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Biesel family papers

Creator:
Biesel family  Search this
Names:
Artists Equity Association  Search this
Federal Art Project (Ill.)  Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this
University of Chicago. Renaissance Society  Search this
Beisel, Frances Strain, 1898-1962  Search this
Biesel, Charles, 1865-1945  Search this
Biesel, Fred, 1893-1954  Search this
Richards, William Trost, 1833-1905  Search this
Extent:
2.9 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Date:
circa 1859-1983
bulk 1919-1983
Summary:
The Biesel Family papers measure 2.9 linear feet and date from circa 1859-1983, with bulk dates from 1919-1983. The papers document the careers of a Chicago family of artists, which included Charles Biesel, his son Fred Biesel and Fred Biesel's wife Frances Strain Biesel. Materials include biographical summaries, Fred and Frances Biesel's personal and professional correspondence, writings, and professional records documenting Fred Biesel's involvement with the Federal Arts Project and Frances Biesel's tenure as the director of the Renissance Society at the University of Chicago. Also found are scrapbooks with news clippings, printed materials, photographs of the Biesel family and their artwork, and artwork in the form of handmade Christmas cards, sketchbooks and loose figure sketches and small paintings.
Scope and Contents:
The Biesel Family papers measure 2.9 linear feet and date from circa 1859-1983, with bulk dates from 1919-1983. The papers document the careers of a Chicago family of artists, which included Charles Biesel, his son Fred Biesel and Fred Biesel's wife Frances Strain Biesel. Included in the papers are biographical material; correspondence; writings; professional files; personal business records; printed material; scrapbooks; photographic material and artwork. Correspondence contains letters to Frances and Fred Biesel regarding exhibiting artwork, project consultation, club membership and speaking engagements. Writings contains a notebook with addresses and price list notes; lecture notes and essay drafts by Fred Biesel on printmaking and art movements such as modernism and cubism, as well as essay typescripts and lectures by others. Also found is a short story about a meeting with Charles Biesel. Professional Files contain correspondence, funding proposals, business records and other materials related to the Biesel's management and participation in various organizations and project such as The Renaissance Society and Artist Union Chicago in Frances Biesel's case and Fred Biesel's involvement with the WPA's Federal Art Project's Illinois chapter, as well as his time as an art professor. The personal business records series contains Charles Biesel's deed lists, and printed material includes several exhibition catalogs related to the Biesel family and other artists, along with clippings and materials related to the Federal Arts Program. The papers also include two scrapbooks of clippings, photographs of the Biesel family, their friends and art associations, artwork, and exhibitions. Artwork is in the form of sketches, etchings, handmade christmas cards and small paintings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nine series

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1949-1961 (2 Folders: Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1927-1963 (0.1 Linear feet: Box 1)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1921-1960 (0.1 Linear feet: Box 1)

Series 4: Professional Files, circa 1939-1962 (0.5 Linear feet: Box 1)

Series 5: Personal Business, circa 1928-1961 (2 Folders: Box 1)

Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1897-1983 (1.5 Linear feet: Box 1-3)

Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1915-1931 (0.1 Linear feet: Box 3, OV 1)

Series 8: Photographic Material, circa 1919-1960 (0.3 Linear feet: Box 3)

Series 9: Artwork, circa 1876-1945 (0.4 Linear feet: Box 4)
Biographical / Historical:
The Biesel Family papers measure 2.9 linear feet and date from circa 1859-1983, with bulk dates from 1919-1983. The Biesel Family were a family of artists comprised of Charles Biesel, his son Fred Biesel, and Fred's wife Frances Strain Biesel.

Charles Biesel (1865-1945) was a marine painter who spent time apprenticing and working with the American Lithography Company in New York and Philadelphia before relocating to Newport, Rhode Island where he co-founded the Newport Art Association in 1912. In 1918, Charles Biesel moved to Chicago where he lived at the 57th street artist colony and was a member of the Arts Club of Chicago and the Chicago Society of Artists. He also helped found the Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists where he served as the organization's first secretary. Biesel exhibited work in several solo exhibitions across the United States; as well as with a group of other Chicago painters who exhibited work annually at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Fred Biesel (1893-1954) was a painter and art administrator born in Philadelphia in 1893 and raised in Newport, Rhode Island where he went on to study at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1913 to 1915. After serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1916 to 1919, Biesel followed his father to Chicago and continued studying at the Art Institute of Chicago where he met his wife Francis Strain and painter John Sloan who wound up influencing them significantly and becoming a lifelong friend. Biesel exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Society of Artists, and the Society of Independent Artists. He also participated in museum exhibitions in Rhode Island, New York, New Mexico, and New Jersey. From 1935–1943, Biesel worked under the Federal Art Project, and served as director of Illinois Art and Craft Project from 1941–1943, as well as on the faculty of the Layton Art School in Milwaukee 1946–1953.

