Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt, 1875-1942 Search this
Extent:
6.8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1891-1977
Summary:
The Morgan Russell papers, 1891-1977, present a good overview of Russell's career as a painter and sculptor, with an emphasis on his development of the color theory movement, Synchromism. The papers include correspondence, biographical material, transcripts of lectures given by Russell, illustrated notebooks and sketches, printed material and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The Morgan Russell papers present a good overview of Russell's career as a painter and sculptor, with an emphasis on his development of the color theory movement, Synchromism. The papers include correspondence with many prominent individuals who played a role in Russell's artistic development; biographical material primarily documenting his activities in Europe; transcripts of lectures given by Russell; illustrated notebooks and sketches documenting his interest in, and development of, color theory, music and Synchromism; printed material such as exhibition announcements, catalogs and clippings; and photographs of Russell, his wife, friends and artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series according to record type and reflecting the lender's arrangement. With the exception of Series 1: Correspondence, all series are arranged chronologically.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1909-1964 (Reels 4524-4527)
Series 2: Biographical Material, 1925-1941 (Reel 4527)
Series 3: Business Records, 1911-1946 (Reel 4527)
Series 4: Writings, 1931-1953 (Reel 4527)
Series 5: Unbound Notes and Sketches, 1891-1977 (Reels 4528-4538)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1908-1963 (Reels 4539-4541)
Series 7: Photographs, 1908-1948 (Reel 4542)
Biographical Note:
Painter and sculptor Morgan Russell was born in New York City. He studied at the Art Students League and the New York School of Art with James Earle Fraser, Andrew Dasburg and Robert Henri from 1906 to 1907, before settling in Paris in 1909 where he remained for almost forty years. After meeting Stanton Macdonald-Wright in 1911, he became interested in Synchromism and studied with Canadian color theorist Ernest Tudor-Hart. In 1913 Russell produced the first abstract Synchromies and in 1917 developed a series of Synchromies entitled EIDOS. He visited California in the early 1930s, teaching at the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles from 1931-1932, in addition to lecturing at museums in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Russell left France permanently in 1946 and died in Pennsylvania in 1953.
Provenance:
The Morgan Russell papers were lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming by the Montclair Art Museum in 1991. The material was returned to the lender in 1992.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Research notes consisting mainly of abstracts of articles primarily from the San Francisco CHRONICLE, 1936-1942. Included are material on the Writer's Project, Theater Project, Photography Project, Music Project, the Coit Tower Murals, artists Beniamino Bufano, Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Anton Refregier.
Provenance:
Provenance unknown.
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.
Topic:
Coit Memorial Tower (San Francisco, Calif.) Search this
An interview of Peter Agostini conducted in 1968, by Colette Roberts, for the Archives of American Art at 151 Avenue B, New York, New York.
Mr. Agostini speaks of his childhood spent living throughout the five boroughs of New York; his interactions with clients of his father's acting employment agency; his early education in Catholic school and the creative freedom allotted by the nuns; his first feelings of isolation as an artist at the age of seven; the development of a sense of communication as the result of the loss of his mother at the age of three and time spent at a school for orphans; his early realization and vision of artistic destiny; his religious interests which lead to mysticism in his earlier work; his time spent working freely in the DaVinci Studio with Spaventa; the discovery by Hess of his works in Gallerie Grimaud; his attainment of the Longview Grant; his working experience throughout the Depression as part of the WPA casting plaster mannequins while working indirectly with Pollack as well as Marca Relli; his subsequent move to designing department store windows (use of Mondrian-like forms and lines); his feelings of his position as an observer; the importance of communication through art (communication without words); his rejection of the Abstract Expressionist group and choice of independence; the influence of the sculpture of Kolbe and Bache in the thirties; Clement Greenberg's distaste for his work; his feelings about the relative failure to sell his work due its unusual edginess and mystery; his role in the introduction of the work of contemporary European artists (Chausserian, Gauthier, Modrian) to the American group; his description of his own work as "traditionless"; his feelings of self-importance as one of the most original sculptors in the art world; his influence on the younger generation, particularly Marisol; the enslavement to originality that the younger generation faces; his attitudes towards American Art forms and their lack of rebellious spirit; the virtues of the American writers, such as Poe, Whitman, and Melville as American "knapsack" writers; his personal technique which places an emphasis on the "skin" or volume of something; his attempt to create quiet art, or art that merely indicates features; his frustration with teaching and the problems of regurgitated knowledge; the role of Meyer Shapiro in his teaching career at Columbia; the formation of the Club and its similarity to the Cubist's café scene; his opinions on the relationship of sex and sensuality in American art; his personal struggles, including the loss of his second wife and two of his brothers, in addition to the estrangement of his only daughter by his first wife; his feelings on the role of psycho analysis and personal history in a work of art; his present works which feature the "swell." For the majority of the second half of the interview Ms. Roberts asks Mr. Agostini to express his opinions on the work of: Kline; DeKooning; Duchamp; Oldenburg; La Tour; DeChirico; Maillol; Pompon; Rothko; Chardin; Cezanne; Giacometti; Reinhardt; Chryssa; Tony Smith; Segal; Lachaise; Zorach; Manship; Flannagan; Kelly; Lassaw; David Smith; Hare; Lipton; Ferber; Lippold; Roszak; Nakian; Noguchi; Hague; Kohn; di Suvero; Chamberlain; Kaprow; Sugarman; Stankiewicz; Bontecou; Scarpitta; Cornell; Keinholz; Rivera; Judd; Robert Morris; O'Keeffe; Samaras; Mark Tobey; Marin; Pollock; Hartley; Dove; Macdonald-Wright; Demuth; Sheeler; Hopper; Mirot; Matisse; DuBuffet.
Biographical / Historical:
Peter Agostini (1913-1993) was a sculptor from New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 28 digital wav files. Duration is 10 hrs., 37 min.
Transferred from 4 3" reels.
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:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
The papers of Southern California art dealer and abstract painter John McLaughlin measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1922 to 1979. The collection documents John McLaughlin's personal life and career through biographical material, correspondence, writings, Tamarind Lithography fellowship files, scattered personal business records, printed materials, artwork, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Southern California art dealer and abstract painter John McLaughlin measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1922 to 1979. The collection documents John McLaughlin's personal life and career through biographical material, correspondence, writings, Tamarind Lithography fellowship files, scattered personal business records, printed materials, artwork, and photographic material.
Biographical material includes McLaughlin's military service records, art awards, and resumes. Correspondence is with friends, artists, museums, and galleries. Notable correspondents include Eugene Anderson, Karl Benjamin, Frederick Hammersley, Jules Langsner, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Ad Reinhardt, and others. Writings and notes include several artist statements, lectures, notes, and lists and descriptions of paintings, some in the form of hand drawn sketches. Users will find McLaughlin's ideas about his work and aesthetics are referenced in much of the correspondence and writings. Some of the letters also document the evolution of the 1959 "Four Abstract Classicists" exhibition, particularly correspondence with Karl Benjamin, Peter Selz, and Jules Langsner. There are also writings about McLaughlin by others, including Jules Langsner. The Tamarind Lithography fellowship files consists of the letter of appointment, printed material, and profiles for fellow artists at the workshop.
Personal business records include assorted legal and financial papers, such as contracts with galleries, art loan agreements, consignment records, and art shipment expenses. There are business papers about McLaughlin's Japanese print gallery, The Tokaido, Inc. Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs for McLaughlin's shows at the Andre Emmerich Gallery, Felix Landau Gallery, a retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1968, and the seminal 1959 "Four Abstract Classicists" in Los Angeles, among others. Also found are exhibition announcements, news clippings, and press releases. Artwork includes a few paintings and collages. Photographs, negatives, and slides are of McLaughlin, including one portrait by John Waggaman), artwork, and exhibition installations. There is one album of photographs from a 1963 retrospective exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 8 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1942-circa 1969 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1936-1976 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1934-1976 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 4: Tamarind Lithography Fellowship Files, 1958-1970 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Personal Business Records, circa 1938-1974 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1932-1979 (1.5 linear feet; Box 2-4)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1958 (0.2 linear feet; Box 3-5)
Series 8: Photographic Material, 1922-1979 (0.2 linear feet; Box 3)
Biographical / Historical:
John Dwyer McLaughlin (1898-1976) was best known as one of the leading Los Angeles "hard-edge" geometric abstractionist painters and one of the artists featured in the seminal 1959 exhibition "Four Abstract Classicists" curated by Jules Langsner. McLaughlin was also a dealer of Japanese art prints.
McLaughlin was born and educated in Massachusetts. He served in the United States Navy during World War I from 1917-1921 and married Florence Emerson in 1928. McLaughlin began painting around 1932 with no formal training. In 1935, the couple moved to Japan and lived for several years before moving back to Boston, where they opened The Tokaido, Inc., a Japanese art print gallery. From this time up to the beginning of World War II, McLaughlin worked primarily as a print dealer, without huge success. During World War II, he served as a language intelligence officer in the Marines, primarily because of his knowledge of Japanese.
After the war, McLaughlin and his wife settled in Dana Point, California, where he began painting in earnest, gaining some early local successes. His painting, Hope Deferred was awarded first prize for oil painting in the 1948 San Diego Art Guild Annual. He became associated with the Felix Landau Gallery in Los Angeles and was one of four painters included in the historic 1959 "Four Abstract Classicists" exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art organized by critic Jules Langsner which also featured the work of Frederick Hammersley, Lorser Feitelson, and Karl Benjamin. The phrase "hard-edge painting" was first used in association with this exhibition as a description of a unique California style of geometric abstractionist painting.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s McLaughlin exhibited widely and became a mentor for many younger Los Angeles area reductive painters. He was widely admired for his integrity and independent position regarding the art market. John McLaughlin died in Dana Point, California in 1976 at the age of 77.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview of John D. McLaughlin conducted July 23, 1974, by Paul J. Karlstrom.
Provenance:
The John McLaughlin papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in multiple installments. John McLaughlin donated material in 1973 and his widow Florence McLaughlin donated material in 1976. Additional papers were donated by the artist's nephew John McLaughlin in 1998 and 1999. A painting was donated 2015 by Stephne' Hesen estate.
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.
Rights:
The John McLaughlin 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.
An interview of Tyrus Wong conducted 1965 January 30, by Betty Hoag, for the Archives of American Art.
Wong discusses making a film for grade schools and UCLA, which was produced by Eliot O'Hara, where he demonstrated Oriental painting techniques and Joe Jones demonstrated American techniques; working as an illustrator for Republic Studio; designing pottery plates for Greenfield Pottery, Gabriel Pottery in Pasadena; illustrations for the Western Art Review magazine; covers for the Los Angeles Times Home Section 1954 & 1955; text and illustrations for Watercolor Portraits, 1949; designing ads for various magazines; and doing watercolors, lithographs, and murals for the WPA, including the Santa Monica Library. Wong recalls Surasawa, Dorothy Jeakins, Nick Berganti, Hideo Dati, Benjy Ocobo, Carl Winter, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Jerre Murry, Steven LaVerne Dunwell, George Stanley, Gordon Newell, and Frank Buck.
Biographical / Historical:
Tyrus Wong (1910- ) was a painter, designer, illustrator, and printmaker from California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 48 min.
Only the second half of this interview was successfully recorded.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
3 letters to David Nellis, collector, from Stanton Macdonald-Wright, 1971-1972. Macdonald-Wright encloses a sketch of the repainting of "Yoku O Hi" which had been scratched, describes his new home in Hawaii, and explains his feelings about the selling price of his work. Also included is a letter to Mallory Freeman, director of the gallery, from Thomas Hart Benton, 1974, regarding 2 Macdonald-Wright paintings owned by Benton.
Biographical / Historical:
Art gallery; Santa Monica, California.
Provenance:
Donated by Mallory Freeman, director of Tortue Gallery, 1978.
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 John Weichsel papers concerning the People's Art Guild measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1905-1965 with the bulk of the material dating from 1905-1929. The papers consist almost entirely of the records of the People's Art Guild, founded by Weichsel, and include administrative records, correspondence, writings and notes, business and financial records, printed material, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The John Weichsel papers concerning the People's Art Guild measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1905-1965 with the bulk of the material dating from 1905-1929. The papers consist almost entirely of the records of the People's Art Guild, founded by Weichsel, and include administrative records, correspondence, writings and notes, business and financial records, printed material, and artwork.
People's Art Guild records include the constitution, membership lists, and correspondence with Gifford Beal, George Bellows, Oscar Bluemner, Stuart Davis, Robert Delaunay, Leon Kroll, Standon Macdonald-Wright, Jules Pascin, John Sloan, Willard Wright and Marguerite and William Zorach, among others. Writings about the Peoples Art Guild are by Weichsel and his grandson John Weichsel. There are also lists of artists and works of art. Also found are very scattered business and financial records, printed materials, and artwork in the form of sketches for exhibition announcements.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Series 1: Administrative Records, 1915-1917 (2 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1905-1922 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1915-circa 1919, 1965 (4 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Business and Financial Records, 1915-1917 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1915-circa 1948 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 6: Artwork, 1915-1916 (1 folder; Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
John Weichsel (1870-1946) was an arts administrator and founded the artists' cooperative People's Art Guild of New York City in 1915.
John Weichsel was born in Poland and ultimately settled in New York City. The People's Art Guild was founded by Weichsel as an artist's cooperative focused on improving and expanding knowledge of art and the art world among the general public, believing this would increase art appreciation and patronage.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1960 and 1963 by Dr. H. S. Weichsel and John Weichsel, the son and grandson of Dr. John Weichsel. At an unknown later date, grandson John Weichsel donated his 1965 thesis on the Peoples Art Guild.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The John Weichsel papers concerning the People's Art Guild 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.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Art -- Societies, etc. -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketches
Citation:
John Weichsel papers concerning the People's Art Guild, 1905-1965, bulk 1905-1929. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
An interview of Paul Sample conducted 1971 October 10, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art. Sample speaks of his studies with Jonas Lie and Stanton Macdonald-Wright; teaching at the University of Southern California and at Dartmouth College; working on frescos with David Alfaro Siqueiros in California; working on murals for the Treasury Department's art project; exhibitions in New York galleries; his series of paintings for the American Tobacco Company. He discusses his subject matter.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Sample (1896-1974) was a painter from Norwich, Vt.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav files. Duration is 59 min.
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.
Correspondence, Weeks' masters thesis about Southern California painters, and miscellany.
Correspondence with Stanton Macdonald-Wright. They write about a Macdonald-Wright autobiography, the sale of his works works and of Morgan Russell paintings owned by Macdonald-Wright, the financial problems of Macdonald-Wright, and personal matters.
Other correspondents include Helen Lundeberg, Henry Gardiner, Lorser Feitelson, Jason Wong, Jan Adlmann, Dallas Conklin, George Neubert, and Jean Macdonald-Wright (Stanton's wife), among others.
Biographical / Historical:
Art administrator, agent and critic; San Francisco, Calif. Weeks was painter Stanton Macdonald-Wright's Northern California agent.
Provenance:
Lent 1974 for microfilming by Henry John Weeks.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
The Molly Saltman "Art and Artists" interviews measure 2.4 linear feet and contain 62 sound recording interviews and lectures with art collectors, teachers, actors, and artists. The interviews were conducted by Molly Saltman from 1966-1967 as part of the "Art and Artists" radio series broadcast on the KPAL radio station in Palm Springs, California. Additional recordings of KPAL content and nonbroadcast content were discovered upon digitization, including a Los Angeles Art Association anniversary event and a Charles White slide lecture.
Scope and Contents:
The Molly Saltman "Art and Artists" interviews measure 2.4 linear feet and contain 62 sound recording interviews and lectures with art collectors, teachers, actors, and artists. The interviews were conducted by Molly Saltman from 1966-1967 as part of the "Art and Artists" radio series broadcast on the KPAL radio station in Palm Springs, California. Additional recordings of KPAL content and nonbroadcast content were discovered upon digitization, including a Los Angeles Art Association anniversary event and a Charles White slide lecture.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the sound recordings are arranged as one series.
Series 1: Interviews and other recordings, circa 1963-1968 (Box 1-3, 2.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Molly Saltman "Art and Artists" radio program was broadcast on KPAL radio station in Palm Springs, California from November 2, 1966 to March 4, 1967 on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:30AM. Molly Saltman (1915-2010), the producer and interviewer for this broadcast, was a well-known Palm Springs artist during this time. Specializing in abstract watercolors, her work was featured in a number of local art shows as well as exhibited in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Palm Springs Desert Museum, and the Hartfield Gallery in Los Angeles. She was also closely involved with the Desert Mental Health Association and served as Chairwoman of the Jewish Family Service in Palm Springs, California.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Molly Saltman in 1986.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Rights:
Researchers must obtain copyright clearance from interviewees prior to publication or airing.
The papers of American art collector Keith Warner measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1935 to 1975. Correspondence, collecting files, and artwork detail Warner's role as a collector of art in the mid-twentieth century. Present in the collection are materials related to Alexander Calder, Roland Dorcely, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Piet Mondrian, Alfred Stieglitz, and Max Weber.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of American art collector Keith Warner measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1935 to 1975. Correspondence, collecting files, and artwork detail Warner's role as a collector of art in the mid-twentieth century. Present in the collection are materials related to Alexander Calder, Roland Dorcely, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Piet Mondrian, Alfred Stieglitz, and Max Weber.
Warner's relationships with artists are documented in extensive letters which make up the bulk of the collection. Subjects range from exhibitions, the art market, artists' methods and works, art criticism, and collecting to personal subjects. Letters from Roland Dorcely and Alexander Calder include illustrated letters and postcards. Letters from Calder discuss a mix of business and personal matters, including a discussion of the design of jewelry commissioned for Warner's wife, Edna. Letters from Dorcely document Warner's cultivation, criticism, and collection of Dorcely's work, as well as the hardships of Haitian artists and Dorcely's views on art. The letters are in French with some English translations.
Correspondence with Alfred Stieglitz documents his common endeavor with Warner in collecting the paintings of John Marin, and Stieglitz's gallery, An American Place. Letters associated with An American Place continue after Stieglitz's death in 1946. Found with Alfred Stieglitz's letters are two letters from Georgia O'Keeffe. Max Weber letters include comments on his painting and sculpting, his retrospective show at the Whitney, the art press, national politics, and also refer to Stieglitz and Marin. An extensive group of correspondence with Stanton MacDonald-Wright is mostly undated; MacDonald-Wright writes freely about Stieglitz, the "291" group of artists, and his partner in Synchromism, Morgan Russell. Also included are letters from Piet Mondrian related to collecting, as well as letters from unidentified correspondents.
Warner's collecting files consist of diverse materials concerning his research, writing, and relationships with artists whose paintings he collected, particularly Roland Dorcely and Stanton MacDonald-Wright. Included are biographical sketches; writings about and by the artists, including manuscripts and published materials; newspaper and magazine clippings; exhibition announcements and catalogs; and photographs of works of art. Writings by Roland Dorcely, on the subject of his artistic process and perspective, include handwritten essays in French as well as typed English translations. Published articles from Script magazine (1945-1946) by Stanton MacDonald-Wright document his career as an art critic. Writings on Alexander Calder and Paul Rosenburg, taken from Warner's journal on Calder, and on the early relationship of Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe, documented on a visit with Stieglitz on May 3, 1944, are also present.
Artwork consists of work by Alexander Calder and Roland Dorcely. Calder's work includes sketches proposing mobiles with notations as to material, scale, and cost. Dorcely's work includes sketches in graphite and ink of abstract figures and objects.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 3 series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1940-1963 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 2: Collecting Files, circa 1940-1975 (12 folders; Box 2, OV 3)
Series 3: Artwork, circa 1945-circa 1965 (2 folders; Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Keith Warner (1895-1959) was an American art collector. Warner was born and lived in Gloversville, New York, and maintained a manufacturing business that took him to New York City intermittently. Warner began collecting Chinese porcelains after World War I, and a few years later his interest shifted to American abstract painting. Warner retired from business in 1944. His collection was sold gradually after his death, mostly to private collectors, though some works are in museums in the United States and Japan.
Provenance:
The Keith Warner papers were donated in 1992 by Edna K. Allen, wife of Keith Warner.
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.
Rights:
The Keith Warner 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.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) Search this
The papers of photographer and art historian Nina Howell Starr measure 21.2 linear feet and date from circa 1933 to 1996. The papers contain research files about various art historical topics, museums and galleries, photography, and artists. There are extensive files documenting Starr's relationship as researcher, dealer, and friend of folk painter Minnie Evans. Additionally, the papers include biographical materials, writings, speeches, project files, printed material collected or authored by Starr, and hundreds of artistic and documentary photographs and negatives created by Starr depicting her travels, Minnie Evans' paintings, roadside folk art, and other topics.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of photographer and art historian Nina Howell Starr measure 21.2 linear feet and date from circa 1933 to 1996. The papers contain research files about various art historical topics, museums and galleries, photography, and artists. There are extensive files documenting Starr's relationship as researcher, dealer, and friend of folk painter Minnie Evans. Additionally, the papers include biographical materials, writings, speeches, project files, printed material collected or authored by Starr, and hundreds of artistic and documentary photographs and negatives created by Starr depicting her travels, Minnie Evans' paintings, roadside folk art, and other topics.
Biographical materials are scattered and include grant and publication applications, curriculum vitae, lists of artwork, and miscellany.
Starr's lectures, writings, and project files are arranged into one series. They include Starr's student writings, a notebook about Civil Rights, files documenting her work on a Florida public housing project, the Southern Regional Council, and the League of Women Voters. A few files of general writings and lectures mostly concern folk artist Minnie Evans and the exhibition Women Photograph Men, held at the International Women's Arts Festival in 1976.
Subject files on artists, art history topics, photographers and photography (including Starr's work), and on folk artist and friend Minne Evans comprise the bulk of the collection. The files are a mix of collated materials and primary sources created by Starr and others and many contain correspondence, notes, photographs, and a few sketches and orginal prints. Also included are materials related to professional and organizational groups in which Starr was involved, including the Professional Women's Photographers, Inc., the Photographic Historical Society of New York, and the Museum of American Folk Art; files on several of Starr's exhibitions; and files on artists that contain printed materials, correspondence, and photographs. The file on Ruth Starr Rose contains prints and drawings. There are also photographs taken by Stephanie Cohen. Particularly rich files are found for Stephanie Cohen; Van Deren Coke, Director of the George Eastman Company; Evelyn Daitz, Director of the Witkin Gallery; Henry DiSpirito; Walker Evans; the Fotofolio printing company; curator Henri Ghent; photographer Consuelo Kanaga and husband Wallace Putnam; Margot Starr Kernan; Lucy Lippard; Stanton Mac-Donald Wright; Sharon Arts Center; photographer Paul Strand; curator John Szarwarski; and photographer Jerry Uelsman.
The collection also documents the friendship between painter Minnie Evans and Starr, and Starr's business dealings on Evans' behalf. There is correspondence about and with Evans, several sound recordings of interviews conducted by Starr and others with Evans, many with transcripts, financial documents, publications about Evans including exhibition catalogs, clippings, journal articles and monographs, two posters, a scrapbook, and one sketch by Evans.
Printed material includes published articles, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and clippings about Starr.
Photographic materials are extensive and include photographs and slides taken by Starr of friends, family, artwork by Minnie Evans, events, exhibition openings, world travels, and folk art, especially roadside. Prominent artists and art historians photographed include: photographers Maggie Sherwood, Naomi Savage, Barbara Morgan, Linda Connor, Aaron Siskind, Consuelo Kanaga, Faith Ringgold, and Walker Evans; sculptors Louise Kruger and Helene Brandt; feminist and art historian Pat Mainardi; and curators Henri Ghent and John Szarkowski. Starr's artistic photographic work is also represented, and includes two silver gelatin prints of Minnie Evans, and subject studies on hands, people, and nature, among others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Series 1: Biographical material, 1954-circa 1990 (8 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Writings, Speeches and Projects, 1933-1995 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Subject Files, circa 1939-1996 (8.3 linear feet; Boxes 2-10)
Series 4: Minnie Evans, 1962-1996 (3.7 linear feet; Boxes 10-13, 23, OV 24)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1936-1995 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 13-16, 23)
Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1939-1993 (5.4 linear feet; Boxes 16-23, OV 24)
Biographical / Historical:
Nina Howell Starr (1903-2000) was a photographer, art dealer, and art historian who worked primarily in New York City. Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1903 as Cornelia Margaret Howell, Starr attended Wellesley College and graduated from Barnard in 1926. Also in 1926, she married Nathan Comfort Starr, an English professor, and, over the years the couple lived in Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, and New York City.
In 1963, at the age of 60, Starr received the first M.F.A. in photography granted by the University of Florida. Starr exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions, including Magic Lantern (Photographer's Gallery, London, 1976), and the Strength of Women (Witken Gallery, 1991), and numerous shows featuring photographs of outsider art. Her "New Yorker" project became an exhibition in 2016. Her work is owned by several prominent museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography.
As art historian, self-proclaimed critic, and civil rights and feminist advocate, Starr lectured widely, wrote articles and letters to editors, and corresponded with many notable art world figures. She became especially interested in outsider and folk art. Starr met outsider artist Minnie Evans in 1962 and became Evans' lifelong friend, advocate, and representative dealer. She wrote about Evans and introduced Evans' works to galleries and other exhibition spaces in New York, including the Whitney Museum, where she guest-curated an exhibition of Evans' work in 1975.
Starr was an active member of professional organizations including the Photographic Historical Society of New York, Professional Women's Photographers, Inc., and the Museum of American Folk Art where she served on the Advisory Committee.
Nina Howell Starr died in 2000 in Connecticut at the age of 97.
Provenance:
The Nina Howell Starr papers were donated by Nina Howell Starr in 1996.
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 access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Nina Howell Starr 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.
Occupation:
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The Rose Fried Gallery records measure 8.1 linear feet and date from 1936 to 1972 with the bulk of materials dating from 1945 to 1970. The majority of the collection consists of artists files documenting the gallery's relationship with abstract, modern, and Latin American artists; additional named subject files; and scattered administrative and financial files. Individual artists and subject files contain a wide variety of documentation, such as correspondence, photographs, financial records, and printed materials.
Scope and Contents:
The Rose Fried Gallery records measure 8.1 linear feet and date from 1936 to 1972 with the bulk of materials dating from 1945 to 1970. The majority of the collection consists of artists files documenting the gallery's relationship with abstract, modern, and Latin American artists; additional named subject files; and scattered administrative and financial files. Individual artists and subject files contain a wide variety of documentation, such as correspondence, photographs, financial records, and printed materials.
Scattered administrative records document the founding and history of the Rose Fried Gallery, biographical materials about Rose Fried, as well as scattered administrative correspondence, press releases, and gallery catalogs. There are two sound recordings of interviews with Rose Fried in which she discusses the origins of the Rose Fried Gallery and some of the gallery's shows.
The bulk of the records consist of alphabetical artists' and clients' files documenting the gallery's dealings with individual artists, clients, other galleries, museums, and universities. Contents of individual files vary but may include correspondence, contractual agreements, financial records, printed material, and photographs. A few of the artists represented in the files include Olle Baertling, Joseph Cornell, Ben Cunningham, Sonia Delaunay, Sorel Etrog, John Ferren, Raymond Hendler, Wassily Kandinsky, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Piet Mondrian, Russell Morgan, Francis Picabia, Hans Richter, Joaquin Torres-Garcia, and Jean Xceron, among many others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as two series.
Series 1: General Administrative Records, 1947-1970 (9 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Artists' and Clients' Files, 1936-1972 (7.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-8, OV 9)
Historical Note:
Rose Fried established the Rose Fried Gallery in the 1940s in New York City, New York. Fried established the gallery when she took over the Pinacotheca Gallery owned by Dan Harris. The Gallery specialized in abstract and modern art, and represented cubists, futurists, Dadaists, and masters of Latin American art. The Rose Fried Gallery was instrumental in introducing the American public to many abstract painters, including Mondrian and Kandinsky. The Gallery remained operational until Fried's death in 1970.
Provenance:
The Rose Fried Gallery Records were donated by Rose Fried and her brother and executor Paul Fried in multiple accretions between 1968 and 1974.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy also requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Rose Fried Gallery records 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.
Topic:
Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Correspondence, July 29, 1941 to August 4, 1941, with Stanton Macdonald-Wright. Macdonald-Wright asks Pratt what he considers the common denominator of various styles of art. Pratt responds and Macdonald-Wright thanks him.
Biographical / Historical:
Gallery director, curator, author, editor, lecturer; California
Provenance:
Donated by the E.B. Crocker Art Gallery through the director, Richard V. West, 1977.
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.
An interview of Esther Robles conducted 1981 August 24-31, by Ruth Bowman, for the Archives of American Art.
Robles speaks of her family background; early art training; opening her own gallery in the 1940s; exhibitions at the gallery and artists who exhibited; the art community in Los Angeles and some of the problems in being a dealer there; her dedication to showing a variety of artists; working on the U.S. Treasury Department's Art Advisory Panel; and the closing of her gallery. She recalls Stanton Macdonald-Wright. Also present is Robles' husband, Robert.
Biographical / Historical:
Ester Robles (1907-2001) was a gallery director from Los Angeles, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 13 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 13 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.
Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
Topic:
Gallery directors -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- California -- Los Angeles
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.
An interview of Roland Reiss conducted 1997 Aug. 23-1999 June 11, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in Reiss' studio, Los Angeles, Calif.
A fairly lengthy discussion of UCLA included an account of studying with Jan Stussy, a Stanton Macdonald-Wright disciple, and with Macdonald-Wright himself, who took a special interest in Reiss. He also singled out as a major influence Clinton Adams who, with Macdonald-Wright, served as a model of the intellectual artist who embodied rigorous thinking and a search for meaning through critique of language. Additional topics were the difference between the San Francisco and Los Angeles art worlds, the impact of abstract expressionism and of his own paper on the subject delivered to the UCLA faculty, which Reiss remembers as the introduction of abstract expressionism at the university. After a discussion of his teaching experience in Colorado and pioneering work with plastics, Reiss recalled his interaction there with leading artists including Joan Brown, Nancy Graves, David Hockney, Clyfford Still (with whom Reiss had daily conversations), and William T. Wiley. The third session focused on his long teaching career at Claremont and an in-depth discussion of various art programs in the country and the philosophies involved. In effect, this concluding part of the interview was a history of art education and the training of artists in California presented by someone whose entire career has been connected to educational institutions.
Biographical / Historical:
Roland Reiss (1929-) is a painter and sculptor from Los Angeles, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 11 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 3 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. Funding for the transcription of this interview provided by Bente and Gerald E. Buck Collection.
