Letters; drawings, sketches and etchings; photographs of Guttmann, her work, and the San Francisco Art Festival; exhibition catalogs and announcements; clippings; and miscellaneous material.
Biographical / Historical:
Ethel Weiner Guttmann (1916-1990) was an etcher from San Francisco, Calif.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1977 by Ethel Weiner Guttmann.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Etchers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Printmakers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
The papers of California and New Mexico painter and etcher, Gene Kloss, provide scattered documentation of Kloss's career through 35 items dating from 1932-1956. Records include letters to Kloss, primarily about exhibitions and purchases of her work; press clippings documenting exhibitions and other activities including lectures delivered by Kloss; a photograph of Kloss and three photographs of her artwork; and ten etchings. The etchings represent a complete set of the artist's prints of the Southwest executed for the Public Works of Art Project from 1933-1934.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of California and New Mexico painter and etcher, Gene Kloss, provide scattered documentation of Kloss's career through 35 items dating from 1932-1956. Records include letters to Kloss, primarily about exhibitions and purchases of her work; press clippings documenting exhibitions and other activities including lectures delivered by Kloss; a photograph of Kloss and three photographs of her artwork; and ten etchings. The etchings represent a complete set of the artist's prints of the Southwest executed for the Public Works of Art Project from 1933-1934.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of the collection, records are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
California and New Mexico etcher and painter, Gene Kloss, was known for her depictions of the American Southwest.
Also known as Alice Geneva Glasier, Kloss was born in Oakland, California, and studied at the University of California at Berkeley, the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. In 1925 she traveled to New Mexico to honeymoon with her husband, poet Phillip Kloss, and was deeply drawn to the region. Thereafter, Gene and Phillip divided their time between Berkeley and Taos, New Mexico, where Gene produced etchings and paintings of the landscape and its Pueblo inhabitants.
Kloss was employed as the sole etcher for the 1933-1934 Public Works of Art Project, producing watercolors and oil paintings, and a series of New Mexico scenes that were reproduced and distributed to public schools across the state.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1964 by Gene Kloss.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Biographical essay; a postcard to Piazzoni, an illustrated letter from Granville Redmond, and 3 letters from Leo Eloesser, John Moxan, and Ralph S. Stackpole to Piazzoni's daughter, Mireille, about her father; an inventory of his paintings; clippings; and photographs of Piazzoni, including two by Arnold Genthe, of his work, and a photograph of a sketch of Piazzoni and Stackpole by Xavier Martinez.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, sculptor, etcher; San Francisco, Ca.
Provenance:
Donated by Mireille Wood, Piazzoni' daughter, 1977-1978.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Printmakers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
The papers of California printmaker and educator Roi Partridge measure 1.0 linear foot and date from 1909-2003, with the bulk of the material dated 1909-1984. Found here are scattered correspondence, notes and writings, a scrapbook, printed material, and photographs. Several of the documents date from the time Partridge was married to photographer Imogen Cunningham, particularly family correspondence and a travel log of family car camping trips to the west. The same travel log documents one sketching trip Partridge made with Eugen Neuhaus.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of California printmaker and educator Roi Partridge measure 1.0 linear foot and date from 1909-2003, with the bulk of the material dated 1909-1984. Found here are scattered correspondence, notes and writings, a scrapbook, printed material, and photographs. Several of the documents date from the time Partridge was married to photographer Imogen Cunningham, particularly family correspondence and a travel log of family car camping trips to the west. The same travel log documents one sketching trip Partridge made with Eugen Neuhaus.
General and family correspondence consists largely of incoming letters with some copies and drafts of outgoing letters. General correspondence is mainly professional in nature and documents exhibitions, commissions, teaching, memberships in artists' organizations, and participation in the WPA Public Works of Art Project. A small number of letters from friends concerning personal and social matters are scattered throughout. Among the correspondents are Ansel Adams, Sherwood Anderson, John Taylor Arms, Hollywood Riviera Galleries, Dard Hunter, the Estate of Bertha Jacques [Elizabeth Linsky, executor], National Academy of Design, and Print Makers Society of California. Family correspondence includes letters to Roi Partridge from family members. Letters to Gryffyd's family are from Imogen Cunningham and Roi Partridge; letters from others about family members are also included.
Among the notes and writings are a travel log that documents car camping trips through California and New Mexico taken by Roi Partridge, Imogen Cunningham, and their three sons between 1924 and 1926. The volume also includes Roi's account of a 1926 sketching trip taken with Eugen Neuhaus along the California coast.
A scrapbook contains clippings and feature articles about Roi Partridge, along with exhibition announcements and reproductions. Additional printed material is about or mentions Roi Partridge and his family, Ansel Adams, and Imogen Cunningham. There are also family Christmas cards with reproductions of etchings and drawings by Roi Partridge.
Photographs are of people and art work, including photographs of Roi and May Ellen Partridge, and Donald Bear, the first Director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (Janet Lineberger - later Mrs. Gryffyd Partridge - served as his assistant in the early 1940s). There are numerous photographs and negatives of art work by Roi Partridge (with appraisal and catalog information), and a photograph of Peter Blos' portrait of Partridge.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 5 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1909-1993 (Box 1; 0.3 linear ft.; reel 5028)
Series 2: Notes and Writings, 1924-1964 (Box 1; 5 folders.; reel 5028)
Series 3: Scrapbook, 1922-1977 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1913-2003 (Box 1; 0.25 linear ft.; reel 5028)
Series 5: Photographs, 1940-1987 (Box 1; 0.3 linear ft.; reel 5028)
Biographical Note:
Roy George Partridge (later known as Roi) was born in Centralia, Washington, in 1888, the son of a newspaper publisher and a pianist mother who accompanied silent films in Seattle movie houses. His mother enrolled him in a drawing and painting course at age 10. By 1907, the family had moved to Kansas where Partridge enrolled in studio courses at the newly established Fine Arts Institute of Kansas City. From there he then went to New York City to study at the school of the National Academy of Design during 1909 and 1910.
In 1910, with an art student friend from Seattle and enough cash to last a month, Partridge traveled to Europe and through a severe economy and by selling his etchings, managed to stay for four years. Between 1910 and 1914, he studied etching with Brockhoff in Munich, and rented a studio in Paris from 1911-1914. Once he had produced a sufficient number of prints, his friends John Butler and Clare Shepard arranged for an exhibition of his work in Seattle. They were assisted by Imogen Cunningham who sent her photo to Partridge and began corresponding with him.