Frances Strain Biesel (1898-1962) was a painter and director of the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. A native of Chicago, Frances Strain Biesel was an important figure in the art scene of 1920s-1930s Chicago where she was involved in almost every independent exhibition and exhibition group that emerged during that time. Two of these groups included the Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists and the Ten Artists of Chicago, a collective characterized by their commitment to modernist ideals. Her work has been shown across the country, including the Chicago Society of Artists, the Whitney Museum and the Newark Museum.
Provenance:
Microfilmed material was donated in 1985 by Garnett Biesel, son of Fred and Frances Biesel. He later donated unmicrofilmed material in 1990, after it had been used in preparation for the book The Federal Art Project in Illinois, 1935-1943 (1990), by George Mavigliano and Richard Lawson.
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:
Marine painters -- Illinos -- Chicago  Search this
Painters -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this
Topic:
Modernism (Art)  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Citation:
Biesel Family Papers, circa 1859-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.biesfami
See more items in:
Biesel family papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw934594a62-5981-42c6-af0b-69aab802d235
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-biesfami

Lester Burbank Bridaham papers

Creator:
Bridaham, Lester Burbank  Search this
Names:
Art Institute of Chicago  Search this
Colonial Craft Survey for Massachusetts  Search this
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Society for Contemporary American Art  Search this
Albright, Ivan, 1897-1983  Search this
Barton, Macena, 1901-1986  Search this
Biesel, Charles, 1865-1945  Search this
Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988  Search this
De Diego, Julio, 1900-  Search this
Eboli, Jules  Search this
Florsheim, Richard A., 1916-1979  Search this
Krans, Olof, 1838-1916  Search this
Lee, Gypsy Rose, 1914-1970  Search this
Nicolaïdes, Kimon, 1892-1938  Search this
Rickey, George  Search this
Schnakenberg, H. E. (Henry Ernest), 1892-1970  Search this
Spears, Ethel, 1903-1974  Search this
Extent:
7.4 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Date:
1912-1986
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, writings, art works, scrapbooks, printed material, photographs, and files on Julio De Diego and Kimon Nicolaides and other topics, related to Bridaham's career as an artist and writer.
REEL 8: Printed material, including articles written by Bridaham for periodicals (1950-1957), 15 exhibition catalogs (1928-1968), clippings by and about Bridaham (1930-1959), 6 press releases (1956-1957), a transcript of a radio discussion which included Bridaham (1951), 2 advertisements, a lecture announcement (1957), instructions on using egg tempera for Bridaham's students, a guide book to the Louisiana State Museum (1956), brochures about Strathmont Museum (1958), and resumes.
REEL 3: Material related to Kimon Nicolaides, including a radio address given by him, 1933; publicity for his book THE NATURAL WAY TO DRAW; exhibition catalogs; clippings; press releases; and a photograph of one of his sculptures. [Microfilm title: Kimon Nicolaides papers]
UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence with Kimon Nicolaides and Henry Schnackenberg (1921-1923), Julio De Diego (1941-1952), Ethel Spears (1961), Isabel Bishop (1975), and George and Edith Rickey. Letters to Mamie Harmon concern a Nicolaides exhibition and book (1938-1941). Writings include nine v. of diaries (1946-1954) kept during his tenure at the Art Institute of Chicago, and notes and drafts for an unpublished book (1938-1982).
Subject files concerning Ivan Albright's poetry, the Colonial Craft Survey for Massachusetts (1935), Olof Krans (1939), the reorganization of the Metropolitan Museum's photographic department (1949), Romanesque and Gothic sculpture and the Society for Contemporary American Art. A file (1921-1983) on Julio De Diego contains Bridaham's research materials, sketches and drawings by the artist, a journal kept by De Diego in New York (1932) and photographs of De Diego, his family including third wife Gypsy Rose Lee, friends and art works. Kimon Nicolaides' file (1921-1986) contains his writings and drawings (1928), drawings by Vivian Gordon and Howard Ahrens (1923-1986), photographs and other research materials.
Printed materials consists of clippings (1930-1972), "The Chicago Artist" newsletter (1938), press releases, a book cover, Artists Equity publications (1952-1953), posters, exhibition catalogs and anouncements and membership cards. Photographs show Bridaham, friends, National Art Week activities with Macena Barton, Charles Biesel, Jules Eboli and Richard Florsheim, his studio and drawings (1928-1949). Other materials include over 150 prints and drawings (1927-1977) of Moroccan scenes, Colorado wildflowers and other subjects, resumes, an illustrated notebook of Bridaham's plans for art works (1931-1932) and a list of his works (1974).
ADDITION: Material concerning the latter part of Bridaham's life, including original works of art, photographs, a dream sketchbook (1945), a notebook devoted to Julio de Diego; Bridaham's letters to Jeanette Fowler, 1989-1990 and other correspondence, 1940s-1950s; and printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Museum director, art historian, painter, and printmaker; d. 1992. Bridaham received a degree in chemical engineering from M.I.T. and studied art history at Harvard's Fogg Museum from 1936-1937. He received a 1931 American Field Service fellowship for study in France and Morocco, and studied studio art at the Art Students League under Kimon Nicolaides and Kenneth Hayes Miller. Between 1938 and 1954, Bridaham was a staff officer at the Art Institute of Chicago. He was also the director of the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, and of the Strathmont Museum, Elmira, N.Y. He is the author of Gargoyles, Chimeras and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture.
Related Materials:
Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles, 1895-1987, are located at The Getty Research Institute Special Collections.
Provenance:
Donated 1974-1987 by Lester Burbank and Dorothy Bridaham. In 1996, an additional 0.8 ft. was donated from the Jeanette Fowler estate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm.
Occupation:
Art historians  Search this
Art teachers  Search this
Museum directors  Search this
Painters -- United States  Search this
Printmakers  Search this
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Mural painting and decoration  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Identifier:
AAA.bridlest
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9bd89c151-af25-4b32-8a97-03c7fca8f311
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-bridlest

