An interview of Henri Marceau conducted circa 1963, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.
Marceau discusses his education in architecture; teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, becoming curator of the Johnson collection and its movement to the Philadelphia Museum of Art; his museum career; Federal art projects; the WPA under Mary Curran and the problems she had with the Artists' Union; Albert Barnes' role in the controversy; and the reaction of the public and press.
Biographical / Historical:
Henri Marceau (1896-1969) was an art administrator and art historian in Philadelphia, Pa.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 56 min.
Sound quality is poor. Date of interview based on other interviews conducted by Doud for the New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
The papers of New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973), measure 0.76 linear feet and date from circa 1910-1970. The collection includes a certificate signed by President Harry Truman, transcripts of Biddle's diaries, a manuscript of a memoir about meeting President Franklin Roosevelt, three letters from William Hunt Diederich's daughter, transcripts of letters from Bernard Berenson, sketches and mural studies, and two glass plate negatives.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973), measure 0.76 linear feet and date from circa 1910-1970. The collection includes a certificate signed by President Harry Truman, transcripts of Biddle's diaries, a manuscript of a memoir about meeting President Franklin Roosevelt, three letters from William Hunt Diederich's daughter, transcripts of letters from Bernard Berenson, sketches and mural studies, and two glass plate negatives.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series.
Series 1: George Biddle Papers, circa 1910-1970 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 2-4, MGP4)
Biographical / Historical:
New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973) proposed to President Franklin Roosevelt the establishment of a federal relief program for artists during the Depression, and subsequently painted a number of government murals under the auspices of the Federal Art Project, including murals for the Department of Justice in 1935.
In 1933 Biddle wrote to long-time friend President Franklin Roosevelt, to suggest a work relief program that supported mural painters. Although the idea initially met with opposition, Biddle persisted and the resulting art projects of the Works Progress Administration went on to support the production of thousands of paintings in government buildings throughout the country during the Depression.
In 1940 Biddle was invited by the Mexican government to create a mural for the supreme court building in Mexico City. Biddle had visited Mexico in 1928 where he had traveled and sketched with Diego Rivera, and seen firsthand the value of government sponsored art programs.
In addition to his murals, Biddle was also known for his portraits, lithographs, and paintings. His work can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and others. His work has been shown throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, Japan, and India in over a hundred one-man shows and group exhibitions.
Related Materials:
Originals of the edited diary transcripts in this collection are in the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. The unedited diary has many more entries than the edited version and includes more details about Biddle's daily life and work, versions of articles by Biddle, and lists of his works of art through 1934.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming, including one of Biddle's original diaries, 1933-1935 (reel D127), records from the Federal Art Project, personal correspondence, articles and talks relating to Artists Equity (reels P17-P18), and a photocopy of Biddle's inventory notebook listing artwork and exhibitions (reel 4909). While the inventory notebook was discarded after microfilming, all other loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The papers on reels P12-P18 were loaned for microfilming in 1954 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, PA. George Biddle lent the material on reel D127 in 1963 and donated the rest of the collection to the Archives of American Art between 1966-1970. In 1972, Michael Biddle, George Biddle's son, gifted a photocopy of an inventory notebook that was discarded after microfilming.
Restrictions:
Use of 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.
This microfilm collection of the papers of African American printmaker Raymond Steth contains corrrespondence; business records; photographs; printed material; and records of the Philographic School of Art including correspondence, financial records, course materials, student records, printed material, and photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
Raymond Steth (1917-1997) was an African American printmaker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked for the WPA's Federal Art Project graphics division and collaborated with Dox Thrash, an artist known for developing new methods of Carborundum printing. After the WPA, Steth founded and directed the Philographic School of Art, an independent printmaking and graphics workshop teaching commercial, fine, and graphic art.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Oral history interview with Raymond Steth, 1990 April 28 conducted by Marge Kline.
Provenance:
Microfilmed in 1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Educators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Resumes, awards, and a typescript of an interview of Weidner conducted by a University of Pennsylvania student in 1986, regarding Weidner's years with the Federal Art Project. The interview includes a discussion of Dox Thrash and the carborundum print. Also included are statements on art; talks delivered by Weidner regarding the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; typescripts of writings by Ben Shahn, George Stout, and Francis Speight; correspondence regarding commissions, sales and exhibitions; letters from John Kucera, Francis Speight, Franklin Watkins and E.P. Richardson;
consignment lists; photographs of Weidner teaching and of exhibition installations; clippings; and exhibition catalogs.
Biographical / Historical:
Art instructor and painter; Philadelphia, Pa. Attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Worked on the Federal Art Project, 1937-1939, before joining the staff of the Academy in 1939.
Provenance:
Microfilmed in 1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Pastelists -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Biographical material; correspondence; a diary; writings; art work; subject files; photographs; printed material; and two scrapbooks.
Biographical accounts; a passport; a list of paintings in collections; a grant application; personal correspondence, including letters from Abraham Rattner from Paris describing the Parisian art scene; professional correspondence regarding the controversy ove Ney's mural for the New London, Ohio post office and letters from Hilla Rebay of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, N.Y.C.; a diary, 1918, chronicling Ney's army experience in France; a subject file containing preliminary drawings, clippings, and photographs of the New London mural; a sketchbook of mural studies; photographs of Ney's art works, portraits of Ney, and exhibition installations; clippings; exhibition catalogs and announcements; unpublished manuscripts; two typescripts by Hilla Rebay and James W. Riley; two scrapbooks containing photographs, printed material, and letters relating to Ney's studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; a drawing, "The Declaration of France," by Joseph Mielziner; miscellaneous printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Lloyd Raymond Ney (1893-1964 or 5) was a Non-objective painter from New Hope, Pennsylvania and New York, N.Y. Known also as Bill Ney. Born in Friedenburg, Pennsylvania and studied at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Won a Cresson travelling scholarship in 1917 and upon completing his WWI tour in Europe, travelled to France with Abraham Rattner. Ney was commissioned to paint the post office in New London, Ohio by the Section of Fine Arts of the Department of Treasury which became a controversial issue. He was one of Hilla Rebay's favored non-objective painters.
Provenance:
Donated by Gretchen Ney Laugier, Ney's daughter. Microfilmed in 1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
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 of Frank Gasparro conducted by Linda Shopes. Gasparro speaks of his early life including his studies with Giuseppe Donato; struggling through the Depression carving cemetery monuments; his successful application to the Federal Art Project (FAP) and his experiences while working with it; projects he worked on with the FAP and how they were assigned; how the project functioned; relations with other artists; political problems involving the Pennsylvania state director of the FAP, Mary Curran, and the Artists Union; and his subsequent work for the U.S. Mint.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor; Pennsylvania. Worked on Federal Art Project in Pennsylvania.
Provenance:
Donated by the Pennsylvania State Archives, 1991.
Restrictions:
Untranscribed; use requires an appointment.
Topic:
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Interviews Search this
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
110 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1940-1942
Scope and Contents:
Project proposals; personnel sheets; lists and rosters; radio scripts; and various booklets on art during the WPA.
Biographical / Historical:
The Federal Art Project was established under Federal Project No. 1 of the WPA. The 48 states and territories were divided into regions and FAP programs were initiated, employing thousands of unemployed artists and craftsmen.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by the Philadelphia Museum College of Art via Richard Doud.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Official records containing project proposals; applications; final reports; and correspondence concerning the Pan-American Union.
Biographical / Historical:
Federally funded music project of the Works Progress Administration. The Pan American Union worked with the Federal Music Project and developed projects like the music-copying project. The Philadelphia unit of the copying project reproduced scores of Latin-American compositions which were deposited in the Edwin A. Fleischer collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Provenance:
The lender, Theodore A. Seder, is the curator of the Edwin A. Fleisher Music Collection where many of the reproduced manuscripts are housed.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Federal aid to the arts -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Federal aid to the public welfare -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (U.S.) Search this
Extent:
16 Items
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1958-1960
Scope and Contents:
Letters to Keiser regarding a symposium she organized to discuss the National Cultural Center legislative act, copy included, and the United States Arts Foundation bill, copy included, regarding government sponsorship of arts.
Biographical / Historical:
Member, Arts Council of Philadelphia; Philadelphia, Pa.
Provenance:
Donated 2007 by Elizabeth Keiser.
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:
Arts administrators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
An interview of Richard Hood conducted by Richard Doud on 1964 Dec. 15 for the Archives of American Art, as part of the Oral History Project.
Hood speaks of joining the Federal Art Project; the development of a graphic arts section of the program; the events leading up to his becoming state director for the FAP in Pennsylvania; for the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project. how projects were assigned and work carried out; the Index of American Design in Pennsylvania, and particularly its study of Pennsylvania Dutch design; budget and administrative problems; political problems and public perception of the Project; his post-FAP career; his opinions about government support for the arts.
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Selected records, including scrapbooks, 1874-1954; letterbooks of the Dalton Dorr administration, 1876-1904; Board of Trustees letterbooks regarding the Pottery and Porcelain exhibitions, 1888-1890; and Fiske Kimball correspondence relating to the PWAP and the WPA, 1933-1942.
REELS P14-P16 and 4557-4758: Scrapbooks, 1874-1954, containing clippings relating to the museum.
REEL P16, frames 350-375: "Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art" (No. 1-8, Jan. 1903-Oct. 1904).
REELS 1395-1396: Correspondence and other papers of Director Fiske Kimball, 1933-1942, relating to various federal and state relief projects, particularly the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), of which he was chairman of Region 3 (Del, Penn., N.J.), and the WPA, which financed several projects at the Museum. Much of the correspondence relates to the selection of artists to be given employment under the PWAP, and to the controversy surrounding the administration of the program by Mary Curran, including complaints from artists and groups. Frequent correspondents include Forbes Watson, Edward Bruce, and Holger Cahill.
REELS 4549-4557: Letterbooks of Acting Director Dalton Dorr, 1876-1904 (incoming) and 1876-1901 (outgoing), and of curator Edwin Atlee Barber, 1893-1901, and President William Platt Pepper, 1893-1901. Correspondence pertains to acquisitions, the collection, staff, Memorial Hall repairs, and the overall establishment of the museum and school. Also included are letterbooks of the Board of Trustees, 1888-1890, relating to the 1888-1889 Pottery and Porcelain exhibitions at the museum, containing correspondence with firms and individuals regarding submissions and prizes.
Biographical / Historical:
Art museum; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Est. 1876 as the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. In 1929 the name changed to the Pennsylvania Museum of Art, and in 1938 to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and School of Industrial Art. Dalton Dorr served as director, 1876-1904. Fiske Kimball was director 1925-1954.
Provenance:
Material on reels P14-P16 lent for microfilming by the Pennsylvania Museum of Art, 1955. The Fiske Kimball material on reels 1395-1396 was filmed at the Museum in 1963; the remainder on reels 4549-4558 was microfilmed in 1993 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Federal aid to the arts -- United States Search this
