Three scrapbooks documenting murals completed by Amy Jones between 1937-1941 in Winsted, Connecticut; Painted Post, New York; and Scotia, New York. Scrapbooks contain correspondence, photographs, notes and sketches, contracts, expenses, and printed material. Also included is one scrapbook containing original copies of Christmas cards designed and painted by Jones, printed material, and several watercolor paintings.
Collection 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.
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:
Amy Jones papers, 1910s-2015. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Biographical material assembled by Henry on herself (1929-1987) and Rowena Fry (1927-1987) consists of brief typescripts, letters, clippings, exhibition catalogs, samples of Christmas cards designed by Henry and Fry, a print "Bird's Tree in Winter" by Henry (1968), and photographs of works of art. The material emphasizes Henry's mural for the Springdale, Arkansas post office, commisssioned for the Section of Fine Arts, and her work for the Oscar Mayer Company. A subject file contains clippings (1958-1987) concerning Hubert Ropp, Dean of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, who had a great influence on the careers of Henry and Fry.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Natalie Henry (1907-1992) was a muralist active in Chicago, Illinois. Rowena Fry (1892-1990) was a painter and educator active in Chicago, Illinois.
Natalie Henry was best known for her post office murals completed under the United States Department of the Treasury. She managed the art supply store at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1948 until her retirement in 1972. Fry was born in Alabama and moved to Chicago in 1923 to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Henry and Fry attended the Hubert Ropp School of Art. Both exhibited regularly at the Chicago Society of Artists and the Art Institute of Chicago during the 1930s and 1940s. Henry and Fry shared an apartment in the Lambert Tree Studios Building from 1948 until moving back to their respective family homes in Arkansas and Tennessee in the 1980s. In 1989, Fry joined Henry in her home in Malvern, Arkansas.
Provenance:
Donated 1989 by Natalie S. Henry.
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.
The papers of sculptor, painter, and writer Marta Adams measure 4.21 linear feet, and date from circa 1914 to circa 1991. In 1935, Adams made her first visit to Mexico, and began spending more time there than in the United States. There, she met Diego Rivera who stimulated her interest in oil painting. In 1952 she moved to Mexico permanently. Found within are biographical materials, correspondence, writings and notes, legal and estate papers, printed materials, photographic material, one mixed-media scrapbook, and artwork, including three portfolios of lithographs, 30 Grabados de Galo Galecio,1946, containing 30 engraving prints by Galecio and Estampas de la Revolucion Mexicana, 1947, containing 85 engraving prints by 16 artists of the Taller de Gracia Popular, and Drawings: Seymour Swetzoff, 1949.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor, painter, and writer Marta Adams measure 4.2 linear feet, and date from circa 1914 to circa 1991. Found within are biographical materials, correspondence, writings and notes, legal and estate papers, printed materials, photographic material, one mixed-media scrapbook, and artwork, including three portfolios of lithographs, 30 Grabados de Galo Galecio,1946, containing 30 engraving prints by Galecio and Estampas de la Revolucion Mexicana, 1947, containing 85 engraving prints by 16 artists of the Taller de Gracia Popular, and Drawings: Seymour Swetzoff, 1949. .
Biographical material includes address books, curriculum vitaes, a passport, awards and certificates, and immigration materials.
Correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection and is primarily personal in nature. Most of the correspondence is between Marta and her daughter Kay Kulmala, though there are several files of a blend of personal and professional correspondence to and from others. Additional correspondents include other family members and friends, as well as the Galerie Günther Franke and Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. Notable correspondents include Charles L. and Hetty Kuhn, Raquel Jodorowsky, and Kojin Toneyama, among others.
Writings include drafts and manuscripts by Adams, of poetry and children's stories, as well as notes for an unpublished autobiography. Also found are writings about Adams by others.
After Marta Adam's death, her daughter, Kay Kulmala, dealt with her estate by conducting inventories, discussing exhibitions, and facilitating auctions of Adam's artwork, documented via legal and estate papers found within the collection.
Printed materials include clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs,
Photographs are of the artist, friends and family, and artwork. Also included are two family photograph albums. One scrapbook contains letters, notes, drawings, and photographs, and appears to have been created by friends and peers for Adams.
Artwork includes Christmas card designs, sketches and illustrations, and mixed media collages by Marta Adams. Also included are works by others including a signed lithograph by Leopoldo Méndez, and prints by Xavier Guerrero, José Clemente Orozco, Jose Guadalupe Posada, and Alfredo Zalce. There are three limited editions of portfolios of lithographs, 30 Grabados de Galo Galecio,1946, containing 30 engraving prints by Galecio, Estampas de la Revolucion Mexicana, 1947, containing 85 engraving prints by 16 artists of the Taller de Grafica Popular, and Drawings: Seymour Swetzoff, 1949.
There is a 2 item unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2023 that includes a handwritten letter by Marta Adams to unknown recipient and a small watercolor "House and Tree" by Marta Adams, undated. Materials date from circa 1965.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 9 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1918-circa 1980 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, Box 6)
Series 2: Correpsondence, circa 1929-circa 1978 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1914-circa 1978 (0.1 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 4: Legal and Estate Papers, circa 1963-circa 1991 (0.3 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 5: Printed Materials, circa 1940s-circa 1988 (0.7 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1916-circa 1980s (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 3-6)
Series 7: Scrapbook, circa 1963-circa 1964 (1 folder; Box 5)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1920s-circa 1978 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 5-6, OV 7)
Series 9: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1965 ( 2 items, MMS folder 8)
Biographical / Historical:
Marta Adams (1891 or 1893-1978) was a painter, sculptor, and writer, active in Boston, Massachusetts and Mexico.
Born in Germany in 1891 or 1893, Marta Arnstem immigrated to Massachusetts around 1915, and married Edward Brinley Adams in 1916 who died in 1922. She apprenticed with sculptor Hans Stangl in Munich during the winter of 1925. Before moving back to Cambridge in 1933, Adams showed drawings and sculpture at the Günther Galerie in Munich, and was part of a social circle that included cartoonist Otto Nückl, writer A. M. Frey, and painter Karl Zerbe, among others. Animals were her favorite subject used in most of her artwork, though she also included flowers, and had a series on open-heart surgery. In 1935, Adams made her first visit to Mexico, and began spending more time there than in the United States. There, she met Diego Rivera who stimulated her interest in oil painting. In 1952 she moved to Mexico permanently. She exhibited with the Boris Mirski Gallery in Boston, and had numerous exhibitions in Mexico.
Provenance:
The bulk of Marta Adams papers were donated to the Archives in 1992 by the estate of Katherine Adams Kulmala (Adams's daughter) via Jonathan Strong, executor. In 1992, a sketch and a section of a watercolor were donated to the Archives by Phyllis Hughes, who purchased the artwork at an auction held at the Concord Art Association in Massachusetts. A small watercolor and letter by Marta Adams donated in 2023 by Sally Kuhn, a family friend.
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.
Found here are Christmas card designs, mixed media collages, and sketches and illustrations by Marta Adams. In addition, there are three engravings by Leopoldo Méndez, one engraving by Alfredo Zalce, one lithograph by José Clemente Orozco, one pencil sketch by Xavier Guerrero, and several unidentified sketches and prints by other artists. Also included are three limited editions of portfolios of lithographs, 30 Grabados de Galo Galecio,1946, containing 30 engraving prints by Galecio, Estampas de la Revolucion Mexicana, 1947, containing 85 engraving prints by 16 artists of the Taller de Grafica Popular, and Drawings: Seymour Swetzoff, 1949. Researchers may be interested to note that a file of "Self-Portraits by Friends" appears to be a compilation of self-portrait and caricature sketches with signatures requested as entrance to an unidentified exhibition, as a possible illustrated guestbook.
Collection 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.
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:
Marta Adams papers, circa 1914-circa 1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Marta Adams papers, circa 1914-circa 1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
