Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Stephen Prina, 2017 August 7-9. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Educators -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews Search this
Musicians -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews Search this
The papers of New York painters and teachers Josef Presser and Presser's wife Agnes Hart measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1980, with the bulk of the material from 1940 to 1980. The collection documents their personal and professional lives as artists and educators and consists of biographical material, business and personal correspondence, teaching files, printed material, and scattered photographs. The collection also includes writings, personal business records, and artwork by Presser.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York painters and teachers Josef Presser and Agnes Hart measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1980, with the bulk of the material from 1940 to 1980. The collection documents their personal and professional lives as partners, artists, and educators and consists of biographical material, business and personal correspondence, teaching files, printed material, and scattered photographs. The collection also includes writings, personal business records, and artwork by Presser.
The collection is divided into two series. Series 1 consists primarily of Presser's papers from 1913 to his death in 1967, and Hart's correspondence dating from 1967 to 1977 regarding the management of his estate. Biographical material includes an address book, curriculum vitae, family history, and personal identification records. Presser's personal correspondence is with family and friends, including the artists Charles Hopkinson and Vera Fraser. Business related correspondence is with various collectors, galleries, museums, art associations, and art schools. There is also correspondence related to Presser's law suit against the New York Port Authority, and Presser and Hart's real estate purchases in Hurley and Woodstock, New York. Hart's correspondence concerns Presser's estate and artwork after his death, including letters related to the organization of Presser's memorial exhibition in 1968.
Writings by Presser include essay fragments, 4 notebooks, and numerous note fragments. His teaching files include memoranda, syllabi, and class assignments from his tenure at New York University from 1947 to 1952. There are also memoranda from the New York School of Visual Arts and the Prospect Hill School. Personal business records include bank registers, artwork sales records, and receipts from his residency in Paris in the 1960s.
Printed material consists of bulletins, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs related to Presser's career. There are also draft and final versions of Presser's memorial exhibition catalog, and a copy of the 1951 conference Artist and the Museum sponsored by the Artists Equity Association and the Woodstock Artists Association.
Artwork consists of loose sketches, artwork on postcards and printed material, and 9 sketchbooks dating from the 1950s to 1960s. Photographic material includes photographs of Presser with friends and family, and photographs of his studio and artwork. There are also 4 photographs of the artist Abraham Walkowitz dating from the 1940s.
Agnes Hart's papers documenting her own career are arranged in Series 2 and date from 1930 to 1980. Biographical materials include two engagement calendars, curriculum vitae, consignment lists, and critiques. Her correspondence with family and friends includes letters from artist Lucile Blanch, journalist Agnes Smedley, and Yaddo director Elizabeth Ames. Business correspondence is with galleries, collectors, art associations, and art schools.
Teaching files include employment contracts, class catalogs, newsletters, and photographs from Hart's tenure at the Art Students League (1965-1975), and class catalogs and memoranda from Dalton Schools and Parnassus Square. Printed material includes bulletins, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs related to Hart's career. There are also draft and final versions of the 1956 Yasuo Kuniyoshi memorial exhibition catalog. Additional photographic material consists of a photograph of the Central Cown Art Center, a gallery Hart managed in 1937.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 2 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Josef Presser, 1913-1977 (3 linear feet; Boxes 1-3, Box 5)
Series 2: Agnes Hart, 1930-1980 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Biographical Note:
Josef Presser (1909-1967) lived and worked primarily in New York City as a painter, educator, and lecturer.
Presser was born in Lublin, Poland and immigrated with his family to Boston, Massachusetts in 1913. He showed an early affinity for art and, at the age of 12, was accepted to the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts on a four year scholarship. After completing his education, he spent several years traveling in Europe and visited the major museums of France, Italy, and Belgium before returning to America in 1931. Upon his return, Presser opened his first solo New York show at the Montross Gallery in 1931, moved to Philadelphia, painted murals as part of the Works Progress Administration program, and began receiving private commissions. By the mid-1930s, Presser was exhibiting regularly in solo shows in Philadelphia and had began accepting teaching positions. While lecturing at Iowa State University, Presser met his future wife and artist, Agnes Hart, who he married in 1941.
