This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Naúl Ojeda papers, circa 1960-2004, circa 2013. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
The papers of Uruguayan born Washington, D.C. painter and printmaker Naúl Ojeda measure 5.9 linear feet and date from circa 1960-2004, and circa 2013. The papers document Ojeda's personal and professional life through biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition and gallery files, professional files, financial material, printed and broadcast materials, scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and a small amount of photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Uruguayan born Washington, D.C. painter and printmaker Naúl Ojeda measure 5.9 linear feet and date from circa 1960-2004, and circa 2013. The papers document Ojeda's personal and professional life through biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition and gallery files, professional files, financial material, printed and broadcast materials, scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and a small amount of photographic material.
Biographical material includes immigration records, resumes, and a few certifications and credentials. Correspondence is personal and professional, with correspondents including Ojeda's family, and friends, and some general professional correspondents, including Alicia Haber, Moira Bowers, Ernesto Vila, Eduardo Galeano, Enrique Gomez, Armando Caicedo Garzón, Walter Jesus Gonzalez, Azucena Berrutti, and others.
Exhibition and gallery files document Ojeda's relationship with galleries, museums, and civic and cultural organizations, and include records of specific exhibitions as well as general documentation related to sales and commissions of his artwork. They include records of the exhibition In Honor of Franz Bader (1995), with a related video recording. Professional files document other activities including Ojeda's involvement with community organizations, art contests that he entered, work he was commissioned to do for businesses and organizations, and permissions for use of his work for a variety of publications, events, and media outlets. Financial records include a small but detailed number of records of sales with sales books, price lists and receipts.
Printed and broadcast materials provide a fairly comprehensive overview of Ojeda's career from the 1960s on, with announcements and catalogs for multiple exhibitions, news clippings from foreign and domestic newspapers, and posters, flyers, and other publications with illustrations by Ojeda. Three broadcast video recordings about his work and exhibitions can also be found here. This material is supplemented by two scrapbooks documenting Ojeda's exhibitions and news items about his career, from the 1960s to early 1980s.
The collection contains a substantial amount of artwork, including drawings, sketches, poster mockups, prints including woodcut proofs, and sixteen sketchbooks for various projects.
A small amount of photographic material includes three photos of a 1968 exhibition in Uruguay, photocopies of photos of a family group, and negatives including images of Ojeda in the studio.
Arrangement:
The bulk of Ojeda's papers initially combined Ojeda's records of his professional activities, including records of exhibitions and gallery transactions, and financial records in a single alphabetical file. To facilitate access this arrangement has been refined further into three smaller series (Series 3-5).
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1963-1997 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1960s-2002 (Box 1, OV 9; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 3: Exhibition and Gallery Files, 1966-2004 (Boxes 1-2, 6; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 4: Professional Files, 1979-2002 (Boxes 2-3, 6; 0.65 linear feet)
Series 5: Financial Records, circa 1970-2004, circa 2013 (Box 3; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed and Broadcast Materials, 1962-2003 (Boxes 3-4, 6-7, OV 10; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1961-1981 (Box 7; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1960-circa 2000 (Boxes 4, 8, OVs 9, 11-14; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 9: Sketchbooks, circa 1967-2001 (Boxes 4-5, 8; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographic Material, 1968-circa 2000 (Box 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Naúl Ojeda (1939-2002) was a painter and printmaker in Washington, D.C.
Ojeda was born in Uruguay and studied fine arts at the University of Uruguay. The political climate of Uruguay in the 1970s led Ojeda to leave the country. He traveled to France, Chile, and Mexico before settling in Washington, D.C. While in Chile, Ojeda covered the presidency of Salvador Allende as a photojournalist. He selected fifty of the photographs of that period for his exhibition Homage to the People of Chile at the Galeria Inti Centro de Arte in Washington, D.C.
Ojeda was best known for his woodblock prints and linocuts, which he printed by hand in small editions, usually of no more than twenty-five prints. He also had some success with decorated furniture, both pieces he designed and painted, and pieces he decorated. Although his images appear whimsical, they often express themes of separation from his homeland and family. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions throughout the United States as well as in Europe and South America including Immigrant Artists/American Experience (1985-1987) and an exhibition in 1995 honoring Franz Bader, the owner of the Franz Bader Gallery in Washington, D.C. Bader and Ojeda bonded over their shared immigrant experiences. Bader represented Ojeda for nearly 20 years and frequently held exhibitions of Ojeda's work at his gallery.
Ojeda's work is represented in private collections as well as the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Art Museum of the Americas, in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Ojeda also produced illustrations for The Washington Post Book World, Washington Review, Curbstone Press, and the Institute for Policy Studies among others.
During his career Ojeda received several awards, including the 2001 Distinguished Immigrant Award from the American Immigration Law Foundation. He was also the recipient of several grants from the D.C. Commission of the Arts and Humanities, including grants to illustrate the poems of Pablo Neruda and Federico Garcia Lorca.
Ojeda died in 2002 in Washington, D.C.
Provenance:
The Naúl Ojeda papers were donated in 2016 by Philomena "Pennie" Ojeda.
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.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Naúl Ojeda papers, circa 1960-2004, circa 2013. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
