The papers of A.G. (Abel George) Warshawsky date from circa 1900 to 1988 and measure 3.8 linear feet. the papers contain biographical materials; scattered correspondence, most of which consists of letters from Warshawsky to his wife Ruth; writings, including versions of Warshawsky's autobiography; printed materials; two scrapbooks; photographs and eight photo albums; twenty-six sketchbooks; and artworks by Warshawsky and others.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of A.G. (Abel George) Warshawsky date from circa 1900 to 1988 and measure 3.8 linear feet. The papers contain biographical materials; scattered correspondence, most of which consists of letters from Warshawsky to his wife Ruth; writings, including versions of Warshawsky's autobiography; printed materials; two scrapbooks; photographs and eight photo albums; twenty-six sketchbooks; and artworks by Warshawsky and others.
Biographical materials consist of passports, an identification card, and a Who's Who entry. Correspondence is scattered and contains letters written by A.G. Warshawsky to his wife Ruth. There are also telegrams of congratulations for the Warshawskys' 1941 marriage and a few letters from museums and institutions regarding Warshawsky's art.
Writings and notes include three versions of Warshawsky's autobiography entitled: "My Brush with Life," "Adventures with Color and Brush," and "Warshawsky's Autobiography." The autobiography concerns his life in Paris, activities, and acquaintances as a young art student in Paris. Also found are other writings about art and a notebook.
Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, xeroxed copies of news clippings and a clippings file concerning Warshawsky's career, published material, and reproductions of works of art. Also found is a printed portfolio comprised of an introduction to Warshawsky and reproductions of his paintings.
There is one original and one xeroxed scrapbook, containing news clippings, and exhibition materials from 1913 to 1960.
Photographs includes eight photo albums and photographs of Warshawsky, of family and friends, and of works of art. The bulk of the photo albums contain photographs of works of art. Two photo albums consist of personal photos of Warshawsky and his wife Ruth in their home in California. Other photographs are of Warshawsky painting in his studio, with his art, and of his wife, family, friends, and artist models.
Twenty-six sketchbooks are primarily in pencil and are undated or unidentified. Some sketchbooks include place names such as Monterey and Carmel, California, Mexico, and Paris.
Additional artwork includes loose sketches and a print by Warshawsky. Also found are prints and drawings by others, including Goya, Edwin Kaufman, and Paul de Lassence.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1923-circa 1940 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1941-1964 (4 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1930-circa 1950 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1920-1964 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, 6, OV 12)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1913-1960 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, 9)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1910-1988 (1.4 linear feet; Box 1-2, 5, 7-8, OV 10)
Series 7: Sketchbooks, circa 1910-circa 1950 (1.0 linear feet; Box 2-3, 5-6)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1900-1951 (0.5 linear feet; Box 3-5, OV 11)
Biographical / Historical:
Impressionist painter A.G. Warshawsky (1883-1962) was active in Paris and Monterey, California.
Abel George "Buck" Warshawsky was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania in 1883. He spent his childhood in Cleveland, Ohio where he studied at the Cleveland Art Institute. Warshawsky moved to New York where he studied at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design. His brother, Alexander also became an artist.
In 1909, Abel Warshawsky left the U.S. for Paris where he remained for thirty years. There, he developed his unique style, combining Impressionism and Realism. He returned to the United States annually, mostly to sell his paintings, but remained active in the Parisian art scene until 1939. He exhibited his works in Cleveland, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Paris.
Before the start of World War II, Warshawsky left Paris and settled in Monterey, California. Warshawsky married Ruth Tate in 1941. He died from heart failure in 1962. His works are in the permanent collections of the Akron Art institute, the Cleveland museum of Art, the Luxembourg Museum, the De Young Museum, the Petit Palais, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Separated Materials:
The Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio holds the Abel G. Warshawsky Family papers.
Provenance:
The bulk of the A.G. Warshawsky papers were donated in 1996 by Froma Goldberg, Warshawsky's niece. In 1978, Ruth Warshawsky donated a typescript copy of her husband's autobiography, "My Brush with Life."