After moving to New York City in 1940, Presser continued to exhibit in New York galleries throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and eventually accepted teaching positions at New York University, Queens College, Cooper Union, and the Brooklyn Museum Art School, among others. Though he was familiar with the work of the abstract expressionists, Presser is known primarily for his figurative paintings featuring women, children, clowns, and horses, with the latter two subjects inspired by circuses he had traveled with in Europe. In 1940, Presser and Hart purchased studio space in Woodstock, New York where they exhibited as members of the Woodstock Artists Association. Presser's solo shows include exhibitions at Contemporary Arts Gallery, Associated American Artists Galleries, and the Vera Lazuk Gallery.
In 1965, Presser went on an extended trip abroad to Paris, and continued working until his death in 1967.
Agnes Hart (1912-1979) was born in Meridan, Connecticut and studied art at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida and at Iowa State University. Hart was a prolific painter and printmaker of abstract forms and urban landscapes. In 1948 and 1949, she received fellowships as a guest painter at the Yaddo Foundation and exhibited her first solo show in New York City at the RoKo Gallery in 1948. She continued to exhibit regularly at New York City galleries into the 1970s, and also accepted several teaching positions, including a ten year tenure with the Art Students League of New York. She continued to paint and teach until her death in 1979.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel N69-1) including original clippings and exhibition announcements. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The papers of Josef Presser were lent for microfilming by Agnes Hart in 1968. Excluding certain printed material, Hart later donated the bulk of these papers and additional Presser materials in 1977 and 1979. Hart donated her papers in 1978. Frances Hitchcock, Hart's sister, gave additional material in 1981.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
REEL 640: Sketchbooks, 7 v., 1886, 1888-1920, 1896 & undated, France, Boston, and elsewhere. Most of the sketches are in pencil. [Previously filmed on reel 593.]
REEL 862: Scrapbook, 1 v., 1893-1953, including: clippings,announcements and reviews of Paxton's exhibitions covering most of his career and several years after his death, reproductions of his work, and letters and telegrams with galleries and others. Also included is a letter from Robert Hale Ives Gammell to Elizabeth Paxton, 1953.
REELS 3714-3715: Correspondence of William McGregor Paxton and of his wife, Elizabeth, including letters from Philip Leslie Hale, Kenyon Cox, Maria Oakey Dewing, Edwin Blashfield, Horace Burdick, Susan Eakins, George Wales, from sitters thanking Paxton for their portraits, and from others. Elizabeth Paxton correspondence relates to her own paintings and exhibitions, donations, and sales of her husband's paintings after his death; poems, 2 notebooks and other writings; card files listing portrait information; clippings; exhibition catalogs and announcements; and lists of paintings.
UNMICROFILMED: Undated drawings and a sketchbook; 9 etchings by Paxton, ca. 1918-1938?; photographs, undated and 1896-1941, of works of art, Paxton, and of miscellaneous subjects; and glass negatives, half-tone printing plates, copper and zinc printing plates.
ADDITION: Biographical documentation; family genealogy; sketchbooks, some containing loose sketches done at a later date [most previously filmed on reel 640 as a loan]; photographs of Paxton and his work; reproductions of work by him and of art used as reference by Paxton; clippings; and posthumous exhibition material. ca. 1870s-1979. Also, Elizabeth Okie Paxton (ca. 1878-ca. 1968): biographical information; correspondence; exhibition and sales records; illustrations of her studio/residence, Boston; printed material; photographs of her, her family, and her work; and correspondence regarding William Paxton exhibitions. ca. 1880s-ca. 1968.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, teacher; Boston, Massachusetts. Paxton was born in Baltimore in 1869. He was raised outside of Boston, Mass., trained in Paris and Boston, and taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He was an active participant in several artists' organizations in Boston, Provincetown, and New York City. Elizabeth Okie Paxton was born in Providence, R.I. to Howard Okie, a Baltimore physician who had been brought to Providence by a wealthy patron, Thomas Ives, an uncle of Robert Hales Ives Gammell, painter, writer, and friend of the Paxtons. She met Paxton while studying with with him. After marriage they resided Newton Centre, Mass. Following Paxton's death, she lived in a studio/residence in the Fenway Studios, Boston.
