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Oral history interview with V. V. Rankine

Interviewee:
Rankine, V. V., 1920-2004  Search this
Interviewer:
Kirwin, Liza  Search this
Names:
Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
David Herbert Gallery  Search this
Institute of Contemporary Arts (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Jefferson Place Gallery  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
Bader, Franz, 1903-1994  Search this
Brooks, James, 1906-1992  Search this
Callahan, Harry M.  Search this
Cunningham, Merce  Search this
Davis, Gene, 1920-1985  Search this
De Kooning, Elaine  Search this
De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this
Denney, Alice  Search this
Dorrance, Nesta  Search this
Downing, Thomas, 1928-1985  Search this
Duncan, Augustin  Search this
Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster), 1895-1983  Search this
Gabo, Naum, 1890-1977  Search this
Gilliam, Sam, 1933-2022  Search this
Gorky, Agnes  Search this
Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948  Search this
Graham, John, 1887-1961  Search this
Guston, Philip, 1913-1980  Search this
Halle, Kay  Search this
Hare, David, 1917-1992  Search this
Helburn, Theresa, 1887-1959  Search this
Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995  Search this
Kennedy, Kit  Search this
Kiesler, Frederick  Search this
Kinney, Gilbert H.  Search this
Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984  Search this
Lassaw, Ibram, 1913-2003  Search this
Leopold, Richard  Search this
Louis, Morris, 1912-1962  Search this
Magruder, Esther  Search this
Merrill, Kevin  Search this
Nelson, Wretha  Search this
Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988  Search this
Newman, Bonnie  Search this
Noland, Kenneth, 1924-2010  Search this
Ozenfant, Amédée, 1886-1966  Search this
Pace, Stephen, 1918-2010  Search this
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Penn, Arthur, 1922-  Search this
Phillips, Duncan, 1886-1966  Search this
Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this
Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008  Search this
Renault, Jean  Search this
Richman, Robert  Search this
Russo, Alexander  Search this
Sheridan, Walt  Search this
Sherman, Saul  Search this
Snelson, Kenneth, 1927-2016  Search this
Soyer, Moses, 1899-1974  Search this
Soyer, Raphael, 1899-1987  Search this
Sweeney, James Johnson, 1900-  Search this
Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953  Search this
Truitt, Anne, 1921-2004  Search this
Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987  Search this
Yektai, Manoucher, 1922-  Search this
Youngerman, Jack, 1926-2020  Search this
Extent:
34 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
1990 Mar. 2-22
Scope and Contents:
An interview of V. V. Rankine conducted 1990 Mar. 2-22, by Liza Kirwin, for the Archives of American Art.
Rankine discusses the evolution of her nickname, V.V.; discovering her dyslexia; growing up in Boston; auditioning for a part in, "The Philadelphia Story"; her art studies with Amedee Ozenfant from 1944 to 1946; her studies at Black Mountain College with Josef Albers and Willem De Kooning in 1947; her friendship with Morris Louis and watching him work; living with her brother-in-law Arshile Gorky, in New York City; her first one-woman show at the David Herbert Gallery in New York in 1962; exhibiting at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York and at the Jefferson Place Gallery in Washington, D.C.; Robert Richman and the Institute of Contemporary Arts; the relationship between her painting and her sculpture; favorite shapes and materials; and her summer home in East Hampton and artist friends there. Rankine also recalls Robert Rauschenberg, Jack Youngerman, Manoucher Yektai, Betty Parsons, Ibram Lassaw, Buckminster Fuller, Elaine De Kooning, Arthur Penn, Richard Leopold, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Ken Noland, Morris Louis, Ray Johnson, Kenneth Snelson, David Hare, Frederick Kiesler, Raphael Soyer, Moses Soyer, Jean Renault, Agnes Gorky, Esther Magruder, James Johnson Sweeney, Jim Brooks, John Graham, Phillip Guston, Duncan Phillips, Theresa Helburn, Augustine Duncan, Tom Downing, Gene Davis, Alice Denney, Nesta Dorrance, Kevin Merrill, Sam Gilliam, Dylan Thomas, Kay Halle, Kit Kennedy, Naum Gabo, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Anne Truitt, Wretha Nelson, Franz Bader, Louise Nevelson, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Bonnie Newman, Alexander Russo, Walt Sheridan, Gilbert Kinney, Saul Sherman, Steve Pace, Lee Krasner, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
V.V. Rankine (1920-2004) was a painter and sculptor from Washington, D.C. Variable forms of the artist's name are notably E. R. (Elvine Richard) Rankine, Vivian Scott Rankine, and her married name, Mrs. Paul Scott.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 53 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Painters -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this
Sculptors -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women sculptors  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.rankin90
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9962313c4-a6e1-43b3-b0a1-2b3ae06a7b90
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-rankin90
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Katharine Kuh, 1982 Mar. 18-1983 Mar. 24

Interviewee:
Kuh, Katharine, 1904-1994  Search this
Interviewer:
Berman, Avis, 1949-  Search this
Subject:
Rothko, Mark  Search this
Adams, Ansel  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
Albright, Ivan  Search this
Archipenko, Alexander  Search this
Arensberg, Walter  Search this
Arensberg, Louise S. (Louise Stevenson)  Search this
Avery, Milton  Search this
Barr, Alfred H., Jr.  Search this
Berenson, Bernard  Search this
Davis, Stuart  Search this
De Kooning, Willem  Search this
Ernst, Max  Search this
Duchamp, Marcel  Search this
Hofmann, Hans  Search this
Kepes, Gyorgy  Search this
Klee, Paul  Search this
Léger, Fernand  Search this
Mérida, Carlos  Search this
Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig  Search this
Moholy-Nagy, László  Search this
Newman, Barnett  Search this
Noguchi, Isamu  Search this
Paepcke, Walter Paul  Search this
Porter, Eliot  Search this
Ray, Man  Search this
Rich, Daniel Catton  Search this
Smith, David  Search this
Stamos, Theodoros  Search this
Stieglitz, Alfred  Search this
Still, Clyfford  Search this
Tamayo, Rufino  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Tworkov, Jack  Search this
Weston, Edward  Search this
Art Institute of Chicago  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
First National Bank of Chicago  Search this
Vassar College  Search this
Katharine Kuh Gallery (Chicago, Ill.)  Search this
Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Katharine Kuh, 1982 Mar. 18-1983 Mar. 24. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Saturday review  Search this
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Theme:
Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource  Search this
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12186
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215638
AAA_collcode_kuh82
Theme:
Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_215638

