The papers of the painter, photographer, printmaker, and teacher Joseph Kaplan measure 4.8 linear feet and date from 1915-1977. The bulk of the collection consists of printed material, specifically exhibition catalogs. Also found are a large number of photographs taken of and by Kaplan. The papers also include biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, and artwork. There is a 0.3 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes travel slides taken in Mexico and Provincetown, Massachusetts by Joseph Kaplan, circa 1940-1950, and a photograph of Kaplan by Arnold Newman, circa 1950.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of the painter, photographer, printmaker, and teacher Joseph Kaplan measure 4.8 linear feet and date from 1915-1977. The bulk of the collection consists of printed material, specifically exhibition catalogs. Also found are a large number of photographs taken of and by Kaplan. The papers also include biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, and artwork. There is a 0.3 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes travel slides taken in Mexico and Provincetown, Massachusetts by Joseph Kaplan, circa 1940-1950, and a photograph of Kaplan by Arnold Newman, circa 1950.
Biographical material contains a few of Kaplan's personal documents, a number of certificates and medals he recieved during his lifetime, a travel itinerary notebook, and a few hand-written notes.
Kaplan's correspondence is primarily from colleagues, art organizations, galleries, museums, and colleges and universities such as the Corcoran Gallery of Art, National Academy of Design, and Audubon Artists, inc. Also found are letters from friends and colleagues such as Chaim Gross, Adolph Gottlieb, Raphael Soyer, Louis Lozowick, Milton Avery, and Sol Wilson, as well as a large number of letters to his wife Virginia written during his travels.
Personal business records concern Kaplan's art sales, loans, exhibition notifications, and his involvment in the WPA. His artwork is documented in price lists and inventory lists. Some of the material consists of routine transactions not necessarily related to Kaplan's work, including bank records, an address list, and income and expense reports.
Printed Material includes news clippings, exhibition catalogs, exhibition annoucenments, and invitations for Kaplan shows. There are a few published copies and page proofs of Kaplan's commerical artwork.
Artwork includes four Kaplan etchings, three of which are metal plates and one linoleum block. Also included are a few unidentified pen and pencil sketches.
Photographs depict Kaplan, mainly later in his life, and his family. Also found are four of Virginia Kaplan's photograph albums containing images of her and friends from early adulthood. Photographs of Kaplan's friends and colleagues include images of Aya and Eitaro Ishigaki, Chaim Gross, Raphael Soyer, William Gropper, and Joseph De Martini. Also included are photographs taken by Kaplan of New York City, his travels, and artist demonstrations. There are also a large number of photographs of Kaplan's artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1919-1975 (Box 1, 5, OV 7; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1929-circa 1975 (Box 1, OV 7; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, circa 1920-1977 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1915-1975 (Box 1, 2, 3, OV 7; 2.3 linear feet)
Series 5: Artwork, circa 1940-circa 1960 (Box 3, 5; 2 folders)
Series 6: Photographic Material, 1917-circa 1975 (Box 4, 6, OV 7; 1.3 linear feet)
Series 7: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1940-1950 (Box 8, OV 9; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph Kaplan (1900-1980) was a painter, printmaker, photographer, and teacher who worked primarly in New York and Provincetown. He was most active in the 1940s through the 1950s. Earlier in his career he worked on several WPA Federal Art Projects and Treasury Relief Art Projects.
Joseph Kaplan was born in Minsk, Russia and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1888 at the age of 12. He married Virginia Haber in 1927 and they had no children.
Kaplan studied at the Eductional Alliance Art School and the Art Students League. He went to Provincetown in the mid-twenties as a student of Charles W. Hawthorne with whom he previously studied with at the National Academy of Design. Afterwards he revisited Provincetown intermittently and began to regard the Cape as his summer studio, working there each summer since 1948.
In 1948 he won the first of many gold medals from the Audubon Artists at the National Academy of Design for a marine painting. He was also the first recipient of the John J. Newman Memorial Medal, given by the National Society of Painters in Casein for his Wellfleet, Low Tide. The Shore Studios in Provincetown, the Harry Salpeter Gallery and then Krasner Gallery in New York City represented Kaplan's artwork.
Kaplan predominantly worked in watercolor and oil paint, depicting landscapes and seascapes, and becoming acclaimed as a Colorist and Romanticist. He occasionally painted figures and, as he gained recognition, he traveled extensively in search for subjects. In 1968 Kaplan recieved a grant from Chapelbrook Foundation to live and work for a year in Mexico.
