The papers of Jirayr Zorthian measure 2.0 linear feet and date from circa 1937 to 2004. The papers document Zorthian's career as a muralist through correspondence with family and friends; an interview, resumes, certificates, writings, and other professional activity material; clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, pamphlets on the Zorthian Day Ranch for Children, and other printed material; and photographs of Zorthian, his friends and family, and some of his artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Jirayr Zorthian measure 2.0 linear feet and date from circa 1937 to 2004. The papers document Zorthian's career as a muralist through correspondence with family and friends; an interview, resumes, certificates, writings, and other professional activity material; clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, pamphlets on the Zorthian Day Ranch for Children, and other printed material; and photographs of Zorthian, his friends and family, and some of his artwork.
Correspondence includes letters from family and friends. There are also a small number of letters from colleagues and art institutions in regards to exhibitions. Professional material includes sketches by Zorthian, an interview with Zorthian, writings and observations by Zorthian and others, and financial materials. Also included is "Creative and a Little Bit Crazy," a video recording on the life of Zorthian, and material related to additions made to the Zorthian Day Ranch for Children. Printed material consists of prints of some of Zorthian's artwork, newspaper clippings on Zorthian and the Zorthian Day Ranch for Children, exhibition announcements and catalogs. Photographic material consists of photographs of Zorthian along with friends and family at the Zorthian Day Ranch for Children, photographs of the ranch, and photographs of some of Zorthian's murals.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1959-2001 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Professional Activity Files, 1970-2004 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1959-2001 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 4: Photographic Material, circa 1937-1992 (0.9 linear feet; Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Mural painter, painter, sculptor; Los Angeles, Calif.; b. 1911; d. 2004.
Jirayr Zorthian (1911-2004) was a sculptor and mural painter in Los Angeles, California. Born to an Armenian family in the Ottoman Empire, he immigrated to the United States with his family following World War I. Zorthian earned a Masters of Fine Arts from Yale University and went on to study art in Italy during the 1930s. Among some of Zorthian's works are eleven murals for the Tennessee State Capitol, a mural for the United States Post Office in St. Johnsville, New York titled "Early St. Johnsville Pioneers," and "Phantasmagoria of Military Intelligence Training." In the 1960s Zorthian also established a summer camp for children on his ranch, Zorthian Day Ranch for Children.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Jirayr Zorthian conducted by Paul Karlstrom, January 28-July 9, 1997.
Provenance:
Donated 1994 and 1995 by Jirayr Zorthian.
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. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Muralists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Genre/Form:
Video recordings
Drawings
Citation:
Jirayr Zorthian papers, circa 1937-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
This collection, which measures 7.9 linear feet and dates from 1851 to 1995 (bulk 1913-1995), documents the life and career of muralist, sculptor, and educator Reuben Kadish. The papers contain biographical material, letters, personal business records, an exhibition file, notes, writings, artwork, printed material, photographs, and artifacts.
Scope and Content Note:
The Reuben Kadish papers measure 7.9 linear feet and date from 1851 to 1995 with the bulk of the material dating from 1913 to 1995. The collection documents the life and career of muralist, sculptor, and educator Reuben Kadish and contains biographical material, letters, personal business records, an exhibition file, notes, writings, artwork, printed material, photographs, and artifacts.
Biographical material, 1938-1992, includes résumés and personal identification items. Letters are from friends and colleagues including Herman Cherry, Philip Guston, Hilaire Hiler, Jules Langsner, Urban Neininger, Charles Pollock, and Jackson Pollock. One letter from the Leonard Stark family contains a small photograph of Georgia O'Keeffe.
Personal business records, 1952-1995, consist of legal documents, including estate papers for Ida and Reuben Kadish, and financial records. The only specific exhibition file documents the 1990 exhibition Reuben Kadish: Works from 1930 to the Present at the New Jersey State Museum in 1990.
Notes include unbound notes on mural painting, printmaking, sculpture, and other art-related topics, and handwritten translations by William H. Thomson of thirty classic texts by Homer, Horace, and Demosthenes. Writings, 1975-1992, consist of an autobiographical manuscript by Kadish, and typescripts concerning Kadish and other art-related topics by other authors including Dore Ashton, Herman Cherry, Howard Conant, and Judd Tully.
