Search Results

Creator:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2021-05-10T01:27:54.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, Asian  Search this

See more by:

FreerSackler

Data Source:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

YouTube Channel:

FreerSackler

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_m8a4FIWqKdE

Artist:

Benjamin Joseph Falk, 14 Oct 1853 - 19 Mar 1925  Search this

Sitter:

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood, 25 Oct 1830 - 19 May 1917  Search this

Medium:

Albumen silver print

Dimensions:

Image/Sheet: 14.7 × 9.8 cm (5 13/16 × 3 7/8")

Mount: 16.4 × 10.7 cm (6 7/16 × 4 3/16")

Type:

Photograph

Date:

c. 1880

Topic:

Interior  Search this

Photographic format\Cabinet card  Search this

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Female  Search this

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Law and Law Enforcement\Lawyer  Search this

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Politics and Government\Presidential candidate  Search this

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Lecturer  Search this

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Teacher  Search this

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Education and Scholarship\Administrator\School administrator\Principal  Search this

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist\Suffragist  Search this

Portrait  Search this

Credit Line:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Object number:

NPG.80.298

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4c61f8139-3287-4a9b-b7a9-a203785680c7

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npg_NPG.80.298

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

0.86 Cubic feet (consisting of 1.5 boxes, 9 folders.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Date:

1816-1912

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Doctors forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents:

This material consists primarily of business cards, receipts, letters for M.D.'s homeopaths and doctors, and images of physician's prescription blanks. There are also short biographies on some physicians, directories, pictures and cartoons. The material dates from 1854-1912.

It is important to note that during the late 19th century and early 20th century, the term M.D. or doctor was a loosely used title, and it did not connote any degree of education. Doctors could apprentice for three or more months with a physician, and then practice medicine. Some schools offered a medical M.D. degree for some nine months of training and required no admittance qualifications such as a grade school or high school diploma. It was not until the 1890s that the consideration was given to education of the physician as we know it today. Additionally, no licensing was needed and claims could be advertised whether they could be proven or not. However, there were some concerns for scientific approaches to medicine being made and with the advent of anesthesiology, the germ theory and advances in surgery that took place in the late 19th century changed the whole picture of medical practice.

In folders 1 through 24, in box 1, the names are listed in alphabetical order. This continues in box 2 through folder 3. In box 2, folder 4 is a directory of Homeopathic physicians from 1893. Folder 5 contains a book of biographical sketches of "Living New York Surgeons". "Sutures in Ancient Surgery" in folder 6 contains prints of medicine practice from 600 B.C. to the 15th century. A group of medical cartoons featuring primarily medical doctors is located in folder 7. Prints in folder 8 contain pictures of physicians at the bedside, in the hospital, country doctors and "The Doctor". Folder 9 contains personal correspondence regarding sickness and health with no identifying names or dates.

Materials in the Archives Center:

Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Missing Title

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Doctors is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

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.

Topic:

Medicine  Search this

Patent medicines  Search this

Hospitals  Search this

Homeopathy  Search this

Physicians  Search this

Genre/Form:

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Doctors

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Doctors

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep80abba76f-bf08-4b30-95a9-f56054d64b27

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-doctors

Collection Collector:

Robinson, Franklin A., Jr., 1959- (actor)  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1938-1985, undated

Scope and Contents:

This subseries contains material and ephemera of Mary Robinson Conner (1930-2009). She was the daughter of Frank A. and Elizabeth Bourne Robinson and the wife of Timothy James Conner, a member of the United States Air Force and then later a computer contractor. This subseries consists of scrapbooks, diaries, her high-school diploma, materials from her correspondence course in nursing, a guidebook (in French) to the luxury liner Ile de France that she took to join her husband in France in August 1951, and original artwork. The subseries includes a conjectural genealogy chart of the Robinson family done by distant cousin Marshall F. Robinson. While accurate in many respects, the chart includes many inaccuracies. In additon to being a homemaker, wife, and mother she was an artist and genealogist.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but negatives and audiovisuial materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Some papers of living persons are restricted. Access to restricted portions may be arranged by request to the donor. Gloves required for unprotected photographs. Viewing film portions of the collection and listening to LP recording requires special appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Collection Rights:

The Archives Center does not own exclusive rights to these materials. Copyright for all materials is retained by the donor, Franklin A. Robinson, Jr.; permission for commercial use and/or publication may be requested from the donor through the Archives Center. Military Records for Franklin A. Robinson (b. 1932) and correspondence from Richard I. Damalouji (1961-2014) are restricted; written permission is needed to research these files. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Collection Citation:

The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Preservation of the 8mm films in this collection was made possible, in part, by a grant from the National Film Preservation Fund.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0475, Subseries 2.5

See more items in:

Robinson and Via Family Papers

Robinson and Via Family Papers / Series 2: Robinson Family

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep883e20bc5-69c8-4c96-a1dc-168233e8753d

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0475-ref1011

Collection Collector:

Robinson, Franklin A., Jr., 1959- (actor)  Search this

Container:

Box 34, Folder 8

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1935

Biographical / Historical:

Robert Henry Robinson (1914-1956) was the son of Albert Henry Robinson and Cornelia Roberts. He attended the National University, now George Washingon University and studied law. He was admitted to the Distrct of Columbia Bar and the Maryland Bar.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but negatives and audiovisuial materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Some papers of living persons are restricted. Access to restricted portions may be arranged by request to the donor. Gloves required for unprotected photographs. Viewing film portions of the collection and listening to LP recording requires special appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Collection Rights:

The Archives Center does not own exclusive rights to these materials. Copyright for all materials is retained by the donor, Franklin A. Robinson, Jr.; permission for commercial use and/or publication may be requested from the donor through the Archives Center. Military Records for Franklin A. Robinson (b. 1932) and correspondence from Richard I. Damalouji (1961-2014) are restricted; written permission is needed to research these files. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Collection Citation:

The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Preservation of the 8mm films in this collection was made possible, in part, by a grant from the National Film Preservation Fund.

See more items in:

Robinson and Via Family Papers

Robinson and Via Family Papers / Series 2: Robinson Family / 2.1: Family Paper and Publications

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep81cbaef17-166f-404a-a387-1880b0e551d6

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0475-ref61

Collection Collector:

Robinson, Franklin A., Jr., 1959- (actor)  Search this

Container:

Box 34, Folder 12

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1949

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but negatives and audiovisuial materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Some papers of living persons are restricted. Access to restricted portions may be arranged by request to the donor. Gloves required for unprotected photographs. Viewing film portions of the collection and listening to LP recording requires special appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Collection Rights:

The Archives Center does not own exclusive rights to these materials. Copyright for all materials is retained by the donor, Franklin A. Robinson, Jr.; permission for commercial use and/or publication may be requested from the donor through the Archives Center. Military Records for Franklin A. Robinson (b. 1932) and correspondence from Richard I. Damalouji (1961-2014) are restricted; written permission is needed to research these files. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Collection Citation:

The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Preservation of the 8mm films in this collection was made possible, in part, by a grant from the National Film Preservation Fund.

See more items in:

Robinson and Via Family Papers

Robinson and Via Family Papers / Series 2: Robinson Family / 2.5: Conner, Mary Robinson

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep85d6c62a9-3ab7-48d9-8b23-113a1c149dcb

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0475-ref894

Created by:

United States Department of War, American, 1789 - 1947  Search this

Written by:

Maj. Gen. Lutz Wahl, American, 1869 - 1928  Search this

Received by:

Cpl. Lawrence Leslie McVey, Sr., American, 1897 - 1968  Search this

Subject of:

369th Infantry Regiment, American, 1913 - 1945  Search this

Medium:

ink on paper

Dimensions:

H x W: 10 1/2 x 8 in. (26.7 x 20.3 cm)

Type:

correspondence

Place made:

Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

Date:

September 17, 1928

Topic:

African American  Search this

Correspondence  Search this

Military  Search this

World War I  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gina R. McVey, Granddaughter

Object number:

2011.108.23

Restrictions & Rights:

No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Documents and Published Materials

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd51d89c44d-54a2-4050-9f98-6e6b93ec4728

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2011.108.23

Created by:

Muhammad University of Islam, American, founded 1934  Search this

Received by:

Bobby 6X Jones  Search this

Signed by:

Elijah Muhammad, American, 1897 - 1975  Search this

Medium:

ink on paper with vinyl , satin and ribbon

Dimensions:

H x W x D: 9 1/8 x 11 9/16 x 3/16 in. (23.2 x 29.4 x 0.5 cm)

Type:

diplomas

Date:

February 21, 1969

Topic:

African American  Search this

Education  Search this

Nation of Islam  Search this

Religion  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Donated by Halimah Mohammed Ali, granddaughter of the Hon. Elijah Mohammad and Clara Muhammad

Object number:

2011.76.13ab

Restrictions & Rights:

Public domain

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Documents and Published Materials

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5fbd11cfd-2c69-4082-a5b8-ef205d5d25d6

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2011.76.13ab

Creator:

Qualls, Charles E., 1932-1984  Search this

Names:

American Cancer Society  Search this

Anacostia Neighborhood Museum  Search this

Greater Southeast Community Hospital (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People  Search this

National Cancer Society  Search this

National Pharmaceutical Association  Search this

Barry, Marion, 1936-  Search this

Patterson, Frederick D. (Frederick Douglass), 1901-1988  Search this

Qualls, Charles E., 1932-1984  Search this

Extent:

3.02 Linear feet (7 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photograph albums

Certificates

Diplomas

Journals (periodicals)

Clippings

Correspondence

Broadsides (notices)

Photographic prints

Scrapbooks

Awards

Financial records

Place:

Anacostia (Washington, D.C.)

Date:

1899-1996

bulk 1960-1983

Summary:

The Charles E. Qualls papers, which date from 1899 to 1988 and measure 3.02 linear feet, document the career of pharmacist and community organizer Charles E. Qualls. The papers are comprised of correspondence, documents from community organizations, magazines, newspaper clippings, photographs, and scrapbooks.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection documents the professional life of Charles E. Qualls between 1960 and 1983. It contains materials related to Mr. Qualls's education, community involvement, and pharmacy business. Included in the collection are awards and citations, certificates, correspondence, financial records, photographic albums and prints, printed materials, and scrapbooks.