Provenance:
Papers on reels 3714-3715 were donated by Robert Douglas Hunter, executor of Elizabeth Oakie Paxton's estate. He also lent for microfilming the sketchbooks on reel 640 and the scrapbook on reel 862 in l973 & 1974, respectively. The scrapbook was subsequently donated by Hunter in 1997, and the sketchbooks were subsequently donated in 1998 by his wife, Elizabeth Ives Hunter along with additional papers of Paxton and those of Elizabeth Okie Paxton. Additions are expected.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
The papers of painter, etcher, printer, muralist, and art teacher Gabrielle de Veaux Clements measure 1 linear foot and date from 1860 to 1948. Found within the papers are biographical material; personal and professional correspondence, including extensive correspondence from Clements to her mother; writings, including notes and essays on art history and etching techniques; printed material; artwork; eight sketchbooks; and photographs of Clements, her family and friends, and her work.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, etcher, printer, muralist, and art teacher Gabrielle de Veaux Clements measure 1 linear foot and date from 1860 to 1948. Found within the papers are biographical material; personal and professional correspondence, including extensive correspondence from Clements to her mother; writings, including notes and essays on art history and etching techniques; printed material; artwork; 8 sketchbooks; and photographs of Clements, her family and friends, and her work.
Biographical material consists of an address book, artwork sales and price lists, and autobiographical notes.
Correspondence is primarily with Clements' family, friends, and business associates. The series includes significant correspondence from Clements to her mother during her college years at Cornell University.
Writings include notes and essays on art history and etching techniques, 2 notebooks of poetry, and a travel diary chronicling a trip to Egypt with Ellen Day Hale.
Printed material includes clippings, exhibition catalogs, a map of the artists' colony at Rockport, Folly Cove in Massachusetts, and a copy of the book Suggestions for Illuminating by W. Randle Harrison.
Artwork consists of sketches and original etchings by Clements and artwork by others.
There are 8 sketchbooks consisting primarily of cityscapes, landscapes, and figure and portrait studies.
Photographs are of Clements, her family and friends, artists models, and work by Clements and others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical materials, circa 1920-1944 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1875-1945 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1885-1940 (8 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Printed material, circa 1860-1948 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 5: Artwork, circa 1895-1940 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 6: Sketchbooks, circa 1884-1940 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1875-1940 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printer, and art teacher Gabrielle de Veaux Clements (1858-1948) lived and worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; and Folly Cove near Gloucester, Massachusetts. She was known for her etchings and her commissioned murals for the cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Clements was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to physician Richard Clements and his wife, Gabrielle De Vaux. Her interest in art was supported by her family and, at the age of seventeen, she began studying lithography with the designer Charles Page at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. After graduating in 1880 from Cornell University, where she had produced a number of scientific drawings and lithographs, Clements studied with painter Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and won the school's Toppan Prize. In 1883, Clements was introduced to etching techniques by the artist Stephen Parrish and began exhibiting and printing her works professionally.
In 1884, Clements traveled abroad to Paris to study at the Academie Julian where she was joined in 1885 by fellow painter and future lifelong companion Ellen Day Hale. Upon returning to her Philadelphia studio in 1885, Clements taught other female artists, including Margaret Bush-Brown, and exhibited in numerous institutions, including the National Academy of Design and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In 1895, Clements moved to Baltimore to teach art at the newly established Bryn Mawr School, where she remained until 1908. During her tenure in Baltimore, she was commissioned by the Bendann Galleries to etch nine views of Baltimore and also painted five church murals in Washington, D.C., which led to subsequent murals in Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
Clements and Hale frequently traveled abroad, visiting France, Italy, Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, and spent summers at "The Thickets," the house they purchased in the artists' colony at Folly Cove. During World War I, they wintered in Charleston, South Carolina where they opened their studios to young female artists and taught innovative etching, painting, and color printmaking techniques. After the war, they again opened their studios in Folly Cove to young artists and continued to teach and experiment with soft-ground etching and aquatints in color. This work was highlighted in special exhibitions at the J.B. Speed Art Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. Clements died in Rockport, Massachusetts in 1948.
Provenance:
The Gabrielle de Veaux Clements papers were donated by Mrs. Harlan Starr, Jr. in 1983.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
An interview with Bernard Chaet conducted 1997 June 18-August 15, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art, at Chaet's home in Rockport, Massachusetts.
