REEL D181: Scrapbooks containing correspondence, clippings, reviews, and photographs relating to the Dayton Art Institute and to the Religious Art Exhibition held there in 1944.
REEL 63: Correspondence concerning a Spaeth Foundation commission to Jacques Lipchitz for a bronze bust of John F. Kennedy. Correspondents include Lipchitz, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
REEL 1201: Correspondence concerning the Spaeth Foundation Religious Art Information Center; a Foundation prospectus; letters from Thomas Merton concerning his book on sacred art; correspondence dealing with the Annual Liturgical Congress Architectural Competition, an exhibition of architectural students' work, the Woodstock Center for Religion and Worship, and other aspects of art and religion.
REEL 1817 and scanned: Photograph of Alexander Brook taken by Peter A. Juley and Son.
UNMICROFILMED: Letters from Alexander Brook, Alexander Calder, William Congdon, Andre Girard, Edward Hopper, Walt Kuhn, Grant Wood, and others; correspondence concerning the American Federation of Arts, the Archives of American Art, Guild Hall, the Spaeth Foundation, UNESCO, and other art organizations; exhibition files of the AFA containing correspondence, printed material, and photographs; files on the "Films on Art" project developed by Otto Spaeth; correspondence and a scrapbook of Otto Spaeth concerning the Liturgical Arts Society; a scrapbook on the Spaeth's art collection; printed material and photographs used in AMERICAN ART MUSEUMS; photographs of paintings by John Singleton Copley, and other works of art and exhibition installations; Correspondence with Daniel Longwell, Harris K. Prior, and Thomas Brown Rudd regarding activities of the American Federation of Arts; Correspondence and clippings, 1963-1966, regarding the Lipchitz bust of JFK; letters, 1981-1983, from critic John Russell, and art collectors, Gertrude Schweitzer, Robert Osborn and Jean de Menil; and an exhibition catalog on Rico Lebrun, 1950; a letter to Otto Spaeth from Gala Dali regarding a loan of the painting "La Naissance du Noveau Monde," 1943; writings about Walt Kuhn, and an illustrated letter to Spaeth from Walt Kuhn.
Biographical / Historical:
Eloise O. Spaeth (1902-1998) was an art collector, writer and art patron from New York, N.Y. She and husband Otto Spaeth founded the Spaeth Foundation.
Provenance:
Material on reels 63 and 1201 lent for microfilming 1971 and 1977 by Eloise Spaeth. Unmicrofilmed material donated 1966-1988 by Spaeth. Material on reel D181 lent for filming 1965 and subsequently donated in 1977.
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.
Alternative futures : challenging designs for arts philanthropy : a series of conference papers exploring arts and philanthropy in the United States today / commissioned by Grantmakers in the arts ; edited by Andrew Patner
The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers measure approximately 36.1 linear feet and date from 1851 to 1975, with the bulk of the material dating from 1888 to 1942. The collection documents the life and work of the art patron and sculptor, especially her promotion of American art and artists, her philanthropy and war relief work, her commissions for memorial sculpture, and her creative writing. Papers include correspondence, journals, writings, project files, scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, printed material, two sound recordings, and miscellaneous personal papers.
Scope and Content Note:
The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers measure approximately 36.1 linear feet and date from 1851 to 1975, with the bulk of the material dating from 1888 to 1942. The collection documents the life and work of the art patron and sculptor, especially her promotion of American art and artists, her philanthropy and war relief work, her commissions for memorial sculpture, and her creative writing. Papers include correspondence, journals, writings, project files, scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, printed material, two sound recordings, and miscellaneous personal papers.
Material relating to more personal aspects of Whitney's life include school papers, a paper doll book dating from her childhood, financial material, interviews, awards and honorary degrees, address and telephone books, committee files, and other items. Correspondence consists of incoming and outgoing letters concerning both personal and professional matters, including her patronage of the arts and sponsorship of artists, her sculpture commissions and exhibitions, and her war relief work and other philantrophic activities. Also found are family correspondence and correspondence received by the Flora Whitney Miller and the Whitney Museum of American Art after Whitney's death. Journals include personal ones that she kept periodically from the time she was a child to near the end of her life, in which she recorded her travels, her impressions of people, her experiences with friends, and her thoughts on art, among other topics; and social ones, in which she recorded dinners and dances attended, and people invited to different social gatherings, and in which she collected invitations received and accepted.