Artwork, undated and 1981-1992, includes a hundred sketches and seventeen watercolors by Kadish, and a drawing for DIG (Archeology) by Barbara Kadish. Printed material relates primarily to exhibitions for Kadish and others but also includes a baseball program autographed by Darryl Strawberry. Photographs include prints of Kadish and other artists working on murals, and photographs picturing family and friends.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into ten series, based on type of material. Although acquired as a gift before the rest of the collection was loaned to the Archives of American Art in 1998, eight photographs are described in Series 9: Photographs, with those included in the 1998 loan.
Each series is arranged chronologically, except Series 2: Letters and Series 6: Writings, which are arranged alphabetically according to the surname of the writer.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1938-1992 (box 1, 3 folders)
Series 2: Letters, 1934-1995, undated (boxes 1-3, 2.5 linear ft.)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1952-1995 (boxes 3-4, 37 folders)
Series 4: Exhibition File, 1989-1991 (box 4, 1 folder)
Series 5: Notes, 1851-1853, 1937-1992, undated (boxes 4-5, 35 folders)
Series 6: Writings, 1963-1992, undated (box 5, 14 folders)
Series 7: Artwork, 1981-1992, undated (boxes 5, 10, 8 folders)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1934-1993, undated (boxes 5-7, 76 folders)
Series 9: Photographs, 1913-1992, undated (boxes 7-9, sol 10, 2.0 linear ft.)
Series 10: Artifacts, undated (box 9, 1 folder)
Biographical Note:
Reuben Kadish was born in Chicago on January 29, 1913. His father and mother were from Latvia and the Ukraine respectively.
In 1921, the family moved to East Los Angeles, California, where Kadish studied painting under Lorser Feitelson. During this time, he befriended Jackson Pollock and Philip Guston, who attended the Manual Arts High School.
During a trip to New York City in 1930, Kadish was impressed with the modern art, especially the work of the Surrealists, which he saw there. Upon his return to Los Angeles the following year, Kadish attended the Otis Art School, the Stickney School of Art in Pasadena, and Los Angeles City College. He also shared a studio with Philip Guston.
In 1933, Kadish, Guston and Jules Langsner were apprenticed to Mexican muralist, David Alfaro Siqueiros. Their most notable work being the mural "Triumph of Good Over Evil", at the University of Morelia in Mexico. During the next three years, the three young artists collaborated on painting murals in California and Mexico. After another visit to New York, Kadish was invited to San Francisco by Bill Gaskin to head the art division of the WPA project there, a position he occupied until 1940.
From 1940, Kadish worked as a coppersmith and welder at the Bethlehem Steel Works in San Francisco until 1942, when he joined the Army as a member of the War Artist Unit, serving in India and Southeast Asia during World War II. In 1944, he rejoined his wife Barbara in the Bay Area, but they soon returned to New York City, where Kadish worked for Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17. In the summer of 1945, the Kadish painted with Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner in a shared Long Island house on Slow's Point in Amagansett.
In 1946, the Kadishes moved to a dairy farm in Vernon, New Jersey, where they supported themselves by farming until 1957. A catastrophic fire in the studio destroyed most of Kadish's paintings in 1947, causing him to turn his interest to creating sculpture.
After teaching art and design at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art in 1957, Kadish taught sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum Art School from 1958-1959. In 1960, he began his thirty-year teaching career at Cooper Union, which ended only a few months before his death on September 20, 1992 in Manhattan.
Related Material:
Other resources relating to Reuben Kadish in the Archives of American Art include an oral history interview with Kadish, April 15, 1992.
Provenance:
The eight photographs on Reel 5660 were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1984 by Reuben Kadish. The other material on Reels 5655-5660 was lent for filming in 1998 by Morris and Ruth Kadish, brother and sister-in-law of Reuben Kadish, and executors of his estate, and subsequently donated to the Archives of American Art in 2002.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment. Microfilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm.
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.