Chaet briefly speaks of his life growing up in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston and his family, in particular his father, before segueing into his early beginnings as an artist and his acceptance into the School of the Museum of Fine Arts; he discusses his training there, as well as the three-year interim after he quit and before he completed his education at Tufts University when he worked alone; he refers to his teacher and the head of the Department of Painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Karl Zerbe, often, including his falling out with Zerbe, citing this as the reason his quit the school; he recalls his relationship with Boston art gallery owner Boris Mirski, who supported him from an early stage and sent him to Europe when he was young, the evolution of his relationship with Mirski, and the reason for their eventual falling out; Chaet describes his trip to Europe, where he traveled for several months with friends, at length, including the art museums and the suffering he witnessed in Italy and Spain, as well as accidentally meeting Picasso in Antibes, and the influence the trip had on his work; he recalls how he became an art teacher, how he was hired by Josef Albers at Yale, his tenure at Yale, some of the students there, including Chuck Close, Nancy Graves, and Richard Serra, as well as the internal politics and his accomplishments; he discusses his own evolution as an artist, including his use of watercolors, as well as his return to certain themes, such as his painting of cows (and how, more generally, artists do return to themes throughout their lives), and the balance between teaching and being an artist; Chaet mentions the beginnings of Artists Equity and Cold War politics. Chaet also recalls his wife, the artist Ninon Lacey, his former roommate, the artist David Aronson, and art world figures: Hyman Swetzoff, Edith Halpert, Dorothy Adlow, Charles Sawyer, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Hyman Bloom, Willem de Kooning, Rico Lebrun, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Bernard Chaet (1924-2012) was a painter and teacher from New Haven, Connecticut and Rockport, Massachusetts.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 29 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.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire audio recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview of Jerry Farnsworth, followed by an interview of his wife, Helen Sawyer (Farnsworth) conducted 1972 Sept. 21, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Jerry Farnsworth (1895-1982) and Helen Farnsworth (1989-1999) were painters, instructors, and writers from North Truro, Mass. Helen was born in Washington, D.C. and died at age 102.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Massachusetts -- North Truro -- Interviews Search this
Authors -- Massachusetts -- North Truro -- Interviews Search this
A scrapbook, possibly two combined into one, containing photographs, correspondence, clippings, and printed material, most likely assembled and heavily annotated by Bartlett, documenting his career as a sculptor and teacher as well as his travels in Europe, in particular, Italy. A small portion of the scrapbook concerns the career of Bartlett's son, sculptor Paul Wayland Bartlett.
Biographical / Historical:
Truman Howe Bartlett (1835-1923) was a sculptor in Boston, Mass.
Provenance:
Donated 2009 by Gertrude (Trudy) Conroy, who inherited the scrapbooks from her father.
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.
The Rosenthal interview, presumably talking with Moshe Alon (off camera) discusses his training and teaching at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston School, and Boston University, and in the Boston Public Schools where he was the first Jewish art teacher. He mentions Alan Crite, Philip Hale, Bernard Chaet, Karl Zerbe.
The second and lengthier (approx. 1 1/2 hrs.) is an interview with Nat Jacobson, and his interest in becoming an artist, museum schools, painting classes, the Massachusetts College of Art, serving in the army, and attending the MFA, Boston School on the GI Bill, commissions, and his mural at Boston University.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Artists -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Letters, a photograph, writings, audio visual material, and printed materials compiled by Korzenik, documenting the career of artist and art educator Rudolf Arnheim.
Letters to Korzenik from Arnheim and Henry Schaefer-Simmern, a friend and colleague of Arnheim's. Writings consist of a copy of Arnheim's commencement address at the Massachusetts College of Art, 1977 and 1985, as well as Korzenik's published writings about Arnheim and a list of Arnheim's writings, Rudolf Arnheim: Bibliography of his writings, 1928-1982, compiled by Mary Arnheim, Rudolf Arnheim's wife. One photograph is of Arnheim, 1972.
Audio visual material consists of 2 VHS video tapes, Arnheim, et. al., Art and Visual Learning Symposium, undated, and Rudolph Arnheim in Conversation with Diana Korzenik and Art Education Students at Massachusetts College of Art, 1983 and 4 cassette tapes of Arnheim's lectures and discussions, 1980, 1988, and undated. Printed material includes articles written about Arnheim.
Biographical / Historical:
Diana Korzenik is an art professor and historian in Newton, Mass. Korzenik was a student and friend of Arnheim's and wrote about Arnheim.
Provenance:
Donated 2009 by Diana Korzenik.
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.
The microfilm collection of the Ahl family scrapbooks consist of one scrapbook of material related to Henry Hammond Ahl, one related to Eleanor Curtis Ahl, and two related to Henry Curtis Ahl.
The Henry Hammond Ahl volume dates from 1890 to 1953 and includes a membership certificate to the Phi Gamma Mu Honor Society and a business card; correspondence concerning painting assignments; 10 exhibition announcements, 17 drawings and 4 paintings; printed materials; and 42 photographs and prints of Ahl, his studios, his works of art, and his house.
The Eleanor Curtis Ahl scrapbook dates from 1901-1953 contains one undated letter; writings; 6 drawings and 14 paintings; printed materials regarding exhibitions of her work; and two obituaries.
The two Henry Curtis Ahl scrapbooks date from 1916 to 1980 and include membership cards to New England art societies; correspondence (mostly photocopies) regarding exhibitions, gifts, and art directory entries; 2 drawings and 6 paintings; exhibition announcements; printed materials; and 3 photographs of the Ahl family house in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Biographical / Historical:
The Ahl family were a family of painters in Massachusetts. Henry Hammond Ahl (1869-1953) was best known for portraits of politicians and Massachusetts landscapes. His painting In the Shadow of the Cross drew crowds to its mysteriously appearing cross when it went on tour in 1899 and was exhibited at the St. Louis Fair of 1904. His wife Eleanor Curtis Ahl (1875-1953) was a poet, painter, and art teacher. She is known for her still-lifes and watercolor landscapes. Henry Curtis Ahl (1905-1996) was the son of Henry Hammond Ahl and Eleanor Curtis Ahl, and an artist primarily known for landscapes and seascapes.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1985 by A. Everette James, Jr., a physician and art collector of Nashville, Tenn.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
7.4 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Date:
1912-1986
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, writings, art works, scrapbooks, printed material, photographs, and files on Julio De Diego and Kimon Nicolaides and other topics, related to Bridaham's career as an artist and writer.
REEL 8: Printed material, including articles written by Bridaham for periodicals (1950-1957), 15 exhibition catalogs (1928-1968), clippings by and about Bridaham (1930-1959), 6 press releases (1956-1957), a transcript of a radio discussion which included Bridaham (1951), 2 advertisements, a lecture announcement (1957), instructions on using egg tempera for Bridaham's students, a guide book to the Louisiana State Museum (1956), brochures about Strathmont Museum (1958), and resumes.
REEL 3: Material related to Kimon Nicolaides, including a radio address given by him, 1933; publicity for his book THE NATURAL WAY TO DRAW; exhibition catalogs; clippings; press releases; and a photograph of one of his sculptures. [Microfilm title: Kimon Nicolaides papers]
UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence with Kimon Nicolaides and Henry Schnackenberg (1921-1923), Julio De Diego (1941-1952), Ethel Spears (1961), Isabel Bishop (1975), and George and Edith Rickey. Letters to Mamie Harmon concern a Nicolaides exhibition and book (1938-1941). Writings include nine v. of diaries (1946-1954) kept during his tenure at the Art Institute of Chicago, and notes and drafts for an unpublished book (1938-1982).
Subject files concerning Ivan Albright's poetry, the Colonial Craft Survey for Massachusetts (1935), Olof Krans (1939), the reorganization of the Metropolitan Museum's photographic department (1949), Romanesque and Gothic sculpture and the Society for Contemporary American Art. A file (1921-1983) on Julio De Diego contains Bridaham's research materials, sketches and drawings by the artist, a journal kept by De Diego in New York (1932) and photographs of De Diego, his family including third wife Gypsy Rose Lee, friends and art works. Kimon Nicolaides' file (1921-1986) contains his writings and drawings (1928), drawings by Vivian Gordon and Howard Ahrens (1923-1986), photographs and other research materials.
Printed materials consists of clippings (1930-1972), "The Chicago Artist" newsletter (1938), press releases, a book cover, Artists Equity publications (1952-1953), posters, exhibition catalogs and anouncements and membership cards. Photographs show Bridaham, friends, National Art Week activities with Macena Barton, Charles Biesel, Jules Eboli and Richard Florsheim, his studio and drawings (1928-1949). Other materials include over 150 prints and drawings (1927-1977) of Moroccan scenes, Colorado wildflowers and other subjects, resumes, an illustrated notebook of Bridaham's plans for art works (1931-1932) and a list of his works (1974).