Scattered files can be found that relate to the Whitney Studio Club and the Whitney Museum of American Art, consisting of notebooks, catalogs, a financial report, and other material. Files relating to Whitney's own sculpture projects are more extensive and consist of correspondence, contracts, printed material, notes, financial material for proposed and completed commissions for fountains, memorials, and monuments. The Whitney Museum of American Art, rather than Whitney herself, seems to have kept these files. Files relating to Whitney's philanthropic activities span from the time just before to just after the First World War and consist of correspondence, minutes, reports, and printed material stemming from her contributions to charities and war relief organizations, her sponsorship of the war hospital in Juilly, France, and her support of the Greenwich House Social Settlement.
Whitney's writings include extensive drafts, and handwritten and typed manuscripts and copies of novels, plays, and stories, as well as some autobiographical and early writings, notes and writings on art, and clippings of published writings, documenting her principle means of creative expression towards the end of her life. Also found are some writings by others. Scrapbooks consist of clippings, photographs, letters and other material, compiled by Whitney, Flora Whitney Miller, and possibly others, documenting Whitney's public life, her sculpture commissions and exhibitions, exhibitions at the Whitney Studio, the war hospital in Juilly, France, the death of Harry Payne Whitney in 1930, and the sickness and death of Whitney in 1942.
Photographs include ones of the Whitney and Vanderbilt families, ones of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (including portraits taken by Baron Adolf de Meyer and Count Jean de Strelecki), ones of various Vanderbilt and Whitney residences and of Whitney's studios, ones of Whitney's sculpture exhibitions as well as exhibitions at her studio, and ones of her sculptures, as well as some miscellaneous and unidentified ones. Artwork consists of sketchbooks and sketches by Whitney (including sketches for sculptures) and artwork by others (including a sketchbook of Howard Cushing's containing a sketch of her and albums of World War I lithographs) collected by Whitney. Also found amongst the collection are printed material (clippings, exhibition catalogs, programs, and publications) and blueprints (including drawings for Whitney's studio on MacDougal Alley and various of her sculptures).
Arrangement:
The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers are arranged into twelve series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Miscellaneous Personal Papers, 1888-1947, 1975 (Boxes 1-3, 33-34, OV 42; 2.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1889-1949, 1959 (Boxes 3-9; 6 linear feet)
Series 3: Journals, circa 1886-1939 (Boxes 9-12, 33; 2.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Whitney Studio Club and Whitney Museum of American Art Files, 1921-1943 (Box 12; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Sculpture Files, 1900-1960 (bulk 1909-1942) (Boxes 12-15; 3 linear feet)
Series 6: Philanthropy Files, 1902-1923 (bulk 1915-1920) (Boxes 15-17; 2 linear feet)
Series 7: Writings, 1889-1942, 1974 (Boxes 17-26; 10 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1893-1942 (Boxes 26-27, 33, 35; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1859-1942 (Boxes 27-28, 36; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, 1862-1942 (Boxes 28-32, 36-41, OV 43-51; 6.4 linear feet)
Series 11: Artwork, 1871-1930s (Boxes 32, 41, OV 52-54; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 12: Blueprints, 1913-1945 (OV 55; 0.1 linear feet)
Biographical/Historical note:
New York art patron and sculptor, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942), was the eldest daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt, and founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Whitney was born January 9, 1875 in New York City, the. She was educated by private tutors and attended Brearley School in New York. From the time she was a young girl, she kept journals of her travels and impressions of the people she met, and engaged in creative pursuits such as sketching and writing stories. In 1896, she was married to Harry Payne Whitney. They had three children, Flora, Cornelius, and Barbara.