Arrangement note:

The papers are organized into six series. The content of each series is arranged alphabetically. There are oversize materials in the Biographical, Photographs and Miscellaneous series. The oversize materials in the Biographical and Miscellaneous series contain scrapbooks. The series are arranged as follows:

Series 1: Biographical

Series 2: Community Organizations

Series 3: Correspondence

Series 4: Photographs

Series 5: Printed Materials

Series 6: Miscellaneous

Biographical/Historical note:

On May 23, 1912 Charles Edward Qualls was born in New Bern, Tennessee to Fred and Ary Watts Qualls. Shortly after his birth the family of fourteen moved to South Bend, Indiana. He graduated from high school there in 1932 with a dream of becoming a business owner. After a few diversions along the way, in 1941 he graduated from Howard University's School of Pharmacy. Mr. Qualls's determination to fulfill his dream proved quite strong; a few months after his graduation he opened his own drug store, the Anacostia Pharmacy. From that point on, he became "Doc Qualls" to all who knew him. Two years later he married Aleneitha Johnson of Conway, South Carolina and they had one son, Neal Frederic Qualls.

The Anacostia Pharmacy, located on Nichols Avenue – later renamed Martin Luther King Avenue – became a gathering place for the community. Young people socialized at the soda fountain while older people planned for the future of Anacostia. It was from these gatherings that the vision for a community business organization developed; a vision that was realized in 1949 with the establishment of Anacostia Business and Professional Association (ABPA).

The ABPA provided assistance to local businesses by garnering grants and loans, lobbying politicians, and, at times, enforcing business regulations. To maintain its presence in Anacostia, the Association sponsored awards for organizations throughout the community: schools, police precincts, and cultural organizations. Additionally, the organization contributed time and money to various politicians, serving as an intermediary between Anacostia and the city at-large.

His influence in Anacostia and District of Columbia extended beyond the interests of local businesses. His concern for the health of Anacostia's residents led him to found the Washington Pharmaceutical Association in 1947. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Southeast Unit of the D.C. Chapter of the National Cancer Society, which opened to great fanfare in 1968. Undoubtedly his most important contribution in the area of health was his tireless lobbying for a hospital in Ward 8. Eventually the city gave its approval, and Mr. Qualls got right to work conducting several fundraisers. The Morris Cafritz Memorial Hospital (Greater Southeast Community Hospital) opened in the spring of 1966 and Mr. Qualls served on its board.

As if addressing Anacostia's economic and health concerns were not enough, Mr. Qualls found time to work on the cultural front. He was a founding member of the Anacostia Historical Society whose mission was to preserve and promote the history and culture of Anacostia. The Society operated under the auspices of the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, and together the two organizations created an exhibit, Anacostia Story: 1608–1930. The show opened in 1977. On the historical front, Mr. Qualls and the ABPA lobbied the federal government – the National Park Service, in particular – to take ownership of Frederick Douglass's home. He, along with many others in the community, believed that only the stewardship of the government could save the house from ruin. His efforts paid off and he had a front row seat at the dedication ceremony for the newly established National Park Service historic site, Cedar Hill.

This pillar of the community died in 1984 at the age of 72. The official cause of death was cancer. But his family and friends would argue that point; many felt that he died of a broken heart. In late November 1983, the venerable Anacostia Pharmacy was robbed at gunpoint and then ransacked; all of this while Doc Qualls was undergoing what would be successful cancer surgery at his alma mater, Howard University. When he returned to his beloved pharmacy a few weeks later, he was absolutely devastated, so much so that he all but stopped working with the community organizations to which he had been dedicated. With his store padlocked and boarded up, his family and friends watched helplessly as his health declined. He was eventually readmitted to the hospital in late March of 1984 where, except for a few days in May, he remained for the rest of his life.

Charles Edward Qualls died on June 21, 1984.

Related Archival Materials note:

Anacostia Historical Society records located in Anacostia Community Museum Archives.

Alice Bell Finlayson papers located in Anacostia Community Museum Archives.

Ella B. Howard Pearis papers located in Anacostia Community Museum Archives.

Dale/Patterson family collection located in Anacostia Community Museum Archives.

Provenance:

The Charles E. Qualls papers were donated to the Anacostia Community Museum in 1990 by the estate of Charles E. Qualls. Additional materials from his estate were donated by Dianne Dale in 2006.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for unrestricted research. Use requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Charles E. Qualls papers are the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with the Anacostia Community Museum. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.

Topic:

Community organization  Search this

African Americans  Search this

African American neighborhoods  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photograph albums

Certificates

Diplomas

Journals (periodicals)

Clippings

Correspondence

Broadsides (notices)

Photographic prints

Scrapbooks

Awards

Financial records

Citation:

Charles E. Qualls papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of the estate of Charles E. Qualls.

Identifier:

ACMA.06-013

See more items in:

Charles E. Qualls papers

Archival Repository:

Anacostia Community Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa715ef54a2-7a96-456c-88c1-6f1def280dd0

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-acma-06-013

Collection Creator:

Qualls, Charles E., 1932-1984  Search this

Extent:

0.58 Linear feet

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1941-1984

Scope and Contents note:

This series contains materials related to Mr. Qualls's commendations and education. Included are materials pertaining to his pharmaceutical activities with the Washington Pharmaceutical Association (WPA) and the National Pharmaceutical Association (NPA). The documents consist of awards and certificates, business records, diplomas, and obituaries.

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for unrestricted research. Use requires an appointment.

Collection Rights:

The Charles E. Qualls papers are the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with the Anacostia Community Museum. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.

Collection Citation:

Charles E. Qualls papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of the estate of Charles E. Qualls.

Identifier:

ACMA.06-013, Series 1

See more items in:

Charles E. Qualls papers

Archival Repository:

Anacostia Community Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa7af5933b8-f700-4d19-8a81-9d1353d957e9

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-acma-06-013-ref13

Creator:

Porter, Fairfield  Search this

Names:

Hirschl & Adler Galleries  Search this

Tibor de Nagy Gallery  Search this

Brainard, Joe, 1942-  Search this

Burkhardt, Rudy  Search this

Button, John, 1929-1982  Search this

Day, Lucien B., 1916-  Search this

Downes, Rackstraw  Search this

Elmslie, Kenward  Search this

Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973  Search this

Frielicher, Jane  Search this

Giardelli, Arthur  Search this

Guest, Barbara  Search this

Hartl, Léon, 1889-  Search this

Hess, Thomas B.  Search this

Katz, Alex, 1927-  Search this

Koch, Kenneth, 1925-  Search this

Laning, Edward, 1906-1981  Search this

Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997  Search this

Morse, Carl  Search this

Myers, John Bernard  Search this

O'Hara, Frank, 1926-1966  Search this

Padgett, Ron  Search this

Porter, Ruth W., 1875-1942  Search this

Rivers, Larry, 1925-  Search this

Schloss, Edith, 1919-  Search this

Schuyler, James  Search this

Shapiro, David, 1947-  Search this

Stankiewicz, Richard, 1922-  Search this

Vasilieff, Nicholas  Search this

Extent:

9.3 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Travel diaries

Sketches

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Date:

1888-2001

bulk 1924-1975

Summary:

The papers of New York-based painter, lithographer, art critic, and poet Fairfield Porter measure 9.3 linear feet and date from 1888 to 2001, with the bulk of material dating from 1924 to 1975. Papers document Porter's life and career through correspondence, writings, business records, printed materials, photographs, and artwork.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of New York-based painter, lithographer, art critic, and poet Fairfield Porter measure 9.3 linear feet and date from 1888 to 2001, with the bulk of material dating from 1924 to 1975. The collection includes a biographical chronology; certificates, awards, and diplomas; letters to Fairfield and Anne Porter; scattered outgoing correspondence; and reviews, essays, notes, poems, and translations written by Porter and others. Among the writings are poetry manuscripts written by several New York School Poets including Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, and Kenneth Koch. Also found are gallery records, inventories and appraisals, financial records, exhibition catalogs, clippings, posters, and records of Anne Porter's efforts to place his collection and document and publish his work after his death. Photographs of Porter, his homes, and his family are also present, as well as sketchbooks, loose sketches, and drawings spanning his entire career.

Significant correspondence is present from the Porters' many poet friends, including Kenneth Koch, James Schuyler, Ron Padgett, Kenward Elmslie, Barbara Guest, Carl Morse, David Shapiro, and others. Among the letters are poetry manuscripts by Koch, Morse, Schuyler, Padgett, and Shapiro. Some letters are actually written in verse, especially those from Kenneth Koch.

Artists with letters in the collection include Joe Brainard, Rudy Burkhardt, John Button, Lucien Day, Rackstraw Downes, Philip Evergood, Jane Frielicher, Arthur Giardelli, Leon Hartl, Alex Katz, Edward Laning, Roy Lichtenstein, Larry Rivers, Richard Stankiewicz, Nicolas Vasilieff, among others. Other art world figures represented include John Bernard Myers, curator at the Tibor de Nagy gallery (New York), and Tom Hess, editor of ArtNews. Artwork found within the correspondence includes an illustrated letter from Ron Padgett and an original print on a holiday card by Edith Schloss.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into the following nine series. See the series descriptions below for more information about the content of each series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1916-1975 (Box 1 and 11; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1918-1996 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings by Fairfield Porter, 1924-1975 (Box 2; 0.6)

Series 4: Writings by Others, 1888-1992 (Boxes 2-3; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1944-1996 (Boxes 3-4; 1 linear foot)

Series 6: Anne Porter's Posthumous Projects, 1980-1988 (Box 4; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Materials, 1934-2001 (Boxes 4-6 and 11; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1880-1990 (Boxes 6 and 11; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 9: Artwork, 1918-1975 (Boxes 7-10 and 12-17; 2.2 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Fairfield Porter was born near Chicago in 1907, the fourth of five children of James and Ruth Furness Porter. His father was an architect, his mother a poet from a literary family, and Porter grew up in an environment where art and literature were highly valued. His father designed the family homes in Winnetka, Illinois and on Great Spruce Head Island, an island in Maine that he purchased for the family in 1912. Fairfield Porter spent summers there from the age of six, and views of the island, its structures, and neighboring towns were the subjects of many paintings.

