The papers of New York City painter, educator, gallery owner, and activist Lois Dodd date from 1945 to 2013 and measure 6.82 linear feet. The papers focus on Dodd's personal work and contain little documentation of her involvement with Tanager Gallery. Found are biographical materials, including an interview conducted by Pat Mainardi in 1973; personal business records; professional correspondence; project and teaching files for Artist Housing Projects and various teaching positions; scattered writings and notes; printed materials including exhibition catalogs and announcements; and photographs.
The 2014 and 2015 additions date from 1945-2013 and provide additional material related to Dodd's career as a painter and educator. Found here are biographical material; correspondence with friends and artists; writings by others; project and teaching files; personal business records; printed material; photographical material of artwork and Dodd; eleven travel sketchbooks; and a few pieces of artwork by George Schneeman.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York City painter, educator, gallery owner, and activist Lois Dodd date from 1945 to 2013 and measure 6.82 linear feet. The papers focus on Dodd's personal work and contain little documentation of her involvement with Tanager Gallery. Found are biographical materials, including an interview conducted by Pat Mainardi in 1973; personal business records; professional correspondence; project and teaching files for Artist Housing Projects and various teaching positions; scattered writings and notes; printed materials including exhibition catalogs and announcements; and photographs.
The 2014 and 2015 additions date from 1945-2013 and provide additional material related to Dodd's career as a painter and educator. Found here are biographical material; correspondence with friends and artists; writings by others; project and teaching files; personal business records; printed material; photographical material of artwork and Dodd; eleven travel sketchbooks; and a few pieces of artwork by George Schneeman.
Notable correspondents in the collection include Charles Cajori, Dave and Kathy Dewey, Lucien Day, Rackstraw Downes, William King, James L. Lentz, James McGarrell, Zalmar Perlin, Sidney Simon, Paul Smith, and Tom Wesselmann.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Information, 1949-1989 (Box 1; 9 folders)
Series 2: Personal Business Records, 1950-1990 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1952-1991 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Project and Teaching Files, 1969-1983 (Box 1-2; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Writings and Notes, circa 1970-1990 (Box 2; 5 folders)
Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1970-2001 (Box 2; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1952-circa 1990 (Box 2; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 8: Addition to the Lois Dodd Papers, 1945-2013 (Box 3-8; 4.8 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Lois Dodd (1927- ) is an observational painter, educator, activist, and co-founder of the Tanager Gallery. She is active in New York City and Maine.
Lois Dodd was born in 1927 in Montclair, New Jersey. Beginning in 1945, Dodd commuted from Montclair to New York City to attend The Cooper Union, from which she graduated in 1948. She married fellow student and sculptor William King with whom she had one child, Eli. King and Dodd, among others, established the Tanager Gallery in 1952.
Dodd worked for various organizations in New York City promoting affordable housing for artists, especially the renewal of Cooper Square. She continues to exhibit her paintings at both individual and group exhibitions.
Related Material:
Among the collections of the Archives of American Art are the Tanager Gallery records, 1952-1972 and an oral history interview with Lois Dodd by Barbara Shikler conducted in 1988.
Provenance:
Lois Dodd donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in several increments between 1981-2007. Dodd donated an additional 4.8 linear feet of material in 2014 and 2015.
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:
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Correspondence; biographical statements, career resumes and membership cards; photographs and slides of Weschler, her studio and work; printed matter; notes and memoranda; 22 newspaper montages; clippings; exhibition announcements; 10 sketches by Weschler and a woodblock print; a Christmas card by Marguerite Zorach; a videotape documentary on Weschler, directed by David Howard, 1991; and an inventory of Weschler's papers at Syracuse University.
ADDITION (1998): Biographical information, 1950-1990; correspondence, 1954-1997; writings; lecture material, 1978-1990; notes;notebooks, 1970-1991; mailing lists, 1976-1997; financial records, 1974-1975; price lists, 1968-1986; bills, 1978-1986; loan agreements, 1986-1992; press releases, 1963-1992; and miscellany. Also found are printed materials, 1938-1996, including clippings, newsletters, exhibition announcements and catalogs; works of art; photographs and slides of Weschler in her studio, with family and friends, and her works of art, 1934-1990; and the master copy of a videotaped documentary on Weschler, 1991.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor, painter; New York, N.Y. Born 1903. Died 2000.
Related Materials:
Anita Weschler papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Donated 1974-1998 by Anita Weschler.
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.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Names:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Extent:
65 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
2006 May 22-June 16
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Anne Currier conducted 2006 May 22-June 16, by Mary Drach McInnes, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the artist's studio, in Scio, New York.
Biographical / Historical:
Anne Currier (1950- ) is a sculptor, ceramicist, and professor of art in Scio, New York. Mary Drach McInnes (1956- ) is an art historian from Alfred, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 53 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.
The papers of New York based artist and educator Ruth Abrams measure 1.0 linear foot and date from 1934 to 1984. The collection includes correspondence, writings and notes, personal business records, printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York based artist and educator Ruth Abrams measure 1.0 linear foot and date from 1934 to 1984. The collection includes correspondence with colleagues and business associates; writings and notes related to Abrams 1970's film Paradox of the Big and writings by others; personal business records; exhibition announcements, news clippings, and other printed materials; and photographs. Photographs depict Abrams in her studio and with colleagues and students, exhibition openings, including four photographs of Ilya Bolotowsky attending her 1977 exhibition, and photographs of artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1948-1982 (Box 1; 12 folders)
Series 2: Writings and Notes, 1957-1977 (Box 1; 10 folders)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1958-1977 (Box 1; 3 folders)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1934-1983 (Box 1; 16 folders)
Series 5: Photographs, 1950-1978 (Box 1; 6 folders)
Biographical / Historical:
Ruth Abrams (1912-1986) was a painter in New York, NY. She was the art director at the Research Association of The New School from 1965 to 1966, and a lecturer at Parsons School of Design. Abrams is best known for her abstract style and outer-space paintings as well as a 1970s art film entitled, Paradox of the Big.
Provenance:
The Ruth Abrams papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Ruth Abrams between 1981-1983.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Biographical material, letters, financial material, an interview transcript, notes, writings, a scrapbook, printed material, photographs, and an audio tape document Gikow's career as a painter of social commentary.
REEL D230: Exhibition catalogs, 1948-1965; a scrapbook containing a biographical account and clippings, 1937-1965; an undated photograph of Gikow; and 164 photographs of works of art.
REELS 4874-4875: Biographical accounts, 1959-1971; 7 passports, 1947-1972; letters, 1949-1981, from Gikow to critics and galleries, and from colleagues including Karl Fortess and Lee Nordness, and one letter each from Werner Drewes, Jo Hopper, and Raphael Soyer; a file concerning the Kent State Memorial Exhibition, 1971; receipts, 1951-1978; price lists, 1967-1980; a 3 p. interview transcript; an engagement calendar, 1971; miscellaneous notes and writings by Gikow and others; printed material, including clippings, 1947-1979; exhibition announcements and catalogs, 1940-1982; a book, History of the Jews in America, 1957, by Deborah Pessin, illustrated by Gikow; a book, Gikow, 1970, by Matthew Josephson, with reproductions of art works used in the book; and brochures; photographs of Gikow, her husband Jack Levine, her studio, artists, including Chaim Gross, Jacob Lawrence, and Raphael Soyer, and works of art; and an untranscribed reel-to-reel tape of an interview of Gikow conducted by Karl Fortess.