In 1900, Whitney began to study sculpture under Hendrik Christian Anderson, and then under James Fraser. Later, she studied with Andrew O'Connor in Paris. From the time she started studying sculpture, her interest in art grew, as did her particular concern for American art and artists. In 1907, she organized an art exhibition at the Colony Club, which included several contemporary American paintings. She also opened a studio on MacDougal Alley, which became known as the Whitney Studio and was a place where shows and prize competitions were held. (She also had other studios in Westbury, Long Island and Paris, France.) Over the years, her patronage of art included buying work, commissioning it, sponsoring it, exhibiting it, and financially supporting artists in America and abroad. From 1911 on, she was aided in her work by Juliana Force, who started out as Whitney's secretary, was responsible for art exhibitions at the Whitney Studio, and became the first director of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The first recognition Whitney received for her sculpture came in 1908 when a project on which she had collaborated (with Grosvenor Atterbury and Hugo Ballin) won a prize for best design from the Architectural League of New York. The following year she received a commission to do a fountain sculpture for the Pan-American Building in Washington, D. C. She went on to do numerous other commissioned works over the next several decades, including: a fountain for the New Arlington Hotel in Washington D.C. (the design of which was reproduced in various sizes and materials, one cast being submitted to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition where it won a bronze medal and a later cast being installed on the campus of McGill University, Montreal, Canada in 1930); the Titanic Memorial (designed in 1913 and erected in 1930); the Buffalo Bill Memorial (1924) in Cody, Wyoming; the Columbus Memorial (1929) in Port of Palos, Spain; the Peter Stuyvesant statue in Stuyvesant Square (1939); and The Spirit of Flight (1939) for the New York World's Fair. In 1916, she had her first one-man show at the Whitney Studio, another at the Newport Art Association, and a retrospective at the San Francisco Art Association Palace of Fine Arts. A traveling exhibition in the Midwest followed in 1918.
During the First World War, Whitney was involved with numerous war relief activities, most notably establishing and supporting a hospital in Juilly, France. She made several trips to France during the war, keeping a journal and eventually publishing a piece on the hospital in several newspapers. Her sculpture during this period was largely focused on war themes. In 1919, she exhibited some of these works at the Whitney Studio in a show called "Impressions of War." In the years after the war, she was also commissioned to do several war memorials, including the Washington Heights War Memorial (1922) and the St. Nazaire Memorial (1926) commemmorating the landing of the American Expeditionary Force in France in 1917.
In 1918, Whitney opened the Whitney Studio Club, which served as pioneering organization for American art, putting on exhibition programs and offering social space and recreational amenities to its members (one point numbering over four hundred artists living in New York). She planned an "Overseas Exhibition" of American art, which traveled to Paris and other European cities in 1920-1921, and had her own shows in Paris and London in 1921. In 1928, the Whitney Studio Club was transformed into an art gallery, known as the Whitney Studio Galleries and directed by Juliana Force, which eventually became the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1931.
Whitney pursued creative writing throughout her life, but beginning in the 1930s writing became her principle means of creative expression. Over the years, she produced numerous manuscripts for stories, novels, and play. One novel, Walking the Dusk, was published in 1932 under the pseudonym L. J. Webb. Beginning in 1940, Whitney took a "Professional Writing" course at Columbia University with Helen Hull, which resulted in the production of numerous short stories. In 1941, she collaborated with Ronald Bodley to adapt one of her stories as a play and attempted to get it produced, although unsuccessfully.
In 1934, Whitney was involved in a custody battle for her niece, Gloria Vanderbilt (daughter of her late brother, Reginald Vanderbilt and his wife, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt). In an agreement reached by the court, custody was awarded to Whitney and visitation rights to Gloria's mother. Litigation continued in the ensuing years.
In 1935, Whitney established the World's Fair Five Organization, with Juliana Force and four architects, to work on preparing a plan for the site of the 1939 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadow, although the fair's own Board of Design ended up coming up with its own plan.
Whitney continued her work in sculpture, writing, art patronage, and philanthropy throughout the remaining years of her life. She died on April 18, 1942.
Related Archival Materials note:
Related material found in the Archives includes Research Material on Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney compiled by Flora Miller Irving and the Whitney Museum of American Art artists' files and records, available on microfilm only (originals are located in the Whitney Museum of American Art). Also found in the Archives of American Art's Miscellaneous Exhibition Catalog Collection are a bundle of Whitney Studio Club and Mrs. H. P. Whitney's Studio catalogs and announcements.