Porter attended Harvard from 1924 to 1928, studying fine art with Arthur Pope and philosophy with Alfred North Whitehead. After graduating from Harvard, Porter moved to New York City and took studio classes at the Art Students League from 1928 until 1930, studying with Boardman Robinson and Thomas Hart Benton, and immersing himself in the art and radical politics of Greenwich Village. In the 1940s, he studied at Parson's School of Design with art restorer Jacques Maroger, adopting the Maroger recipe for an oil medium in his own painting.

To further his education as an artist, Porter traveled to Europe in 1931, where he spent time with expatriate art theorist Bernard Berenson and his circle. When he returned to New York, he allied himself with progressive, socialist organizations, and like many of his contemporaries, worked at creating socially relevant art. He did artwork for the John Reed Club, a communist group; taught drawing classes for Rebel Arts, a socialist arts organization; wrote for their magazine, Arise!; and created a mural for the Queens branch of the Socialist Party. Living in the Chicago area for several years in the 1930s, he illustrated chapbooks for the socialist poet John Wheelwright's Poems for a Dime and Poems for Two Bits series. Porter's financial contributions to the radical Chicago publication Living Marxism kept it afloat for several years.

In 1932, Porter married Anne Channing, a poet from Boston, and they settled in New York. The Porters had five children, and their first son, born in 1934, suffered from a severe form of autism. In the next decade, they had two more sons, and spent three years in Porter's hometown of Winnetka, where he had his first solo exhibition of paintings. When they returned to New York in 1939, the Porters became friends with Edwin Denby, Rudy Burkhardt, and Elaine and Willem de Kooning. Porter became an earnest admirer of Willem de Kooning's artwork and was among the first to review and purchase it.

In 1949, the Porters moved to the small, seaside town of Southampton, New York. Their two daughters were born in 1950 and 1956. Like the family home on Great Spruce Head Island, Southampton became the setting of many of Porter's paintings. In fact, almost all of his mature paintings depict family homes, surrounding landscapes, family members, and friends. Porter was an individualistic painter who embraced figurative art in the late 1940s and 1950s, when abstract expressionism was the prevailing aesthetic trend. Porter once made a comment that his commitment to figurative painting was made just to spite art critic Clement Greenberg, a respected critic and ideologue who had championed abstract expressionism and denigrated realism as passé.

Porter established his reputation as a painter and as a writer in the 1950s. John Bernard Myers of the vanguard Tibor de Nagy gallery gave Porter his first New York exhibition in 1951 and represented him for the next twenty years. That same year Tom Hess, editor of ArtNews, hired Porter to write art features and reviews. Porter went on to contribute to ArtNews until 1967 and also became art editor for The Nation beginning in 1959, the same year his article on Willem de Kooning won the Longview Foundation Award in art criticism. As a critic, Porter visited countless galleries and studios, and he gained a reputation for writing about art with the understanding and vested interest of an artist, and with the same independence from fashionable ideas that he demonstrated in his artwork.

The 1950s and 1960s were prolific years for Porter's writing and art, and saw the development of his critical ideas and the maturation of his painting. Porter enjoyed an elder status among a circle of younger artists such as Jane Freilicher, Larry Rivers, and Alex Katz, and their many poet friends, now known as the New York School of Poetry: Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery, James Schuyler, Kenneth Koch, Barbara Guest, and others. Porter himself wrote poetry and was published in the 1950s, sometimes alongside poems by his wife, who had been publishing poetry since the 1930s (twice in the vanguard Chicago journal, Poetry). The Porters' correspondence is laced with poems they and their friends sent back and forth, often about and dedicated to each other.

Besides his annual exhibitions at Tibor de Nagy and later Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Porter exhibited regularly at the Whitney, and had one-man exhibitions at many museums including the Rhode Island School of Design (1959), The University of Alabama (1963), Cleveland Museum of Art (his first retrospective, 1966), Trinity College (1967), the Parrish Art Museum (1971), the Maryland Institute of Art (1973), and the 1968 Venice Biennale. He also had residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (1964) and Amherst College (1969). Porter died in 1975 at age 68. A full-scale retrospective of his artwork was held at the Boston Museum of Fine Art, Boston in 1983, and a study center and permanent home for his artwork was established at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton through a donation made by Anne Porter. A posthumous collection of his poems was published by Tibor de Nagy Editions in 1985, and a catalogue raisonnée, edited by Joan Ludman, was published in 2001.

This biography relies heavily on information found in Justin Spring's biography of Porter, Fairfield Porter: A Life in Art (Yale University Press, 2000).

Related Material:

The Archives of American Art holds an oral history of Fairfield Porter conducted by Paul Cummings in 1968.

Provenance:

The papers of Fairfield Porter were given to the Archives of American Art by the artist's wife, Anne Porter, in five separate accessions between 1977 and 1997.

Restrictions:

The bulk of this collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. Use of material not digitized 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:

Art critics -- New York (State) -- Southampton  Search this

Topic:

Works of art  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- Southampton  Search this

Painting, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Poets  Search this

Lithographers -- New York (State)  Search this

Genre/Form:

Travel diaries

Sketches

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Citation:

Fairfield Porter papers, 1888-2001 (bulk 1924-1975). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Identifier:

AAA.portfair

See more items in:

Fairfield Porter papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9c9535998-330e-4c23-9f84-9c4dff3569e5

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-portfair

Collection Creator:

Porter, Fairfield  Search this

Extent:

(see also Box 11, OV)

Container:

Box 1, Folder 2

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1929-1973

Collection Restrictions:

The bulk of this collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. Use of material not digitized 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:

Fairfield Porter papers, 1888-2001 (bulk 1924-1975). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

See more items in:

Fairfield Porter papers

Fairfield Porter papers / Series 1: Biographical Materials

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9334b50d2-ee82-4e9c-a815-87f993db4f0e

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-portfair-ref17

Published by:

MelPat Associates, American, 1965 - 1986  Search this

Created by:

C. Melvin Patrick, American, died 1985  Search this

Subject of:

Universal Network Television, American, founded 1950  Search this

Alex Haley, American, 1921 - 1992  Search this

Percy Ellis Sutton, American, 1920 - 2009  Search this

Columbia Records, American, founded 1888  Search this

Brown & Williamson, American, born 1894  Search this

Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1937  Search this

Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry  Search this

National Association of Market Developers, American, founded 1953  Search this

National Medical Association, American, founded 1895  Search this

Prince Hall Freemasonry, founded 1784  Search this

Chi Delta Mu Fraternity, Inc., American, founded 1913  Search this

National Newspaper Publishers Association, American, founded 1827  Search this

Roy Wilkins, American, 1901 - 1981  Search this

National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., American, founded 1935  Search this

National Association of Black Social Workers, American, founded 1968  Search this

National Pan-Hellenic Council, American, founded 1930  Search this

Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1932  Search this

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, American, founded 1914  Search this

National Medical Association, American, founded 1895  Search this

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, American, founded 1914  Search this

National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc., American, founded 1923  Search this

National Urban League, American, founded 1910  Search this

National Dental Association, American, founded 1913  Search this

National United Church Ushers Association of America, Inc., American, founded 1919  Search this

Eta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1943  Search this

National Medical Association, American, founded 1895  Search this

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, American, founded 1913  Search this

President Jimmy Carter, American, born 1924  Search this

Shriners International, American, founded 1870  Search this

Daughters of Isis, American, founded 1910  Search this

Opportunities Industrialization Center of America, Inc., American, founded 1964  Search this

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., American, founded 1906  Search this

National Urban League Guild, American, founded 1946  Search this

Tuskegee Airmen, 1941 - 1946  Search this

Congressional Black Caucus, American, founded 1971  Search this

Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the World, American, founded 1898  Search this

National Council of Negro Women, founded 1935  Search this

Muhammad Ali, American, 1942 - 2016  Search this

369th Veterans Association, American  Search this

Southern Christian Leadership Conference, American, founded 1957  Search this

Prince Hall Freemasonry, founded 1784  Search this

National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., American, founded 1935  Search this

Northside Center for Child Development, Inc., founded 1946  Search this

Medium:

ink on paper

Dimensions:

H x W x D: 10 13/16 × 8 7/16 × 5/16 in. (27.5 × 21.4 × 0.8 cm)

Type:

magazines (periodicals)

Place made:

Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America

Place depicted:

Martha's Vineyard, Oak Bluffs, Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America

Date:

1977

Topic:

African American  Search this

Advertising  Search this

Aeronautics  Search this

Associations and institutions  Search this

Black Press  Search this

Business  Search this

Communities  Search this

Fraternal organizations  Search this

Fraternities  Search this

Government  Search this

HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)  Search this

Journalism  Search this

Labor  Search this

Mass media  Search this

Men  Search this

Political organizations  Search this

Politics  Search this

Professional organizations  Search this

Religion  Search this

Social life and customs  Search this

Sororities  Search this

Sports  Search this

Tennis  Search this

U.S. History, 1969-2001  Search this

Urban life  Search this

Women  Search this

Women's organizations  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Anne B. Patrick and the family of Hilda E. Stokely

Object number:

2012.167.11

Restrictions & Rights:

Public domain

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Documents and Published Materials-Published Works

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5a191f832-64ab-4d62-81fe-a2bc53493bea

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2012.167.11

Created by:

Vivian Lucille McCullin, American  Search this

Subject of:

Second Lieutenant James L. McCullin, American, 1919 - 1943  Search this

Tuskegee Airmen, 1941 - 1946  Search this

99th Pursuit Squadron, American, 1941 - 1949  Search this

Medium:

cloth and ink

Dimensions:

H x W: 41 x 39 3/4 in. (104.1 x 101 cm)

Type:

quilts

Place depicted:

Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky, United States, North and Central America

Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Italy, Europe

Saint Louis County, Missouri, United States, North and Central America

Date:

after 1943

Topic:

African American  Search this

Aeronautics  Search this

Families  Search this

Military  Search this

Tuskegee Airmen  Search this

World War II  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the McCullin Family, in memory of Second Lieutenant James L. McCullin

Object number:

2013.52.2

Restrictions & Rights:

No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Memorabilia and Ephemera

Textiles-Quilts

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd554c6f9c6-110d-4a4a-868a-2ac61e624304

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2013.52.2

Creator:

Belknap, William W. (William Worth), 1829-1890  Search this

Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881  Search this

Greely, Adolphus Washington  Search this

Hayes, Rutherford Birchard, 1822-1893  Search this

Hazen, William Babcock, 1830-1887  Search this

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865  Search this

Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888  Search this

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891  Search this

Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852  Search this

Names:

Lincoln, Robert Todd  Search this

Extent:

4 Cubic feet (11 boxes)

Culture:

Inuit -- Greenland  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Cartes-de-visite

Correspondence

Diplomas

Legal documents

Military commissions

Place:

Greenland -- Exploration

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865

Date:

1855-1909

Summary:

Papers document General William Babcock Hazen's military career, primarily through correspondence, photographs, and publications.

