The Sarah Burns research material on Perkins Harnly measures 1.9 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 2018. The material was compiled by Burns for her book about Harnly titled, The Emphatically Queer Career of Artist Perkins Harnly, published in 2021. The collection comprises Harnly's biographical materials that include documentary material on three video recordings, audio and video recordings of interviews with Harnly by Bill Paxton and others, and scrapbooks and miscellaneous materials containing a mixture of printed materials, drawings by Harnly, and photographs; Harnly's personal and professional correspondence with Bill Paxton and others; writings by Harnly and others on various subjects; postcards collected by Harnly while traveling, and announcements and catalogs for Harly's exhibitions in printed materials; and photographic materials of Harnly, his travel snapshots, works of art, and a few miscellaneous photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The Sarah Burns research material on Perkins Harnly measures 1.9 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 2018. The material was compiled by Burns for her book about Harnly titled, The Emphatically Queer Career of Artist Perkins Harnly, published in 2021. The collection comprises Harnly's biographical materials that include documentary material on 3 video recordings, audio and video recordings of interviews with Harnly by Bill Paxton and others, and scrapbooks and miscellaneous materials containing a mixture of printed materials, drawings by Harnly, and photographs; Harnly's personal and professional correspondence with Bill Paxton and others; writings by Harnly and others on various subjects; postcards collected by Harnly while traveling, and announcements and catalogs for Harly's exhibitions in printed materials; and photographic materials of Harnly, his travel snapshots, works of art, and a few miscellaneous photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1900-2004 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1, OV 4)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1932-2018 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1941-circa 1980 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 4: Printed Materials, 1932-1984 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Series 5: Photographic Materials, circa 1900-1981 (0.3 linear feet; Box 3)
Biographical / Historical:
Sarah Burns is professor Emeritus of art history at Indiana University. Burns studied the career of artist Perkins Harnly (1901-1986) and wrote the book The Emphatically Queer Career of Artist Perkins Harnly and His Bohemian Friends, 2021.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Perkins Harnly papers, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan resarch material on Perkins Harnly, and a 1981 oral history interview with Perkins Harnly.
Provenance:
The Sarah Burns research material on Perkins Harnly was donated in 2022 by Sarah Burns.
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. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References 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.
Interview of Harnly Perkins, conducted 1981 Oct. 15, by Estill Pennington for the Archives of American Art, at the National Museum of American Art, in Washington, D.C.
Harnly speaks of painting portraits of famous actors and documenting various interiors for the Index of American Design. He recalls working in a cafeteria and his respect for various artist, including Joseph Cornell and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Perkins Harnly (1901-1986) was a painter from Culver City, Calif.
Provenance:
This interview is 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 on the Archives of American Art website.
In his correspondence with Hartigan (1979-1984), Harnly discusses Cornell, the Levy Gallery, the Index of American Design, his own career, and other artists such as Howard Taft Lorenz. Hartigan's correspondence concerning the exhibition includes letters from Harnly's friend Henry Warshaw. Hartigan's research materials on Harnly include her typed interview questions with Harnly's written responses, newspaper and magazine articles, exhibition catalogs and announcements, copies of the Index of American Design data sheets for Harnly's watercolors, an exhibition history and chronology, Harnly's undated autobiographical notes, two photographs of Harnly, and photographs of works of art by Harnly not included in the NMAA exhibition.
Biographical / Historical:
Lynda Hartigan is an art historian and museum curator; Washington, D.C. Perkins Harnly is best known for his imaginative watercolor renderings of Victorian interiors for the Index of American Design. Harnly grew up in Nebraska. From childhood he was fascinated by the decorative and popular arts, especially by late Victorian design and domestic architecture. Through travel and self-education, he broadened his knowledge of design and developed his skill as a watercolorist. The Index of American Design commissioned him to compose watercolor renderings of American interiors decorated and furnished in the Victorian style. After the dissolution of the Federal Project in 1943, he worked as a sketch artist for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio in Hollywood.
Provenance:
Collected by Lynda Hartigan for the exhibition PERKINS HARNLY: FROM THE INDEX OF AMERICAN DESIGN, which she co-curated with Virginia Mecklenberg, at the National Museum of American Art (1981-1982). Hartigan initially became interested in Harnly because he had exhibited in a three-man show at the Julien Levy Gallery with Joseph Cornell in the early 1930s. After some searching, she found Harnly living in a hotel in Culver City, California, and began a detailed correspondence with him.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
0.2 Linear feet ((67items on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1969-1982
Scope and Contents:
Letters, incomplete letters, and postcards from Harnly to Warshaw.
Biographical / Historical:
Attorney; Marina Del Rey, Calif. Warshaw is a friend of painter Perkins Harnly.
Provenance:
Donated 1982 by Henry Warshaw.
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.
Biographical fact sheets, 1971; postcards from Harnly to Bill Alexander; correspondence; writings, including the manuscripts, "Somersault, Nature's Undesirable," 1964, and "My Kingdon for a Hearse," 1971, and short stories; financial material; a watercolor drawing by Harnly entitled, "Millie, the Messy Old Mermaid"; clippings and exhibition-related material; and photographs of Harnley and of his works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Perkins Harnly (1901-1986) was a painter, illustrator, and watercolorist, who depicted Victorian furnishings and interiors and was from Culver City, Calif. Mr. Harnly illustrated for Index of American Design (25 pictures), 1938-1941.
Provenance:
The donor, Bill Alexander was a friend of Harnley.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Perkins Harnly, 1981 Oct. 15. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