Topic:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
The Murals of Aztlán Film Production Records measures 5.1 linear feet and consists of film footage, sound recordings, and notes from the documentary produced by James Tartan during the exhibition Murals of Aztlán: the Street Painters of East Los Angeles at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles in 1981. Film and sound elements in the collection include original sound recordings, work print, outtakes, and trims. Also found are production notes, museum memorandums concerning the exhibition schedule, and a transcript of a recorded conversation among muralists.
Scope and Contents:
The Murals of Aztlán Film Production Records measures 5.1 linear feet and consists of film footage, sound recordings, and notes from the documentary produced by James Tartan during the exhibition Murals of Aztlán: the Street Painters of East Los Angeles at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles in 1981. Film and sound elements in the collection include original sound recordings, work print, outtakes, and trims. Also found are production notes, museum memorandums concerning the exhibition schedule, and a transcript of a recorded conversation among muralists.
Arrangement:
Collection arranged as 5 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Exhibition and Production Notes, 1981 (8 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Work Print and Soundtrack, 1981 (2.6 linear feet; Box 3, FC 1-30)
Series 3: Sound Recordings, 1981 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 4: Voiceover Outtakes, 1981 (0.9 linear feet; FC 31-39)
Series 5: Trims and Outtakes, 1981 (0.9 linear feet; FC 40-48)
Biographical / Historical:
Murals of Aztlán is a documentary film produced by actor and filmmaker James Tartan during the exhibition Murals of Aztlán: the Street Painters of East Los Angeles held at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles, California in 1981. For the exhibition, artists Carlos Almaraz, Gronk, Judithe Hernandez, Willie Herron, Frank Romero, John Valadez and the East Los Streetscrapers (David Botello, Wayne Healy, George Yepes) painted portable murals in the gallery, which was open to the public during the installation of the work. The filmmaker and his crew interviewed the artists involved in the exhibition for the film, filmed the artists creating murals in the gallery, and also filmed the public viewing the artists working and the murals themselves.
James Tartan was born in 1931 and worked as a filmmaker, actor, and voiceover artist. In addition to Murals of Aztlán, Tartan created a documentary film about the 1974 Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibition Los Four, and has been credited with training many Chicano filmmakers in the 1970s.
Separated Materials:
Additional production material from the documentary Murals of Aztlán, including a final print, is found in the James Tartan Film Collection, 1960-1985, held at the UCLA Chicano Research Center.
Provenance:
Donated by James Tartan, the filmmaker, in 1988.
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 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:
Muralists -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
(letter to Dr. Guy Bensusan, Associate Professor, University of Arizona, 07/22/1972; Con Safo organizational information: list of needs, meeting notes, mission statement - Brown Paper Report; "General Comments" [by Felipe Reyes?]; clippings; exhibition announcements; catalogs; photographs of Con Safo members; material for TYF's course on Chicano Culture)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of New York, N.Y., and Washington, D.C. painter and muralist Allyn Cox measure 11 linear feet and date from 1856-1982. The collection documents Cox's personal and professional life through biographical material, family and general correspondence, writings and notes, research material, printed material, sketchbooks and loose sketches, and photographs. Photographs are of Cox at work, the Cox family, including Kenyon and Louise Cox, Cox's friends and colleagues, events, and Cox's artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York, N.Y., and Washington, D.C. painter and muralist Allyn Cox measure 11 linear feet and date from 1856-1982. The collection documents Cox's personal and professional life through biographical material, family and general correspondence, writings and notes, research material, printed material, sketchbooks and loose sketches, and photographs. Photographs are of Cox at work, the Cox family, including Kenyon and Louise Cox, Cox's friends and colleagues, events, and Cox's artwork.
Biographical material includes family birth, death, and marriage certificates, and passports for Cox and his wife Ethel, whom he married in 1927; professional membership cards, awards and certificates; records related to sales of furnishings from the Cox family home in Essex, Massachusetts; and an untranscribed interview of Cox by Tony Janak of NBC TV.
Cox's family correspondence is primarily with his mother, Louise Cox. Also found is correspondence with Cox's sister, Caroline Cox Lansing, and his brother Leonard Cox and Leonard's wife, Sylvia, and letters from Ethel Cox to her mother. Additional correspondence relating to the disposition of Kenyon Cox''s artwork and archives to various institutions, can also be found here.