Scope and Contents:

The General William Babcock Hazen Collection, 1856-1905, consists of approximately four cubic feet of material. Collection materials include biographical, correspondence (military and family), documents on the Greely Arctic Expedition, photographs, stereographs, and material on General Hazen's book, A Narrative of Military Service.

Arrangement:

This collection is divided into six series.

Series 1, Biographical Materials, 1885-1867

Series 2, Correspondence and Military Forms 1856-1886 and undated

Series 3, Correspondence to General William Babcock Hazen, 1861-1887

Series 4, Correspondence of Hazen Family, 1858-1909

Series 5, Photographs, 1864-1881

Series 6, Publications, 1865-1886

Biographical / Historical:

General William Babcock Hazen was born September 27, 1830 in West Hartford, Vermont. Four years later, the family moved to a farm outside Hiram, Portage County, Ohio where he attended school with James A. Garfield. Hazen's goal was service in the Army, and he wrote his congressman for admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Hazen graduated in 1855, twenty-eighth out of a class of thirty-four.

After graduation, General Hazen was assigned as Brevet Second Lieutenant, Company D, Fourth Infantry, Redding, California. After arriving in California, he was ordered to Fort Lane in the Oregon Territory. Lieutenant Hazen was authorized to establish a command at Grand Ronde and build a blockhouse that became the post Fort Yamhill, located west of Portland, Oregon. On April 20, 1857, he was transferred to Fort Jones, California, and then ordered to join the Eighth Infantry, Fort Davis, Texas. Hazen was transferred to Fort Inge, Texas, to protect a road from San Antonio to Eagle Pass. During a chase, Hazen was wounded by a bullet that was not removed. The lingering effect of the bullet wound would cause him frequent pain.

During the period of service in Texas, Hazen reportedly gained leadership experience, practical military knowledge, and considerable confidence in his own abilities. Following twelve months of convalescence, Hazen was nominated assistant instructor of military tactics at West Point on January 28, 1861. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on April 1861 and captain on May 14, 1861. Colonel James A. Garfield influenced the appointment of Hazen as colonel in command of the newly organized forty-first Ohio Volunteer Regiment. Hazen quickly transformed the regiment's inexperienced personnel into a firmly disciplined body. The intensive training paid large dividends later in the war, and he always held the regiment in high regard.

As brigade and division commander, General Hazen led troops in many important battles and campaigns: Shiloh (Place of Peace), Stones River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, Resaca, Picketts Mill, Jonesboro, Fort McAllister, and Bentonville. On December 13, 1864, Hazen was appointed a major general of volunteers in recognition of long and faithful service and the capture of Fort McAllister. It was after the performance of his troops at Fort McAllister that a friendly relationship developed with General William T. Sherman. With the capitulation of the Confederate armies in spring of 1865, Hazen's division and the Army of the Tennessee left North Carolina where they saw their last fighting. The destination was Washington, D.C., site of a two-day grand review of the victorious Union Armies. On May 19, 1865 Hazen was elevated to commander of the Fifteenth Corps. After a thirty day furlough, he held command of the District of Middle Tennessee until the following summer. In July 1866, Hazen returned west.

In August 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant granted Hazen indefinite leave to observe the Franco-Prussian War. He viewed several battles and personally interviewed Otto von Bismarck and General Helmut von Moltke. Observations and research convinced Hazen that the United States Army was mismanaged and lacked tactical and logistical organization.

Before returning to the Sixth Infantry command, Hazen married Mildred McLean, the twenty-one year-old daughter of prominent Cincinnati Enquirer owner Washington McLean. A son John was born in 1876, but died at the age of twenty-two in 1898.

In June 1877, Hazen was appointed military attaché to the United States Legation in Vienna, Austria, and assigned as military observer of the Russo-Turkish War that had started in April 1877.

In 1878 Colonel Stanley accused Colonel Hazen of perjury and cowardice in the Civil War and requested a court-martial. Colonel Hazen retaliated by formally requesting that Stanley be arraigned by a court-martial on charges of publishing and circulating libelous material against him. On March 19, 1879, General Sherman reluctantly recommended that both generals be arraigned by the same court-martial. The New York Tribune reported "inasmuch as by the decisions of the court-martial Hazen has secured a substantial vindication." Hazen returned to Fort Buford.

While on detached service in Washington, D.C., Hazen actively campaigned for James A. Garfield for president. On August 24, 1880, General Albert James Myer, Chief of the Army Signal Corps, died, opening up a staff position subject to presidential appointment. President Rutherford B. Hayes, after consulting with President-elect Garfield, announced the promotion of Hazen to the rank of brigadier general and appointment as chief signal officer. One of Hazen's lasting legacies in this new role was advancing the development of meteorological science in the Army Signal Corps.

In May 1880, Lady Franklin Bay in northern Canada was chosen as the site for a signal service polar station, one of several conducted by eleven nations for the first International Polar Year (1882-1883). The initial two-year expedition set out in 1881 under the command of Regular Army First Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greely, a Civil War veteran from Massachusetts. The twenty-five man party did not get relief from the long winter in 1882, and a second rescue attempt was disrupted by ice. In September 1883, Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln, decided it was too late to send another relief party and they were left to spend a third winter in the Arctic. The demoralized party was forced to march south in search of supplies and landed at Cape Sabine, spending the next eight months in desperate circumstances. In June 1884, rescuers finally reached them and found only Greely and seven others alive. The remaining expedition members froze or starved to death.

Hazen never forgave Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln for his inaction with the Greely Arctic Expedition, and in 1884 Lincoln censured Hazen for his criticism. Hazen replied to Lincoln by letter, which was returned with a warning to keep the matter private. Hazen went to the press and stated in a published account that he wrote such a letter. He immediately found himself ordered before another court-martial, resulting in a reprimand by President Chester A. Arthur for "unwarranted and captious criticism." Greely supported Hazen's position. In 1885, Hazen produced A Narrative of Military Service, a report devoted to the defense of his Civil War record and personal reputation.

Health problems-diabetes and recurring pain from his bullet wound-forced Hazen to obtain a 12-month leave of absence from his military service. On January 13, 1887, he attended a White House reception where he caught a cold. He died on January 16, 1887, at the age of fifty-six.

Provenance:

In 1985, the Smithsonian received from the Estate of Fredrick McLean Bugher, grandnephew of General Hazen's wife Mildred McLean Hazen, manuscripts and letters concerning General Hazen. Part of the collection was rescued by a private individual from a Lorton, Virginia land fill and sold to the Smithsonian in 1987 in two sections. The first section contained material about the career of General William Babcock Hazen as chief signal officer of the United States Army. The second section contained manuscript materials related to Hazen's duties on the frontier and Indian tribes covering the period of 1855 to 1860, and from 1866 to 1880. Also included are family letters and land holdings in the Midwest.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Rights situation uncertain, but most of the collection is probably in the public domain due to its age.

Topic:

Arctic regions -- Discovery and exploration -- 1880-1890  Search this

Eskimos -- Greenland  Search this

Genre/Form:

Cartes-de-visite

Correspondence -- 1850-1900

Diplomas

Legal documents

Military commissions

Citation:

William B. Hazen Papers, 1855-1909, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0427

See more items in:

William Babcock Hazen Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep867016537-49d3-4a96-8de1-9147aeba33c3

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0427

Artist:

Cornell, Joseph  Search this

Names:

Benton, Elizabeth Cornell  Search this

Cornell, Robert  Search this

Extent:

196.8 Linear feet

186 Nitrate negatives

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Nitrate negatives

Photographs

Place:

New York, New York

Date:

1750-1980, bulk 1930-1972

Summary:

The Joseph Cornell Study Center collection measures 196.8 linear feet and dates from 1750 to 1980, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930 to 1972. Documenting the artistic career and personal life of assemblage artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), the collection is primarily made up of two- and three-dimensional source material, the contents of the artists' studio, his record album collection, and his book collection and personal library. The collection also includes diaries and notes, financial and estate papers, exhibition materials, collected artifacts and ephemera, photographs, correspondence, and the papers of Robert Cornell (1910-1965) and Helen Storms Cornell (1882-1966), the artist's brother and mother.

Scope and Contents:

The Joseph Cornell Study Center collection measures 196.8 linear feet and dates from 1750 to 1980, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930 to 1972. Documenting the artistic career and personal life of assemblage artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), the collection is primarily made up of two- and three-dimensional source material, the contents of the artists' studio, his record album collection, and his book collection and personal library. The collection also includes diaries and notes, financial and estate papers, exhibition materials, collected artifacts and ephemera, photographs, correspondence, and the papers of Robert Cornell (1910-1965) and Helen Storms Cornell (1882-1966), the artist's brother and mother.

Correspondence is with collectors, museums, galleries, artists, friends, family, charity organizations, admirers and those admired by Cornell, and World War II European pen pals. Discussions about the appreciation, donation, sale, purchase, and exhibition of Cornell's works are frequent, with the inclusion of shipping and loan documentation or notices of payment installments. Galleries and museums frequently request that Cornell agree to an exhibition, which he often declines, and fans request free works be mailed or affordable works be sold to them. With friends, artists, and those he admired, Cornell discussed topics that fascinate him, included bits of poetry or philosophical musings, sent clippings or a collaged letter, and occasionally discussed a project or work in process. After World War II, when so many were displaced by the war in Europe, Cornell answered ads for pen pals in the "Christian Science Monitor," often responding to requests for clothing or other goods, and sometimes exchanging many letters over several years. Family correspondence is with his mother, sisters, brother, and others, and often notes activities of the day, foods eaten, and general musings, as well as occasionally mentioning a project or artwork. Correspondents of note include Stan Brakhage, Betty Freeman, Charles Henri Ford, Allegra Kent, Yayoi Kusama, Roberto Matta, Marianne Moore, Octavio Paz, Sonia Sekula, Pavel Tchelitchew, Parker Tyler, Dorothea Tanning, and Betsy von Furstenberg, among others.

