Selected material from the Prendergast Archive, Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. Included are: a descriptive list of contents on the microfilm; letters from Maurice to his brother Charles during trips to Paris, 1907, and Venice, 1911-1912, and a draft of a letter to William Glackens about Marsden Hartley, ca. 1908, with transcriptions by the Prendergast Archive; letters to Charles and his wife, Eugenie, 1900-1956, from John Singer Sargent, Van Wyck Brooks, Walter Pach, Ira Glackens, Edith Glackens, and others. Also included are Maurice's address book, ca. 1914-1923?; Charles' diaries of trips to France, 1927 and 1929, containing 3 pencil sketches;
Maurice's and Charles' diary and addresses, 1918-1925; and a partial record of the Prendergast/Germaine family history recorded in a Bible and birth and death documents of family members. Miscellany pertaining to Maurice includes a sketch on his Macbeth Gallery exhibition catalog, 1900; an informal translation of an article on Paul Cezanne, ca. 1908; a notebook p. inscribed with his name and address; and a bronze medal awarded for third prize in an American oil painting exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
Miscellany of Charles includes his driver's license, a sketch; notes; and signatures. Also included are a photograph of their painting "The Spirit of the Hunt," inscribed by them to a friend, 1918; printed material collected by them; a list of their books; photographs of Maurice, Charles, family, friends, and of works of art by other artists.
Biographical / Historical:
Maurice: painter, watercolorist, illustrator and graphic artist; Boston, Mass. and New York, N.Y. Charles: painter, sculptor, craftsman, and framemaker; Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y. and Westport, Conn. Maurice was an Impressionist and early modernist. He painted scenes along the Massachusetts and Maine coasts as well as in Paris, Venice, Rome, and French coastal towns; exhibited with "The Eight" (1908), and was a contributor to the Armory show (1913). Charles achieved prominence as a craftsman and framemaker (1891-1912), and later specialized in painted, gilded, and incised panels of exotic and folk subjects (1912-1948).
Provenance:
Loaned for microfilming in 1992 by the Prendergast Archive and Study Center. Located in the Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Mass., it contains archival materials pertaining to the Prendergasts, donated by Mrs. Charles Prendergast, as well as research materials and files amassed for the publication of MAURICE BRAZIL PRENDERGAST, CHARLES PRENDERGAST: A CATALOG RAISONNE (1990).
Restrictions:
Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- United States Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
Correspondence; a chapter on Chamberlain from Richard A. Fitzgerald's dissertation, RADICAL ILLUSTRATOR OF THE MASSES AND LIBERATOR, University of California, 1969, with a commentary by Chamberlain; biographical notes; MASSES clippings and articles, and published and unpublished cartoons; and six photographs of Chamberlain.
Biographical / Historical:
Cartoonist for THE MASSES and LIBERATOR, radical periodicals, as well as several established newspapers. Chamberlain was a cartoonist of considerable importance ca. 1910-1920; among his colleagues were John Sloan and Maurice Becker.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1972 by Kenneth Russell Chamberlain.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Stable Gallery records, 1916-1999, bulk 1953-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Lichtenstein Foundation.
Marcia Marcus and Dorothy Gees Seckler. Interview with Marcia Marcus, 1967 August 28. Dorothy Gees Seckler Collection of Sound Recordings Relating to Art and Artists, 1962-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Giorgio Cavallon and Dorothy Gees Seckler. Interview with Giorgio Cavallon, 1966 August 28. Dorothy Gees Seckler Collection of Sound Recordings Relating to Art and Artists, 1962-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Elise Asher and Dorothy Gees Seckler. Interview with Elise Asher, 1976 August 17. Dorothy Gees Seckler Collection of Sound Recordings Relating to Art and Artists, 1962-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts (Provincetown, Mass.) Search this
Type:
Sound Recording
Place:
New York, N.Y.
Provincetown, Mass.