Oral history interview with Katharine Kuh

Topic:
Saturday review
Interviewee:
Kuh, Katharine  Search this
Interviewer:
Berman, Avis  Search this
Creator:
Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project  Search this
Names:
Art Institute of Chicago  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
First National Bank of Chicago -- Art collections  Search this
Katharine Kuh Gallery (Chicago, Ill.)  Search this
Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project  Search this
Vassar College  Search this
Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
Albright, Ivan, 1897-1983  Search this
Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964  Search this
Arensberg, Louise S. (Louise Stevenson), 1879-1953  Search this
Arensberg, Walter, 1878-1954  Search this
Avery, Milton, 1885-1965  Search this
Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981  Search this
Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959  Search this
Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964  Search this
De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this
Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this
Ernst, Max, 1891-1976  Search this
Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966  Search this
Kepes, Gyorgy, 1906-2001  Search this
Klee, Paul, 1879-1940  Search this
Léger, Fernand, 1881-1955  Search this
Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969  Search this
Moholy-Nagy, László, 1895-1946  Search this
Mérida, Carlos, 1891-1984  Search this
Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970  Search this
Noguchi, Isamu, 1904-1988  Search this
Paepcke, Walter Paul, 1896-1960  Search this
Porter, Eliot, 1901-1990  Search this
Ray, Man, 1890-1976  Search this
Rich, Daniel Catton, 1904-1976  Search this
Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this
Smith, David, 1906-1965  Search this
Stamos, Theodoros, 1922-1997  Search this
Stieglitz, Alfred, 1864-1946  Search this
Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980  Search this
Tamayo, Rufino, 1899-  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Tworkov, Jack  Search this
Weston, Edward, 1886-1958  Search this
Extent:
313 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1982 Mar. 18-1983 Mar. 24
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Katharine Kuh conducted 1982 Mar. 18-1983 Mar. 24, by Avis Berman, for the Archives of American Art's Mark Rothko and His Times oral history project.
Kuh speaks of her childhood in Chicago, the development of her interest in art, classes in art history at Vassar College, and her career as curator of modern art at the Art Institute of Chicago. She recalls in particular the "Sanity in Art" movement against modern art in Chicago. Kuh describes her relationship with Mark Rothko and Rothko's relationships with Mark Tobey, Clyfford Still, Kate Rothko, Theodoros Stamos, Milton Avery, Stanley Kunitz, and Hans Hofmann.
Kuh discusses her parents, the family silk business, travelling in Europe as a child, life in Chicago, the effects of polio and other illnesses on her interests, and her student years at Vassar College. She remembers visiting Bernard Berenson in Italy with her family and again with Daniel Catton Rich, with whom she worked very closely at the Art Institute of Chicago. She speaks of the Katharine Kuh Gallery, which she started in the mid-1930s and its place in the vanguard of the Chicago art scene.
Kuh remembers the effects of the stock market crash on her personal situation, her marriage to businessman George Kuh, distaste for life in the suburbs, and her divorce. She discusses the Katharine Kuh Gallery and the actions taken against her business by members of the reactionary "Sanity in Art" movement (including a very funny anecdote concerning Carlos Merida). She speaks of the classes in modern art that she taught at her gallery and of some of the artists she exhibited there, including the photographers Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, and Edward Weston.
Kuh remembers the McCarthy era and the political conservatism in Chicago, including her testimony on behalf of Bill Zimmerman, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs. She criticizes blockbuster exhibitions and the changes in the role of a museum curator. She reminisces about building the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago and the art education program she ran there, and recalls Stuart Davis, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Gyorgy Kepes, and Ivan Albright.
Kuh remembers Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Marcel Duchamp, as well as the collectors Walter Paepcke and Walter and Louise Arensberg (whose collection she surveyed in their home for an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago).
Kuh focuses on her memories of Mark Rothko, recalling when they met, their friendship, his manner of working, his feelings about his work, and his worries towards the end of his life. She talks about Clyfford Still, Barnett Newman, and Mark Tobey. Some parts of this tape repeat what she said earlier.
Kuh continues discussing Rothko, particularly his Houston chapel murals and the retrospective exhibition at MOMA in 1961. She remembers visiting Rothko's studio and describes his working methods. She relates Rothko's views on other artists, including Milton Avery, Clyfford Still, Turner, Robert Motherwell, and Adolf Gottlieb; parts repeat things said before. Kuh also discusses Rothko's wife and daughter.
Kuh recounts building the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago and speaks of the museum staff, trustees, and donors. She remembers Alfred Barr at MOMA.
Kuh continues speaking about the Art Institute of Chicago, describing the circumstances of her resignation and subsequent move to New York. She talks of knowing Peggy Guggenheim, Max Ernst, and Fernand Leger.
Kuh describes her work as a consultant to college museums and her writings. She discusses the field of art criticism and her career as art editor at Saturday Review. She recalls Clyfford Still's retrospective exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and his death.
Kuh describes her work as a collector for the First National Bank of Chicago.
Kuh recounts more about her work at Saturday Review and her resignation. She goes into great detail about her travels in Alaska and British Columbia surveying Northwest Indian art for a government report. She speaks again about the McCarthy era.
Kuh speaks again about the Katharine Kuh Gallery and the artists she exhibited there, including Josef Albers (and his Black Mountain College), Alexander Archipenko, Stuart Davis, Paul Klee, Alexander Calder, and Man Ray.
Kuh continues her discussion of artists she exhibited at the Katharine Kuh Gallery, including Mark Tobey, Paul Klee, and Isamu Noguchi.
Kuh continues talking about artists she exhibited at the Katharine Kuh Gallery, including David Smith, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Eliot Porter, Rufino Tamayo, and Jack Tworkov.
Biographical / Historical:
Katharine Kuh (1904-1994) was an art consultant, curator, and critic from Chicago and New York City.
General:
Originally recorded on 16 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 31 digital wav files. Duration is 21 hrs., 52 min.
Provenance:
This interview was conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's Mark Rothko and his Times oral history project, with funding provided by the Mark Rothko Foundation.
Others interviewed on the project (by various interviewers) include: Sonia Allen, Sally Avery, Ben-Zion, Bernard Braddon, Ernest Briggs, Rhys Caparn, Elaine de Kooning, Herbert Ferber, Esther Gottlieb, Juliette Hays, Sidney Janis, Buffie Johnson, Jacob Kainen, Louis Kaufman, Jack Kufeld, Stanley Kunitz, Joseph Liss, Dorothy Miller, Betty Parsons, Wallace Putnam, Rebecca Reis, Maurice Roth, Sidney Schectman, Aaron Siskind, Joseph Solman, Hedda Sterne, Jack Tworkov, Esteban Vicente and Ed Weinstein. Each has been cataloged separately.
Restrictions:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to quote or reproduce for the purposes of publication requires written permission from Avis Berman. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art critics -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art museum curators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art museum curators -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this
Topic:
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.kuh82
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw941cbbacd-01e0-402c-828e-c3909d220c9b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-kuh82
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Ruth Asawa and Albert Lanier

