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Spiritual Connections through Corn: Chef Rafael Rios’s Farm-to-Food-Truck Cooking

Creator:
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this
Type:
Blog posts
Smithsonian staff publications
Interviews
Blog posts
Published Date:
Mon, 25 Sep 2023 17:41:00 GMT
Topic:
Cultural property  Search this
See more posts:
Festival Blog
Data Source:
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:posts_a41ccdd0e353938714bb5ada3c1f25fc

Ask a Farmer: Family Farms, Family History

Creator:
National Museum of American History  Search this
Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2016-10-25T18:48:15.000Z
YouTube Category:
Education  Search this
Topic:
American History  Search this
See more by:
SmithsonianAmHistory
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
YouTube Channel:
SmithsonianAmHistory
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:yt_5GTcia3N-J4

Robert Sperry papers, 1951-2002

Creator:
Sperry, Robert H., 1927-1998  Search this
Subject:
Warashina, Patti  Search this
University of Washington  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Type:
Motion pictures (visual works)
Transcripts
Interviews
Sketches
Drawings
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Videotapes
Citation:
Robert Sperry papers, 1951-2002. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Works of art  Search this
Filmmakers  Search this
Potters -- Japan  Search this
Ceramicists -- Washington (State)  Search this
Ceramics -- Study and teaching  Search this
Theme:
Craft  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)11125
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)247192
AAA_collcode_sperrobe
Theme:
Craft
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_247192
Online Media:

Robert Sperry papers

Creator:
Sperry, Robert, 1927-1998  Search this
Names:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
University of Washington -- Faculty  Search this
Warashina, Patti, 1940-  Search this
Extent:
13.6 Linear feet
0.907 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Motion pictures (visual works)
Transcripts
Interviews
Sketches
Drawings
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Videotapes
Date:
1951-2002
Summary:
The papers of ceramicist Robert Sperry measure 13.6 linear feet and 0.907 GB and date from 1951-2002. The collection documents Sperry's career as an artist, teacher, and filmmaker through biographical information, correspondence, exhibition files, gallery files, material on projects and workshops, writings, a scrapbook, financial files, printed and digital material, photographs, moving image materials, and artwork.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of ceramicist Robert Sperry measure 13.6 linear feet and 0.907 GB and date from 1951-2002. The collection documents Sperry's career as an artist and teacher through biographical information, correspondence, exhibition files, gallery files, material on projects and workshops, writings, a scrapbook, financial files, printed and digital material, photographs, video recordings, films, and artwork.

Biographical files contain items outlining Sperry's career including resumes, teaching evaluations, awards, and interviews. Correspondence includes general correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, schools, galleries, art organizations, and publications as well as named files for those with whom Sperry exchanged a significant amount of correspondence over a long period of time. The Exhibition Files contain materials on group and solo exhibitions Robert Sperry participated in, while Gallery Files hold material, such as correspondence and contracts, related to the galleries which exhibited Sperry's work primarily after 1979. The Project and Workshop Files in Series 5 contain material related to public commissions he completed and workshops he gave during the 1980s and 1990s.

Writings encompass writings by Sperry and others. Sperry's writings vary greatly and include drafts of articles, a family history, poetry, notes and a screenplay, while writings by others are primarily essays on art. Within this series Sperry's event calendars are also found. Sperry compiled a scrapbook which spans 1955 to 1964 and includes correspondence and printed material about exhibitions and newspaper clippings which feature his artwork. He and his wife, Patti Warashina, also compiled Financial Records primarily of their business and living expenses from 1976 to 1984 and earnings as artists and professors at the University of Washington.

The largest series in this collection, Printed Material, provides information largely on Sperry's career through press clippings, exhibition announcements, catalogs, and publications, and also includes other materials on ceramics in general. The Photographs series contains both photos and negatives from Sperry's trip to Japan to film "Village Potters of Onda" as well as photographs of his artwork and his family. Also found in this collection are a few sketches and drawings by Sperry and one drawing by Patti Warashina. Moving image material includes video recordings and motion picture film with a wide range of content, including documentaries about Sperry, studio footage, and experimental and narrative films created by Sperry in a range of styles and genres, including animation such as the animated film "Henry," hand colored film, live action footage, abstract design, and narrative short films by Sperry. There are digital research copies of some of the films.
Arrangement:
The Robert Sperry papers are arranged as thirteen series, according to type of material. Each series is arranged either in rough chronological or alphabetical order.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Files, 1954-circa 2000, undated (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence Files, 1951-2000, undated (Boxes 1-2; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1963-1999, undated (Boxes 2-3; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Gallery Files, 1960-2000, undated (Boxes 3-4; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 5: Project and Workshop Files, 1967-1996, undated (Box 4; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 6: Writings, 1966-1990, undated (Box 5; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 7: Scrapbook, 1955-1964 (Box 5; 8 folders)

Series 8: Financial Records, 1961-1995, undated (Boxes 5-6; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 9: Miscellaneous Subject Files, 1975-1998, undated (Box 6; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 10: Printed Material, 1955-2002, undated (Boxes 6-10; 3.4 linear feet)

Series 11: Photographs, 1963, undated (Box 10; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 12: Sketches and Drawings, 1984, undated (Box 10; 2 folders)

Series 13: Moving Image Material, circa 1962-1998, undated (Boxes 10-12, FC 13-18; 3.1 linear feet, ER01; 0.907 GB)
Biographical Note:
Robert Sperry was born in Bushnell, Illinois, in 1927. He grew up on his family's farm in Druid, Saskatchewan, Canada, and in 1945 was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he first developed an interest in art. After serving in the military, he returned home and completed his B.A. at the University of Saskatchewan in 1950 and a B.F.A. at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953. While working on his B.A. he met and married Edyth MacDonald and they had one child, Van, in 1950. Sperry spent one summer as Artist in Residence at the Archie Bray Foundation, in Helena, Montana, and then moved his family to Seattle so that he could complete his M.F.A. at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1955 he stayed at the University and became a professor, teaching ceramics until retiring in 1982. During this time, Sperry widely exhibited his clay vessels in both group and solo exhibitions and was active in the American Craft Council.