The outbreak of World War I forced Partridge's return to Seattle where he and Imogen Cunningham finally met face to face. They were married within a matter of months. In their early years together, Roi managed to earn a living selling his prints and Imogen worked for Edward S. Curtis, whose photographs of American Indians had not yet achieved recognition. The couple soon produced three sons, Gryffyd and twins Padraic and Rondal. The family soon moved to San Francisco where Partridge worked as an artist in an advertising agency that also employed Maynard Dixon. During this time, he became friendly with the young Dorothea Lange who worked at the shop where Partridge had his film developed. After their marriage, Dixon and Lange established a close, long term friendship with the Partridge family.
In 1920, Partridge joined the faculty of Mills College as an art instructor, teaching design, painting, printmaking, lettering, and photography for 26 years. Partridge was such a popular teacher that the number of art students rose sharply and, for a time, art became the institution's most popular major. He was named chairman of the Art Department in 1923, and served as the first director of the college's art gallery from 1925 through 1935.
Imogen Cunningham and Roi Partridge, both strong-willed and not given to compromise, divorced in 1934. They reconciled in the 1960s and remained on friendly terms until her death in 1976. Partridge's second wife, Marian Lyman, died in 1940. The following year, he married May Ellen Fisher, a teacher, who survived him.
In addition to his professional activities, Partridge pursued a wide variety of other interests. During the 1920s, he, Imogen, and their boys took numerous camping trips throughout California and New Mexico. With his third wife, May Ellen, he became an avid folk dancer and enthusiastic gardener, raised chickens and chinchillas, and kept bees. They had the opportunity to travel to Hawaii and Japan. In Japan, Partridge expanded his Japanese print collection which was eventually donated to the Mills College Art Gallery.
Roi Partridge died in Walnut Creek, California, on January 25, 1984.
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art holds the papers of Imogen Cunningham, Partridge's first wife, which contain additional Partridge family correspondence and photographs. An untranscribed oral history interview of Roi Partridge conducted by Steve Steinberg in 1980 is also available.
Separated Material:
A portion of the gifts received from Gryffyd Partridge were separated and filed with the Imogen Cunningham papers, some of which had been earlier donated by Gryffyd.
Provenance:
Gryffyd Partridge donated his father's papers to the Archives of American art in 1992 and 1995. A final gift was received from Janet [Mrs. Gryffyd] Partridge in 2003.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy. Use of the unmicrofilmed portion 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.
Topic:
Printmakers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Etchers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Genre/Form:
Travelogs
Scrapbooks
Christmas cards
Drafts (documents)
Photographs
Notes
Citation:
Roi Partridge papers, 1909-2003 (bulk 1909-1984). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Letters from Phoebe A. Hearst to Borg, written from her California residences in McCloud, Pleasanton, and the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. The letters reflect Heart's interest in Borg's career, her financial support of his European travels, and the closeness of their relationship.
Biographical / Historical:
Hearst was an art collector and patron; Pleasanton and San Francisco, Calif. She was the mother of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. Among the artists to whom she provided financial support was the Swedish born painter and etcher Carl Oscar Borg (1879-1947). Borg, who settled in Los Angeles in 1903, specialized in depicting Native Americans and landscapes of California and the Southwest.
Provenance:
Donated 1997 by Helen Laird.
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.
Occupation:
Art patrons -- California -- San Francisco Search this
This series consists of letters exchanged between Lazzari, family members, and colleagues. Over one hundred letters from the Federal Works Agency and the Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture concern post office murals for towns in Florida, New Jersey, and North Carolina. Five letters from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration contain 23 photographs of astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans, and Harrison H. Schmitt preparing for an Apollo 17 mission to the moon. Lazzari also received at least one letter each from Jacqueline Kennedy, Duncan Phillips, Eleanor Roosevelt, industrialist John Rust, and socialist Norman Thomas.
See Appendix for a list of selected correspondents in Series 2.
Arrangement note:
Correspondence is arranged chronologically.
Appendix: Selected Correspondents in Series 2:
Aguilera, Francisco: undated (1 letter)
Albergo Saturnia, Rome: 1928 (1 letter)
Alberts: Russell Alberts-Laura Langdon Antiques: undated (1 letter)
Alexander Gallery: undated (1 letter)
Allied Publications, Inc.: 1965 (1 letter)
Alterman, Selma: undated (1 letter)
Ambasciata d'Italia: 1950-1973 (3 letters)
Ambasciatore d'Italia: undated and 1971 (2 letters)
America-Italy Society: 1956 (1 letter)
American Academy in Rome: 1955 (2 letters)
American Artists Professional League: 1949-1955 (3 letters)
American Battle Monuments Commission: 1959 (1 letter)
