Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Caroline Durieux, 1978 June 1-2. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of Austrian born curator, lecturer, and museum director, René d'Harnoncourt (1901-1968), document d'Harnoncourt's activities, primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly as they relate to Mexican and Native American art. D'Harnoncourt's career, including his arrival in Mexico in 1925, his curation of the exhibitions, Mexican Art (1930-1932), and Indian Art of the United States (1941), and his work for the Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1937-1944, are documented in small amounts of biographical material and correspondence, published writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs of d'Harnoncourt and colleagues, and photographs of works of art. The collection also contains a drawing of d'Harnoncourt, and photocopies of caricatures of d'Harnoncourt and others.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Austrian-American curator, lecturer, and museum director, René d'Harnoncourt (1901-1968), document d'Harnoncourt's activities, primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly as they relate to Mexican and Native American art. D'Harnoncourt's career, including his arrival in Mexico in 1925, his curation of the exhibitions, Mexican Art (1930-1932), and Indian Art of the United States (1941), and his work for the Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1937-1944, are documented in small amounts of biographical material and correspondence, published writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs of d'Harnoncourt and colleagues, and photographs of works of art. The collection also contains a drawing of d'Harnoncourt, and photocopies of caricatures of d'Harnoncourt and others.
Biographical material consists of d'Harnoncourt's official Austrian departure documents for his travel to Mexico in 1925; pages of an appointment book from 1932; and notes on d'Harnoncourt's career that index publications in which he is mentioned amongst other things, prepared by Sarah d'Harnoncourt.
Correspondence and memoranda relate primarily to the Mexican Arts exhibition, (1930-1932) sponsored by the American Federation of Arts; the "Art in America" radio program, organized by the American Federation of Arts with the cooperation of the Museum of Modern Art; d'Harnoncourt's part time teaching position at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville; and his appointment as General Manager of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Later correspondence references research on d'Harnoncourt's work for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, and includes information on d'Harnoncourt, provided in response to inquiries about him.
Writings by d'Harnoncourt include published articles on Mexican and Indian arts and crafts, a 1969 reprint of d'Harnoncourt's and Frederic H. Douglas's expanded version of the catalog for Indian Art of the United States, a foreword, and two seminar/symposium papers. Unpublished writings comprise two typescripts. The series also includes several writings by others.
Printed material includes announcements and exhibition catalogs, documentation of the "Art in America Program," published books belonging to and/or referencing d'Harnoncourt, Department of Interior publications, including some issued by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Museum of Modern art press releases, news clippings relating to d'Harnoncourt and his activities, and miscellaneous printed material.
Additional clippings from a dismantled scrapbook(s) document the Mexican Arts exhibition.
Artwork and artifacts include one original sketch in colored pencil of d'Harnoncourt by Austrian artist, Silverbauer, photocopies of caricatures and doodles by d'Harnoncourt, Miguel Covarrubias, and Caroline Durieux, and two Indian Arts and Crafts Board weaving samples.
Photographs are of d'Harnoncourt, Sarah d'Harnoncourt, and friends and colleagues. They include a photograph of d'Harnoncourt by Manuel Alvarez-Bravo; snapshots of others including Fred Davis; Sarah d'Harnoncourt and folk art specialist, Victor Fosado; fellow Indian Arts and Crafts Board members, architect Henry Klumb, Alice Marriot, and anthropologist, author, and tribal council member, Gladys Tantaquidgeon. Also found are three photographs of Mexican Art exhibition installations; fourteen photographs of Native Americans; three photographs showing covers and/or fronts pieces of d'Harnoncourts books Beast, Bird and Fish, Mexicana, The Hole in the Wall, and The Painted Pig; and photographs of artwork included in the Mexican Art exhibition and an exhibition of Australian Aboriginal Cave Paintings (1947).