When not teaching, Robert Sperry pursued his interest in photography and filmmaking and, in 1963, traveled to Japan to make "Village Potters of Onda," a project that included a documentary film and a collection of black and white photographs. Sperry continued experimenting with film and, in 1967, created a fictional film entitled, "Profiles Cast Long Shadows," which was shown at film festivals throughout the United States. After abandoning another film project in 1970 while going through a divorce, he returned to ceramics as his focus. During the 1970s Sperry developed his techniques, modifying glazes and moving away from the vessel shape. In 1976 Sperry married Patti Warashina, fellow ceramicist and professor at the University of Washington. He began producing murals, which led to several public commissions such as a mural for the IBM Field Engineering Educational Center in Atlanta, created in 1983. Robert Sperry: A Retrospective, was exhibited in 1985-1986 at the Bellevue Art Museum, however, Sperry would continue producing and exhibiting new work, and giving lectures and workshops for thirteen more years, until his death in 1998.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Patti Warashina papers, circa 1900-1991. An online finding aid is available.
Provenance:
The Robert Sperry papers were donated by Sperry's wife Patti Warashina in 2003 and 2004.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use 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:
Works of art  Search this
Filmmakers  Search this
Potters -- Japan  Search this
Ceramicists -- Washington (State)  Search this
Ceramics -- Study and teaching  Search this
Genre/Form:
Motion pictures (visual works)
Transcripts
Interviews
Sketches
Drawings
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Videotapes
Citation:
Robert Sperry papers, 1951-2002. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.sperrobe
See more items in:
Robert Sperry papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw996719c7b-4712-4e46-99b6-a86400daf28b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-sperrobe

Capturing Carbon

Creator:
National Museum of Natural History  Search this
Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2019-07-29T02:57:28.000Z
YouTube Category:
Education  Search this
Topic:
Natural History  Search this
See more by:
smithsonianNMNH
Data Source:
National Museum of Natural History
YouTube Channel:
smithsonianNMNH
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:yt_7zd7MwSF74o

Middletown -- Tuller Tract

Landscape architect:
Furlong, Ethelbert Ely, d. 1993  Search this
Provenance:
Rumson Garden Club  Search this
Collection Creator:
Garden Club of America  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Place:
Tuller Tract (Lincroft, New Jersey)
United States of America -- New Jersey -- Monmouth County -- Middletown -- Lincroft
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes a work sheet; copy of landscape plan; and plant list by Ethelbert Furlong.
General:
Originally a large family farm, the property was subdivided in the 1940s by Tuller Construction Company. Ethelbert Furlong's planting list specifies "House No. 4/Red Bank, New Jersey." Curved naturalistic borders surround three sides of the rectangular lot. A formal square boxwood and flower parterre was placed to one side of the house. It is unclear whether or not the owners faithfully executed the plan.
Person(s) associated with the property include: Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Tuller (former owners 1942- ?) and Ethelbert Furlong (landscape architect).
Related Materials:
Tuller Tract related holdings consist of 1 folder (4 35 mm. slides)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- New Jersey -- Lincroft  Search this
Parterres  Search this
Formal gardens  Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Identifier:
AAG.GCA, File NJ490
See more items in:
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / New Jersey
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb67d55881e-54ac-45a3-90b4-d782a8e474e2
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref20110

Bedford -- Marble Garden

Collection Creator:
Garden Club of America  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Biographical / Historical:
Delia West Marble (1868-1951) was active in many civic projects through women's clubs such as The Garden Club of America and Bedford Garden Club. She teamed up with Dr. Ida Ogilvie of Barnard College in 1917 to open the Women's Agricultural Camp on Marble's family farm, also located in New Bedford, New York. Together, Marble and Ogilvie recruited and trained women during World War I to work on farms, drive tractors and plow fields to prevent food shortages as more and more male farm laborers enlisted to fight overseas. The training camp became the model for the Women's Land Army which developed into a national movement, mobilizing 20,000 rural and city 'farmerettes' between 1917 and 1919. These farmerettes broke the societal expectations for women at the time and proved that women could do the same job that a man could do.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Identifier:
AAG.GCA, File NY061
See more items in:
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / New York
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6d32f8019-4261-4c7c-9fdb-f20e5ffa7937
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref26718

Rye -- Bird Homestead

Provenance:
Garden Club of Rye  Search this
Former owner:
Bird, Henry  Search this
Erikson, Alice Bird  Search this
Landscape architect:
Erikson, Alice Bird  Search this
Collection Creator:
Garden Club of America  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Place:
Bird Homestead (Rye, New York)
United States of America -- New York -- Westchester -- Rye
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets and photocopies of articles.
General:
Located on the banks of the tidal Blind Brook estuary, lined with salt marshes, Bird Homestead was the home of Henry Bird (1869-1959), a prominent entomologist and president of the New York Entomological Society who specialized in the study of moths. The landscape and garden was of a modest size and represents a unique combination of a small self-sufficient farm with ornamental perennial beds, shrubs, and roses plus fruit trees that combined both beauty and utility, along with specific plants grown for entomological research. The Greek revival style house, outbuildings, picket fence and stonewall all date to the 19th century, a rarity on Westchester County's Long Island Sound Shore.
The garden features date primarily from the 1920s and 1940s, with additions in 2012 for educational purposes. The Bouton-Bird Erikson family owned the property for five generations from 1852-2009. The non-profit Bird Homestead Preservatio trust now operates the property as a historic, environmental, and educational site.
The Greek revival style house built in the 19th century, white oak trees shading the house, the remains of earlier gardens, and outbuildings including a barn, a workshop and chicken coop. The small family farm was self-sufficient until well into the 20th century, raising chickens and growing fruits and vegetables. The property is being restored by the Bird Homestead Preservation Trust and is used to teach children about the natural environment including organic gardening in four raised beds on the site of an earlier large cold frame. A cedar arbor for grape vines was recently hoisted back to stand vertically in the garden after many years of leaning at a severe angle. Surviving shrubs near the house include lilac, wisteria, roses, azalea, mock orange and beautybushes, and a bed of ferns is undisturbed by neglect for many years.
Henry Bird encouraged the use of beneficial insects in the garden rather than spraying pesticides and maintained a small garden area with plants that would attract the insects he wanted to study. Bird also was a proponent of native plants and established a large natives garden at 'Bye-Wood' on the Mr. and Mrs. William J. Knapp estate, which led him to write "A Proposed Type of American Garden" with Louise Allen Knapp, published in 1929 in ASLA's "Landscape Architecture" journal. Daughter Alice Bird Erikson (1903-1993) was an artist and trained as a landscape architect at the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture. In 1942 she illustrated Trees of the Countryside (Alfred A. Knopf) by Margaret McKenny, who had been a classmate.
Persons associated with the garden include Henry Bird (former owner, 1959), Alice Bird Erikson (former owner and landscape architect, 1903-1994); City of Rye, New York (2009- ).
Related Materials:
Bird Homestead related holdings consist of 1 folder (24 digital images)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- New York -- Rye  Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Identifier:
AAG.GCA, File NY873
See more items in:
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / New York
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6d79386ff-6e30-4e1b-8aaf-99adb384c45e
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref30065

Ridgeland -- Fox Hollow

Architect:
Jones, Al  Search this
Landscape architect:
Moore, Overton  Search this
Poore, Robert F.  Search this
Provenance:
The Garden Club of Jackson  Search this
Collection Creator:
Garden Club of America  Search this
Extent:
1 Folder (11 photographic prints; 23 digital images)
Type:
Archival materials
Digital images
Place:
Fox Hollow (Ridgeland, Mississippi)
United States of America -- Mississippi -- Madison -- Ridgeland
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets and an articles.
General:
Fox Hollow was once approximately ten acres of undeveloped pastureland with a 200 year old southern red oak and an upward incline toward a wooded ravine. It was transformed into a garden with a collection of plants supporting pollinators and wildlife. After purchase in 1991 the owners planted 50 trees near the public road for privacy, including loblolly pine, magnolia, beech, cedar, dawn redwood, hickory, cypress, oaks, tulip poplar, ash, and several sugar maples transplanted from a family farm in Virginia. Their Louisiana Acadian style house was built by 1997 and is now surrounded by formal gardens with iron and lead decorative features from former family farms and gardens; these include a cottage garden, a white garden, and a Louisiana style courtyard with a three tiered iron fountain in the center. The walkways and edgings of the beds are brick while the uneven pickets of the wooden fences are in the Louisiana style. The bordering flower beds include wintergreen boxwood hedges, wax myrtle, pale pink camellias, aspidistra, and monkey grass; large clay pots in the courtyard hold annuals like dianthus, pansies and snapdragons in fall and winter and begonias in spring and summer.
The next areas to be planted were a large lawn, multi-level woodland garden, and a cutting garden. The lawn is edged with hundreds of passalong daffodils and trees that include flowering cherry, apricot, plum, magnolias, gingko, persimmon, maples, and tupelo. The one acre woodland garden was once an eroded forest floor of pine needles, leaves, beauty berry, privet, honeysuckle and poison ivy. Gravel paths, rugged stone creek beds and plantings of passalongs or end-of-season purchased plants have stopped erosion in the ravines. On a ridge about half way down the 20 foot drop of the ravine they have created a seating area with a fire pit surrounded by trees, flowering evergreen bushes, ferns, grasses, hostas, hydrangeas, and azaleas. Paths through the ravine are shaded by trees that were planted and enlivened by the colors of bulbs, perennials, seasonal plantings and flowering shrubs.
The cutting garden is set on low mounds that look down on the house. Flowering trees and bushes include kousa dogwood, snowball viburnum, magnolia, spirea, and butterfly bushes. In the flower beds there are old fashioned butterfly weed, iris, varieties of rudbeckias, phlox, daisies, and coreopsis as well as agapanthus, anemones, larkspur, zinnias, cosmos and chartreuse potato vines, daylilies and coleus. The mild climate means that cutting materials can be grown for three seasons, and trees add texture, height and color year round.
Persons associated with the garden include: Al Jones (architect, 1991-1997); Overton Moore (landscape architect, 1996-1998); and Robert F. Poore (landscape architect, 2010).
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Mississippi -- Ridgeland.  Search this
Genre/Form:
Digital images
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Identifier:
AAG.GCA, File MS067000
See more items in:
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Mississippi
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb637e9c838-9825-42b6-a77d-93ab9be296dd
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref9430