UNFILMED: Correspondence; photographs of Gikow and of her art work, including one of her demonstrating mural painting at the 1939 World's Fair; reproductions of her book and magazine illustrations; and a yearbook, 1933, from the Women's Art School at The Cooper-Union, where Gikow studied with John Steuart Curry. Also found are writings by Gikow including reminiscences about her life as an artist and as an artist's wife; address books; and exhibition announcements and catalogs.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, mural painter, illustrator, serigrapher. Died 1982. Gikow was born in the Russian Ukraine, emigrating to New York City with her parents in 1920. She studied under John Steuart Curry at the Cooper Union Art School from 1932-1935. She also studied with Louis Ross, Louis Schanker and Raphael Soyer. After working as an assistant mural painter on the Federal Art Project, Gikow was awarded a commission to paint a mural for the Bronx Hospital. Her book illustrations include Crime and Punishment, and History of the Jews in America. Gikow was married to painter Jack Levine.
Provenance:
Material on D230 was lent by Gikow, 1965. Gikow and her husband Jack Levine donated the remainder in 1978 and 1983, which was microfilmed in 1994 with grants from the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund, the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, and the Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation. After microfilming, an addition to the collection was donated by Levine in May 1999. Papers of Jack Levine donated at the same time have been cataloged separately.
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:
Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Serigraphers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Betty Woodman conducted 2003 April 22 and 29, by John Perreault, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in New York, New York.
Woodman speaks of frequent moves with her family during her childhood; her father's woodworking skills; gaining an interest in arts and crafts at four when she made a tablecloth with crayon drawings; attending summer camps, including Girl Scout Camp, where she participated in arts and crafts activities; being the first girl to take shop in her middle school; making model airplanes for air raid wardens during World War II; her interest in making functional objects; her introduction to clay and hand-building in high school; attending the School for American Craftsmen in New York City; collaborating with fellow students; her early desire to be a "craftsperson and not an artist"; her work with silk-screen fabric for The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia and glass at CIRVA in Marseille, France; teaching at the University of Colorado and the City of Boulder Recreation Department; working at the European Ceramic Work Center in Den Bosch, Holland, and the Bellagio Study Center in Italy; her studios in New York, Colorado, and Italy; her travels to India, The Netherlands, and Mexico; living in New Mexico, New York, Colorado, and Italy; her business Roadrunner Pottery in New Mexico with partner Elenita Brown; collaborative projects with Joyce Kozloff, Cynthia Carlson, Bud Shark, Judith Solodkin, and her husband George Woodman; developing a following in New York; how being a woman has affected her work and how she enjoys working with other women artists; the change of market for American crafts; Italian, Greek, and Etruscan influences; teaching experiences; the importance of getting reviews in art magazines; and the strong support from her husband George, a painter. Betty Woodman recalls Lynn Feelyn, Olan Wassen, Bernard Leach, Peter Voulkos, Shoji Hamada, Bob Kushner, Richard Serra, Wayne Higby, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Betty Woodman (1930-2018) was a ceramist from New York, New York. John Perreault (1937- ) is an independent critic and curator from New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 55 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Occupation:
Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Murphy, John Francis, 1853-1921 -- Catalogues raisonnés Search this
Extent:
16.7 Linear feet ((on 21 microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Place:
Arkville (N.Y.) -- Pictorial works
Date:
1761-1973
Scope and Contents:
Biography and catalogue raisonné of J. Francis Murphy by Emerson Crosby Kelly, M.D., and correspondence relating to Dr. Kelly's interest in Murphy. Personal papers of J. Francis Murphy and Adah Clifford Smith Murphy include diaries and notebooks, correspondence, Smith and Murphy family documents, financial records, printed matter, artifacts, photographs, and works of art.
Research notes, drafts, and manuscript of an unpublished biography, "J. Francis Murphy, N.A., (1853-1921): Tints of a Vanished Past," and illustrated catalogue raisonne of the works of J. Francis Murphy by Emerson Crosby Kelly (1953). Kelly corresponded with friends and relatives of the Murphys, with owners of Murphy paintings, publishers, printers, and possible financial backers for his book. Also documented is Dr. and Mrs. Kelly's involvement in the sale of "Weedwild," the Murphy's Arkville, N.Y. home, to the Pestalozzi Foundation of America.
Diaries of J. Francis Murphy (25 vols.) contain very brief entries that faithfully record weather conditions, garden progress, and other nature notes, with occasional mention of social engagements or service on art juries; entries recorded during trips to Europe mainly list places visited with little elaboration. Notebooks (16 vols.) include painting registers, daily listings of mail sent and received, address books, and jottings relating to Indian relics, his farmland, and paintings sent to dealers. Mrs. Murphy's diaries (46 vols.) also contain very brief entries mentioning friends, social engagements, travels, and an "Account of the pictures I painted and gave away. Portraits of them. + landscapes + old houses." Her notebooks (4 vols.) contain "Notes for a book. J.F.'s".
Correspondence concerns family matters, exhibitions, sales, professional memberships, involvement with the Salmagundi Club and National Academy of Design, and the couple's finances. Whenever separated, the Murphys exchanged lengthy letters with one another; the majority of these are from husband to wife.
Receipts and invoices are mainly for art supplies, framing, and shipping costs; expense records for personal purchases and farm upkeep and improvements; taxes; and legal papers concerning a property boundary dispute and lawsuit against the Murphys.
Photographs are of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, their families and ancestors, friends, studios, "Weedwild" (country home) and surrounding Arkville, N.Y. area, landscape subjects, works of art by the Murphys, medals and certificates of award. Six tintypes are included. Photographers include: Hollinger, Moffett, Napoleon Sarony, and C. Vandyk. Commercially produced stereographs mainly depict U.S. scenes.
Art works consist of sketchbooks, oil sketches, and works of art on paper by both Murphys, Emil Carlsen, and other artists (ca. 500 items).
Other materials include exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings, scrapbooks (probably compiled by Mrs. Murphy ca. 1885), medals awarded to J. Francis Murphy, copper plate etched by Adah C. Murphy, and artifacts.
Arrangement:
I. Writings and Research Notes. II. Kelly Correspondence and Miscellaneous Files. III. J. Francis and Adah Clifford Smith Murphy Papers.
Biographical / Historical:
Emerson Crosby Kelly, M.D., art collector, surgeon, and medical bibliographer; d. 1977. J. Francis Murphy, landscape painter and one of the leading tonalists of the American Barbizon school, lived and worked in New York City and Arkville, N.Y. Studied very briefly at the Chicago Academy of Design, 1875. Member of the National Academy of Design and active in the Salmagundi Club. His wife, Adah Clifford Smith Murphy, a painter and illustrator, studied at the Female Art School of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
Provenance:
The donor, Sydney Kelly, is the widow of Dr. Emerson Crosby Kelly. Dr. Kelly acquired the Murphy papers in 1949 from Hulda Gregerson, Mrs. Murphy's long-time companion, for the purpose of writing a biography and catalogue raisonne of J. Francis Murphy.