Kaplan's work was included frequently in group exhibitions and he participated in more then 30 major shows in his lifetime. Throughout his career he was a member of many art organizations including Artists League of America, Audubon Artists, Provincetown Art Association, and Cape Cod Art Association. He was continually active in the art life in Provincetown serving as board members, trustees, and judges. He also occasionally taught at art schools including the American Artist School and John Reed Club, and taught a number of private pupils.
Joseph Kaplan died on February 28th, 1980 at the age of 79 in Brewster, Massachusetts.
Separated Materials:
307 nitrate negatives donated to the Archives of American Art with the Joseph Kaplan papers have been removed and are stored in off-site storage. Negatives were duplicated onto safety based film and only select prints were made.
Provenance:
The Joseph Kaplan papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Marilyn Kearney in 1981. Additional papers were donated by Deborah Meyer in 2021.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Photographers -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
The records of Los Angeles Heritage Gallery measure 13.8 linear feet and date from 1944-2000 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1960-1998. The majority of the collection consists of artists' files containing a wide variety of materials documenting the gallery's representation of its contemporary artists and gallery exhibitions, including biographical information, correspondence, and printed materials. About half of the artists' files are related to artist Charles White. Gallery records also include business correspondence, business records and additional printed materials.
Scope and Contents:
The records of Los Angeles Heritage Gallery measure 13.8 linear feet and date from 1944-2000 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1960-1998. The majority of the collection consists of artists' files containing a wide variety of materials documenting the gallery's representation of its contemporary artists and gallery exhibitions, including biographical information, correspondence, and printed materials. About half of the artists' files are related to artist Charles White. Gallery records also include business correspondence, business records and additional printed materials.
The bulk of the collection are artists' files which document the works and careers of Heritage Gallery artists through a wide variety of materials including biographical information, correspondence, scattered financial records, inventory lists and price lists, printed materials, and photographic materials. Especially rich are the folders of correspondence with Social Realist artist William Gropper, and materials related to artists José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiro, Moses Soyer and Raphael Soyer. Additionally, about half of the Artists' Files are related to African-American artist Charles White, for whom Horowitz was the sole representative of his artwork, but also a personal friend to White and his family.
Business correspondence and records contain incoming and outgoing correspondence with clients and galleries regarding artwork sales, consignments and exhibition loans; contracts, many with artists and lithographers; biographical information about Benjamin Horowitz; and other day-to-day business records.
Printed material documents exhibitions held at Heritage Gallery through exhibition announcement, catalogs, clippings, and posters, as well as a handful of printed materials for exhibitions held at other galleries and museums.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 3 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Artists' Files, 1944-2000, bulk 1960-1998 (11.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-12, 15-16, OV 17)
Series 2: Business Correspondence and Records, 1945-1997 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 12-13)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1960s-1990s (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 13-14, 16)
Biographical / Historical:
Founder Benjamin Horowitz (1912-2004) was born in New York City and moved to Hollywood shortly before the outbreak of World War II. He began a career as a writer of detective fiction but was interrupted by the draft.
Horowitz opened Heritage Gallery in the early 1960s on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. His early dedication to African-American artists, chief among them Charles White to whom he gave more than 51 one-person exhibitions, distinguished the gallery.
Horowitz was the co-founder of the Art Dealers Association of California and also worked as an appraiser.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds several collections related to Heritage Gallery and Benjamin Horowitz, including the William Gropper papers and the Charles Wilbert White papers. Also found in the Archives is an oral history interview with Benjamin Horowitz conducted by Molly Saltman as a part of "Art and Artists" interviews, 1965-1966.
Provenance:
The Heritage Gallery records were donated by Benjamin Horowitz, founder of the gallery, in two accessions in 1998 and 2000.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers 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.
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- California
Citation:
Heritage Gallery records, 1944-2000, bulk 1960-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collection Care Preservation Fund.
Researcher may use study prints on file in the Photograph Archives, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Advance appointments are required. Original negatives are stored off-site in cold storage and are not accessible to the public.
Collection Rights:
Copyright to photographs from the Walter Rosenblum Collection is held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Requests for permission to reproduce photographs from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Photograph Archives. Certain works of art, as well as photographs of those works of art, may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy or publicity rights, or other interests not owned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It is the applicant's responsibility to ascertain whether any such rights exist, and to obtain any other permission necessary to reproduce and publish the image.