John Steuart Curry and Curry family papers

Creator:
Curry, John Steuart, 1897-1946  Search this
Names:
Curry, Kathleen, 1899-  Search this
Extent:
10.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Photographs
Sketches
Interviews
Date:
1848-1999
Summary:
The papers of painter, muralist, and illustrator John Steuart Curry, and Curry family papers, measure 10.1 linear feet and date from 1848 to 1999. Papers document his career and family history through certificates, correspondence, photographs, clippings, contracts, receipts, inventories, writings, notes, and other materials. The papers contain particularly rich documentation of Curry's period as artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin, from 1936 to 1946. Mural projects in Kansas, Washington, DC, and Wisconsin are also documented.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter, muralist, and illustrator John Steuart Curry, and Curry family papers, measure 10.1 linear feet and date from 1848 to 1999. Papers document his career and family history through certificates, correspondence, photographs, clippings, contracts, receipts, inventories, writings, notes, and other materials. The papers contain particularly rich documentation of Curry's period as artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin, from 1936 to 1946. Mural projects in Kansas, Washington, DC, and Wisconsin are also documented.

Biographical Materials include chronologies, biographical narratives, genealogical notes, certificates and awards, and other ephemera related to Curry and his family. Family Correspondence includes the earliest records created by Curry himself, including letters home from art school and from the East Coast during his early career.

Correspondence and Project files document mural projects, appearances, gallery relationships, and other activities from the early 1930s until his death in 1946 with correspondence, photographs, clippings, contracts, writings, and other miscellany. Subject files include pictorial reference and research files created by Curry for subjects depicted in his murals and paintings. Curry's writings include essays, lectures, interviews, and notes related to his technical and philosophical approach to art, as well as notes from his various travels, and essays by others about Curry. Personal Business Records contain records of artwork, business transactions, and personal finances.

Print Materials include print copies of published artwork by Curry, including magazine illustrations from Curry's early career. Extensive clippings, exhibition catalogs, and a scrapbook created by Curry as a youth are also found. Photographs depict Curry throughout his life in formal portraits, candid snapshots, and publicity photographs, with a significant number of photographs depicting Curry creating and posing with his artwork. The Artwork series contains a few sketches by Curry and seven canvases used for testing art materials. Additional sketches are found in Subject Files and scrapbooks.

Estate Papers contain materials dated after Curry's death in 1946 and mainly document the activities of Kathleen Curry in managing her husband's estate from 1946 until her death in 2001. Estate papers contain writings about Curry, correspondence, inventories of artwork, and alphabetical files documenting sales, exhibitions, and other projects.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into ten series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1911-1993 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Family Correspondence, 1916-1946 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Correspondence and Project Files, 1928-1946 (Boxes 1-3, OV 11; 2.3 linear feet)

Series 4: Subject Files, 1848-1946 (Boxes 3-4, OV 11-12; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 5: Notes and Writings, circa 1911-1946 (Box 4; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1916-1952 (Box 4, OV 13; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Print Materials, 1918-1985 (Boxes 4-5, 10; OV 12-13; 1.6 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1900-1998 (Boxes 5-6, OV 14; 1.1 linear feet)

Series 9: Artwork, 1941, undated (Box 7, OV 12, 14, 15; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 10: Estate Papers, circa 1946-1999 (Boxes 7-9 and rolled document; 2.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Painter, muralist, and illustrator John Steuart Curry is considered one of the three important painters of the American Regionalist movement, along with Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri and Grant Wood of Iowa. Curry was born in north-eastern Kansas in 1897, and grew up on his family's farm. Curry left high school to attend the Kansas City Art Institute briefly, and then studied at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1916 with Edward J. Timmons and John Norton. Curry later spent a year in Paris studying with Basil Schoukhaieff in 1926 and 1927.

Curry began his career as a freelance illustrator in Leonia, New Jersey, under the influence of Harvey Dunn. Curry's illustrations were widely published in illustrated magazines such as Boy's Life, Country Gentleman, and Saturday Evening Post in the early 1920s. He married Clara Derrick in 1923 and lived in Greenwich Village, and then Westport, Connecticut, from 1924 to 1936. Derrick died in 1932, and in 1934 Curry married Kathleen Gould.

Curry's career shifted from illustration to painting during the 1920s and 1930s, bolstered by success in exhibitions and sales. Exhibits included the National Academy of Design (1924), the Corcoran Gallery (1927-1928), a solo exhibition at the Whitney Studio Club (1930), and the Carnegie International Exhibition (1933). Early sales include Baptism in Kansas, purchased by the Whitney in 1930, and Spring Shower, purchased by the Metropolitan Museum in 1932. Curry taught at Cooper Union (1932-1934) and the Art Student's League (1932-1934), and painted his first murals in Westport under the Federal Art Project in 1934.

In 1936, he was appointed artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture as part of a rural art program developed by rural sociologist John Burton. The purpose of his residency was to serve as an educational resource for rural people of the state. Curry stayed in this position until his death in 1946, carrying out the program's mission through lectures and visits with dozens of art and civic groups around the state, and by making himself available to rural artists through correspondence and guidance in his studio. He also helped to organize annual rural art exhibitions for UW's Farm and Home Week beginning in 1940. In return for his work, he was given a salary and a studio on campus and the freedom to execute his own work as he chose.

Under the Federal Art Program's Section of Painting and Sculpture, Curry completed two murals in the Justice Department building in Washington in 1936, Westward Migration and Justice Defeating Mob Violence, and two murals in the Department of the Interior building in 1938, The Homestead and The Oklahoma Land Rush. A design that was rejected by the government for the Justice building, a mural entitled Freeing of the Slaves, was later executed at the University of Wisconsin in their law library. From 1938 to 1940, Curry worked on murals for the state house rotunda in Topeka, Kansas admist a stormy, public controversy over his dramatic depiction of Kansas history. The legislature effectively blocked Curry's completion of the project through a formal resolution not to remove marble that was blocking areas that were part of Curry's design. Infuriated, Curry left the unfinished murals unsigned, and later derided the state frequently for the treatment he received. The Kansas State legislature issued a formal apology and appreciation of the completed murals in the 1990s.

Despite the lack of appreciation of his home state, Curry did receive recognition elsewhere during his lifetime as an artist of national importance. He continued to paint and exhibit in the art centers of the East Coast. In 1941, he won the Gold Medal Award at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts exhibition, and in the 1942 Artists For Victory exhibition, he won the top prize for Wisconsin Landscape. Curry's book illustrations were in high demand, and he contributed to books such as My Friend Flicka, editions of Lincoln's and Emerson's writings, and Wisconsin writer August Derleth's The Wisconsin. A biography of Curry written by Laurence Schmeckebier was published in 1942.

Curry died in 1946 of heart failure. A retrospective that had been planned for the living artist opened less than a month after his death at the Milwaukee Art Institute. His wife, Kathleen Curry, maintained his estate until her death, in 2001, at the age of 102. Additional retrospective exhibitions were held at Syracuse University in 1956 and in the Kansas State Capitol in 1970. In 1998, the exhibition "John Steuart Curry: Inventing the Middle West" was organized at the University of Wisconsin and traveled to the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum and the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art.
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art holds an oral history interview with Kathleen Curry regarding John Steuart Curry conducted in 1990 and 1992.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 164-168 and 4574-4576) including 98 sketchbooks, 1919-1942; a ledger, 1938-1946, of expenses with four loose letters to John Steuart Curry in Italian and Spanish; a notebook, 1932-1938, titled "Account and records of works, etc."; a journal, undated, of drafts of poems, and approximately 50 sketches. Loaned materials were returned to the lender some of which were subsequently donated to the Worcester Museum of Art in Worcester, Massachusetts. This material is not described in the collection container inventory.

John Steuart Curry memorabilia received with the Kathleen Curry's donation in 1979 (baby cup, baby dress, overalls, medals, paint box, watercolor box, 2 photographs) were transferred to the Spencer Museum of Art in 1985.
Provenance:
John Steuart Curry's widow, Kathleen Curry, lent materials on reels 164-168 for microfilming in 1971. In 1979, she subsequently donated portions of the material lent, along with additional items, some of which were transferred to Spencer Museum of Art. In 1972, Mildred Curry Fike, John Steuart Curry's sister, gave material and R. Eugene Curry, a brother, donated more material in 1975 and 1993. Ellen Schuster, John Steuart Curry's daughter, donated the home movies in 1973 and Daniel Schuster, John Steuart Curry's son-in-law, gave additional papers in 1991 in 1992, 1995, and 1999. In 1992, 1999 and 2000, additions were received from Kathleen Curry that may contain material previously filmed as a loan on reels 164-168.
Restrictions:
The bulk of the collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. Access to undigitized portions requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- Wisconsin  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Art -- Technique  Search this
Works of art  Search this
Regionalism  Search this
Muralists -- Wisconsin  Search this
Illustrators -- Wisconsin  Search this
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Photographs
Sketches
Interviews
Citation:
John Steuart Curry and Curry family papers, 1900-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.currjohn
See more items in:
John Steuart Curry and Curry family papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9943b22b6-7e9f-4538-b0aa-808dbe459e9d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-currjohn
Online Media:

Pure, Abject Curiosity

Creator:
Smithsonian Education  Search this
Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2011-03-22T17:32:35.000Z
YouTube Category:
Science & Technology  Search this
Topic:
Education  Search this
See more by:
SmithsonianEducation
Data Source:
Smithsonian Education
YouTube Channel:
SmithsonianEducation
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:yt_iTt12UxnUvY

Living Earth Symposium 2 - Clayton Brascoupe

Creator:
National Museum of the American Indian  Search this
Type:
Symposia
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2015-07-21T20:50:31.000Z
YouTube Category:
Education  Search this
Topic:
Native Americans;American Indians  Search this
See more by:
SmithsonianNMAI
Data Source:
National Museum of the American Indian
YouTube Channel:
SmithsonianNMAI
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:yt_qj_PZpwq5Gc

John Steuart Curry and Curry family papers, 1848-1999

Creator:
Curry, John Steuart, 1897-1946  Search this
Subject:
Curry, Kathleen  Search this
Type:
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Photographs
Sketches
Interviews
Citation:
John Steuart Curry and Curry family papers, 1848-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Art -- Technique  Search this
Works of art  Search this
Regionalism  Search this
Muralists -- Wisconsin  Search this
Illustrators -- Wisconsin  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)9459
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211657
AAA_collcode_currjohn
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211657
Online Media:

[Sketchbook] [graphic] / Winkworth Allan Gay, 1846

Creator:
Gay, Winckworth Allan, 1821-1910  Search this
Type:
Sketchbooks
Place:
Boston (Mass.) -- Pictorial works
Massachusetts -- Description and travel -- Pictorial works
Citation:
[Sketchbook] [graphic] / Winkworth Allan Gay, 1846. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6487
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215677
AAA_collcode_gaywinca
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_215677

Helen Weinrich Knaths photograph album, 1879-1976

Creator:
Knaths, Helen Weinrich, 1876 or 7-1978  Search this
Subject:
Knaths, Helen Weinrich  Search this
Weinrich, Agnes  Search this
Knaths, Karl  Search this
Art Institute of Chicago. School  Search this
Citation:
Helen Weinrich Knaths photograph album, 1879-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6047
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)216015
AAA_collcode_knathele
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_216015

Living Earth Festival 2018: Day 2 Panel Discussion

Creator:
National Museum of the American Indian  Search this
Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2018-08-01T19:56:00.000Z
YouTube Category:
Education  Search this
Topic:
Native Americans;American Indians  Search this
See more by:
SmithsonianNMAI
Data Source:
National Museum of the American Indian
YouTube Channel:
SmithsonianNMAI
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:yt_7N-i0Tq6hzU

America Aguilas Cap

Physical Description:
wool, acrylic (overall material)
Measurements:
overall: 15 cm x 18 cm x 23 cm; 5 29/32 in x 7 3/32 in x 9 1/16 in
Object Name:
cap
Place used:
United States: California, Santa Maria
Associated Place:
United States: California
Date made:
ca 2010
Credit Line:
Gift of Monica Camacho Ramirez
ID Number:
2018.0256.2
Accession number:
2018.0256
Catalog number:
2018.0256.2
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Agriculture
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b4-7acc-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1904641
Online Media:

Green Bandana

Physical Description:
cotton (overall material)
green; white; black (overall color)
square (flat); triangle (folded) (overall shape)
Measurements:
overall: 49 cm x 47.5 cm x 1 cm; 19 9/32 in x 18 11/16 in x 13/32 in
Object Name:
bandana
Place used:
United States: California, Santa Maria
Associated Place:
United States: California
Date made:
ca 2010
Credit Line:
Gift of Monica Camacho Ramirez
ID Number:
2018.0256.3
Accession number:
2018.0256
Catalog number:
2018.0256.3
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Agriculture
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b4-7acd-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1904643
Online Media:

Mexican Flag Bandana

Physical Description:
cotton (overall material)
red; white; green; yellow; brown (overall color)
square (flat); triangle (folded) (overall shape)
Measurements:
overall: 25 cm x 52 cm x 1 cm; 9 27/32 in x 20 15/32 in x 13/32 in
Object Name:
bandana
flag
Place used:
United States: California, Santa Maria
Associated Place:
United States: California
Date made:
ca 2010
Credit Line:
Gift of Monica Camacho Ramirez
ID Number:
2018.0256.8
Catalog number:
2018.0256.8
Accession number:
2018.0256
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Agriculture
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b4-7ad2-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1904656
Online Media:

Henry Varnum Poor papers

Creator:
Poor, Henry Varnum, 1887-1970  Search this
Names:
Montross Gallery  Search this
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture  Search this
Benton, William, 1900-1973  Search this
Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this
Billing, Jules  Search this
Burchfield, Charles Ephraim, 1893-1967  Search this
Caniff, Milton Arthur, 1907-1988  Search this
Ciardi, John, 1916-  Search this
Czebotar, Theodore  Search this
Deming, MacDonald  Search this
Dickson, Harold E., 1900-  Search this
Dorn, Marion, 1896-1964  Search this
Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this
Esherick, Wharton  Search this
Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973  Search this
Garrett, Alice Warder  Search this
Houseman, John, 1902-1988  Search this
Marston, Muktuk  Search this
Meredith, Burgess, 1907-1997  Search this
Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990  Search this
Padro, Isabel  Search this
Poor, Anne, 1918-  Search this
Poor, Bessie Breuer  Search this
Poor, Eva  Search this
Poor, Josephine Graham  Search this
Poor, Josephine Lydia  Search this
Poor, Peter  Search this
Sargent, Elizabeth S.  Search this
Smith, David, 1906-1965  Search this
Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968  Search this
Watson, Ernest William, 1884-1969  Search this
Extent:
12.9 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Motion pictures (visual works)
Diaries
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Date:
1873-2001
bulk 1904-1970
Summary:
The papers of Henry Varnum Poor measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1873-2001, with the bulk from the period 1904-1970. Correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material and photographs document Poor's work as a painter, muralist, ceramic artist and potter, architect, designer, writer, war artist, educator and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is extensive information about the design and construction of Crow House, his home in New City, New York, commissions for other architectural projects, and his personal life.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Henry Varnum Poor measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1873-2001, with the bulk from the period 1904-1970. Correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material and photographs document Poor's work as a painter, muralist, ceramic artist and potter, architect, designer, writer, war artist, educator and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is extensive information about the design and construction of Crow House, his home in New City, New York, commissions for other architectural projects, and his personal life.

Henry Varnum Poor's correspondence documents his personal, family, and professional life. Correspondents include family and friends, among them George Biddle, Charles Burchfield, John Ciardi, Marion V. Dorn (who became his second wife), Philip Evergood, Lewis Mumford, John Steinbeck, David Smith, and Mrs. John Work (Alice) Garrett. Among other correspondents are galleries, museums, schools, organizations, fans, former students, and acquaintances from his military service and travels. Family correspondence consists of Henry's letters to his parents, letters to his parents written by his wife, and letters among other family members.

Among the writings by Henry Varnum Poor are manuscripts of his two published books, An Artist Sees Alaska and A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality. as well as the text of "Painting is Being Talked to Death," published in the first issue of Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions, April 1953, and manuscripts of other articles. There are also film scripts, two journals, notes and notebooks, lists, speeches, and writings by others, including M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston's account of Poor rescuing an Eskimo, and Bessie Breuer Poor's recollections of The Montross Gallery.

Subject files include those on the Advisory Committee on Art, American Designers' Gallery, Inc., William Benton, Harold Dickson, Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions Sales, and War Posters. There are numerous administrative files for the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Artwork by Henry Varnum Poor consists mainly of loose drawings and sketches and 45 sketchbooks of studies for paintings, murals, and pottery. There is work done in France, 1918-1919, and while working as a war correspondent in Alaska in 1943. There are commissioned illustrations and some intended for his monograph, A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality. Also found are a small number of watercolors and prints. Work by other artists consist of Anne Poor's drawings of her father's hands used for the Lincoln figure in The Land Grant Frescoes and interior views of Crow House by Ernest Watson.

Documentation of Poor's architectural projects consists of drawings and prints relating to houses designed and built for Jules Billing, MacDonald Deming, John Houseman, Burgess Meredith, Isabel Padro, and Elizabeth S. Sargent. Also found is similar material for the new studio Poor built in 1957 on the grounds of Crow House.

Miscellaneous records include family memorabilia and two motion picture films, Painting a True Fresco, and The Land Grant Murals at Pennsylvania State College.

Printed material includes articles about or mentioning Poor, some of his pottery reference books, family history, a catalog of kilns, and the program of a 1949 Pennsylvania State College theater production titled Poor Mr. Varnum. Exhibition catalogs and announcements survive for some of Poor's shows; catalogs of other artists' shows include one for Theodore Czebotar containing an introductory statement by Henry Varnum Poor. Also found is a copy of The Army at War: A Graphic Record by American Artists, for which Poor served as an advisor. There are reproductions of illustrations for An Artist Sees Alaska and Ethan Frome, and two Associated American Artists greeting cards reproducing work by Poor.

Photographs are of Henry Varnum Poor's architectural work, artwork, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects. This series also contains negatives, slides, and transparencies. Images of architectural work include exterior and interior views of many projects; Poor's home, Crow House, predominates. Photographs of artwork by Poor are of drawings, fresco and ceramic tile murals, paintings, pottery and ceramic art. People appearing in photographs include Henry Varnum Poor, family members, friends, clients, juries, students, and various groups. Among the individuals portrayed are Milton Caniff, Marcel Duchamp, Wharton Esherick, M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston, and Burgess Meredith. Among the family members are Bessie Breuer Poor, Marion Dorn Poor, Anne Poor, Eva Poor, Josephine Graham Poor, Josephine Lydia Poor, Peter Poor, and unidentified relatives. Photographs of places include many illustrating village life in Alaska that were taken by Poor during World War II. Other places recorded are French and California landscapes, and family homes in Kansas. Miscellaneous subjects are exhibition installation views, scenes of Kentucky farms, and a photograph of Poor's notes on glazes.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1919-1987 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, OV 18)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1873-1985 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1944-1974 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 4: Subject Files, 1928-1975 (0.8 linear feet; Box 3, OV 23)

Series 5: Artwork, circa 1890s-circa 1961 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, 9-10, OV 19-22)

Series 6: Architectural Projects, circa 1940-1966 (0.7 linear feet; Box 6, OV 24-26, RD 14-17)

Series 7: Miscellaneous Records, 1882-1967 (Boxes 6, 11, FC 30-31; 0.5 linear ft.)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1881-2001 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 11, OV 27-29)

Series 9: Photographs, 1893-1984 (2.3 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 12-13)
Biographical Note:
Henry Varnum Poor (1888-1970), best known as a potter, ceramic artist, and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, was also an architect, painter, muralist, designer, educator, and writer who lived and worked in New City, New York.

A native of Chapman, Kansas, Henry Varnum Poor moved with his family to Kansas City when his grain merchant father became a member of the Kansas Board of Trade. From a young age he showed artistic talent and spent as much time as possible - including school hours - drawing. When a school supervisor suggested that Henry leave school to study at the Art Institute of Chicago, the family disagreed. Instead, he enrolled in the Kansas City Manual Training High School where he delighted in learning skills such as carpentry, forge work, and mechanical drawing. In 1905, he moved with his older brother and sister to Palo Alto, California and completed high school there. Because Poor was expected to join the family business, he enrolled at Stanford University as an economics major, but much to his father's disappointment and displeasure, soon left the economics department and became an art major.

Immediately after graduation in 1910, Poor and his major professor at Stanford, Arthur B. Clark, took a summer bicycling tour to look at art in London, France, Italy, and Holland. As Poor had saved enough money to remain in London after the summer was over, he enrolled in the Slade School of Art and also studied under Walter Sickert at the London County Council Night School. After seeing an exhibition of Post-Impressionism at the Grafton Galleries in London, Poor was so impressed that he went to Paris and enrolled in the Académie Julian. While in Paris, Poor met Clifford Addams, a former apprentice of Whistler; soon he was working in Addams' studio learning Whistler's palette and techniques.

In the fall of 1911, Poor returned to Stanford University's art department on a one-year teaching assignment. During that academic year, his first one-man show was held at the university's Old Studio gallery. He married Lena Wiltz and moved back to Kansas to manage the family farm and prepare for another exhibition. Their daughter, Josephine Lydia Poor, was born the following year. Poor returned to Stanford in September 1913 as assistant professor of graphic arts, remaining until the department closed three years later. During this period, Poor began to exhibit more frequently in group shows in other areas of the country, and had his first solo exhibition at a commercial gallery (Helgesen Gallery, San Francisco). In 1916, Poor joined the faculty of the San Francisco Art Association. He and his wife separated in 1917 and were divorced the following year. Poor began sharing his San Francisco studio with Marion Dorn.

During World War I, Poor was drafted into the U. S. Army, and in 1918 went to France with the 115th Regiment of Engineers. He spent his spare time drawing; soon officers were commissioning portraits, and Poor was appointed the regimental artist. He also served as an interpreter for his company. Discharged from the Army in early 1919, Poor spent the spring painting in Paris. He then returned to San Francisco and married Marion Dorn.

Once Poor realized that earning a living as a painter would be extremely difficult in California, he and his new wife moved to New York in the autumn of 1919. They were looking for a place to live when influential book and art dealer Mary Mowbray-Clarke of the Sunwise Turn Bookshop in Manhattan suggested New City in Rockland County, New York as good place for artists. In January of 1920, the Poors purchased property on South Mountain Road in New City. The skills he acquired at the Kansas City Manual Training High School were of immediate use as Poor designed and constructed "Crow House" with the assistance of a local teenager. Influenced by the farmhouses he had seen in France, it was made of local sandstone and featured steep gables, rough plaster, chestnut beams and floors, and incorporated many hand-crafted details. Poor designed and built most of their furniture, too. Before the end of the year, he and Marion were able to move into the house, though it remained a work in progress for many years. Additions were constructed. Over time, gardens were designed and planted, and outbuildings - a kiln and pottery, work room, garage, and new studio - appeared on the property.

In 1925, two years after his divorce from Marion Dorn, Poor married Bessie Freedman Breuer (1893-1975), an editor, short story writer, and novelist. Soon after, he adopted her young daughter, Anne (1918-2002), an artist who served as his assistant on many important mural commissions. Their son, Peter (b. 1926) became a television producer. Crow House remained in the family until its sale in 2006. In order to prevent its demolition, Crow House was then purchased by the neighboring town of Ramapo, New York in 2007.

Between 1935 and 1966 Poor designed and oversaw construction of a number of houses, several of them situated not far from Crow House on South Mountain Road. Poor's designs, noted for their simplicity, featured modern materials and incorporated his ceramic tiles. Among his important commissions were houses for Maxwell Anderson, Jules Billig, Milton Caniff, MacDonald Deming, and John Houseman.

Poor's first exhibition of paintings in New York City was at Kevorkian Galleries in 1920, and sales were so disappointing that he turned his attention to ceramics. His first pottery show, held at Bel Maison Gallery in Wanamaker's department store in 1921, was very successful. He quickly developed a wide reputation, participated in shows throughout the country, and won awards. He was a founder of the short-lived American Designers' Gallery, and the tile bathroom he showed at the group's first exposition was critically acclaimed. Poor was represented by Montross Gallery as both a painter and potter. When Montross Gallery closed upon its owner's death in 1932, Poor moved to the Frank K. M. Rehn Gallery.

Even though Poor's pottery and ceramic work was in the forefront, he continued to paint. His work was acquired by a number of museums, and the Limited Editions Club commissioned him to illustrate their republications of Ethan Frome, The Scarlet Letter, and The Call of the Wild.

Poor's first work in true fresco was shown in a 1932 mural exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Between 1935 and 1949 he was commissioned to produce several murals in fresco for Section of Fine Arts projects at the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior, The Land Grant Frescoes at Pennsylvania State College, and a mural for the Louisville Courier-Journal. Ceramic tile mural commissions included: the Klingenstein Pavilion, Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City; Travelers Insurance Co., Boston; the Fresno Post Office, California; and Hillson Memorial Gallery, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, Mass.

As a member of the War Artists' Unit, Poor was a "war correspondent" with the rank of major in World War II, and for several months in 1943 was stationed in Alaska. An Artist Sees Alaska, drawing on Poor's observations and experiences, was published in 1945. A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality, his second book, was published in 1958. It remains a standard text on the subject. While on the faculty of Columbia University in the 1950s, Poor and other artists opposed to the growing influence of Abstract Expressionism formed the Reality Group with Poor the head of its editorial committee. Their magazine, Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions, first appeared in 1953 featuring "Painting is Being Talked to Death" by Poor as its lead article. Two more issues were published in 1954 and 1955.

Along with Willard Cummings, Sidney Simon, and Charles Cuttler, in 1946 Henry Varnum Poor helped to establish the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. He served as its first president. Poor and his daughter, Anne, were active members of the Board of Trustees and were instructors for many years. The summer of 1961 was Henry Varnum Poor's last as a full-time teacher, though he continued to spend summers at Skowhegan.

Henry Varnum Poor exhibited widely and received many awards, among them prizes at the Carnegie Institute, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Architectural League of New York. Poor was appointed to the United States Commission of Fine Arts by President Roosevelt in 1941 and served a five year term. He was elected a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1943. The National Academy of Design named him an Associate Artist in 1954 and an Academician in 1963. He became a trustee of the American Craftsman's Council in 1956. The work of Henry Vernum Poor is represented in the permanent collections of many American museums including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Addison Gallery of American Art, and Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts.

Henry Varnum Poor died at home in New City, New York, December 8, 1970.
Related Material:
An oral history interview with Henry Varnum Poor was conducted by Harlan Phillips for the Archives of American Art in 1964.
Provenance:
Gift of Henry Varnum Poor's son, Peter V. Poor, in 2007. A smaller portion was loaned to the Archives in 1973 by Anne Poor for microfilming and returned to the lender; this material was included in the 2007 gift.
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. Use of audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
War artists  Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Designers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Architects -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
World War, 1914-1918  Search this
Pottery -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Genre/Form:
Motion pictures (visual works)
Diaries
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Citation:
Henry Varnum Poor papers, 1873-2001, bulk 1904-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.poorhenr
See more items in:
Henry Varnum Poor papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw96265d653-098f-4ccc-abed-0bc649c50516
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-poorhenr
Online Media:

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