The papers of painter, illustrator, muralist, and political activist William Gropper measure 3.3 linear feet and date from 1916-1983. Almost one-half of the collection consists of printed materials, including full issues of New Masses, Liberator, and Der Hammer, all featuring illustrations by Gropper. Circa 600 letters include those written to Gropper by Frank Crowninshield, Robert Henri, Louis Lozowick, Raphael Soyer, and others. Also found are photographs of Gropper, his family, colleagues, and friends, as well as scattered writings and notes, business records, biographical information, three drawings, and a fabric sample designed by Gropper.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter, illustrator, muralist, and political activist William Gropper measure 3.3 linear feet and date from 1916-1983.
Three folders of scattered Biographical Information are found for William Gropper, his wife Sophie and their children. Business Records consist of lists of artwork, price lists, contracts, receipts, and other financial records. Scattered Writings and Notes include mostly writings about Gropper by others, lists of works of art, and miscellaneous writings. Works of Art include three original drawings by Gropper and a sample of fabric designed by Gropper. Circa 600 letters within the papers were written to William Gropper between 1916 and 1977 (bulk, 1970s), although Sophie Gropper's correspondence is also included. Found here are letters from Frank Crowninshield, Robert Henri, Louis Lozowick, Frank Alva Parsons, Raphael Soyer, and others. There are also letters concerning Gropper's participation in the Federal Art Project and from Ben Horowitz of the Heritage Gallery who represented Gropper's artwork.
Almost one-half of the collection consists of Printed Materials, including full issues of New Masses, Liberator, and Der Hammer, all featuring illustrations by Gropper. Also found are auction and exhibition catalogs, clippings, press releases, and printed reproductions of Gropper's artwork.
Photographs are of Gropper, his family, colleagues, friends, family vacations, and works of art.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into seven series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Information, circa 1942-1982 (Box 1; 3 Folders)
Series 2: Business Records, circa 1936-1983 (Box 1; 8 Folders)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1947-1978 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Works of Art, circa 1940s, 1952, after 1958 (Box 1, OV 4; 2 Folders)
Series 5: Correspondence, circa 1916-1983 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1919-1983 (Box 1-3, OV 4; 1.4 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, after 1937-circa 1980s (Box 3; 0.8 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
William Gropper was born on December 3rd, 1897 in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His family was impoverished and his parents worked in the New York garment factories. To help his family, Gropper took odd jobs throughout New York City. When he was not busy working, Gropper nurtured his artistic talents by drawing cartoons on sidewalks and the sides of buildings.
In 1912, Gropper began formal art education at the Ferrer School in Greenwich Village where he was influenced by the Ashcan School of social realists, particularly artists Robert Henri and George Bellows. After the Ferrer School, Gropper studied at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts on a scholarship granted by Frank Alvah Parsons. Following his education, Gropper worked simultaneously at the New York Tribune and Rebel Worker as a draftsman and cartoonist respectively. He continued a career as a cartoonist and illustrator for publications such as Vanity Fair, New Masses, The Nation, Freiheit, and various Jewish and Hebrew publications for more than thirty years. Gropper's cartoons typically portrayed the everyday worker and the injustices he suffered.
Gropper, who was also a painter, produced powerful imagery of social protest. His subjects included industrial strikes and the labor wars of the coal mining and steel industries. Additionally, William Gropper received several commissions from the Federal Arts Project, Works Progress Administration to create murals for various public buildings around the country, including one for the United States Department of the Interior building in Washington, D.C. Here, he created Construction of the Dam to represent the combination of labor and technology to construct various dams on the Colorado River. The Guggenheim Foundation awarded a fellowship to Gropper to travel to the impoverished Dust Bowl region. This trip inspired a series of illustrations that appeared in The Nation. Gropper's trips to Russia and Poland also served to inspire his art.
Later in his career, William Gropper exhibited his artwork throughout the United States and the world. Gropper was also one of the originial members of the Artists Equity Association founded in 1947. Gropper's artwork can be found in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution, The National Gallery of Art, The Butler Institute of American Art, Princeton University, The Phillips Collection, The William J. Clinton Presidential Library as well as many other museums and universities. William Gropper remained in New York City and the surrounding area with his wife, Sophie until his death in 1977.
Related Material:
Among the holdings of the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview of William Gropper conducted by Bruce Hooton in 1965. The Louis Lozowick papers contain documentation of Lozowick's research and writings for a biography of Gropper.
The Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Library also holds a collection of William Gropper's papers.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Sophie Gropper, Gropper's widow, in 1984.
Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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.
Topic:
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Karl Benjamin. Karl Benjamin letter to Benjamin Horowitz of the Heritage Gallery, 1982 or 1983. Heritage Gallery records, 1944-2000. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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.
KPAL (Radio station : Palm Springs, California) Search this
Type:
Sound Recording
Date:
1966-1967
Citation:
Benjamin Horowitz and Molly Saltman. Interview with Ben Horowitz, 1966-1967. Molly Saltman "Art and Artists" interviews, 1966-1967. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
