The papers of surrealist artist Gertrude Abercrombie date from circa 1880-1986, with the bulk of the material dated 1935-1977, and measure 5.9 linear feet. Found within are biographical material; correspondence (mostly incoming letters) with friends, museums, and galleries; files for artists that interested her; writings and notes, including five journal-type notebooks; scattered personal business records; two sketchbooks by Abercrombie and additional sketches and drawings, some by others; printed material, audio recordings, one scrapbook, photographs, and estate records.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of surrealist artist Gertrude Abercrombie date from circa 1880-1986, with the bulk of the material dated 1935-1977, and measure 5.9 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence (mostly incoming letters) with friends, museums, and galleries; artists files; writings and notes, including five journal-type notebooks; scattered personal business records; two sketchbooks by Abercrombie and additional sketches and drawings, some by others; printed material, audio recordings, one scrapbook, photographs, and estate records.
Biographical material consists of biographical notes, Gertrude Abercrombie's will, address books, and a file titled "memorabilia." Personal and professional correspondence consists mainly of incoming letters and some drafts of Gertrude Abercrombie's outgoing letters. Letters from museums and galleries concern loans of paintings and exhibitions. A large amount of the personal correspondence consists of post cards including many antique ones, as well as cards containing original art work by Julio de Diego, Jerry [Jerome] Karidis, Karl Priebe.
Artist files consist of correspondence, printed material, and photographs concerning painters, writers, a jazz musician, and a photographer. The individuals represented are: Dudley Huppler, Jerome Karidis, Karl Priebe, James Purdy, Sonny Rollins, Carl Van Vechten, Wendell Wilcox, John Wilde, and Thornton Wilder.
Writings and notes include reminiscences, miscellaneous writings and notes, and a girlhood diary with brief entries. Five notebooks contain a variety of writings dating from 1953 through 1975, and undated. One volume concerns only her second husband Frank Sandiford.
Business records include a painting catalog on file cards, mailing and guest lists, and miscellaneous sales records. In addition, six notebooks record expenses, sales, inventories, mailing lists, a register of paintings, and a guest book.
There are two sketchbooks, Christmas card designs, sketches and drawings done by Gertrude Abercrombie. There are also prints, drawings, and a painting by Emil Arman, B. Evans, de Diego, and unknown artists.
Printed material consists of articles and clippings about Gertrude Abercrombie, exhibition catalogs, and reproductions. Also included are books by friends inscribed by the authors, among them: Nelson Algren, Richard Armour, Dudley Huppler, James Purdy, Ned Rorem, Paul Warren [pen name of Abercrombie's second husband, Frank Sandiford], Studs Terkel, and Thornton Wilder.
Audio recordings (33-1/3 rpm phonograph alums) are inscribed to Gertrude Abercrombie by the artists. Orlando's album cover, designed by Abercrombie, incorporates one of her paintings.
Records of the Estate of Gertrude Abercrombie and the Gertrude Abercrombie Trust, Donald Baum, Executor, consist mainly of correspondence with the institutions that were offered works of art by Gertrude Abercrombie and from her personal collection. Also included are general correspondence, financial and tax records, and legal documents.
There is one scrapbook dated 1943 containing photographs and printed material.
Photographs are of art work, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects; negatives, slides, and transparencies are included in this series, too. Photographs of art include the work of Gertrude Abercrombie, Karl Priebe, and Charles Sebree. People pictured are Gertrude Abercrombie and family, including her parents, Richard I. Livingston, Dinah Livingston, and Frank Sandiford. There are also 19th and early 20th century photographs of ancestors. Among the images of friends are: Ivan le Lorraine Albright, Arnold Blanch, Dudley Huppler, Doris Lee, Karl Priebe, and Richard Purdy. Photographs of jazz artists include: Louis Armstrong, George Davis, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Orlando, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Sarah Vaughn, and the Modern Jazz Quartet. Of particular note the portraits of Gertrude Abercrombie and Dizzy Gillespie by Carl Van Vechten.Among the photographs of places are interior views of Gertrude Abercrombie's home and studio, unidentified landscapes, travel pictures of San Francisco and commercially produced stereopticon slides of other locations. Miscellaneous subjects are automobiles, cats, exhibition installations, and a still life setup.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 11 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1902-1976 (Box 1, OV9; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1935-1977 (Boxes 1-2; 1.65 linear ft.)
