Search Results

Interviewee:

Osborn, Robert Chesley, 1904-1994  Search this

Osborn, Robert Chesley, 1904-1994  Search this

Interviewer:

Cummings, Paul, 1933-1997  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Illustrators -- Connecticut -- Salisbury -- Interviews  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)13252

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212965

AAA_collcode_osborn74

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212965

Interviewee:

Smith, Carlyle H., 1912-2004  Search this

Smith, Carlyle H., 1912-2004  Search this

Interviewer:

Brown, Robert F  Search this

Subject:

Bennett, William E.  Search this

Rose, Augustus F. (Augustus Foster)  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

University of Kansas  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Topic:

Art metal-work -- Study and teaching  Search this

Jewelry making  Search this

Silverwork  Search this

Jewelry makers -- United States -- Interviews  Search this

Metal-workers -- United States -- Interviews  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Theme:

Craft  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)13056

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215740

AAA_collcode_smith94

Theme:

Craft

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_215740

Interviewee:

Smith, Carlyle H., 1912-2004  Search this

Interviewer:

Brown, Robert F.  Search this

Names:

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

University of Kansas -- Faculty  Search this

Bennett, William E.  Search this

Rose, Augustus F. (Augustus Foster), 1873-1946  Search this

Extent:

2 Items (sound cassettes (1 hr., 46 min.), analog.)

59 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1994 August 8

Scope and Contents:

An interview with Carlyle H. Smith conducted 1994 August 8, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.

Smith discusses his childhood in Torrington, Connecticut, his early interest in jewelry design, education at the Rhode Island School of Design in jewelry making and silversmithing, and teaching at the Rhode Island College of Education. He recalls working in the metal craft shop of Augustus Rose on jewelry design and repair, and studying with English master silversmith, William Bennett, at his workshop in 1947. Smith speaks of teaching metal arts in the Providence, R.I., public schools and setting up the first American university-level metal arts curriculum at the University of Kansas, 1947-1977. He describes his liberal approach to teaching by setting general assignments and working alongside students. He comments on his work, 1930-1993.

Biographical / Historical:

Carlyle H. Smith (1912-2004) was a metal worker, jewelry designer, silversmith, and educator of Providence, R.I. and Lawrence, Kansas

General:

Originally recorded 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 46 min.

Accompanied by 14 illustrations (7 slides and 7 photocopies).

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 transcript is open for research. Access to the entire audio recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Topic:

Art metal-work -- Study and teaching  Search this

Jewelry making  Search this

Silverwork  Search this

Jewelry makers -- United States -- Interviews  Search this

Metal-workers -- United States -- Interviews  Search this

Decorative arts  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.

Identifier:

AAA.smith94

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-smith94

Interviewee:

Osborn, Robert Chesley, 1904-1994  Search this

Interviewer:

Cummings, Paul  Search this

Extent:

4 Items (sound files, digital, wav)

54 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1974 Oct. 21

Scope and Contents:

An interview with Robert Chesley Osborn conducted 1974 Oct. 21, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.

Biographical / Historical:

Robert Osborn (1904-1994) was an illustrator and painter of Salisbury, Conn.

General:

Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 41 min.

Provenance:

These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Occupation:

Painters -- Connecticut -- Salisbury -- Interviews  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Illustrators -- Connecticut -- Salisbury -- 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.

Identifier:

AAA.osborn74

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-osborn74

Interviewee:

Minkowitz, Norma M., 1937-  Search this

Interviewer:

Malarcher, Patricia  Search this

Creator:

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Names:

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Extent:

40 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Sound recordings

Date:

2001 September 17 and 2001 November 16

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Norma Minkowitz conducted 2001 September 17 and 2001 November 16, by Patricia Malarcher, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Minkowitz's home in Westport, Connecticut.

Minkowitz speaks of her early childhood and what it was like growing up in a musical household in which her father was a concert pianist, her grandfather a composer, and her uncle a violinist; her relative's escape from Russia before the Russian revolution, how her parents met and what life in the Bronx was like; her relationships with different family members, specifically how close she was to her mother throughout her life; her first crocheting experience, making doilies with her mother; how she was drawn to drawing; her education in art, attendance at the Music and Art High School and then Cooper Union; her most rewarding experience at Cooper Union with her two-dimensional teacher Stefano Cusamano; her first paid job as a book illustrator for a children's dictionary; making designs to send to Woman's Day and Family Circle after the birth of her second child in 1963; the difference between a fiber artist and a craftsperson, trying to distinguish herself as an artist and how she would like to be recognized on a fine arts level; how time consuming making "wearables" or clothing was; the galleries she exhibited at including Elements in New York; her shows at the American Craft Museum, curator Paul Smith; the different museums where her work has been displayed including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, the De Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco and the Kwang Ju Museum in Korea; her teaching experiences at the various craft schools; her different experiments within her work and how her work has changed since she began in the 1960s; her different studio spaces and how most times she can work right on her lap; how her children became artists; the meaning of several works to her and how viewers could interpret them differently, specifically, "Get Thee Up" and "Goodbye Mother;" how much home means to her; the many different pieces she has collected by other artists, including John McQueen, Richard Devore, and Ruth Duckworth; her other activities including running in three New York Marathons; how she has bronzed two pieces and what that was like; her four grandchildren, and making art and being a successful grandmother at the same time. Minkowitz also recalls Andrea Miller-Keller, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Lenore Tawney, Sheila Hicks, Alex Katz, Kathleen Whitney, Pat Hickman and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Norma Minkowitz (1937-) is a fiber artist from Westport, Connecticut. Patricia Malarcher is also a fiber artist from Englewood, N.J.

General:

Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 27 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.

Topic:

Crocheting  Search this

Handicraft -- Study and teaching  Search this

Fiber artists -- Connecticut -- Interviews  Search this

Sculpture  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.

