The papers of surrealist artist Gertrude Abercrombie date from circa 1880-1986, with the bulk of the material dated 1935-1977, and measure 5.9 linear feet. Found within are biographical material; correspondence (mostly incoming letters) with friends, museums, and galleries; files for artists that interested her; writings and notes, including five journal-type notebooks; scattered personal business records; two sketchbooks by Abercrombie and additional sketches and drawings, some by others; printed material, audio recordings, one scrapbook, photographs, and estate records.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of surrealist artist Gertrude Abercrombie date from circa 1880-1986, with the bulk of the material dated 1935-1977, and measure 5.9 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence (mostly incoming letters) with friends, museums, and galleries; artists files; writings and notes, including five journal-type notebooks; scattered personal business records; two sketchbooks by Abercrombie and additional sketches and drawings, some by others; printed material, audio recordings, one scrapbook, photographs, and estate records.
Biographical material consists of biographical notes, Gertrude Abercrombie's will, address books, and a file titled "memorabilia." Personal and professional correspondence consists mainly of incoming letters and some drafts of Gertrude Abercrombie's outgoing letters. Letters from museums and galleries concern loans of paintings and exhibitions. A large amount of the personal correspondence consists of post cards including many antique ones, as well as cards containing original art work by Julio de Diego, Jerry [Jerome] Karidis, Karl Priebe.
Artist files consist of correspondence, printed material, and photographs concerning painters, writers, a jazz musician, and a photographer. The individuals represented are: Dudley Huppler, Jerome Karidis, Karl Priebe, James Purdy, Sonny Rollins, Carl Van Vechten, Wendell Wilcox, John Wilde, and Thornton Wilder.
Writings and notes include reminiscences, miscellaneous writings and notes, and a girlhood diary with brief entries. Five notebooks contain a variety of writings dating from 1953 through 1975, and undated. One volume concerns only her second husband Frank Sandiford.
Business records include a painting catalog on file cards, mailing and guest lists, and miscellaneous sales records. In addition, six notebooks record expenses, sales, inventories, mailing lists, a register of paintings, and a guest book.
There are two sketchbooks, Christmas card designs, sketches and drawings done by Gertrude Abercrombie. There are also prints, drawings, and a painting by Emil Arman, B. Evans, de Diego, and unknown artists.
Printed material consists of articles and clippings about Gertrude Abercrombie, exhibition catalogs, and reproductions. Also included are books by friends inscribed by the authors, among them: Nelson Algren, Richard Armour, Dudley Huppler, James Purdy, Ned Rorem, Paul Warren [pen name of Abercrombie's second husband, Frank Sandiford], Studs Terkel, and Thornton Wilder.
Audio recordings (33-1/3 rpm phonograph alums) are inscribed to Gertrude Abercrombie by the artists. Orlando's album cover, designed by Abercrombie, incorporates one of her paintings.
Records of the Estate of Gertrude Abercrombie and the Gertrude Abercrombie Trust, Donald Baum, Executor, consist mainly of correspondence with the institutions that were offered works of art by Gertrude Abercrombie and from her personal collection. Also included are general correspondence, financial and tax records, and legal documents.
There is one scrapbook dated 1943 containing photographs and printed material.
Photographs are of art work, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects; negatives, slides, and transparencies are included in this series, too. Photographs of art include the work of Gertrude Abercrombie, Karl Priebe, and Charles Sebree. People pictured are Gertrude Abercrombie and family, including her parents, Richard I. Livingston, Dinah Livingston, and Frank Sandiford. There are also 19th and early 20th century photographs of ancestors. Among the images of friends are: Ivan le Lorraine Albright, Arnold Blanch, Dudley Huppler, Doris Lee, Karl Priebe, and Richard Purdy. Photographs of jazz artists include: Louis Armstrong, George Davis, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Orlando, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Sarah Vaughn, and the Modern Jazz Quartet. Of particular note the portraits of Gertrude Abercrombie and Dizzy Gillespie by Carl Van Vechten.Among the photographs of places are interior views of Gertrude Abercrombie's home and studio, unidentified landscapes, travel pictures of San Francisco and commercially produced stereopticon slides of other locations. Miscellaneous subjects are automobiles, cats, exhibition installations, and a still life setup.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 11 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1902-1976 (Box 1, OV9; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1935-1977 (Boxes 1-2; 1.65 linear ft.)
