1 Photographic print ((mounted on cardboard), black and white, mount 8.5 x 10.5 in.)
Type:
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Place:
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
Date:
06/01/1916
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.
1 Photographic print ((mounted on cardboard), black and white, mount 8.5 x 10.5 in.)
Type:
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Place:
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
Date:
06/01/1916
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.
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, J. Horace McFarland Company Collection.
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe -- Rochester
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of articles and other information about the property.
General:
The gardens at the George Eastman house have been partially restored to the original circa 1920 designs of landscape architect Alling S. DeForest (1875-1957) and architect and theatrical designer Claude Bragdon (1866-1946), with work beginning in 1984 following a grant of $16,000 from the Rochester Garden Club. The original eight gardens rooms had been reduced to four: a terrace garden, library garden, rock garden and sunken west garden. The formal terrace garden has boxwood-edged flower beds planted with more than 90 varieties of perennials, with reconstructed brick paths between the beds. The library garden, replacing the historic cutting garden, contains double rows of arborvitae lined with tulip bulbs, trees, shrubs, ground cover plants and vines. The rock garden features scalloped borders of dolomite rocks and a grape arbor with seating beneath. The sunken west garden, originally designed by Bragdon and influenced by the gardens at Hestercombe in England designed by Sir Edward Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll, has formal flower beds and a wisteria-covered garden house. Trees and shrubs have been planted in front of the house, placed so that they will not obscure the house and 70 feet of open lawn. About 300 historic varieties of perennials, bulbs, ground covers, trees and shrubs have been planted.
George Eastman (July 12, 1854-March 14, 1932) purchased 8.5 acres in 1902 and worked with landscape architect Alling S. DeForest to install elegant floral gardens as well as a working farm on the property. Eastman purchased four more acres in 1916. The Georgian Revival house and colonnaded pergola were designed by architect J. Foster Warner. During Eastman's lifetime, known as the "Country Place Era", there were five greenhouses including a palm house that supplied fresh flowers and orchids, a rose garden, orchard, sizable vegetable and berry gardens, a poultry yard, stables, a barn, and pastures. Eastman bequeathed the property to the University of Rochester as a home for the college president, and that led to the simplification of the gardens, including replacing brickwork walkways with turf or concrete. A sunken lily pool was filled in and covered by a rectangular reflecting pool. The remaining farm elements such as the vegetable garden and livestock facilities were removed or converted. When the Eastman House was transformed into a museum of photography beginning in 1949 the greenhouses and peony garden on the west side were replaced by a parking lot, with the remaining lawn bordered on two sides with white flowers.
The museum's West Garden was dedicated as a memorial to Virginia Pike Judson, past president of the Rochester Garden Club in 1985. At that
The Eastman House gardens and grounds can be toured, with guided tours offered from mid-May through September. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark on November 13, 1966 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Persons associated with the garden include George Eastman (former owner, 1902-1947), University of Rochester (former owner, 1947), George Eastman House, Inc. (former owner, 1947- ), Alling Stephen DeForest (landscape architect, 1902-1921), Claude Bragdon (landscape architect of West Garden, 1916-1917), J. Foster Warner (architect, 1902), William Rutherford Mead (architect, 1902), Katherine Wilson Rahn (landscape architect, restoration, 1985).
Related Materials:
George Eastman House and Gardens related holdings consist of 2 folders (12 35mm slides (photographs) + 19 postcards)
Photographs are located at the George Eastman House Wauconda, IL. Additional materials located at Curt Teich Postcard Archives in Wauconda, IL.
See others in:
American Gardens collection, ca. 1920-[ongoing].
Historic gardens postcard collection, circa 1905-1947.
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
Date:
[circa 1930s?]
General:
Image property of George Eastman House. neg # 33810.
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
Date:
[circa 1930s?]
General:
Image property of George Eastman House. neg # 33810.
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
Date:
[circa 1930s?]
General:
Image property of George Eastman House. neg # 31929.
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
Date:
[circa 1930s?]
General:
Image property of George Eastman House. neg # 31929.
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
Date:
[circa 1930s?]
General:
Image property of George Eastman House. neg # 33095.l
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
Date:
[circa 1930s?]
General:
Lewis and Valentine Collection - Nathan Graves - neg. #13895
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
Date:
[circa 1930s?]
General:
Image property of George Eastman House. neg. # 31939.
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New York -- Monroe County -- Rochester
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.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
Letter to Eliot Elisofon from Beaumont Newhall, Curator, George Eastman House, Inc., 12/21/50, requesting the Smithsonian exhibit to be shown at the Eastman House sometime during the Spring
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
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, Rudy J. Favretti CollectionPapers.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
The papers of illustrator, xerography artist, filmmaker, and educator Esta Nesbitt measure 10.05 linear feet and date from circa 1942-1981. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, xerography research files, project and exhibition files, and printed material. Much of the collection relates to Nesbitt's xerography art work. Additionally, the collection includes motion picture film and sound recordings related to her film and performance work.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of illustrator, xerography artist, filmmaker, and educator Esta Nesbitt measure 10.05 linear feet and date from circa 1942-1981. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, xerography research files, project and exhibition files, and printed material. Much of the collection relates to Nesbitt's xerography art work. Additionally, the collection includes motion picture film and sound recordings related to her film and performance work.
Nesbitt's primary collaborators, correspondents, and subjects of investigation are not concentrated in any one series but rather recur throughout the collection. Nesbitt worked closely with Anibal Ambert, Merle English at Xerox Corporation, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She read and wrote about the accrual of information, Albert Einstein, Asian religion and philosophy, communication, computer technology, documentation practices, energy, psychology, Samuel Beckett, and states of consciousness. Chinese characters and an image of Allen Ginsberg appear repeatedly in Nesbitt's works. Subjects of study and experimentation include 3M and Kodak technologies, color, film, morphology, participatory and performance art, shadows, sound, street works, xerography, and Xerox machines.
Correspondence contains personal letters from family members, and professional correspondence with fellow artists and employees of Xerox Corporation. Much of the series is correspondence between Nesbitt and fellow artists Alan Leder, David Lyle, and R.E. Wood, and is philosophical in nature. Correspondence with Xerox Corporation documents her relationship with the corporation between 1970 and 1972, when they underwrote her experiments in xerography.
Writings include illustrated journals, journals, notebooks, loose notes, and transcripts. The content of the writings varies widely throughout the series and includes artwork, sketches, diagrams, annotated clippings, transcripts of conversations, Nesbitt's writings about her dreams and family, details about her daily life, and notes about artists' materials, film, and sound.
Xerography Research Files document Nesbitt's experiments with xerography, which she often refers to in her papers as "Xerox Xplore." Contents include Nesbitt's definitions of xerography terms; Xerox equipment brochures; clippings; xerography studies; notebooks about Nesbitt's plans, work with color, and xerography study details; and slides and transparencies of completed xerography prints.
Project and Exhibition Files consist of a variety of documentation related to Nesbitt's books, exhibitions, films, performance and participatory art, and other projects. This series contains the bulk of the collection's motion picture films and sound recordings. The film and sound performance piece titled "Everyman as Anyman, or Putting On, On, On, On, On," the piece Walk Up --Tape On, the film "Light Times 499," and exhibitions of Nesbitt's xerography work and her series of work called Shadow Paintings are the most prominent subjects of the series.
Printed Material includes books, clippings, magazines, exhibition announcements, catalogs, and press releases about Nesbitt's interests, artwork, exhibitions, and galleries that exhibited her work. Some of the material is annotated.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 6 series:
Missing Title
Biographical Materials, 1964-circa 1981 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, 11)
Correspondence, 1942, 1964-1976 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, OV 14)
Writings, 1959-circa 1973 (1.3 linear feet; Box 1-2, 12, OV 15)
Xerography Research Files, circa 1966-1974 (2.5 linear feet; Box 2-4, 11, OV 16)
Project and Exhibition Files, circa 1966-1981 (5.2 linear feet, Box 4-8, 11, 13, OV 17-19, 21, FC 22-23)
Printed Material, 1942-circa 1944, circa 1963-1977 (0.9 linear feet; Box 9-10, OV 20)
Biographical / Historical:
Esta Nesbitt (1918-1975) was an illustrator, xerography artist, filmmaker, and educator who lived and worked in New York City. She was a fashion illustrator for about two decades before becoming a children's book illustrator, performance artist, xerography artist, and filmmaker.