ADDITION: Material concerning the latter part of Bridaham's life, including original works of art, photographs, a dream sketchbook (1945), a notebook devoted to Julio de Diego; Bridaham's letters to Jeanette Fowler, 1989-1990 and other correspondence, 1940s-1950s; and printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Museum director, art historian, painter, and printmaker; d. 1992. Bridaham received a degree in chemical engineering from M.I.T. and studied art history at Harvard's Fogg Museum from 1936-1937. He received a 1931 American Field Service fellowship for study in France and Morocco, and studied studio art at the Art Students League under Kimon Nicolaides and Kenneth Hayes Miller. Between 1938 and 1954, Bridaham was a staff officer at the Art Institute of Chicago. He was also the director of the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, and of the Strathmont Museum, Elmira, N.Y. He is the author of Gargoyles, Chimeras and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture.
Related Materials:
Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles, 1895-1987, are located at The Getty Research Institute Special Collections.
Provenance:
Donated 1974-1987 by Lester Burbank and Dorothy Bridaham. In 1996, an additional 0.8 ft. was donated from the Jeanette Fowler estate.
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.
Committee for Fair Representation in Art Exhibitions (Boston, Mass.) Search this
Extent:
29 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1961-1964
Scope and Contents:
Material relating to the annual Boston Arts Festival, 1961-1964, and the role of the Committee for Fair Representaion in Art Exhibitions, Boston, Massachusetts, of which Hunter was vice-chairman. Included are 7 letters, 2 statements, and 20 clippings relating to the controversy over the jury system used at the festivals and the quality of works exhibited.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and instructor; Boston, Massachusetts.
Provenance:
Donated 1974 by Robert Douglas Hunter.
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.
A letter from Greason to Monroe Fabian, associate curator of the National Portrait Gallery, explaining his delay in responding to Fabian and enclosing a YANKEE magazine (March 1964) centerleaf reproduction of Greason's "Harvard Fencers."
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, educator; Massachusetts. Taught at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.
Provenance:
Transferred 1981 by NMAA-NPG Library to the Archives of American Art.
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.
Woodbury, Charles H. (Charles Herbert), 1864-1940 Search this
Extent:
0.8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Oil paintings
Sketchbooks
Watercolor paintings
Photographs
Charcoal drawings
Date:
circa 1870-1961
bulk 1870-1900
Summary:
The papers of Boston area portrait painter Rose Lamb date from circa 1870 to 1961, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870 to 1900, and measure 0.8 linear feet. The collection contains a diploma; letters from artists, writers, historians, and others, including nine letters from former teacher and friend William Morris Hunt; photographs of unidentified people and artwork by Lamb; and original artwork, including a sketchbook, charcoal drawings, watercolors, and two oil paintings.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Boston area portrait painter and drawing instructor Rose Lamb date from circa 1870 to 1961, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870 to 1900, and measure 0.8 linear feet. The collection contains a diploma; letters from artists, writers, historians, and others, including nine letters from former teacher and friend William Morris Hunt; photographs of unidentified people and artwork by Lamb; and original artwork, including a sketchbook from circa 1870, charcoal drawings, two watercolors, and two oil paintings. Artwork depicts landscapes, children, and other figure studies.
Series 2: Correspondence, 1878-1914, 1952-1961 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 3: Photographs, circa late 1800s (Boxes 1-2; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Artwork, circa 1870-late 1800s (Box 1-2, OV 3; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Rose Lamb (1843-1927) was a portrait painter and drawing instructor of Boston, Massachusetts. Lamb was born in Boston to a prominent family and was a student of William Morris Hunt and Helen Knowlton during the 1870s. Though she did not exhibit often during her lifetime, she was a successful portraitist specializing in portraits of children. Lamb was an active member of Boston society, befriending many artists, writers, and other cultural figures, and her portraits were in great demand among prominent Boston families. She traveled to Europe in 1881, 1890, and 1914, perhaps taking art classes while there in 1881. In 1884, and possibly later, she assisted George Bartlett as a drawing instructor at the South Boston School of Art. In 1900 she suffered a severe illness and stopped painting. For the remainder of her life she instead pursued travel and social activities. Rose Lamb died in 1927.
Use of the original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
Portrait painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
An interview of Alvin Ross conducted 1964-1968, by Dorothy Seckler, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Alvin Ross (1920-1975) was a painter and educator of Provincetown, Mass.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape and 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 15 min.
Provenance:
This interview is 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 teachers -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown -- Interviews Search this
An interview with Conger Metcalf conducted 1982 Feb. 24, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Metcalf speaks of studying with Grant Wood and Karl Zerbe; his career as a teacher of painting and drawing at Boston University; and his figural subject matter and method of working.
