Participants: Dorothy Shaver, Alfred H. Bard, Jr., Frank White (accepting on behalf of Bernard Herman), Louis D' Rochma, Agnes de Mille and Ralph A. Beals
Awards luncheon designed to honor and encourage creative expression in America. Awards presented to Alfred H. Bard, Jr., an art professor at Princeton University, Wellesley College, and Bryn Mawr College; Bernard Herrmann, film and radio composer; Louis de Rochemont, producer of documentary films; Agnes de Mille, choreographer; and Ralph A. Beals, director of the New York Public Library.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Dorothy Shaver Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Participants: Dorothy Shaver, Alfred H. Bard, Jr., Frank White (accepting on behalf of Bernard Herman), Louis D' Rochma, Agnes de Mille and Ralph A. Beals
Awards luncheon designed to honor and encourage creative expression in America. Awards presented to Alfred H. Bard, Jr., an art professor at Princeton University, Wellesley College, and Bryn Mawr College; Bernard Herrmann, film and radio composer; Louis de Rochemont, producer of documentary films; Agnes de Mille, choreographer; and Ralph A. Beals, director of the New York Public Library.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Dorothy Shaver Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Participants: Dorothy Shaver, Alfred H. Bard, Jr., Frank White (accepting on behalf of Bernard Herman), Louis D' Rochma, Agnes de Mille and Ralph A. Beals
Awards luncheon designed to honor and encourage creative expression in America. Awards presented to Alfred H. Bard, Jr., an art professor at Princeton University, Wellesley College, and Bryn Mawr College; Bernard Herrmann, film and radio composer; Louis de Rochemont, producer of documentary films; Agnes de Mille, choreographer; and Ralph A. Beals, director of the New York Public Library.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Dorothy Shaver Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
The papers of art historian and museum educator Ruth Bowman are dated 1936-2006, bulk 1963-1999, and measure 26.7 linear feet and 21.99 GB. Professional correspondence and subject files document Bowman's relationships with colleagues and reflect her interests, activities including curatorial work, and accomplishments as a museum educator. Writings and related research materials include her thesis,"Thomas Pollock Anshutz, 1851-1912" (M.A., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1971), and unfinished projects. Also found are interviews conducted by Bowman with a wide range of individuals for a variety of purposes.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art historian and museum educator Ruth Bowman are dated 1936-2006, bulk 1963-1999, and measure 26.7 linear feet and 21.99 GB. Professional correspondence and subject files document Bowman's relationships with colleagues and reflect her interests, activities including curatorial work, and accomplishments as a museum educator. Writing and related research materials include her thesis, "Thomas Pollock Anshutz, 1851-1912" (M.A., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1971), and unfinished projects. Also found are interviews conducted by Bowman with a wide range of individuals for a variety of purposes.
Biographical materials consist of certificates, resumes, and a few photographs of Ruth Bowman. Correspondence concerns Bowman's professional activities and interests. Among the most frequent correspondents are: American Association of Museums, Craft and Folk Art Museum (Los Angeles), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art.
Writings by Ruth Bowman, published and unpublished, include a thesis and articles about Thomas Pollock Anshutz, catalogs for American Federation of Arts and The Newark Museum exhibitions, lectures, as well as articles about museum education and visual arts programs. Research relates to her writings about Anshutz, and to unrealized projects concerning Anshutz, Cézanne, Eakins, Picasso, and other subjects. Also found are two brief writings about Bowman.
Subject files--general subjects, artists' files, Ruth Bowman activities, and "Sunrise Semester"--contain the majority of Bowman's professional correspondence along with printed material, writings, photographs, and sound recordings. Among the most thoroughly documented general subjects are: The Brooklyn Museum's Trustees Retreat, Canadian Museums Association, a 1981 Craft Symposium, International Network for the Arts, Long Beach Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "Museum Directors' Forum", New York University Art Collection, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Council for the Arts. Artists' files are comprised mainly of printed material with a small amount of correspondence and some photographs. The Les Levine file consists of the first issue of Art-Rite featuring a brief article about Levine on its cover; Thomas Wilfred's file includes information about Lumia. Ruth Bowman activities include lectures, radio and television appearances, and participation in professional events. "Sunrise Semester," a collaboration between CBS television and New York University, offered early morning courses for college credit. Ruth Bowman was the instructor for "20th Century American Art," which is documented by general information, scripts, and sound recordings of all 46 classes.
Interviews conducted by Bowman are with English museum administrators and educators; people knowledgeable about a controversial proposal for an Annenberg Fine Arts Center at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; guests on KUSC radio shows "Sounds of Seeing" and "Live from Trump's"; and guests on the WNYC radio program "Views on Art." Interviews with miscellaneous individuals include Josef Albers, Hans Burkhardt, Carl Holty, Isamu Noguchi, and Helen Farr Sloan. Bowman interviewed a dozen American abstract artists, including Ilya Bolotowsky, Rosalind Bengelsdorf Browne, Burgoyne Diller, John Ferren, Carl Holty, Harry Holtzman, Ibram Lassaw, Jacques Lipchitz, Alice Mason, George McNeil, George L. K. Morris, and Ad Reinhardt for a thesis on the subject, but eventually wrote on a different topic. Two interviews with Bowman were conducted by Duncan MacDonald and an unidentified interviewer.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 5 series:
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1964-1984 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1963-1996 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Related Research, 1942-1999 (Boxes 1-3; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Subject Files, 1936-2006 (Boxes 3-12, 26; 9.6 linear feet)
Series 5: Interviews, 1963-1989 (Boxes 12-25; 9.2 linear feet, ER01-ER70; 21.99 GB)
Biographical / Historical:
Ruth Bowman (b. 1923) is an art historian and museum educator who worked in New York City and Los Angeles. She is known for her interest in using new communications technology for museum education, discovering Arshile Gorky's long forgotten murals at Newark Airport, and expertise in the work of Thomas Anshutz.
A graduate of Bryn Mawr College (B.A. 1944), where she had studied art history and classical archaeology, Ruth Bowman began a museum career in New York as an assistant curator at the Jewish Museum in the early 1960s. From 1963-1974 Ruth Bowman served as curator of the York University Art Collection and was involved in its transition to the Grey Art Gallery and Study Center. Bowman wrote her master's thesis on Philadelphia artist Thomas Pollock Anshutz and received a degree from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University in 1971. During this same period, she was a staff lecturer at The Museum of Modern Art and taught art history in divisions of New York University. She was the instructor for a "Sunrise Semester" 20th century American art course broadcast nationally on CBS.
In 1974 Bowman and her family moved to California and she began an association with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as Director of Education. She attended summer courses in arts administration at Harvard University (1975) and similar training provided by the British Arts Council (1976). She taught at University of California Santa Barbara, as well as at California State University at Fullerton and Long Beach. Bowman was active in the Council of the American Association of Museums (vice president), the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles (vice president), and has served as a consultant to several museums and a corporate collection.
Ruth Bowman with her friend Harry Kahn (1916-1999) developed a collection of self-portraits by 20th century American artists, which she donated to the National Portrait Gallery in 2002. Mrs. Bowman is the widow of R. Wallace Bowman and currently resides in New York City.
Provenance:
Donated by Ruth Bowman in 2004.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
Research material including correspondence, writings and notes, photographs, and printed material on Cezanne, Thomas Eakins, and Picasso: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Ruth Bowman. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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 historians -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
With two exceptions, the interviews were conducted by Ruth Bowman. She is the subject of two interviews, and one KUSC "Live from Trump's" radio program was hosted by Myra Livingston.
In 1976, while attending an arts administration program offered by the British Arts Council, Bowman inteviewed museum administrators and educators in England (6 sounds cassettes).
Serving as an advisor to Metroplitan Museum of Art Director Thomas Hoving, Bowman interviewed more than a dozen people in 1976 concerning the benefits, drawbacks, and ramifications of the Annenberg Fine Arts Center proposed for The Metropolitan Museum of Art (12 sound cassettes). The controversial plan aroused much concern and Annenberg eventually withdrew his offer.
Among the interviews with miscellaneous individuals (4 sound reels, 6 sound cassettes, and 2 transcripts) , of particular interest is an interview with Noguchi concerning a possible commission for a sculpture at Bryn Mawr College, his mother's alma mater. A 1974 interview with Bowman concerns her work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Bowman was the host of "Sounds of Seeing," a radio show produced by KUSC radio in Los Angeles, 1979-1983. With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, "Sounds of Seeing" aired Bowman's interviews with artists, art historians, museum curators and directors, conservators, local politicians, and others on a wide range of art related topics (7 sound reels and 69 sound cassettes). On "Live from Trump's," a KUSC radio program broadcast from Trump's Restaurant, Bowman conversed with guests about local exhibitions and other arts events.
Interviews with 12 American abstract artists were conducted by Ruth Bowman (Ruth Gurin at the time) as background research for her intended thesis on the subject. Plans changed, and the thesis she eventually wrote was "Thomas Pollock Anshutz, 1851-1912" (M.A., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1971).
"Views on Art," her weekly radio show on WNYC, 1967-1973, featured interviews with artists, museum directors and curators, gallery owners and others who discussed their work and current exhibitions. Other topics covered include: art forgeries, underground movie making, museum management, art publishing, business and the arts, art and public relations, computers and the humanities, new art technologies, and trends in art education. (72 sound reels, 3 sound cassettes, and 1 transcript; 70 digital recordings).
Arrangement:
Interviews concerning the Annenberg Fine Arts Center, interviews of miscellaneous individuals, and WNYC "Views on Art" radio programs are alphabetized by interviewee. Those with museum administrators and educators are arraned chronologically, as are the interviews for KUSC radio shows "Sounds of Seeing" and "Live From Trump's." "Sounds of Seeing" interviews are housed in 1 folder and 4 smaller boxes within Box 14. Additional interviews recorded for other purposes are scattered among the subject files (series 4).
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
Research material including correspondence, writings and notes, photographs, and printed material on Cezanne, Thomas Eakins, and Picasso: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Ruth Bowman. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Ruth Bowman papers, 1936-2006, bulk 1963-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
includes 1 U-Matic videocassette and 1 sound cassette
Container:
Box 6, Folder 25-26
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1973-1984
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
Research material including correspondence, writings and notes, photographs, and printed material on Cezanne, Thomas Eakins, and Picasso: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Ruth Bowman. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Collection Citation:
Ruth Bowman papers, 1936-2006, bulk 1963-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