Collection Citation:
Walter Rosenblum Collection, Photograph Archives, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Sponsor:
Funding for the re-housing, preservation, and digitization of the collection was provided by Smithsonian Research Resource funds, the Smithsonian Womens' Committee and the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Interviews of 72 artists, and transcripts for all but five, conducted by Arlene Jacobowitz, the Associate Curator for the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum, between 1965 and 1968. The artists discuss their work in the museum collection. Also included are 38 edited excerpts of the interviews, approximately 2-3 min. in length, used as "audio-labels" in the 1968 "Listening to Pictures" installation at the museum.
Scope and Content Note:
Interviews of 72 artists, and transcripts for all but five, conducted by Arlene Jacobowitz, the Associate Curator for the Department of Painting and Sculpture, between 1965 and 1968. The artists discuss their work in the museum collection. Also included are 38 edited excerpts of the interviews, approximately 2-3 min. in length, used as "audio-labels" in the 1968 "Listening to Pictures" installation.
The artists interviewed are: Lennart Anderson, Stephen B. Antonakos, Marshall Arisman, Walter Barker, Leonard Baskin, Mary Bauermeister, Thomas Hart Benton, Isabel Bishop, Robert Brackman, Sydney Butchkes, Edmund Casarella, George Constant, Robert Warren Dash, Jose DeCreeft, Blanche Dombek, Tom Doyle, Jimmy Ernst, Neil Estern, Philip Evergood, Helen Frankenthaler, Jane Freilicher, Leon Goldin, Sidney Goodman, Sante Graziani, Balcomb Greene, John Grillo, William Gropper, Chaim Gross, Roy Gussow, Robert Gwathmey, Grace Hartigan, Edward Hopper, Nora Jaffe, Paul Jenkins, Minoru Kawabata, William Kienbusch, Karl Knaths, John Koch, Yayoi Kosama, Jennett Lam, Steven Lang, Robert Laurent, Jacob Lawrence, Jack Levine, Jacques Lipchitz, Seymour Lipton, Boris Margo, Ursula Meyer, Hans Moller, Walter Murch, Louise Nevelson, Toshio Odate, Elliot Offner, Douglas Ohlson, Kenzo Okada, Amanda Palmer, Irene Rice Pereira, Gabor Peterdi, Ad Reinhardt, Bill Richards, Larry Rivers, Emilio Sanchez, Karl Schrag, Ben Shahn, Charles Sheeler, Aaron Sopher, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, William Thon, Albert Weinberg, and William and Marguerite Zorach.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as a single series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Interviews, 1965-1968 (Box 1-7; 7 lin. ft.)
Historical Note:
The interview program at the Brooklyn Museum was begun by Arlene Jacobowitz in the spring of 1965 with artists whose works were on exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. In 1968, excerpts from the interviews were incorporated into an exhibition entitled "Listening to Pictures," in which visitors could access the sound recordings using headphones while standing before the painting being discussed. The exhibition opened April 28, 1968, and was gradually disassembled, 1971-1973.
Related Material:
The Brooklyn Museum Archives houses the records of the Departments of European Painting and Sculpture, American Painting and Sculpture, Contemporary Art (1897-2005), which contain records relating to the work of Arlene Jacobowitz.
Provenance:
This collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Dierdre Lawrence of the Brooklyn Museum in 1989.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Researchers may view the original reels for the archival notations on them, but original reels are not available for playback due to fragility.
Rights:
Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposes of publication requires written permission from the interviewee. Citations must read:"Interview between [artist's name] and [interviewer's name] from the "Listening to Pictures" program of the Brooklyn Museum. Archives of American Art. Gift of the Brooklyn Museum." 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:
Artists -- United States -- Interviews Search this
Interview between [artist's name] and [interviewer's name] from the "Listening to Pictures" program of the Brooklyn Museum. Gift of the Brooklyn Museum. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
0.2 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
[ca. 1965-1985]
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, writings and research material concerning Thomas Hart Benton and Baigell's other writings. Also included is a ca. 1965 interview with Hoyt Sherman conducted by Baigell.
