Search Results

Medium:

Video

Type:

Exhibitions

Video

Object Name:

Video

Accession Number:

s-e-2276

See more items in:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection

Exhibitions Department

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:chndm_s-e-2276

Type:

Exhibitions

Video

Object Name:

Video

Accession Number:

s-e-2289

See more items in:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection

Exhibitions Department

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:chndm_s-e-2289

Creator:

Morehouse, Harold E., 1894-1973  Search this

Names:

Early Birds of Aviation (Organization).  Search this

Morehouse, Harold E., 1894-1973  Search this

Extent:

4.36 Cubic feet (4 records center boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Manuscripts

Date:

circa 1960s-1970s

Summary:

This collection consists of 355 biographies written by Harold E. Morehouse and intended for publication. These biographies discuss Morehouse's fellow early aviation pioneers, many of whom belong to the Early Birds, an organization open to those who soloed before December 17, 1916. Each biography discusses the subject's life and the majority of biographies include a photograph of the individual.

Contents note:

The Harold E. Morehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies Collection (accession XXXX-0450) contains approximately four cubic feet of material. It is also known as The Harold and Marvel Morehouse Aviation Pioneers Collection. The collection includes photographs, negatives, and typewritten material.

Arrangement note:

Container List: Series I: Biographies of Flying Pioneers; Series II: Miscellaneous related materials; Series III: Oversized materials

Biographical note:

This collection consists of over 350 short biographies of early aviation's trailblazers written by Harold E. Morehouse (1894-1973). Conspicuous by its absence is a biography of the author, himself an innovator.

Born in Michigan, Morehouse channelled a youthful fascination with flight into training in the field of mechanical engineering. He began work in 1915 for the Van Blerck Motor Company and assisted in their development of aircraft engines. In 1917, Morehouse was working as a layout draftsman on the Standard J-1 Training Airplane for the Dayton-Wright Aeroplane Company. However, this assignment was quickly superseded by his placement on a secret project, supervised by C.F. Kettering and Orville Wright. Its aim was the production of a selfflying aerial torpedo which has since become known as the Kettering Bug. Morehouse contributed to all phases of this project, including its design, engine development and flight testing. The armistice arrived before the actual deployment of the Bug; Morehouse was to spend the next few years in engine design and development.

In 1925, Morehouse joined the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and both the Wright-Morehouse engine and the Wright-Whirlwind J-5 (a re-design of the J-4) were developed here under Morehouse. The latter engine was later to serve as the powerplant for the historic 1927 trans-Atlantic flight of the Spirit of St. Louis and this was a great source of satisfaction to Morehouse. He left Wright Aero in 1929 and in subsequent years designed the inverted Rover for the Michigan Aero Engine Company, the A-50 for the Continental Motors Corporation and the Engineering and Research Corporation's Erco engine.

About ten years prior to his retirement in 1965, Harold Morehouse began work on a personal project. His aim was to gather information on significant contributors to early aviation and distill this data to produce a set of brief biographies of these innovative men and women. He was assisted in this by his wife, Marvel Dyer. After Harold's death, Marvel worked in concert with Paul E. Garber of the National Air Museum to procure publication of the work. Sadly, the passing of Marvel Dyer and later of Paul Garber seemed to bring plans for publication to a halt.

This collection consists of hundreds of biographical narratives concerning the lives of the "Flying Pioneers." Many of those featured were members of the Early Birds of Aviation, Inc., a group whose members had the distinction of having soloed prior to 1916. Most of the biographies are accompanied by one or more photographs of their subject and comprise an invaluable resource on the accomplishments and sacrifices of those intrepid individuals who forged the history of American aviation. However, it should be borne in mind that the biographies are based in large measure on personal interviews and are concerned primarily with their subjects' careers in aviation.

Other sources should be consulted to obtain a complete portrait.

