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.
Steel; graphite jet vanes, some wooden construction elements in fuselage; aluminum tanks not present.
Dimensions:
Overall: 11 ft. 8 3/8 in. wide x 46 ft. 1 3/16 in. deep x 5 ft. 5 in. diameter x 44 ft. 5 3/16 in. long, 8427.9 lb. (356.6 x 1405.1 x 165.1 x 1354.3cm, 3822.9kg)
The papers of Abstract Expressionist painters James Brooks and Charlotte Park measure 18.7 linear feet and are dated 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Correspondence, subject files, personal business records, printed material, and a sound recording document his painting career, interests, professional and personal activities. Also found are biographical materials, interviews, writings, and art work. The collection also includes papers of his wife, Abstract Expressionist painter Charlotte Park, regarding her painting career, personal life, activities as executor of James Brooks' estate, and some material concerning the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation. There is a 1.4 linear foot addition to this collection donated in 2017 that includes 58 "week-at-a-glance" appointment books, three journals and one address/ telephone book of Charlotte Park; a hand written chronology with significant dates and notes; postcards and exhibition announcements sent to Charlotte and James; doodles; and a sketch, possibly by Don Kingman.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Abstract Expressionist painters James Brooks and Charlotte Park measure 18.7 linear feet and are dated 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Correspondence, subject files, personal business records, printed material, and a sound recording document his painting career, interests, professional and personal activities. Also found are biographical materials, interviews, writings, and art work. The collection also includes papers of his wife, Abstract Expressionist painter Charlotte Park, regarding her painting career, personal life, activities as executor of James Brooks' estate, and some material concerning the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation. There is a 1.4 linear foot addition to this collection donated in 2017 that includes 58 "week-at-a-glance" appointment books, three journals and one address/ telephone book of Charlotte Park; a hand written chronology with significant dates and notes; postcards and exhibition announcements sent to Charlotte and James; doodles; and a sketch, possibly by Don Kingman.
Biographical materials include biographical notes and documents such as copies of birth and death certificates, curricula vitae, family history. Educational records are from Southern Methodist University and documentation of flight training courses at New York University. Brooks' military service in World War II is well documented by United States Army records with related correspondence. Also found is extensive documentation of his death and funeral.
Professional and personal correspondence is addressed to Brooks, the couple, and to Charlotte Park during the later years of Brooks' life when she managed his affairs. A significant amount of correspondence is categorized as art, autograph requests, personal, and teaching; also include is general correspondence that overlaps all categories. Art correspondence with museums, galleries, collectors, artists, and friends concerns exhibitions, Brooks' work, and invitations to exhibit, speak, or serve as a juror. Of note is the correspondence with Samuel M. Kootz Gallery. The personal correspondence is mainly social, and teaching correspondence consists largely of requests that he teach in summer programs, serve as a visiting artist/critic.
Six interviews with James Brooks are in the form of published and unpublished transcripts; a seventh is a sound recording with no known transcript. Charlotte Park participates in one interview.
Writings by Brooks are statements about his work and a tribute to Ilya Bolotowsky. Among the writings by others about Brooks are a catalog essay, academic papers, and lecture; also found are a few short pieces on miscellaneous topics. Three diaries include brief entries regarding his work, exhibitions, and activities.
Subject files maintained by Brooks concerning organizations, exhibitions, mural projects, a commission and teaching document his professional activities, relationships and interests.
Personal business records concern appraisals, conservation, gifts, insurance, loans, sales, shipping, and storage of artwork. Gallery records include agreements, consignments, lists, and receipts. Also, there are accounts for lettering work and personal income tax returns.
Printed material is mostly exhibition announcements, invitations, catalogs, and checklists, as well as articles and reviews. The majority are about/mention Brooks or include reproductions of his work; some concern artist friends, former students, and others.
Artwork by Brooks consists of pencil and ink drawings, two sketchbooks, and "telephone doodles." Other artists include Adolph Gottlieb (ink drawing of sculpture), Philip Guston (three pencil drawings of Brooks), and William King (two silhouettes of Brooks).