REEL 2086: Letters, notes, and writings, some illustrated, ca. 1967-1972, from Thomas Hart Benton to Baigell for Baigell's writings and biography of Benton. Benton writes about synchronism, cubism, regionalism, social realism, John Weichsel, Stuart Davis, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Reginald Marsh, and others, and his life. Inluded is a copy of Benton's 53-page handwritten manuscript, "The Thirties," describing his mural commissions and the controversies with the social realists over his regionalist style of painting. Also included are 2 letters from Louis Lozowick, and one each from William Gropper and Harry Gottlieb in response to Baigell's questions of social realism, regionalism, and art in the 1930's.
ADDITION: Letters, research notes, and writings on Thomas Hart Benton, as well as correspondence with Dorothy Dehner, Doris Lee, Louis Lozowick, Raphael Soyer and Ben Shahn, among others, relating to Baigell's book, "The American Scene: American Painting of the 1930s," (1974). Also included is an interview with colleague Hoyt Sherman conducted by Baigell, ca. 1965, in which Sherman discusses perception, Cézanne, and Sherman's most famous pupil, Roy Lichtenstein, who always testified that he was profoundly influenced by Sherman's methods and philosophy. Sherman analyzes Lichtenstein's work and recalls the artist during his student days at Ohio State University, and discusses his possible impact on Lichtenstein.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian; New York, N.Y. b. 1933. Baigell is associate professor of art, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Provenance:
Donated 1980, 2002 and 2004 by Matthew Baigell.
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.
Interview of William Gropper conducted 1965 June 12, by Bruce Hooton, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
William Gropper (1897-1977) was a painter from New York, N.Y.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available through interlibrary loan or with an appointment at AAA offices.
Artists' letters and documents collected by Zalesch and letters written to him in response to inquiries concnering autographs and biographical information.
REEL 3097: Twenty-six letters (1845-1973) written by George Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, Isabel Bishop, Frederick Stuart Church, Thomas Doughty, Ernest Fenollosa, Ben Foster, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, John La Farge, Homer Dodge Martin, Joseph Pennell, Edward Willis Redfield, John Rogers, John Singer Sargent, Richard Stankiewicz, Thomas Sully, and Elihu Vedder. Also included are a Harvard University bond for William Wetmore Story's tuition signed by Franklin H. Story (1834) and a biographical questionnaire completed by John La Farge for The Cyclopedia of American Biography (1925).
UNMICROFILMED: Letters written by Roy Lichtenstein, William Gropper, Gluyas Williams, Ordway Partridge, Frederick Burr Opper, James Wells Champney, C. Gray Parker, Ben Foster, Louis Betts, Cyrus Le Roy Baldridge, Richard Lippold, Romare Bearden, Isabel Bishop, Thomas Hart Benton, Richard Stankiewicz, and others; a brochure for a work of art by Robert Indiana; a certificate from The Brooklyn Art Association for one share of capital stock in the name of William Potter Lage; one page of correspondence documenting a decision made for the Society of American Artists containing a note from Francis D. Millet to J. Alden Weir, followed by a note from Weir to Frederic Church, signed "O.K." by Church.
Vol. XXVI, no. 5, Feb. 1924 periodical, Old Hughes, published by the students of Hughes High school in Cincinnati, Ohio containing a published exchange of letters between principal C. M. Merry and Josephine W. Duveneck, daughter-in-law of painter Frank Duveneck about the Hughes High School purchasing a painting by Duveneck, and a reminiscence of Duveneck by William P. Teal, head of the art department at Hughes High School.
Biographical / Historical:
Saul Zalesch, an art historian, began collecting artists' letters around 1981.
Provenance:
This collection of letters was lent for microfilming by Zalesch in 1984 (reel 3097). Zalesch donated an additional three letters in 1993, twenty-five in 1999, one letter in 2008, and a publication in 2009.
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.
The papers of New York painter and sculptor Max Weber measure 11.8 linear feet and date from 1902-2008. The collection documents Weber's career as an artist through scattered biographical material; correspondence with artists, curators, universities, arts organizations, and others; exhibition and gallery files; personal business records; writings by Weber and others; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, and other printed material; photographs of Weber, exhibitions, and works of art; audio recordings and motion picture films. Also included are records maintained by Joy Weber on the exhibition and sale of Weber's work after his death.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York painter and sculptor Max Weber measure 11.8 linear feet and date from 1902-2008. The collection documents Weber's career as an artist through scattered biographical material; correspondence with artists, curators, universities, arts organizations, and others; exhibition and gallery files; personal business records; writings by Weber and others; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, and other printed material; photographs of Weber, exhibitions, and works of art; audio recordings and motion picture films. Also included are records maintained by Joy Weber on the exhibition and sale of Weber's work after his death.