Cornell was often preoccupied with his thoughts, feelings, memories, a project or thematic "exploration," and jotted notes on seemingly any surface available. Notes and musings are on napkins, the backs of envelopes, newspaper clippings, and paper bags from record and magazine stores. Frequently, an observation would trigger a lengthy nostalgic moment, or a "feé," fairy-like child or girl, would capture his imagination and lead him to thoughts of 18th-century ballerinas and silent film stars. Cornell wrote longer diary notes, sometimes expanding on an earlier notation or emotion, and often wrote when he experienced trouble sleeping or woke early. Drafted letters to imaginary muses or admired individuals are interspersed among diaries, often revealing Cornell's yearnings to find emotional intimacy and human connection. Over time, Cornell revisited his notes and occasionally made further notations about renewed thoughts on a topic, dating the note with "revisited" or "reviewed." Notes are often written in a stream-of-consciousness style, for example, jumping from the mention of a record album or composer, to a ballerina of the same period, a note about a French poet, the memory of childhood, or an observation made earlier in the day, all in the space of a few lines. Notes about artistic processes or meanings behind works or images do occasionally emerge from the tangled, poetic notations. Notes also often provide insights into Cornell's internal emotional state and give clues about his intentions behind an artwork or a particular thematic fixation.

Financial materials document Cornell's professional and personal business activities, including the sale of artworks, annual expenses for supplies and household incidentals, payments and schedules for personal assistants, receipts for donations to charities and nonprofits, and tax documents. There is also information about who worked as assistants, or "helpers," in his later years and where Cornell purchased art supplies. Additionally, specific details are documented through receipts and invoices, such as what kind of paint he purchased. Estate records include preparations made for Cornell's artworks after his death, and clippings about other deceased artist's estates show that he thought often about such arrangements in his later years.

Exhibition files highlight several select solo exhibitions for Cornell, as well as preparations and planning for the "Robert Cornell: Memorial Exhibition" in honor of his brother in 1966. Also included are several early exhibition catalogs and announcements, including "Surréalisme" (January 9-29, 1932) and "Exhibition of Objects (Bibloquet) by Joseph Cornell" (December 6-31, 1939) at the Julien Levy Gallery, and "Romantic Museum: Portraits of Women, Constructions and Arrangements by Joseph Cornell" (December 1946) at the Hugo Gallery.

Film projects and collected film materials consist of files related to Cornell's various experimental film projects: "Aviary," "Cappuccino," "Centuries of June," "Fable for Fountains," "Nymphlight," "Serafina's Garden," and unrealized film scenario "Monsieur Phot." Files include film-making notes, correspondence, and photographs. Cornell's interest in film also led him to collect film-related materials, such as film stills, film posters, and screening programs. Scattered correspondence documents the interest other institutions and individuals had in purchasing and viewing his collection. Though most of his collected film stills and movie posters were donated to the Anthology Film Archives, film stills from "Escape Me Never" (1935) and "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928) are still within the collection, as well as film-screening programs for Cornell's collection of films.

Writing and design projects document Cornell's work authoring articles and designing issues of specialty dance magazine "Dance Index," and his layouts for popular magazines like "Good Housekeeping," "House and Garden," and "Mademoiselle." Other writing projects include brochures dedicated to opera singers Maria Malibran and Giulia Grisi, "Maria" and "Bel Canto Pet." Materials used for these brochures, such as copper photo engraving plates, are also found. Design work includes a series of Christmas cards created with The Museum of Modern Art as well as traced patterns ("textile tracings") and design clippings from Cornell's time working as a "textile designer" for Traphagen Commercial Textile Studio.

Cornell acquired troves of source material from bookstalls, antique stores, sporting good and department stores, hardware stores, and magazine and record shops. He kept boxes and files of material on admired individuals, such as actresses, artists, dancers, and singers, as well as on art projects or thematic "explorations." Files are on general topics such as American history, scientific phenomena, animals, plants, and humankind, as well as on series of artworks, such as "Castles," "Homage to the Romantic Ballet," and "Medici Slot Machines." Focused "exploration" projects include "Celestial Theatre," "Colombier," "GC 44," and "Switzerland," among others. Materials include photographs, photostats, maps, book fragments, autographed letters, notes, collage clippings and cutouts, collected prints and engravings, box and collage fragments, and scattered artifacts.

Collected ephemera includes large amounts of blank postcards and greeting cards, stamps, collected bus and train tickets, food labels and packaging, decals, and other materials. Artifacts are three-dimensional collected objects and source objects, which include found objects from the streets, dried flowers, and pieces of nature gathered from walks around his neighborhood. Cornell may have gathered materials because they inspired a memory or nostalgic feeling, or because they fit with a bin of other similar objects to select from for an artwork in progress.

Photographs found within the collection are of Cornell at work and as a child with family. Also found are assorted personal and family photographs, photographs of Cornell's attic and garage storage, and photographs of his Utopia Parkway house. Photographs of artwork include few installation photographs, in addition to photographs of Cornell's boxes and collages. Collected photographic materials include vintage photographs, such as tintypes, a cyanotype, stereoscopic glass slides, albumen prints, cabinet cards, and cartes-de-visite. Cornell also collected cased photographs, such as daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and one opalotype. Negatives and photostats were often produced from various prints and even other photographs and used in Cornell's boxes and collages. Images are of men and women, actors, authors, dancers, performers, well-known men and women, royalty, places, and artwork. Photographs of note include those by Hans Namuth of Willem and Lisa de Kooning and of Edward Hopper's bedroom; photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson; a photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron; photographs by Brassai; and a photogravure by Alfred Stieglitz from "Camerawork."

Also found in the collection are works of art by others, including a sketch by Pavel Tchelitchew, as well as artwork by Cornell, such as unfinished collages, Rorschach drawings or ink blots, and childhood artwork. Printed material includes assorted bulletins, flyers, exhibition materials for other artists, journals, and sent printed membership and charity materials. Magazines, including "View," are also included, and often have annotations by Cornell or a note to "cut" or "review" with page numbers. A large amount of magazine and newspaper clippings are in the collection, sometimes collected with a group of like material by Cornell, and at other times simply gathered in heaps. Occasional annotations are also found on the clippings.

Cornell's personal library and book collection includes over 2500 titles, ranging from fiction, poetry, and cinema, to history, science, and travel. Notable among the titles are "Baedeker's" travel guides that Cornell often sourced for his "Hotel" box series, as well as an influential publication by Max Ernst, "La Femme 100 têtes," which includes a typed letter and exhibition flyer tucked within. Books often have annotations, some fairly extensive, by Cornell, and assorted collected items, notes, and correspondence tucked between pages. Pages were often cut by Cornell, either to make photostats and use in a box, or to file with other thematic "explorations." A wide range of authors and topics provide insight into Cornell's interests and to ideas behind artwork and diary notes. Cornell's collection of record albums includes over 145 records. These contain inserted notes and clippings and are often referenced in diary notes Cornell made, noting a recent album or song listened to while at work in his studio.

The papers of Cornell's mother, Helen Storms Cornell, and his brother, Robert Cornell, are also included in the collection. Both lived with Cornell his whole life, spending the most time with him at their home at 3708 Utopia Parkway. Financial materials document shared responsibilities for billing, utilities, household fixes and chores, and expenditures, and Helen kept detailed financial records in a series of ledgers. Robert notes when he borrowed money from Cornell, or when he means to pay Cornell back for the purchase of a typewriter. Activities documented in diaries also occasionally cross paths with Cornell, noting his visitors or an exchange of letters continued after introductions through Cornell. Personal activities, such as Robert's interest in his train collection and his drawing projects and cartoon series, are also documented.

Arrangement:

The Joseph Cornell Study Center Collection is arranged into 15 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1917-1972 (Boxes 1, 98, OV118; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1813, 1934-circa 1973 (Boxes 1-8, 86; 6.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Diaries and Notes, 1940-1976 (Boxes 8-10, 98-99, 135, OV108, OV119; 3.5 linear feet)

Series 4: Personal Business and Estate Records, 1950-1978 (Boxes 10-14; 4.1 linear feet)

Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1932-1973 (Box 14; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Film Projects and Collected Film Materials, circa 1924-1972 (Boxes 14-16, 100, 133; 1.6 linear feet)

Series 7: Writing and Design Projects, circa 1910s, 1936-1962 (Boxes 16-18, 86, 100, 131-132, OV109-OV111, OV120-OV122; 3.6 linear feet)

Series 8: Source Material, 1750-circa 1911, 1926-1972 (Boxes 19-49, 86-92, 96, 100-105, 126-130, 132-137, OV112-OV115, OV125; 42.2 linear feet)

Series 9: Artifacts and Ephemera, 1768, circa 1839-1972 (Boxes 49-52; 3.2 linear feet)

Series 10: Photographic Material, circa 1800s-1972 (Boxes 52-56, 80-86, 93, 106, 128, 133, OV116, OV123-OV124; 7.5 linear feet)

Series 11: Artwork, circa 1810-1972 (Boxes 56-57, 107, OV117; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 12: Printed Material, 1855-1972 (Boxes 57-76, 94-96, 107; 16 linear feet)

Series 13: Book Collection and Personal Library, 1722-1980 (99.8 linear feet)

Series 14: Record Album Collection, circa 1925-1974 (3.2 linear feet)

Series 15: Cornell Family Papers, 1910-1980 (Boxes 77-79, 97, 107; 3.2 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) was a self-taught assemblage and collage artist, and filmmaker, active in New York City. He was born in Nyack, New York on December 24, 1903, and died of heart failure at his home in Queens, New York on December 29, 1972. The oldest of four children, he was born Joseph I. Cornell to his mother, Helen Storms Cornell (1882-1966), and his father, Joseph I. Cornell (1875-1917). Cornell had two younger sisters, Elizabeth ("Betty") Cornell Benton (1905-2000) and Helen ("Sissy") Cornell Jagger (1906-2001), as well as one brother, Robert Cornell (1910-1965), who had cerebral palsy.