Interviewee:
Asawa, Ruth  Search this
Lanier, Albert  Search this
Interviewer:
Johnson, Mark  Search this
Karlstrom, Paul J.  Search this
Names:
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Albers, Anni  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster), 1895-1983  Search this
Extent:
34 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2002 June 21-July 5
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Ruth Asawa and her husband, Albert Lanier, 2002 June 21-July 5, conducted by Mark Johnson on June 21 and Paul Karlstrom on July 5, for the Archives of American Art, in the subjects' home/studio in San Francisco, California.
Asawa and Lanier shared their memories of Black Mountain College, Josef and Anni Albers (with whom they became close friends) and Buckminster Fuller. Part of their account of those years and the early stage of their marriage dealt with issues of race.
Biographical / Historical:
Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) was a Japanese American sculptor based in San Francisco, California. Albert Lanier is an architect from San Francisco, California. Interviewer Mark Johnson is head of the California Asian American Artists Biographical Survey and resides in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 20 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Asian American art  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Asian American sculptors  Search this
Japanese American art  Search this
Japanese American artists  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women sculptors  Search this
Art -- Philosophy  Search this
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.asawa02
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw901e9c7bd-9336-4941-abff-5a01ea224ee4
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-asawa02
Online Media:

José de Creeft papers

Creator:
De Creeft, José, 1884-1982  Search this
Names:
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Faculty  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.) -- Faculty  Search this
New School for Social Research (New York, N.Y.) -- Faculty  Search this
Norton Gallery and School of Art  Search this
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture -- Faculty  Search this
Albers, Josef -- Photographs  Search this
Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this
Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976 -- Photographs  Search this
Campos, Jules  Search this
De Creeft, William  Search this
De Diego, Julio, 1900- -- Photographs  Search this
Dickinson, Edwin Walter, 1891-1978  Search this
Diederich, William Hunt, 1884-1953  Search this
Dodd, Lamar  Search this
Escuder, Joseph  Search this
Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969 -- Photographs  Search this
Gross, Chaim, 1904-1991 -- Photographs  Search this
Gómez Gil, Alfredo, 1936-  Search this
Lawrence, Gertrude -- Photographs  Search this
Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973  Search this
Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973 -- Photographs  Search this
Neumann, J. B. (Jsrael Ber) -- Photographs  Search this
Nivola, Costantino, 1911-1988  Search this
Rattner, Abraham -- Photographs  Search this
Roszak, Theodore, 1907-1981 -- Photographs  Search this
Soyer, Raphael, 1899-1987 -- Photographs  Search this
Sweeney, James Johnson, 1900-  Search this
Zorach, William, 1887-1966 -- Photographs  Search this
Extent:
28.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Diaries
Interviews
Scrapbooks
Sketches
Date:
1871-2004, bulk 1910s-1980s
bulk 1910-1990
Summary:
The papers of Spanish-born sculptor and educator José de Creeft measure 28.1 linear feet and date from 1871 to 2004 with the bulk of the material dating from the 1910s to the 1980s. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, fifty diaries, writings, subject files, personal business records, printed materials, twenty-seven photo albums and other photographs, scrapbooks, and scattered sketches.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Spanish-born sculptor and educator José de Creeft measure 28.1 linear feet and date from 1871 to 2004 with the bulk of the material dating from the 1910s to the 1980s. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, fifty diaries, writings, subject files, personal business records, printed materials, twenty-seven photo albums and other photographs, scrapbooks, and scattered sketches.

Biographical materials include address books, awards, recorded interviews with and about de Creeft, membership materials, naturalization records, resumes, and travel documents.

Correspondence is primarily professional in nature and concerns exhibitions, de Creeft's involvement in arts organizations, and awards. There are also scattered personal letters from family and friends. Correspondents include Alexander Calder, Nina, Alice, Barbara and William de Creeft, Hunt Diederich, Joseph Escudar, and Gil Gomez, Jacques Lipchitz, Edwin Dickinson, James Johnson Sweeney, Costantino Nivola, Abraham Rattner, and Lamar Dodd, among others.

De Creeft's fifty diaries are nearly complete for the period dating from 1926 to 1981. Some are bound volumes and others are loose pages. The bulk of the diaries are in Spanish and many include sketches. Additional writings, called "escritos varios" by José de Creeft, are mostly in Spanish and consist of typed manuscripts and essays, including "Roosty Was My Friend, 1957, notebooks, an artist's statement, and writings by others, including drafts for The Sculpture of de Creeft by Jules Campos, and a video recording entitled José de Creeft by Bob Hanson. There is one sound recording of Lorrie Goulet reading poetry.

Subject files are varied and include files on de Creeft's teaching positions at the New School for Social Research, Black Mountain College, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the Art Students League. There are files for some of his sculpture projects, inlcuding Alice in Wonderland, Poet, and a proposed model for the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial in Georgia, as well as compiled information about various art related topics of interest.

De Creeft's business records include appraisals, contracts, leases, price lists, and scattered receipts. Also found are art inventories in the form of three sets of index cards, some of which include photographs.

Printed materials include books, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, exhibition labels, postcards, and posters.

There are loose photographs and twenty-seven photograph albums depicting de Creeft, his family, friends, and works of art. There are photos of Alexander Calder; de Creeft and Goulet with Raphael Soyer, posing with Soyer's portrait of them; Gertrude Lawrence; art juries, which also include images of Chaim Gross, Jacques Lipchitz, Theodore Roszak, and William Zorach; students, friends, and faculties of Black Mountain College, the Art Students League, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the Norton School of Art, which also includes images of Joseph Albers, Alexander Calder, Julio De Diego, Walter Gropius, J. B. Neumann, and Abraham Rattner.