Biographical material includes biographical summaries, obituaries, award certificates, and a small amount of family memorabilia. Weber's personal and professional correspondence includes discussions of exhibitions, sales, and donations of his work, as well was requests to teach, write, or lecture. Also found is correspondence with arts organizations, clubs, and committees in which he participated. A small amount of family correspondence is also included. Artists that Weber corresponded with include George Biddle, Arthur Davies, William Gropper, Chaim Gross, Marsden Hartley, Rockwell Kent, Leon Kroll, Barnett Newman, Raphael Soyer, and William Zorach, among many others. Weber also corresponded with many art historians and critics, gallery owners, and art patrons. Joy Weber's correspondence primarily concerns the exhibition, loan, sale, and authentication of her father's artwork.
Exhibition files document various solo and group exhibitions of Weber's work. Five reels of motion picture film include footage of an exhibition at the Forum Gallery in 1975. Gallery files include correspondence, inventories, sales and loan records, gallery publications, and other documentation. Most files for exhibitions and galleries were created by Joy Weber after Max Weber's death in 1961. Personal business records include documents on sales, loans, and gifts of Max Weber's artwork; scattered financial documents; and mortgage and property records. Also found are files regarding his participation in the American Artists' Congress and art juries. Weber's writings primarily concern art theory, impressions of other artists, and social and political issues. Additionally there are notes, drafts speeches, and writings by others about Weber.
Printed material is extensive and includes exhibition publications, press releases, and two published booklets written by Weber: "Art Consciousness" and "Things." Also found are news clippings, brochures, newsletters, and publications produced by art organizations, schools, and museums. Photographs include portraits and snapshots of Weber, depicting him working in his studio, participating in art juries, at art openings, and with his family. Photographs also depict installation views of exhibitions and numerous photographs of Weber's artwork. Audiovisual materials include one sound recording of a National Gallery program on Max Weber and five reels of motion picture film that include home movies and footage of an exhibition at the Forum Gallery in 1975.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1905-1995 (Box 1; 10 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1902-2007 (Box 1-5; 4.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1919-2003 (Box 5-6; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Gallery Files, 1926-2005 (Box 6-7; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1906-2006 (Box 7; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 6: Writings, circa 1910s-1999 (Box 7-8; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1909-2008 (Box 8-10, 12; 2.6 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1930s-circa 2000 (Box 10-11; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 9: Audiovisual Material, 1954-2000 (Box 11, FC 13-17; 0.7 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Max Weber (1881-1961) was a painter and sculptor in New York City.
Weber was born in Bialystok, Russia. When he was ten years old his family moved to Brooklyn, New York. From 1898 to 1900 he attended Pratt Institute and studied theory and practice of design under Arthur Wesley Dow. After graduating he briefly taught drawing in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Duluth, Minnesota. In 1905 he moved to Paris to attend the Académie Julian, studying under Jean-Paul Laurens, and later attended classes at the Académie Colarossi and Académie de la Grande Chaumiere. In 1907 he attended Henri Matisse's studio class. The influence of Matisse and friend Henri Rousseau transformed Weber's painting style to include elements of cubism and fauvism.
Weber returned to New York in 1909, and over the next few years he frequently exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery 291. Initially his work was panned by American critics for being too modern. Despite criticism, Weber exhibited his work extensively in the 1910s and also began creating abstract sculptures. In 1914 he helped his friend Clarence H. White open the White School of Photography and taught art history there for four years. Also in 1914 his Cubist Poems were published in London. His second book of poetry Primitives was published in 1926.
In 1916 Weber married Frances Abrams. He began to explore narrative subjects in his paintings and in 1918 began carving woodblock prints. He also taught at the Art Students League for the 1919-1921 and 1926-1927 sessions. By the early 1920s he was recognized as an important American artist, serving as a leader in art organizations such as the Society of Independent Artists. In 1930 Weber became the first American modernist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.
In the 1930s Weber became more active in political and socialist causes, participating in many organizations throughout the Depression and World War II. In 1937 he became the National Chairman of the American Artists' Congress. By the 1940s, his work was widely known and influenced a new generation of American painters. He continued to exhibit extensively, received many awards, such as the Temple Gold Medal at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and often served on art juries. In 1955 he was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters and received an honorary doctorate from Brandeis University. He died in Great Neck, New York, in 1961.