Series 3: Artist files, circa 1935-1977 (Box 2; 0.25 linear ft.)
Series 4: Writings and Notes, circa 1919-1977 (Box 3; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 5: Business Records, circa 1944-1977 (Box 3; 0.2 linear ft.)
Series 6: Art Work, circa 1939-1975 (Boxes 3, 7; O.2 linear ft.)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1906-1977 (Boxes 3-4; 1.6 linear ft.)
Series 8: Audio Recordings, circa 1970-1974 (Box 7; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 9: Estate Records, circa 1976-1986 (Box 5; o.5 linear ft.)
Series 10: Scrapbook, circa 1943(Box 5; 1 folder)
Series 11: Photographs, circa 1880-1978(Boxes 5-7; OV8, 1.0 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Surrealist painter Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-1977) lived and worked in Chicago and was a prominent member of Chicago's Hyde Park arts community.
Abercrombie was known for surrealist oil paintings featuring dreamlike landscapes and fantasies. Her wide circle of friends included locally and nationally known artists, writers, and jazz musicians who made her home a popular avant-garde salon. She was the inspiration for Richie Powell's "Gertrude's Bounce" and, appeared as a fictional character in Malcolm, Eustace Chisholm, and as herself in Gertrude of Stony Island Avenue all by James Purdy.
The only child of Tom and Lula Janes [Jane] Abercrombie, Gertrude was born in Austin, Texas in 1909, while her opera singer parents were in town with a traveling company. In 1913, the family relocated to Berlin to further Jane's career, but the outbreak of World War I forced their return to the United States. They lived with Tom Abercrombie's family in Alledo, Illinois, before permanently settling in Chicago.
Gertrude Abercrombie had a facility with language and possessed musical and artistic talents. After graduation from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with a degree in romance languages in 1929, she studied figure drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a short time. She then enrolled at the American Arcademy of Art, also in Chicago, for a year long course in commercial art. Her first job was drawing gloves for Mesirow Department Store ads, followed by a stint working as an artist for Sears.
By 1932, Gertrude Abercrombie began painting seriously. The following summer, she participated in an outdoor art fair in downtown Chicago where she made her first sale and received favorable mention in a newspaper review of the event. Abercrombie's work that featured self-portraits and recurring images of personal symbols - trees, horses, owls, keys, shells, doors, stairways, ladders - began to attract attention. Beginning in 1934, Gertrude Abercrombie was employment as a painter in the WPA Federal Art Project in 1934, enabling her to feel validated as an artist and move from the home of her conservative, Christian Scientist parents to her own apartment. The Chicago Society of Artists presented a solo exhibition of Abercrombie's work in 1934, and in 1936 she showed at the Katharine Kuh Gallery (along with Rita Stein and Nicola Ziroli). In 1936 and 1938 Gertrude Abercrombie won prizes at the Art Institute of Chicago's Annual Exhibition of Works by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity.
She left the WPA in 1940 and married lawyer Robert Livingston. Their daughter, Dinah, was born in 1942, and they soon moved to a large Victorian house on South Dorchester St. where Gertude lived for the remainder of her life. The couple divorced in 1948. That same year she married Frank Sandiford, a music critic whose pen name was Paul Warren. An accomplished improvisational pianist, Gertrude Abercrombie became friends with many prominent jazz artists whom she met through Sandiford; in fact, Dizzy Gillespie performed at their wedding. Abercrombie and Sandiford separated in 1964.
The 1940s through 1950s were Gertrude Abercrombie's most productive and prolific period. Although she no longer painted many portraits, he work remained focused on the same themes and symbols. She believed that art was about ideas rather than technique and insisted that "It is always myself that I paint." During this period, Amercrombie exhibited widely in group shows and had solo exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, Associated American Artists (New York), and Leonard Linn, Inc. (Winnetka, Ill.)
By the late 1950s, Gertrude Abercrombie began a long decline. Alcoholism started to take a toll. She suffered serious financial reverses, and in 1964 separated from Frank Sandiford. Debilitating arthritis eventually landed her in a wheel chair, and she became reclusive. In 1977, very near the end of her life, Gertrude Abercrombie was honored with a well-received retrospective exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago. She was able to attend the reception and enjoy seeing the many old friends who were at the event.
Gertrude Abercrombie died in Chicago in 1977. Her will established The Gertrude Abercrombie Trust that cared for and distributed to various institutions her own paintings and a personal collection of works by other artists to selected institutions, mainly in the Midwest.
Related Material:
A photograph of Gertrude Abercrombie at home with her painting "Slaughter House", was donated by Donald Baum to the National Collection of Fine Arts in 1979 and transferred to the Archives of American Art that same year.
Provenance:
Donald Baum, executor of both the estate and trust of Gertrude Abercrombie, donated the papers to the Archives of American Art in 1978 and 1986.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ellen Lanyon, 1975 Dec. 5. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
United States of America -- Illinois -- Lake County -- Lake Forest
The Hull Residence (Lake Forest, Illinois)
Scope and Contents:
1 folder and 24 digital images.
General:
The one-acre property had a few trees and no garden in 1970; since then the owner and the late British garden designer John Brookes have created English-inspired formal and woodland gardens. The entrance court/parking area is patterned gravel and brick enclosed by curving brick walls with in-ground crabapple standards that appear to be planted in Versailles boxes set on brick paving. Curved steps lead down to the woodland garden in front of the house where a decorative shed appears as a folly. In spring primrose, hellebore, columbine, daffodil and lily-of-the-valley bloom under dogwood and magnolia. In summer white accents from hydrangea, birch and variegated hosta show through evergreen and woody shrubs. A winding path with deep garden borders leads to formal gardens that surround the back lawn. Clipped boxwood and yew add structure at the intersections of curving beds, a seating area overlooked by a statue of a seated deer, gravel garden and terrace. Towering pines and other trees were planted around the perimeter of the property and act as both privacy screens and backdrop to the borders.
David Austin roses in shades of pink grow in curving beds accented with perennials, tuteurs and an armillary sphere for height. Flowering trees and shrubs add color before the roses take over in summer. At one end there is a formal gravel garden where rope swags between columns support climbing roses with rose bushes, peonies, lady's mantle and clipped balls of yew at ground level. A terrace of mixed hardscapes along the back of the houses is planted with clipped shrubs and pots of annuals and bulbs. Planting beds and a small pond are cut into the hardscape, and opportunistic perennials including mosses are encouraged. The gardens are dotted with antique and inherited statuary and an urn on a second story balcony. Layered details include ivy trained in a crisscrossing pattern on a brick wall and running along flagstone steps.
Persons associated with the garden include: John Brookes (garden and landscape designer, late 1980's-2018).
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 -- Illinois -- Cook County -- Kenilworth
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, historical information about the house and garden, photocopies of articles about the property and garden, reference images, and other information.
General:
A private residence on one acre has a 1929 house of asymmetrical design, with a rectangular sunken lawn behind the house surrounded by low retaining walls that are symmetrically punctuated by four stone stairways. The walls serve as raised beds for perennials and shrubs. Two concrete jardinières at each stairway are planted in topiary boxwood. A large patio behind the house is paved in bluestone set in a random pattern. Beyond the patio a stairway leads to the lower elevation lawn. The garden was designed for entertaining, with seating on the patio and under a pergola.
The house has Art Deco ironwork at the front and back doors, which is complemented by an ironwork scrim that supports the pergola. An antique fountain surrounded by boxwood at one end of the lawn balances the pergola at the other end. A shaded woodland garden features an antique limestone bench. The walkway along one side of the house is bordered by perennial flower beds, ground cover beds, and a rose garden.
The Coolidge Garden has been documented by the Garden Conservancy.
Persons associated with the garden include Douglas Hoerr of Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects (landscape architect, 2001 to present).
Related Materials:
Coolridge Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (15 35 mm. slides (photographs))
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.
Roseann S. and Robert H. Drucker Residence (Wilmette, Illinois)
United States of America -- Illinois -- Cook County -- New Trier -- Wilmette
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans for both the old and new gardens, and additional information about the garden. Included in the folder is a copy of the August 2008 cover of "Fine Gardening" which features the Drucker Garden.
General:
The Drucker Garden lies on a one-third acre site and re-creates a typical peaceful English walled garden. It resulted from a total redesign of the property's old garden, including removal of all trees and shrubs except a Copper Beech and a 200-year-old Burr Oak. The new garden design features several "rooms" joined with a bluestone and old brick hardscape, limestone walks, an allée, a sunny border, a woodland shade garden, a formal garden surrounding a lily pond and fountain, a drought garden and a traditional English "yard" for potting and composting. Two additional fountains built into the walls in separate areas of the garden provide different atmospheres for enjoyment. Travels to England by the owners have resulted in the acquisition of appropriate antique and contemporary garden ornaments and other items, including ironwork. Because the garden is small, many dwarf and fastigate trees are used. A front woodland garden incorporates rhododendron, Kalmia latifolia, Pieris japonica and Mahonia aquifolium, along with dogwoods, Sciadopitys verticillata, and Acer palmatum. A collection of dwarf conifers of other species fill antique stone troughs. The garden also includes flower beds and a traditional English border with a large variety of shrubs, perennials, annuals, and a beautiful spring bulb collection. The various walls are covered with an assortment of clematis, roses, and spring-blooming wisteria.
Firms associated with the garden include Douglas Hoerr Landscape Architecture, Inc. (landscape architects, 2002-2003); Kettelkamp & Kettelkamp (landscape architects, 2004 to date); Rocco Fiore & Sons, Inc. (gardeners, 2004 to date); Masonry by Fernando, Inc. (hardscape contractors, 2002-2003); Pimlico Forge (blacksmiths, 2003-2005); and Lightscape (lighting designers and contractors, 2003).
Related Materials:
Roseann S. and Robert H. Drucker Residence related holdings consist of 1 folder (16 35 mm. slides (photographs))
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.
Moffat Mall in Chestnut Court (Winnetka, Illinois)
United States of America -- Illinois -- Cook County -- Winnetka
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes a work sheet, site map, narrative history, design description and copies of articles.
General:
In 1960, the Winnetka Garden Club chose the location as its 1961 civic project. Curved benches framed an antique Italian fountain. Low evergreen shrubs and euonymus made up the bulk of the planting, while local merchants occasionally contributed spring bulbs. The Mall was formally dedicated on June 13, 1962. The garden was renovated in 1979. In 2002, the planning for a complete new renovation with an English design began. The centerpiece of the plan is a brick promenade between Village Hall and the post office that opens into a central plaza with curved benches framing a new fountain. Several criteria have been used in the selection of plant material: year round interest, long-lasting color, ease of long-term care, and incorporating many senses. In keeping with the name of "Chestnut Court," Yellow Buckeyes have been selected to create a shade canopy over the promenade.
Persons associated with the garden include: Village of Winnetka (owner, 1960-present); Mrs. William Moffat (designer, 1960-1962); Mrs. Edward Harkness (designer, 1960-1962); Mark Marcus (landscape designer, 2002-2005); Jane Muellner (landscape designer, 2002-2005); Ray Sanchez (contractor, 2002-2005); and Linda Walsh (renovation manager, 2002-2005).
Related Materials:
Moffat Mall in Chestnut Court related holdings consist of 1 folder (7 35 mm. slides)
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 -- Illinois -- Cook County -- Winnetka
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes an information sheet, a features plan, a slide view plan, a slide list, a plant list and a 2005 "Open Days Directory" Garden Conservancy brochure.
General:
Nantucket Garden is located on a property in Winnetka, Illinois, next to a cedar-shingled Nantucket-style house built in 1916 by Edwin Clark. The half moon rose garden adjacent to the screened porch at the rear of the house is planted with pink hybrid tea roses and floribunda roses surrounded by white begonias and white alyssum. Features include a terraced garden, a ravine garden and a boxwood knot garden. Garden furniture on the property includes a pair of Karl Schinkel neo-classical designed cast-iron brenches (ca. 1860) and two antique urns.
Related Materials:
Nantucket Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (6 35 mm. slides (photographs))
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 -- Illinois -- Cook -- Winnetka
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, and additional information.
General:
The three acre property was cleared of all but two trees and graded so that the house, nine garden rooms, and even the walk into the woodland garden would be accessible to people with differing physical abilities. The house is styled after a 16th century French manor house without stairs that might impede anyone from entering. Garden rooms are enclosed by tall clipped yew hedges in the neoclassical style. The formal motor court in front of the house has a double row of pleached linden at the perimeter and a central medallion of clipped boxwood, English ivy, lawn and four sphere shaped yews. The terrace behind the house is edged with petunias in summer leading to a lawn and a woodland garden planted with evergreens and wildflowers. Along one side of the central lawn there is an allée of honey locust with large containers filled with tulips in spring and hydrangeas in summer backed by a perennial and shrub garden with a white garden at one end that includes roses, cosmos and tree peonies. Parterres planted with roses and varieties of herbs that would have been found in monastery gardens, topiaries shaped like swans, and a pergola covered by wisteria were inspired by a 16th century French engraving. West of the house in one of the few pitched areas there is a paved patio with boxwood clipped to resemble billowing clouds, known as the amphitheater. A wetlands known as the dells was constructed to retain run-off from heavy rainfall.
Throughout the property the walkways are wide and flat so that a person in a wheel chair could have another person walking beside them. Fragrance also was an important quality when choosing plants. An antique maple shades a provincial fountain, redbuds, violas, and ferns, and the other historic tree on the property is an elm. The property attracts wildlife, including more than 120 bird species that feed on the berries, breeding mallards, and a fox family. Various evergreen and deciduous trees around the perimeter are enclosed by woven willow branch wattle fencing.
Persons associated with the garden include Thomas H. Beeby (architect, 1990); Deborah Nevins (landscape designer, 1992); Bartlett Tree Experts (arborist, 2016- ); Mariani Landscape (landscape architects, 2016- ).
Related Materials:
House in the Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (23 digital images)
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 -- Illinois -- Cook County -- New Trier -- Wilmette
Date:
2008 Nov.
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.
Interview of Ellen Lanyon conducted 1975 December 5-7 and 1976 January 15-16 and 18 by James Crawford for the Archives of American Art.
Lanyon speaks of family background; interests in art and music and collecting objects and antiques; her early art education; remembrances of 1933 Chicago World's Fair; Art Institute of Chicago; Momentum group; Oxbow Summer School of Painting; her work and techniques; exhibitions; Institute of Design; marriage and move to University of Iowa; Iowa art department, Iowa print group; Fulbright to England; travel in France and Italy; return to Chicago; founding of graphic workshop; Hairy Who group; The Imagists; Seven and Up exhibitions; Red Grooms in Chicago; and commissions. She recalls George Buehr, Margo Hoff, Dudley Crafts Watson, Vera Berdich, Joseph Hirsch, Carl Schneiwind, Kathleen Blackshear, Mauricio Lasansky, Gertrude Abercrombie, Julius Carleback, Roland Ginzel, and Edgar Rupprecht. She also discusses her family; changes in medium and style of her artwork; symbolism, and feminism.
Biographical / Historical:
Ellen Lanyon (1926-2013) was a painter and printmaker from Chicago, Illinois.
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 administrators.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Funding for this interview was provided by Matilda Wilson. This interview received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Nell Blaine papers, 1879, 1940-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of this collection received Federal support from the Collections Care Initiative Fund, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the National Collections Program. Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided in part by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.
Client files, administrative files, artwork, and collected food labels from graphic and industrial designer Francis Mair. Mair specialized in beverage labels and packaging during his many years with Landor Associates in San Francisco. Late in his career, he directed Landor's Museum of Packaging History. His prolific freelance career included designs for furniture, decorative arts, letterhead, and corporate images. His personal artwork included alphabets, typefaces, and sketchbooks. Much of his personal artwork is humorous or erotic.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists largely of client files and artwork from Mair's years with Landor Associates and his freelance design work. Mair's specialty was the design of beverage containers, labels, and packaging, and there is a significant body of material produced for West Coast and national breweries and wineries. Mair also managed Landor's Museum of Packaging Antiquities, and there are several boxes of the Museum's administrative files. Of particular interest is Mair's large collection of historical and contemporary wine, liquor, and fruit crate labels (both foreign and domestic). The labels seem to have served as an inspiration and a record of his work, as well as documentation of historical packaging for the Museum. Mair's freelance clients were diverse, though most of them were small businesses and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to food and beverage labels, these commissions included posters, promotional materials, letterhead and personal announcements, invitations, and cards. Lastly, the collection includes personal artwork and records of entrepreneurial projects (such as the Flexigon, a flexible geometric toy).
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into eight series.