Provenance:
The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers were donated in 1981 and 1991 by Whitney's granddaughter, Flora Miller Irving.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. 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:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Philanthropists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Art patrons -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The scattered papers documenting the activities of pre-World War II Chicago art patron Josephine Hancock Logan measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1939 to 1974. The papers also relate to her husband, Frank G. Logan, and the Society for Sanity in Art and were compiled by Gloria Kolodny Chanenson. Found are printed materials, a mailing list, photographs, and printed poetry by Logan.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers documenting the activities of pre-World War II Chicago art patron Josephine Hancock Logan measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1939 to 1974. The papers also relate to her husband, Frank G. Logan, and the Society for Sanity in Art and were compiled by Gloria Kolodny Chanenson. Found are printed materials, a mailing list, photographs, and printed poetry by Logan.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Arts administrator Gloria Kolodny Chanenson (1920-2010) was a scholarship student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. From 1938-1943, she was the secretary of Josephine Hancock Logan.
Josephine Hancock Logan (1862-1943) was prominent art patron from Chicago, Illinois. She was an opponent of modernism who founded the Society for Sanity in Art in 1936.
Provenance:
Donated 1988 by Gloria K. Chanenson.
Restrictions:
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.
Correspondence, 1953-1973, with the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art regarding, among other topics, purchase funds established for each museum by the Larry L. Aldrich Foundation, Inc., including lists of works of art approved for acquisition, and invoices; correspondence regarding Aldrich's private collection, including purchase invoices and cancelled checks, shipping and loan paperwork, and information on works from the collection consigned for sale at auction in 1963; printed material and exhibition catalogs from the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, 1964-1971; and 9 photographs, including works from Aldrich's private collection (2 photographs), works acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (4 photographs), and 4 views of the Aldrich Museum.
Biographical / Historical:
Collector; New York, N.Y.; b. 1906; d. 2001
Provenance:
Donated 1972-1973 by Larry Aldrich.
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.
An interview of James and Beth Arient conducted 1988 April 27-29, by Betty Blum, for the Archives of American Art.
The Arients describe their backgrounds and talk about their initial interest in art and early collecting, their philosophy of collecting, their discovery of Eskimo sculpture and their first awareness of folk art. They comment on meeting Howard Finster and their subsequent relationship with him, Finster's relationship with collector Jeff Camp, the marketability of folk art, a 1987 exhibition of part of their collection at Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, and folk art patronage. They recall William Dawson and Derek Webster.
Biographical / Historical:
James Arient (1946-) and Beth Arient (1946-) are folk art collectors from Chicago, Illinois. James Arient is a dentist.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 29 min.
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.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Interviews Search this
Folk art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
This collection is temporarily closed to researchers due to archival processing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Writings by Patricia Hills: The donor has retained all intellectual rights, including copyright, that she may own.
Collection Citation:
Patricia Hills Papers, circa 1900-2022, bulk 1968-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The Organization of Independent Artists records measure 28.4 linear feet and date from circa 1970s to circa 2003. The records include administrative records, correspondence, exhibition and installation files, artists' files, financial and legal records, printed material, seven scrapbooks, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The Organization of Independent Artists records measure 28.4 linear feet and date from circa 1970s to circa 2003. The records include administrative records, correspondence, exhibition and installation files, artists' files, financial and legal records, printed material, seven scrapbooks, and photographs.
Administrative records include scattered files about the board of directors/trustees, the advisory board, membership, events, gallery rental space, loans, other organizations, and the general history of the OIA. Also found are exhibitions lists, schedules, and proposals, as well as drafts of OIA printed materials. Correspondence with artists, board members, donors, financial institutions, and other organizations is found in many of the files.
Exhibition and installation files comprise the bulk of the records and include files for the Annual OIA Salon Show, the OIA Sculpture Garden assembled annually on the grounds of the Manhattan Psychiatric Center on Ward's Island, several shows of Selections from the Slide Files, as well as numerous other group exhibitions and installations.