General correspondence documents Cox's career and professional relationships with artists and architects, including John Barrington Bayley, Fabrizio Cassio, Arthur Conrad, Roscoe DeWitt, Stuart Frost, John Harbeson, Francis Keally, Adrian Lamb, Edward Laning, Charles Downing Lay, Deane Keller, Philip Trammell Shutze, and Cliff Young; art institutions and organizations including the Art Commission of the City of New York, the Art Students League, Dumbarton Oaks, the National Society of Mural Painters, and the Smithsonian Institution; federal, state and local government agencies including the American Battle Monuments Commission, the Architect of the Capitol, and the General Grant National Memorial; members of Congress including founder of the United States Capitol Historical Society, Representative Fred Schwengel; and private social clubs in which Cox was active, including the Century Association, the Cosmopolitan Club and the Cosmos Club. Correspondence documents Cox's most well known commissions including work for the George Washington Masonic National Memorial and the United States Capitol, as well as work for many private clients including banks and residences.
Also found are typescripts, manuscripts and notes for Cox's lectures, as well as Ethel Cox's diary from 1923-1936 and her diary excerpt from 1955. Ten folders of research files, consisting primarily of clippings, comprise Cox's source material. Additional printed material provides scattered documentation of Cox's career through announcements and catalogs, and magazine and newspaper articles written by him or about his work. Also found is one folder of clippings about Kenyon Cox.
Four sketchbooks and circa twenty-two loose animal, figure, architectural and landscape sketches comprise Cox's artwork, in addition to two 1943 sketches Cox entered into a War Department mural competition. Also found is an 1873 sketchbook of Kenyon Cox, with sketches of people and scenes in Ohio.
Photographs are of Cox from childhood to the 1980s; his family, including parents, siblings, and grandparents; friends including Philip Trammell Shutze and Warner Bishop; family residences; artist models; events; and artwork, including many of Cox's commissions. In addition to photographic prints, slides, and negatives, the series includes vintage formats such as an ambrotype, 8 tintypes, 2 cyanotypes, and a platinum print. Of particular note are circa 16 photos of Kenyon Cox, one taken by Pirie MacDonald and three of him teaching a class at the Art Students League, and a series of circa 1906 photos taken in a garden, of Louise and Kenyon Cox with their children and others. Also found are 10 glass plate negatives of artwork by Cox.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and are closed to researchers.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1916-1982 (0.33 linear feet; Boxes 1, 12)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1878-1982 (6.74 linear feet; Boxes 1-7, 12)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1919-1982 (0.58 linear feet; Boxes 7-8)
Series 4: Research Files, circa 1950s-circa 1970s (0.25 linear feet; Box 8)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1920s-1982 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 8-9)
Series 6: Sketchbooks and Sketches, 1873-circa 1978 (0.25 linear feet; Box 9, OVs 13-14)
Series 7: Photographs, 1856-circa 1980 (2.25 linear feet; Boxes 9-12, OV 13)
Biographical / Historical:
New York, N.Y. and Washington, D.C. painter and muralist, Allyn Cox (1896-1982), was born in New York City to artists Kenyon and Louise Cox. Cox first trained as his father's assistant, serving as an apprentice to Kenyon Cox during the painting of the murals at the Wisconsin State Capitol, circa 1912. He attended the National Academy of Design from 1910-1915, and the Art Student's League with George Bridgman in 1915. In 1916 he was awarded the Prix de Rome and subsequently studied at the American Academy in Rome for 2 years before returning to New York City to begin a career in mural painting.
Cox completed numerous murals and decorative paintings for private residences, businesses, churches, and public buildings. Some of his most famous commissions included murals for the Royal Arch Room and Memorial Hall of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia; the Law School at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville; and the William A. Clark Memorial Library at the University of California, Los Angeles; panels for the National City Bank, the Continental Bank, and the Guaranty Trust Company in New York; and glass mosaics and inlaid stone maps for the United States Military Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg.