Jacob Zavel Jacobson papers

Creator:
Jacobson, J. Z. (Jacob Zavel), 1900-  Search this
Names:
Armin, Emil, 1883-  Search this
Biesel, Charles, 1865-1945  Search this
Extent:
0.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1925-1983
Scope and Contents:
Various manuscripts and essays on art, biographies on artists and architects, Judaism, unpublished and published manuscripts, and a pocket notebook; correspondence from Forbes Watson, Julia Thecla, Todd Kempf, Samuel Putnam, Emil Armin, John Doctoroff, Ivar Rose, Oscar Leonard, John Sloan, and others; biographical and personal information, writings, photographs, printed material and art work, including a pen drawing by Emil Armin and a sketch/guest book from the studio of Charles Biesel, given to Jacobson after Biesel's death as a memento of their friendship.
Biographical / Historical:
Writer, editor, critic; Chicago, Ill. Edited Art of today, Chicago, 1933, and was associated with the 57th St. Art colony. Died 1970.
Provenance:
Donated 1985 by Helen M. Jacobson, widow of Jacobson.
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:
Artists -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this
Art critics -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this
Authors -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this
Editors -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this
Topic:
Art criticism  Search this
Modernism (Art)  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.jacojz
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw900cd92a0-f5f5-4bc1-b8c6-1e2c4ea655f4
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-jacojz

Early Morning, Seas at Newport, (painting)

Painter:
Biesel, Charles 1865-1945  Search this
Medium:
Watercolor
Type:
Paintings
Owner/Location:
Raydon Gallery New York New York
Date:
1914
Topic:
Waterscape--Coast  Search this
Landscape--Rhode Island--Newport  Search this
Control number:
IAP 60940318
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_72006

Ironworkers on the River, (painting)

Painter:
Biesel, Charles 1865-1945  Search this
Medium:
Watercolor on paper
Type:
Paintings
Owner/Location:
Inlander Collection of Great Lakes Region Painting Hamtramck Michigan
Date:
1919
Topic:
Landscape--River--Chicago River  Search this
Architecture--Bridge  Search this
Architecture exterior--Industry--Construction  Search this
Figure group  Search this
Occupation--Industry--Construction  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8E990003
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_461093

View of Duluth, (painting)

Painter:
Biesel, Charles 1865-1945  Search this
Medium:
Watercolor on paper mounted on board
Type:
Paintings
Owner/Location:
Minnesota Historical Society 345 Kellogg Boulevard St. Paul Minnesota 55102 Accession Number: AV1986.159
Date:
1918
Topic:
Cityscape--Minnesota--Duluth  Search this
Landscape--Lake--Lake Superior  Search this
Control number:
IAP 26330077
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_353189

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