Series 3: Artist files, circa 1935-1977 (Box 2; 0.25 linear ft.)
Series 4: Writings and Notes, circa 1919-1977 (Box 3; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 5: Business Records, circa 1944-1977 (Box 3; 0.2 linear ft.)
Series 6: Art Work, circa 1939-1975 (Boxes 3, 7; O.2 linear ft.)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1906-1977 (Boxes 3-4; 1.6 linear ft.)
Series 8: Audio Recordings, circa 1970-1974 (Box 7; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 9: Estate Records, circa 1976-1986 (Box 5; o.5 linear ft.)
Series 10: Scrapbook, circa 1943(Box 5; 1 folder)
Series 11: Photographs, circa 1880-1978(Boxes 5-7; OV8, 1.0 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Surrealist painter Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-1977) lived and worked in Chicago and was a prominent member of Chicago's Hyde Park arts community.
Abercrombie was known for surrealist oil paintings featuring dreamlike landscapes and fantasies. Her wide circle of friends included locally and nationally known artists, writers, and jazz musicians who made her home a popular avant-garde salon. She was the inspiration for Richie Powell's "Gertrude's Bounce" and, appeared as a fictional character in Malcolm, Eustace Chisholm, and as herself in Gertrude of Stony Island Avenue all by James Purdy.
The only child of Tom and Lula Janes [Jane] Abercrombie, Gertrude was born in Austin, Texas in 1909, while her opera singer parents were in town with a traveling company. In 1913, the family relocated to Berlin to further Jane's career, but the outbreak of World War I forced their return to the United States. They lived with Tom Abercrombie's family in Alledo, Illinois, before permanently settling in Chicago.
Gertrude Abercrombie had a facility with language and possessed musical and artistic talents. After graduation from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with a degree in romance languages in 1929, she studied figure drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a short time. She then enrolled at the American Arcademy of Art, also in Chicago, for a year long course in commercial art. Her first job was drawing gloves for Mesirow Department Store ads, followed by a stint working as an artist for Sears.
By 1932, Gertrude Abercrombie began painting seriously. The following summer, she participated in an outdoor art fair in downtown Chicago where she made her first sale and received favorable mention in a newspaper review of the event. Abercrombie's work that featured self-portraits and recurring images of personal symbols - trees, horses, owls, keys, shells, doors, stairways, ladders - began to attract attention. Beginning in 1934, Gertrude Abercrombie was employment as a painter in the WPA Federal Art Project in 1934, enabling her to feel validated as an artist and move from the home of her conservative, Christian Scientist parents to her own apartment. The Chicago Society of Artists presented a solo exhibition of Abercrombie's work in 1934, and in 1936 she showed at the Katharine Kuh Gallery (along with Rita Stein and Nicola Ziroli). In 1936 and 1938 Gertrude Abercrombie won prizes at the Art Institute of Chicago's Annual Exhibition of Works by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity.
She left the WPA in 1940 and married lawyer Robert Livingston. Their daughter, Dinah, was born in 1942, and they soon moved to a large Victorian house on South Dorchester St. where Gertude lived for the remainder of her life. The couple divorced in 1948. That same year she married Frank Sandiford, a music critic whose pen name was Paul Warren. An accomplished improvisational pianist, Gertrude Abercrombie became friends with many prominent jazz artists whom she met through Sandiford; in fact, Dizzy Gillespie performed at their wedding. Abercrombie and Sandiford separated in 1964.