American Commission for Cultural Exchange with Italy (Fulbright grant): 1950-1954 (2 letters)
American Federation of Arts: 1951-1956 (2 letters)
American Red Cross: 1943-1945 (6 letters)
American University: 1947-1967 (5 letters)
Amici, Alfredo: 1948-1959 (6 letters)
Amministrazione Erdi M.se Saverio Patrizi: 1969 (2 letters)
Andori, Adolfo: 1913-1916 (3 letters)
Anderson, Wayne V.: 1956 (1 letter)
Andrade, Victor: undated (1 letter)
Angelelli, Augusta: 1972 (1 letter)
Angiolillo, Giuseppe: 1967-1972 (9 letters)
Anson, Cherrill: 1998 (1 letter)
Appleby, J. Scott: 1952-1961 (9 letters); see Life Insurance Company of Georgia
Aquil, Preta: 1921 (1 letter)
Architectural League of New York: 1955 (3 letters)
Aristide, Zio (?): 1926 (1 letter)
Arndal, Kersten: 1970-1977 (2 letters)
Art Direction -- magazine: 1956 (1 letter)
Art in Federal Buildings, Inc.: 1943 (1 letter)
Art Institute of Chicago: 1944-1956 (11 letters)
Artists Equity Association: undated and 1949-1972 (7 letters)
Artists for Victory: 1942-1943 (7 letters including a prospectus for "America in the War" exhibition)
Conant, Howard (New York University): 1956 (1 letter)
Connolley, Robert Emmet: 1947-1950 (8 letters)
Console Generale d'Italia: 1965 (1 letter)
Constantino, C.: 1967 (1 letter)
Cook, Elizabeth: [1946] (1 letter)
Cooke: Hereward Lester Cooke Foundation: 1974-1975 (3 letters); see National Aeronautics and Space Administration; see National Gallery of Art
Cooper, Alice J.: 1927 (1 letter)
Corcoran Gallery of Art: undated and 1951-1981 (37 letters)
Corsi, Emma and W. Edward: 1928 (1 letter)
Cosgrove, Jessica (Mrs. John O'Hara Cosgrove): 1928-1930 (22 letters)
Cosgrove, John O'Hara (editor of -- New York World): -- undated and 1927-1929 (7 letters)
Costintin, Celestino and Emilia: 1916-1971 (6 letters)
Cotzia, Pasquale: 1966-1968 (2 letters)
Coughlin, Clarence John: 1948 (1 letter)
Crimi: undated (1 letter)
Crosby, Caresse (Crosby Gallery of Modern Art): undated and 1945-1969 (14 letters)
Crossley, Kay A.: 1966 (1 letter)
Cullen, Amelia: undated (1 letter)
Cusumono, Stefano: 1947-1951 (3 letters)
Daloni, Edith B.: 1928 (1 letter)
Damer, Veffarghi: 1919 (1 letter)
Damiani, Angelo: 1921 (1 letter)
Dane, C. K.: 1965 (1 letter)
Dean, Edward: 1940 (1 letter)
Debs: Eugene V. Debs Foundation: 1965-1966 (3 letters including 6 photographs with Norman Thomas); see United Auto Workers
de Chetelat, Mr.: mentioned in letter dated 1928
de Chirico, Giorgio: mentioned in undated invitation from Ambasciatore d'Italia
DeLano, Agnes: undated (1 letter)
De Medio, Americo: 1963-1976 (32 letters)
De Medio, Vincenzo: undated and 1970-1977 (3 letters)
Demiddi, Alberto: undated and 1972 (3 letters)
De Mont, Nany and Eugene: undated (1 letter)
Dernay, Eugene: 1945-1959 (4 letters)
Design in Steel Award Program: 1972 (1 letter)
Dictionary of International Biography: 1974 (1 letter)
Diller, Burgoyne: see Federal Art Project
Dipanfilo, Pio: 1949-1968 (10 letters)
Di Raimondo, Vicenzo: 1920-1928 (7 letters)
District of Columbia Board of Commissioners: 1959 (1 letter)
District of Columbia Department of Public Welfare: 1958 (1 letter)
District of Columbia Juvenile Court: 1964 (1 letter)
District of Columbia Recreation Board: 1963 (1 letter)
Dole (?), Louis: 1923 (1 letter)
Dollinger, Josef: undated (1 letter)
Donaldson, Leota L.: undated (2 letters)
Donaldson, Renee: undated (1 letter)
Douglas, Paul F.: 1951 (1 letter)
Dretzin, S. C.: 1950 (1 letter)
Draper, Warren A.: 1944 (1 letter)
Dumbarton College: 1949-1951 (3 letters)
Duncan and Duncan Chinese Shop: 1964 (1 letter)
Dunham, Dr. G. C.: 1944 (1 letter re: portrait of Dr. Sawyer)
Duproix, Eunice: 1928 (1 letter)
Durbin, Jack: 1960 (1 letter)
Editions du Griffon, Neuchatel, Suisse: 1964 (3 letters)
Edsor, Mary: 1928 (1 letter)
Elenbrock, Gretel: 1927 (3 letters)
Elkins: Stella Elkins Tyler School of Fine Arts of Temple University: 1956 (1 letter)
Eng, Ernest: 1959 (1 letter)
Ernesto Desideri: 1915 (3 letters)
Evening Star -- newspaper, Washington, D.C.: 1957 (1 letter)
Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union: 1944 (1 letter)
Fasola, Roberto: 1948-1949 (2 letters)
Federal Art Project: 1938-1939 (4 letters)
Federal Works Agency, Public Buildings Administration: 1940-1947 (70 letters re: murals for the Brevard, N.C. post office, the North Bergen, N.J. post office, and the Jasper, Florida post office, including a contract, 2 photographs, and 2 sketches for a mural)
Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration: 1941-1942 (2 letters)
Fellowship of Reconciliation and War Resisters League: [1945] (1 letter)
Ferargil Gallery: 1941 (1 letter)
Ferreri, Elena: 1938 (1 letter)
Figoullo, Adriano: 1912 (1 letter)
Fiore, Ilario and Titta: 1966-1967 (5 letters)
Fitzwater, Aldace: 1950 (1 letter)
Florentine Gallery: 1956 (4 letters)
Fogle, Bruce: 1927 (1 letter)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: 1956 (1 letter)
Force, Mrs.: undated (1 letter)
Foreign Service of the United States of America: 1950 (3 letters)
Foresti, Arnaldo: 1948-1949 (2 letters)
Fortas, Abe: 1956 (1 letter)
Fortune -- magazine: 1944-1956 (2 letters)
Francis, Emily A.: 1951 (3 letters)
Franco, Johan: 1966 (2 letters)
Frankel, Samuel: undated (1 letter)
Freeman: Carl M. Freeman Associates, Inc.: 1963 (1 letter)
Frisine, Robert: 1967 (1 letter)
Frost, Phillip: 1981 (1 letter)
Fujita, Mr.: 1957 (1 letter)
Fulbright grant: see American Commission for Cultural Exchange with Italy
Fuller, Eve Alsman (Miami, Fl. post office): 1938 (1 letter)
Gabetti: undated (1 letter)
