The papers of Los Angeles photo and video artist Eileen Cowin measure 14.7 linear feet and date from 1961 to 2015. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, writings, teaching files, project files, exhibition files, printed material, video artwork and sketchbooks, sound and video recordings, an external hard drive and floppy disk, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Los Angeles photo and video artist Eileen Cowin measure 14.7 linear feet and date from 1961 to 2015. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, writings, teaching files, project files, exhibition files, printed material, artwork and sketchbooks, sound and video recordings, an external hard drive and floppy disk, and photographic material.
Biographical material consists of diplomas, passports, rolodexes, faculty identification cards, legal papers, interview transcripts, and miscellaneous documents. There is one external hard drive containing computer backup files of inventories, grant files, research files, personal photographs, and photographs of artwork.
Personal and professional correspondence is with family, friends, artists, collectors, gallery owners, museums, and universities. Notable correspondents include Carl Chiarenza, Darryl Curran, Maria Gonzalez, Robert Heinecken, Ellen Korsower, William Larson, and Aaron Siskind.
Writings include notebooks, annotated appointment calendars and wall calendars, lectures, essays, drafts and notes, artists statements, guest registers, and some writings by others. A few lectures and one essay are on sound recordings.
Teaching files are mostly related to material from California State University, Fullerton. There are a few documents from Franconia College and other universities where Eileen Cowin taught workshops or had faculty appointments. The files include student evaluations, promotion notifications, and limited correspondence.
Project files include professional files, such as grant applications, artist residencies, and symposiums. Also found are art project proposals, publication agreements for art projects, and commissions,. Files contain correspondence, printed material, application forms, research notes, and photographic material.
Exhibition files include announcements, catalogs, reviews, correspondence, price lists of artwork, and assorted material for Eileen Cowin's group and solo shows. One floppy disk contains exhibition files for Drawing Connections, 1993.
Printed material consists ;primarily of clippings, exhibition catalogs, announcements, books, periodicals, and clippings.
Artwork includes 26 videocassettes of Cowin's artwork, 1 sketchbook, drawings, and a few college art projects.
Photographic material includes press prints, proofs, contact sheets, slides, negatives, transparencies, and test shots. There are photographs of installations and artwork as well as images for exhibition mock-ups. There are also batches of "research photographs" which were used for reference. There is one folder of photographs of Eileen Cowin.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1961-2015 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1969-2015 (3 linear feet; Boxes 1-4)
Series 3: Writings, 1963-2014 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 4-6)
Series 4: Teaching Files, 1974-2008 (0.3 linear feet, Box 6)
Series 5: Project Files, 1979-2010 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 6-7)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1979-2011 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 7-8)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1966-2014 (2.6 linear feet; Boxes 8-10, 17, OV 20)
Series 8: Artwork and Sketchbooks, 1964-2003 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 10-13, 17)
Series 9: Photographic Material, 1968-2015 (2.5 linear feet; Boxes 13-16, 18-19, OV 21)
Biographical / Historical:
Eileen Cowin (1947-) is a photographer and video artist who lives in Los Angeles, California.
Eileen Cowin was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1947. She graduated from the State University of New York, New Paltz in 1968 and received her master's degree in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago in 1970. At IIT, she studied with Aaron Siskind and Arthur Siegel.
Cowin was involved in the L.A. experimental photography scene that began in the mid-1970s led by Robert Heinecken and Darryl Curran. In the early 1980s, Cowin gained initial prominence with staged photographs of family and friends in various roles, work in keeping with The Pictures Generation emerging at the same time on the East Coast.
From 1971-1975, Cowin taught photography at Franconia College in New Hampshire, and later became a professor at California State University, Fullerton, where she continued to teach until retiring in 2008.
Cowin's artwork has been featured in over 40 solo exhibitions and over 165 group exhibitions in the United States and abroad. She has received numerous awards for her art and worked on many public art projects.
Provenance:
The Eileen Cowin papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Eileen Cowin in 2015.
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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
One box of correspondence with Michael Dorris and Louise Erdrich and one box of correspondence with Robert Fichter are ACCESS RESTRICTED; use requires written permission.
Rights:
The Eileen Cowin papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Biographical material, correspondence, business records, notes and writings, sketchbooks, printed material, and photographs reflect Weinberg's career as a painter and printmaker, primarily of abstract forms based on the human figure. There are also files pertaining to Weinberg's father, Arthur Henry Kimball.
REELS 837-839: Correspondence, 1927-1970, including letters from Bert Anapol, Ben-Zion, Alice Trumbull Mason, and Paul E. Pross, Jr; 4 artist's statements; a notebook listing works of art; miscellaneous notes and typescript fragments; clippings, 1948-1970; exhibition announcements and catalogs, 1948-1970; 14 sketchbooks, 1950-1961; 4 pages from a guest book, 1959, price lists, 1960-1970, consignment receipts, 1964-1969, 2 contracts for art rental services, 1954-1960, press releases, 1959-1966, and a book jacket for LOW VOICES by Paul E. Pross, illustrated by Weinberg; material relating to her father Arthur Kimball includes a biographical account, 4 photographs of Kimball, one with Weinberg, 1908-1933, 12 photographs of works of art, 4 sketchbook pages, and 4 clippings.
REELS 4864-4865: Biographical documents; a file on Arthur Kimball containing an exhibition catalog, 1932, and 11 photographs of his art work; letters received, 1927-1983, primarily relating to exhibitions and her donation of work to art institutions; notes and writings, including ideas for inventions, 1945; 14 notebooks, 1949-1974, containing notes on art history, printmaking techniques, and lists of works; 12 lists of works, some with prices, 1967-1975; a typescript for a tape on Weinberg's biblical work; and a typescript "Thoughts and Suggestions for the Art Student"; 17 sketchbooks, 1968-1981; clippings, 1921-1983; exhibition announcements and catalogs, 1948-1983; brochures and prospectuses; and photographs of Weinberg and her work, 1950-1969.
UNMICROFILMED: Handwritten list of collectors who own Weinberg's works; lists of works owned by Evanston Hospital and the University of Illinois (Chicago); correspondence with collectors.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printmaker; Chicago, Ill. Born in New York City, Weinberg was the daughter of Arthur Henry Kimball (originally named Kaiser), a designer, garment manufacturer, and painter. After moving to Chicago with her family in 1909, Weinberg studied printmaking with Max Kahn at the Art Institute of Chicago, with Misch Kohn at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and painting with Gerald Landt at the Summer School of Painting in Saugatuck, Michigan. Weinberg was also employed in advertising and public relations work and was a free-lance writer.
Provenance:
Donated 1971-1987 by Helen Joy Weinberg. Microfilmed 1994 with grants from the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund, the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, the Goldie-Anna Charitable Trust, the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, and the Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation.
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 fiber artist Claire Zeisler measure 3.5 linear feet and date from 1941 to 1992. Zeisler's career is documented through project files, printed materials, and scrapbooks. The bulk of the collection consists of twenty-two scrapbooks containing resumes and chronologies; an honorary degree; business correspondence with libraries, museums, and other institutions concerning exhibitions of Zeisler's work and the loan of her personal art collection; exhibition lists and condition reports; loan records; printed materials for exhibitons; and scattered sketches and hanging instructions. Project files contain documents relating to titled weavings and general works, and may include fabric samples, hanging instructions, plans, and material costs. Also found are three exhibition catalogs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of fiber artist Claire Zeisler measure 3.5 linear feet and date from 1941 to 1992. Zeisler's career is documented through project files, printed materials, and scrapbooks. The bulk of the collection consists of twenty-two scrapbooks containing resumes and chronologies; an honorary degree; business correspondence with libraries, museums, and other institutions concerning exhibitions of Zeisler's work and the loan of her personal art collection; exhibition lists and condition reports; loan records; printed materials for exhibitons; and scattered sketches and hanging instructions. Project files contain documents relating to titled weavings and general works, and may include fabric samples, hanging instructions, plans, and material costs. Also found are three exhibition catalogs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as three series
Series 1: Project Files, circa 1941-1991 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Printed Material, 1977-1987 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Scrapbooks, 1941-1992 (2.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-5)
Biographical / Historical:
Claire Zeisler (1903-1991) was a fiber artist and art collector active in Chicago, Illinois.
Zeisler was born Claire Block in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1903. She studied at Columbia College Chicago but left to marry Harold Florsheim in 1921. The couple divorced in 1943 and she married Ernest Zeisler in 1946.
For much of her early life, Claire concentrated her interest in art on collecting. Throughout the 1930s, she acquired paintings by European modern artists such as Paul Klee, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso. Later, she collected paintings by American artists such as Franz Kline and Robert Rauschenberg. She expanded her collection to include textile works and baskets by Native Americans, and African sculpture among others.
After her divorce, she returned to the study of art at the Chicago Institute of Design and the Illinois Institute of Technology. She studied under Bea Swartchild who inspired a love for weaving. Zeisler's first works used traditional loom techniques but later she focused on knotting and braiding. She innovated free-falling fiber sculpture and her works helped push fiber art from craft to a fine art.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview of Claire Zeisler conducted by Dennis Barrie in June 1981.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel 3109) inluding scrapbooks lent by Ziesler in 1983. Some, but not all, of this material was included in later donations. This material remains with the lender and is not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Scrapbooks on reel 3019 were lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in August 1983 by Claire Zeisler. In 1992 her son and executor, Thomas Florsheim, donated additional scrapbooks, and project and weaving files. He interfiled new material in the previously microfilmed scrapbooks, 1941-1983, expanding them from eight notebooks to thirteen.
Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
An articulated dummy was built in the early 1960s for NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center by the Illinois Institute of Technology to support the development of space suits. This collection contains the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute (IITRI) final report for Project No. K6051, Power Driven Articulated Dummy.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute (IITRI) final report for Project No. K6051, Power Driven Articulated Dummy. This project was under Contract No. NAS 9-1370 and ran from May 22, 1963 through July 31, 1965. The report was prepared by J. Slowik for the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas and is dated December 14, 1965. The report is 8.5 by 11 inches, plastic spiral bound, and is 70 pages long plus three appendices, and includes images as well as several schematic drawings that fold out to full size.
Arrangement:
Collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical:
An articulated dummy was built in the early 1960s for NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center by the Illinois Institute of Technology to support the development of space suits. It used hydraulic and electrical actuators to replicate many of the joint motions of the human body, with realistic forces. Sensors placed throughout the dummy measured forces that a prototype suit might exert on a human being when wearing the suit in a space environment. That enabled suit designers to measure how much force a human would need to move an arm or leg, or turn his or her head, when wearing a suit in space. By using this dummy instead of a human being during the design and testing of a space suit, tests could proceed that might otherwise be painful, tedious, or dangerous for a human being.
Provenance:
Dr. Clare Slowik, Gift, 2008, NASM.2008.0015
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
The papers of Hungarian-born artist, art theorist, and educator, Gyorgy Kepes, measure 21.2 linear feet and date from 1909-2003, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1935-1985. The papers document Kepes's career as an artist and educator, and as founder of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), through biographical material, correspondence, writings by Kepes and others, project files, exhibition files, printed material, sketchbooks, artwork, sound recordings and motion picture films, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Hungarian-born artist, art theorist, and educator, Gyorgy Kepes, measure 21.2 linear feet and date from 1909-2003, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1935-1985. The papers document Kepes's career as an artist and educator, and as founder of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), through biographical material, correspondence, writings by Kepes and others, project files, exhibition files, printed material, sketchbooks, artwork, sound recordings and motion picture films, and photographic material.
Correspondence provides a wide range of documentation on all aspects of Kepes's career including his collaborations and friendships with artists, architects, writers, scientists, and fellow educators including Rudolf Arnheim, Alexander Calder, Henry Dreyfuss, Charles and Ray Eames, Clive Entwhistle, R. Buckminster Fuller, Walter Gropius, S. W. Hayter, Jean Hélion, Laszlo and Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Lev Nussberg, Robert Osborn, George Rickey, Saul Steinberg, Kenzo Tange, Robert Jay Wolff, and Jekabs Zvilna. Correspondence also documents the evolution of Kepes's vision for the Center for Advanced Visual Studies, which he established in 1967, and his subsequent leadership of CAVS at M.I.T. Records document his collaborations with students and fellows including Lowry Burgess, Jack Burnham, Piotry Kowalski, Margaret Mead, Otto Piene, Alan Sonfist, Athena Tacha, Vassilakis Takis, Philip Thiel, Harold Tovish, and Wen-Ying Tsai. Correspondents also include people who contributed to Kepes's Vision + Value series, including Michael Blee, Kazuhiko Egawa, Jean Hélion, and others. Correspondence includes three motion picture films, including what appears to be an early version of Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames.
Writings include notes and manuscripts for articles and essays in which Kepes explored ideas evident in his books The New Landscape and Language of Vision, and submitted to publications such as Daedalus, Design, Domus, and Leonardo. Writings also include manuscripts for lectures, and draft manuscripts documenting Kepes's collaborative work with fellow M.I.T. professor Kevin Lynch on city planning, which culminated in Lynch's research project "The Perceptual Form of the City."
A small group of "Times Square Project" files documents Kepes's proposal for a lightscape in Times Square that was ultimately not realized.
Teaching files include sound recordings of circa five symposia and discussions held at M.I.T., the Illinois Institute of Technology, and elsewhere, some featuring Kepes and including Philip Johnson, Eero Saarinen and others.
Exhibition files include documentation of three exhibitions, including Light as a Creative Medium (1968) and a Kepes exhibition at Saidenberg Gallery (1968). They also record Kepes's involvement in designing the 1968 Triennale di Milano.
Printed material includes a substantial collection of announcements and catalogs for Kepes exhibitions, lectures, and other events, and includes catalogs and announcements for scattered exhibitions of his wife, artist and illustrator, Juliet Kepes. Clippings from newspapers and magazines include articles about Kepes, and contain some copies of published writings and designs by him. The series also includes sound recordings and motion picture films containing original material for a CBS television series "The 21st Century," probably as part of the episode "Art for Tomorrow," which appear to feature M.I.T. fellows Jack Burnham and Vassilakis Takis. Another motion picture film of an Italian documentary "Operazione Cometa" can also be found here.
Two sketchbooks contain pen and ink and painted sketches by Kepes. Artwork by Kepes includes original poster designs, caricatures, and many pencil, and pen and ink sketches and paintings on paper and board, including designs for stained glass. Artwork by others includes ink on mylar sketches by D. Judelson and Konstancija Brazdys, and a sketch by Harold Tovish. Also found are circa seventeen motion picture films and four sound recordings, the majority of which are untitled and by unidentified artists, but include films by M.I.T. fellows Otto Piene, Vassilakis Takis, Philip Thiel, Harold Tovish, Wen-Ying Tsai, and others.
Photographs are of Kepes, Juliet Kepes, and other family members; students, colleagues, and friends, including R. Buckminster Fuller, Serge Chermayeff, Harry Bertoia, Varujan Boghosian, Alexander Calder, Marchall McLuhan, Margaret Mead, Herbert Read, I. A. Richards, Saul Steinberg, and William Wurster; and of Kepes in his studio. There are also photos of exhibition installations in which Kepes's work appeared or which he designed, and photos of his artwork and of images for publications which he wrote or edited. Photos by others include artwork by established artists and work by students, as well as photographs arranged by subjects such as cityscapes, forms found in nature, light patterns, mechanical devices, and photomicrographs. A collection of lantern slides with similar content to the photos of artwork and photos by subject is also found in this series and includes a lantern slide of Picasso creating a design with light.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as eleven series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1940-circa 1980 (0.25 linear feet; Boxes 1, 28)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1936-1984 (5.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-7, 28 OV 33, FCs 39-41)
Series 3: Interviews and Transcripts, 1954-1970 (4 folders; Box 7)
Series 4: Writings and Notes, 1948-circa 1980s (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 28)
Series 5: Times Square Project Files, 1972-1974 (6 folders; Box 9)
Series 6: Teaching Files Sound Recordings, circa 1953-1972 (0.7 linear feet; Box 9)
Series 7: Exhibition Files, 1958-1973 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 9-10)
Series 8: Printed Material, circa 1922-1989 (3.6 linear feet; Boxes 10-12, 28-29, OVs 35, 37, FCs 42-49)
Series 9: Sketchbooks, circa 1940s-circa 1970s (2 folders; Box 12)
Series 10: Artwork and Moving Images, circa 1924-2003 (2.5 linear feet; Boxes 12, 13, OVs 33-36, 38, FCs 50-62)
Series 11: Photographs, 1909-1988 (10.4 linear feet; Boxes 13-32)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, designer, art theorist, and educator, Gyorgy Kepes (1906-2001), was born in Selyp, Hungary, and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest. He worked with Moholy-Nagy in Berlin and London before joining him at the New Bauhaus (later the Chicago Institute of Design) in 1937.
Kepes taught courses at the New Bauhaus from 1937 to 1945, and published Language of Vision in 1944, summarizing the educational ideas and methods he had developed during his time at the institute. In 1946 he accepted a teaching position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) where he initiated a program in visual design.
In 1956 Kepes published The New Landscape in Art and Science, in which he presented images from nature that were newly accessible due to developments in science and technology, and explored his ideas for a common language between science and the visual arts.
In 1965, these ideas were apparent in Kepes's proposal of an expanded visual arts program at M.I.T., which would "build new as yet undetermined bridges between art and engineering and science," according to the minutes of an M.I.T. Art Committee meeting in March of that year. Kepes's vision dovetailed with M.I.T.'s vested interest in promoting the arts, and faculty and administrators were open to the argument that "The scientific-technical enterprise needs schooling by the artistic sensibilities." In 1967, they appointed Kepes Director of M.I.T.'s Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS).
Kepes retired from the regular faculty at M.I.T. in 1967, to focus on his role as director of CAVS, where he worked to provide artists with opportunities for exploring new artistic forms on a civic scale through a working dialogue with scientists and engineers. Early fellows of the center included Maryanne Amacher, Joan Brigham, Lowry Burgess, Jack Burnham, Piotry Kowalski, Otto Piene, Vassilakis Takis, and Wen-Ying Tsai.
In 1965-1966 Kepes edited a six-volume series entitled Vision + Value, published by George Braziller, Inc. Each volume featured essays that centered around a core theme: The Education of Vision; Structure in Art and Science; The Nature and Art of Motion; Module, Symmetry, Proportion, Rhythm; Sign, Image, Symbol; and Man-Made Object. Contributions came from prominent artists, designers, architects, and scientists of the time including Rudolf Arnheim, Saul Bass, Marcel Breuer, John Cage, R. Buckminster Fuller, Johannes Itten, Marshall McLuhan, and Paul Rand.
Kepes experimented widely with photography, producing abstract images through the application of fluids and objects to photographic paper. He also took commercial work throughout his career, producing designs for all kinds of objects, including books and stained glass windows for churches. He returned to painting in the 1950s, and his development as a painter continued throughout his career at M.I.T., where he remained until his retirement in 1974, and beyond. His paintings, which were abstract and often incorporated organic shapes and hints of landscapes, can be found in museums such as the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Kepes received many awards during his lifetime, including a Guggenheim Fellowship (1958); the Gold Star Award of the Philadelphia College of Art (1958); the National Association of Art Colleges Annual Award (1968); the California College of Art Award (1968); and the Fine Arts Medal from the American Institute of Architects (1968). In 1973 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an associate member, and became a full academician in 1978. He was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Related Materials:
Additional papers of Gyorgy Kepes can be found at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Advanced Visual Studies Special Collection.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reel 1211) including ninety-eight letters to Kepes from colleagues, 1946-1974. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Gyorgy Kepes lent papers for microfilming in 1974 and donated material to the Archives of American Art in a series of gifts between 1974 and 1993.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce must be obtained from Juliet Kepes Stone or Imre Kepes.
An interview of Mark Peiser conducted 2004 February 26, by Henry Halem, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Penland, North Carolina.
Peiser speaks of growing up in Chicago; his relationship with his parents; developing an early interest in music and engineering; attending Perdue University and transferring to the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology; working for a design firm in Chicago; becoming interested in glass after seeing an exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago; attending a workshop at Penland School of Crafts; becoming Penland's first Artist-in-Residence in glass and developing a technique on his own; working with Fritz Dreisbach to set up the first Glass Art Society conference; making improvements to the Penland glass studio; teaching at Penland; making a living as an artist; making opal glass for the first time; choosing certain imagery and color in his work; experimenting with technique including glass casting; making his Innerspace series; his relationship with collectors; finding challenges with his latest body of work; and the influence of Zen on his art. Peiser also recalls Harvey Littleton, Bill Brown, Billy Bernstein, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Mark Peiser (1938- ) is a glass artist from Penland, North Carolina. Henry Halem (1938- ) is a glass artist from Kent, Ohio.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 55 min.
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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Ray Metzker conducted 1991 Apr. 30, by Anne Schuster Hunter, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.
Metzker discusses his family and German heritage; childhood in Milwaukee, Wis.; early interest in photography; attending Beloit College; military service in Korea; studies at Illinois Institute of Technology; his series "My Camera and I in the Loop"; life in Chicago and traveling to Europe; moving to Philadelphia and teaching at the Philadelphia College of Art; his disenchantment with using the single image and moving into double frames; his landscapes of the 1980's; and his retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 1984.
Biographical / Historical:
Ray Metzker (1931- ) is a photographer from Philadelphia, Pa.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hrs., 46 min.
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:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Topic:
Photography, Artistic -- United States Search this
Photographers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Barnes, Albert C. (Albert Coombs), 1872-1951 Search this
Extent:
105 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1987 July 9-1989 April 29
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Nelli Bar Wieghardt conducted 1987 July 9-1989 April 29, by Marina Pacini, for the Archives of American Art.
Wieghardt discusses her and her husband Paul Wieghardt's art training in Germany; their move to Paris in 1931; their emigration to the United States in 1940 and their involvement with Quaker refugee programs; their move to a hostel in Cummington, Massachusetts and subsequent employment at the Cummington School in the Hills and the Berkshire Museum; their move in 1943 to Philadelphia to set up and run an art department for the Friends Neighborhood Guild; exhibitions at the Carlen Galleries and their relationship with Albert Barnes; the move in 1946 to Chicago and their teaching careers and methods at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology; the University of Chicago, and the Evanston Art Center; their exhibition history; and the Wieghardt galleries at the State Museum, Ludensheid.
Biographical / Historical:
Nelli Bar Wieghardt (1904-2001) was a sculptor and instructor of Gwynedd, Pennsylvania and Chicago, Illinois.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 2 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' 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.
Topic:
Art teachers -- Pennsylvania -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce must be obtained from Juliet Kepes Stone or Imre Kepes.
Collection Citation:
Gyorgy Kepes papers, 1909-2003, bulk 1935-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