Photographic materials (photographs, digital prints, negatives, slides, and color transparencies) provide extensive documentation of Brooks' artwork and, to a lesser extent, exhibitions.There are pictures of Brooks as a very young boy, though the most views of him date from the 1930s through 1980s, and with friends. Places include Brooks' homes and studios in Montauk, New York and the Springs, East Hampton, New York; travel to Maine, Oregon and California. Views of the Middle East from World War II show Brooks with colleagues, local people engaged in daily activities, and scenery. Also of note are a copy print of "The Irascibles" by Nina Leen, and attendees at the dedication of Flight dining in view of Brook's LaGuardia Ariport mural.
Charlotte Park papers document the professional career and personal life of the Abstract Expressionist painter, art teacher, and wife of James Brooks through correspondence, personal business records, exhibition records, printed material, and photographs. In addition, this series documents artwork in the estate of James Brooks and posthumous exhibitions. Twelve years younger than her husband, Park began handling business matters for him as he aged and developed Alzheimer's disease. She also served as his executor. In the 1990s, a curator assumed management of the artwork and loans for exhibitions. After the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation was established in 2000, its director handled most business activities. Some copies of Foundation minutes and correspondence are found among Park's papers.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 11 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1924-1995 (Box 1, OV 19; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1928-1995 (Boxes 1-3; 1.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Interviews, 1965-1990 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1952-1999 (Box 3; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Diaries, 1975-1984 (Box 3; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 6: Subject Files, 1926-2001 (Boxes 3-5, OV 20; 2.0 linear feet)
Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1932-1992 (Boxes 5-6; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1928-1992 (Boxes 6-11, OV 21-OV 22; 4.8 linear feet)
Series 9: Artwork, 1930s-1992 (Box 11; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographic Materials, 1909-2000s (Boxes 11-15; 4.1 linear feet)
Series 11: Charlotte Park papers, 1930s-2010 (Boxes 15-18, OV 23; 3.6 linear feet)
Series 12: Unprocessed Additition, circa 1930-2010 (Boxes 25-26; 1.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
James Brooks (1906-1992) and Charlotte Park (1919-2010) were Abstract Expressionist painters in East Hampton, N.Y. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Brooks spent his childhood in Colorado, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Texas. He begn drawing as a young boy, finding inspiration in magazine illustrations and comic strips. Before moving to New York City in 1926, he studied at Southern Methodist University (1923-1924) and at the Dallas Art Institute.
In New York, Brooks studied illustration at the Grand Central Art School. After exposure to museums led him to differentiate between illustration and fine art, Brooks enrolled at Art Students League. During this period he supported himself by doing lettering for magazine advertisements. From 1936-1942 he participated in the WPA Federal Art Project, executing murals at Woodside Library, Queens, New York (destroyed); the Post Office, Little Falls, New Jersey; and his famous Flight at LaGuardia Airport's Marine Air Terminal (painted over in the 1950s and restored in 1980).
During World War II Brooks served in the United States Army as an art correspondent in Cairo. When at the Office of Special Services, Washington, DC, he met Charlotte Park who worked there as a graphic artist and later became his wife. The couple moved to New York City in 1945 and married in 1947. Brooks resumed friendships with artists he knew from the WPA including Philip Guston, Bradley Walker Tomlin, and Jackson Pollock. Brooks and Park were especially close with Pollock and Lee Krasner; after they moved to Long Island, Brooks and Park, soon followed, first to Montauk and later to the Springs, East Hampton, New York.
By the late 1940s, Brooks had turned away from figural painting in the social realist style and moved toward abstraction. In the early 1950s, he was experimenting with enamel, gouache, and diluted oil paints, staining various grounds in ways that produced interesting shapes, adding spontaneous splashes of color over which he painted more deliberately. In the 1960s he switched to acrylics, leading to wider use of color and broader strokes.
Peridot Gallery presented Brooks' first solo exhibition in 1949. He helped organize and participated in the famous Ninth Street Show of 1951, earning critical acclaim. This assured him a place in two of the Museum of Modern Art's most important exhibitions of the period, Twelve Americans (1956) and New American Painting (1958). He showed at the Stable Gallery, Kootz Gallery, Martha Jackson Gallery and others. During his lifetime Brooks enjoyed five traveling retrospective exhibitions.