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art is an Allen L. Wetmore letter from Max Weber, April 15, 1946.
Separated Material:
Material lent for microfilming in 1959 and 1969 which was not included in the 2011 donation is available on microfilm reels NY59-6 to NY59-10, N69-82 to N69-88, and N69-112.
Provenance:
Material was lent for microfilming in 1959 by Max Weber and in 1969 by Mrs. Max Weber and daughter, Joy Weber. The bulk of the microfilmed material and additional papers were donated in 2011 by Joy Weber.
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.
1 Linear foot ((partially microfilmed on 3 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Date:
1941-1978
Scope and Contents:
Photographs of artists; letters; printed material; and a motion picture film.
REEL D284: Exhibition catalogs, 1941-1952, from the Valente Gallery, and clippings; a letter and a sketch from Henry Miller; and a scrapbook containing photographs by Valente of 41 artists, their art work and clippings. Photographs of artists include Boris Aronson, Milton Avery, Arbit Blatas, David Burliuk, Mario Carreño, Joseph DeMartini, Alexander Dobkin, Philip Evergood, Jose Ferrer, Adolph Gottlieb, Marion Greenwood, William Gropper, Chaim Gross, George Grosz, Robert Gwathmey, Lily Harmon, Marsden Hartley, Frederick Haucke, Frank Kleinholz, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Ben Lassen,Sigmund Menkes, Jose Clemente Orozco, Abraham Rattner, Iver Rose, Sally Ryan, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, Margaret Stark, Sabina Teichman, Anthony Toney, Nahum Tschacbasov, Abraham Walkowitz and Ben Wilson.
REEL 2802: A letter from the National Gallery of Art regarding Valente's film "Art Discovers America"; exhibition catalogs on and written by Valente; clippings; and 30 photographs by Valente of 20 artists.
REEL 3480: Two letters from Henry Miller, dated 1943 and 1945. The letters refer to a "watercolor pad and brushes", and Miller also thanks Valente for a portrait of Abe Rattner.
UNMICROFILMED: Photographs by Valente of artists, each accompanied with the artists' self-portrait. Included are Milton Avery, Arbit Blatas, David Burliuk, Mario Carreño, Alexander Dobkin, Philip Evergood, Chaim Gross, Lily Harmon, Frank Kleinholz, Ben Lassen, David Lax, Lawrence H. Lebduska, Jean Liberte, Jose Orozco, Harold Rome, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, Margaret Stark, Sabina Teichman, Anthony Toney, Nahum Tschacbasov, Abraham Walkowitz, and Ben Wilson and 4 photographs of composer Eugene Ormandy which are on the back of the Blatas portraits.
UNMICROFILMED: "Art Discovers America" (MGM shorts), ca. 1945, a 16mm b&w, 400 ft. film regarding the "new public interest" in American art. The film traces the trend back to the exhibition of The Eight, and shows various artists at work, including John Sloan, Thomas Hart Benton, Reginald Marsh, and Abraham Walkowitz. The film was produced by Regency Pictures. Valente was the photographer and co-director along with Hal Frater.
REEL 439-441 AND SCANNED Photos of artists, previously microfilmed under Photos of Artists I, have subsequently been scanned and returned to the Valente papers.
Biographical / Historical:
Photographer; New York City.
Provenance:
Material on reel D284 lent for microfilming by Valente, 1966; Mrs. Valente subsequently donated the scrapbook, 1979. Material on reels 2802, and 3480 donated by Mr. & Mrs. Valente, 1966 through 1979. Unmicrofilmed material donated by Harold Rome, 1988. An additional 35 photos of artists were donated by Valente ca. 1966, and microfilmed on reels 439-441 with AAA's Photographs of Artists Collection I; search under Valente for more information. Many of the photographs are duplicates.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Art and photography -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Artists -- United States -- Photographs Search this
Portrait photography -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Sponsor:
Funding for the preservation of the motion picture film "Art Discovers America" provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
Complete bound run [v.1-9, 1919-1924]. Contains many original hand-pulled woodcuts and linocuts. Among the many contributing artists are George Biddle, Jerome Blum, James Chapin, Adolf Dehn, William Gropper, Alfred Maurer, Boardman Robinson, John Storrs, F. Vollaton, Max Weber, and Marguerite and William Zorach. Ezra Pound, Dorothy Parker, and Robert C. Benchley are among the many well known literary contributors.