The artists' files contain a variety of materials, including photographs, and are found for Hera, Tom Klem, Mary Shaffer and a few others. Financial and legal records document the organization's many grant applications, invoices and bills paid, tax materials, and legal issues. Printed materials include OIA newsletters, show announcements and brochures, and exhibition materials and clippings. There is one clippings scrapbook and six scrapbooks of exhibition materials. Photographs depict exhibitions and installations as well as artwork; additional photographs of exhibitions are also filed with the exhibition files.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Administrative Records, circa 1976-2002 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-4)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1976-2002 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)
Series 3: Exhibition and Installation Files, circa 1970s-circa 2003 (13 linear feet; Boxes 5-18)
Series 4: Artists' Files, circa 1980s-circa 1990s (0.2 linear feet; Box 18)
Series 5: Financial and Legal Records, circa 1970s-circa 2002 (6.9 linear feet; Boxes 18-25, 29)
Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1970s-circa 2002 (3.1 linear feet; Boxes 25-29, OV30)
Series 7: Scrapbooks, circa 1977-2000 (0.7 linear feet; Box 28)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1980s-circa 1990s (0.2 linear feet; Box 28-29)
Biographical / Historical:
The Organization of Independent Artists (OIA) is a non-profit arts organization founded in 1976 by Warren Tanner, Arnold Wechsler, and Renee Meyer. The organization's mission is to sponsor artist-curated group shows and enable exhibitions of emerging and mid-career artists in public spaces throughout the New York City area outside of the usual commercial and alternative gallery venues.
OIA activities have included organizing public space exhibitions and displays of artwork, publishing a quarterly newsletter, maintaining a slide registry of artists' work and extensive artists' mailing lists, and arranging studio tours. The Arts in Public Spaces Program was initiated in 1976 with the passage of the Public Buildings Cooperative Usage Act, a public law that encourages the use of public space in federal buildings for cultural and educational activities. Participating professional artists have included Thornton Willis, Joan Thorne, Vincent Longo, Mimi Gross Grooms, Hannah Wilke, Nancy Spero, Richard Mock, and Joyce Kozloff, among others. By 1986, OIA had facilitated the display of more than 5,000 works of art in forty public exhibition sites, which included courthouses, libraries, building lobbies, public parks, college campuses, and hospital grounds in all five boroughs of New York City, and over 2,000 artists had participated it its Art in Public Spaces program.
Other exhibition collaborations have included Cork Gallery at Lincoln Center, General Services Administration, John F. Kennedy Airport, Long Island University in Brooklyn, Longwood Arts Center in the Bronx, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Port Authority Bus Terminal, Queens Museum in Flushing Meadow Park, Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island, U.S. Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, and the grounds of the South Beach Psychiatric Center on Staten Island. Since 1979, the annual OIA Sculpture Garden at the Manhattan Psychiatric Center on Ward's Island has afforded hundreds of artists the opportunity to construct and install large-scale outdoor work in an urban environment, and many artists have received individual commissions, one-person shows, and have sold art work as a direct result of their participation.
Other OIA exhibition programming has resulted in ten to twelve artist-curated shows per year, and has assisted the artist-curator by identifying and negotiating exhibition locations, as well as producing announcement cards and posters, providing insurance, hosting the artists' reception, advising and assisting with publicity, and undergoing extensive fundraising for artists' and curators' fees.
Provenance:
The Organization of Independent Artists records were donated in 2003 by the organization via Geraldine Cosentino, Director.
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.
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.
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
23.4 Linear feet
0.001 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Date:
1920-2009
Summary:
The papers of New York art historian Francis O'Connor measure 23.4 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from 1920-2009. Found within the papers are artist and exhibition files, questionnaires, transcripts, writings, project files, and printed and digital material that pertain to O'Connor's research and publications on the New Deal and the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York art historian Francis O'Connor measure 23.4 linear feet and date from 1920-2009. Found within the papers are artist and exhibition files, questionnaires, transcripts, writings, project files, and printed and digital material that pertain to O'Connor's research and publications on the New Deal and the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration.