Prizes and awards included Carnegie Institute's Pittsburgh International Exhibition 5th prize for painting (1952), The Art Institue of Chicago's 62nd American Exhibition Logan Medal and Prize for Painting (1957) and 64th American Exhibition Harris Prize (1961), The National Arts Club Medal (1985), and a citation of appreciation for Flight from The North Beach Club Marine Air Terminal, LaGuardia Airport (1986).
Brooks taught for nearly three decades: drawing at Columbia University (1947-1948) and lettering at Pratt Institute (1948-1955); was a visiting critic, Yale University (1955-1960), University of Pennsylvania (1971-1972), and Cooper Union (1975); and served on the Queens College faculty (1966-1969). In addition, he was an artist-in-residence at The American Academy in Rome (1963), the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1969), and a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant (1973).
Brooks developed Alzheimer's disease around 1985 and died in East Hampton, New York in 1992.
Charlotte Park graduated from the Yale School of Fine Art (1939) and during World War II, when working in Washington, D.C., she met James Brooks. They moved to New York City in 1945, where she studied with Australian artist Wallace Harrison. Park taught children's art classes at several private schools in the early 1950s and at the Museum of Modern Art, 1955-1967.
Park's approach to Abstract Expressionism featured curved or linear shapes with vibrant colors and dynamic brushstrokes. Tanager Gallery presented her first solo show in 1957 and her work was included in numerous group exhibitions from the 1950s through 2000s, mainly in New York City and Long Island. After Park's second solo exhibition, held in 1973 at Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York, interest in her work revived; other one-person shows followed at Guild Hall (1979), Ingber Gallery (1980), and paired with James Brooks at Louise Himelfarb Gallery. The National Institute of Arts and Letters honored Park with its Art Award in 1974. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Parrish Art Museum, Guild Hall Museum, Telfair Museum of Art, and in many private collections.
Charlotte Park died in 2010.
Related Materials:
Also among the Archives of American Art's holdings are letters from James Brooks and Sean Scully, 1980-1989 addressed to Theodora ["Teddy"] S. Greenbaum, and an oral history interview with James Brooks conducted by Dorothy Seckler, 1965 June 10 and June 12.
Separated Materials:
Correspondence, interview transcripts, photographs, and printed material were loaned by James Brooks for microfilming in 1969 (reel N69-132). With the exception of an address book, a scrapbook, and a few photographs, Brooks donated almost all of the loan in 1979.
Provenance:
The majority of the collection was donated in 2013 by the James Brooks and Charlotte Brooks Foundation and an additional 1.4 linear feet donated 2017 by the Foundation. In 1979 James Brooks donated most of the material lent for microfilming in 1969.
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.
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.
United States of America -- Illinois -- Cook County -- Barrington
Olsen's Woods Walk (Barrington Hills, Illinois)
Scope and Contents:
1 folder and 22 digital images.
General:
The red brick Georgian style house was built in 1922 as a country place, gifted along with 60 acres of farmland; in 1991 the house had been restored but the 15-acre property was overgrown with buckthorn and invasive vines. While clearing the land the owners discovered the remains of a 1930's formal garden next to the house and a one-acre spring-fed pond at the perimeter. The first garden they designed and planted, Woods Walk, has meandering paths under a towering canopy of red, bur and white oak, quantities of spring bulbs, part shade flowering shrubs and perennials, fountains, garden art, hidden seating and a tool shed. Long rows of arborvitae and boxwood hedges were planted to create a formal structure for garden rooms that would surround and spread out from the house on ten acres, eventually fenced to keep out deer. There are nine main garden rooms with formal patio gardens outside the house, expansive lawns punctuated with trees, and more casual plantings leading to the woods and the pond. Two massive lion planters anchor the Leo Lion garden that has a flagstone walkway, dwarf evergreens, two weeping birch positioned to form a natural arch, perennials, grasses and ferns. The English Pool garden has a 14-column classical Greek pergola supporting a climbing hydrangea and perennials and annuals chosen for their colorful blossoms. A formal parterre garden terraced beneath one of the patios has red and white roses under a weeping cherry. The garden rooms are entered under arches covered with clematis and other climbing vines; the Gala Garden designed and planted for a hospice benefit is bordered by blue tuteurs with climbing roses and clematis. Other garden structures include an eight-sided gazebo and an ironwork folly with climbing vines.
