Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Willard Cummings, 1973 March 20. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Willard Cummings conducted 1973 March 20, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Cummings speaks of his family and its interests in art and theater; moving to Boston and his early education there; studying with Anna Ladd and at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts; his two years in Paris; going to Skowhegan during the Depression; the Art Students League and the Grand Central School; his interests in portrait painting and sculpture; his Yale art school experience; some early portrait subjects; exhibitions of his work; commercial art jobs he was involved in; his New York studio and friends in the mid-1930s; collecting American primitives; his U.S. Army service; the start of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1946; the organization of the school; his own painting technique and some portrait subjects. He recalls Philip Hale, Waldo Peirce and Edith Halpert.
Biographical / Historical:
Willard Cummings (1915-1975) was a painter from New York, New York and Maine.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 19 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
The papers of painter and co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Willard Warren Cummings measure 19.3 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1997 with the bulk of the papers dating from 1930 to 1975. The collection documents Cummings's career as an artist through biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed materials, scrapbooks, artwork, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Willard Warren Cummings measure 19.3 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1997 with the bulk of the papers dating from 1930 to 1975. The collection documents Cummings's career as an artist through biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed materials, scrapbooks, artwork, and photographic material.
Biographical material includes an interview transcript, material for a mural commissioned by Warner Brothers Company, and records documenting Cummings's memorial. Personal and professional correspondence with family, friends and colleagues, and clients. Writings are by Cummings, his wife Mildred, and others, and includes a 1928 diary from his time in Paris. Printed material and six scrapbooks document Cummings's career, activities at Colby College, and the work of other artists. Artwork includes student work, six sketchbooks, and a substantial number of drawings. Photographs, slides, and negatives depict Cummings, his family, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, works of art, and images from military service in the War Art Unit.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1930-1997 (Boxes 1, 18, OVs 20-22; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1911-1975 (Boxes 2-13, OVs 20, 23; 12.0 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1928-1974 (Box 14; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Materials, 1928-1996 (Boxes 14-16, 18; 1.9 linear feet)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, circa 1930-circa 1960 (Boxes 16, 19, OV 33, BV 35; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Artwork, 1929-circa 1965 (Boxes 16, 18, OVs 24-32; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographic Materials, circa 1930-circa 1970 (Boxes 16-18, OV 34; 2.0 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Willard Warren Cummings (1915-1975) was a painter and co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine.
Cummings joined the U.S. Army in 1941. He organized a mural project for soldiers, painted portraits for the War Department, and served as an artist-correspondent with the War Art Unit in the Aleutian Islands. Cummings met artists Sidney Simon, Henry Varnum Poor, and Charles Cutler while assigned to the unit. After completing their military service, Cummings, Simon, Poor, and Cutler founded the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. Additionally, Cummings played an important part of organizing Soldier Art, an exhibition of the National Army Arts Contest winners.
Cummings was married to Mildred "Milly" Cummings with whom he had a daughter, Daphne, and son, William. Cummings died in 1975 in Skowhegan, Maine.
Related Materials:
Also found at the Archives of American Art are the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture records, 1945-2013, and an oral history interview of Willard Cummings conducted by Paul Cummings on March 20, 1973 for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
The Willard Warren Cummings papers were acquired from Willard H. and Willard W. Cummings from 1974 to 1976.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Biographical materials include addresses, five appointment books, architectural plans, awards and certificates, biographical sketches and chronology, material documenting Cummings's relationship with the Colby College Art Gallery, family documents, a guest book from 1957, an interview transcript, a few legal papers, and membership cards. Also included are sketches, photographs, clippings of advertisements, templates, and source material for a mural commissioned by the Warner Brothers Company in Connecticut to document their history as a women's clothing company. Also found are Cummings's War Art Unit notebook containing administrative records; and memorial records containing a guest book, eulogy by John I.H. Baur, and obituaries.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Collection Citation:
Willard Warren Cummings papers, 1911-1997, bulk 1930-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Includes an exhibition catalog for the Fourth Annual Exhibition of Artists of Northern Westchester where Cummings won the Junior League Prize for Oils.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Collection Citation:
Willard Warren Cummings papers, 1911-1997, bulk 1930-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