Seven mixed media scrapbooks document de Creeft's career from 1929 to 1982. Also found are scattered pen and pencil sketches and one sketchbook dating from the 1920s.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1914-1979 (Boxes 1, 27; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1910s-1980s (Boxes 1-6; 4.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Diaries, 1926-1981 (Boxes 6-11; 5.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, 1871-1977 (Boxes 11-13, 28; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Subject Files, 1924-1980 (Boxes 13-16, 27; 2.4 linear feet)

Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1909-1980s (Boxes 16-17, 27; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1921-1980s (Boxes 17-21, 27, 33; 4.7 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, 1900-2004 (Boxes 21-25, 29, 31; 5.1 linear feet)

Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1929-1982 (Box 26, 30, 32; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 10: Artwork, 1920s-1930s (Box 26; 2 folders)
Biographical / Historical:
José de Creeft (1908-1982) was a Spanish-born sculptor active in New York City, New York.

José de Creeft was born in Guadalajara, Spain and raised in Barcelona. In 1900, he apprenticed to sculptor Don Augustine Querol and studied drawing with Idalgo de Caviedas. De Creeft moved to Paris in 1905 and began formal art training at the Académie Julianand. He also took a studio in the Batteau Lavoir in Montmartre, where he interacted with Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Manolo, and Pablo Gargallo, all of whom also had studios there. During this period, de Creeft became friends with the artist Mateo Hernandez.

In 1915, de Creeft rejected the traditional technique of reproducing sculpture in stone from clay and plaster models and turned to direct carving in wood and stone. He was also one of the first sculptors who practiced assemblage and incorporated found objects into his work. His notable assemblage sculpture El Picador, a large figure on horseback, received worldwide press coverage and was exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Independents in 1926. Between 1919 and 1928, his work was exhibited in various Paris salons. In the late 1920s, he created 200 stone carvings for Roberto Ramonje's Forteleza (fortress) in Mallorca. It was around this time frame when de Creeft met Alexander Calder, who became his student in direct carving. De Creeft encouraged Calder to display his mechanical toys and Calder put his Circus together for the first time in de Creeft's studio.

De Creeft emigrated to the United States in 1929, right after marrying fellow sculptor Alice Robertson Carr. They divorced nine years later.

While in New York, de Creeft began sculpting with lead sheets beaten into three-dimensional forms and established a studio at 1 Washington Square. His first solo exhibition was at the Ferargil Galleries in New York City and included The Portrait of Cesar Vallejo in chased lead and The Silver Fox of found materials.

In 1932, de Creeft accepted a teaching position in sculpture at the New School for Social Research. He also taught courses at Black Mountain College, where he met his second wife, sculptor Lorrie Goulet, the Art Students League, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the Norton Gallery and School of Art. In 1946, de Creeft and Goulet purchased a hundred-acre farm in Hoosick Falls, NY where they established a studio and part-time residence.

Perhaps De Creeft's most well-known monumental scuplture is Alice in Wonderland in Central Park, New York City. The 12' x 16' bronze was dedicated during a public event in 1959 and gave de Creeft worldwide recognition. In 1995 a short film about the making of the sculpture was produced by J. D'Alba and narrated by Lorrie Goulet.

De Creeft was as founding member of the American Artist's Congress, the Sculptors Guild, and the Artist's Equity Association. De Creeft was represented by the Georgette Passedoit Gallery from 1936 to 1949. Later, he joined The Contemporaries (gallery) and exhibited there until 1966. Kennedy Galleries represented de Creeft from 1970 until his death in 1982.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds an interview of José De Creeft conducted October 1-8, 1968 by Forrest Selvig and the papers of de Creeft's wife Lorrie Goulet.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels D150 and 375-378). While most of the items were included in subsequent gifts, material not donated to the Archives remain with the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The José de Creeft papers were first lent for microfilming by the artist in 1963 and 1972. Lorrie Goulet, José de Creeft's widow, donated most of this material along with additional items in 1985 and 2009.
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.
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this
Sculpture, Modern -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Stone Mountain Memorial (Ga.)  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Diaries
Interviews
Scrapbooks
Sketches
Citation:
José de Creeft papers, 1871-2004, bulk 1910s-1980s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.decrjose
See more items in:
José de Creeft papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9bbb83529-c881-4ef2-b3f3-7919c41b1404
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-decrjose

Oral history interview with Ruth Asawa and Albert Lanier, 2002 June 21-July 5

Interviewee:
Asawa, Ruth, 1926-2013  Search this
Interviewer:
Johnson, Mark  Search this
Subject:
Karlstrom, Paul J  Search this
Lanier, Albert  Search this
Albers, Anni  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster)  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ruth Asawa and Albert Lanier, 2002 June 21-July 5. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Asian American art  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Asian American sculptors  Search this
Japanese American art  Search this
Japanese American artists  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women sculptors  Search this
Art -- Philosophy  Search this
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945  Search this
Theme:
Asian American  Search this
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12222
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)230409
AAA_collcode_asawa02
Theme:
Asian American
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_230409
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Ilya Bolotowsky