A Mirror Walk garden is shaded by mature oak with three beds of deciduous azaleas and color coordinated tulips on one side facing beds of shade perennials that include bleeding heart, lobelia, and petasites with banks of hosta around each bed. The Wedding Walk garden has four arches bordered by more casual flower beds chosen to attract butterflies and transition to the natural pond with cattails, Adirondack chairs and a fire pit. A vegetable garden and orchard are located outside the gate cottage or coach house as they were under the original owners. Many of the garden rooms and patio gardens feature planted urns and other containers; even tall columns are topped with flower-filled pots. The voluminous plantings were aided in part by Ball Horticultural Company: from 2004 to 2011 Olsen's Woods Walk was a test garden for as many as 500 flats of perennials and annuals each year that would be evaluated and photographed, with some images appearing in Ball catalogs and other advertisements. Also, the owners hosted many charitable benefits and open days for the Garden Conservancy and other organizations.
Persons associated with the garden include: Evan A. and Pauline Hart Evans (former owners, circa 1922-1950); Bruce Alexander and Joan Ferris Pope (former owners, circa 1959-1971); Guy H. and Bette A. Seno (former owners, circa 1971-1976); G. Willard and Bonita Theissen (former owners, circa 1976-1991); Eric E. and Margaret G. Olsen (former owners, 1991-2018); Robert G. Work (1874-1960) (architect for house and coach house, 1922); Charlie Keppel (tree maintenance, 1991-2018); Eric Bode (arborist, 2007-2018); Liz Olsen and Andrew Wolfgram (garden design and maintenance, 2007-2018).
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Illinois -- Barrington Hills Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Illinois -- Cook County -- Kenilworth
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, historical information about the house and garden, photocopies of articles about the property and garden, reference images, and other information.
General:
A private residence on one acre has a 1929 house of asymmetrical design, with a rectangular sunken lawn behind the house surrounded by low retaining walls that are symmetrically punctuated by four stone stairways. The walls serve as raised beds for perennials and shrubs. Two concrete jardinières at each stairway are planted in topiary boxwood. A large patio behind the house is paved in bluestone set in a random pattern. Beyond the patio a stairway leads to the lower elevation lawn. The garden was designed for entertaining, with seating on the patio and under a pergola.
The house has Art Deco ironwork at the front and back doors, which is complemented by an ironwork scrim that supports the pergola. An antique fountain surrounded by boxwood at one end of the lawn balances the pergola at the other end. A shaded woodland garden features an antique limestone bench. The walkway along one side of the house is bordered by perennial flower beds, ground cover beds, and a rose garden.
The Coolidge Garden has been documented by the Garden Conservancy.
Persons associated with the garden include Douglas Hoerr of Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects (landscape architect, 2001 to present).
Related Materials:
Coolridge Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (15 35 mm. slides (photographs))
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Illinois -- Lake -- Lake Forest
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets and an article.
General:
The garden at the House of the Four Winds was originally designed circa 1908 by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw and planted the following year by landscape architect Rose Standish Nichols. At that time the property comprised 5.29 acres and was a summer home sited to catch breezes off Lake Michigan. The hardscape designed by Shaw included two long pools or rills on different levels on the longitudinal axis from the house to the exedra and small fountains at the rear of the property. Stone benches and low walls were included in the hard scape design as well as an arched stone and wrought iron gateway. Shaw was said to be inspired by the Generalife Gardens at the Alhambra in Spain, and included water jets in the rills for spray. Rose Standish Nichols designed the formal garden borders in the upper and lower pool gardens as well as another formal side garden to the east. The property was subdivided in 1955, and House of the Four Winds currently comprises almost two acres.