Galarza, Ernesto and Mae: (National Farm Labor Union; National Agricultural Workers Union): undated and 1944-1978 (27 letters); see Landon School for Boys; see Perkins, Milo
Galerie Internationale: 1965 (1 letter)
Galerie Schindler: undated and 1965-1972 (12 letters)
Gallaudet College: 1963-1970 (14 letters, including a contract)
Gallenga: 1951 (1 letter)
Gaspari, Mario P.: 1966 (1 letter)
Georgetown University Fine Arts Club: 1960 (1 letter)
George Washington University: 1965 (1 letter)
Giovannetti, Alberto: 1966 (1 letter)
Giovanni, Sebastiani: 1921 (1 letter)
Giricosnelli, Emilio: 1918 (1 letter)
Gobbi, Adolfo: 1928 (1 letter)
Goldberg, Dorothy and Arthur: 1964-1965 (3 letters)
Goldsmith, Alberto R.: 1947-1968 (3 letters)
Gonzales, Angelino: 1951-1975 (11 letters)
Gotham Book Mart: 1968 (1 letter)
Graham, John: 1948 (1 letter)
Granati, Pasquale: 1918 (1 letter)
Grand Central Art Galleries: 1956 (1 letter)
Grant, Blanche C.: undated (1 letter)
Grebanier, Barnard: 1961 (1 letter)
Greene, Hope Margaret: 1926-[1927] (2 letters)
Gualdi, Luigi: 1947-1949 (11 letters)
Guarino, A.: undated letters to Mabel McMahon and Guiolitta Sartori
Guggenheim: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation: 1937-1971 (5 letters)
Guggenheim: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: 1956-1960 (3 letters)
Gutheim, Frederick: 1956 (1 letter)
Haarlem House, Inc.: 1926 (1 letter)
Hahn, Rosemarie E.: 1961 (1 letter)
Halle, Kay: 1972 (1 letter)
Hammerle, Brooke: 1966 (1 letter)
Hansen, Jane: 1954 (1 letter)
Hardman, Virginia: undated (1 letter)
Harrison & Abramovitz, Architects: 1956 (1 letter)
Harrison, Charles H.: 1949 (1 letter)
Hart, Earl: mentioned in an undated letter
Hartley, Bettina: undated (1 letter)
Hartman Galleries, Inc.: 1973 (1 letter)
Hayward: City of Hayward, California: 1965 (1 letter)
Health, Education, and Welfare Employees' Association: 1962 (1 letter)
Hechinger, June: undated (1 letter)
Heilbron, Edna: 1972 (1 letter)
Heinemann, Mark: undated (1 letter)
Herzbrunn, Josef: 1949 (1 letter)
Heywood, Carmen: 1948 (1 letter)
Hollander, Cornelia: undated (1 letter)
Holvey, Sam: undated (1 letter)
Holy See: Permanent Observer of the Holy See: 1966 (1 letter)
Hom Gallery: 1972 (1 letter)
Horrocks, E. Joan: 1971 (1 letter)
Hotel Beau Site, Rome: 1928 (1 letter)
Hotel de la Ville, Rome: 1928 (1 letter)
Hotel Hassler, Rome: 1928 (1 letter)
Hotel Pension Alexandra, Rome: 1928 (1 letter)
Hotel Windsor, Rome: 1928 (1 letter)
Hough, Edith Louise: 1952 (1 letter)
Illinois State Historical Library: 1965 (1 letter)
Il Messaggero: 1928 (1 letter)
Immigration and Naturalization Service: 1976 (1 letter)
Institute for International Education: 1963 (1 letter)
Institute for the Arts of the Archdiocese of Washington: 1978 (2 letters)
Institute of Contemporary Art: 1956 (2 letters)
Institute of Gerontology: 1970 (1 letter)
International Directory of Arts: 1982 (1 letter)
Isherwood, Christopher: undated (1 letter)
Istituzione Maddalena Aulina: 1966 (1 letter)
Jacometti, Nesto: 1972 (1 letter)
Jaffe, Norman: 1964 (1 letter)
Janus, Virginia: 1929 (2 letters)
Jelleff: Frank R. Jelleff, Inc.: 1949 (1 letter)
Jennoff?, Peter L.: undated (1 letter)
Jewish Social Service Agency: 1967 (1 letter)
Johnston, L. R.: 1932 (2 letters)
Jones, Dorothea and Stuart E.: 1955 (3 letters)
Jones, George Lewis: 1961 (1 letter)
Jopp, Fred Gilman: 1936 (1 letter)
Josephy, Diane ( -- Time): -- 1968 (1 letter)
Junior Council of the Museum of Modern Art: 1956-1960 (2 letters)
Jurin, Benjamin M.: undated (1 letter)
Kagy, Virginia and Sheffield: 1948 (1 letter)
Kahles, Jessie: 1940-1948 (3 letters)
Kennedy, Jacqueline: May 19, 1960
Letters from White House Social Secretary: 1961-1963 (5 letters)
Kerensky, Alexander: 1965 (1 letter)
King Features Syndicate, Inc.: 1943 (1 letter)
King, Marion: 1952 (1 letter)
King, Rufus: 1975 (1 letter)
Kneifel, Mr.: 1956 (1 letter from Lazzari)
Kramer, Herbert (Congregazione del Preziosissimo Sangue): 1950 (1 letter)
Krishnamurti, Jack: 1959 (1 letter)
Kurzland, Toby: 1991 (1 letter)
La Follia: 1926 (1 letter)
La Galleria: 1972 (1 letter)
Landon School for Boys: 1944 (1 letter re: Ernesto Galarza)
Landu, Consuelo: 1948 (1 letter)
Lanier, Fanita: see Ruffiner, Willis E.
La Revue Moderne: 1961 (3 letters)
La Rocca, Principessa de: 1968 (1 letter)
Latif, Bilkeer: undated (1 letter)
Law, L. S.: 1932 (2 letters of recommendation for Lazzari)
Lawton, Thomas: 1974 (1 letter)
Lazzari, Attilio: 1922 (1 letter)
Lazzari, (Grace) Elizabeth Paine: undated and 1920-1951 (69 letters)
Letters from Pietro to Elizabeth: 1928-1929 (52 letters)
Lazzari, Evelyn Cohen: undated and 1948-1965 (6 letters)
Letters from Pietro to Evelyn: undated and 1932-1966 (49 letters, including one with a photograph of friends)
Lazzari, Fernanda (sister) and Vittoria: 1915-1949 (11 letters)
Lazzari, Leno: 1918-1929 (2 letters)
Lebanon: Embassy of Lebanon, Washington: 1956 (1 letter)
Lee, Amy: Nov 01, 1974 (letter from Lazzari); 1975 (1 letter)
Lee, Dal: 1954 (1 letter)
Lee, Pearl: undated (1 letter)
Levy, Sid A.: undated (1 letter)
Library of Congress: undated and 1965-1982 (6 letters)
Licciardi, Pietro: undated (1 letter)
Licinio Cappelli: 1949 (1 letter)
Life Insurance Company of Georgia: 1954 (2 letters)
Little Gallery: see Carolan, Anna B.
Lobatini, G.: undated (1 letter)
Loccatelli, Giulio: 1956-1958 (2 letters)
Lombaro (?), Patricia: 1961 (1 letter)
Loughlin, Dr. John J.: 1936-1940 (2 letters)
Lousine, L.: undated (1 letter)
Luccia, Enrico: undated and 1928-1977 (19 letters)
Lucibello, Luigi: Jan 12, 1965
Lucifero, Alfonso: Jan 13, 1912 (letter from Ministero delle Finanze)
McAfee, Don: 1955-1969 (3 letters); see Watergate Construction Corp.
McGinnis, Paul: 1988 (1 letter)
McIlhenny, Henry P.: 1949 (1 letter)
McIntyre, W. A.: undated (1 letter)
McKeogh, Elsie: 1954 (1 letter)
McKonish, Margaret: 1949 (1 letter)
McMahon, Mabel: undated (1 letter from A. Guarino)
Meert, Margaret Mullin: 1948 (2 letters)
Meeting House Gallery: 1972 (1 letter)
Meguin, A.: undated (1 letter)
Menard, G.: 1928 (1 letter)
Men of Achievement: 1974-1975 (2 letters)
Mensh, Elizabeth: 1978 (1 letter)
Merritt, Polly: undated (1 letter)
Messina, Joseph R.: 1971 (1 letter)
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1951 (1 letter)
Miami Museum of Modern Art: 1965-1968 (7 letters)
Miki, Suizan: undated (1 letter)
Mills, Harrington: 1933 (1 letter)
Ming, Wang (National Art & Frame Co.): 1968 (1 letter)
Mitchell, Austin: 1946 (1 letter)
Montgomery County Art Association: 1961 (1 letter)
Moore, Norman Perry: 1927-1928 (2 letters)
Moore, Paul: 1970 (1 letter)
Morey, Mr.: [1950] (1 letter)
Morott, Aristodemi: 1918 (1 letter)
Morrison, Lillian: 1971 (1 letter)
Mortot, Virgilio: undated and 1962-1964 (4 letters)
Morvidi, Maria: 1918 (1 letter)
Moskin, Ruth: undated (1 letter)
Mullins, Mrs.: undated (1 letter)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: undated and 1955 (2 letters)
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: 1964 (2 letters)
Museum of Modern Art: 1949-1973 (3 letters); see Junior Council of the Museum of Modern Art
Myers, Eugene Ekander: 1976 (1 letter)
National Academy of Design: [1939] (1 letter)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration: 1962-1973 (5 letters including 4 photographs of artwork and 23 photographs of astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans, and Harrison H. Schmitt preparing for an Apollo 17 mission to the moon; an Apollo translunar/transearth trajectory plotting chart; an Apollo lunar orbit chart; and an Apollo earth orbit chart); see Cooke: Hereward Lester Cooke Foundation
National Cyclopedia of American Biography: 1979 (1 letter)
National Gallery of Art: undated and 1956-1974 (7 letters)
National Housing Center: 1961 (2 letters)
National Investigations Committee on Aerian Phenomena: 1957 (1 letter)
National Society of Arts and Letters: 1952 (1 letter)
National Society of Mural Painters: 1940-1963 (3 letters)
National Student Art Tour: 1949 (1 letter)
National Sugar Refining Company: 1938 (1 letter)
Neale, Rosamund: 1961 (1 letter)
Neilson, Robert Hude: 1928 (1 letter)
Nelson, Helen Ewing: undated (1 letter)
New American Library: 1953 (1 letter)
Newlin, Ben: 1979 (1 letter)
New Society for Art and Literature: 1947 (1 letter)
Nichol, Jean: 1926 (2 letters)
Nichol, Nella: 1929 (1 letter)
Nilsen, Laila: 1946 (1 letter)
Nobili, A.: undated letter written on reverse of photograph of Nobili painting
Nuova Critica Europea: 1969 (1 letter)
O'Connor, Don: 1960 (1 letter)
O'Connor, FrancisV.: 1968 (1 letter)
Oggi: 1967 (1 letter)
Okamoto, Yoichi R.: undated (1 letter)
Oklahoma Art Center: 1969 (1 letter)
Oklahoma Museum of Art: 1988 (1 letter)
Olson: Charles Olson Archives, University of Connecticut: 1975-1976 (3 letters)
Oregon State Library: 1957 (1 letter)
Orlando, Teresa: undated and 1949-1971 (3 letters)
Ottiani, Giuseppe: 1909 (1 letter)
Palmieri, Renato: 1928 (1 letter)
Park, Marlene: 1979 (1 letter)
Pavia, Dagoberto: 1959 (1 letter)
Pavia, Goffredo: 1921-1924 (7 letters)
Palmieri, Renato: 1957 (1 letter)
Palombi, Angelo: 1921 (1 letter)
Pan American Union: 1944-1945 (2 letters)
Parsons, Betty (Betty Parsons Gallery): undated and 1949-1973 (9 letters)
Passedoit Gallery: 1956 (1 letter)
Pensione Boos, Rome: 1928 (1 letter)
Pensione Girardet, Rome: 1928 (1 letter)
Perentine, Giuseppe (Nino): 1927-1950 (3 letters)
Peresson, I.: 1971 (1 letter)
Peretti, Luigi: undated (1 letter)
Perkins, Milo: 1944 (1 letter re: Ernesto Galarza)
Perna, Giorgio: undated (1 letter)
Peterson, Esther: 1978 (1 letter)
Philadelphia Department of Public Property: 1960 (1 letter)
Philadelphia Museum of Art: 1965-1966 (3 letters)
Phillips, Duncan: 1954 (1 letter)
Pirucchini, Maria: 1927 (1 letter)
Pope Paul VI: mentioned in 7 letters dated 1966, including 2 photographs of Lazzari with bust of the Pope; see Fiore, Ilario; see Giovannetti, Alberto; see Institute for the Arts of the Archdiocese of Washington
Preissler, Audrey: 1970 (1 letter)
Print Collector's Quarterly: 1949 (1 letter)
Print Council of America: 1963 (1 letter)
Prospersin, Eugenio: 1941 (1 letter)
Pyramid Club: 1956 (1 letter)
Quick, Robert B.: 1972 (1 letter)
Quinzi, Amerigo: 1920-1925 (2 letters)
Rady, Cabell: 1958 (1 letter)
Rahill, William Allen: 1954 (1 letter from Lazzari)
Rassegna Nazionale di Arti Figurative: 1948 (1 letter)
Rattu, Salvatore: undated and 1926-1966 (13 letters)
Reeves, Rosser: 1947 (1 letter)
The Reporter -- magazine: 1956 (1 letter)
Reuther, Victor: see United Auto Workers
Reynolds, D.: 1939 (1 letter from Lazzari)
Rhine, J. B.: 1949 (1 letter)
Ricca, Roberta: undated (1 letter)
Rieder (?), Baronessa: 1934 (1 letter)
Rioffo, Angela: 1959-1962 (2 letters including 2 photographs of friends)
River Road Gallery, Louisville, Ky.: 1941-1943 (4 letters)
Rivoi, Swami: undated (1 letter)
Robson, John: 1958 (1 letter)
Rocca Sinibalda: 1920 (1 letter)
Rockefeller, Nelson A.: 1946 (1 letter)
Rodman, Selden: undated (1 letter)
Rollins College: 1933-1942 (4 letters)
Roosevelt, Eleanor: Nov 09, 1945 and a letter dated 1964 concerns a viewing of the Roosevelt portrait bust); see White House; see Roosevelt Library
Roosevelt: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park: 1963-1965 (8 letters, including typescripts of speeches); see United Auto Workers
Ross, Fred: 1949 (1 letter)
Rosso, Giulio: undated letter of recommendation by Lazzari
Roth, Maurice: 1993 (1 letter including 2 photographs of Lazzari's work)
Rothschild, Anselm A.: undated (1 letter)
Rowan, Edward: see Federal Works Agency
Rowan, Leata: undated (1 letter)
Rowantrees Pavilion: see Thompson, Lin
Rowin, Fran: 1976 (2 letters)
Rowland, Creelman: undated (1 letter)
Ruffner, Willis E. (lawyer for Fanita Lanier): 1944 (1 letter)
Russell, N. F. S.: 1932 (1 letter)
Rust, John and Thelma: 1952-1954 (38 letters, including an application from Lazzari for a grant from the John Rust Foundation, including a clipping about Rust and 3 photographs of cotton pickers); see West Tennessee Historical Society
St. Louis, Bertha: undated (1 letter)
Sanderson, W. A. (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation): 1958 (1 letter)
San Francisco Museum of Art: 1967 (1 letter)
Sartori, Guiolitta: undated letter from A. Guarino
Satterlee & Smith, Architects: 1962 (1 letter)
Savini, Renata: 1965-1967 (3 letters)
Scheetz, June Rice: undated (1 letter)
Schoenberg, Rose: 1967 (1 letter)
Schurmer, Zaira E.: 1947 (2 letters)
Schwarz -- magazine: 1957 (1 letter)
Scigliano, Peppino Cosenza: 1910 (2 letters)
Sebastiani, G.: undated (1 letter)
Selmi, Gabriella: undated (1 letter)
Sevareid, Eric: 1956 (1 letter)
Sheen, Rev. Fulton J.: 1970 (1 letter)
Simotti, Aristide (friend who was prisoner of war): 1911-1925 (62 letters)
Sinisca: undated (1 letter)
Sirony, Simone: 1955-1964 (8 letters)
Smart: David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art: 1991-1996 (4 letters)
Smith, George: 1926-1927 (2 letters)
Smithsonian Institution: undated and 1947-1976 (8 letters)
Snyder, Nell H.: 1969 (1 letter)
Society of American Etchers: 1944 (1 letter)
Society of American Graphic Artists: 1956 (2 letters)
Society of Washington Artists: 1960-1961 (2letters)
Society of Washington Printmakers: 1976 (2 letters)
Sound View Press: 1991 (1 letter)
Spiral Group: see Strantin, Wally
Stevenson, Adlai: see White House
Stewart, George: 1932 (1 letter)
Strantin, Wally and Edward: 1950-1951 (2 letters)
Stroppoghetti, Arturo: 1923 (1 letter)
Stubbs, Kenneth: [1948] (1 letter)
Studer, Alfredo and Clara: 1947-1976 (15 letters)
Sweeney, James Johnson: 1949 (1 letter)
Syracuse University: 1964 (1 letter)
Taylor, Prentiss: 1972 (1 letter)
Teller, Douglas H.: 1963 (1 letter)
Terenz, Don Umberto: 1960 (1 letter)
Thames and Hudson, Ltd.: 1974 (1 letter)
Thomas, Norman: 1963-1965 (2 letters)
Thomen, Luis Francisco (Ambassador from Dominican Republic): undated (1 letter)
Thompson, Lin: 1950-1951 (3 letters)
Thurston, Charles D.: 1927-1928 (4 letters)
Tibet Society: 1975 (1 letter)
Timpenado, Cesare: 1927 (1 letter)
Tirrocelli (?), A.: 1917 (1 letter)
Toledo Museum of Art: 1957 (1 letter)
Toscanini, Arturo: mentioned in 2 letters dated 1928
Tosello, Alfredo: 1947-1949 (2 letters)
Tosi, Elisa: 1929 (1 letter)
Treasury Department, Section of Painting and Sculpture: 1936-1939 (53 letters concerning the Arlington, N.J. post office, the Sanford, N.C. post office, and the New York World's Fair Sculpture Competition)
Truman: Harry S Truman Library at Independence, Mo.: 1963 (1 letter)
Turkish Embassy, Washington, D.C.: 1958-1959 (4 letters including a photograph of Lazzari)
Tyler, Richard O.: 1958 (1 letter)
Ugolini, Luigi: 1969 (1 letter)
Ungar, Harold and Mildred: 1965 (1 letter)
United Auto Workers (U.A.W.): 1963-1971 (9 letters); see Debs: Eugene V. Debs Foundation
United Scenic Artists of America: [1939] (1 letter)
United States Civil Service Commission: 1944 (2 letters)
United States Department of Agriculture: 1945-1967 (10 letters)
United States Department of Labor: undated (1 letter)
United States Information Agency: 1959 (1 letter)
United States Information Service: Jul 09, 1964
University Settlement: 1946 (2 letters)
Upham, Elizabeth: 1948 (1 letter)
Van De Bries, Enri: 1973 (1 letter)
Vangell?, Raphaele: undated (1 letter)
Van Smith, Anne: 1949 (1 letter)
Venice Biennale: 1948-1954 (3 letters)
Vermont Marble Company: 1955 (1 letter)
Veschi, Signora: undated (1 letter)
Vickery, Ruth Bacon: 1929 (1 letter)
Victoria Hotel, Rome: 1928 (2 letters)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: 1956 (1 letter)
Visher, John: 1956 (1 letter)
Vosseller, Harold: 1948 (1 letter)
Wagner, Edward A. (Dell Publishing Co.) and Julia: 1954-1976 (5 letters)
Waldo, M. V.: 1945 (1 letter)
Warren, Susan and Louise: undated (1 letter)
Washington Gallery of Modern Art: undated (1 letter)
Washington is Wonderful: see Jones, Dorothea and Stuart E.
Washington-Lee High School: 1961 (1 letter)
Washington, Walter E. (Mayor of Washington, D.C.): 1976 (1 letter); Oct 19, 1976 (1 letter from Franz Bader)
Washington Water Color Association: undated and 1961 (3 letters)
Watergate Construction Corp.: 1968-1969 (4 letters); see Don McAfee
Watson, Ernest W. (editor, -- Art Instruction -- and -- American Artist -- ): 1939-1949 (3 letters)
Watson, Forbes: see Art in Federal Buildings, Inc.
Weil, Frank L.: 1926-1936 (2 letters)
Weinmann, Eric: 1980 (1 letter including a photograph of artwork)
Wells, John K. (Equitable Life Assurance Society): undated (1 letter)
West Tennessee Historical Society: 1952 (3 letters); see Rust, John
Weyhe: E. Weyhe Gallery: 1949 (1 letter)
White, Sarah: 1929 (1 letter)
Whitney Museum of American Art: 1939-1980 (11 letters)
Whyte Gallery: 1944-1950 (2 letters)
Widdemer, Kenneth D.: 1928 (1 letter)
White House: 1965-1968 (4 letters concerning the presentations of the busts of Eleanor Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson)
Whittemore, Manvel: 1936 (1 letter enclosing poems)
Who's Who in America: 1979-1980 (2 letters)
Works Progress Administration: 1937-1938 (4 letters)
Workshop Center of the Arts: 1953 (1 letter); see Berkowitz, Ida and Leon
WRC Radio: 1966 (1 letter including a photograph of Lazzari)
The collection is open for research. Use 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:
Pietro Lazzari papers, 1878-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
The Walt Kuhn Family papers and Armory Show records measure 31 linear feet and date from 1859 to 1984, with the bulk of material dating from 1900 to 1949. Papers contain records of the legendary Armory Show of 1913, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, which introduced modern European painting and sculpture to the American public. Papers also contain records of the Association of American Painters and Sculptors (AAPS), the artist-run organization that mounted the Armory Show; records of the New York artists' clubs the Kit Kat Club (founded 1881) and the Penguin Club (founded 1917); and the personal and family papers of New York artist Walt Kuhn (1877-1949), one of the primary organizers of the Armory Show.
Scope and Contents note:
The Walt Kuhn Family papers and Armory Show records measure 31 linear feet and date from 1859 to 1984, with the bulk of material dating from 1900 to 1949. Papers contain records of the legendary Armory Show of 1913, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, which introduced modern European painting and sculpture to the American public. Papers also contain records of the Association of American Painters and Sculptors (AAPS), the artist-run organization that mounted the Armory Show; records of the New York artists' clubs the Kit Kat Club (founded 1881) and the Penguin Club (founded 1917); and the personal and family papers of New York artist Walt Kuhn (1877-1949), one of the primary organizers of the Armory Show.
As Secretary for the AAPS, Kuhn retained the bulk of existing records of that organization and of the Armory Show. Minutes and correspondence make up most of the AAPS records (Series 2), as well as documents related to John Quinn's legal brief against a tariff on imported works of living artists. Armory Show Records (Series 1) include personal letters, voluminous business correspondence, a record book, miscellaneous notes, inventories and shipping records, two large scrapbooks, printed materials, a small number of photographs, and retrospective accounts of the show. The printed materials and photographs in Kit Kat Club and Penguin Club Records reflect Kuhn's deep involvement in those clubs.
The Walt Kuhn Family Papers (Series 4) contain records of his artwork, career, travels, personal and professional associations, family members, and work in vaudeville, film, and interior design. Notable among the family papers are illustrated letters and other cartoons; sketches, drawings, watercolors, and prints; candid letters from Walt to Vera Kuhn discussing art scene politics and personalities in New York, Paris, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Florida, and the Midwest; general correspondence with artists, dealers, collectors, journalists, writers, models, and fans; notes in index card files containing biographical anecdotes of the Kuhns' many contacts; provenance files that document the origin and fate of Kuhn's paintings, sculptures, and prints; papers relating to Kuhn's exhibitions and his relationships with the Marie Harriman Gallery and Durand-Ruel Gallery; and photographs and drawings depicting Kuhn's early years in Munich, Germany and Fort Lee, New Jersey; trips to Nova Scotia, New England, the Western United States, and Europe; New York and summer studios, among other subjects.
Arrangement:
This collection has been arranged into 4 series, with multiple subseries in Series 1 and 4.
Missing Title
Series 1: Armory Show Records, 1912-1963 (Boxes 1-2, 27-31, 56, OV 36; 3.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Association of American Painters and Sculptors (AAPS) Records, 1911-1914, undated (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Kit Kat Club and Penguin Club Records, 1909-1923, undated (Box 3, 32, 56, OVs 37-38; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Walt Kuhn Family Papers, 1859-1984, undated (Box 3-26, 32-35, 56-57, OVs 39-55, 58; 26.7 linear feet)
In general, documents are arranged chronologically, alphabetically, or by type of material. Copy negatives and copy prints made from documents in this collection have been filed separately from originals, in a folder marked "copy." Duplicates of original records made or obtained by the Kuhns have been filed separately as well.
Existing envelopes are filed in front of correspondence and enclosures directly after. Correspondence in the Armory Show Records and AAPS Records is arranged alphabetically, and correspondents are listed in the box inventory following series descriptions below.
Biographical/Historical note:
Walt Kuhn (1877-1949) was an etcher, lithographer, and watercolorist, as well as being a teacher, an advisor to art collectors, an organizer, and a promoter of modern art. He played a key role in the art scene of New York City in the early 20th century, and was among the small group that organized the infamous Armory Show of 1913, officially known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, held at the 69th Regiment Armory building in New York City. After the Armory Show, Kuhn went on to a distinguished career as a painter. He was best known for his sober oil portraits of show people, clowns, acrobats, and circus performers, but was equally prolific in landscapes, still lifes, and figure and genre drawings.
Kuhn returned to New York City in 1904 and took up an active role in the art scene there, participating in the Salmagundi Club and the Kit Kat Club, teaching at the New York School of Art, and cartooning for Life, Judge, Puck, and other publications. In 1910, he participated in an exhibition of Independent Artists on 35th St. with Robert Henri and met artist Arthur B. Davies.
In 1911, when the National Academy of Design opened their annual exhibition, Kuhn, Henry Fitch Taylor, Elmer MacRae, and Jerome Myers were exhibiting at Clara Potter Davidge's Madison Gallery. To these four young artists, the Academy exhibition was typically lackluster, and the attention it received was unwarranted. Sensing that they were not alone in their attitude, they decided to organize. They invited a dozen other artists to join them, thus forming the Association of American Painters and Sculptors (AAPS). The group elected Kuhn Secretary and Arthur B. Davies President, and with the help of attorney and art collector John Quinn, they incorporated and began raising funds for an independent exhibition the following year.
In September of 1912, at Davies' suggestion, Kuhn traveled to Cologne, Germany to view the Sonderbund Internationale Kunst-Austellung. There he saw presented, in overwhelming volume, the work of his European contemporaries and their modern antecedents, the post-impressionists. He immediately began selecting and securing artwork for the upcoming AAPS exhibition. Kuhn traveled through Germany, Holland, France, and England, visiting private collectors, dealers, and artists. In Paris, Kuhn was joined by Davies and American artist and art agent Walter Pach. Kuhn and Davies sailed for New York in November, leaving the details of European arrangements to Pach.