Interviewee:
Bolotowsky, Ilya, 1907-1981  Search this
Interviewer:
Cummings, Paul  Search this
Creator:
Diller, Burgoyne, 1906-1965  Search this
Names:
American Abstract Artists  Search this
American Artists' Congress  Search this
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors  Search this
G.R.D. Studio (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
National Academy of Design (U.S.)  Search this
Public Works of Art Project  Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this
Yaddo (Artist's colony)  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
Browne, Byron, 1907-1961  Search this
Dlugoszewski, Lucia, 1931-2000  Search this
Drewes, Werner, 1899-1985  Search this
Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948  Search this
Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994  Search this
Greene, Balcomb, 1904-1990  Search this
Greene, Gertrude, 1904-1956  Search this
Hawthorne, Charles Webster, 1872-1930  Search this
Holtzman, Harry  Search this
Johnson, William H., 1901-1970  Search this
Léger, Fernand, 1881-1955  Search this
Mondrian, Piet, 1872-1944  Search this
Neilson, Raymond P. R. (Raymond Perry Rodgers), 1881-1964  Search this
Neumann, J. B. (Jsrael Ber)  Search this
Olinsky, Ivan G. (Ivan Gregorewitch), 1878-1962  Search this
Ozenfant, Amédée, 1886-1966  Search this
Spivak, Max, 1906-1981  Search this
Vogel, Joseph, b. 1911  Search this
Extent:
197 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Place:
Wyoming
Date:
1968 March 24-April 7
Scope and Contents:
Interview of Ilya Bolotowsky conducted 1968 March 24-April 7, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Bolotowsky, a lively raconteur, recalls a host of episodes from his personal and professional life. He speaks of his childhood in Russia and Azerbaijan; the effects of war and communism; the family's flight as refugees into Georgia and then to present-day Istanbul; and his early education with a private tutor and at a Jesuit school in Istanbul. Bolotowsky recalls his family's emigration to the United States by ship in 1923; his first impressions of New York City; and early visits to the city's museums. He relates numerous anecdotes about faculty and fellow students at the National Academy of Design, including Ivan Olinsky, Raymond Neilson, Charles Hawthorne, Amedee Ozenfant, and William Henry Johnson.
He speaks of various early exhibitions of his work, including those with the Art Students League, G.R.D. Studio, and the J.B. Neumann Gallery. He also describes a stay at Yaddo in 1934.
Bolotowsky recounts his participation in the Public Works of Art Project as a teacher of art to delinquent children; later work on the mural project of the Works Progress Administration; the picketing of WPA offices, providing anecdotes about Max Spivak and Joseph Vogel; military service during World War II, first working on a Russian dictionary of technical terms and then as a liason officer with the Soviet Air Force in Nome, Alaska.
Upon his return from the military, Bolotowsky immediately resumed his painting career, and describes his involvement with artists' organizations such as the American Abstract Artists, the American Artists' Congress, the Concretionists, the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, and the Ten; he mentions in these contexts such personalities as Byron Browne, Burgoyne Diller, Werner Drewes, Arshile Gorky, Clement Greenberg, Balcomb and Gertrude Greene, Harry Holtzman, Fernand Leger, Piet Mondrian, and Meyer Schapiro.
Bolotowsky gives an extensive description of his experiences filling in for Joseph Albers for a year at Black Mountain College, and goes on to discuss his subsequent teaching positions at the University of Wyoming (including a discussion of the impact of the Wyoming landscape on his painting), Brooklyn College, Southampton College, and SUNY New Paltz. He devotes great attention to the development of his painting, his understanding of neo-plasticism and abstraction, and his efforts in filmmaking and playwriting.
Biographical / Historical:
Ilya Bolotowsky (1907-1981) was a Russian-American abstract painter in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 37 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others. Funding for the interview was provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Restrictions:
ACCESS RESTRICTED; written permission required.
Occupation:
Filmmakers  Search this
Playwrights  Search this
Topic:
Art and state  Search this
Concretionists (Group of artists)  Search this
Emigration and immigration  Search this
Experimental films  Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- United States  Search this
Painting, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Playwriting  Search this
Philadelphia Ten (Group of artists)  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews  Search this
World War, 1939-1945  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.boloto68
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ad928b0a-0396-445d-959c-d696af2c54e8
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-boloto68

Jacqueline Gourevitch papers

Creator:
Gourevitch, Jacqueline  Search this
Extent:
5.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Date:
1949-2019
bulk 1955-2005
Summary:
The papers of painter and educator Jacqueline Gourevitch measure 5.6 linear feet and date from 1946-2019 and document her education at Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, N.C., and the Art Students League; her teaching career; and exhibitions in Chicago and New York through biographical material, teaching files, personal and professional correspondence, gallery and exhibition files, and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and educator Jacqueline Gourevitch measure 5.6 linear feet and date from 1946-2019 and document her education at Black Mountain College, Black Mountain, N.C., and the Art Students League; her teaching career; and exhibitions in Chicago and New York through biographical material, teaching files, personal and professional correspondence, gallery and exhibition files, and printed material.

Materials in this collection document Gourevitch's career as an artist and educator. Her early interest in pursuing a career as a painter is highlighted through biographical materials that include correspondence, alumni lists, and notes from Black Mountain College and the High School of Music and Arts related to class reunions; a 1954 Fulbright application; and teacher bios from the Art Students League and Chicago Arts Institute.

Although her work as an artist and as an educator often overlapped, Gourevitch did not begin teaching until the 1970s. The years she spent painting are documented through exhibition announcements and clippings; gallery and exhibition files that include correspondence with curators and gallery owners, loan agreements, price lists, checklists, photographs and notes; various projects she worked on, including the Black Mountain College Project and numerous exhibitions related to Black Mountain College; and through correspondence with colleagues, other artists, including Ellen Lanyon, and friends. Gourevitch's teaching files document her career as an instructor and visiting artist through correspondence with students, faculty and staff at various institutions; lectures, lecture notes, and lecture announcements; course descriptions; class lists; syllabi; campus maps; and letters of recommendation. Evidence of her lasting impact on her students can be found throughout the collection through correspondence, clippings, and exhibition announcements.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in six series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1949-2017 (0.15 linear feet, Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1949-2017 (1.05 linear feet, Box 2-3)

Series 3: Professional Files, 1949-2019 (0.95 linear feet, Box 3-4)

Series 4: Gallery and Exhibition Files, circa 1950-2012 (2.45 linear feet, Box 3-5)

Series 5: Teaching Files, 1960-2015 (0.8 linear feet, Box 5-6)

Series 6: Printed Materials, 1958-1997 (0.2 linear feet, Box 6)
Biographical / Historical:
Jacqueline Gourevitch (1933- ) is a painter and educator in New York, New York. Gourevitch was born in Paris and moved to New York with her parents when she was a child. There she attended the High School of Music and Art where she decided to pursue a career as a painter. In 1950, she attended a summer program for art studies at Black Mountain College. She studied Art History at the University of Chicago and took courses at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League. In 1954, she married Victor Gourevitch, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, and they had two sons.

Although Gourevitch is most widely known for her Cloud paintings, her work focuses on the sky and clouds and incorporates the earth and the city, often observed from a distance or a high place. After many years of painting independently, Gourevitch began teaching in the early 1970s. She taught courses in drawing and painting at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and Cooper Union in New York. She held several Visiting Artist positions throughout her life and her work has been exhibited and included in permanent collections across the United States.
Provenance:
Donated in 2019 by Jacqueline Gourevitch.
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:
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Citation:
Jacqueline Gourevitch papers, 1949-2019. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.gourjacq
See more items in:
Jacqueline Gourevitch papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9709f4a7a-9832-438f-8959-5d1b35354b7b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-gourjacq
Online Media:

Anni Albers papers

Creator:
Albers, Anni  Search this
Names:
Bauhaus  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1924-1969
Summary:
The papers of artist and weaver Anni Albers measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1924-1969. They consist primarily of printed materials about Alber's exhibitions, Bauhaus training, and Black Mountain weaving classes.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of artist and weaver Anni Albers measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1924-1969. They consist primarily of printed materials about Alber's exhibitions, Bauhaus training, and Black Mountain weaving classes.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Printed Materials, 1929-1969 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Anni Albers (1899-1994) was a textile designer, weaver, writer, and printmaker who worked in Connecticut and at the Black Mountain College in North Carolina.