The garden nearly was lost for 50 years until bits of the original hardscape were noticed, which led to the excavation of the two long pools and a complete renovation of blue stone walkways. Trees that had grown over and shaded the formal flower beds were removed. Hornbeam, yew and boxwood hedges and grass walkways outline the redesigned perennial flower beds, limited in color to purples, blues, pinks and whites at the owners' request. A tall boxwood hedge in the upper pool garden is clipped into an undulating shape, while other boxwood are clipped into conical or spherical shapes. There are planted containers at the exedra and near the house, original statues and fountains as well as original stone benches.
This garden was featured in the Garden Conservancy's Open Days directory in 2009.
Persons associated with the garden include Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Johnston McBirney (former owners, 1909-1954); Isabel M. Stimson (former owner, 1954-1955); Mr. and Mrs. Harry N. Bryant (former owners, 1955); Mr. and Mrs. Jack C. Coffey (former owners, 1955-1959); Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wolcott Henry, Jr. (former owners, 1959-1972); Nancy Cummings Henry (former owner, 1972-1974); Howard Van Doren Shaw (architect of house and garden hard scape, 1908); Rose Standish Nichols (landscape architect, 1909-1911); Craig Bergmann (garden restoration, circa 2000 - 2002)
Related Materials:
House of the Four Winds related holdings consist of 1 folder (7 digital prints, 21 digital images + 3 lantern slides)
Additional materials also located in the Lake Forest Public Library, Lake Forest, Illinois.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Illinois -- Cook County -- New Trier -- Wilmette
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes drawing of the garden, garden description,articles, excerpts from books, lecture program, and brochure from The 1998 Chicago Flower and Garden Show.
General:
"The main entry of the garden is at the rear of the house due to the home's proximity to the busy street and the fact theat the house was once a farm house with much more property than what exists now. The old greenhouse (Lord and Burnham, c. 1900) was the New Trier High School's greenhouse (in Winnetka, Illinois) and was reassembled and attached to the home in the early 1960's. The two largest plantings in the garden include a Magnolia x soulangiana and an Acer platanoides 'Schwerdleri' assumed to have been planted in the early 1930's. It is a cottage style garden created by plantsmen. The garden is divided into many rooms based on the configuration of the building and adjoining the property."
"The garden began in 1986. It is planted in casual style with some formal elements. Stone ornaments are collected and use them as punctuation throughout the garden-often moved about to accent what is in bloom at the time. At the entry arbor are a collection of potted, unusual dwarf conifers which are overwintered at the nursery for safekeping. The plant collection at the gates emphasizes a restrained color palette and variegated foliage."
Craig Bergmann Landscape Design, Inc. was featured in The 1998 Chicago Flower and Garden Show. Their garden "The Wind in the Willow", won the Mayor's Trophy - Best of Show and the People's Choice Award. They also created gardens for the 1995 and 1996 Flower and Garden Shows."
Persons associated with the property include: Craig K. Bergmann (owner); James W. Grigsby (owner); Linda Oyama Bryan (photographer).
Related Materials:
Bergmann-Grigsby Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (11 35 mm. slides)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Illinois -- Cook -- Winnetka
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets articles and lists of notable plants and shrubs.
Varying Form:
Timberleigh formerly known as.
General:
Located on 1.8 acres, this property is located on the shore of Lake Michigan in an area called Hubbard Woods. The Italian Renaissance revival style house was originally built in circa 1925-1926 by Otis and Clark for Frank Brach of the famous candy company. According to the Garden Club of America's 1933 annual meeting book, Jens Jensen designed the original plan for the grounds, Hollister and Root designed the small formal garden while the owners designed the perennial garden. At that time, the garden was designed for spring effect with a strip of woods on either side of the drive planted with clumps of daffodils and mertensia and bordered with primroses in shades of yellow and bronze. The small formal garden located directly to the south of the house was designed for a green garden in winter and beds planted entirely of pansies from April until mid-June. A tennis court and swimming pool beyond the fornal garden were approached by a grass walk bordered by an arborvitae hedge.
Between 2007 and 2008, the gardens were revamped after a complete renovation of the house. The hydrangea bed at the front of the house was enhanced and hydrangeas were added to the borders on the north and south property lines where pine trees and arborvitae were planted to provide more privacy. Existing walls were elongated, the driveway modified by curving it to make the approach more dramatic, a large parking court in the front of the house was constructed, French drains were added to improve drainage, and trees were planted to disguise the entrance to the garage. A gate was also constructed to separate the front and back gardens. A side shade garden leads to two blue stone terraces, one overlooking the pool and another lower terrace overlooking Lake Michigan.
Garden features on the lakeside garden include a classically styled wooden trellised pergola which houses one of the many garden statues.
In 2011, this garden won the President's Award for residential design from the Illinois chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Gold Award for residential design from PLANET. The garden has been featured on the Garden Conservancy's Open Days. In addition to private parties, the garden has been the host of meetings of the Garden Guild of Winnetka, Town and Country Arts club and the Woman's Board of the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Persons and groups associated with the garden include: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Brach (former owner, 1925-1931), Mr. and Mrs. Frederick H. Scott (former owners, 1933);; Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Haynes (former owners, 2005-2012); Otis and Clark (architects, circa 1925); Jens Jensen (landscape architect of grounds, 1920s or 1930s); Hollister and Root (landscape architect of formal garden, 1920s or 1930s); Mariani Landscaping (landscapers, 2007-2012); .
Related Materials:
Haynes Garden related holdings consist of 2 folders (1 lantern slide; 20 digital images)
See others in:
Garden Club of American collection, ca. 1920- [ongoing].
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Illinois -- Cook County -- Winnetka
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes work sheets, copies of the garden plan, a plant list, photocopies of published photographs and descriptions of the garden, and other information.
General:
Planned and constructed between 2001 and 2003, this nearly half-acre garden is set around a 1926 English Arts and Crafts style house. Outdoor "rooms" feature a variety of plant material and provide vistas from most rooms of the house. Regionally quarried stone, indigenous plant material, and textural contrasts have been used to provide privacy and create space. Four seasons of interest are provided by the plant collection. Woody plants have an underlying theme of analogous colors in shades of yellow, gold and bronze, while the perennials' predominant palette is purple chartreuse and pale yellow, with greens varying from grey to deep emerald. Garden features include a boxwood-hedged herb garden, a koi pond, a large bluestone terrace, and a rear patio with pergola, potting shed, and outdoor fireplace. The garden has won multiple awards from the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association.
Persons and firms associated with the garden include: Chris J. Heynssens (landscape architect, 2002 to date) and Heynssens & Grassman (landscape architects, 2002 to date).
Related Materials:
The Aalbregstse Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (9 35 mm. slides (photographs))
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Illinois -- Cook County -- Winnetka
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of articles about the property, the area, and the architect, and other information.
General:
The Metzler Garden comprises two acres in the flood plain of the Skokie River and is prone to flooding from the nearby Skokie Lagoons during periods of heavy rainfall. The property is also vulnerable to deer living in the Lagoons. The owners added a wedge shaped lot on the north side of their original property and commissioned John Mariani, ASLA, to design a wide border of prairie plants, perennial flowers and shrubs that deer do not like to eat. Behind the perennial border a screen of pine trees was planted along the perimeter of the property to block the view of the larger houses that are replacing the smaller, original homes built in the 1930s in this planned community. A cutting garden was created nearer to the house that is protected by a picket fence but deer repellant sprays are also employed.
The plant selection in the deep border includes ligularia, bee balm, ajuga, rudbeckia, catmint, astilbe, Joe Pye weed, chelone, and shrubby barberry, chosen for their tolerance of wet conditions and deer resistance. The cottage-style fenced cutting garden is bisected by crossing slate walkways with boxwoods planted in the central corner of each garden bed. There is a children's play house and a small playground for grandchildren with shredded bark mulch ground cover to reduce muddiness. Foundation plantings at the house and play house include roses, peonies, Annabelle hydrangeas, catmint, euonymous and garden begonias.
The Skokie Lagoons were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps beginning in 1933. Previously the marsh land of the Skokie River's flood plain had been drained by farmers who grew horseradish successfully in the peaty soil. The peat fields flooded in the spring rains and would catch on fire in dry conditions. The Lagoons are made up of seven miles of interconnected waterways and kept free of wastewater due to the later installation of pipes, pumps and channels. The Lagoons also were dredged and deepened to improve the fish habitat, and are used as a recreation area for fishing, birding, and small craft boating.
Persons associated with the garden include Charles J. Kostbade, Jr. (former owner, 1929-1941); Mr. Packard (former owner, circa 1941-1948); Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Ellis (former owners, 1953); Werth family (former owners); Mr. and Mrs. Mark Fitzpatrick (former owners); Mr. and Mrs. Richard Newman (former owners of lot added to property); Spencer Solon Beman (Architect, 1929); John Mariani ASLA, (landscape designer).
Related Materials:
The Metzler Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (10 digital images)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Illinois -- Cook -- Winnetka
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, and additional information.
General:
The one-acre property had a traditional style house built during the Colonial Revival period in the 1930's, a swimming pool and cabana and a backyard lawn in 1999 when the owners moved in. They removed the swimming pool and built a berm to block the street planted with deciduous and evergreen trees. Those trees form the backdrop for the colorful perennial borders that have been developed over the years by the self-taught garden designer. There are five distinct garden rooms: the circular motor court with layered green hedges and ground covers; the sunken garden that features a circular fountain in a round pool behind an ornate wrought iron fence; two labyrinthine lawns; the deep perennial borders surrounding the entire property with curving edges that disguise its rectangular shape; and a small succulent garden. Stands of clipped arborvitae staggered and planted at angles add backdrop and contrast to the mounded shapes of other shrubs and perennials. Plant varieties have been chosen for contrasting colors and textures and several large planted urns add dimension.
The lawns are mowed by hand in spirals alternating bands of cut and uncut grass. The garden designer had a background in painting and visited other gardens during open days and the nearby Chicago Botanic Garden to learn how their borders were designed as well as learning about the soil conditions plants need. Early efforts with a few plants that were on sale in the fall and did not survive the winter have evolved to planned groupings of twenty or more plants of the same variety or same color and shrub textures that add winter interest. On the advice of landscape architect Ryan Kettelkamp the entire garden is ringed by a gravel path edged in brick that also cuts through the deep perennial borders. The Garden of Many Circles has been chosen to participate in the Garden Conservancy North Shore Open Days.
Persons associated with the garden include Dr. Howard Rosenblate (former owner, 1970-1999); Kim Visokey (garden designer, 1999-present); Ryan Kettelkamp (path designer, 2009); Ralph D. Huszagh (1898-1977) (architect, 1935).
Related Materials:
Garden of Many Circles related holdings consist of 1 folder (17 digital images; 4 photographic prints)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Biographical material; correspondence; writings and notes; sketches; printed material and photographs document the life and career of Albert Henry Krehbiel.
Among the biographical documents is Krehbiel's marriage announcement. Correspondence, 1893-1945 and 1982-1985, consists mostly of illustrated letters from Krehbiel to his family and close friends. The earliest group of letters document his interest in the wheel. Another series, addressed to his sister Linda, includes a "Travel Log" of his transatlantic voyage to Europe and his sojourn there. Other letters written during the same years to his future wife, recount in detail his experiences as an American student in Paris and his travels. A group of letters written in the 1940s reveal Krehbiel's opinions on modern art and the social and political changes at the Cliff Dwellers, an important early Chicago art club. Also found are letters sent to Rebecca Krehbiel regarding her late father-in-law.
Writings and notes include Krehbiel's diary of 1938 containing impressions of Mies van der Rohe, newly appointed director of the Armour Institute. Krehbiel was the only in-place instructor that Mies van der Rohe kept on the staff; a 1906 notebook on Greek costumes, an undated notebook about murals for the State Capitol of South Dakota (Krehbiel did not receive the commission for these); typed proposals for murals in the State Capitol of South Dakota, and for the Supreme and Appellate court rooms in Springfield, Illinois, versions of a manuscript entitled "Life and the Model in Quick Sketches"; notebooks, 1930-1945, containing notes on art and other topics, journal entries, thumbnail sketches of his paintings and watercolors, and notes for talks; loose notes and sketches by Krehbiel and by his wife Dulah.
Published material about Krehbiel includes 1904, 1905 and 1906 issues of L'ACADEMIE JULIAN and newsclippings, 1907-1940 and undated. Photographs are of paintings by both Albert and Dulah Krehbiel, photographs of his studio and of Dulah posing for murals, and family photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
Art educator; mural painter; Chicago, Ill. Born in Iowa, Krehbiel was important as a teacher in Chicago. He was part of the conservative art establishment and painted in both an academic and Impressionist manner. Krehbiel helped set up the Chicago Art Institute Summer School of Painting in Saugatuck and later founded the Albert Krehbiel School of Painting there. He was on the faculties of the Art Institute from 1906-1945, and the Armour Institute, now Illinois Institute of Technology from 1913-1945. He began his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1902. In 1903, he studied on scholarship at the Academie Julian in Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens. He remained in Europe until 1906, during which time he traveled and studied, winning four gold medals and the Prix de Rome. In 1906, he returned to Chicago, married a fellow artist, and joined the faculty of the Art Institute school. In 1907, he won a national competition for the murals in the Supreme and Appellate courtrooms in Springfield, Illinois.
Related Materials:
The Art Institute of Chicago, Institutional Archives holds papers of Dulah Evans Krehbiel and Albert Henry Krehbiel.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1987 by Rebecca Krehbiel, daughter-in-law of Albert Krehbiel.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Ann Zelle discusses how she came to meet John Kinard at the 1969 annual meeting of the American Association of Museums (AAM) in San Francisco. She describes John's impact on the AAM and on the International Council of Museums (ICOM) where his work with the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum (now Anacostia Community Museum) gained international attention. She describes her first impressions of the museum, recalling that it was a joyful, exuberant, hands-on museum that integrated into the neighborhood. She also describes John Kinard's many contributions, paying tribute to his charisma, his patience, and his ability to maintain great relationships with both the Smithsonian Institution leadership and the Anacostia community.
The interview was conducted on July 14, 1992 by Zora Martin-Felton. There is background static which makes it difficult to hear the interviewer in some parts, but the interviewee can be heard clearly throughout the recording.
Biographical / Historical:
Ann Zelle (1943-) taught at Northern Virginia Community College and worked at the Smithsonian Institution. She served as an administrator and educator from 1963-1973 at the Illinois State Museum, Newark Museum, the International Council of Museums, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, and helped establish Art & Soul, which was a collaboration between the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Conservative Vice Lords. She also served as Associate Professor Emerita and as Head of Photography at the American University School of Communication from 1982 to 2002. She retired in 2007, moving to Western North Carolina, and continuing her creative work as a sculptor and photographer.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the ACM 25th Anniversary Oral History Project, which includes approximately 100 interviews of residents and influential people of the Anacostia area of Washington, DC.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Genre/Form:
Oral histories (document genres)
Collection Citation:
ACM 25th Anniversary Oral History Project, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The Robert B. and Beatrice C. Mayer Family Collection records and papers measure 22.0 linear feet and date from circa 1950 -2021. The material documents the Mayer Family Collection of works of art and includes biographical material, subject files, loan and exhibition files, interviews, photographs, financial records, administrative files, and printed material documenting sales, provenance, and conservation records. Also included is a small plastic bag of metal pins that came from a Lucas Samaras sculpture that accompanies extensive documentation. A portion of the collcction also documents the Mayer's personal lives.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert B. Mayer (1910-1974) and Beatrice C. Mayer (1921-2018) were art collectors in Chicago, Ill.
Provenance:
Donated in 2022 by Ruth Mayer, Robert B and Beatrice C. Mayer's daughter.
Restrictions:
This collection is temporarily closed to researchers due to archival processing. Contact Reference
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.