The 1940s through 1950s were Gertrude Abercrombie's most productive and prolific period. Although she no longer painted many portraits, he work remained focused on the same themes and symbols. She believed that art was about ideas rather than technique and insisted that "It is always myself that I paint." During this period, Amercrombie exhibited widely in group shows and had solo exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, Associated American Artists (New York), and Leonard Linn, Inc. (Winnetka, Ill.)
By the late 1950s, Gertrude Abercrombie began a long decline. Alcoholism started to take a toll. She suffered serious financial reverses, and in 1964 separated from Frank Sandiford. Debilitating arthritis eventually landed her in a wheel chair, and she became reclusive. In 1977, very near the end of her life, Gertrude Abercrombie was honored with a well-received retrospective exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago. She was able to attend the reception and enjoy seeing the many old friends who were at the event.
Gertrude Abercrombie died in Chicago in 1977. Her will established The Gertrude Abercrombie Trust that cared for and distributed to various institutions her own paintings and a personal collection of works by other artists to selected institutions, mainly in the Midwest.
Related Material:
A photograph of Gertrude Abercrombie at home with her painting "Slaughter House", was donated by Donald Baum to the National Collection of Fine Arts in 1979 and transferred to the Archives of American Art that same year.
Provenance:
Donald Baum, executor of both the estate and trust of Gertrude Abercrombie, donated the papers to the Archives of American Art in 1978 and 1986.
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.
The papers of Eric Hudson and the Hudson family measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1900-1992. The papers primarily document the career of marine painter Eric Hudson and include biographical material, letters, artworks, printed material, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Eric Hudson (1864-1932) and the Hudson family measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1900-1992. The papers primarily document the career of marine painter Eric Hudson and include biographical material, letters, artworks, printed material, and photographic material.
Biographical material consists of a curriculum vitae, a biographical sketch, and a National Academy of Design associate membership certificate for Eric Hudson. Also included is a curriculum vitae for Jacqueline Hudson.
Letters are primarily addressed to Julie Hudson from her friends Michel and Genevieve Toullec (nee Le Doare). One note is from Philip Evergood regarding a painting trip to France. There are also Christmas cards designed or illustrated by artist friends including Jean Bellows, daughter of George Bellows, Harrison Cady, Truman Fassett, Aldro Hibbard, Robert Nisbet, Howard E. Smith, and Frederic Dorr Steele.
Artwork consists of nine sketchbooks, four drawings, and an oil self-portrait by Eric Hudson. Also found is as an oil sketch of Hudson at his easel by Woodhull Adams, and an etching by Reynolds Beal.
Printed material is comprised of clippings, exhibition announcements, catalogs for Eric Hudson, two books, and reproductions of artwork.
Photographic material includes of photographs of Eric Hudson and his friends, Maud Briggs Knowlton and Alice Swett, photos of Jacqueline and Julie Hudson and their friends the Toullecs, 37 artworks by Eric and Jacqueline Hudson presented in an exhibition, slides of artwork and photographs of artwork.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size the the collection, the papers have been arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Eric Hudson (1864-1932) was a marine painter in New York, New York. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Hudson studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and at the Academie Julian in Paris, France. He lived on Gramercy Park in New York and maintained a summer studio on Monhegan Island, Maine. Hudson was affiliated with the Ferargil Gallery.
Jacqueline Hudson (1910-2001), daughter of Eric Hudson, was a painter and lithographer. She studied at the School of the National Academy of Design, Art Students League, and at Columbia University.
Julie Hudson, daughter of Eric Hudson and sister to Jacqueline Hudson, was a rare book librarian at Princeton University.
Provenance:
The Eric Hudson and Hudson family papers were donated in 1991 by Julie Hudson, and in 1994 by Jacqueline Hudson, Eric Hudson's daughters.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Biographical material, writings, correspondence, artwork, photographs, financial material, and printed material relating to Lou Fink.