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1925-circa 1978 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence and Memoranda, 1929-1981 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, 1928-circa 1970s (0.4 linear feet; Box 1, OV 4)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1921-1979 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 4)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1930-1933 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 6: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1926-circa 1950s (3 folders; Box 3)
Series 7: Photographs, 1930-1983 (0.25 linear feet; Box 3, OV 4)
Biographical / Historical:
Austrian born curator, lecturer, and museum director, René d'Harnoncourt (1901-1968), was an authority on Native American art and Mexican arts and crafts. He curated and toured with a traveling exhibition, Mexican Art, from 1930-1932, guest curated the exhibition, Indian Art of the United States, for the Museum of Modern Art in 1941, served on the Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1937-1944, and was Director of the Museum of Modern Art from 1949-1968.
D'Harnoncourt was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1901. He left Austria for Mexico in 1925, and began working for American, Frederick Davis, who owned a shop that sold Mexican antiquities and folk art in Mexico City. At this time, d'Harnoncourt made many important connections, including meeting American Ambassador to Mexico, Dwight Morrow, and his wife, Elizabeth Morrow. D'Harnoncourt illustrated several books in the early 1930s, including The Painted Pig (1930) and Beast, Bird and Fish (1933), both written by Elizabeth Morrow, and The Hole in the Wall (1931) and Mexicana: A Book of Pictures (1931). According to Sarah d'Harnoncourt, her husband considered himself an amateur in the field of book illustration, which he enjoyed as a means of self-amusement.
In 1929, d'Harnoncourt was asked to curate an extensive exhibition of Mexican art to travel to major cities in the United States, sponsored by the American Federation of Arts. D'Harnoncourt toured with this exhibition, Mexican Art, for two years, beginning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in October, 1930.
D'Harnoncourt visited Austria briefly in 1932, then returned to the United States in 1933 and married Sarah Carr the same year. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1939.
Between 1933 and 1944, d'Harnoncourt directed the radio program "Art in America," organized by the American Federation of Arts in cooperation with the Museum of Modern Art. He also taught art history at Sarah Lawrence College from 1934-1937. In 1936 he began working for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the Department of the Interior, becoming General Manager in 1937, and the Board's Chairman in 1944. As General Manager he curated an exhibition on Indian art for the San Francisco Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939, and installed an expanded version of the exhibition, Indian Art of the United States, as guest curator for the Museum of Modern Art in 1940-1941.
In 1944, d'Harnoncourt joined the Museum of Modern Art as Vice President in charge of Foreign Activities, focusing his work on Latin America, and as Director of the Department of Manual Industries, responsible for the preservation of Native American art and culture. In 1949 he was appointed Director of the Museum of Modern Art, and served in this capacity until his death in an automobile accident in 1968.
Related Materials:
An oral history of René d'Harnoncourt, interviewed by Isabel Grossner in 1968, can be found at Columbia University, Oral History Research Office, 801 Butler Library, 535 West 114 Street, New York, NY 10027.
Separated Materials:
The bulk of René d'Harnoncourt's papers are in the Museum Archives of the Museum of Modern Art. The Museum's 59.25 linear feet document, in particular, d'Harnoncourt's years with the Museum from 1944-1968. That collection also includes papers donated by Sarah d'Harnoncourt which relate to d'Harnoncourt's time in Mexico, from 1925-1932, and his work in the United States from 1933-1944. While these holdings may overlap occasionally with the papers in the Archives of American Art (some items at the Archives of American Art, for instance, may be photocopies of originals at the Museum), the bulk of the Archives' d'Harnoncourt papers appear to be distinct from those at the Museum.
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 2919-2931) including papers generated by d'Harnoncourt during his professional affiliation with the Museum of Modern Art, such as, personal files, three appointment notebooks, professional files including Latin American correspondence, exhibition files, files documenting outside affiliations, and departmental and special event files. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
D'Harnoncourt's widow, Sarah d'Harnoncourt, donated the René d'Harnoncourt papers to the Archives of American Art in 1975, 1981, and 1984. An additional eleven linear feet of material was lent by the Museum of Modern Art's for microfilming in 1983.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Reels 2919-2931: Authorization to publish requires written permission from Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y. MoMA requires full citation to include microfilm reel and frame numbers, and reference to MoMA as the owner of the Rene d'Harnoncourt papers. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Topic:
Art museum directors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Personal and professional records including correspondence, writings, notes, printed material, subject files, photograph album, and diaries relating to Zigrosser's work as an authority on prints and printmaking and his personal relationships with artists.