Biographical / Historical:
Conger Metcalf (1914-1998) was a painter and educator from Boston, Mass.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 28 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 others.
Occupation:
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Interviews Search this
Art teachers -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Interviews 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.
A transcript of an interview of Neuman conducted by D. Quinn Mills; and printed material relating to Neuman.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert S. Neuman (1926- ) was an abstract painter and art instructor who lived and worked in San Francisco, Germany, Spain, and Boston.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives is material relating to Neuman that was lent for microfilming in 1990 (reels 4544-4545), including biographical material; a proposal by D. Quinn Mills for a book "The Paintings and Drawings of Robert S. Neuman"; an essay by Mills "Pedazos Del Mundo; three interview transcripts of Neuman conducted by Mills (one of these subsequently donated); three scrapbooks containing clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and photographs; and photographs of Neuman, his works of art, and of others.
Provenance:
Material on reels 4544-4545 lent for microfilming 1990 by Robert S. Neuman. One interview transcript was subsequently donated along with printed material (not previously lent) in 2011 by Christina Godfrey, Neuman's granddaughter.
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.
Biographical material; correspondence, including letters from artists, galleries, museum officials, universities and others, and copies of letters from Tovish to his family, editors, students, and others; manuscripts for lectures; art school course assignments; project files; exhibition announcements and catalogs, 1942-1993 and price lists and checklists for exhibitions, 1974-1986; clippings of reviews, interviews and editorials, 1942-1991; 5 photographs of Tovish and his sculpture; and a small amount of material compiled by Tovish on other artists, such as Rodin; and terms of agreement for commission of a sculpted portrait of Washington University professor, Carl Cori.
REEL 5281: Fourteen photographs and eleven notes and letters between Tovish his wife, Mariana Pineda. Photographs show Tovish at ages 16, 20, 24; Tovish in Paris; Pineda in Paris, Utah and Hawaii, with Nina Tovish, with Harold Tovish, and Pineda immediately after her death. Letters and note cards are mostly personal, reflecting their family life, birthdays, and anniversaries.
Tovish was born in the Bronx to a poor Jewish immigrant family. As a result of his family becoming destitute after Tovish's father's death ca. 1929, he spent most of his childhood at the Hebrew Orphan asylum in Manhattan, where he studied sculpture under Andrew Berger. He worked on various WPA projects in the 1920s, studied sculpture with Oronzio Mandarelli at Columbia University (1940-1943), fought in Europe during WWII, and studied art in Paris under the GI Bill. Tovish married fellow student Marianna Packard Pineda in the late 1940s. After his noted teaching career began at the University of Minnesota (1951-1954), he again studied in Europe, and moved to Boston to teach at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1957. He served as one of the first Fellows at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT, and later taught at Boston University (1971-1983). He exhibited widely, became active in anti-Vietnam War activities, and in the Boston Visual Artists Union.
Provenance:
Donated in 1997 and 1998 by Harold Tovish, except for 14 photographs and 11 items of correspondence between Tovish and Pineda which he lent for microfilming in 1997.
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.
Webster, E. Ambrose (Edwin Ambrose), 1869-1935 Search this
Extent:
2.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Postcards
Notebooks
Notes
Sketches
Scrapbooks
Place:
Chile -- description and travel
Paris (France) -- description and travel
Provincetown (Mass.) -- Description and Travel
Date:
1890-1991
Summary:
The papers of painter Houghton Cranford Smith measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1890-1991. They consist of eight scrapbooks compiled by his widow containing correspondence with family and friends, biographical materials, sketches, school work, extensive clippings, exhibition catalogs, travel documents and numerous photographs of family and friends.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter Houghton Cranford Smith measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1890-1991. They consist of eight scrapbooks compiled by his widow containing correspondence with family and friends, biographical materials, sketches, school work, extensive clippings, exhibition catalogs, travel documents and numerous photographs of family and friends.
Biographical materials include photographs of Smith, of his artwork and of friends and family in Provincetown and New Mexico, school documents from the Foebel Academy, the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and the Art Students' League, autographed menus, correspondence, including postcards and letters to family and friends sent from Bermuda and Jamaica, customs declarations, exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, a passport to Chile, newsletters, and Smith's teaching contract from the University of Kansas. Additionally, there are significant photographs and letters documenting Smith's art studies with E. Ambrose Webster at the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
The collection also includes Smith's correspondence from France and South America. A significant portion of the collection includes papers from his time in France from 1913-1914, where he studied at the Parisian art school Academie Julian. These include a log from a tandem bicycle trip with classmate Harold P. Browne, an invitation to the Bal Randolphe, a Browne Art Class brochure and a narrative entitled "A Party of Fugitives from France," which describes Smith's forced fleeing from France after the French mobilization in 1914. There are also papers describing his South American travels which include notes and correspondence about Argentina, Uruguay and his time in Chile, which spans five years.