Date:
1968 September 17
Citation:
Wolf Kahn and Dorothy Gees Seckler. Interview with Wolf Kahn, 1968 September 17. Dorothy Gees Seckler Collection of Sound Recordings Relating to Art and Artists, 1962-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
International Juneteenth Day Committee Search this
Type:
Printed Materials
Date:
circa 1987
Citation:
International Juneteenth Day Committee. Flyer for Juneteenth celebration, circa 1987. Floyd Coleman papers, 1954-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of painter and political cartoonist Maurice Becker measure 2.3 linear feet and date from circa 1910 to 1970. Found within the papers are biographical material; personal and professional correspondence; writings; printed material, including radical labor and political periodicals; artwork; and photographs of Becker, his family and friends, and his artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and political cartoonist Maurice Becker measure 2.3 linear feet and date from circa 1910 to 1970. Found within the papers are biographical material; personal and professional correspondence; writings; printed material, including radical labor and political periodicals; artwork; and photographs of Becker, his family and friends, and his artwork.
Biographical materials consist of a curriculum vitae and a list of artworks.
Correspondence is primarily with Becker's family, friends, and business associates. There are letters from his wife, Dorothy Baldwin Becker, a letter from friend and artist Elizabeth Lancaster, and a letter from Artists for Victory. There is also a letter from Becker to his friend J. B. Neumann containing a draft of Becker's will authorizing Neumann to sell and distribute his paintings upon his death or incapacitation; a letter of invitation to artists and writers interested in reviving a new Masses style journal; and letters from magazine editors regarding freelance commissions.
Printed material includes bulletins, clippings and labor newspapers, exhibition announcements and catalogs, periodicals, press releases, and miscellaneous printed material. Periodicals include whole issues of Liberator, The Masses, New Masses, and One Big Union Monthly, where Becker's political cartoons were frequently featured.
Artwork includes paintings, over 800 graphite and pen and ink sketches, watercolors, and prints depicting Becker's figure drawings, caricatures, portrait drawings of men and women, and sketches of animals and landscapes. Many of these sketches were the basis for panels that later appeared in the New York Tribune, The Masses, and Liberator.
Photographs are of Maurice Becker with family and friends, and five photographs of his artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical materials, 1925-1964 (2 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1919-1964 (4 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1920-1960 (2 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Printed material, circa 1910-1970 (1 linear foot; Box 1, 4, OV 5)
Series 5: Artwork, circa 1910-1965 (1.2 linear feet; Box 1-3, OV 6-8)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1910-1966 (3 folders; Box 3)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and political cartoonist Maurice Becker (1889-1975) lived and worked in New York City, New York and Tioga County, Pennsylvania, and was a frequent contributor to contemporary periodicals of the 1910s.
Becker was born in Nizhni-Novgorod (now Gorky), Russia to Isor and Rose Becker. In 1892, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in the Jewish community of Manhattan's Lower East Side. After graduating from high school, Becker took night classes in bookkeeping and art, studied with Robert Henri and Hugo Boss, and worked days as a sign painter and garment factory worker. He began illustrating for the New York Tribune and Scripps newspapers from 1914 to 1915, and contributed artwork to numerous contemporary periodicals in the 1910s, including Harper's Weekly, Saturday Review, and Metropolitan. Becker was also a frequent contributor to more radical political journals, including The Masses, Liberator, and One Big Union Monthly.
After his return to New York City, Becker held a series of one-man shows at the Whitney Studio Club (1924-1928), J.B. Neumann Gallery (1924-1931), and Delphic Studios (1930). Becker was a member of the Society of Independent Artists and the Artists' League of America and remained a pacifist for the rest of his life. He died in 1975.
Separated Materials:
There are scattered Maurice Becker papers found within the Art Young papers at the Tamiment Library in New York. These were loaned to the Archives in 1971 for microfilming on reel 96. These papers are not described in the container inventory of this finding aid but include approximately 20 postcards, catalogs, sketches, photographs, and other printed materials.
Duplicate magazines, catalogs, and clippings were transferred to the National Portrait Gallery Library in 1977.
Provenance:
Maurice Becker donated his papers in several increments between 1962-1966.
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:
Cartoonists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this