Biographical / Historical:
Art periodical, New York, N.Y, devoted to the exposition of contemporary literary and artistic expression. Playboy ran from January 1919 to June 1924. Publication was suspended from July 1921 to February 1923. Nos. 4-5 issued in one number. Issue for 1st quarter 1923 called v. 2, no. 1 but would be no. 8 in whole numbering sequence.
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
New York : Egmont Arens, 1919-1924.
General:
"A portfolio of art and satire."
Provenance:
One issue (v.2, no.1, 1923) donated 1981 by Irving Burton, an art collector and member of the Archives' Board of Trustees. A complete bound run donated by Mildred Baker, 1993. Baker, in addition to being an assistant to Holger Cahill, who served as director on the Federal Art Project and organizer of several art exhibitions in New York in the 1930s, also worked for the College Art Association and a gallery on 57th Street.
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.
Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965 -- Photographs Search this
Stella, Joseph, 1877-1946 -- Photographs Search this
Extent:
0.6 Linear feet ((on 2 microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
ca. 1940-1960
Scope and Contents:
Photographs of 47 American artists taken by Newman.
REEL 153: Artists include: Gertrude Abercrombie, Josef Albers, Ivan Albright, Milton Avery, Peggy Bacon, William Baziotes, Ludwig Bemelmans, Boris Blai, Julis Bloch, Harry Botkin, Alexander Brook, Charles Burchfield, David Burliuk, Alexander Calder, Federico Castellon, Nicolai Cikovsky, Francis Criss (2), Jo Davidson, Willem De Kooning, Philip Evergood, Lyonel Feininger, Richard Florsheim, William Gropper, Chaim Gross (2), John Groth, Louis Guglielmi, Philip Guston, Robert Gwathmey, David Hare, Morris Hirshfield, Hans Hofmann, Edward Hopper, Paul Jenkins, Mervin Jules, Morris Kantor, Joseph Kaplan, Karl Knaths, Leon Kroll, Ibram Lassaw, Robert Laurent, Julian Levi, Jack Levine, and Jacques Lipchitz.
REEL 1027: Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Charles Sheeler.
UNMICROFILMED: Jacob Lawrence (2) and Joseph Stella (2).
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait photographer; New York City; b. New York, N.Y., Mar. 3, 1918; d. June 6, 2006, New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated 1961 by Arnold Newman.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Artists -- United States -- Photographs Search this
1 Item (game (51 playing cards, 2 informational cards, 1 instruction sheet), paper, col., 9 x 6 cm.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1938
Scope and Contents:
A card game designed by social scientist Robert Morey created to teach socialism to Americans in the 1930s. Artists Rockwell Kent, Peggy Bacon, Esther Vance, William Gropper, and George Schreiber designed the deck of cards. There are two special cards, Honesty and Kindness and five suits consisting of six numbered cards and four face cards representing various occupations including a banker, an artist, a professor, a lawyer, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Social scientist, New Haven, Conn. and Canandaigua, N.Y.
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
New Haven, Conn.: Robert Morey, 1938.
Provenance:
Donated 2007 by the National Museum of American History who received the cards from from Roger B.Taylor, who found them when he moved into the former home of Morey.
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 William Gropper conducted by Ann Uhry Abrams as a part of research for her Ph.D. dissertation, "Catalyst for Change: American Art and Revolution, 1906-1915," Emory University, 1975.
Gropper discusses art classes as a youth in New York, the 1913 Armory show, and working for the New York Tribune as a young adult. He recalls Robert Henri, George Bellows, Man Ray, Alfred Stieglitz, Max Weber and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Ann Uhry Abrams is an art historian and professor in Atlanta, Georgia.
Provenance:
Donated 2013 by Ann Uhry Abrams.
Restrictions:
Use of interview requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
A letter from Gropper to Jane SoRelle, 1964, introducing himself and explaining his intended absence from the Rome exhibition which SoRelle is arranging. He comments on the consequences of his blacklisting by Joseph McCarthy, and his hope that Carlo Levy will look at the work he produced from 1953-1956, following the McCarthy investigations.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, cartoonist, lithographer; Croton-on-Hudson, New York. WPA muralist and painter of social comment.
