Correspondence; slides and photographs of art work; catalogs and clippings; photographs, watercolor studies, and a detailed listing of mural projects in civic buildings and schools done by Pollock and other artists, including Mitchell Siporin, for the Illinois Federal Art Project; clippings and photocopied correspondence concerning the portrait of Lt. Commander Waldron painted by Pollock; Syracuse University School of Art annual reports; lithographs; and watercolors.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, educator; Chicago, Ill. and Syracuse, N.Y. Teaches at Syracuse University School of Art. Was a muralist as well as supervisor of the Chicago Federal Art Project.
Provenance:
Donated 1979-1983 by Merlin F. Pollock.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Correspondence; photographs; writings and lecture notes; and printed material; and a scrapbook.
Circa 300 personal letters, 1945-1970, to Pollack from painter Richard Florsheim.
Files of correspondence and clippings pertaining to Pollack's career as a curator and photography historian. Most of the files concern Pollack's book "The Picture History of Photography." Other files concern Pollack's work on publications for Harry N. Abrams, Inc., the Worcester Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. Also included are writings and lecture notes; a few letters and clippings from scrapbooks; and miscellany. Correspondents include: Ansel Adams, Gyuia Halasz Brassai, Sylvan Cole, Julio De Diego, Helmut Gernsheim, Philippe Halsman, Dimitrios Harissiadis, Yousuf Karsh, Grace M. Mayer, and Beaumont Newhall.
Personal correspondence, 1954-1976, with Richard Florsheim discussing various career choices and projects, exhibition openings, Florsheim's art dealers, and book projects Florsheim was involved in; project files, 1948-1962, regarding Pollack's position as the New York City-based Public Relations Consultant for the Archives of American Art, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Guggenheim, and other institutions. Included are letters, news releases, catalogs, announcements and some photographs and clippings of such projects as the International Biennial of Prints and the AAA European art tour trip.
Also included is a scrapbook, 1939-1943, concerning exhibitions and activities of the South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, sponsored by the Illinois Art Project of the WPA-FAP and supervised by Pollack, 1938-1942. The center's purpose was to advance African American art and artists. Included are by-laws; letters from Alain Locke, and Richmond Barthe; photographs of Pollack, Jules Carlen, Horace Pippin, Eldzier Cortor, Canada Lee, Julio de Diego, Jesus Torres, and Eleanor Roosevelt at the dedication of the center, 1941; a typescript of a lecture by Daniel Catton Rich "The Art Museum and the Community Art Center," delivered at the Museum Director's conference, Detroit Institute of Arts, May 1940, newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs and other printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Peter Pollack (1909-1978) was a photographer, curator, historian, and writer in New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Material on reels 822 and 4886-4887 donated 1974-1977 by Pollack, except for the scrapbook which was donated by Jane de Hart, an art historian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who received it from Pollack for her research on African American artists and WPA projects. Material on reels 2385-2390 was lent for microfilming in 1981 by Creilly Pollack, Pollack's widow.
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.
An interview with Merlin F. Pollock conducted 1979 July 30 and 1980 July 30, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art. Pollock speaks of his training at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Fontainebleau, France; his work as instructor of mural painting at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1935-1943; his paintings of Alaska commissioned by the government in 1937 and his work as supervisor of mural painting for the Illinois WPA, 1940-1943. He also discusses Chicago artists and his own murals for the government.
Biographical / Historical:
Merlin F. Pollock (1905-1996) was a painter and teacher, Chicago, Ill.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 40 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Painters -- United States -- Interviews Search this
Topic:
Mural painting and decoration, American -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this
Arts administrators -- Illinois -- Interviews Search this
Muralists -- United States -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Research material collected for Mavigliano and Lawson's book, The Federal Art Project in Illinois, 1935-1943 (1990), concerning the Works Progress Administration Illinois Art Project, including correspondence, undated and 1935-1988; writings; printed material, including articles, writings, clippings, questionnaires, blueprints, undated and 1936-1986; photographs of people involved with the Project, undated; and audio tape recordings and transcriptions of interviews with M. Burrows, R. McKeague, Meltzer & A. Osver, B. Shryock, J. Walley/Haden, and N. Ziroli, undated and 1930-1982.
ADDITION: "Transcript/statements of Federal Service" (GSA form 7275) for artists and administrators on the Illinois Federal Art Projects. The forms include information about the date of employment, position, salary, and agency and location.
Provenance:
Donated by George J. Mavigliano and Richard A. Lawson in 1990, 1991 and 1992 respectively.
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.
1 Reel (ca. 250 items (on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reels
Date:
[ca.1933]-1988
Scope and Contents:
Papers chiefly relating to Clark's career during the 1930s. Biographical data, including a letter in which Clark describes her work for the Federal Art Project in Illinois; personal photographs; photographs of work, including "Peace" and "Harvest," with photographs of the dedication and rededication ceremonies of these two heroic-size sculptures; and clippings.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor, instructor in sculpture and ceramics at Syracuse University, N.Y. Clark worked for the WPA-FAP in Illinois in the 1930s. Two heroic-size sculptures, "Peace" and "Harvest," commissioned by the FAP are currently located at the County Courthouse Plaza, Peoria, Illinois. They have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Clark studied at Carnegie Tech, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the British Academy, Rome, Italy. She also took a life class with her uncle, sculptor John Storrs.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1988 by Mary A. Clark.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Letters and telegrams; a list; a clipping; notes; and a sketchbook.
REEL 1309: Sketchbook presented to Thorp by his staff when he resigned as State Supervisor of the Illinois WPA Art and Craft Program in 1941. Included are sketches by about 30 persons.
REEL 3480: A carbon copy of Thorp's letter of resignation as State Supervisor of the Federal Art Project, Illinois WPA Art and Craft Program, August 1, 1941; letters and telegrams regarding his resignation received from Chicago administrators and artists, including Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Daniel Catton Rich; "Homage a George Thorp," a list of events scheduled for the dinner in honor of Thorp's work with WPA; a clipping on Thorp, 1947; and Thorp's notes on acrylic collage.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, teacher, administrator; Illinois.
Provenance:
Material on reel 1309 lent for microfilming; and material on reel 3480 donated 1977 by Isabel Thorp, widow of Thorp.
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.
Correspondence; notes and lectures on art; biographical data; clippings; and photographs of his murals and other works of art. All materials relate to Millman's work for the Federal Art Project in Illinois and Missouri.
Biographical / Historical:
Mural painter; Chicago, Illinois. Painted murals for the Federal Art Project in Chicago, Illinois.
Related Materials:
Edward Millman papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1965 by Mrs. Harry Millman, the sister-in-law of Edward Millman.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Life drawing class taught by Charles White at the South Side Community Center in Chicago, between 1938 and 1941. Holger Cahill papers, 1910-1993. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.