Provenance:

Mr. and Mrs. Harold E. Morehouse, gift, 1960-1972, XXXX-0450, NASM

Restrictions:

No restrictions on access

Rights:

Permissions Requests

Topic:

Aeronautics -- 1903-1916  Search this

Aeronautics  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Manuscripts

Citation:

Harold E. Morehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies Collection, Acc. XXXX-0450, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NASM.XXXX.0450

See more items in:

Harold E. Morehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies collection

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nasm-xxxx-0450

Collection Creator:

Morehouse, Harold E., 1894-1973  Search this

Container:

Box 4, Folder 20

Type:

Archival materials

Text

Collection Restrictions:

No restrictions on access

Collection Rights:

Permissions Requests

Collection Citation:

Harold E. Morehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies Collection, Acc. XXXX-0450, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Harold E. Morehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies collection

Harold E. Morehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies collection / Series 1.1: Biographies of Flying Pioneers 1.1

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nasm-xxxx-0450-ref121

Creator:

Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this

Names:

Coos Art Museum  Search this

Fresno Art Museum  Search this

Galerie Anderson-Mayer  Search this

Gallery Stadler  Search this

Jack Rutberg Fine Arts (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this

John Bolles Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this

Los Angeles Museum of Art  Search this

Malvina Miller  Search this

Martha Jackson Gallery  Search this

Merging One Gallery  Search this

Mills College -- Faculty  Search this

Pond Farm Workshop  Search this

San Francisco Museum of Art  Search this

University of California, San Francisco. School of Fine Arts -- Faculty  Search this

Green, Ray, 1908-1997  Search this

Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-  Search this

Kuh, Katharine  Search this

O'Donnell, May, 1906-2004  Search this

Sawyer, Kenneth B.  Search this

Still, Clyfford, 1904-  Search this

Still, Patricia  Search this

Tapie, Michel  Search this

Temko, Allan  Search this

Tobey, Mark  Search this

Wildenhain, Frans, 1905-1980  Search this

Extent:

42.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Motion pictures (visual works)

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Diaries

Photographs

Sketches

Date:

circa 1914-1997

bulk 1940-1990

Summary:

The papers of sculptor, painter, jewelry designer, and teacher Claire Falkenstein measure 42.8 linear feet and date from 1917 to her death in 1997. There is extensive correspondence with fellow artists, collectors, critics, friends, museums, and galleries. The collection also contains biographical materials, much of it collected and organized by Falkenstein, personal and business records, writings, diaries, exhibition files, commission files, teaching files, photographs, original artwork, scrapbooks, and printed materials. There is a short motion picture film of an interview with Falkenstein featuring the windows she designed for St. Basil's Church in Los Angeles.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of sculptor, painter, jewelry designer, and teacher Claire Falkenstein measure 42.8 linear feet and date from 1917 to her death in 1997. There is extensive correspondence with fellow artists, collectors, critics, friends, museums, and galleries. The collection also contains biographical materials, much of it collected and organized by Falkenstein, personal and business records, writings, diaries, exhibition files, commission files, teaching files, photographs, original artwork, scrapbooks, and printed materials. There is a short motion picture film of an interview with Falkenstein featuring the windows she designed for St. Basil's Church in Los Angeles.

Biographical material includes appointment calendars, awards and honorary degrees, interview transcripts, passports, resumes, wills, and scrapbooks. Scrapbooks were compiled by Falkenstein and focus primarily on her exhibitions at the Galerie Stadler and Gallery Meyer in 1959 and 1960. Also of interest are the "biography files" created and arranged by Falkenstein. These files contain material that she personally felt was the most important in documenting her activities each year. They include correspondence, exhibition catalogs, printed material, and invitations.

Measuring nine linear feet, correspondence is extensive and comprehensively documents Falkenstein's work, social life, relationships, and other business and personal activities. Correspondence dates from 1941 to 1997 and includes business letters and correspondence with friends and family. Her communications with friends, family, clients, gallery owners, collectors, museums, publishers, foundations, and grant agencies reveal many of her ideas and techniques. Individual correspondents include Ray Green, Peggy Guggenheim, Katharine Kuh, May O'Donnell, Ken Sawyer, Clyfford and Pat Still, Michel Tapie, Allan Temko, Mark Tobey, and Frans Wildenhain. Gallery and museum correspondence is with the San Francisco Museum of Art, Coos Art Museum, Los Angeles Museum of Art, Galerie Stadler (Paris), Gallery Mayer (Paris), Malvina Miller (New York), Martha Jackson Gallery (New York), Jack Rutberg Fine Arts (Los Angeles), Galerie Anderson-Mayer (Paris), and Bolles Gallery. Correspondence is also found in the Commission Files and Exhibition Files.

Personal and business records contain a wide variety of material documenting Falkenstein's business, financial, legal, professional, and personal transactions. Files are found for sales and prices, art inventories, smaller jewelry commissions, her work as a juror, her business with galleries, legal affairs and contracts, expenses, records of arts organizations to which she belonged, conferences, grants and fellowships, studio and house renovations, her Paris studio and Paris expenses, travel, donations, loans and consignments, conservation, art shipping, insurance, and taxes. Oversized visitor's logs contain comments from visitors to Falkenstein's studio in Venice, California.

Falkenstein maintained comprehensive documentation of her exhibitions from her first exhibition in the 1930s to the last one at the Merging One Gallery in 1996. Files include both a chronological record and individual record for nearly all of her exhibitions. Found with the files are correspondence, photographs, loan and shipping records, catalogs, announcements, clippings, articles, and other records. Most of the photographs related to exhibitions are found in the Photographs Series. The files for exhibitions at the Fresno Art Museum, Martha Jackson Gallery and Jack Rutberg Fine Art Gallery are particularly rich.

Commission files document nearly all of Falkenstein's public and private large-scale projects and often contain a visual record of the work, as well as correspondence, design notes, contracts, and expense reports. There is documentation of the St. Basils Church windows in Los Angeles; the Peggy Guggenheim gate in Venice, Italy; and the fountain at the California Savings and Loan, in Los Angeles; and many others. There is also a chronological record of her commissions. The bulk of the photographs of commissions are found in the Photograph series. Also, most of Falkenstein's jewelry design commissions are found in the Personal and Business Records series.

Falkenstein's work as a prolific writer, particularly in the 1940s and 1950s, is well-documented here through her numerous published articles in Arts and Architecture magazine, and the New York Herald-Tribune. Her work for Arts and Architecture was primarily written for the "Art Comments from San Francisco" section. She was living in Paris when she contributed an art news column to the New York Herald-Tribune. Also found here are five diaries and one journal dating from circa 1929-1978. The entries are inconsistent and concern mostly travel. The diaries from 1929 and 1934 are more personal. Falkenstein also maintained extensive notes and notebooks about artwork ideas, observations about art, research, and even drafts of letters. There are also many notes about various topics, including art and class notes. Additional writings are eclectic and cover a wide range of topics, including music, poetry, the script for Falkestein's film entitled Touching the Quick, and drafts of her unpublished book on murals. A handful of writings by others are found, most with annotations by Falkenstein.

Teaching files include Falkenstein's numerous lectures given while teaching at Mills College, Pond Farm Workshops, and California School of Fine Arts, and various symposiums and conferences. Also found are lesson plans, contracts, scattered correspondence, and notes. The files on her tenure at the Pond Farm Workshops are particularly interesting, with notes about her fellow teacher Frans Wildenhain and correspondence with workshop owners, Jane and Gordon Herr.

There are extensive photographs of Falkenstein, her family and friends, colleagues, commissions, exhibitions, and works of art. Included are many images of Falkenstein, of Falkenstien with her art, of Falkentstien working, and of Falkenstein's studio. There are numerous photographs of Falkenstein with friends, family, and colleagues in social or work settings. Also found are photographs of exhibition openings, installation views, and works of art exhibited. Additional photographs document Falkenstein's commissions, including images of her at work. Additional images of commissions may also be found in the Commission Series, but the bulk are filed here. There are numerous photographs of Falkenstein's works of art, including drawings, sculpture, jewelry, murals, lamps, and ceramics.

Falkenstein's papers include a large amount of sketches, sketchbooks, and drawings. Many of the sketches and drawings relate to her ideas about commissions and large sculpture, jewelry designs, and general sketches. Sketches are also found in the Commission Files. Also included are drawings by Mark Tobey and Michel Tapie, and others.

Finally, printed materials include general exhibition catalogs, newspapers clippings, and clippings of articles by and about Falkenstein. Also included are books that have been inscribed and signed by the author.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 9 series:

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1934-1997 (Box 1-4, 41; 4.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1931-1997 (Box 5-13; 9 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal and Business Records, 1936-1997 (Box 14-17, 41, 46-49; 4.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Exhibitions, 1930-1996 (Box 18-21, 42, OV 50; 3.3 linear feet)

Series 5. Commissions, 1930-1992 (Box 21-22, OV 50-54 ; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 6: Writings, circa 1929-1993 (Box 22-26, 42, 55; 4.6 linear feet)

Series 7: Teaching Files, 1929-1995 (Box 26; .8 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1917-1997 (Box 27-35, 43, 55-56; 9.5 linear feet)

Series 9: Artwork, circa 1937-1995 (Box 36-37, 44, 57; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 10: Printed Materials, circa 1914-1990 (Box 37-40, 45, 58; 3.9 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Claire Falkenstein (1908-1997) spent the majority of her life working as an artist, sculptor, jewelry designer, teacher, and writer in California.

Claire Falkenstein was born in 1908 and grew up in Coos Bay, Oregon. In 1920, Falkenstein and her family moved to Berkeley, California, where she attended high school and then college at the University of California at Berkeley, studying philosophy, anthropology, and art. She graduated in 1930. Falkenstein had her first solo show at the East-West Gallery in San Francisco in 1930, the only member of her class to have an exhibition before graduation.

During the early 1930s, Falkenstein studied at Mills College with modernist sculptor Alexander Archipenko. There she also met Bauhaus artists Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Gyorgy Kepes. Falkenstein married her high school sweetheart, Richard McCarthy in 1936.

In 1944, Falkenstein had her first New York exhibition at the Bonestall Gallery. At that time, Falkenstein's primary mediums were stone and wood. However, she became increasingly experimental with new materials that included sheet aluminum, Cor-Ten steel, glass, plastics, and welded wire rods while maintaining a connection to organic and natural forms. Her work in jewelry design was an outlet for exploring these new materials, forms, and techniques on a small scale. As her work grew physically larger, so did her recognition and it was her work in sculpture that won her a faculty appointment at the California School of Fine Arts from 1947-1949. It was here that she met Patricia and Clyfford Still, Hassel Smith, and Richard Diebenkorn.

In 1948, Falkenstein was invited to exhibit at the Salon des Realites Nouvelle in Paris, her first European show. She eventually moved to Europe in 1950 and had studios in Paris, Venice, and Rome. While in Europe, Falkenstein executed a number of large scale commissions, including the stair screen for Galerie Stadler (1955), grotto gates for Princess Pignatelli's villa in Rome (1957), and the bronze, steel, and the glass gate at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice (1961). While in Paris, she became acquainted with noted art critic Michel Tapie, with whom she maintained a life-long friendship.

During the 1940s and 1950s Falkenstein was a regular contributor to Arts and Architecture magazine, most often writing the "Art Comments from San Francisco" section. While in Paris, she also wrote a column on art news for the New York Herald Tribune.

Falkenstein returned to the United States in 1962, eventually renovating a studio space in Venice, California. It was here that she conceived her largest commissions. In 1965, Falkenstein received a commission from the California Savings and Loan to create a sculpture for a large fountain at the front of the bank in downtown Los Angeles. The copper tube fountain, entitled "Structure and Flow #2," was the first of many large scale public art commissions that Falkenstein completed during her years in California. Her most important commission in the United States, completed in 1969, was for the doors, rectory gates and grills and stained-glass windows for St. Basil's Church on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The eight doors and fifteen rectory screens, including 80 foot high windows in the nave, were an expansion of the "never ending screen" concept that Falkenstein executed with the Pignatelli commission in Rome. She continued to use this motif in her work throughout her career.

Claire Falkenstein worked as an arts instructor, visiting artist, and guest lecturer at many colleges, workshops, and schools in California. Her first position was at Mills College from 1946-1947. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed to the faculty at the California School of Fine Arts and later taught in the Extension Divisions of the University of California, Berkeley. She taught classes at California State Polytechnic University, California State University at Davis, and the Anna Head School. Falkenstein also taught art at the Pond Farm Workshops in California, and lectured at numerous colleges and museums. She served on many juried art shows in Southern California.

Falkenstein was acquainted with many artists, writers, instructors, collectors, gallery owners, and critics. Close friends included Esther and Bob Robles, Clyfford and Patricia Still, Michel Tapie, Allan Temko, Mark Tobey, Frans Wildenhain, and other notable figures in the art world.

Falkenstein continued to complete large scale private and public commissioned sculptures during the 1960s through the 1980s, including work for the University of Southern California, Hyland Biological Laboratory, California State University at Dominquez Hills and the California State Department of Motor Vehicles. Throughout her career, Falkenstein's work was featured in numerous exhibitions across the country. Her sculpture and other artwork can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Coos Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museum, University of Southern California Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Tate Gallery.

Falkenstein died in 1997 at the age of 89.

Related Material:

The Archives of American Art also holds two oral history interviews with Claire Falkenstein. The interview on April 13, 1965 was conducted by Betty Hoag and the one on March 2 and 21, 1995 was conducted by Paul Karlstrom.

Provenance:

The Claire Falkenstein papers were donated in 1997 by Steffan Wacholtz and Nancy Kendall, trustees for the Claire Falkenstein Trust.

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.

Occupation:

Painters -- California  Search this

Topic:

Women artists -- California  Search this

Women artists -- France -- Paris  Search this

Sculptors -- California  Search this

Interviews  Search this

Awards  Search this

Transcripts  Search this

Articles  Search this

Designers -- California  Search this

Drafts (documents)  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Poetry  Search this

Scripts  Search this

Notebooks  Search this

Artists' studios  Search this

Art -- Economic aspects  Search this

Art patronage  Search this

Educators -- California  Search this

Jewelry -- Design  Search this

Sculptors -- France -- Paris  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Motion pictures (visual works)

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Diaries

Photographs

Sketches

Citation:

Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.falkclai

See more items in:

Claire Falkenstein papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-falkclai

Collection Creator:

Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1934-1997

Scope and Contents note:

This subseries contains awards, honorary degrees, interviews, passports, resumes, appointment calendars, and address books. The appointment calendars, resumes, and interviews document Falkenstein's busy schedule and focus on making her art accessible to the public. The short interview on motion picture film is particularly interesting as she talks about her ideas for the window design at St. Basil's Church.

The files are arranged alphabetically by type of material and then chronologically by date.

Collection Restrictions:

Use of original papers 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:

Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.falkclai, Subseries 1.1

See more items in:

Claire Falkenstein papers

Claire Falkenstein papers / Series 1: Biographical Materials

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-falkclai-ref15

Collection Creator:

Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this

Container:

Box 3, Folder 17

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

circa 1965-1970

Collection Restrictions:

Use of original papers 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:

Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation.

See more items in:

Claire Falkenstein papers

Claire Falkenstein papers / Series 1: Biographical Materials / 1.1: General Biographical Files

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-falkclai-ref37

Interviewee:

Renk, Merry, 1921-2012  Search this

Interviewer:

Fisch, Arline M.  Search this

Creator:

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Names:

750 Studio  Search this

American Craft Council  Search this

Institute of Design (Chicago, Ill.) -- Students  Search this

Metal Arts Guild  Search this

Mobilia Gallery  Search this

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

School of Industrial Design (Trenton, N.J.) -- Students  Search this

University of California, Berkeley. Department of Art -- Faculty  Search this

Albers, Josef  Search this

Asawa, Ruth  Search this

Bates, Kenneth F. (Kenneth Francis), 1904-1994  Search this

Brancusi, Constantin, 1876-1957  Search this

Brynner, Irena  Search this

Cunningham, Imogen, 1883-1976  Search this

Curtis, Earle  Search this

De Patta, Margaret, 1903-1964  Search this

Godfrey, Mary Jo Slick  Search this

Guermonprez, Trude, 1910-1976  Search this

Hall, Doris.  Search this

Nordness, Lee  Search this

Oliver, Olive  Search this

Tajiri, Shinkichi, 1923-2009  Search this

Tawney, Lenore  Search this

Extent:

49 Pages (Transcript)

1 Item (sound file (4 min. 15 sec.) Audio excerpt, digital)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Sound recordings

Date:

2001 January 18-19

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Merry Renk conducted 2001 January 18-19, by Arline M. Fisch, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Renk's home and studio, San Francisco, California.

Renk speaks of her family background; growing up during the Depression; her father's creativity and encouragement; early inspiration from "the structure of nature"; attending the School of Industrial Arts in Trenton, N.J., and later the Institute of Design in Chicago; student life at the Institute of Design; establishing a studio and gallery, 750 Studio, at 750 North Dearborn, in Chicago, in 1947, with two other students, Mary Jo Slick [Godfrey] and Olive [Bunny] Oliver; managing 750 Studio and organizing exhibitions of Harry Callahan, Henry Miller, Lazlo Maholy-Nagy, Warren and Ethel MacKenzie, Doris Hall, and others; working with enamels; early "primitive" spirals; decision to be a jeweler; the importance of the "wearability" of jewelry; moving to San Francisco in 1948; living in Paris, 1950-1951; relationship with Shinkichi Tajiri; visiting Constantin Brancusi; traveling with Lenore Tawney through Spain and Morocco; settling in San Francisco; friendship with sculptor and neighbor Ruth Asawa; learning about Josef Albers from Asawa, resulting in experiments with folded metal; meeting her second husband, potter Earle Curtis on Halloween 1954; purchasing and remodeling their home; teaching part-time at the University of California, Berkeley and in workshops; her children, Baunnie and Sandra; managing motherhood and jewelry making in a two-artist household; drawing as a form of inventory; the influence of Lee Nordness; learning the plique-à-jour technique of enameling through trial and error; early influence of Doris Hall's work; working with wire; use of natural forms and interlocking forms; the process of making Wedding Crown (1968) for the exhibition Objects USA; making wedding crowns for her daughters; her shift from non-objective art to portraiture and symbolic imagery in the early 1970s; making large-scale sculpture in 1974, then "drifting back" to jewelry; importance of working independently; her "memory paintings" in the 1980s; evolution of her name from Mary Ruth Gibbs to Merry Renk Curtis (married Stanley Renk in 1941); her involvement with local guilds such as the Metal Arts Guild of San Francisco and national organizations such as the American Craft Council (ACC); lack of critical writing about her work; the value of exhibitions; various pieces in museum collections; early ACC conferences; her long friendship with photographer Imogen Cunningham; posing for Cunningham; becoming an ACC fellow; her jewelry tools; the process of painting compared to jewelry making. She also mentions Kenneth Bates, Trude Guermonprez, Irena Brynner, the Mobilia Gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her mentor Margaret de Patta.

Biographical / Historical:

Merry Renk (1921-2012) was a jeweler, painter, and sculptor from San Francisco, California. Arline M. Fisch (1931-) is a metalsmith from San Diego, California.

General:

Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 9 min.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art 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 administrators.

Topic:

Enamel and enameling  Search this

Enamelers -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this

Jewelry making  Search this

Jewelers -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this

Painters -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this

Sculptors -- United States -- Interviews  Search this

Sculptors -- California -- Interviews  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.renk01

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-renk01

Interviewee:

Marshall, John, 1936-  Search this

Interviewer:

Herman, Lloyd E.  Search this

Creator:

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Names:

Carnegie Institute of Technology -- Students  Search this

Carnegie Museum of Art -- Students  Search this

Cleveland Institute of Art -- Students  Search this

Grove City College -- Students  Search this

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Society of North American Goldsmiths  Search this

Syracuse University -- Faculty  Search this

Bacorn, Don  Search this

Bates, Kenneth F. (Kenneth Francis), 1904-1994  Search this

Clague, John, 1928-  Search this

DuSell, Lee  Search this

Griffin, Gary, 1945-  Search this

Hauberg, Anne Gould  Search this

Lannan, J. Patrick  Search this

Lutz, Winifred  Search this

Metcalf, Bruce, 1949-  Search this

Miller, Fred, (Decorative artist)  Search this

Miller, John Paul, 1918-  Search this

Nordness, Lee  Search this

Penington, Ruth, b. 1905  Search this

Scott, Michael, 1958-  Search this

Smith, Paul J., 1931-  Search this

Solberg, Ramona  Search this

Takaezu, Toshiko  Search this

Extent:

6 Items (Sound recording: 6 sound files (3 hrs., 2 min.), digital, wav)

45 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Sound recordings

Place:

Europe -- description and travel

Germany -- description and travel

Date:

2001 April 5

Scope and Contents:

An interview of John Marshall conducted 2001 April 5, by Lloyd Herman, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Edmonds, Washington.

Marshall speaks of his childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; participating in an educational program with the Carnegie Museum; his exposure to art while in grade school and throughout his education; joining the army after high school; spending time in Germany with the army and experiencing the metalwork of that area; learning to work hard from his father; his family background; attending Grove City College, then working in construction during the day and going to classes at Carnegie Tech during the night; finally attending Cleveland Institute of Art; some of his teachers at the Institute, Kenneth Bates, Toshiko Takaezu, and John Clague; his first experiences with metal, Fred Miller, and learning how to design metal pieces; getting a job as head of the metals department at Syracuse and completing his MFA there; meeting Paul Smith and Lee Nordness, and participating in Objects: USA; his travels throughout Europe; the many commissions he has done for churches, everything from baptismal bowls, chalices, and crosses; Patrick Lannan, and how instrumental he was in Marshall's career, his collection of work that Lannan bought and where it all is now located; the different types of communities in the different areas he lived; commissions and how they were important to his career; how he challenges himself with new ideas and creations; the Handy and Harman Workshop; the difference between a university trained artist and one who has learned his/her craft outside academia; his students and how much satisfaction he has received from teaching; the decline in metal working programs at the university level; the influence of other faculty members on his work, such as Lee DuSell; the critics of metalwork, Bruce Metcalf and Gary Griffin; his involvement in the Society of North American Goldsmiths; and his two sons. Marshall also recalls John Paul Miller, Winifred Lutz, Ramona Solberg, Ruth Penington, Michael Scott, Don Bacorn, Annie Hauberg, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

John Marshall (1936- ) is a jeweler and metalsmith from Edmonds, Washington. Lloyd Herman (1936- ) is the former director of the Smithsonian Institution's Renwick Gallery from Seattle, Washington.

General:

Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 2 min.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art 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 administrators.

Topic:

Decorative arts  Search this

Jewelers -- Washington (State) -- Interviews  Search this

Metal-workers -- Washington (State) -- Interviews  Search this

Religious articles  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.marsha01

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-marsha01

Creator:

Bates, Kenneth F. (Kenneth Francis), 1904-1994  Search this

Extent:

1 Microfilm reel (150 items on 1 microfilm reel)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Microfilm reels

Scrapbooks

Interviews

Date:

1927-1973

Scope and Contents:

The microfilmed Kenneth Francis Bates papers contain a career resumé; letters from friends and associates commenting on his books Enameling (1951) and Basic Design (1960); and photographs of Bates and of his work. Also included are five (5) scrapbooks which contain book covers designed by Bates, clippings, exhibition notices, etc.; five (5) scrapbooks containing circa 450 working sketches for his enamels, many on religious topics; and a transcript of an undated interview in which Bates discussed his enameling methods and the relationship of his work to his interest in gardening.

Biographical / Historical:

Kenneth Francis Bates (1904-1994) was an enamelist, educator, and author in Euclid, Ohio. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts School of Art and in 1927 joined the Cleveland School of Art, teaching design. He taught there through his retirement in 1968. Bates was honored by the National Society of Enamelists with the title Dean of American Enamelists in 1987. He has written three books, Enameling: Principles and Practice (1951), Basic Design, and The Enamelist (1967).

Provenance:

Lent for microfilming 1973 by Kenneth Bates.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Enamel artists -- Ohio  Search this

Educators -- Ohio -- Cleveland  Search this

Authors -- Ohio  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Interviews

Citation:

Kenneth Francis Bates papers. Owned by Kenneth Francis Bates. Microfilmed by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.batekenn

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-batekenn

Creator:

Withers, Margret Craver, 1907-  Search this

Extent:

9.6 Linear feet

0.002 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Drawings

Motion pictures

Scrapbooks

Date:

1908-2016

Summary:

The papers of silversmith and arts administrator Margret Craver Withers measure 9.6 linear feet and 0.002 GB and date from 1908 to 2016. The papers document her career as an silversmith and jeweler through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, and art organizations; manuscripts, notes, lectures, and other writings; professional activity records with various organizations; photographs, printed material, correspondence related to specific subject materials such as individuals or organizations; exhibition catalogs, clippings, published articles, and other printed materials; designs, sketches, sketchbooks, and other artwork; and personal photographs, some in digital format, and photographs and slides of works and works by other artists.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of silversmith and arts administrator Margret Craver Withers measure 9.6 linear feet and 0.002 GB and date from 1908 to 2016. The papers document her career as an silversmith and jeweler through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, and art organizations; manuscripts, notes, lectures, and other writings; professional activity with various organizations; photographs, printed material, correspondence related to specific subject materials such as individuals or organizations; exhibition catalogs, clippings, published articles, and other printed materials; designs, sketches, sketchbooks, and other artwork; and personal photographs, some in digital format, photographs and slides of works and works by other artists.

Biographical material includes copies of a transcript for an oral history conducted by Columbia University, awards, and artist statements. Correspondence includes letters to friends, colleagues, and organizations. Also included are numerous personal letters between Craver and her husband. Writings include draft manuscripts for articles and booklets, transcripts for various lectures, and notes and notebooks.

Professional material includes film reels and corresponding transcripts, about sliversmithing techniques; grooved disk recordings of interviews with artists and silversmithing techniques; scrapbooks; invoices; commissioned work; and exhibition related materials for various museums.

Subject Files were organized by Craver on specific individuals or organizations. The files contain documents such as correspondence, printed material, and photographs. Printed material includes exhibition announcements and catalogs, newspaper and magazine clippings, a scrapbook, and published articles and booklets by Craver.

Artwork consists of sketches, designs, and sketchbooks by Craver. Included are some pieces by other artists. Photographic material consists of personal photographs and digital photographs of Craver with family and friends, photographs and slides of her artwork, and photographs of works by other artists.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 8 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1945-1988 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1935-2016 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Writings, 1929-1988 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 4: Professional Activity Files, 1941-1996 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 3-4, 9, FC 14-20)

Series 5: Subject Files, 1926-1991 (0.7 linear feet; Box 4)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1935-1997 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 4-5, 9-10)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1937 (0.4 linear feet; Box 5, OV 11-13)

Series 8: Photographs, 1908-2002 (3.0 linear feet; Boxes 6-8, 0.002 GB; ER01)

Biographical / Historical:

Margret Craver Withers (1907-2010) was a silversmith and arts administrator in Boston, Massachusetts.

Withers was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1907. She became interested in metal working while studying at the University of Kansas. After graduation she traveled to Europe where she trained under Baron Erik Fleming, court silversmith to the King of Sweden. In 1935 Withers established the department of jewelry and metalsmithing at the Wichita Arts Association. In the 1940s and 1950s Craver developed and taught a series of workshops on metalsmithing as occupational therapy for wounded veterans. In 1949, she married Charles Withers. She continued to be known professionally under her unmarried name, Margret Craver. Withers is credited with reviving the technique of en resille, in which enamel-coated metal foil is embedded in glass. Withers died in 2010.

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Margret Craver Withers conducted by Robert F. Brown between 1983 and 1985.

Provenance:

The Margret Craver Withers papers were donated in several installments between 1971 and 2019. Donations between 1971 and 1998 were done by Marget Craver Withers. Three film reels were donated in 1975 by Handy and Harman. Donations in 2011 were by Josephine Withers, daughter of Margret Craver Withers. Donations between 2014 and 2019 were made by Judith Childs, friend of Margret Craver Withers.

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.

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.

Occupation:

Arts administrators -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Silversmiths -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Topic:

American studio craft movement  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Motion pictures

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Margret Craver Withers papers, 1908-2016. 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.

Identifier:

AAA.withmarg

See more items in:

Margret Craver Withers papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-withmarg

Creator:

Smithsonian Education  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-12-02T20:12:39.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Education  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianEducation

Data Source:

Smithsonian Education

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianEducation

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_4OxLZnjRoAQ

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2020-08-28T16:44:40.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

See more by:

smithsonianfolkways

Data Source:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_Htz94NNaUfo

Creator:

National Museum of the American Indian  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-06-04T14:13:28.000Z

YouTube Category:

Entertainment  Search this

Topic:

Native Americans;American Indians  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianNMAI

Data Source:

National Museum of the American Indian

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianNMAI

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_hE1G5Oy30Q8

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2016-06-29T19:06:09.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

See more by:

americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_L2y6ZMOjX5Y

Creator:

National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2010-03-10T18:06:01.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

American History  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianAmHistory

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianAmHistory

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_8OPCqx0CDZ0

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2011-02-15T18:39:33.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_N-Oe0-P-2Jc

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2010-03-08T22:22:10.000Z

YouTube Category:

Howto & Style  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianVideos

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianVideos

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_QreiHbmPUsQ

Creator:

National Zoo  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2014-08-27T18:03:42.000Z

YouTube Category:

Science & Technology  Search this

Topic:

Zoology;Animals;Veterinary medicine;Animal health  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianNZP

Data Source:

National Zoo

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianNZP

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_t6qGqF1p5uk

Creator:

National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2021-03-17T17:44:53.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

American History  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianAmHistory

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianAmHistory

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_Co4DFWCiHmw