Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Stable Gallery records, 1916-1999, bulk 1953-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Lichtenstein Foundation.
An interview of Romare Bearden conducted 1968 June 29, by Henri Ghent, for the Archives of American Art.
Bearden speaks of his childhood in New York; the development of his artistic interests and ability; studying with George Grosz; his transition from cartoonist to painter; his first gallery show in Washington, D.C.; the influence of the Dutch masters; reactions to his work; his interest in gypsy culture; his travels; being a black artist; his work methods; and his future plans. He recalls the artist Carl Holty.
Biographical / Historical:
Romare Bearden (1911-1988) was painter from New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 15 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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Cartoonists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of art critic, author, and historian, Robert Hughes measure 16.6 linear feet and date from 1952 to 2012. The collection provides a glimpse of Hughes' personal life and documents his extensive career through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, interviews, journals, writings, project files related to books and television programs, research files, personal business records, printed material, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art critic, author, and historian, Robert Hughes measure 16.60 linear feet and date from 1952 to 2012. The collection provides a glimpse of Hughes' personal life and documents his extensive career through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, interviews, journals, writings, project files related to books and television programs, research files, personal business records, printed material, and photographic material.
Biographical material includes address books and day planners, stationery, sound recordings, memoirs, academic memorabilia, and a scrapbook documenting the National Gallery of Australia's tenth birthday in 1992. Correspondence includes letters, emails, and post cards from personal and professional contacts, including friends, family, colleagues, and fans. Interviews include video and sound recordings, transcripts, and clippings related to Robert Hughes interviewing others or Robert Hughes being interviewed for various publications and television programs. Journals include excerpts from the 1970s and sound recordings that document Hughes' travels around the world. Writings include notes, notebooks, and draft articles, essays, lectures, speeches, and manuscripts written by Hughes. Some of the lectures were recorded. Project files include clippings, transcripts, draft scripts, digital files, sound and video recordings, photographs, proposals, outlines, notes and correspondence related to various publications and television programs. Research files include notes, correspondence, drafts, clippings, translations, and a sound recording of Australian convict ballads. Personal business records include sound recordings, photographs, legal files, a description of events related to a 1999 car crash that left Hughes in critical condition, lists of travel expenses and publications, a lecture contract, email correspondence related to litigation, and legal files related to a defamation claim and some of Hughes' writings. Printed material includes clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, press releases, and a published poem. Photographic material includes slides, photographs, and negatives documenting Hughes' travels, friends, family, his Shelter Island home, self-portraits, and works of art.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1955-2007 (1.05 linear feet; Box 1, 16, 21)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1952-2012 (1.40 linear feet, Box 1-2, 21)
Series 2: Sub-Series 1: Personal, 1952-2012 (0.50 linear feet; Box 1, 21)
Series 2: Sub-Series 2: Professional, 1966-2012 (0.90 linear feet; Box 2, 21)
Series 3: Interviews, 1971-2006 (0.64 linear feet; Box 2, 17, 21-22)
Series 4: Journals, circa 1970-1987 (0.41 linear feet; Box 2, 22-23)
Series 5: Writings, 1960-2009 (2.05 linear feet, Box 1, 3-4, 23)
Series 6: Project Files, 1961-circa 2008 (7.74 linear feet, Box 5-9, 13-20, 23)
Series 7: Research Files, 1962-2000 (0.65 linear feet, Box 9-10, 23)
Series 8: Personal Business Records, 1972-2007 (0.30 linear feet, Box 10)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1959-2008 (0.51; Box 10-11, 14)
Series 10: Photographical Material, 1973-2006 (0.70 linear feet, Box 11)
Series 11: Unidentified Audiovisual and Born-Digital Materials (Box 11, 12, 23)
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Studley Forrest Hughes (1938-2012) was an art critic, author, and historian based in New York, New York. Born in Sydney, Australia, Hughes attended St. Ignatius College and Sydney University, where he studied art and architecture. After a stint as an abstract expressionist painter, Hughes worked as a political cartoonist before becoming a full-time art critic. He lived in Italy and London and traveled extensively throughout Europe before moving to New York City in 1970, where he lived until his death in 2012. Hughes was best known for the 1980s television series, "Shock of the New," where he explored the development of modern art, and for his longstanding position with TIME Magazine. Throughout his career, Hughes published several books, including his 2006 memoir where he recounted the story of his near fatal accident in 1999, and wrote and presented multiple documentary style television series and films.
Provenance:
Donated in 2021 by Doris Downes, Robert Hughes' 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. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or 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.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Genre/Form:
Diaries
Interviews
Motion pictures
Scrapbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Robert Hughes papers, 1952-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The Jack Tworkov papers measure 9.7 linear feet and are dated 1926-1993. Tworkov's work as a painter and influential teacher, as well as his personal life, are documented by extensive journals and substantive correspondence that record his ideas about art and teaching, and illuminate his relationships with friends, colleagues, and students. Many sketchbooks, writings, interviews, photographs, and moving images are also included.
Scope and Content Note:
The Jack Tworkov papers measure 9.7 linear feet and are dated 1926-1993, with the bulk from the period 1931-1982. Tworkov's work as a painter and influential teacher, as well as his personal life, are documented by extensive journals and substantive correspondence that record his ideas about art and teaching, and illuminate his relationships with friends, colleagues, and students. Many sketchbooks, writings, interviews, photographs, and moving images are also included.
Biographical material includes Tworkov's citizenship certificate, awards, diplomas, a copy of Jack Tworkov: Video Portrait, produced by Electronic Arts Intermix, and a motion picture film, USA Artists: Jack Tworkov, produced by National Education Television.
Correspondence consists largely of incoming letters. It is both professional and personal in nature and often combines both spheres. Correspondents include artists Jennifer Bartlett, William H. Calfee, Giorgio Cavallon and Linda Lindeberg, Grace Hartigan, Helene Herzbrun (also named Helene McKinsey), Karl Knaths, Joe Summerford, Joan Thorne, and Adja Yunkers; cartoonist Robert C. Osborn; collectors Donald M. Blinken and David A. Praeger (who was also Tworkov's lawyer); illustrator Roger Dovoisin; critics Dore Ashton and Andrew Forge; critic and poet John Ashbury; galleries that represented Tworkov: Egan Gallery, Leo Castelli, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, Poindexter Gallery, Stable Gallery and Zabriskie Gallery; and many museums, arts organizations, colleges and universities.
Interviews with Tworkov include one with Ricky Demarco videotaped in 1979 and two conducted on video by Twokov's daughter Helen in 1975. The remaining interviews are sound recordings, one conducted by Grace Alexander for the show Artists in New York in 1967, one conducted by Michael Newman in 1980, and the remainder by unidentified interviewers. None have transcripts.
All writings are by Tworkov and include poems, an artist's statement, and documentation for two children's books by Tworkov illustrated by Roger Duvoisin. Two additional notebooks contain miscellaneous notes, teaching notes, and some specific to identified courses. Lectures exist as untranscribed sound recordings.
Tworkov's journals (33 volumes) span a period of 35 years, from 1947 until 1982, with the final entry dated a few weeks before his death. They record his reflections on painting, his challenges as a painter, aesthetics, the role of the artist in society, Jewish identity, painters he admired (especially Cézanne and Edwin Dickinson), politics, and teaching. They also recount everyday life: the comings and goings of friends and family members, social engagements, professional activities, illness, and travel.
The lone subject file concerns Mark Rothko and includes a photograph of Rothko and the guest list for the dedication of the Rothko Chapel in Houston.
Artwork consists of a small number of sketches by Tworkov in pencil and ink. Tworkov's sketchbooks (28 volumes) contain sketches and some finished drawings. Most are in pencil, but scattered throughout are a few pencil sketches embellished with colored marker or pastel, and a small number in ink.
Photographs are of people, places and events. Most photographs are of Tworkov alone and with others including Giogio Cavallon, though most friends and students are unidentified. Of note are views of Tworkov producing a series of prints at Tamarind Institute. Also found is an informal portrait of Wally Tworkov. Events recorded include the jurying of "Exhibition Momentum" in Chicago, 1956. Among the places shown are Tworkov's studios at Black Mountain College and in Provincetown. When known, photographers are noted; among them are Paul Katz, Herbert Matter, Arnold Newman, Renate Ponsold, Theo Westenberger, Dennis Wheeler, and Howard Wise.
A separate series of audiovisual recordings was established for those recordings that could not be readily identified to be arranged in other series. They consist of three videocassettes (2 VHS and 1 miniDV).
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1933-1981 (Boxes 1, 9, 11, FC 13; 0.7 linear ft.)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1926-1993 (Boxes 1-5; 3.8 linear ft.)