Series 1, Professional Materials, 1956-1991, undated
Series 2, Landor Associates Files, 1946-1993, undated
Series 3, Landor Museum of Packaging Antiquities, 1960-1989, undated
Series 4, Freelance Client Files, 1946-1989, undated
Series 5, United States Naval Training School, Radio Chicago, 1943-1945, undated
Sereis 6, Personal Artwork and Designs, 1935-1994, undated
Series 7, Reference Files, 1950-1985, undated
Series 8, Labels, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Francis Marion Mair was born in Streator, Illinois to Alexander Morrison Mair and Jessie C. Williams on May 5, 1916. He began his career as an artist and designer at the University of Illinois School of Design in Chicago receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting in 1938. That year he joined the United States Navy and where he designed visual aids for the Naval Training School in Chicago, Illinois. Even at this early stage in his career, acute design sense and humor are evident in his work. In 1949, he joined Landor Associates in San Francisco, California where he worked for forty years, retiring in 1989. At Landor, he specialized in designing packaging and labeling for beverages. He also was the director of Landor's Museum of Packaging History which shared quarters with Landor Associates on the Ferryboat Klamath. Throughout his career, Mair took on diverse freelance projects. One of his most successful was the Suva line of rattan furniture and decorative objects for Decorative Imports. Mair published articles in Advertising Age, Industrial Design, Advertising Techniques, and Wines and Vines. Mair died on April 29, 1991 in Contra Costa County, California.
Related Archival Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Industry on Parade (NMAH.AC.0507)
Reel #167, Sitting Bull's Last Stand, 1953. Peter Meindl, a German woodcarver, making cigar store wooden Indians, New Hampshire.
Walter Landor and Associates (AC0500)
NW Ayer Advertising Agenecy Records (AC0059)
Hills Bros. Coffee Company Records (AC395)
Emmett McBain Afro American Adertising Poster Collection (AC0192)
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)
Marilyn E. Jacklear Memorial Collection of Tobacco Advertisements (AC1224)
Marlboro Oral History and Documentation Project (AC0198)
Related Materials:
A glass final production version of a French's mustard jar and three hand-carved, solid-wood prototypes for this jar are in the Museum's Division of Work and Industry. These were found in Mair's home studio.
Provenance:
Collection donated by LaVeda Mair, April 23, 1996.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Copyright for a portion of the collection held by the Smithsonian Institution. Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use.
The Pauline Winchester Inman papers measure 2.6 linear feet and date from circa 1800-1991. They illustrate her career through biographical material, correspondence, writings, subject files, printed material, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The Pauline Winchester Inman papers measure 2.6 linear feet and date from circa 1800-1991.
Biographical material contains a resume and biographical information for the publications Who's Who in American Art and Who's Who of American Women. Correspondence is with family members, artists, and friends.
Writings include materials related to three projects for books and magazines Down East (1960), Artist's Proof (1963), and Antiques Guide (1972) as well as research material on Alexander Anderson for an article. Also included are annotated printed materials regarding exhibitions at the American Institute of Graphic Arts.
Subject files include artists' files containing exhibition information, printed, and other material as well as material related to the Society of Graphic Artists, the Print Collector, and the Woodcut Society. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, clippings, prints of woodcuts, bookplates by Norman Kent, and Inman's 50th Reunion Book from Smith College. Artwork includes one sketchbook and prints of woodcuts created by Inman.
Arrangement:
This collection contains six series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1951-1972 (.1 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1934-1991 (.8 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1800-1990 (.5 Linear feet: Boxes 1-2)
Series 4: Subject Files, circa 1923-1984 (.6 Linear feet: Box 2)
Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1936-1990 (.5 Linear feet: Boxes 3-4)
Series 6: Artwork, circa 1943 (.1 Linear feet: Box 4)
Biographical / Historical:
Pauline Winchester Inman (1904-1990) was a printmaker, author, and illustrator who worked mainly in Connecticut and Illinois.
Inman was born in Cook County, Chicago, Illinois and studied wood engraving with Allen Lewis. She worked on the books and readers for Down East (1960), Antiques Guide (1972), and Artist's Proof (1963).
Inman died in Newton, Fairfield County, Connecticut on January 16, 1990.
Provenance:
Papers were donated in 1991 by Inman's sister Alice Winchester.
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.
Pauline Winchester Inman papers, circa 1800-1991, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Archives Center Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution