The papers of Cuban born painter, sculptor, cartoonist, and illustrator Enrique Riverón measure 3.3 linear feet and date from 1918-1990s. The collection contains correspondence, writings, diary entries, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs documenting Riverón's career as an illustrator, cartoonist, painter and sculptor in the United States and Cuba and, to a lesser extent, Riverón's teaching career at Wichita University in Kansas.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Cuban born painter, sculptor, cartoonist, and illustrator Enrique Riverón measure 3.3 linear feet, date from 1918-1990s and document Riverón's career as an illustrator, cartoonist, painter and sculptor in the United States and Cuba and, to a lesser extent, his teaching career at Wichita University in Kansas. The collection includes correspondence, the majority of which concerns Riverón's exhibitions; writings, primarily Riverón's recollections of his trips to Paris and Madrid and his memories of people he met in Latin America, Europe, and the United States; printed material documenting exhibitions and Riverón's work for magazines such as Cine-Mudial and Bally-Hoo; and photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into eight series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1929-1960 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1918-1991 (box 1, 0.6 ft.)
Series 3: Writings, 1923-1980s, undated (box 1, 0.2 ft.)
Series 4: Scrapbooks, 1920s-1990s, undated (boxes 1, 3, and 4, 0.7 ft.)
Series 5: Artwork, 1958-1983, undated (boxes 1 and 5, 0.4 ft.)
Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1930-1992 (boxes 2 and 5, 0.7 ft.)
Series 7: Photographs, 1918-1992, undated (boxes 2, 5 and 6, 0.6 ft.)
Series 8: Miscellany, 1927-1989, undated (box 6, 7 folders)
Biographical Note:
Painter, sculptor, cartoonist, and illustrator Enrique Riverón was born in 1902 in Cienfuegos, Cuba and belonged to the first generation of Cuban modernists, experimenting with Cubism and pursuing abstraction from very early on in his career. During his early twenties Riverón traveled to France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain to study under scholarships and attend the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid. In 1926 Riverón's first major one-man exhibition took place at the Association Paris Amerique Latine where the catalog introduction was written by noted Mexican writer Alfonso Reyes.
In 1927 Riverón returned to Havana and had a one-man show of his European work at the Asociación de Pintores y Escultores, as well as several other shows in Havana and New York. He moved to the United States in 1930 and became a United States citizen in 1943.
In addition to being known for his naturalistic drawings of street life in Paris and Cuba, Riverón began working with collage in the 1930s and was, for a number of years, a cartoonist for newspapers in Havana and other publications such as The New Yorker and Cine Mundial which was published in New York and widely circulated in Latin America. He also worked in Hollywood for a time as an illustrator for Walt Disney Pictures.
From 1940 on, Riverón focused on painting and sculpture. He moved to Miami from Wichita, Kansas, in 1964. Enrique Riverón died in 1998.
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art also has a collection of Enrique Riverón letters to Mario Carreño, 1981-1990, in which Riverón writes of their mutual friends, his memories of Cuba, health issues, politics, pricing paintings, collages, and his longings for Paris and New York.
Provenance:
The Enrique Riverón papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Patricia Riverón Lee, daughter of Riverón, in 1996.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use 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 collection consists of 235 pieces of music ephemera assembled by an anonymous California musicologist over several decades. The contents include such things as concert ticket stubs; show programs; handbills; publicity stills; record store posters; nightclub souvenirs; autographs; contracts, lobby cards; movie stills; postcards; fan and record industry magazines; sheet music; an oversize RKO theatre owners' advertising book for the 1942 sensation "Syncopation," starring Charlie Barnet, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Gene Krupa, et al; and miscellany such as matchbook covers and novelty promotional pieces. There are just a few letters in the collection. The collection contains materials representing both bands and band members, and individual artists. In many cases, there are only one or a few relevant items. Persons and acts represented include: Ray Anthony, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Barnet, Tex Beneke, Les Brown, Dave Brubeck, Cab Calloway, June Christy, Nat King Cole, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Erroll Garner, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Glen Gray, Fletcher Henderson, Woody Herman, Harry James, Louis Jordan, Sammy Kaye, Stan Kenton, Gene Krupa, Kay Kyser, Frankie Laine, Peggy Lee, Guy Lombardo, Vincent Lopez, Jimmy Lunceford, Gordon MacRae, Freddy Martin, Billy May, Johnny Mercer, Glenn Miller, Vaughn Monroe, Gerry Mulligan, Red Norvo, Patti Page, Buddy Rich, Artie Shaw, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Charlie Spivak, Rudy Vallee, Sarah Vaughan, Fred Waring, Chick Webb, Ted Weems, Lawrence Welk, Paul Whiteman, Margaret Whiting, and Benny Goodman. In other cases, the collection contains an item or items (such as menus) that have been autographed. The collection contains autographs or autographed items for the following: Gene Krupa, Jess Stacy, Teddy Wilson, Blue Barron, Eddie Duchin, Shep Fields, Ziggy Elman, Glen Gray Band, Milt Gabler, Horace Heidt, Dick Jurgens, Kay Kyser, Guy Lombardo, Xavier Cugat, Hal McIntyre, Art Mooney, Buddy Morrow, Harry James and "Tiny" Timbrell.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into six series.
Series 1: Magazines, 1939-1950
Series 2: Programs, 1930-1975
Series 3: Publications, 1949-1965
Series 4: Sheet Music, 1935-1943
Series 5: Advertisements, 1932-1954
Series 6: Ephemera, 1938-1953
Provenance:
Purchased at auction by the Archives Center from Cohasco, Inc. in 2016.
Restrictions:
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 is open for research.
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 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 is open for research.
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:
Jazz and Big Band Collection, 1927-1966, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Includes images of: Peggy Lee, Gordon McRae, Johnny Mercer, Andy Russell, Jack Smith, Jo Stafford, and Margaret Whiting.
Collection Restrictions:
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 is open for research.
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:
Jazz and Big Band Collection, 1927-1966, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