Series 3: Interviews, 1978-1982 (Boxes 5, 9-10; 1 linear ft.)
Series 4: Writings, Notes, and Lectures, 1955-1982 (Boxes 5, 9; 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 5: Journals, 1947-1982 (Boxes 5-7; 2.0 linear ft.)
Series 6: Subject File, 1961-1977 (Box 7; 1 folder)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1952-1981 (Box 7, OV 12; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1950s-1960s (Box 7: 3 folders)
Series 9: Sketchbooks, circa 1950s-1960s (Boxes 7-8, 11; 1.0 linear ft.)
Series 10: Photographic Materials, 1941-1981 (Boxes 8-9; 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 11: Audiovisual Recordings, 1961-1975 (Box 9; 0.1 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
New York School painter Jack Tworkov (1900-1982), best known for his Abstract Expressionist paintings and as a highly regarded teacher, lived and worked in New York City and Provincetown, MA.
At age 13, Tworkov (born Yakov Tworkovsky) emigrated from Poland with his mother and sister to join his father already in the United States. In America, they chose to use the name of distant relatives, the Bernsteins, who were their sponsors. Eventually, Jack and his sister, Janice, reclaimed and shortened their name to Tworkov; later, she adopted the name of their hometown in Poland and became the painter Janice Biala.
As a high school student in New York City, Tworkov attended drawing classes. After graduating from Columbia University, where he had been an English major and considered becoming a writer, Tworkov instead turned to art. He studied with Ivan Olinsky at the National Academy of Design between 1923 and 1925, and from 1925 to 1926 attended painting classes taught by Guy Péne Du Bois and Boardman Robinson at the Art Students League. During his college years, Tworkov began visiting museums and became a great admirer of Cézanne. Tworkov's early paintings - still life, landscapes, and portraits - showed the influence of European modernism and Cézanne.
Tworkov spent his first summer in Provincetown while still a student and subsequently returned to study with Ross Moffet. In Provincetown he met and was greatly influenced by Karl Knaths and developed a lifelong friendship with Edwin Dickinson. By 1929, Tworkov was painting there year round. Over the years, Tworkov and his family continued to return for long stretches, and in 1958 he purchased a house in Provincetown.
During the Great Depression, Tworkov participated in the Treasury Department's Public Works of Art Project until 1934, and then moved to the easel division of the WPA Federal Art Project. He felt uncomfortable with the growing ideological and political influences on art and found it depressing to paint for the WPA rather than for himself, so he left the WPA in 1941. Tworkov, who had studied mechanical drawing while in high school, spent most of the War years employed as a tool designer and draftsman at an engineering firm with government contracts.
By the 1940s, Tworkov was painting in the Abstract Expressionist style. Between 1948 and 1953, he leased a studio on Fourth Avenue that adjoined that of his friend Willem de Kooning. During this time, they mutually influenced each other as they developed into mature Abstract Expressionists. At Yale in the 1960s, Tworkov became close friends with fellow student Josef Albers. Alber's influence on Tworkov resulted in a turn to geometric compositions of small, systematic, and repetitive strokes defined by a grid. He experimented with diagonal compositions, and later geometric work that featured large areas of color and soft texture.
Tworkov's first teaching experience was during 1930-1931 when he served as a part-time painting instructor at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. His teaching career began in earnest when he joined the faculties of Queens College, 1948-1955, and Pratt Institute, 1955-1958. During the summers he taught at various schools, most notably Black Mountain College's 1952 summer session. Tworkov was a visiting artist at the Yale University School of Art and Architecture, 1961-1963, and became chairman of its Art Department from 1963 until his retirement in 1969. In retirement he lived in Provincetown and was a visiting artist for both short and extended periods at various universities and art schools.
An avid reader of literature and poetry, Tworkov also wrote poems and essays. He published essays in It Is, Art Digest, and Art In America; his most notable piece, "The Wandering Soutine," appeared in Art News, November 1950. Tworkov also kept a journal for 35 years (1947-1982) that recorded his thoughts on a wide range of subjects concerning professional, personal, and philosophical issues, as well as details of everyday life.
Tworkov was among the founders of the Artists' Club or The Club in 1949, and for a decade actively participated in the stimulating discussions for which the group was known. In 1968 he helped to establish the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. Its residency program enabled younger artists and writers to advance their careers and kept Provincetown's historic artists' colony active year round.