Materials documenting Smith's return to France and studies at the Academie Ozenfant from 1926 to 1933 include Smith's passport, ship passenger lists and other travel documents, correspondence with family, French identification letters, exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings and his Academie Ozenfant list of classes and student card. Of particular note are correspondence from and a picture of Sir Walter Kitchener, governor of Bermuda, and letters from wife Elena Peralta to her parents-in-law. Topics covered in the correspondence of this scrapbook include sons Houghton Jr. and Gerrit and the birth of daughter Florence, financial difficulties, art teachers Amadee Ozenfant and Andree L'hote and the family's travels to Bermuda, New Mexico and New York City.
Materials from later in Smith's life include correspondence from Smith to second wife Laura Gilbert Williams, exhibition catalogs and registers, photographs of artwork, newspaper clippings of reviews received for Smith's exhibited paintings and congratulatory letters from family and friends on Smith's successful exhibits and feature article in The American Artist. Additionally, there is significant correspondence with the Passedoit Gallery, Homer Saint-Gaudens of the Carnegie Institute regarding the exhibition and purchase of Smith's artwork and Smith's gifted painting to the Butler Institute of American Art. Additionally, there are several biographical newspaper articles and a biographical sketch written by his wife Laura after his death.
Of note is the artist's original handwritten notes and final published version of his reminiscence "The Provincetown I Remember," notes about painting with various colors and color charts, related assignments from Smith's Color Theory Class, a signed copy of the book Color by E. Ambrose Webster, Smith's former art teacher, pencil sketches, a class notebook about lettering and an address book.
Arrangement:
As requested by the donor, the original arrangement has been maintained, but the collection has been rehoused for preservation purposes. The collection is arranged as 4 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Scrapbooks, 1890-1991 (Boxes 1-2; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Writings, 1963-1991 (Box 2; 2 folders)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1916-1991 (Box 2, OV 4; 6 folders)
Series 4: Miscellany, circa 1920s-1977 (Box 2, OV 3; 7 folders)
Biographical Note:
Painter Houghton Cranford Smith (1887-1983) traveled extensively and painted throughout his life. He lived and studied art in France, South America, New York City and Provincetown. He had three children, Houghton Jr., Gerrit and Florence with his first wife, Elena Peralta. He held the position of Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas department of Drawing and Painting from 1921-1925.
Smith became widely recognized for his artwork in the 1940s. He married his second wife, Laura Gilbert Williams, in 1941. He has exhibited at many venues including the Passedoit Gallery, Corcoran Gallery, Richmond Museum, Columbia Art Museum, Walker Memorial Gallery, Art Institute of Kansas City and the Provincetown Art Association. For six consecutive years he was represented at Carnegie Institute's annual invitation exhibition.
Provenance:
Florence Cranford Smith Shepard donated her father's papers in 1993-1994.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
0.4 Linear feet (ca. 1065 items (partially microfilmed on 4 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1940-1975
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, printed material, photographs, a diary, financial papers, and writings.
UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence, mainly from Ross to his parents; a travel diary; photographs and slides of Ross at work and of his art work; a list of exhibitions; and exhibition catalogs and announcements.
REELS 1280-1284: Letters concerning Ross' teaching at Pratt and the New School, gallery correspondence, and invitations to lecture or write; recommendations, fellowships and awards; pocket diaries, 1948-1974, listing dinners and appointments; files on exhibitions and courses Ross taught; writings, notes and speeches; catalogs; and financial papers.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printmaker, teacher, lecturer; New York, N.Y. and Provincetown, Massachusetts Born Vineland, New Jersey. Faculty member, Department of Art, Pratt Institute; lecturer, history of art and architecture, New School of Social Research and New York School of Interior Design. Painted in oil in the realistic style.
Provenance:
Material on reels 1280-1284 lent for microfilming by Lenore Ross, Alvin's sister, 1977. Unmicrofilmed material was donated by Alvin and Lenore Ross, 1975-1980.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Artists as teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