Biographical material includes a curriculum vitae and an inventory of works by Fink. Writings include typed eulogies for Fink by author Lanford Wilson and MTV creator John Lack. Letters to Fink include two letters from The Art Institute of Chicago regarding drawings Fink submitted for an exhibition, and a letter from an unknown colleague, Dick, regarding an exhibition and an upcoming show. Artwork consists of a sketchbook, drawings, and Christmas card designs. Photographs and slides are of Fink his artwork, artists and collectors, his exhibitions, and his studio. Financial material consists of leasing and sales agreements and an estate inventory. Printed material includes exhibition announcements and invitations, newspaper clippings, magazines and a poster.
Biographical / Historical:
Lou Fink (1925-1980) was a painter in Staten Island, New York. Fink exhibited at the Staten Island Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Environment Gallery in Manhattan.
Provenance:
Donated 2009 by Nancy and George Marcus. Nancy Marcus was Fink's stepdaughter.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Staten Island Search this
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference 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:
Abril Lamarque papers, 1883-2001, bulk 1904-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
The microfilm of this collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. Use of material not microfilmed or digitized requires an appointment.
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:
Rockwell Kent papers, circa 1840-1993, bulk 1935-1961. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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:
Maryette Charlton papers, circa 1890-2013. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copies 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:
Alma Thomas papers, circa 1894-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of the Alma Thomas paper is provided by The Walton Family Foundation and The Friends of Alma Thomas
This series contains 506 cubic feet stored off-site. In contrast to the Norcross Company's permanent files, Rustcraft established and practiced a different system of organizing its permanent files by placing cards into scrapbook volumes. As scrapbooks were filled, at a rate tied to the company's production schedule, they were assigned a volume number and placed in the Rustcraft library. A borrower's card within each volume suggests continuous reference to previous card designs and verses. Several volumes would be filled simultaneously during a year at different rates. As a result, the volumes for a year do not follow numerically upon each other. For the sake of clarity, the Rustcraft library system has been discarded in favor of arranging the volumes strictly by year. Also unlike Norcross, Rustcraft divided its permanent files of cards into two series: one based on occasion and the other on what they called "Everyday" cards. The latter include such topics as birthdays and anniversary.
This series also includes the permanent files of several different card manufacturing companies which were acquired by the Rustcraft Company at some point during its existence.
This series is organized according to the following outline. Listed are the companies and categories into which the materials are arranged, with the inclusive date range for each. Numbers in parentheses are the box numbers in which the material is found.
is the records of each card produced by Rustcraft and the several companies which it acquired. The materials consist of 506 cubic feet.
The first four series in this collection are organized to the sub series level. Within each sub series, there is only minimal folder levels arrangement. Many of these cards and materials within each series were sorted by the donor, and inconsistencies in filing exist. For instance, a few Christmas cards may be misfiled in a group of Easter cards. In some cases, similar cards may be found under several different headings, e.g., in the antique card series Louis Prang cards may be under "Prang materials" or "Christmas cards designer, manufacturer." There are also a number of groups of unsorted cards in each series.
Greeting cards in each of the first four series may be arranged in one of several categories: by date, season or occasion, physical characteristic, visual image, designer or manufacturer, and others. The cards arranged by physical characteristic and visual image often break down into more specific categories such as lithographed, embossed, lace paper, or handmade cards, and cards with images of animals, nature scenes, flowers, or birds. Designer and manufacturer cards are sometimes sorted by the name of the individual or firm. Additional minimal folder level arrangement for all series is apparent from the box listings that follow. Greeting cards in the Norcross Company Permanent Files are arranged by occasion or topic and then by serial number. Those in the Rustcraft Company Permanent Files are arranged by occasion and then by year.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire.
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:
Norcross Greeting Card Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire.
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:
Norcross Greeting Card Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire.
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:
Norcross Greeting Card Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire.
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:
Norcross Greeting Card Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