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington D.C. Research Facility. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The Sara R. Currie papers about sculptor Alfred Lenz measure 0.01 linear feet and date from circa 1899-circa 1926, circa 1950s. The papers include scattered documentation about Lenz including a biographical sketch by Currie, printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The Sara R. Currie papers about sculptor Alfred Lenz measure 0.01 linear feet and date from circa 1899-circa 1926, circa 1950s. The papers include a biographical sketch of Lenz written by Currie; three postcards of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco, California in 1915, including an image of a medal designed by Lenz; a printed reproduction of a 1910 bas relief of an Aztec Indian, The Vow, by Lenz; and photographs of Lenz taken from circa 1899-1925.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Sara R. Currie, a member of the Rockefeller family who settled in Jacksonville Florida, was a close friend and self-described assistant of Wisconsin-born New York sculptor Alfred Lenz. Currie remarked in her biographical notes on Lenz that she also modeled for his sculpture Senorita Hootch (1922). Lenz was born in Fon-du-Lac and moved to San Francisco at the age of 19 before settling in New York City where he spent a short period of time working for Gorham Silversmiths. Lenz became absorbed with sculpting and devoted the rest of his life to developing and perfecting a special lost wax technique of casting metals which was used by the ancient Chinese. He also designed a bas relief medallion for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on Reel D24 including newspaper clippings, correspondence, and an exhibition catalog. Loaned materials were returned to the lender after microfilming and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Sara R. Currie in 1958.
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.
Occupation:
Assistants -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Artists' models -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Citation:
Sara R. Currie papers about Alfred Lenz, circa 1899-circa 1926, circa 1950s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Nathan Oliveira conducted 1978 Aug. 9-1981 Dec. 29, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Oliveira speaks of his family background and ancestry; his childhood; his education; the development of his interest in art; working as a bookbinder; his inspirations from the old masters; studying with Max Beckmann and Otis Oldfield; his U.S. Army service; working with Richard Diebenkorn; getting established in galleries as a printmaker; teaching printmaking; his European travels; living in Illinois and its effect on his career; moving to California; and meeting and working with Martha Jackson. He recalls Billy Al Bengston, Ivan Albright, and Willem de Kooning, and discusses de Kooning's influence on him.
Oliveira also speaks of subject matter in his paintings, and his departure from and his later return to the human figure; the relationship between artist and model; the importance and persistence of the figurative tradition in American art; artists he admires. He recalls Keith Boyle and Frank Lobdell.
Biographical / Historical:
Nathan Oliveira (1928-2010) was a painter, printmaker, and sculptor from Stanford, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound tape reels and 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hrs., 39 min.
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.
Restrictions:
1978-1980 session; transcript: Transcript available on microfilm.
Art Schools in California Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Paul Carey and Stephanie Caloia, 1997 October 26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Susan Benay, 2000 November 30. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Kristina Faragher, 2002 Nov. 12. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Art Schools in California Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
30 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1997 October 26
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Paul Carey and Stephanie Caloia conducted 1997 October 26, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
The topic of discussion in this interview was pioneer modernist, Edward Hagedorn (1902-1982). Paul Carey was a fellow student at California School of Fine Arts and studio mate in San Francisco's "Monkey Block"; Stephanie Caloia was Hagedorn's final model and weekly companion. They shared reminiscences of Hagedorn from the 1920s and 1930s to the late 1970s. Carey began the interview with a discussion of Hagedorn's background, including his family circumstances, personality, ideas on art, and interest in women. Caloia recalls her years with Hagedorn (1975-1982), when he would engage models to pose for him in his Berkeley home. Eventually she became his only model and accompanied him to North Beach restaurants and bars where he apparently was a well-known character. Both interviewees related anecdotes about Hagedorn that create a picture of a complex, introspective, and mysterious loner whose striking expressionism reflects personal fears and obsessions. Hagedorn's work is receiving new attention after its "rediscovery" a decade ago.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Carey (1904-2001) was an artist from Piedmont, California. Stephanie Caloia (1951-) is an artists' model.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 3 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.
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.
Funding for the transcription of this interview is provided by the Bente and Gerald E. Buck Collection. 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.
An interview of Kristina Faragher conducted 2002 Nov. 12, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in Faragher's home, in Redlands, Calif.
The goal of the interview was to record the experiences of Faragher as an artist's model and investigate the relationship between posing nude in the studio and her current artistic practice as a self-described "body artist." Faragher discusses her current work, including "Orange Crush", performance and video.
Biographical / Historical:
Kristina Faragher (1961- ) is a performance artist and artist's model from Redlands, Calif.
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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Susan Benay conducted 2000 November 30, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in Karlstrom's office, San Marino, California.
This interview focuses on Benay's brief career as a model in her late teens and early twenties, during which time she posed for most of the leading artists in the Los Angeles area. Benay recollects posing for prominent artists, including Richard Diebenkorn, Charles White, John Altoon, Sam Clayberger, Jirayr Zorthian, and physicist/artist Richard Feynman.
Biographical / Historical:
Susan Benay (1949- ) was an artists' model from San Marcos, California. Susan Benay (neé Brown) grew up in Pasadena where she took art classes at various schools and studied music with Ravi Shankar at Villa Cabrini.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 3 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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Norton Wisdom conducted 2000 April 27, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in a restaurant in Beverly Hills, California.
Wisdom discusses his art school experiences, including the life class he took as a teenager at Chouinard Art Institute from John Altoon.
Biographical / Historical:
Norton Wisdom (1947- )is a painter and performance artist of Malibu, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 48 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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Guy Dill conducted 2000 August 29, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in Dill's studio, Venice Beach, California.
The interview focuses on Dill's art school experience at the Chouinard Art Institute, especially his introduction to nude life drawing classes. Dill describs how he drew the model from inside a cardboard refrigerator box at Stephan von Huene's instruction; the art school situation of the time as "sexually charged," a product of 1960s social behavior; models from the standpoint of the "energy" brought to class; being stimulated by the subject, whether nude female or landscape; the effect that a pose can have on his creativity; the model as the "primal method of getting the art motors going"; drawing now clarifies for him a relationship, providing a point of reference for understanding; and the difficulty of drawing his wife, whose presence is complicated by their long married history together and the important place a spouse occupies in one's life.
Biographical / Historical:
Guy Dill (1946- ) is a sculptor from Venice Beach, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 6 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.
Funding for this interview provided by Bente and Gerald E. Buck Collection.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Leta Ramos conducted 2000 June 23, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in Ramos' home, Oakland, Calif.
Ramos discusses her views and experiences as an artists' model.
Biographical / Historical:
Leta Ramos is an artist's model and artist from Oakland, Calif. Ramos is married to figurative painter Mel Ramos, she began posing for her husband in 1959, becoming his primary model for many of his earlier works, including the well-known Pop images of female superheroes and women with animals, such as "Gorilla," 1967.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 3 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. Funding for the transcription of this interview is provided by Bente and Gerald E. Buck Collection.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Artists' models -- California -- 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.
An interview of Eve Babitz conducted 2000 June 14, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, at Babitz's home, Hollywood, California.
Part of an ongoing series on the theme of artists and models, this interview focused on the subject's experience as the nude woman playing chess with Marcel Duchamp, at his Pasadena Art Museum retrospective, in 1963. Purportedly Duchamp's favorite photograph, staged and taken by Julian Wasser, it is among the key documentary images of American modern art. This interview offers inside information about Los Angeles and the cultural world of the late 1960s. Igor Stravinsky was Babitz's godfather and her own father was a Baroque musicologist who often traveled to Europe. She was introduced to the world of visual arts by the late Jim Elliott's girlfriend and soon became part of the Ferus Gallery circle including Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, and Walter Hopps. She also describes being a student at Hollywood High School and the enormous influence of the film industry and celebrity (her favorite, James Dean) on the student body.
Biographical / Historical:
Eve Babitz (1948- ) was an artist's model from Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 2 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. Funding for the transcription of this interview for the Artists and Model series is provided by Bente and Gerald E. Buck Collection.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Artists' models -- California -- Los Angeles 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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Naomie Kremer, 2001 Mar. 16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists' models -- California -- Interviews Search this