The resulting Armory Show exhibition opened in New York in February 1913, and a selection of the foreign works traveled to Chicago and Boston in March and April. It included approximately 1300 American and European works of art, arranged in the exhibition space to advance the notion that the roots of modernism could be seen in the works of the old masters, from which the dramatically new art of living artists had evolved. Savvy and sensational publicity, combined with strategic word-of-mouth, resulted in attendance figures over 200,000 and over $44 thousand in sales. The Armory Show had demonstrated that modern art had a place in the public taste, that there was a market for it and legitimate critical support as well.
During the first World War, Kuhn stayed in NY and was active in the Kit Kat Club, an artists' club founded in 1881, which provided its members with collective studio space, live models, exhibitions, and an annual costume ball. In 1917, Kuhn founded another group called the Penguin Club, which had similar objectives to the Kit Kat Club, but with Kuhn himself as the gatekeeper. In addition to exhibitions and costume balls, the Penguin Club held summer outings and stag dinners, and maintained collective studio and exhibition space on East 15th Street in Manhattan. Its members included Americans and European artists displaced by the war in Europe. In the 1920s, Kuhn expanded a few sketches he had written for Penguin Balls into full-blown vaudeville productions, some of which were incorporated into larger musical revues such as The Merry Go Round and The 49ers and traveled around the country. Kuhn's theater work continued until 1928, and his fascination with show business continued to influence him throughout his life.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Kuhn gradually achieved recognition for his artwork, with sales to private collectors and dealers including Edith Halpert, Merritt Cutler, Lillie Bliss, John Quinn, and Marie Harriman. Kuhn also promoted other young painters whose work he liked, including Otis Oldfield, Lily Emmet Cushing, John Laurent, Frank di Gioia, and the self-taught Vermont artist Patsy Santo. Sometimes artists would contact him by mail, asking for lessons or advice. His lengthy letters to students offer coaching in technique and subject matter, as well as in the overall problem of success in art.
In 1929, Kuhn moved into the 18th St. studio that he would keep until the end of his life. He kept a rack of costumes in the studio, mostly made by Vera Kuhn, and his models, many of them stage and circus performers, would come and sit for Kuhn's portraits. The same year his painting The White Clown was exhibited at the newly established Museum of Modern Art in New York, bringing intense publicity and sales interest. Around this time, Kuhn began to receive the support of collector Duncan Phillips and curator Juliana Force of the Whitney Museum of American Art, both of whom made purchases and consistently exhibited his work.
Marie Norton Whitney Harriman, second wife of railroad magnate and diplomat W. Averell Harriman, shared a professional liaison with Kuhn that would take many forms and last until his death. Soon after the success of The White Clown, Kuhn established a relationship with the Marie Harriman Gallery, where he participated in group and solo shows during the height of his career. Kuhn also traveled with the Harrimans to Europe in 1931, where the three visited important private collections and acquired many valuable modern paintings for the Harrimans. Their collection, so heavily influenced by Kuhn's ideas about art, would eventually go to the National Gallery of Art.
Kuhn was an artist who understood the art business and never shied away from it. For Kuhn, promoting the ideas and practitioners of a certain brand of modernism was an expression of both aesthetic ideology and pragmatic self-interest. His contribution to the public discourse on modernism situated his own work at the heart of art history and the marketplace. Regardless of his motivations, he was indisputably a key player at a pivotal time in American art, when academic art was riotoulsy overturned to make way for modernism. His paintings are now held in major museum collections around the country, where most of them arrived with bequests from the collectors Kuhn had cultivated so carefully in his lifetime.
Sources consulted for this biography include The Story of the Armory Show (1988) by Milton W. Brown, Walt Kuhn, Painter: His Life and Work (1978) by Philip Rhys Adams, and "Walt Kuhn" by Frank Getlein, in the 1967 catalog of the Kennedy Galleries, Inc.
Related Archival Materials note:
The Archives of American Art holds the papers of Walter Pach, the European representative of the Armory Show.
Provenance:
The Walt Kuhn Family papers and Armory Show records were loaned for microfilming and later donated to the Archives of American Art by Walt Kuhn's daughter Brenda Kuhn in several installments between 1962 and 1979. An additional accession of letters, photographs, and an artifact was purchased by the Archives in 2000. Another addition was donated by Terry DeLapp, Kuhn's dealer, in 2015.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Etchers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Watercolorists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Lithographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
2 Microfilm reels (675 items on 2 microfilm reels)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1909-1941
Scope and Contents:
The microfilmed Albert M. Bender papers contain single letters from Joseph Danysh, Maynard Dixon, Julia Morgan, and Georgia O'Keeffe; letters from Gelett Burgess, Judah Leon and Beatrice L. Magnes, Roi and Marian Partridge, Ralph Stackpole, Dorothy Wright Liebes, Oliver St. John Gogarty, and Ansel and Virginia Adams; correspondence with John Henry Nash; letters from Consuela Kanaga and her husband Barry McCarthy, with an album of her photos of Africa; and correspondence with Beniamino Benvenuto Bufano and Virginia Bufano, including financial and printed material. Also included are correspondence with Diego and Frieda Kahlo Rivera, including customs declarations, and photos; correspondence with Joseph and Johanna Raphael, including photos, and miscellany; and letters from Bender's cousin, Anne Bremer, as well as biographical material, writings, photos, sketches, and printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Albert M. Bender (1866-1941) was an art collector and patron in San Francisco, California. He donated collections to several Bay Area institutions including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Mills College Art Museum, and the University of California Berkely Art Museum. Bender also served on the board of organizations such as the California Society of Etchers (now the California Society of Printmakers), California Historical Society, and the San Francisco Symphony.
Related Materials:
Mills College L F.W. Olin Library, Special Collections Department holds the Albert M. Bender Papers, 1920-1941. Stanford University Department of Special Collections holds the Albert M. (Albert Maurice) Bender Papers, 1871-1948.
Provenance:
Microfilmed with other art-related papers in Mills College Library, July 1981.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Art patrons -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Saccaro and Terry St. John, 1974 April 30-November 18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Saccaro, 1964 June 18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection is open for research. 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.
Collection Citation:
Chiura Obata papers, circa 1891-2000. 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 and the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Ankrum Gallery records, circa 1900-circa 1990s, bulk 1960-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund