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.

Identifier:

AAA.minkow01

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-minkow01

Interviewee:

Kappel, Philip  Search this

Interviewer:

Brown, Robert F.  Search this

Extent:

2 Items (sound file Sound recording, digital, wav file)

30 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1975 Mar. 11

Scope and Contents:

An interview with Philip Kappel conducted 1975 Mar. 11, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art.

Biographical / Historical:

Philip Kappel (1901-1981) was an etcher, lithographer, illustrator, painter, and writer from New Milford, Conn. He studied at Pratt Institute.

Provenance:

This interview is 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, American  Search this

Etchers -- Connecticut -- New Milford -- 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.

Identifier:

AAA.kappel76

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-kappel76

Interviewee:

Frasconi, Antonio  Search this

Interviewer:

Cummings, Paul  Search this

Extent:

2 Sound tape reels (Sound recording, 5 in.)

60 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound tape reels

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1971 June 9

Scope and Contents:

Interview of Antonio Frasconi conducted 1971 June 9, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.

Biographical / Historical:

Antonio Frasconi (1919-) is a Uruguayan born illustrator, painter, and printmaker from Norwalk, Conn.

Provenance:

These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Restrictions:

Use requires an appointment.

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Illustrators -- Connecticut -- Norwalk -- Interviews  Search this

Painters -- Connecticut -- Norwalk -- Interviews  Search this

Printmakers -- Connecticut -- Norwalk -- Interviews  Search this

Latino and Latin American artists  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Identifier:

AAA.frasco71

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-frasco71

Interviewee:

Hofer, Philip, 1898-1984  Search this

Interviewer:

Brown, Robert F.  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (sound cassette (90 min.) Sound recording)

37 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1984 Apr. 24

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Philip Hofer conducted 1984 Apr. 24, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.

Hofer speaks of his childhood in Cinncinnati, Ohio; attending boarding school at the Pomfret School in Connecticut; attending Harvard University; becoming friends with Theodore "Tubby" Sizer; taking a job at the Cleveland Museum of Art; returning to Harvard to study art history in graduate school; collecting illustrated books in his sparetime with his own money; moving to New York City to work as the assistant director of the Morgan Library; traveling through Europe for the Spencer Collection; working for Belle da Costa Greene at the Morgan Library.

Biographical / Historical:

Philip Hofer (1898-1984) was a book collector, curator, and art historian at Harvard University. Hofer founded the Department of Prints and Graphics at Harvard University in 1938.

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 transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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.

Identifier:

AAA.hofer84

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-hofer84

Creator:

Bischoff, Ilse, 1901-1990  Search this

Bischoff, Ilse, 1901-1990  Search this

Subject:

French, Jared  Search this

Cadmus, Paul  Search this

Type:

Sketches

Writings

Photographs

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Women authors  Search this

Theme:

Women  Search this

Lives of American Artists  Search this

Government Sponsorship of the Arts  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8447

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210622

AAA_collcode_biscilse

Theme:

Women

Lives of American Artists

Government Sponsorship of the Arts

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210622

Author:

Deane, James 1801-1858  Search this

Author:

Bouvé, Thomas T (Thomas Tracy) 1815-1896  Search this

Bowditch, Henry I (Henry Ingersoll) 1808-1892  Search this

Field, Roswell 1804-  Search this

Gould, Augustus A (Augustus Addison) 1805-1866  Search this

Hitchcock, Charles H (Charles Henry) 1836-1919  Search this

Smithsonian Institution  Search this

Printer:

Allen and Farnham  Search this

Lithographer:

T. Sinclair's Lith.  Search this

Physical description:

61 pages, 46 [that is, 50] leaves of plates illustrations (some color) 31 cm

Type:

Electronic resources

Photoprints

Place:

Connecticut River Valley

United States

Massachusetts

Date:

1861

Topic:

Footprints, Fossil  Search this

Paleontology  Search this

Call number:

QE845 .D28

QE845.D28 1861

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_942660

Creator:

Bischoff, Ilse, 1901-1990  Search this

Names:

Cadmus, Paul, 1904-1999  Search this

French, Jared, 1905-1988  Search this

Extent:

1.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketches

Writings

Photographs

Date:

1893-1981

Summary:

The papers of illustrator, writer and collector Ilse Martha Bischoff measure 1.2 linear feet and date from 1893-1981. Found are scattered personal and business records, correspondence, pencil and watercolor sketches, notes and writings, printed material and photographs. Correspondence is primarily with family members and colleagues including Paul Cadmus and Jared French. Photographs are of Bischoff, her family, and colleagues including Paul Cadmus and Jared French.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of illustrator, writer and collector Ilse Martha Bischoff measure 1.2 linear feet and date from 1893-1981. Found are scattered personal and business records, correspondence, pencil and watercolor sketches, notes and writings, printed material and photographs.

Correspondence is primarily with family members and colleagues including Paul Cadmus and Jared French. Artwork includes pencil and watercolor sketches, and notes and writings consist primarily of typescripts of Bischoff's short stories. Printed material includes clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and miscellaneous printed material relating to Bischoff's European travel. Of special interest are photographs of Bischoff, her family, and colleagues including Paul Cadmus and Jared French.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 6 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Personal Records, 1934-1938, 1955-1968 (Box 1; 3 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1922-1981 (Box 1; 47 folders)

Series 3: Artwork, circa 1920-circa 1959 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1929-1975 (Box 1; 33 folders)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1929-1976 (Box 1; 15 folders)

Series 6: Photographs, 1893-1971 (Box 2; 20 folders)

Biographical Note:

Ilse Martha Bischoff was born on November 21, 1901 in New York City, to Adele Maria Timme Bischoff and Ernst Bischoff, founder of the Ernst Bischoff (pharmaceuticals) Company of Ivoryton, Connecticut.

Bischoff began her education at the Horace Mann School, later studying costume design at the Parson's School of Design. At the Art Students League, she studied painting under Frank Du Mond and etching with Joseph Pennell. While at the Art Students League, Bischoff befriended painters Paul Cadmus and Jared French. She also studied art in Paris, France, and Munich, Germany.

From 1928 to 1946, Bischoff illustrated 12 books and wrote two novels about George Washington's Portraitist, Gilbert Stuart: Painter's Coach in 1943, and Proud Heritage in 1949. Her autobiography, Drive Slowly: Six Dogs, was published in 1953. She was also an avid collector of Meissen porcelain.

Bishoff's artwork is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Hood Museum at Dartmouth.

Ilse Martha Bischoff died December 5, 1990, in Hartland, Vermont.

Provenance:

The Ilse Martha Bischoff papers were donated in 1980-1981 by the artist.

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.

Occupation:

Authors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Collectors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Women authors  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketches

Writings

Photographs

Citation:

Ilse Martha Bischoff papers, 1893-1981. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.biscilse

See more items in:

Ilse Martha Bischoff papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-biscilse

Creator:

Gray, Cleve, 1918-2004  Search this

Gray, Cleve, 1918-2004  Search this

Subject:

Richter, Hans  Search this

Marin, John  Search this

Lipchitz, Jacques  Search this

Pollock, Jackson  Search this

Grace, Louise N.  Search this

Gray, Francine du Plessix  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel  Search this

Dillenberger, Jane  Search this

Gabo, Naum  Search this

Ernst, Jimmy  Search this

Davis, Jim  Search this

Calder, Alexander  Search this

Barzun, Jacques  Search this

Weber, Nicholas Fox  Search this

Smith, David  Search this

Villon, Jacques  Search this

Pratt Institute  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

Neuberger Museum of Art  Search this

Jacques Seligmann & Co  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Connecticut. Commission on Arts, Tourism, Culture, History and Film  Search this

Princeton University  Search this

Berry-Hill Galleries  Search this

Type:

Poems

Articles

Photographs

Reviews (documents)

Notes

Illustrations

Notebooks

Sketches

Drafts (documents)

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Manuscripts

Paintings

Prints

Watercolors

Drawings

Lectures

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Protest movements -- United States  Search this

Designers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

Theme:

Art Theory and Historiography  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9567

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211768

AAA_collcode_grayclev

Theme:

Art Theory and Historiography

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211768

Creator:

Gray, Cleve  Search this

Names:

Berry-Hill Galleries  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Connecticut. Commission on Arts, Tourism, Culture, History and Film  Search this

Jacques Seligmann & Co  Search this

Neuberger Museum of Art  Search this

Pratt Institute  Search this

Princeton University  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

Barzun, Jacques, 1907-  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Davis, Jim, 1901-1974  Search this

Dillenberger, Jane  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this

Ernst, Jimmy, 1920-1984  Search this

Gabo, Naum, 1890-1977  Search this

Grace, Louise N.  Search this

Gray, Francine du Plessix  Search this

Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973  Search this

Marin, John, 1870-1953  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Richter, Hans, 1888-1976  Search this

Smith, David, 1906-1965  Search this

Villon, Jacques, 1875-1963  Search this

Weber, Nicholas Fox, 1947-  Search this

Extent:

9.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Poems

Articles

Photographs

Reviews (documents)

Notes

Illustrations

Notebooks

Sketches

Drafts (documents)

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Manuscripts

Paintings

Prints

Watercolors

Drawings

Lectures

Date:

1933-2005

Summary:

The Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005, measure 9.2 linear feet. Papers include biographical material, alphabetical files, writings, artwork, audio/visual records, artifacts, printed material, and photographs. Extensive alphabetical files contain personal and professional correspondence as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Especially well-documented are: Gray's involvement with the Vietnam protest movement; and Threnody, his best-known work composed of fourteen large panels lamenting the dead of both sides sides in Vietnam, commissioned by the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Scope and Content Note:

The Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005, measure 9.2 linear feet. Papers include biographical material, alphabetical files, writings, artwork, audio/visual records, artifacts, printed material, and photographs. Extensive alphabetical files contain personal and professional correspondence as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Especially well-documented are: Gray's involvement with the Vietnam movement; and Threnody, his best-known work composed of fourteen large panels lamenting the dead of both sides sides in Vietnam, commissioned by the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Among the biographical material are award and membership certificates, biographical notes, and personal documentation.

The alphabetical files contain Cleve Gray's personal and professional correspondence, as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Correspondence is with friends and family, colleagues, publishers, museum curators and directors, art dealers, collectors, and fans. Among the correspondents of note are: Jacques Barzun, James E. Davis, Naum Gabo, Louise N. Grace, Hans and Fridel Richter, and Jacques and Gaby Villon. Other substantial correspondence includes: Berry-Hill Galleries, Betty Parsons Gallery, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Jacques Seligmann and Co., Neuberger Museum of Art, Pratt Institute, Princeton University, and Rhode Island School of Design. Subject files mostly consist of correspondence, but include printed material and some photographs. Among the subject files are: Art Collection of Cleve and Francine Gray, Artist-Dealer Consignments and Visual Artists' Rights Act of 1989, Artists' Tax Equity Act of 1979, Promised Gifts to Museums, Threnody, Vestments, and Vietnam Protest. Of particular interest are files relating to the Estate of Hans Richter (Cleve Gray, executor), and Gray's research correspondence and illustrations for his Cosmopolitan article "Women-Leaders of Modern Art."

Writings are manuscripts and drafts, research materials, notes, and miscellaneous writings by Cleve Gray and other authors. Those by Gray include articles and catalog introductions on a wide range of art-related topics, as well as book and exhibition reviews. Also found are a book proposal, texts and notes for lectures and talks, miscellaneous notes, poems, political statements, and student papers. Of particular interest are autobiographical notes in the form of a chronology that his biographer, Nicholas Fox Weber, cited as an "autochronology."

Among the writings by other authors are pieces about Cleve Gray including Nicholas Fox Weber's manuscript Cleve Gray. A significant amount of material relates to three books edited by Gray: David Smith by David Smith: Sculpture and Writings, Hans Richter, and John Marin. Research material survives for an unpublished volume, Naum Gabo. Also included are notes relating to his translation of A l'Infinitif by Marcel Duchamp. Jane Daggett Dillenberger is represented by a lecture, "The Resurrection in Art." The remaining items by other authors are unsigned; of particular interest is a small notebook of reminiscences and notes about Jackson Pollock.

Artwork by Cleve Gray consists mostly drawings and sketches, and a small number of paintings, prints, and watercolors. Works by other artists consist are an unsigned mobile of paper cut-outs, possibly by Alexander Calder, and a pencil drawing signed Dick (probably Richard Avedon).

Audio recordings are a radio broadcast featuring Cleve Gray, several lectures by Gray on John Marin, and a lecture titled "Meaning in the Visual Arts." Other recordings are of Hans Richter and an interview with Jimmy Ernst conducted by Francine du Plessix Gray. Also found is a videocassette of "Glenville School Students at SUNY (Lincoln Center Activity)."

Artifacts are a Chinese scroll representative of those that hung in Cleve Gray's studio, two of his paintbrushes, Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association blue ribbon, and Neuberger Museum of Art Lifetime Achievement Award.

The vast majority of printed material - articles, clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, reproductions of art work, etc. - are about or by Cleve Gray. Miscellaneous items and publications mentioning Gray consist of annual reports, brochures, calendars, newsletters, programs, etc. Clippings about Vietnam and Vietnam protest memorabilia reflect his passionate involvement in the anti-war movement; a small number of these items mention Gray or were written by him.

Photographs are of artwork, events, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects. Most of the art work appearing in the photographs is by Cleve Gray and includes images of destroyed paintings. Also found is an original print of Photo Abstraction by Gray, circa 1934. Of particular note are photographs of Threnody, among them preparatory drawings and views of the work in progress. Photographs of artwork by other artists include Louise N. Grace, Jacques Lipchitz, John Marin, Hans Richter, and Jacques Villon.

Photographs of people are mainly portraits of Gray, and views of him with his wife and sons. Other individuals appearing in photographs are Hans Richter and some of Richter's descendants. Pictures of places consist of Gray's studio.

Events are an unidentified exhibition opening. Miscellaneous subjects are mostly exhibition installations. Illustrations consist of photographs published in David Smith by David Smith: Sculpture and Writings. Also found are small number of negatives and color transparencies.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into 8 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1943-circa 2001 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 2: Alphabetical Files, 1936-2005 (Boxes 1-5, 9; 4.3 linear ft.)

Series 3: Writings, 1935-2000 (Boxes 5-6; 0.85 linear ft.)

Series 4: Artwork, circa 1933-1987 (Boxes 6, 9, OV 12; 0.45 linear ft.)

Series 5: Audio/Visual Records, 1971-1989 (Box 6; 0.25 linear ft.)

Series 6: Artifacts, 1957-1999 (Box 6, RD 11; 0.45 linear ft.)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1933-2005 (Boxes 7-8; 1.25 linear ft.)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1934-2002 (Boxes 8-10; 1.15 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

Abstract Expressionist painter, sculptor, and writer Cleve Gray (1918-2004) lived and worked in Connecticut where he was politically active in the Vietnam protest movement and other liberal causes.

Born Cleve Ginsberg in New York City (the family changed its name to Gray in 1936), he attended the Ethical Culture School and at a young age developed a fascination with color and paint. At the urging of friends, Cleve's parents allowed him to accompany a school friend for lessons with George Bellows' student Antonia Nell. She encouraged and inspired the young artist, and a still life he painted in her class was shown at the National Academy of Design's 1932 annual exhibition. Miss Nell also introduced him to Louise N. Grace, an artist who became a good friend and had a lasting influence on him. While a student at Phillips Academy, Cleve studied painting with Bartlett Hayes and aspired to paint in France. Upon his graduation in 1936, he was awarded the Samuel F. B. Morse Prize for most promising art student.

Gray's mother was always supportive of his career choice. His businessman father, who didn't understand his son's desire to be an artist, insisted on a college education. Cleve chose Princeton, where he majored in art and archaeology, and studied painting with James E. Davis. His senior thesis was on Chinese landscape painting; both Eastern philosophy and art were long-term influences on Gray's work and outlook. He graduated summa cum laude in 1940, and then spent several months painting while living at the farm of a family friend in Mendham, New Jersey.

When a doctor suggeted that a dry climate might relieve sinus and asthma problems, Gray moved to Tucson, Arizona. Once settled in the desert, he contacted Louise N. Grace, whom he had met as a young teenager through his art instructor. Miss Grace, an artist and daughter of the founder of W. R. Grace and Co., was a highly cultured and independent woman older than his parents. The summer before Gray entered Phillips Academy, she had hired him to brush ground color onto canvases for murals she was painting for "Eleven Arches," her home in Tuscon then under construction. Miss Grace invited Gray to visit "Eleven Arches" to see the completed murals, and despite the substantial age difference, their friendship deepened; Gray found in her intellectual and spiritual guidance that was lacking in his own family. He remained in Tucson until enlisting in the U. S. Army in 1942, and they corresponded frequently during the the war. When a stroke in 1948 prevented Miss Grace from participating in the extensive tour of Europe she was arranging for a small group of friends, including Gray, she provided sufficient funds and insisted he make the trip on his own. Another stroke, suffered while Gray was traveling, left her in a coma; he was not permitted to see her again. Upon her death in 1954, Gray inherited "Eleven Arches."

Between 1943 and 1946, Gray was stationed in England, France, and Germany, serving in Army Signal Intelligence. Most of his work was performed at night, and he spent his free time drawing. While in London, Gray produced many colored pencil drawings of buildings that had been bombed. In France, a Red Cross volunteered to introduce him to Jacques Villon; although unfamiliar with the artist, Gray knew of Villon's brother, Marcel Duchamp, and accepted the invitation. Jacques and Gaby Villon lived near Gray's billet and he became a frequent visitor. Their friendship was important to his development as an artist. After being discharged from the Army in 1946, Gray remained in France to work with Villon who introduced him to the study of color and the concept of intellectual quality in painting. Gray also studied informally with André Lhote, Villon's former teacher. "American Painters in Paris," an exhibition presented in 1946 at Galerie Durand-Ruel, included work by Cleve Gray.

He returned to New York City in 1946. In the tight post-war rental market Gray managed to find a small room upstairs from a grocery store on East 106th Street for use as a studio. He commenced painting the London Ruins series based on drawings he had made during the war, and began thinking about exhibiting in New York. Gray secured introductions to Pierre Matisse, Curt Valentin, and Dorothy Miller. They encouraged him, but no opportunities came his way until Germain Seligmann, whose gallery was expanding its scope to include contemporary art, followed the advice of Curt Valentin and looked at Gray's work. Gary's first solo exhibition, held at Jacques Seligmann and Co., included selections from the London Ruins series, paintings done in Maine and Arizona, and a few portraits. The New York Times called it "an auspicious first," and one of the London Ruins series was selected by Edward Alden Jewell for the "Critic's Exhibition" at Grand Central Gallery.

Gray found New York City too frenetic. In 1949 he bought a large, old house in Warren, Connecticut, and lived and worked at "Graystones" for the remainder of his life. Half of a 6-car garage was converted to a studio; many years later, his studio moved to a barn, its renovation and design planned by sculptor and architect Tony Smith.

He married Francine du Plessix in 1957. Always interested in literature and philosophy, in the 1960s Francine du Plessix Gray began contributing articles to The New Yorker and is still affiliated with the magazine. Her reviews and articles appeared in prominent publications, and she wrote several award-winning novels and biographies. Their sons, Thaddeus and Luke (now a painter), were born in 1959 and 1961. Francine's mother, Tatiana du Plessix (the hat designer Tatiana of Saks), and step-father, the sculptor Alexander Liberman (also former art director of Vogue and later editorial director of Condé Nast publications) became Cleve Gray's closest friends.

The paintings and drawings of Cleve Gray - first consisting of figures and portraits, and then abstract compositions - were often produced in series. The earliest series, London Ruins, grew from the colored pencil drawings made while stationed in London during World War II. Travels to France, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Hawaii, Spain, Egypt, Japan, and Czechoslovakia, inspired many series, among them: Etruscan, Augury, Ceres, Demeter Landscape, Hera, Morocco, Hawaii, Ramses, Perne, Hatshepsut, Roman Walls, Zen, and Prague. His hometown, the Holocaust, and musicians inspired other series: Warren, Sleepers Awake!, Bela Bartok, and Four Heads of Anton Bruckner. Some series were works on paper, others were collage canvases, and a few series later spawned prints. Gray began using acrylics in the 1940s. Although the medium offered many benefits, he did not always like its appearance and frequently returned to oils. Around 1966 Gray was painting almost exclusively with acrylic, and eventually developed a technique of thinning the paint and applying successive layers of color (sometimes by pouring or with a sponge) on cotton duck rather than traditional canvas.

Gray was attracted to sculpture, too, working in that medium at different points in his career. His first sculpture, in plaster, was completed in 1959. In the early 1960s he visited a commercial sand-casting foundry and became excited about learning to cast in bronze. He made about a dozen sculptures to cast in sand, but due to too much undercutting, their casting became too difficult a problem. Lava flows seen while in Hawaii during 1970 and 1971 inspired a return to sculpture. This time, he used wood, papier maché, and metal. Gray then decided these pieces should be cast in bronze, and he was determined to do it himself. Friends taught him the lost wax process and he began working at the Tallix Foundry in Peekskill, New York where, over the next year, he cast about forty bronzes.

Gray's best known work is Threnody, a lament for the dead of both sides in Vietnam. In 1972, Gray received a commission to fill a very large gallery of the soon-to-open Neuberger Museum of Art (State University of New York, College at Purchase) designed by Philip Johnson. Friends of the Neuberger Museum paid his expenses and Gray, who was enormously excited about the project he considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, donated his time. Developing plans for the execution of Threnody consumed most of his time during 1972 and 1973. Composed of a series of fourteen panels, each approximately twenty feet square, the piece presented a number of technical challenges. It was constructed and painted in situ during the summer and early fall of 1973. Since then, Threnody has been reinstalled at the Neuberger Museum of Art on several occasions.

Gray was commissioned to design liturgical vestments for two Episcopal churches in Connecticut in the 1970s. A chasuble, stoles, and a mitre were commissioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut in 1984.

He won the "Outdoor Art at the Station Competition," for Union Station, Hartford, Connecticut. His very large porcelain enamel tile mural, Movement in Space, was installed on the façade of the transportation center in 1988.

Gray began writing occasional articles and exhibition reviews in the late 1940s. His concern with rational structure in art led him to question Abstract Expressionism and write "Narcissus in Chaos." This article, published in 1959 by The American Scholar, drew considerable attention. In 1960, Cosmopolitan published "Women - Leaders of Modern Art" that featured Nell Blaine, Joan Brown, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Sonia Gretchoff, Grace Hartigan, Ethel Magafan, Louise Nevelson, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Between 1960 and 1970, Gray was a contributing editor of Art In America, producing numerous articles (a few co-authored with Francine) and reviews for the periodical. He edited three books, David Smith by David Smith: Scupture and Writings, Hans Richter, and John Marin, all published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, and translated Marcel Duchamp's A l'Infinitif.

During the early 1960s, Gray became intensely focused on the situation in Vietnam. His first artistic response came in 1963 with Reverend Quan Duc, painted to commemorate a Buddhist monk who had immolated himself. Francine, too, felt strongly about the issue and over time the couple became increasingly active in the anti-war movement. They joined a number of organizations and helped to found a local chapter of Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. The years 1968 and 1969 were an especially intense and active period for the Grays. They protested, wrote and spoke out against the war, raised funds to support anti-war political candidates, and on a few occasions were arrested and jailed. Writing for Art in America, editing the book series, and anti-war activities left little time for his art. In 1970 Gray refocused his attention on painting.

Beginning in 1947, Gray was always represented by a New York Gallery: Jacques Seligmann and Co. (1947-1959), Staempfli Gallery (1960-1965), Saidenberg Gallery (1965-1968), Betty Parsons Gallery (1968-1983), Armstrong Gallery (1984-1987), and Berry-Hill Galleries (1988-2003). He was represented by galleries in other cities, as well, but not as consistently or for such long periods.

He exhibited extensively in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions presented by the dealers who represented Gray, there were retrospective exhibitions at: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, Columbus Museum of Art, Krannert Art Museum (University of Illinois, Champaign), Princeton University Art Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, and Wadsworth Atheneum.

Many museums' permanent collections include the work of Cleve Gray, among them: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Butler Institute of American Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art (SUNY, College at Purchase), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Newark Museum, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Phillips Collection, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Smithsonian Institution, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Yale University Art Gallery.

Cleve Gray served as artist-in-residence at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in 1963 and at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1970, both sponsored by Ford Foundation programs. In 1980, he was appointed an artist-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome, where Francine concurrently served as a writer-in-residence; they returned for shorter periods during each of the subsequent seven years. Cleve Gray was presented the Connecticut Arts Award in 1987, and the Neuberger Museum of Art Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hartford in 1992, and was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998. In addition, he was a trustee of the Neuberger Museum of Art, New York Studio School, Rhode Island School of Design, and Wadsworth Atheneum.

Cleve Gray hit his head and suffered a massive subdural hematoma after falling on ice outside of his home. He died the following day, December 8, 2004.

Separated Material:

Exhibition catalogs and announcements and two scrapbooks donated to the Archives in 1967 and 1968 were microfilmed on reels D314-D315. Items on reel D315, transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library in 1975, are not described in this finding aid.

Provenance:

The Cleve Gray papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Mr. Gray in 1967 and 1968. The bulk of the collection was given by his widow, Francine du Plessix Gray, in 2007 and 2008.

Restrictions:

Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordigs with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

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:

Sculptors -- Connecticut  Search this

Painters -- Connecticut  Search this

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Protest Movements -- United States  Search this

Designers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

Genre/Form:

Poems

Articles

Photographs

Reviews (documents)

Notes

Illustrations

Notebooks

Sketches

Drafts (documents)

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Manuscripts

Paintings

Prints

Watercolors

Drawings

Lectures

Citation:

Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.grayclev

See more items in:

Cleve Gray papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-grayclev

Collection Creator:

Gray, Cleve  Search this

Extent:

(Boxes 1-5, 9; 4.3 linear ft.)

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1936-2005

Scope and Contents note:

Alphabetical files consist of Cleve Gray's personal and professional correspondence, as well as subject files relating to projects and interests.

Correspondence is with friends and family, colleagues, publishers, museum curators and directors, art dealers, collectors, and fans. Correspondents of note include: Abe Ajay, Jacques Barzun, John Cage, Alexander Calder, James E. Davis, Marcel Duchamp, Helen Frankenthaler, Naum Gabo, Albert Gleizes, Bruce Goff, Louise N. Grace, Philip Guston, Howard and Jean Lipman, Robert Motherwell, Barnet Newman, Hans and Fridel Richter, George Rickey, Bridget Riley, Barbara Rose, George Rowley, and Jacques and Gaby Villon. Other substantial correspondence is with: Berry-Hill Galleries, Betty Parsons Gallery, Century Association, Columbia University, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Jacques Seligmann and Co., Neuberger Museum of Art, New York Studio School, Pratt Institute, Princeton University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Yale University.

Subject files mostly consist of correspondence, but include printed material and some photographs. Among them are: Art Collection of Cleve and Francine Gray, Art in America Ceramics Project, Art in America Decorative Arts Show, Artist-Art Dealer Consignments and Visual Artists' Rights Act of 1989, Artists' Tax Equity Act of 1979, "Narcissus in Chaos," Outdoor Art at the Station, Promised Gifts to Museums, Sculpture, Threnody, Vestments, and Vietnam Protest. Other files of particular interest relate to the Estate of Hans Richter (Cleve Gray, executor), and Gray's research materials and illustrations (photographs of artists including: Nell Blaine, Lee Bontecou, Joan Brown, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Sonia Gretchoff, Grace Hartigan, and Ethel Magafan) for his Cosmopolitan article "Women - Leaders of Modern Art."

Collection Restrictions:

Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordigs with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

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:

Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.grayclev, Series 2

See more items in:

Cleve Gray papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-grayclev-ref24

Author:

Dalgliesh, Alice 1893-1979  Search this

Illustrator:

Weisgard, Leonard 1916-2000  Search this

Physical description:

52 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Type:

Juvenile fiction

Fiction

Historical fiction

Juvenile works

Juvenile books

Date:

1954

Topic:

Frontier and pioneer life  Search this

Fear  Search this

Indians of North America  Search this

Indians of North America--Fiction  Search this

Frontier and pioneer life--Fiction  Search this

Call number:

PZ7 .D153 CoX

PZ7.D153 CoX

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_23369

Medium:

paper; ink / photogravure

Dimensions:

Height x Width: 1 15/16 × 1 1/4 in. (4.92 × 3.18 cm)

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

Connecticut

United States of America

Date:

October 25, 2002

Topic:

Contemporary (1990-present)  Search this

The Environment  Search this

U.S. Stamps  Search this

Credit line:

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Object number:

2003.2007.61

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8c540b57b-cf5e-4672-ac40-1a1227e0a511

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_2003.2007.61

Creator:

Bacon, Peggy, 1895-1987  Search this

Bacon, Peggy, 1895-1987  Search this

Subject:

Lay, Charles Downing  Search this

Remsen, Ira  Search this

Schmidt, Katherine  Search this

Varian, Dorothy  Search this

Alder, Jules  Search this

Bacon, Charles Roswell  Search this

Brook, Alexander  Search this

Bunner, Rudolph Francis  Search this

Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Kraushaar Galleries  Search this

Type:

Photographs

Drawings

Topic:

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Works of art  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women authors  Search this

Women printmakers  Search this

Theme:

Women  Search this

Lives of American Artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)5832

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208672

AAA_collcode_bacopegg

Theme:

Women

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208672

Subject of:

John Quincy Adams  Search this

Sengbe Pieh, Sierra Leonean, 1814 - 1879  Search this

Supreme Court of the United States, American, founded 1789  Search this

Published by:

S. W. Benedict, American  Search this

Signed by:

John T. Bradlee, American  Search this

Medium:

ink on wove paper

Dimensions:

H x W: 8 11/16 × 5 11/16 in. (22 × 14.5 cm)

Type:

books

manuscripts

Place printed:

New York, New York, United States, North and Central America

Place depicted:

Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

Cuba, Caribbean, Latin America, North and Central America

Sierra Leone, West Africa, Africa

Date:

1841

Topic:

African American  Search this

Illegal slave trade  Search this

International affairs  Search this

Law  Search this

Slavery  Search this

Trans Atlantic slave trade  Search this

U.S. History, 1815-1861  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number:

2018.46.6

Restrictions & Rights:

Public domain

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Slavery and Freedom Objects

Documents and Published Materials-Published Works

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5c555f537-deaf-49ec-9815-af12ef6b8a36

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2018.46.6

Creator:

Bacon, Peggy, 1895-1987  Search this

Names:

Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Students  Search this

Kraushaar Galleries  Search this

Alder, Jules  Search this

Bacon, Charles Roswell, 1868-1913  Search this

Brook, Alexander, 1898-1980  Search this

Bunner, Rudolph Francis  Search this

Lay, Charles Downing, 1877-1956  Search this

Remsen, Ira, 1846-1927  Search this

Schmidt, Katherine, 1898-1978  Search this

Varian, Dorothy, 1895-1985  Search this

Extent:

4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Drawings

Date:

1893-1973

bulk 1900-1936

Summary:

The papers of printmaker, illustrator, caricaturist, and writer Peggy Bacon measure 3.6 linear feet and date from 1893 to 1973, with the bulk of materials dating from 1900 to 1936. Much of the collection consists of family correspondence, although writings, photographs, artwork, and personal business records from Bacon's late career are also found.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of printmaker, illustrator, caricaturist, and writer Peggy Bacon measure 3.6 linear feet and date from 1893 to 1973, with the bulk of materials dating from 1900 to 1936. Much of the collection consists of family correspondence, although writings, photographs, artwork, and personal business records from Bacon's late career are also found.

Correspondence is found between Peggy Bacon and her parents, Elizabeth and Charles Roswell Bacon. Letters to her mother describe in detail her life as an art student and artist at the Art Students League; summer schools in Port Jefferson, Long Island and Provincetown, Massachusetts; the Woodstock artists' colony; and her early years in New York City. Letters from her husband, Alexander Brook, to her mother are also present. Letters to Bacon include letters from her early teacher Jonas Lie, and from friends and fellow artists Catherine Wiley, Dorothy Varian, Katherine Schmidt, Anne Rector Duffy, and others. Her parents' extensive correspondence includes letters to her father from the artists Jules Adler, Rudolph Bunner, Ira Remsen, and Charles Downing Lay.

The collection also contains Peggy Bacon's school reports and writing assignments, a marriage certificate, scattered poetry manuscripts and notes by Peggy Bacon, and fiction manuscripts by Charles Roswell Bacon. Personal business records date from the 1960s and 1970s and include publisher's royalty statements, gallery sales statements, and scattered business correspondence with Antoinette Kraushaar and other staff at the Kraushaar Galleries. Photographs depict Bacon and her family, friends, homes, and works of art. Artwork includes several original drawings and sketches by Bacon, as well as artwork by Alexander Brook, Charles Roswell Bacon, and others.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 7 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1893-1913 (Box 1; 2 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1893-1939, 1969-1972 (Boxes 1-3; 3 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1897-1934, 1963-1972 (Box 4; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, 1905-1920 (Boxes 4-5; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1905-1935, 1973 (Box 5; 3 folders)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1900-1963 (Box 5, OV 6; 4 folders)

Series 7: Artwork, undated (Box 5, OVs 6-8; 9 folders)

Biographical Note:

Peggy Bacon was born in 1895 in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and grew up an only child after the death of two younger brothers in infancy. Her parents, Charles Roswell Bacon and Elizabeth Chase Bacon, had met at the Art Students League, where her father had studied with Robert Henri. Her father pursued a career in painting and writing until his suicide in 1913, and her mother painted miniatures.

A child of artists, Bacon began to draw at a very early age, and by age ten she was already earning money for her illustrations, drawings of literary characters made for dinner place cards. She did not attend school until 1909, when her parents sent her to a boarding school in Summit, New Jersey. She began her formal art training shortly after her father's death, enrolling in the School of Applied Arts for Women at the end of 1913. In the summer of 1914, she attended Jonas Lie's landscape class in Port Jefferson, Long Island, and continued private studies with him in New York City. Lie gave Bacon her first solo exhibition in 1915. From 1915 until 1920, she studied at the Art Students League under John Sloan, Kenneth Hayes Miller, George Bellows, Mahroni Young, and others. In the summers, she took classes first in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and then in Woodstock, New York, where she studied with Andrew Dasburg.

Bacon's circle was formed at the Art Students League, and the League's summer school in Woodstock. She met her husband, Alexander Brook, in Woodstock, and they were married in 1920. Both were active in the Woodstock Artists Association. Other artists in their close-knit group included Dorothea Schwarz (Greenbaum), Anne Rector (Duffy), Betty Burroughs (Woodhouse), Katherine Schmidt (Kuniyoshi Shubert), Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Molly Luce, Dorothy Varian, Edmund Duffy, Dick Dyer, David Morrison, and Andrew Dasburg. Many from this group were involved in the short-lived satirical magazine at the League called Bad News, published in 1918 with several of Bacon's earliest satirical drawings. Her first book, The True Philosopher and Other Cat Tales, was published in 1919. Brook and Bacon traveled to England in 1920, where their daughter Belinda was born. A son, Sandy, was born in Woodstock in 1922. In the early 1920s, Brook worked with Juliana Force at the Whitney Studio Club, and they were involved in the cultural life that sprang up around the gallery, which featured up-and-coming artists. For many years, Bacon and her family split their time between New York and Woodstock, and later summered in Cross River, NY. After divorcing Brook in 1940, Bacon spent summers in Ogunquit, Maine.

Though she initially thought of herself as a painter, she built her reputation on her drawings and prints, which often satirized the people around her in their natural habitats - artists in life classes, at dances, and in social situations, or a throng of people in a museum, on a city sidewalk, or a ship's deck. She became sought after for her illustrations and witty, topical verse in magazines such as Dial, Delineator, The New Yorker, New Republic, Fortune, and Vanity Fair. She helped to establish the American Print Makers, an artists' organization based in the Downtown Gallery which sought greater exhibition opportunities for printmakers. Bacon illustrated over sixty books, nineteen of which she also wrote, between 1919 and 1966, including many children's books and a successful mystery novel called The Inward Eye (1952). In 1933 she received a Guggenheim Fellowship and used it to complete a collection of caricatures of art world figures called Off With Their Heads (1934), the success of which prompted a spate of commissions for caricatures. Bacon stopped making caricatures in 1935, but they include some of her best-known work.

Bacon exhibited frequently, in New York and in major museum exhibitions nationally, showing her prints, drawings, pastels, and watercolors. She had over thirty solo exhibitions at such venues as Montross Gallery, Alfred Stieglitz's Intimate Gallery, and the Downtown Gallery, and was represented by Rehn Galleries and later Kraushaar Galleries. Bacon also taught extensively in the 1930s and 1940s, at the Fieldston School, Art Students League, Hunter College, Temple University, the Corcoran Gallery, and other places. In the 1950s, she returned to painting. She made her last prints in 1955. In the early 1970s, Bacon's eyesight failed, and she eventually went to live with her son in Cape Porpoise, Maine. She died in 1987.

Related Material:

Among the other resources relating to Peggy Bacon in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Bacon, May 8, 1973; and letters to Bernice and Harry Lurie from Peggy Bacon, 1969-1977. Additional Peggy Bacon papers are available at Syracuse University.

Provenance:

The collection was donated by Peggy Bacon in 1973 and Kraushaar Galleries in 2008.

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.

Occupation:

Printmakers -- New York (State) -- Woodstock  Search this

Illustrators -- New York (State) -- Woodstock  Search this

Caricaturists -- New York (State) -- Woodstock  Search this

Authors -- New York (State) -- Woodstock  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Works of art  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women authors  Search this

Women printmakers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Drawings

Citation:

Peggy Bacon papers, 1893-1972. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Identifier:

AAA.bacopegg

See more items in:

Peggy Bacon papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-bacopegg

Creator:

Remington, Frederic, 1861-1909  Search this

Remington, Frederic, 1861-1909  Search this

Subject:

Beveridge, Albert Jeremiah  Search this

Bigelow, Poultney  Search this

Church, Frederick S. (Frederick Stuart)  Search this

Clarke, Powhatan Henry  Search this

Clemens, Samuel Langhorne  Search this

Cortissoz, Royal  Search this

Davenport, Homer  Search this

Davis, Richard Harding  Search this

Forsyth, George A.  Search this

Hassam, Childe  Search this

Hepburn, A. Barton (Alonzo Barton)  Search this

Hoeber, Arthur  Search this

Howells, William Dean  Search this

Johnson, Carter Page  Search this

Kipling, Rudyard  Search this

Lamont, Daniel Scott  Search this

Miles, Nelson Appleton  Search this

Pyle, Howard  Search this

Ralph, Julian  Search this

Roosevelt, Theodore  Search this

Wister, Owen  Search this

Wood, Leonard  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 19th century -- West (U.S.)  Search this

Sculpture, Modern -- 19th century -- West (U.S.)  Search this

Theme:

Lives of American Artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)5660

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208494

AAA_collcode_remifrep

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208494