Cornell attended the Phillips Academy, a preparatory boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts, beginning shortly after his father's death in 1917. He attended for four years but did not receive a diploma, and soon began work as a textile salesman for the William Whitman Company in Manhattan. His work took him, by foot, through the city, visiting secondhand bookshops on Fourth Avenue, browsing music stores and magazine shops, and catching early shows at the Metropolitan Opera House. He would occasionally wait outside the stage doors for favorite singers and dancers to emerge, requesting signatures on photographs or bits of costumes.

Around 1926, Cornell joined the Christian Science Church, joined by his brother Robert shortly thereafter, and both continued to be lifelong members. Cornell kept a number of books in his personal library on Christian Science teachings and regularly subscribed to "The Christian Science Monitor."

After living in several rental houses in Bayside, New York, Cornell's mother purchased a house for the family in 1929 in Flushing, Queens. Cornell, along with his mother and brother, would live at 3708 Utopia Parkway, for the rest of their lives. His two sisters soon married and moved away, eventually settling in Westhampton, Long Island and in the poultry-farming business.

With no formal art training to speak of, Cornell's first work was a Max Ernst-inspired collage, "Untitled (Schooner)," created in 1931. He was especially inspired by Ernst's collage novel, "La Femme 100 têtes," published in 1929. French artist Odilon Redon was also among the few artists Cornell named as an influence on his art. His first sculptural works were small, cardboard pill boxes with bits of ephemera, costume adornments, and nature hidden inside. Cornell also created a series of glass bell jar works, placing small trinkets and Victorian-era-like compositions within. It was these early collages and bell jar works that were included in Cornell's debut exhibition, "Surréalisme" (January 9-29, 1932), a group show at the Julien Levy Gallery. Cornell designed the announcement for the show and exhibited alongside Max Ernst, Man Ray, Pierre Roy, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Eugène Atget, George Platt Lynes, Jean Cocteau, and Salvador Dalí. Months later, Cornell was invited to have his first solo show, "Objects by Joseph Cornell: Minutiae, Glass Bells, Shadow Boxes, Coups d'Oeil, Jouets Surréalistes" (November 26-December 30, 1932), also at the Julien Levy Gallery.

In 1932, after eleven years of work, Cornell was laid off from the William Whitman Company due to the Great Depression. Soon after, he took on more responsibility in the church, working part-time as an attendant in the Christian Science Reading Room in Great Neck, New York. Beginning in 1933, he taught Sunday school classes for three years and in 1935, became the Sunday school librarian. However, his religious activities and artistic ventures continued to remain separate.

In the early 1930s, Cornell progressed from movie lover to filmmaker. When Julien Levy began his New York Film Society in 1933, holding screenings of various experimental films in the gallery, Cornell began buying and collecting films and film stills in earnest. He set up a 16-millimeter projector in his home to screen favorites, such as those by Georges Méliès, D.W. Griffith, and Louis Feuillade. His collection quickly grew to over 2,500 film stills and several hundred films, and included silent era films, such as nature documentaries, goofy newsreels, travelogues, early cartoons, and slapstick comedies, as well as several feature films. In 1933, Cornell wrote a screenplay, or "scenario," entitled "Monsieur Phot." Between 1935 and 1937, Cornell also occasionally created publicity photomontages for Universal and Columbia studios. Of the nearly thirty films Cornell created, periods of activity can generally be separated into two areas: collage films of the late 1930s, consisting of combined elements from films in his own collection, and films he directed in the 1950s, which were collaborations with other filmmakers set in New York City. "Rose Hobart," Cornell's most celebrated collage film, was created and shown in the Julien Levy Gallery in 1936 and includes clipped footage from "East of Borneo." Later films were directed and filmed with cinematographers Stan Brakhage, Rudy Burckhardt, and Larry Jordan.

In 1934, Cornell began a job at the Traphagen Commercial Textile Studio as a "textile designer," a job he held for six years. Continuing to work at his kitchen table in the evenings, Cornell completed his first assemblage box construction, "Untitled (Soap Bubble Set)," in 1936. It was first exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art's show, "Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism" (December 9, 1936-January 17, 1937). This work was also the first to be acquired by a museum, purchased for $60.00 by the Wadsworth Atheneum in Massachusetts in 1938. Cornell's European debut was also in 1938, as one of three Americans represented in the "Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme" (January 17-Febuary 24, 1938) at the Galerie Beaux-Arts in Paris, alongside Man Ray and Anne Clark.

At the end of 1939, Cornell began corresponding with poet Charles Henri Ford, founder of avant-garde magazine "View," Pavel Tchelitchew, and Parker Tyler. After his "Soap Bubble Sets," this period saw the development of Cornell's homages to singers and actresses, including "Untitled (Fortune-Telling Parrot for Carmen Miranda)," the destroyed "Garbo (Greta Garbo in the Legendary Film 'The Crystal Mask,' c. 1845)," and "Dressing Room for Gilles." He also began using photostats of art reproduction prints, as with the print of Jean Antoine-Watteau's painting, "Pierrot" (circa 1719), used in his "Gilles" box.

In the 1940s, the Romantic ballet emerged as Cornell's new topic of interest. Through his friend Pavel Tchelitchew, Cornell was introduced to the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet founders, Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine. Cornell collected dance memorabilia and had a great love of the Romantic ballet. His favorite dancers were primarily ballerinas of the nineteenth century, including Fanny Cerrito, Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, Lucille Grahn, and Carlotta Grisi. Cornell's "Homage to the Romantic Ballet" works largely took the shape of jewel-box style wooden boxes with glass overlays and included bits of velvet, tulle, sequins, crystals, and chiffon, occasionally collected from dancers themselves. His most well-known work of this series is "Taglioni's Jewel Casket" (1940). Cornell also admired several living ballet dancers, including Tamara Toumanova, Zizi Jeanmaire, and Allegra Kent, who would all make their way into Cornell's box works and/or collages. Collecting for the "exploration," "Portrait of Ondine," Cornell's cased portfolio dedication to Fanny Cerrito and her role in the ballet "Ondine," began in the 1940s, though not completed until around 1960.

In late 1940, Cornell quit his job at Traphagen to concentrate on freelance commercial magazine design and editorial work during the day and his artwork at night. That same year, Charles Henri Ford started "View" magazine to promote Surrealists and Neo-Romantics in New York City and often asked Cornell to contribute. Published in the December 1941-January 1942 issue, one of his early contributions was a collage dedication to stage actress Hedy Lamarr: "Enchanted Wanderer: Excerpt from a Journey Album for Hedy Lamarr" (1941). Along with writing the accompanying text, he created a photomontage of Lamarr with her face overlaying the painted portrait of a Renaissance boy by Italian painter Giorgione. Peggy Guggenheim, at the advice of Marcel Duchamp, purchased multiple Cornell works prior to opening her new gallery, Art of This Century. Cornell also befriended Roberto Matta Echaurren, another Surrealist living in exile, who introduced him to Robert Motherwell.

After deciding to fully dedicate his time to his art in early 1940, he set up a studio in his basement. Complete with floor-to-ceiling wooden shelving, he kept his large collection of boxed source material stacked with handwritten labels in cardboard boxes. Themed folders of materials such as "Stamps" or "Maps" were kept in stacks and works in progress and finished works were stored in the basement, garage, and attic. Entering a renewed period of productivity, Cornell embarked on many new and important box projects in 1942. One of the first boxes created in his new basement studio, and the first of the "Penny Arcade" or "Medici Slot Machine" series, was "Medici Slot Machine" (1942), which includes a photostat of "Portrait of Marquess Massimiliano Stampa" (1557) by Sofonisba Anguissola. Another work from this time is the first of his "Castle" or "Palace" series, "Setting for a Fairy Tale" (1942), which uses a photostat of a French building from Jacques Androuet du Cerceau's book, "Les Plus excellents bastiments de France" (1576). "Untitled (Pharmacy)" (circa 1942) was the first of his "Pharmacy" series and included twenty-two apothecary jars. Cornell tended to work in series and created thirteen "Palace" boxes between 1942 and 1951, and ultimately created six "Pharmacy" works.

In 1943, Cornell began working at an electronics company, the Allied Control Company, Inc., to do his part to contribute to the defense effort during the war. He also sent correspondence and care packages to displaced Europeans, who listed their needs in "The Christian Science Monitor." Influenced by World War II, one of his strongest works to emerge in 1943 was "Habitat Group for a Shooting Gallery." Another notable work to come out of this period, "The Crystal Cage (Portrait of Berenice)," was an excerpt from one of his album "explorations" that was published in the January 1943 issue of "View."

Cornell left his job at Allied Control in 1944, but soon began working at the Garden Centre in Flushing, owned by a fellow Christian Scientist. Cornell was often nostalgic for this time in his life, devoting an entire "exploration" of material fondly remembered as "GC 44." He rode a bicycle to work and enjoyed collecting trips gathering dried grasses, driftwood, shells, and other relics of nature on the same bicycle as he rode through the streets of Queens. During this time, he continued to tend to his projects for "Dance Index," a magazine founded in 1942 by Lincoln Kirstein, but taken over by Donald Windham in 1944. Cornell designed several covers for the magazine and was given control of the entire summer 1944 issue, which he devoted to the Romantic ballet. He also devoted a special 1945 issue to Hans Christian Andersen, making great use of the New York Public Library Picture Collection.