Anni Albers was born in Germany in 1899 and attended the Bauhaus where she met her husband designer Josef Albers in 1922; they married in 1925. At the Bauhaus. she experimented with new materials for weaving and executed richly colored designs on paper for wall hangings and textiles in silk, cotton, and linen yarns.

When the Bauhaus moved to Dessau, the Albers lived alongside the families of artist teachers Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Oscar Schlemmer, and others in one of the masters' houses designed by Gropius. In 1933, the Albers emigrated to the U.S. to work at the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Both taught at Black Mountain until 1949. During these years Anni Albers' weavings were shown throughout the US and she published many articles on textiles and design, culminating in a 1949 show at the Museum of Modern Art, the first of its kind for a textile artist.

In 1950, Josef accepted the position of chair of the design department at Yale and the Albers moved to Connecticut. During the 1950s and 1960s, Anni worked productively from a home studio, producing fabric patterns, creating "pictorial" weavings, and writing articles and books about weaving, including On Designing in 1952 and On Weaving in 1965. During the 1960s she also started printmaking and devoted much of her later career to this artform.

Anni Albers died in Connecticut in 1994.
Related Material:
Also found among the holdings of the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Anni Albers by Sevim Fesci on July 5, 1968.
Provenance:
Anni Albers donated the papers in 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 -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this
Authors -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this
Printmakers -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this
Weavers -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Women printmakers  Search this
Women textile artists  Search this
Citation:
Anni Albers papers, 1924-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.albeanni
See more items in:
Anni Albers papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw900c2d513-2fee-4b6f-b954-bed462a88926
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-albeanni

Black Mountain College records

Creator:
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Extent:
20 Microfilm reels
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1933-1956
Scope and Contents:
Selected records of the Black Mountain College which pertain to the visual arts program, including minutes and attendent papers; general files; faculty files; and treasurer's files (record groups I, II, III, and VI). Photographs from the general files were microfilmed separately on roll 204.
Biographical / Historical:
Black Mountain College Founded in 1933; closed in 1956.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1971 by North Carolina, Department of Archives and History.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Citation:
Black Mountain College selected records, 1933-1956. Owned and microfilmed by the North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina for the Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art.
Identifier:
AAA.blacmoun
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9543a1216-91e3-4bbc-a9d3-526dd4065ad7
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-blacmoun

Oral history interview with Harvey K. Littleton

Interviewee:
Littleton, Harvey K.  Search this
Interviewer:
Byrd, Joan Falconer  Search this
Creator:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Names:
American Craft Council  Search this
Ann Arbor Potters Guild  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Corning Glass Works  Search this
Cranbrook Academy of Art -- Students  Search this
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts  Search this
Midwest Designer-Craftsmen  Search this
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Penland School of Handicrafts  Search this
Pilchuck School  Search this
Renwick Gallery  Search this
University of Michigan -- Students  Search this
Braden, Norah, 1901-  Search this
Brown, William J. (William Joseph), 1923-1992  Search this
Dreisbach, Fritz  Search this
Eames, Charles  Search this
Eisch, Erwin, 1927-  Search this
Fredericks, Marshall M., 1908-1998  Search this
Hamada, Shōji, 1894-1978  Search this
Marioni, Dante, 1964-  Search this
Milles, Carl, 1875-1955  Search this
Turner, Robert Chapman, 1913-2005  Search this
Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002  Search this
Extent:
36 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2001 March 15
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Harvey K. Littleton conducted 2001 March 15, by Joan Falconer Byrd, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Littleton's home, Spruce Pine, N.C.
Littleton speaks of his family background including the work of his father [Jesse Talbot Littleton] at Corning Glassworks, and his early experiences with glass at Corning. He discusses his studies at the University of Michigan in physics and his switch to sculpture; his studies at Cranbrook Academy, in 1941, and his teachers Marshall Fredericks and Carl Milles; his studies on industrial design; becoming a potter; and working at Corning Glassworks, in the summers, inspecting hand-blown coffee pots and top-of-the-stove ware. He discusses his service in the 849th Signal Intelligence Unit in North Africa and Italy during WWII; studying with Norah Braden, at the Brighton School of Art, in England; the importance of, "A Potter's Book," by Bernard Leach; teaching pottery at night, in Ann Arbor, Michigan; the beginnings of the Ann Arbor Potters Guild; making his own potters' wheels; serving on the board of Penland School of Crafts; the development of "American" art and the impact of the GI Bill on the creation and expansion of art departments; the "master-slave apprentice system"; "the genius of Shoji Hamada"; the properties of porcelain; artist communities at Penland and Cranbrook; the influence of Bill Brown, director of the Penland School of Crafts; art education and the impact of the MFA; Black Mountain College, Pilchuck Glass School, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts; problems with the European educational system; the importance of Erwin Eisch's work on his development; his relationship with galleries and museums, particularly the Museum of Modern Art, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and American Craft Museum; and consignment laws. He also comments on the founding of the Midwest Designer Craftsmen; his involvement with the American Crafts Council (ACC) and the distinction between "the indigenous craftsman" and the "artist-craftsman"; American Crafts Council fairs; his printmaking; his techniques of sandblasting; teaching vitreography; and his plans for opening a print gallery. He recalls Charles Eames, Peter Voulkos, Shoji Hamada, Robert Turner, Dante Marioni, Fritz Dreisbach, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Harvey K. Littleton (1922- ) is a glass artist, potter, sculptor, and printmaker from Wisconsin and Spruce Pine, N.C. Joan Falconer Byrd (1939-) ia a professor in the art department of Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 10 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.
Topic:
Glass artists -- North Carolina -- Interviews  Search this
Potters -- Interviews  Search this
Printmakers -- North Carolina -- Interviews  Search this
Prints -- Technique  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.little01
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw961daf4d2-b6dd-486c-8664-b04a9b099d65
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-little01
Online Media:

Clemens Kalischer papers

Creator:
Kalischer, Clemens, 1921-  Search this
Names:
Bennington College  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
MacDowell Colony  Search this
Abate, Peter  Search this
Abe, Kongō, 1900-1968  Search this
Abel, Cora-Beth  Search this
Adler, Samuel, 1898-  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
Aschenbach, Paul, 1921-  Search this
Bengtz, Ture, 1907-1973  Search this
Borowski, Wiesław  Search this
Coonhan, Ms  Search this
Cox, Jan, 1919-1980  Search this
Cunningham, Merce  Search this
De Kooning, Elaine  Search this
Dehner, Dorothy, 1901-1994  Search this
Der Hovanesian, Garabed  Search this
Dombek, Blanche, 1914-  Search this
Doubrova, Jan, 1912-  Search this
Epping, Franc, 1910-  Search this
Fimple, Vernon  Search this
Forst, Miles, 1923-  Search this
Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011  Search this
Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster), 1895-1983  Search this
Gil, David  Search this
Glickman, Maurice, 1906-  Search this
Granda, Julio  Search this
Grausman, Philip, 1935-  Search this
Gray, Cleve  Search this
Hayter, Stanley William, 1901-1988  Search this
Kilbourn, Victoria  Search this
Lieberman, Alexander  Search this
Mazur, Michael, 1935-2009  Search this
Meštrović, Ivan, 1883-1962  Search this
Morris, George L. K., 1905-1975  Search this
Motherwell, Robert  Search this
Neel, Alice, 1900-1984  Search this
Noland, Kenneth, 1924-2010  Search this
Okubo, Miné  Search this
Prestopino, Gregorio  Search this
Rockwell, Norman, 1894-1978  Search this
Rosenberg, Jakob, 1893-  Search this
Smith, David, 1906-1965  Search this
Torres, John, 1939-  Search this
Tsʻai, Wen-ying, 1928-  Search this
Voulis, Asapia  Search this
Whitecross, Iain  Search this
Wildenhain, Marguerite  Search this
Extent:
276 Items ((on one microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
ca.1946-1966
Scope and Contents:
276 photographs, ca. 1946-1966, taken by Kalisher of artists teaching at Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont, Black Mountain College, North Carolina, and the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
Artists include: Peter Abate, Kongo Abe, Cora-Beth Abel, Samuel M. Adler, Paul Aschenbach, Josef Albers, Ture Bengtz, Wieslaw Borowski, Ms. Coonhan, Jan Cox, Merce Cunningham, Dorothy Dehner, Elaine de Kooning, Garabed der Hovanesian, Blanche Dombek, Jan Doubrova, Franc Epping, Vernon Fimple, Miles Forst, Helen Frankenthaler, Buckminster Fuller, David Gil, Maurice Glickman, Julio Granda, Philip Grausman, Cleve Gray, Stanley William Hayter, Victoria Kilbourn, Oskar Kokoschka, Alexander Lieberman, Michael Mazur, ? McKenzie, Ivan Mestrovic, George L. K. Morris, Robert Motherwell, Alice Neel, Kenneth Noland, Mine Okubo, Gregorio Prestopino, Norman Rockwell, Jakob Rosenberg, David Smith, John Torres, Wen Ying Tsai, Asapia Voulis, Iain Whitecross, Marguerite Wildenhain, and ? Zhermansky.
Biographical / Historical:
Photographer.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1982 by Clemens Kalischer.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Photographers  Search this
Topic:
Artists -- United States -- Photographs  Search this
Artist colonies -- Photographs  Search this
Function:
Artist colonies
Identifier:
AAA.kaliclem
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw955662f44-58c5-4a43-a039-3bf7013ee4c6
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-kaliclem

Kenneth Snelson papers

Creator:
Snelson, Kenneth, 1927-2016  Search this
Names:
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster), 1895-  Search this
Tajiri, Shinkichi, 1923-2009  Search this
Extent:
21.8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1947-2016
Summary:
The papers of artist Kenneth Snelson measure 21.8 linear feet and date from 1947-2016. While primarily known for his sculptures incorporating the structural principle of tensegrity, Snelson was also a prolific photographer and forerunner of computer art. The collection document's the artist's life and work through chronological files, correspondence, project files, gallery and exhibition files, photographic material, and printed material. Chronological files detail seven decades of personal and professional activities, beginning with Snelson's summers at Black Mountain College where he studied with Buckminster Fuller. Project files comprise nearly half of the collection and extensively document his sculptures, towers, atom model, computer art, patents, and cataloging and publishing projects.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of artist Kenneth Snelson measure 21.8 linear feet and date from 1947-2016. While primarily known for his sculptures incorporating the structural principle of tensegrity, Snelson was also a prolific photographer and forerunner of computer art. The collection document's the artist's life and work through chronological files, correspondence, project files, gallery and exhibition files, photographic material, and printed material.

Chronological files detail seven decades of personal and professional activities, beginning with Snelson's summers at Black Mountain College where he studied with Buckminster Fuller. Files contain a diverse array of material including personal photographs, photographs of artwork, printed material, correspondence, life documents, resumes, exhibition records, drawings and sketches, supply receipts, and professional files.

Correspondence in Series 2 is primarily with artists and friends. Notable correspondents include artists Buckminster Fuller, Anthony Hill, Todd Siler, and Shinkichi Tajiri.

Project files comprise nearly half of the collection and extensively document Snelson's sculptures, towers, atom model, computer art, patents, and cataloging and publishing projects. Files include a great deal of photographic material of artwork, models, and installations, as well as sketches, notes regarding specifications, material samples, supply receipts, invoices, and correspondence with dealers, contractors, institutions, and companies commissioning work.

Exhibition and gallery files document dozens of exhibitions and galleries that have represented Snelson over the years in the Unites States, Europe, and Japan. Items include correspondence, photographic material of artworks, installations, and openings, exhibitions lists, floorplans, shipping receipts, invoices, contracts, and printed material including exhibitions catalogs, announcements, and clippings.

Photographic material includes photographic prints, slides, negatives, contact sheets, and transparencies, as well as notes that Snelson kept about camera types and photographic processes. Although personal photographs are included here, the bulk of the material pertains to Snelson's fine art photography in which he experiments with panoramic photography and stereoscopic photography.

Printed material is predominantly comprised of exhibition catalogs, although a few articles and clippings are filed here as well.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as six series.

Series 1: Chronological Files, 1948-2015 (Boxes 1-6; 5.1 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1948-2009 (Box 6; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Project Files, 1947-2016 (Boxes 6-17; 10.8 linear feet)

Series 4: Exhibition and Gallery Files, 1963-2016 (Boxes 17-20; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Photographic Material, 1951-2004 (Boxes 20-22; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1960-2015 (Boxes 22-23; 0.7 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Kenneth Snelson (1927-2016) was a New York City based artist best known for his sculptures incorporating the structural principle of tensegrity, or tensional integrity.

Born in Pendleton, Oregon, Snelson enrolled in college in his home state, studying painting, sculpture, and engineering. In the summers of 1948 and 1949, he attended Black Mountain College and studied with Buckminster Fuller and Joseph Albers. Snelson then attended the Chicago Institute of Design from 1949-1950, and moved to New York City in 1952.