The "NCFA Library" consists of research materials collected, created, and compiled during the course of O'Connor's research project supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities for his books Federal Support for the Visual Arts (1969) and Art for the Millions (1973). Files contain administrative records, artists' files, and questionnaires and essays that document the administration of New Deal art projects. The files were collated by O'Connor into a set that remains intact.
The publications series consists of additional research and administrative materials specifically related to O'Connor's four publications on the WPA/FAP and New Deal artists: Federal Support for the Visual Arts: The New Deal and Now (1969), New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs (1972), Art for the Millions (1973), and Federal Art Patronage Notes (newsletter, 1974-1984).
New Deal research files are more general research materials collected by or sent to O'Connor in the course of his academic career. These include information on New Deal administrators and state specific WPA projects; photocopies of original WPA activity and reports; and New Deal scholarship, academic symposia, and conferences.
New Deal exhibitions include announcement and catalogs of contemporary New Deal art exhibitions in the U.S. from the 1960s to the 1990s. Project files are related to three publically and privately funded New Deal research projects O'Connor directed or participated in. Printed materials consists of press coverage of federal arts patronage in the United States dating from the 1960s to 2008.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series. There is some overlap in series reflecting O'Connor's original order.
Missing Title
Series 1: NCFA Library, 1920-1974 (6.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-7, OV 28)
Series 2: Publications, 1939-1985 (4.3 linear feet; Boxes 7-11, BV 25-26, OV 27)
Series 3: New Deal Research Files, 1930-2009 (5.6 linear feet; Boxes 11-16)
Series 4: New Deal Exhibitions, 1961-1997 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 17-18)
Series 5: Project Files, 1935-1999 (2 linear feet; Boxes 18-20, ER01; 0.001 GB)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1963-2008 (3.4 linear feet; Boxes 20-24)
Biographical / Historical:
New York art historian and poet Francis O'Connor (1937- ) is best known for his research and writings on the New Deal art programs of the Depression and the Roosevelt Administration. O'Connor received his Ph. D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1965 and taught contemporary European and American art history at the University of Maryland from 1964 to 1970. While at Maryland, he organized the country's first comprehensive exhibition of New Deal art programs since their ending in 1943. From 1967 to 1968, he also headed a research program for the National Endowment for the Arts to analyze the effectiveness of New Deal art patronage, which eventually led to the publication of Federal Support for the Visual Arts: The New Deal and Now (1969), New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs (1972), Art for the Millions (1973).
In addition to his work on New Deal art patronage, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, O'Connor continued to teach and lecture at universities, consulted on federally and privately funded research projects, and published critical essays for exhibition catalogs, anthologies and academic journals. He is a member of the College Art Association, International Association of Art Critics, and founded the Association of Independent Historians of Art in 1982.
Separated Materials:
Bound assemblies of periodicals were transferred to the Smithsonian Art Libraries in 2010, which retained relevant volumes and made final decisions regarding disposition of any remaining items.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by Francis O'Connor to the National Collection of Fine Arts, now the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which subsequently transferred the papers, with O'Connor's permission, to the Archives of American Art in 1974. In 2010, O'Connor donated an additional 15.8 linear feet of papers to the Archives.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Materials comprise of clippings, reports, press releases, and miscellaneous printed material that document the history of federal arts patronage in the United States after the New Deal. These materials were gathered by O'Connor as part of the preliminary research for an unwritten book project.
Arrangement:
Materials retain O'Connor's topical and chronological arrangements.
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Francis V. O'Connor papers, 1920-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Francis V. O'Connor papers, 1920-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Francis V. O'Connor papers, 1920-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Francis V. O'Connor papers, 1920-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Francis V. O'Connor papers, 1920-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Francis V. O'Connor papers, 1920-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Francis V. O'Connor papers, 1920-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Francis V. O'Connor papers, 1920-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The Artists' Questionanaires require permission from each artist before publishing, quoting, or reproducing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Items created by Francis V. O'Connor: copyright held by Avis Berman. Artists' questionnaires: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from the individual artist. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Francis V. O'Connor papers, 1920-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
