The collection measures 0.2 linear feet and consists of three notebooks, notebook fragments, and two letters written by African American primitive painter Horace Pippin. The three notebooks and notebook fragments contain Pippin's World War I memoirs written in the 1920s, one of which is illustrated by Pippin with six drawings of war scenes. Two letters are dated 1943 and circa 1943. One of the letters is written to "Dear Friends" and begins with "life story of art."; the other is written to dealer Robert Carlen about showing his painting Domino [Game] Players.
Scope and Content Note:
The collection measures 0.2 linear feet and consists of three notebooks, notebook fragments, and two letters created by African American primitive painter Horace Pippin. The notebooks recount Pippin's World War I experiences, including his being wounded. One of the notebooks is illustrated.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into one series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Horace Pippin Notebooks and Letters, circa 1920s, 1943; 8 items
Biographical Note:
Horace Pippin (1888 -1946) was a self-taught painter from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Pippin was inspired to paint by his experiences in France during World War I. He lost the use of his right arm when wounded during the war and, when painting, had to use his left hand to guide his right. He gained a national reputation as "a true American primitive" in the 1940s for his paintings depicting childhood memories, war experiences, heroes, and religious subjects.
Provenance:
Horace Pippin's war memiors/notebooks and one letter were purchased from Robert Carlen, Pippin's dealer, in 1956. The 1943 letter from Pippin to Carlen was donated by Dr. and Mrs. Matthew Moore in 1983.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
The papers of African American painter, muralist, and arts educator Hale Woodruff measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1920 to 1977 with the bulk of the collection dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. The papers contain biographical material, professional files, writings, printed material, photographs, and photocopies of a scrapbook, and of artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Hale Woodruff measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1920 to 1977, with the bulk of the collection dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. The papers contain biographical material, professional files, writings, printed material, photocopies of a scrapbook, photographs, and photocopies of artwork.
Biographical material includes a resume, awards and honorary degrees, and an interview transcript.
Professional files consist of correspondence, committee files, and materials related to exhibitions and projects.
Writings include an illustrated notebook; drafts and copies of lectures, statements, articles, book reviews, and exhibition text; and notes on note cards, as well as photocopies of notes Woodruff took in Mexico while studying with Diego Rivera.
Printed Material includes exhibition announcements, exhibition catalogs, publications in which Woodruff is featured, clippings, and other assorted printed material.
The scrapbook consists of photocopies of scrapbook pages. The originals do not appear in the collection, but mostly contained clippings and printed material, with some correspondence.
Photographs include black and white photographs with an accompanying piece of correspondence, and photocopies of photographs of artwork.
Artwork includes photocopies of sketches and drawings.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as seven series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1966-1977 (Box 1; 4 folders)
Series 2: Professional Files, 1944-1973 (Box 1; 4 folders)
Series 3; Writings, 1920-1977, undated (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 4; Printed Material, 1920s-1970s (Box 2, 4 folders)
Series 5: Scrapbook, 1927-1928, 1940-1960 (Box 2, 1 folder)
Series 6: Photographic Material, 1926-1977 (Box 2, 2 folders)
Series 7: Artwork, 1939-1952, undated (Box 2, 1 folder)
Biographical / Historical:
Hale Aspacio Woodruff (1900-1980) was an African American painter, muralist, and arts educator. His most well-known works are the Amistad murals, painted between 1939 and 1940 for Talladega College's Savery Library.
Woodruff was born in Cairo, Illinois, and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He studied at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, and at the Art Institute of Chicago. After winning an award from the Harmon Foundation, he traveled to Paris and attended the Academie Moderne and the Academie Scandinave. He also spent a summer studying mural painting in Mexico with Diego Rivera.
In 1931, Woodruff established one of the earliest art departments at a Black college at Atlanta University – teaching classes at the University's Laboratory High School, Morehouse College, and Spelman College as well. He also established the Atlanta Annuals, one of the earliest national exhibition opportunities for African American artists. In 1946 he moved to New York and taught in the art department at New York University until his retirement in 1968.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Hale Woodruff conducted by Al Murray, November 18, 1968.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American of Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel 4222), the majority of which was included in subsequent donations. Loaned materials not donated at a later date remain with the lender and are not described in the container listing of this finding aid.
Provenance:
The Hale Woodruff papers were lent for microfilming by Woodruff in 1970. Most of the material was subsequently donated in 1978, along with additional material.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
7.4 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Date:
1912-1986
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, writings, art works, scrapbooks, printed material, photographs, and files on Julio De Diego and Kimon Nicolaides and other topics, related to Bridaham's career as an artist and writer.
REEL 8: Printed material, including articles written by Bridaham for periodicals (1950-1957), 15 exhibition catalogs (1928-1968), clippings by and about Bridaham (1930-1959), 6 press releases (1956-1957), a transcript of a radio discussion which included Bridaham (1951), 2 advertisements, a lecture announcement (1957), instructions on using egg tempera for Bridaham's students, a guide book to the Louisiana State Museum (1956), brochures about Strathmont Museum (1958), and resumes.
REEL 3: Material related to Kimon Nicolaides, including a radio address given by him, 1933; publicity for his book THE NATURAL WAY TO DRAW; exhibition catalogs; clippings; press releases; and a photograph of one of his sculptures. [Microfilm title: Kimon Nicolaides papers]
UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence with Kimon Nicolaides and Henry Schnackenberg (1921-1923), Julio De Diego (1941-1952), Ethel Spears (1961), Isabel Bishop (1975), and George and Edith Rickey. Letters to Mamie Harmon concern a Nicolaides exhibition and book (1938-1941). Writings include nine v. of diaries (1946-1954) kept during his tenure at the Art Institute of Chicago, and notes and drafts for an unpublished book (1938-1982).
Subject files concerning Ivan Albright's poetry, the Colonial Craft Survey for Massachusetts (1935), Olof Krans (1939), the reorganization of the Metropolitan Museum's photographic department (1949), Romanesque and Gothic sculpture and the Society for Contemporary American Art. A file (1921-1983) on Julio De Diego contains Bridaham's research materials, sketches and drawings by the artist, a journal kept by De Diego in New York (1932) and photographs of De Diego, his family including third wife Gypsy Rose Lee, friends and art works. Kimon Nicolaides' file (1921-1986) contains his writings and drawings (1928), drawings by Vivian Gordon and Howard Ahrens (1923-1986), photographs and other research materials.
Printed materials consists of clippings (1930-1972), "The Chicago Artist" newsletter (1938), press releases, a book cover, Artists Equity publications (1952-1953), posters, exhibition catalogs and anouncements and membership cards. Photographs show Bridaham, friends, National Art Week activities with Macena Barton, Charles Biesel, Jules Eboli and Richard Florsheim, his studio and drawings (1928-1949). Other materials include over 150 prints and drawings (1927-1977) of Moroccan scenes, Colorado wildflowers and other subjects, resumes, an illustrated notebook of Bridaham's plans for art works (1931-1932) and a list of his works (1974).
ADDITION: Material concerning the latter part of Bridaham's life, including original works of art, photographs, a dream sketchbook (1945), a notebook devoted to Julio de Diego; Bridaham's letters to Jeanette Fowler, 1989-1990 and other correspondence, 1940s-1950s; and printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Museum director, art historian, painter, and printmaker; d. 1992. Bridaham received a degree in chemical engineering from M.I.T. and studied art history at Harvard's Fogg Museum from 1936-1937. He received a 1931 American Field Service fellowship for study in France and Morocco, and studied studio art at the Art Students League under Kimon Nicolaides and Kenneth Hayes Miller. Between 1938 and 1954, Bridaham was a staff officer at the Art Institute of Chicago. He was also the director of the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, and of the Strathmont Museum, Elmira, N.Y. He is the author of Gargoyles, Chimeras and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture.
Related Materials:
Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles, 1895-1987, are located at The Getty Research Institute Special Collections.
Provenance:
Donated 1974-1987 by Lester Burbank and Dorothy Bridaham. In 1996, an additional 0.8 ft. was donated from the Jeanette Fowler estate.
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.
Correspondence; writings; notes; estate lists; contracts; photographs of works of art; exhibition catalogs; clippings; miscellaneous printed material.
REEL 925: Correspondence with artists, 1954-1968, concerning Benton's purchase and background of their works; and writings by Benton on Soviet art.
REEL 3134: A 13-page, incomplete, typescript, 1955, "Reginald Marsh as I Remember Him," by Benton. He writes of working with Marsh on the YALE RECORD and collecting Marsh's paintings.
REEL 4073: Correspondence, 1940-1983, with artists; typescripts on Marsh; writing by Jack Levine "How the Witches' Sabbath was Painted";
photographs and lists of works of art; a notebook "Works of Art on Loan to the William Benton Museum, University of Connecticut" from Benton's estate; a notebook "Painting Contracts" between artists, galleries, and Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.; notebook "Sold," containing data on the sale of Reginald Marsh's work;
printed material on Rockwell Kent, Thomas Hart Benton, Benton's collection, and others; photocopies of 2 portions of Ivan Albright's sketchbooks; a notebook "Britannica Painting Exhibitions Manual of Procedure"; a 2 p. typescript "The Story of My Portrait" by Grant Wood's sister Nan Wood Graham; 3 illustrated notebooks by Ivan Albright; and a sketchbook by Reginald Marsh containing 33 figure sketches.
Correspondents include Ivan Albright, Thomas Hart Benton, George Biddle, Isabel Bishop, Aaron Bohrod, Salvador Dali, Abner Dean, Koren Der Harootian, Jimmy Ernst, Milton Hebald, Joseph Hirsch, Ben Johnson, Rockwell Kent, Frank Kleinholz, Jack Levine, Reginald Marsh, Henry Varnum Poor, James N. Rosenberg, Hella Moravic Sachs, and Orest G. Vereisky.
Biographical / Historical:
Art collector, politician; Chicago, Ill. Publisher of ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, Vice-President of the University of Chicago, Congressman from Connecticut, and an avid collector of American art. Benton and Reginald Marsh were classmates and collaborated respectively as editor and illustrator for the Yale newspaper. During the Depression, Benton provided Marsh with a monthly stipend for which he received a monthly painting. When he became chairman of the board of ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, Benton collected contemporary American painting to Americanize BRITANNICA's British image.
Provenance:
Material on reel 925 and 3134 donated by Benton 1968. His family donated and lent additional material 1985-1986, including originals of some letters which were originally donated as photocopies.
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.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- History -- United States Search this