Nesbitt taught at Parsons School of Design from 1964 to 1974. Around 1970, Nesbitt created the piece Walk Up --Tape On with her Parsons students. The piece involved documenting social interaction by taping themselves to each other and then others as they walked through New York City, creating what Nesbitt called a "living organism," before presenting themselves to the Whitney Museum of American Art. The event was documented with film, photography, and audio recordings.
In 1970, Nesbitt contacted Xerox Corporation about creating experimental art investigations of the Walk Up --Tape On documentation using Xerox machines in their New York City office. During Nesbitt's time at Xerox, she experimented with many different copying machines, materials, and techniques to create what came to be known as xerographic artworks. She invented three xerography techniques: transcapsa, photo-transcapsa, and chromacapsa. A transcapsa work is created by moving a piece of material over the copier's window during the printing cycle. A photo-transcapsa work is created by moving a photographic image over the copier's window during the printing cycle. Chromacapsa is a process of adding color to xerographic works using Xerox copiers. Nesbitt referred to her work at Xerox as "Xerox Xplore," which culminated with the exhibition "Xerography - Extensions in Art" (1971-1972) and the commission of the print All the Lines are Nines.
To demonstrate "the media bombardment surrounding 'everyman' today," Nesbitt created a film and sound performance piece titled "Everyman as Anyman, or Putting On, On, On, On, On" in 1969. The performance consisted of five Super 8 film projectors and a multi-layered soundtrack. Nesbitt further experimented with filmmaking and xerography with the films "Folding/Struck" and "Light Times 499," which was created with Anibal Ambert. Her interest in xerography is further illustrated in the exhibition "Electrostatic Structures: 'New Morphs'" (1972-1973). The exhibition "1000 Empty 49.3 Grams: A participatory environment" was a culmination of her interest in participatory art.
Nesbitt died November 30, 1975 in New York City. Three posthumous exhibitions include "Esta Nesbitt: Xerography Prints" (1976) at The Art Center of Waco, "Memorial Exhibition of Drawing and Illustrations by Esta Nesbitt" (1977) at Parsons School of Design, and "Electroworks" (1979-1981) at the George Eastman House.
Related Materials:
The Esta Nesbitt papers at Center for Creative Photography at University of Arizona contain 3 linear feet related to her xerography artwork and exhibitions, dated 1966-1983.
Papers related to Nesbitt's fashion illustrations are found at the Kellen Design Archives at The New School in New York City. T
he Esta Nesbitt papers at the University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections are related to Nesbitt's children's book illustrations, dated 1964-1969.
Provenance:
The Esta Nesbitt papers were donated by Saul Nesbitt, her husband, to the Archives of American Art in 1981.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival 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:
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Esta Nesbitt papers, circa 1942-circa 1981, bulk 1964-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program.
The papers of photographer and art historian Nina Howell Starr measure 21.2 linear feet and date from circa 1933 to 1996. The papers contain research files about various art historical topics, museums and galleries, photography, and artists. There are extensive files documenting Starr's relationship as researcher, dealer, and friend of folk painter Minnie Evans. Additionally, the papers include biographical materials, writings, speeches, project files, printed material collected or authored by Starr, and hundreds of artistic and documentary photographs and negatives created by Starr depicting her travels, Minnie Evans' paintings, roadside folk art, and other topics.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of photographer and art historian Nina Howell Starr measure 21.2 linear feet and date from circa 1933 to 1996. The papers contain research files about various art historical topics, museums and galleries, photography, and artists. There are extensive files documenting Starr's relationship as researcher, dealer, and friend of folk painter Minnie Evans. Additionally, the papers include biographical materials, writings, speeches, project files, printed material collected or authored by Starr, and hundreds of artistic and documentary photographs and negatives created by Starr depicting her travels, Minnie Evans' paintings, roadside folk art, and other topics.
Biographical materials are scattered and include grant and publication applications, curriculum vitae, lists of artwork, and miscellany.
Starr's lectures, writings, and project files are arranged into one series. They include Starr's student writings, a notebook about Civil Rights, files documenting her work on a Florida public housing project, the Southern Regional Council, and the League of Women Voters. A few files of general writings and lectures mostly concern folk artist Minnie Evans and the exhibition Women Photograph Men, held at the International Women's Arts Festival in 1976.
Subject files on artists, art history topics, photographers and photography (including Starr's work), and on folk artist and friend Minne Evans comprise the bulk of the collection. The files are a mix of collated materials and primary sources created by Starr and others and many contain correspondence, notes, photographs, and a few sketches and orginal prints. Also included are materials related to professional and organizational groups in which Starr was involved, including the Professional Women's Photographers, Inc., the Photographic Historical Society of New York, and the Museum of American Folk Art; files on several of Starr's exhibitions; and files on artists that contain printed materials, correspondence, and photographs. The file on Ruth Starr Rose contains prints and drawings. There are also photographs taken by Stephanie Cohen. Particularly rich files are found for Stephanie Cohen; Van Deren Coke, Director of the George Eastman Company; Evelyn Daitz, Director of the Witkin Gallery; Henry DiSpirito; Walker Evans; the Fotofolio printing company; curator Henri Ghent; photographer Consuelo Kanaga and husband Wallace Putnam; Margot Starr Kernan; Lucy Lippard; Stanton Mac-Donald Wright; Sharon Arts Center; photographer Paul Strand; curator John Szarwarski; and photographer Jerry Uelsman.
The collection also documents the friendship between painter Minnie Evans and Starr, and Starr's business dealings on Evans' behalf. There is correspondence about and with Evans, several sound recordings of interviews conducted by Starr and others with Evans, many with transcripts, financial documents, publications about Evans including exhibition catalogs, clippings, journal articles and monographs, two posters, a scrapbook, and one sketch by Evans.
Printed material includes published articles, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and clippings about Starr.
Photographic materials are extensive and include photographs and slides taken by Starr of friends, family, artwork by Minnie Evans, events, exhibition openings, world travels, and folk art, especially roadside. Prominent artists and art historians photographed include: photographers Maggie Sherwood, Naomi Savage, Barbara Morgan, Linda Connor, Aaron Siskind, Consuelo Kanaga, Faith Ringgold, and Walker Evans; sculptors Louise Kruger and Helene Brandt; feminist and art historian Pat Mainardi; and curators Henri Ghent and John Szarkowski. Starr's artistic photographic work is also represented, and includes two silver gelatin prints of Minnie Evans, and subject studies on hands, people, and nature, among others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical material, 1954-circa 1990 (8 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Writings, Speeches and Projects, 1933-1995 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Subject Files, circa 1939-1996 (8.3 linear feet; Boxes 2-10)
Series 4: Minnie Evans, 1962-1996 (3.7 linear feet; Boxes 10-13, 23, OV 24)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1936-1995 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 13-16, 23)
Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1939-1993 (5.4 linear feet; Boxes 16-23, OV 24)
Biographical / Historical:
Nina Howell Starr (1903-2000) was a photographer, art dealer, and art historian who worked primarily in New York City. Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1903 as Cornelia Margaret Howell, Starr attended Wellesley College and graduated from Barnard in 1926. Also in 1926, she married Nathan Comfort Starr, an English professor, and, over the years the couple lived in Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, and New York City.
In 1963, at the age of 60, Starr received the first M.F.A. in photography granted by the University of Florida. Starr exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions, including Magic Lantern (Photographer's Gallery, London, 1976), and the Strength of Women (Witken Gallery, 1991), and numerous shows featuring photographs of outsider art. Her "New Yorker" project became an exhibition in 2016. Her work is owned by several prominent museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography.
As art historian, self-proclaimed critic, and civil rights and feminist advocate, Starr lectured widely, wrote articles and letters to editors, and corresponded with many notable art world figures. She became especially interested in outsider and folk art. Starr met outsider artist Minnie Evans in 1962 and became Evans' lifelong friend, advocate, and representative dealer. She wrote about Evans and introduced Evans' works to galleries and other exhibition spaces in New York, including the Whitney Museum, where she guest-curated an exhibition of Evans' work in 1975.
Starr was an active member of professional organizations including the Photographic Historical Society of New York, Professional Women's Photographers, Inc., and the Museum of American Folk Art where she served on the Advisory Committee.
Nina Howell Starr died in 2000 in Connecticut at the age of 97.
Provenance:
The Nina Howell Starr papers were donated by Nina Howell Starr in 1996.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference 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:
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
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Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. 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:
Nina Howell Starr papers, circa 1933-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. 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:
Nina Howell Starr papers, circa 1933-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