Biographical material, correspondence, writings, teaching files, scrapbooks, photographs, printed material, and audio visual material relating to the career of sculptor and educator Anne Arnold.
Biographical material includes marriage and divorce papers, report cards, titles, and identification cards. Correspondence is personal and professional and includes letters from Arnold to her parents and grandparents dating from her teenage years, letters from friends and students, including Edward Dugmore and Hubert Crehan, and professional correspondence with galleries and curators. Writings are by others about Arnold's work and notes Arnold made about work. Teaching files include materials related to Arnold's teaching position at Brooklyn College and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Scrapbooks contain exhibition reviews, announcements, and photographs of Arnold's works of art. Additional photographs are of Arnold at various stages in life as well as views of her in the studio, with her husband Ernest Briggs, and with various animals who were her pets or the subjects of her sculpture. Also included are photographs of Arnold's sculpture by Rudy Burckhardt and source photographs taken by Arnold.
Printed material includes source material, announcements, brochures, and catalogs of exhibitions of work by Arnold and artists in her circle. Audio visual material consists of six videotapes of documentaries about the New York School artists, the Stable Gallery artists, and other groups Arnold was associated with.
Biographical / Historical:
Anne Arnold (1925-2014) was a sculptor and educator in New York, N.Y. Arnold was married to painter, Ernest Briggs, Arnold's husband.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the papers of Ernest Briggs.
Provenance:
Donated 2015 by Anne Arnold Estate, via Robert Brooks and Janice Kasper, executors.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of sculptor, painter, and educator Sidney Simon measure 8.0 linear feet and 2.21 GB and date from circa 1917-2002, with the bulk of the papers dating from 1940-1997. The collection documents Simon's career through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, subject files, sketches, sketchbooks, printed and digital material, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor, painter, and educator Sidney Simon measure 8.0 linear feet and 2.21 GB and date from circa 1917-2002, with the bulk of the papers dating from 1940-1997. The collection documents Simon's career through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, subject files, sketches, sketchbooks, printed and digital material, and photographs.
Biographical material chronicles Simon's academic training and professional activities through curriculum vitae, biographical accounts, and awards. Included are letters and memoranda, many from Forbes Watson pertaining to Simon's service as a combat artist in World War II. Also found is a transcript of an interview with Simon recounting his experiences in the Southwest Pacific. Simon's personal correspondence with colleagues, friends, and family includes scattered letters from Jacqueline Helion, Penelope Jencks, William King, Burgess Meredith, among others. Many letters are illustrated by Sidney Simon and others. General correspondence includes letters from artists, galleries, museums, public and religious institutions primarily relating to Simon's exhibitions and commissioned projects. Among the correspondents are Castle Hill, Truro Center for the Arts, Colby College, André Emmerich, Eric Makler Gallery, Xavier Gonzalez, Graham Gallery, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Interspersed among the files are letters of a personal nature. Other correspondence relates to Simon's faculty positions and his activities in professional organizations, e.g., Century Association, National Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Writings and notes include Simon's 1943 diary entries recording his activities in the Army Corps of Engineers, draft versions of writings and lectures, and notes. Included are digital audio recordings of Simon's lectures at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Subject files provide documentation on Simon's commissioned projects, select exhibitions and competitions, as well as his faculty positions and memberships in several arts organizations. Printed material consists of clippings, invitations, announcements, newsletters, and programs. Exhibition catalogs are of Simon's solo and group shows at galleries, museums, and art organizations from 1959-1966. Photographs are of Simon by Budd Brothers, Richard Pousette-Dart, and Bernard Gotfryd. There are a number of photographs of the artist in his studio and outdoors as well as of Simon's family and friends, including group photographs with Ellsworth Kelly, André Emmerich, Robert Motherwell, and Louise Nevelson. Also found are three personal and family albums and twenty-one photograph albums of Simon's paintings and sculptures.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1940-1998 (Boxes 1, 9; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1936-2002 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1943, circa 1960-1997 (Box 2; 0.4 linear feet, ER01-ER03; 2.21 GB)
Series 4: Subject Files, 1940-1941, 1951-1997 (Boxes 2-4, 9; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Sketches, 1937-1942 (Box 4; 1 folder)
Series 6: Sketchbooks, 1939-1995 (Boxes 4-5, 9; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1933, 1942-1998 (Box 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1978-1995 (Box 5; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1917-1997 (Boxes 5-11; 3.0 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Sidney Simon (1917-1997) was a sculptor, painter, and educator who worked primarily in New York City and Truro, Massachusetts. Simon was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 14, he won a place as a special student at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1934 and from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1936. Simon also studied at the Barnes Foundation from 1937-1940. Simon received professional recognition early in his career; he was awarded the Prix de Rome Collaborative Prize in 1939 and the Edwin Austin Abbey Fellowship in mural painting in 1945.
In 1941, Simon enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the Army Corps of Engineers. Assigned to MacArthur's headquarters as an official war artist for the Southwest Pacific Theater, Simon was chosen to paint the signing of the peace treaty between the U.S. and Japan aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. He was discharged from the army with a Bronze Star and five presidential citations. In 1945, along with Bill Cummings and Henry Varnum Poor, Simon co-founded the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he later served as a director and a member of the Board of Governors. By the mid-1950s, Simon's interest shifted from painting to sculpture, creating works in wood, clay, and other media. Over the years, Simon collaborated with architects on a number of public and private commissions, including the doorway for the Downstate Medical Center, the Jewish Chapel at West Point, a playground sculpture for Prospect Park, and the totemic column for the Temple Beth Abraham. In addition to serving on the faculty at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Simon also taught at the Art Students League, Brooklyn Museum, and Parsons School of Design. An active champion of artists' rights, Simon established the New York Artists Equity Association. He participated in solo and group shows at the Graham Gallery, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and the Sculptors Guild, among other venues.
In 1997, Sidney Simon died at the age of 80 in Truro, Massachusetts. Simon was divorced from Joan Crowell in 1964. He is survived by his wife, Renee Adriance Simon and five children from his first and second marriages.
Related Materials:
The Archives has two oral history interviews with Sidney Simon conducted by Paul Cummings in October 17-November 8, 1973 and the Karl E. Fortress taped interviews with artists, [1963-1985].
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds materials lent for microfilming (reel D210) including biographical material, correspondence, sketchbooks, scrapbooks, and photographs of Sidney Simon. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Sidney Simon lent the Archives of American Art material for microfilming in 1965. Rene Simon, Simon's widow, donated the Sidney Simon papers in 2009.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Olympic Games (24th : 1988 : Seoul, Korea) Search this
United States. Department of the Treasury Search this
Extent:
1.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Blueprints
Sketchbooks
Awards
Place:
Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N.Y.)
BuschGardens (Williamsburg, Va.)
Date:
1914-1995
Summary:
The Domenico Facci papers are dated 1914 to 1995, with the bulk falling between the years 1950 and 1984. They measure 1.2 linear feet and consist of biographical material, correspondence, artwork relating to sculpture projects, printed material, and photographs. Among the well-documented aspects of Facci's professional career are: his leadership roles in several arts organizations based in New York City, including Audubon Artists, National Sculpture Society, and Artists Equity Association; his work on the United States Treasury's 1988 Olympic Games commemorative coin competition, Brooklyn Bridge 100th Anniversary reliefs, Endangered Species Medal, and Neptune Fountain at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA.
Scope and Content Note:
The Domenico Facci papers are dated 1914 to 1995, with the bulk falling between the years 1950 and 1984. They measure 1.2 linear feet and consist of biographical material, correspondence, artwork relating to sculpture projects, printed material, and photographs. Among the well-documented aspects of Facci's professional career are: his leadership rolses in several arts organizations based in New York City, including Audubon Artists, National Sculpture Society, and Artists Equity Association; his work on the United States Treasury's 1988 Olympic Games commemorative coin competition, Brooklyn Bridge 100th Anniversary reliefs, Endangered Species Medal, and Neptune Fountain at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA.
Biographical material consists of artist's statements; marriage, academic, and military service records; awards; and membership cards and certificates. Correspondence consists mainly of incoming letters related to Facci's activities with arts organizations, among them Audubon Artists, American Society of Contemporary Artists, the Village Art Center, Artists Equity Association, the National Sculpture Society, and Nippon Museum.
Artwork includes two sketchbooks - one for the 1988 Olympic Games commemorative coin competition, and another concerning the Endangered Species Medal. Also found are anatomical study drawings, blueprint plans for the Neptune Fountain project, and miscellaneous sketches.
Printed materials are newspaper clippings, newsletters, exhibition catalogs, programs, press releases, announcements, and brochures. The bulk of this series is comprised of exhibition catalogs from the Audubon Artists, Painters and Sculptors Society of New Jersey, National Arts Club, and National Sculpture Society.
Photographs are of Facci and his work, including completed pieces, the artist at work in his studio and presenting sculpture demonstrations.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series:
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1914-1998 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 2. Correspondence, 1954-1988 (Box 1; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 3. Artwork, circa 1930-1985 (Box 1; OV 2-3; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 4. Printed Material, 1933-1988 (Box 1; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 5. Scrapbook, circa 1940-1985 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 6. Photographs, circa 1940-1985 (Box 1; 0.2 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Domenico Facci (1914-1994) worked in New York City and was known primarily for commissioned portraits and public sculpture, and for holding leadership positions in several arts organizations based in New York City.
Domenico (Aurelio) Facci was born to Antonio and Grace Facci in Hooversville, Pennsylvana. on February 2, 1916, where his father, Antonio, was a coal miner. His mother was Grace Facci. When he was 10, the family relocated to Brooklyn, New York.
Facci won a scholarship to Roerich Academy (Master Institute of United Arts) where he studied under Pietro Montana and Louis Slobodkin and graduated in 1936. In 1937 he opened his first studio on Fifth Avenue at 15th Street and was immediately commissioned to do several large pieces for the 1939 World's Fair.
Many public and private commissions were executed by Facci in the New York City area, among them: carvings on the tower façade of St. Thomas's church, St. Rita sculpture in Long Island City, lobby for American Express building, 100 feet of plaques on the Brooklyn Bridge walkway, and bronze sculptures for PS 147 in the Bronx. Facci was also awarded portrait commissions of eminent public figures including: Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Bob Hope, Lowell Thomas, James Kilpatrick, and Lynn Redgrave, some of which were executed on live television and at other events. Some important commissions in other locations were: a cartouche for bronze doors for St Peter's Cathedral, Philadelphia, PA; exterior bronze for the Court of Appeals Building, Annapolis, MD; St. Paul sculpture, Fredericksburg, MD; Eagle War Monument, Rome, NY; and St. John Divine in Sewanee, TN.
Facci was the recipient of numerous important awards, including the Proctor Award from the National Academy of Design, the Richards Award from the Allied Artists, and the Liskin Award from the Knickerbocker Artists. He was also elected a fellow of the National Sculpture Society. Solo exhibitions of Facci's work were presented at the Silvermine Guild of Artists and the Village Art Center. He participated in group shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the National Academy of Design, Jersey City. Facci exhibited annually at numerous New York artists organization, including the Village Art Center, Knickerbocker Artists, and at the Silvermine Guild.
Facci's work is included in the permanent collections of the Florida Southern College, in Lakeland, FL, the Norfolk Museum, VA, and the Polk Museum, FL.
As an active member of numerous professional artists organizations, Facci served as the president of the Village Art Center for a decade, president of the Audubon Artists for 11 years, and president of the American Society of Contemporary Artists. In addition, he was an officer in other organizations, including: Knickerbocker Artists, Allied Artists, New Jersey Painters and Sculptors, National Sculpture Society, Silvermine Guild of Artists, New York Artists' Equity Association, Sculptors League, Salmagundi Club, National Academy of Design, and the American Society of Contemporary Artists.
In addition to his work as a sculptor, Facci was also a teacher. Between 1939 and 1972, he served on the faculty of City College of New York, the Academy of Art at Florida Southern College, Ridgewood Village Art School in New Jersey, and the Craft Student League in New York.
Domenico Facci was married to Penelope (Felicia/Penny) Facci and they had a son, Robert. Domenico Facci died on November 6, 1994.
Provenance:
Gift of Debby Friedman, 2010.
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.
The Chester Beach papers measure 7.32 linear feet and date from 1846 to 1999, with the bulk ot the material dating from circa 1900 to 1999. The work and professional activities of Beaux Arts sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956) and his family's efforts to exhibit and sell work from the estate are documented by project files, business records, correspondence, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs. The papers also include many artist-designed Christmas cards sent and received by the Beach family, and artwork by Chester Beach and others.
Scope and Contents:
The Chester Beach papers measure 7.32 linear feet and date from 1846 to 1999, with the bulk ot the material dating from circa 1900 to 1999. The work and professional activities of Beaux Arts sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956) and his family's efforts to exhibit and sell work from the estate are documented by project files, business records, correspondence, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs. The papers also include many artist-designed Christmas cards sent and received by the Beach family, and artwork by Chester Beach and others.
Biographical material consists of biographical notes, identification cards, and a membership certificate.
Project files contain correspondence, financial records, notes, drawings and plans, research materials, printed matter, and photographs that document commissions for sculpture, medals and coins, monuments, and Beach's own projects. Among the most thoroughly documented projects are a fountain sculpture for the grounds of the Cleveland Museum of Art (Sun, Earth, Fountain of the Waters, and Zodiac) and the Edward W. Bok Memorial in Mountain Lake, Florida; both commissions were executed in conjunction with the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted.
Business records include Chester Beach's general business correspondence and correspondence concerning consignments. An address book records names, addresses, and occasionally indicates prices of services and supplies used by the sculptor. Other record books detail expenses and income of the studio building Beach owned, with a list of the effects of the former owner, sculptor William Couper; bronzes cast; sales, with titles, prices, and buyers; names and addresses of clients, dealers, and suppliers; and instructions for cleaning and bronzing plaster.
Family correspondence consists mainly of letters, many mentioning Chester Beach, and addressed to Mrs. Chester Beach and daughter Eleanor Beach Fitchen. Estate correspondence and related documents concern efforts to exhibit, sell, and research Beach's remaining work. These records, for the most part, were created by Mrs. Fitchen who acted as sales agent, ran the Chester Beach Memorial Studio, and maintained the Beach archive. Of particular interest is a series of letters from Brenda Kuhn that relate what she learned from handling the estate of her father, Walt Kuhn; in addition, she offered ideas and advice about exhibitions, the Memorial Studio, and the Beach Centennial.
Beach designed his family's annual Christmas cards, most of which incorporate images of their three daughters. A complete set, preserved in an album, includes a few later cards that reproduce artwork by his widow. Many of the cards received - some with original artwork - are from artist friends, among them: Ernest Blumenschein, Edward W. Greacen, Hazel Brill Jackson, Paul Jennewein, Bonnie Leibig, F. Luis Mora, Robert Nisbet, and Ezra Winter. Also of note are a card from Walker Hancock bearing a photograph of his studio; a painting of Beach's Sylvan at Brookgreen Gardens, reproduced on Anna Hyatt Huntington's card; and a card from Beach patron Mary Jester Allen containing a brief note about the Frontier Art Colony she had established near Cody, Wyoming.
Among the drawings and sketches by Chester Beach are student work, designs for some of his Christmas cards, and a sketchbook containing drawings of sculpture. Work by other artists consists of prints, including one by Ezra Winter.
Three scrapbooks, largely comprised of newspaper clippings and other printed material, contain a variety of other items, including: letters from the American Academy in Rome, Architectural League of New York, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Daniel Chester French, Hazel Brill Jackson, Frederick MacMonnies, National Academy of Design, National Sculpture Society, Jessica B. Piexotto, and Salon d'Autome. There are also awards and certificates from the National Academy of Design, Panama-Pacific International Exposition; bookplates and a place card Beach etched for Mr. and Mrs. George Davison; and an unfinished poem by FitzRoy Carrington. Photographs within the scrapbooks are of a night school class Beach attended at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute in San Francisco, Beach at work in his studio, and a portrait of him painted by G. Laurance Nelson.
Printed material includes Panama-Pacific International Exposition guide books, brochures about the Chester Beach Memorial Studio in Brewster, New York, and catalogs for solo and group exhibitions.
Photographs and glass plate negatives of artwork are mainly of Chester Beach's sculpture and include views of work in progress. Also found are photographs of drawings and sculpture from his student years in California and Paris. Pictures of work by other artists are portraits of Chester Beach painted by G. Laurance Nelson and by his daughter, Natalie Beach McLaury. Among the photographs of Chester Beach are several by Gertrude Kasebier, circa 1910. Other pictures show Beach in his studio, Beach with family and friends, and a "Dinner tendered to Edmund W. Greacen by Samuel T. Shaw, Salmagundi Club, March 2, 1922." Places documented are Beach's boyhood home in San Francisco, the interiors of his studios, and Brookgreen Gardens. Miscellaneous subjects are nude models.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1910-1947 (4 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Project Files, 1846-1999 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 11, OV 12-13)
Series 3: Business Records, circa 1900-1958 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Series 4: Writings, 1913-1935 (2 folders; Box 3)
Series 5: Correspondence, 1875, 1933-1996 (0.5 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 6: Christmas Cards, 1909-1961 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1900-1955 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 4, 11)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1903-1972 (0.3 linear feet; Box 10)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1910-1997 (0.4 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 10: Photographs, circa 1885-circa 1960s (3.1 linear feet; Boxes 4-9, 11, 14)
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956) was known for portrait busts, allegorical and mythological figures, coins and medallic art in the Beaux-Arts tradition. He lived and worked in New York City and Brewster, New York.
Chester Beach, son of Chilion Beach and Elizabeth Ferris Beach, was born in San Francisco on May 23, 1881. Beach initially studied at the California School of Mechanical Arts in 1899. He remained in San Francisco and between 1900 and 1902 continued his art training at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art while working as a jewelry designer. To further his career and exposure to artistic trends, Beach moved to New York City in 1903. The following year, he went to Paris, enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and also studied with Raoul Verlet at the Académie Julian.
Upon his return to New York in 1907, Beach established a studio on Tenth Street. He won the National Academy of Design's Barnett Prize for sculpture in 1907 and the Academy elected him an Associate Artist the following year. His increased stature resulted in numerous portrait commissions and eventually led to commissions for monuments and architectural sculpture. In 1910, Chester Beach married Eleanor Hollis Murdock, a painter he met when both were art students in Paris. The couple spent the next two years in Rome; for several years after returning, Beach continued to spend time in Italy and maintained a studio in Rome.
Solo exhibitions of Beach's work were presented at Macbeth Gallery (1912), Pratt Institute (1913), Cincinnati Art Museum (1916), John Herron Art Institute (1916), and Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester (1917). In addition to frequent participation in annual exhibitions at the National Academy of Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Beach was represented in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915), and in group shows at venues including: Art Institute of Chicago, Boston Art Club, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, and National Arts Club.
The gold medal presented by Académie Julian (1905), Beach's first award, was followed by many other prizes, among them: American Numismatic Society prize for a medal commemorating the Peace of Versailles (1919) and its Saltus Medal for distinguished medallic art (1946); Architectural League of New York gold medal (1924); National Academy of Design Barnett Prize (1907) and Watrous gold medal (1926); National Arts Club medal and prizes (1923, 1926, 1932); and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition silver medal (1915).
Beach was an Academician of the National Academy of Design, a member of the American Numismatic Society, Architectural League of New York, National Arts Club, National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the National Sculpture Society (President, 1927-1928).
For more than 40 years, Beach lived and worked at 207 East 17th Street. The brownstone, purchased in 1913, was large enough for the family's home, his studio, and additional studios that were rented to other artists. Through barter, Beach acquired land in Brewster, New York, and in 1917 hired Italian stonemasons to build a studio. Later, they erected a summer house for the family. Many old stone walls on the site provided material for both buildings and Beach named the property Oldwalls.
After a long illness, Chester Beach died at Oldwalls on August 6, 1956. The funeral service was held at his Brewster, New York, studio and he is buried in Cold Spring Cemetery, Cold Spring, New York.
Separated Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art is microfilm of papers lent for microfilming (reels N727-N729 and N68-11) including passports, genealogical materials, photograph albums, travel sketches, travel diaries of Mrs. Beach, and business and family correspondence. While the obituary letters on reel N68-11 are referenced in a scrapbook in Series 8, all other loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Chester Beach's daughter, Eleanor Beach Fitchen, lent materials for microfilming in 1967 and 1967. Subsequent papers were donated in 2009 by the estate of Eleanor Beach Fitchen, through her grandson and executor, John Fitchen.
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. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.
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.
Topic:
Sculptors, American -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of New York City still life painter and art instructor Walter Tandy Murch date from 1880-1970 and measure 8.2 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials, four diaries, correspondence with colleagues and family members, personal business records, exhibition files, notes and writings, two sketchbooks and additional art work, printed material, and photographs of Murch, family members, and art work.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York City still life painter and art instructor Walter Tandy Murch date from 1880-1970 and measure 8.2 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials, four diaries, correspondence with colleagues and family members, personal business records, exhibition files, notes and writings, two sketchbooks and additional art work, printed material, and photographs of Murch, family members, and art work.
Biographical material includes registration documents for births, marriages, and naturalization of Murch family members, biographical accounts, resumes, school and award certificates, passports, Selective Service records, and address books.
One diary by Walter Murch and three diaries by Katharine Murch contain sporadic entries briefly describing daily activities.
Correspondence primarily consists of letters exchanged between Murch, art schools and universities, arts organizations, galleries including the Betty Parsons Gallery, miscellaneous companies and publishers that commissioned commercial art work, and students. There are scattered letters from Isabel Bishop, Leonard Bocour, Xavier Gonzales, and Gyorgy Kepes. There is also correspondence with miscellaneous family members and letters to Katharine Scott.
Personal business records include organizational membership records, family legal documents, insurance records, leases, loan and consignment records, contracts and invoices for art work sold by the Betty Parsons Gallery, expense notebooks, and other routine financial documents.
Exhibition files include documentation of miscellaneous exhibitions of Murch's art work and of exhibitions juried and organized by Murch, including the Jean Dubuffet exhibition organized by Murch and retrospectives of Murch's art work at the Rhode island School of Design and at the Brooklyn Museum.
Notes and writings include the funeral register for Murch, miscellaneous address lists, travel notebooks of Murchs' 1934 trip to Mexico, miscellaneous notebooks concerning various art-related topics, classroom lectures and notes, and miscellaneous writings by others.
Art work includes two sketchbooks, drawings and sketches, woodcuts, sketches for "Novel in Woodcut," an oil portrait of a woman, a mock-up for book Notes on the Hound of Heaven, and art work by others including a sketchbook by Murch's son, Walter Scott Murch.
Printed material includes clippings, a copy of a handmade Collegiate School magazine The New Thinker, and exhibition announcements and catalogs. for Murch and others, press releases, prospectuses, reproductions of art work and book jackets designed by Murch, programs, brochures, a book about Pierre Bonnard, and miscellaneous printed material.
Photographs are of Murch, family members, travel, buildings, Murch's studio, Murch with colleagues, And art work by Murch and others. There are also photographs of various resource subjects.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series:
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1924-1968 (Box 1, 10; 24 folders)
Series 2: Diaries, 1941-1965 (Box 1; 3 folders)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1880-1969 (Box 1-3, 10; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1928-1970 (Box 3-5; 2.9 linear feet)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1953-1968 (Box 6; 17 folders)
Series 6: Notes and Writings, 1907-1968 (Box 6-7, 10, OV 11; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Art Work, 1891-1967 (Box 7, 10, OV 11; 33 folders)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1926-1968 (Box 7-8, 10, OV 11; 50 folders)
Series 9: Photographs, 1908-1967 (Box 9-10; 41 folders)
Biographical Note:
Walter Tandy Murch (1907-1967) of Toronto, Canada, was a painter and art teacher. His painting were primarily of still life subjects including machine parts, tools, broken dolls, and scientific equipment mingled with fruit, bread and fragments of rock as if seen through frosted glass.
Walter Tandy Murch was born on August 17, 1907, in Toronto, Canada, the son of Clara Louise Tandy and jeweller Walter Murch. Following his studies of architectural drafting and woodworking at the Technical High School in Toronto, he studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto with Arthur Lismer from 1924 to 1927. During the following year, Murch studied at the Grand Central School of Art in New York City with Arshile Gorky. From 1927 to 1929, he studied with Von Schlegel and K. H. Miller at the Art Students League. In 1930, Murch married Katharine Louise Scott.
From 1930 to 1933, Murch designed stained glass windows for Montague Castle, Inc., in New York City. Following a lengthy painting trip to Mexico in 1934, Murch returned to New York City and earned a living painting murals, designing department store windows, and creating illustrations for various magazines including Fortune and Scientific American.
Murch had his first solo exhibition at Betty Parsons' Wakefield Gallery in New York in 1941, and for many years Parsons was his principal dealer. Murch became a United States citizen in 1947.
Beginning in the 1950s, Murch taught at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, New York University, and at Boston University, and attended summer sessions at Yaddo and Skowhegan. In 1966, the Rhode Island School of Design organized Murch's first major retrospective.
Murch's work is in the collections of the Barnes Foundation, Brooklyn Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Walter Tandy Murch died on December 11, 1967 in New York City.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reels N707, N708, N713, and N68-5) including correspondence, notes, sketchbooks, clippings, exhibition catalogs, and photographs. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
In 1967-1968, Walter Tandy Murch loaned the Archives of American Art material for microfilming. The artist's widow, Katharine Scott Murch, donated papers 1969.
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:
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The Zorach Family papers measure 4.4 linear feet and consist of materials relating to the lives and careers of sculptor and painter William Zorach, his wife painter and weaver Marguerite, and their children, painter and multi-media artist Dahlov Ipcar and collector and art dealer Tessim Zorach. The bulk of the papers consists of letters to Tessim regarding his parent's artwork. Additional materials include scattered letters to William Zorach; writings and notes by William, Marguerite, and Tessim; a sketchbook and drawings by William; prints by Marguerite; Marguerite's scrapbook; printed materials; and photographs of the Zorach family and of William Zorach in his studio and at work.
Scope and Content Note:
The Zorach Family papers measure 4.4 linear feet and consist of materials relating to the lives and careers of sculptor and painter William Zorach, his wife painter and weaver Marguerite, and their children, painter and multi-media artist Dahlov Ipcar and collector and art dealer Tessim Zorach. The bulk of the papers consists of letters to Tessim regarding his parent's artwork. Additional materials include scattered letters to William Zorach; writings and notes by William, Marguerite, and Tessim; a sketchbook and drawings by William; prints by Marguerite; Marguerite's scrapbook; printed materials; and photographs of the Zorach family and of William Zorach in his studio and at work.
The majority of correspondence is between Tessim Zorach and various museums and galleries concerning exhibitions and donations of his parents' works of art. There are scattered letters to William Zorach among the correspondence. Business records consist of materials relating to the Collection of the Zorach Children, including lists of works of art by the Zorach's, a file relating to an exhibition of Zorach artwork at the Brooklyn Museum, and photographs of works of art considered for donation.
Writings and Notes include a typescript of an article written by Marguerite Zorach, writings by William Zorach, a typescript of Young Poems by William and Marguerite, as well as articles written by others about the Zorachs. Artwork by Marguerite Zorach includes two prints and a tracing. Also found is one sketchbook, and additional drawings by William Zorach. There is one unsigned lithograph.
The majority of exhibition announcements, catalogs, and clippings concern William and Marguerite Zorach although there are two announcements for Dahlov Ipcar. There is one scrapbook of clippings about Marguerite.
The papers include photographs of Marguerite and William Zorach, their parents, baby photos of Tessim and Dahlov, family pictures of the Zorachs, and of Marguerite and William in their studios. There are several folders of William Zorach working in his studios and additional photos of him carving a relief sculpture and a sculpture for the Southwest Bank. Most of these photographs contain detailed annotations written by William Zorach about the work. There is one folder of photographs of William in France in 1910-1911, including one of Zorach in Roi Partridge's studio. There is one photograph of Zorach taken by Ansel Adams in Yosemite, a photo of Zorach working by Arnold Newman, and several taken by Imogen Cunnigham.
Other photographs are of works of art, most of which depict William's works.
Artifacts include Marguerite's batik tools and approximately fifty commercially made printing blocks.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 9 series:
Series 1: Biographical Information, circa 1907-1969 (Box 1, 6; 3 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1922-1982 (Box 1-2; 1.75 linear feet)
Series 3: Business Records, 1967-1971, circa 1960s-1970s (Box 2-3; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings and Notes, circa 1930s-1973, 1987 (Box 3; 8 folders)
Series 5: Artworks, 1900-circa 1920s (Box 3, 6; 12 folders)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1922-1953 (Box 3; 1 folder)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1912-1982 (Box 3; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1908-1966 (Box 3-5; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 9: Artifacts, circa 1910s, circa 1950s (Box 4; 0.5 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
William Zorach (1887-1966) was a modernist painter and sculptor working primarily in New York city, along with his wife Marguerite (1887-1968) who worked as a fauvist painter, printmaker, and textile artist. Their children were painter Dahlov Ipcar (1917-) and art collector Tessim Zorach (1915-1995.)
Born in Lithuania, William Zorach immigrated to the United States where his family settled in Cleveland, Ohio. An early interest in art led to a printmaking apprenticeship. He then moved to New York City and enrolled in the National Academy of Design where he studied painting and drawing. In 1910, Zorach traveled to Paris to study and where he met his wife Marguerite Thompson at the La Palette art school. Marguerite grew up in Fresno, California and studied art at Stanford University. Both artists were heavily influenced by the fauvist and cubist art movements.
Returning to America, Marguerite and William married and both continued to create and experiment with varied media. Their paintings were featured in the 1913 New York City Armory Show and they are credited with being among the first artists to introduce European modernist styles to American modernism. The Zorachs were very close both as a couple and as working active artists.
In the 1920s, Marguerite began to experiment with textiles and created large, fine art tapestries and hooked rugs. Also, she used batik dying techniques on fabrics. William also expanded his genre by creating direct sculpture in 1918, which would become his primary medium.
In 1915, William and Marguerite started a family with their son, Tessim. Two years later, their daughter Dahlov was born. The Zorachs divided the year and lived in New York City, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. In 1923, the family bought a farm on Georgetown Island, Maine where they lived, worked, and entertained friends.
Dahlov and Tessim were exposed to art from an early age. Dahlov showed artistic promise as a child and her parents supported her creativity by allowing her to express herself without formal training. Dahlov pursued painting and later became an illustrator for children's books. Additionally, she wrote fantasy novels and short stories. Dahlov married Adolf Ipcar in 1936. Like the rest of his family, Tessim Zorach developed an interest of art and along with his wife Peggy, he amassed a large private collection of ancient to modern art.
William and Marguerite continued to sculpt and paint until their deaths in 1966 and 1968, respectively.
Together, Dahlov and Tessim established the Collection of the Zorach Children which coordinated donations of their parents' art to many museums throughout the United States and the world. The artwork of both artists is found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Delaware Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Farnsworth Art Museum, Portland Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Philips Collection, and educational institutions such as Colby College, University of Vermont, Williams College, Bowdoin College, and the University of Virginia. In addition William has works associated with many public buildings, among them: Radio City Music Hall, New York City Municipal Court, the U.S. Post Office in Washington D.C. as well as Farleigh Dickinson University.
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art holds the Dahlov Ipcar papers, 1906-1997. Also found is one oral history interview with William Zorach conducted by by John D. Morse on April 2, 1959 and an oral history interview with Dahlov Ipcar conducted by Robert F. Brown on November 13, 1979.
The bulk of William Zorach's papers are held by the Library of Congress.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming on reels NY59-1-NY59-4 and NY59-19. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are now held by the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. This material is not described in the collection container inventory or finding aid.
Provenance:
William Zorach lent papers for microfilming to the Archives of American Art in 1959. Tessim Zorach donated materials between 1976-1987.
Restrictions:
Use of originals 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 dealers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of sculptor Olin Levi Warner measure 1.9 linear feet and date from 1857 to 1962 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1857 to 1899. The collection documents Warner's art student days in Paris and his career as a sculptor, primarily in New York City. Found are scattered biographical materials and writings, including a speech by Warner about the Paris Commune of 1871; personal and professional correspondence; clippings, catalogs, and other printed material; sculpture project files; and photographs of Warner, his studio, his family, and notable figures who sat for him, including artist J. Alden Weir, and his artwork.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of sculptor Olin Levi Warner measure 1.9 linear feet and date from 1857 to 1962 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1857 to 1899. The collection documents Warner's art student days in Paris and his career as a sculptor, primarily in New York City. Found are scattered biographical materials and writings, including a speech by Warner about the Paris Commune of 1871; personal and professional correspondence; clippings, catalogs, and other printed material; sculpture project files; and photographs of Warner, his studio, his family, and notable figures who sat for him, including artist J. Alden Weir, and his artwork.
Found are biographical materials, including a speech written by Warner about the Paris Commune of 1871, awards, and membership records for several art organizations, including the Fine Arts Federation of New York.
Personal and business correspondence written by Warner, his wife, and his daughter is with family and friends. Warner's correspondents include artists Albert Pinkham Ryder, Clarence Cook, and Wyatt Eaton, among others. Of note are letters written from Warner to his family during the time he spent in Paris from 1869 to 1872 studying art and serving in the Foreign Legion.
Also found are scattered project files for a few of his notable sculptural projects, including his statue of Massachusetts governor Charles Devens, the Hodgkins Medal designed as the Smithsonian Institution's seal, work for the Chicago World's Fair, and bronze work produced by the Jno. Williams Foundry.
Printed materials include clippings and exhibition catalogs for the Society of American Artists, the National Sculpture Society, and the World's Columbian Exposition.
Photographs in the papers are of Warner, his family, home, and studio, works of art, and a few notable sitters, including the artist J. Alden Weir.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1863-1896 (Box 1, OV 4; 5 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1857-1962 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Project Files, 1871-1936 (Box 1, OV 4; 6 folders)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1862-1950 (Boxes 1-2, OV 4; 6 folders)
Series 5: Photographs, 1870s-1890s (Box 2-3, OV 4; 0.7 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Olin Levi Warner was born in 1844 in Suffield, Connecticut and worked as an artisan and a telegraph operator before pursuing his art education and career. In 1869, Warner traveled to Paris to study under Francois Jouffroy at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He was in Paris when the Republic was declared and served in the French Foreign Legion for a short while before resuming his studies. In 1872 he returned to the United States and set up a studio in New York.
An early proponent of the French Beaux-Arts style, Warner was a founding member of the Society of American Artists in 1877 and joined the National Academy of Design in 1888. By the end of Warner's lifetime, he had become a well-known sculptor, helping to popularize bas-relief in the United States. A few of Warner's notable works include a series of medallions depicting Native American Indian Chiefs, an 1876 bust of President Rutherford B. Hayes, the 1883 nude Diana, a statue of judge and former U.S. Attorney General Charles Devens in Boston, and the design of the bronze doors of the Library of Congress. This last project was uncompleted at the time of Warner's death on August 14, 1896, as the result of a bicycle injury in Central Park.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming on reel 270. All of the material was later donated, except for one sketchbook which was returned to the lender, and is not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
A portion of the Olin Levi Warner papers were originally loaned to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1972 by Rosalie Warner Jones, Warner's daughter. Rosalie Warner Jones and her sister, Frances O. Warner, and Rosalie's daughter Frances Follin Jones, donated the collection in several accretions between 1972 and 1977. This gift included the majority of the loaned materials, excluding one sketchbook. Additional materials were transferred to the Archives in 2005 from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
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.
The papers of sculptor José de Rivera date from 1930 to 1991 and measure 5.6 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials, letters, scattered personal business records, commission files, art work including four sketchbooks, printed material, and photographs. One of the commission files includes a motion picture film.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of sculptor José de Rivera date from 1930 to 1991 and measure 5.6 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials, letters, scattered personal business records, commission files, art work including four sketchbooks, printed material, and photographs. One of the commission files includes a motion picture film.
Biographical material consists of a biographical account, resumé, military service records, an interview transcript, certificates, addresses, and miscellaneous notes and writings.
Twenty-nine folders of letters are primarily from de Rivera's patron, attorney Howard Goldsmith, but also include single letters from Marcel Breuer, John Canaday, Emlen Etting, Dag Hammarskjold, and G. Vantongerloo.
Scattered personal business records include rental records, sculpture inventories, a contract, receipts, and miscellaneous records.
Commission files contain letters, contracts, receipts, clippings, blueprints, miscellaneous printed material, and photographs concerning several of de Rivera's commissions, including Brussels Construction for the Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, his sculpture for the 1964 New York World's Fair, and Infinity, commissioned for the Smithsonian. A file for Construction #73 completed for the American Iron and Steel Institute also contains a reel of 16mm motion picture film.
Art work consists of four sketchbooks, drawings, and geometric collages including detached cut out shapes.
Printed material includes primarily clippings and exhibition announcements and catalogs. There is also a copy of the book José de Rivera Constructions by Dore Ashton and Joan M. Marter. Photographs are of de Rivera, miscellaneous art-related events, his studio, his art works, and of miscellaneous exhibition installations. Commission files also contain photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1942-1984 (Box 1; 11 folders)
Series 2: Letters, 1938-1988 (Box 1; 29 folders)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1947-1984 (Box 1; 11 folders)
Series 4: Commission Files, 1955-1977 (Box 1-2, 6-7, OVs 10-11, FC 13; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 5: Art Work, 1960-1984 (Box 2, 6, OV 8; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1931-1991 (Box 2-4, 6; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1930-1985 (Box 4-7, OV 9-OV 10, 12; 1.7 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
José de Rivera (1904-1985) worked primarily in New York as an abstract expressionist sculptor known for twisting steel or bronze bands into space-defining three-dimensional shapes.
José A. Ruiz was born on September 18, 1904 in West Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of Joseph and Honorine Montamat Ruiz. He would later take the surname of his maternal grandmother, de Rivera. Early in his life his family moved to New Orleans where his father was a sugar mill engineer on a plantation. De Rivera became adept at repairing machinery and doing blacksmith work with his father. Shortly after completing high school in 1922, de Rivera moved to Chicago where he was employed in foundries and machine shops as a pipe fitter and tool and die maker. His 1926 marriage to Rose Covelli ended in divorce.
Beginning in 1928 de Rivera attended night drawing classes conducted at the Studio School by painter John W. Norton. De Rivera was impressed by the Egyptian collections at the Field Museum. The work of Mondrian, Brancusi, and Georges Vantongerloo also exerted a strong influence on him. In 1932, he traveled through southern Europe and North Africa visiting Spain, Italy, France, Greece, and Egypt. Upon his return to the United States he decided to become a sculptor.
From 1937-1938, de Rivera was employed by the Works Progress Administration-Federal Art Project and created the sculpture Flight for the Newark, New Jersey airport. During World War II, he first served in the U.S. Army Corps from 1942 to 1943. For the following three years, he designed and constructed ship models used as training aids in the U. S. Navy.
De Rivera's first solo exhibition was in 1946 in New York at the Mortimer Levitt Gallery. In 1953, de Rivera taught sculpture at Brooklyn College. For the following three years, he was a critic in sculpture at Yale University and taught at the School of Design at North Carolina State College from 1957 to 1960. De Rivera married Lita Jeronimo in 1955.
In 1961 de Rivera was given a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. One of his most notable works Infinity was commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution for the front of its newly built Museum of History and Technology in 1963.
José de Rivera died on March 19, 1985 in New York City.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reel N70-32) including biographical material, correspondence, writings, drawings, printed material, and photographs. Loaned material was returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
In 1970, José de Rivera loaned the Archives of Amrican Art material for microfilming. The artist and the Grace Borgenicht Gallery donated additional papers in 1982 and De Rivera's son, Joseph A. Ruiz II, gave more material in 1998.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Biographical material, correspondence, writings, photographs, business records, artwork, and printed material documenting the career of painter, Henry Pearson.
Correspondence; sketches; exhibition catalogs and announcements; a writing by Pearson, "Dissertation on Whether I Have A Philosophy on Painting or Even on Art in General" October 14, 1969; clippings; several sketches of Pearson by Kurt Seligmann; Christmas cards; and memorabilia; press releases; photographs; and material and correspondence about the Tamarind Workshop.
Six letters to Pearson, 1962-1965; clippings, 1963-1966; exhibition announcements and catalogs, 1961-1966; a photograph of Pearson with one of his paintings in his studio, 1964.
Pearson's military records; personal and professional correspondence with galleries, museums and letters from colleagues including Will Barnet, Miriam Bloom, Ethel Fisher Kott and others; a photograph album and loose photographs of Pearson at events, with friends and in the military; a sketchbook of Pearson's drawings; and exhibition announcements and reviews of Pearson's work.
Biographical / Historical:
Henry Charles Pearson (1914-2006) was a painter and educator in New York, New York and Kingston, North Carolina. Pearson studied University of North Carolina and Yale.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives is material lent for microfilming on reels 31 and 95 and includes letters from Pearson to his family during his travels and military service and correspondence with artists and friends; photographs; clippings; a brief autobiography to 1930; sales reports from the Stephen Radich Gallery and Martha Jackson Gallery; exhibit and price lists; and clippings.
Additional Henry Pearson papers also located at: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Wilson Library Southern Historical Collection.
Provenance:
Materials on reels 31 and 95 lent for microfilming in 1970 by Henry Pearson. Pearson donated the material on reel 145 in 1971, and additional material in 1989. Material on reel 3890 received 1984 from Syracuse University. Additional material received 2016 from Helene Shuter, Pearson's daughter.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