For the next decade, Snelson worked as a cameraman for documentary films, often travelling internationally. In the early 1960s, Snelson began exhibiting his sculptures, and gained representation by Dwan Gallery. Snelson completed several commissions and installations of his sculptures over the next decade, including Tower of Light, a contribution to the 1964 World's Fair, and Needle Tower, first erected in New York's Bryant Park in 1968. While continuing to work in sculpture throughout his career, Snelson began experimenting with panoramic and stereoscopic photography in the 1970s, and became a forerunner of computer art in the 1980s, using the Silicon Graphics computer to create digital sculptures.

In addition to Dwan Gallery, Snelson has shown with Sonnabend Gallery, Zabriskie Gallery, Marlborough Gallery, and the artist-run ConStruct Gallery.

Snelson has been the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including an Honorary Doctorate from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a prize for sculpture from the National Academy of Design.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 2017 by Katherine Snelson, Kenneth Snelson's widow.
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:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Citation:
Kenneth Snelson papers, 1947-2016. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.snelkenn
See more items in:
Kenneth Snelson papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw973127043-0fac-412f-885d-1cff0b872f0b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-snelkenn
Online Media:

Anni Albers papers, 1924-1969

Creator:
Albers, Anni, 1899-1994  Search this
Subject:
Bauhaus  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Citation:
Anni Albers papers, 1924-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Women printmakers  Search this
Women textile artists  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Craft  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)5625
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208459
AAA_collcode_albeanni
Theme:
Women
Craft
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208459
Online Media:

Robert Chapman Turner papers, circa 1917-2005

Creator:
Turner, Robert Chapman, 1913-2005  Search this
Subject:
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts  Search this
York State Craftsmen  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Citation:
Robert Chapman Turner papers, circa 1917-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
American studio craft movement  Search this
Ceramics -- Study and teaching  Search this
World War, 1939-1945 -- Conscientious objectors  Search this
Theme:
Craft  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)5578
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209302
AAA_collcode_turnrobe
Theme:
Craft
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209302
Online Media:

Black Mountain College records, 1933-1956

Creator:
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Citation:
Black Mountain College records, 1933-1956. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Theme:
Art instruction and services  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7212
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209349
AAA_collcode_blacmoun
Theme:
Art instruction and services
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209349

José de Creeft papers, 1871-2004, bulk 1910-1990

Creator:
De Creeft, José, 1884-1982  Search this
Subject:
Neumann, J. B. (Jsrael Ber)  Search this
Dickinson, Edwin Walter  Search this
Lawrence, Gertrude  Search this
De Diego, Julio  Search this
Diederich, William Hunt  Search this
Dodd, Lamar  Search this
Lipchitz, Jacques  Search this
Gropius, Walter  Search this
Escuder, Joseph  Search this
Gómez Gil, Alfredo  Search this
Rattner, Abraham  Search this
Soyer, Raphael  Search this
Roszak, Theodore  Search this
Zorach, William  Search this
Sweeney, James Johnson  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
De Creeft, William  Search this
Calder, Alexander  Search this
Nivola, Costantino  Search this
Lipchitz, Jacques  Search this
Gross, Chaim  Search this
Campos, Jules  Search this
New School for Social Research (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Norton Gallery and School of Art  Search this
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Diaries
Interviews
Scrapbooks
Sketches
Citation:
José de Creeft papers, 1871-2004, bulk 1910-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this
Sculpture, Modern -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Stone Mountain Memorial (Ga.)  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7406
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209563
AAA_collcode_decrjose
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209563
Online Media:

Clemens Kalischer papers, ca.1946-1966

Creator:
Kalischer, Clemens, 1921-  Search this
Subject:
Abate, Peter  Search this
Abe, Kongō  Search this
Abel, Cora-Beth  Search this
Adler, S. M. (Samuel M.)  Search this
Aschenbach, Paul  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
Bengtz, Ture  Search this
Borowski, Wiesław  Search this
Coonhan, Ms  Search this
Cox, Jan  Search this
Cunningham, Merce  Search this
Dehner, Dorothy  Search this
De Kooning, Elaine  Search this
Der Hovanesian, Garabed  Search this
Dombek, Blanche  Search this
Doubrova, Jan  Search this
Epping, Franc  Search this
Fimple, Vernon  Search this
Forst, Miles  Search this
Frankenthaler, Helen  Search this
Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster)  Search this
Gil, David  Search this
Glickman, Maurice  Search this
Granda, Julio  Search this
Grausman, Philip  Search this
Gray, Cleve  Search this
Hayter, Stanley William  Search this
Kilbourn, Victoria  Search this
Lieberman, Alexander  Search this
Mazur, Michael  Search this
Meštrović, Ivan  Search this
Morris, George L. K.  Search this
Motherwell, Robert  Search this
Neel, Alice  Search this
Noland, Kenneth  Search this
Okubo, Miné  Search this
Prestopino, Gregorio  Search this
Rockwell, Norman  Search this
Rosenberg, Jakob  Search this
Smith, David  Search this
Torres, John  Search this
Tsʻai, Wen-ying  Search this
Voulis, Asapia  Search this
Whitecross, Iain  Search this
Wildenhain, Marguerite  Search this
Bennington College  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
MacDowell Colony  Search this
Citation:
Clemens Kalischer papers, ca.1946-1966. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists -- United States -- Photographs  Search this
Artist colonies -- Photographs  Search this
Theme:
Photography  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7808
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209974
AAA_collcode_kaliclem
Theme:
Photography
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209974

David Weinrib papers, circa 1950-2015

Creator:
Weinrib, David, 1924-2016  Search this
Subject:
Frank, Mary  Search this
Weinrib, Joann  Search this
Pfaff, Judy  Search this
Von Rydingsvärd, Ursula  Search this
Acconci, Vito  Search this
Coyne, Petah  Search this
Bourgeois, Louise  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Pratt Institute. Sculpture Garden  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Citation:
David Weinrib papers, circa 1950-2015. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Curators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Multimedia (Art)  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)17352
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)380763
AAA_collcode_weindavi
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_380763
Online Media:

Kenneth Snelson papers, 1947-2016

Creator:
Snelson, Kenneth, 1927-2016  Search this
Subject:
Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster)  Search this
Tajiri, Shinkichi  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
Citation:
Kenneth Snelson papers, 1947-2016. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)17491
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)389257
AAA_collcode_snelkenn
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_389257

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