Included are: correspondence with family and with over 900 printmakers, painters, sculptors, acquaintances, friends, associates, organizations, museums, publishers, and magazines; general correspondence, notes, clippings, and manuscripts pertaining to The Modern School Magazine; files of correspondence from Zigrosser's work at: the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1932-1971; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, 1946-1971, including correspondence with Frank Lloyd Wright concerning the Guggenheim Memorial Museum; Print Council of America, 1954-1971, regarding exhibitions, council meetings and other matters; and the Tamarind Workshop, 1960-1971.
Of particular interest is material relating to the 1913 Armory Show, including Zigrosser's annotated catalog, notes and sketches. Also included are speeches and notes, 1930-1968; manuscripts for lectures and unpublished materials; memorabilia; a photo album of sculpture by John B. Flannagan; art work, including prints and drawings by Karig Nalbandian, prints by Rockwell Kent, and oversized works of art on paper by Mabel Dwight, Wanda Gag and Kent; family photograph album; journals and pamphlets (covers only); and diaries, 1916-1971, discussing personal and professional events such as art openings, conversations and activities with Rockwell Kent, Alfred Stieglitz, and Georgia O'Keeffe, among others.
Among the correspondents are: the American Artists Group, John Taylor Arms, Art in America magazine, Art Institute of Chicago, Alfred Barr, E. Boyd, Charles Burchfield, Alexander Calder, Fitz Roy Carrington, Federico Castellon, Ed Colker, Howard N. Cook, Crown Publishers, Adolf Dehn, Caroline Durieux, John Bernard Flannagan, Andre Girard, Stanley William Hayter, Edward Hopper, Victoria Hutson Huntley, Independent Citizens Committee for the Arts, Sciences and Professions, R. Sturgis Ingersoll, Frederick Keppel, Rockwell Kent, Fiske Kimball, Misch Kohn, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Julius Lankes, Mauricico Lasansky, Merritt Mauzey, Kneeland McNulty, James A. Michener, Marian Mitchell,
Museum of Non-Objective Painting (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), Karnig Nalbandian, Dorothy Norman, Georgia O'Keeffe, Walter Pach, Harold Paris, Print Club (Philadelphia), Diego Rivera, Ruth Starr Rose, Arnold Ronnebeck, Lessing J. Rosenwald, Andre Ruellan, Carl Oscar Schniewind, Roderick Seidenberg, William Spratling, Benton Spruance, Alfred Stieglitz, Harry Sternberg, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Kuei Teng, U.S. Office of War Information, Curt Valentin, Heinz Warneke, Edward Weston, Weyhe Gallery, Whitney Museum of American Art, Harry Wickey, and Adja Yunkers.
Biographical / Historical:
Print curator; Philadelphia, Pa.; d. 1975. Graduated Columbia University in literature. Worked with prints in New York City at Keppel and Co. and Weyhe Gallery; print curator at Philadelphia Museum of Art 1940-1963; author of books on prints and art works.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming, 1991, by the University of Pennsylvania Special Collections Department, Van Pelt Library. Zigrosser donated the papers to the University in 1972. Portions of the papers not microfilmed include research files, manuscript materials for published work, family records, and journals.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from the Curator of Manuscripts, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
REELS 1792-1793: Correspondence; biographical data; writings on art; photos of art work, and personal photos, with one of Diego Rivera; contracts; price lists for art work; exhibition catalogues, announcements, and invitations; and 245 clippings. Also included are 21 critiques of her work written by John Dos Passos, Rene d'Harnoncourt, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Lithographer, painter, and educator (Baton Rouge, La.)
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1979 by Caroline Durieux.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Interview of Caroline Durieux conducted 1978 June 1-2, by Dennis Barrie and Marilyn Symmes, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Caroline Durieux (1896-1989) was a printmaker from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav file. Duration is 2 hr., 5 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
A black and white photograph of Durieux working on a series of prints in her studio.
Biographical / Historical:
Lithographer and printmaker; Baton Rouge, Louisianna.
Provenance:
Provenance unknown.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