Throughout the 1940s, Cornell continued to support himself with commercial design work for magazines like "Vogue," "Good Housekeeping," "Harper's Bazaar," "Town & Country," and "Mademoiselle." In 1946, after thirteen years at the Julien Levy Gallery, he joined the Hugo Gallery. In December 1946, Cornell's solo exhibition, "Romantic Museum at the Hugo Gallery: Portraits of Women by Joseph Cornell," celebrated his favorite movie stars, singers, and ballet dancers, and included his work created for the show, "Untitled (Penny Arcade Portrait of Lauren Bacall)." Cornell's "Greta Garbo" box, as well as "Souvenir for Singleton," an homage to Jennifer Jones and her role in the film "Love Letters," were also included in the show. In late 1948, his West Coast debut was in the exhibition, "Objects by Joseph Cornell," held at the Copley Gallery. The end of the 1940s saw the final issue of "View" magazine in 1947, the closure of the Julien Levy Gallery in April 1949, and Cornell's departure from the Hugo Gallery after his last show in November 1949.

In late 1949, Cornell joined the Charles Egan Gallery, known primarily for showing Abstract Expressionists. At this time, Cornell was working on a new series of boxes known as his "Aviary" works, most of which include a white-painted box with cutouts of birds mounted on wood. Though he had worked on bird-related boxes before, including an "Owl" series in the mid-1940s, his "Fortune Telling Parrot" (1939), and "Object 1941" (1941), these newer works were stripped of French elements and left "clean and abstract" by design. His first show at the Egan Gallery, "Aviary by Joseph Cornell" (December 7, 1949-January 7, 1950), included twenty-six "Aviary" works, nearly all created in 1949. Donald Windham agreed to write the foreword for the exhibition catalog, a single folded sheet, and Cornell gave him one of the boxes in the show, "Cockatoo: Keepsake Parakeet," in appreciation. Through the Egan Gallery, Cornell became friends with a new group of artists, including Franz Kline, Jack Tworkov, and Willem de Kooning. Cornell also held two screenings of a selection of his collected films at Subjects of the Artist, an art school founded by Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, David Hare, and William Baziotes.

In 1950, Cornell's second show at the Egan Gallery, "Night Songs and Other New Work" (December 1, 1950-January 13, 1951), introduced his new "Observatory" series. These works are largely defined by stark, whitewashed spaces with astronomical charts and constellations replacing colorful birds. The Museum of Modern Art purchased its first Cornell work from this show in early 1951, "Central Park Carrousel, in Memoriam" (1950).

For three months in 1951, Cornell was beset by various ailments and had trouble finding the energy to create new work. He worried more for his aging mother and the health of his brother. After a monthlong vacation with his sisters in Westhampton, he returned with renewed interest in Emily Dickinson's poetry. His whitewashed boxes took on a new form in his newest "Dovecote" series, using grids and circular cutouts. The works then transformed into homages to Dickinson, notably "Toward the Blue Peninsula: For Emily Dickinson" (circa 1953), and then to his "Hotel" series. Cornell's "Hotel" boxes include photostats of vintage European ads for hotels collected from vintage travel guides, especially "Baedeker's," adhered to the back walls of the boxes. Another new series of work, his "Juan Gris" series, was dedicated to Cubist artist Juan Gris. Between 1953 and the mid-1960s, Cornell created at least fifteen "Juan Gris" boxes, which often include a cutout of a white cockatoo in a Cubist-collage habitat. Cornell's third and last show at Egan Gallery, "Night Voyage" (February 10-March 28, 1953), included some of these newest works. After leaving Egan Gallery, his work was introduced to Chicago collectors in a solo show at the Frumkin Gallery, "Joseph Cornell: 10 Years of His Art" (April 10-May 7, 1953), which included nearly thirty pieces. Cornell's first museum retrospective was this same show held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (July 12-August 30, 1953).

As New York City continued to change, Cornell grew more nostalgic for the city he had explored since the 1920s. The impending closure of the Third Avenue El train prompted him to dream up a film project to capture its last days, resulting in "Gnir Rednow," a reworking of Stan Brakhage's 1955, "Wonder Ring." During this time, Cornell joined the Stable Gallery, run by Eleanor Ward, interacting often with Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, and Joan Mitchell, remaining there until the end of the 1950s. His astronomy-themed exhibition, "Winter Night Skies" (December 12, 1955-January 13, 1956), included his "Night Skies" series of work with celestial chart fragments, Greek mythological figures, and paint-splattered "windows" representative of star-filled night skies. In 1956, he became aware of ballerina Allegra Kent, and began a series of work devoted to her, the first of which was "Via Parmigianino (Villa Allegra)" (1956), which included a photostat of a painting by Parmigianino, "The Madonna of the Long Neck" (circa 1540). In late 1957, after two years, Cornell had his last show at Stable Gallery, "Joseph Cornell: Selected Works" (December 2-31, 1957), consisting of a series of "Sand Fountain" boxes and "Space Object" or "Celestial Navigation" works. The "Sand Fountain" boxes included different colors of sand meant to flow within, often from the tops into cordial glasses. His "Celestial Navigations" included galaxy-like compositions set within the boxes, with rolling, painted cork balls, metal rings, and constellation charts, sometimes hovering over cordial glasses or clay pipes. This last Stable Gallery show earned him his first published profile, written by Howard Griffin for the December 1957 issue of "Art News." Also in 1957, he won the Kohnstamm Prize for Construction at the Art Institute of Chicago's 62rd Annual Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture.

Towards the end of the 1950s, Cornell spent less time creating new bodies of work, and focused more on revisiting previous series and reviewing piles of collected source material. In 1959, Cornell returned to making collages, frequently sourcing popular magazines. In December 1959, Cornell was awarded $1,500 for his "Orion" collage, entered in the Art Institute of Chicago's "63rd American Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture." Also in December, he was offered a show at Bennington College in Vermont, which he titled, "Bonitas Solstitialis: Selected Works by Joseph Cornell and an exploration of the Colombier" (November 20-December 15, 1959). The show included one of his newest "explorations" of collected material related to "colombier," or pigeon houses.

By 1962, Cornell was working diligently on new collages, using Masonite boards and colorful magazine clippings. He also began creating collages using nude images interspersed with constellation clippings or hazy blue dyes. As in previous decades and art movements, Cornell became acquainted with new artists, spending less time in the city and more time hosting visitors at his Utopia Parkway home. Visitors included artists Walter De Maria, Robert Whitman, Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, and Robert Indiana. Tony Curtis also became a frequent visitor and friend, introduced by Richard Feigen in 1964. The early 1960s was also the first time Cornell put out an advertisement for assistants in the "Long Island Star-Journal," employing a number of young men and women who helped organize clippings and run errands. Cornell also met Joyce Hunter, a young runaway waitress at a city coffee shop, who would occupy his thoughts and diary notes for the next several years. When she was murdered at the end of 1964, Cornell paid for her funeral. He went on to make several "Penny Arcade" collages in memoriam to her, including, "Penny Arcade (re-autumnal)" (1964).

In 1964, Cornell began friendships with several women including artist Carolee Schneeman, who was his first assistant in the early 1960s. He also met artist Yayoi Kusama through art dealer Gertrude Stein. After becoming friends, she visited him often and they exchanged letters and notes. As he did with other artist friends, Cornell supported her by purchasing several of her early watercolor paintings, and they stayed connected until his death in 1972.

Cornell's life greatly changed in 1965 with the death of his brother, Robert. By this time, his mother lived with his sister in Long Island, and Cornell was alone in the Utopia Parkway house for the first time. He exchanged frequent letters and phone calls with his mother and devoted much time to thinking about Robert and Joyce, often aligning them in his diary notations. Cornell also created a series of collages dedicated to his brother's memory, incorporating photostats of Robert's hundreds of drawings into Cornell's work, as with the later collage, "The Heart on the Sleeve" (1972). Cornell's "Time Transfixed" series of collages were also dedications to Robert's memory, referencing Magritte and Robert's love of trains. He mounted an exhibition, "Robert Cornell: Memorial Exhibition" (January 4-29, 1966), at the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, where he showed Robert's artwork alongside his newly created collage dedications.

After Robert's death, Cornell relied more heavily on assistants, going through many part-time "helpers." In October 1966, Cornell's mother died, adding her to his constant thoughts and diaries. Though he was still grieving, he was given two major retrospectives in 1967. The first was at the Pasadena Art Museum, put on by James Demetrion and Walter Hopps, "An Exhibiton of Works by Joseph Cornell" (January 9-February 11, 1967). The second retrospective was at the Guggenheim Museum just three months later, "Joseph Cornell" (May 4-June 35, 1967), organized by Diane Waldman. After these shows, he was highlighted in the December 15, 1967 issue of "Life" in the article, "The Enigmatic Bachelor of Utopia Parkway."

In 1968, Cornell was given an "award of merit," which included a medal and $1,000, by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He was also given a medal and $1,000 by the Brandeis University Creative Arts Awards in the painting category, along with an exhibition. Days later, "The New York Times" announced Cornell the winner, along with Donald Judd, of India's first Triennale of Contemporary World Art. The Brandeis exhibition, "Boxes and Collages by Joseph Cornell" (May 20-June 23, 1968), was organized by William Seitz and concentrated on Cornell's more recent 1960s collages. Cornell was also included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's hundredth anniversary show, "New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940 to 1970" (October 18, 1969-February 1, 1970), where twenty-two of Cornell's boxes were shown in their own gallery. At the end of 1970, Cornell was given a solo show at the Metropolitan, "Collages by Joseph Cornell" (December 10, 1970-January 24, 1971), which included forty-five of his newest collages.

Now preferring to stay closer to his home in Flushing, Cornell was more interested in sharing his art with young adults and children, than an adult audience. He hosted a group of high school students, sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's education department, at his home in conjunction with his collage show (1970-1971). He also showed his work in the art department of Queens College of the City University of New York. Cornell still hosted visitors on occasion, having Yoko Ono and John Lennon at his home at least once. Leila Hadley, Betsy von Furstenberg, and Anne Jackson also made frequent visits. With his deteriorating health, Cornell worried about what would happen to his work after his death and hired lawyer Harry Torczyner to help him plan his estate and get his affairs in order.

In 1972, Cornell had a show at the Cooper Union, a college in New York, specifically for children. He displayed his boxes and collages at child-height and had cherry soda and brownies at the opening reception on February 10. He then held a show at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, also for children: "Children's Preview of the Exhibition of Joseph Cornell – Collages and Boxes (April 18-June 17, 1972). In the winter of 1972, at the request of the Phoenix House drug treatment and prevention program, Cornell contributed to a charity project compiling limited-edition lithographic prints for a portfolio, which included artists like David Hockney, James Rosenquist, and Ellsworth Kelly.

On December 29, 1972, a week after turning sixty-nine, Cornell died of heart failure at his home. He was cremated and interred near the graves of his mother, father, and brother, overlooking the Hudson River in Nyack, New York.

Works Cited:

1. Hartigan, Lynda Roscoe. "Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination." New Haven, Connecticut and London: Yale University Press, 2007. Exhibition Catalog.

2. McShine, Kynaston. "Joseph Cornell." New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1980.

3. San Francisco Cinematheque and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Joseph Cornell: Films." 2007. Exhibition Program. (Presented in conjunction with SFMOMA's exhibition of "Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination").

4. Schaffner, Ingrid and Lisa Jacobs. "Julien Levy: Portrait of an Art Gallery." Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: The MIT Press, 1998.

5. Solomon, Deborah. "Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell." New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997.

Separated Materials:

The Smithsonian Archives of American Art houses the Joseph Cornell papers, 1804-1986, bulk 1939-1972.

Provenance:

The Joseph Cornell Study Center collection was donated to the Smithsonian American Art Museum by Joseph Cornell's sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth Cornell Benton and John A. Benton, in 1978, which prompted the creation of the Joseph Cornell Study Center. Additional materials were donated in installments by the artist's estate, the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, from 1985 to 1997. Elizabeth and John A. Benton originally donated 66 linear feet of three-dimensional and non-textual source material and 50 linear feet of books to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, which were subsequently transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Joseph Cornell Study Center in 1994 and 1995.

Restrictions:

Access to the collection requires an advanced appointment. Contact collection staff at least two weeks prior to preferred date, at AmericanArtCornellStudy@si.edu.

Series 9: Artifacts and Ephemera, Series 13: Personal Library and Book Collection, and Series 14: Record Album Collection, are still undergoing processing and preservation and may not be available for research use. Record albums are unavailable for playback. Contact collection staff for full lists of publications and record albums.

Rights:

Unpublished materials are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Occupation:

Collagists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Assemblage (Art)  Search this

Assemblage artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Found objects (Art)  Search this

Works of art  Search this

Celebrities  Search this

Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1950 -- Photoprints -- Silver gelatin

Photographs -- 1860-1870 -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver albumen -- Cartes-de-visite

Photographs -- Daguerreotypes -- 1840-1860

Citation:

Joseph Cornell Study Center collection, 1750-1980, bulk 1930-1972. Joseph Cornell Study Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was generously provided by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

Identifier:

SAAM.JCSC.1

See more items in:

Joseph Cornell Study Center Collection

Archival Repository:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Research and Scholars Center

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ih7d97fc249-474d-41bf-953d-5305df1e4c06

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-saam-jcsc-1

Creator:

Pincus-Witten, Robert, 1935-2018  Search this

Names:

Gagosian Gallery  Search this

Bochner, Mel, 1940-  Search this

Hecht, Leon  Search this

Hesse, Eva, 1936-1970  Search this

Twombly, Cy, 1928-  Search this

Extent:

12.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Diaries

Drawings

Interviews

Sound recordings

Date:

1942-2017

bulk 1962-2005

Summary:

The papers of art historian, critic, and curator Robert Pincus-Witten measure 12.4 linear feet and date from 1942-2017. The collection consists of biographical material; color and black and white photographs and negatives; writings by Pincus-Witten; teaching files and printed material; journals; sketches by Pincus-Witten; professional files related to curatorial work; correspondence; artist files maintained by Pincus-Witten; and audiovisual and born digital materials.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of art historian, critic, and curator Robert Pincus-Witten measure 12.0 linear feet and date from 1942-2017. The collection consists of biographical material; color and black and white photographs and negatives; writings by Pincus-Witten; teaching files and printed material; journals; sketches by Pincus-Witten; professional files related to curatorial work; correspondence; artist files maintained by Pincus-Witten; and audiovisual and born digital materials.

The collection includes biographical material such as passports, address books, calendars, report cards, diplomas, and other academic ephemera; journals that document Pincus-Witten's daily personal and professional activities; drafts of articles, essays and other writings by Pincus-Witten; correspondence with friends and colleagues; teaching files from City University of New York that include lecture notes, slide lists, and student correspondence; research files on artists from the circa 1970s-1996; professional files that document Pincus-Witten's work at Gagosian Gallery and other curatorial activities; and photographs and negatives of family, friends, events and works of art. Also included are audio visual material consisting of two reel-to-reel tape recordings and seventeen sound cassettes documenting panels that featured Pincus-Witten, artist interviews, and Pincus-Witten dictating essays; born digital material including a CD-R from Rose Cabot's "The Marks Project" and 5.25 floppy disk(s) that include Pincus-Witten's writings; pencil, ink, and watercolor sketches and sketchbooks; and printed material consisting of exhibition announcements and invitations, pamphlets, press releases, event programs, newsletters, flyers, and clippings.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 9 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1942-circa 2010s (1.00 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1952-2015 (1.60 linear feet, Box 1, 2, 4)

Series 3: Journals, 1958-2015 (3.30 linear feet, Box 3, 12-18)

Series 4: Writing, 1953-2016 (1.50 linear feet, Box 4-5)

Series 5: Artist Files, 1950-2016 (1.60 linear feet, Box 5-7)

Series 6: Professional Files, 1959-2009 (1.50 linear feet, Box 7-8)

Series 7: Teaching Files, circa 1970s-1996 (0.50 linear feet, Box 8-9)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1962-2017 (0.95 linear feet, Box 9-10)

Series 9: Artwork, 1959-1996 (0.25 linear feet, Box 10)

Series 10: Unidentified Born Digital Materials, 1980s-2000s (0.2 linear feet, Box 10)

Biographical / Historical:

Robert Pincus-Witten (1935-2018) was an art historian, educator, critic, and curator in New York, New York.

Born in the Bronx, Pincus-Witten attended PS4, the New York High School of Music and Art, and The Cooper Union. During this time Pincus-Witten met his husband, Leon Hecht, who lived on the same block and was in the same kindergarten class at PS4. He also formed a lifelong friendship with high school classmate and artist, Ray Johnson. Pincus-Witten received a Master of Fine Arts and PhD from the University of Chicago and lived abroad in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Pincus-Witten became interested in art at a very early age and received recognition in the Regional and National Scholastic Art Awards in 1950 and 1952.

While living abroad and finishing his doctorate, Pincus-Witten accepted a teaching position at Queens College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) network, where he taught art history courses until his retirement in 1991. Coining the term, "postminimalism," Pincus-Witten played a central role in explicating postmodern art as it emerged between 1960 and his death in 2018. He exhaustively documented his daily life on the front lines of the art world as a contributing editor for Artforum for nearly fifty years, including a stint as senior editor from 1973-1974. In addition to his long teaching career at the CUNY, Pincus-Witten worked for Larry Gagosian and Robert Mnuchin, curating exhibitions and writing catalog essays for their galleries. He was the author of several books, including Postminimalism (1977).

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Robert Pincus-Witten conducted by Francis M. Naumann, March 23-24, 2016.

Provenance:

The papers were donated in 2019 by Leon Hecht, Robert Pincus-Witten's husband.

Restrictions:

Robert Picus-Witten's journals are access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own in the following material: Robert Pincus-Witten's journals.

Occupation:

Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Educators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

LGBTQ+  Search this

Postmodernism  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries

Drawings

Interviews

Sound recordings

Citation:

Robert Pincus-Witten papers, 1942-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

AAA.pincrobe

See more items in:

Robert Pincus-Witten papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw901f20149-a4b4-48e1-99b6-38e9f74f4d40

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-pincrobe

Collection Creator:

Pincus-Witten, Robert, 1935-2018  Search this

Container:

Box 1, Folder 29

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1956

Collection Restrictions:

Robert Picus-Witten's journals are access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Collection Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own in the following material: Robert Pincus-Witten's journals.

Collection Citation:

Robert Pincus-Witten papers, 1942-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

See more items in:

Robert Pincus-Witten papers

Robert Pincus-Witten papers / Series 1: Biographical Material

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw916f61907-5e75-4ad3-8469-97d7ce4e215b

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-pincrobe-ref103

Collection Creator:

Pincus-Witten, Robert, 1935-2018  Search this

Container:

Box 1, Folder 31

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1960, 1968

Collection Restrictions:

Robert Picus-Witten's journals are access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Collection Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own in the following material: Robert Pincus-Witten's journals.

Collection Citation:

Robert Pincus-Witten papers, 1942-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

See more items in:

Robert Pincus-Witten papers

Robert Pincus-Witten papers / Series 1: Biographical Material

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9709ac1fe-3f91-4b86-ae90-29b9e385ac06

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-pincrobe-ref105

Collection Creator:

Pincus-Witten, Robert, 1935-2018  Search this

Extent:

1 Linear foot (Box 1)

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1942-circa 2010s

Scope and Contents:

Materials include report cards, class schedules, diplomas, and other ephemera that document Pincus-Witten's interest in art during his formative years, and his academic career from elementary school through his doctorate. Also included are color and black and white photographs of family, friends, and classmates; headshot proofs taken by Fred Thumhart in 1978; identification documentation including international student IDs and vaccination cards from the late 1950s, United States passports, New York State driver's licenses, and press passes; a 2003 portrait of Pincus-Witten by Martin Summers; notes and letters regarding High School of Music and Art graduation in 1953; a 1991 Queens College retirement certificate; 1950 and 1952 Regional and National Scholastic Art Awards and photographs of works submitted by Pincus-Witten; sketches and portraits drawn by Robert-Pincus Witten in circa 1952; address books filled with business cards, hand written contact information, notes, telephone messages, postcards, letters, photographs, and handwritten addresses on scraps of paper; and a 1942 World War II Ration Book Two.

Collection Restrictions:

Robert Picus-Witten's journals are access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Collection Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own in the following material: Robert Pincus-Witten's journals.

Collection Citation:

Robert Pincus-Witten papers, 1942-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

AAA.pincrobe, Series 1

See more items in:

Robert Pincus-Witten papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw989a7e8a2-ad12-4f8e-abe0-391c568fc8b8

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-pincrobe-ref15