He was the recipient of the William A. Clark Award and Corcoran Gold Medal from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1963; Skowhegan School of Art's Painter of the Year Award, 1974; and Distinguished Teaching of Art Award from College Art Association, 1976. Tworkov was appointed to serve on the Massachusetts Art Commission, 1970-1971, and in 1981 was named a Fellow of The Cleveland Museum of Art and of the Rhode Island School of Design.
Following his second divorce in 1935, Rachel (Wally) Wolodarsky became Tworkov's third wife and their marriage endured. They had two daughters. Hermine Ford (b. 1939) is an artist married to fellow painter Robert Moskowitz. Helen Tworkov (b. 1943) is the founder of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review and the author of a book about yoga.
Tworkov remained physically and intellectually active after a diagnosis of bone cancer around 1980, and continued to paint until shortly before his death in Provincetown on September 4, 1982.
Related Material:
Among the holdings of the Archives of American Art are two oral history interviews with Jack Tworkov, one conducted by Dorothy Seckler, Aug. 17, 1962, and another by Gerald Silk, May 22, 1981. There is also a small collection of three letters written by Jack Tworkov to friend Troy-Jjohn Bramberger.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel N70-38 and 62) including writings by Tworkov, notebooks, notes for teaching and talks, notes on art and miscellaneous subjects, poems, artist's statements, biographical data, the transcript of a 1970 interview with Tworkov conducted by Phyllis Tuchman, and a few letters and drafts of letters, 1950-1963. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Jack Tworkov lent the Archives of American Art papers for microfilming in 1970-1971. Jack Tworkov's daughters, Hermine Ford and Helen Tworkov, donated the rest of the collection in 2009, which included some of the material from the original loan.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
Reels N70-38 and 62: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Helen Tworkov or Hermine Ford. 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.
The papers of California ceramicist, sculptor, and educator Robert Arneson measure 0.2 linear feet and date from circa 1963 to 1977. The collection provides scattered documentation of Arneson's career through through records including an artist statement, a bibliography of published material about Arneson, printed material, and correspondence with art collector Rene di Rosa and various galleries, museums, and art publications.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of California ceramicist, sculptor, and educator Robert Arneson measure 0.2 linear feet and date from circa 1963 to 1977. The collection provides scattered documentation of Arneson's career through an artist statement, a bibliography of published material about Arneson, clippings, announcements and catalogs for Arneson's exhibitions, a press release regarding an Arneson exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art, and other miscellaneous printed materials. Also found in the collection is correspondence with art collector Rene di Rosa, and various galleries, museums, and art publications, and letters regarding an NEA grant.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
California ceramicist, sculptor, and educator Robert Arneson (1930-1992) was known for introducing ceramics into the Funk art movement that began in California in the 1960s.
Arneson was born in Benicia, California where he worked as a cartoonist for the Benicia Herald. He received a B.A. from the California College of the Arts in 1954 and a M.F.A. from Mills College in 1958. In the 1980s he earned honorary doctorate degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design and San Francisco Art Institute.
Arneson was a faculty member at the University of California in Davis from 1962 to 1991, where he established the ceramic sculpture program and helping bring ceramics into the realm of fine art.
Arneson died in 1992 in Benicia.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Robert Arneson conducted on August 14-15, 1981 by Mady Jones for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
The Robert Arneson papers were donated in 1977 by Robert Arneson.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Fritz Eichenberg, 1979 May 14-December 7. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview with Fritz Eichenberg conducted 1979 May 14-1979 December 7, by Robert F. Brown, at the artist's home, in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, for the Archives of American Art.
Eichenberg discusses his career; his artistic philosophy; various books he has illustrated including, "Jane Eyre," "Wuthering Heights," "The King and I," and "Crime and Punishment"; working with Dorothy Day for the "Catholic Worker"; drawing political cartoons for "The Nation"; working for the WPA; and becoming a Quaker.
Biographical / Historical:
Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1990) was an illustrator, cartoonist, and printmaker from Peace Dale, Rhode Island.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 12 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' 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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Edward Ruscha, 1980 October 29-1981 October 2. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Hananiah Harari, 1992 Sept. 24-Oct. 15. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Michael Mazur, 1993 Jan. 12-1995 Feb. 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Prints -- Technique -- Study and teaching Search this