Cox is best known for his work in the United States Capitol, beginning in 1952 when he undertook a congressional commission to restore and complete the murals in in the Capitol rotunda begun by Constantino Brumidi and Filipo Costaggini in 1878. Over the course of the next two decades Cox, now residing in Washington, D.C., restored the Frieze of American History and the Apotheosis of Washington in the Rotunda, and designed murals for three first-floor corridors in the Capitol's House wing, now known as the Cox Corridors. Assisted by Cliff Young, Cox completed painting for two of these corridors before his death. In 1958 Cox also painted a portrait of Henry Clay for the Senate Reception Room and in 1975 completed a mural depicting the 1969 moon landing in the Brumidi Corridor.
Cox taught at the Art Students League in 1940 and 1941, and was active in professional organizations throughout his career. He served as President of the American Artists Professional League and the National Society of Mural Painters, and Vice President of both the Fine Arts Federation and the New York Architectural League. He was a member of the board of the New York Municipal Art Society and served on the the New York City Art Commission.
Cox retired in March 1982 at the age of 86 and died the following September.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Allyn Cox papers relating to U.S. Capitol murals, 1970-1974, donated by the Committee on House Administration, via Cindy Szady in 1981. Papers include a resume; a cost estimate by Cox for designing and executing mural decorations in the U.S. Capitol, 1970; a letter, 1974, from the Office of the Architect of the Capitol to the Capitol Historical Society enclosing photocopies of printed material pertinent to the unveiling and dedication of the Capitol rotunda frieze in 1954; miscellaneous printed material, 1971-1974; and 15 photographs of the murals in the Capitol.
Provenance:
The bulk of the Allyn Cox papers was donated in 1977 and 1983 by the Estate of Allyn Cox, Stephen M. Pulsifer, Exectuor, including material that had been loaned for microfiliming in 1969. Two mural sketches were donated by the Essex County Greenbelt Association in 1984.
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. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and are not served to researchers. Use of archival audiovisual recordings 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.
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Citation:
Allyn Cox papers, 1856-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
The papers of painter, muralist, and designer William E. L. Bunn measure 13.4 linear feet and date from 1863-2009. The collection documents Bunn's career as a painter, industrial designer, and his work on Treasury Department post office mural commissions through biographical material, scattered correspondence, project files, industrial design records, diaries and journals, writings and notes, printed material, photographs, and artwork. Also found are Bunn's papers regarding Grant Wood.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter, muralist, and designer William E. L. Bunn measure 13.4 linear feet and date from 1863-2009. The collection documents Bunn's career as a painter, industrial designer, and his work on Treasury Department post office mural commissions through biographical material, scattered correspondence, project files, industrial design records, diaries and journals, writings and notes, printed material, photographs, and artwork. Also found are Bunn's papers regarding Grant Wood.
Biographical material consists of certificates, school records, Bunn family genealogy records, an interview transcript, and an autobiographical file maintained by Bunn containing professional summaries, lists of works, one motion picture film reel of home movies, and other records. Correspondence documents exhibitions, awards, mural projects, and other commissions. Of note is correspondence with the General Services Administration, friend and fellow artist Lee Allen, and illustrated envelopes Bunn sent to his wife Annavene.
Project files contain photographs, notes, sketches, correspondence, and news clippings. Included is Bunn's notebook "Index to Projects" which provides additional information. Industrial design records include drawings and blueprints, employment records, photographs and publications, primarily from his work at Sheaffer Pen Company and Cuckler Steele Span Company.
Bunn's papers relating to Grant Wood include documentation from the Grant Wood Art Festival, as well as printed material, notes, and correspondence about Wood. Also found are photographs, including two photographs of Wood and photographs of his residence in Iowa City. Forty-one diaries and journals date from 1929-1951 and 1969-2003. Early diaries document art projects and school activities while he was a student at University of Iowa. Later journals document his work, travel, expenditures, and goals. Writings and notes include to-do lists, documentation on people Bunn knew, his artworks, lists of personal belongings, and topics of interest, such as astrology and steamboats. Also found are five notebooks on various subjects.
Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, magazines, news clippings, and Treasury Department bulletins. Also found are announcements of mural competitions, postcards, and published images of steamboats. Photographs depict Bunn, his family, friends, and artwork. Additional photographs depict various subjects that were of interest to Bunn, including nature scenes, steamboats, airplanes, and bridges.
Artwork includes costume and theater designs created as part of William Bunn's thesis at University of Iowa. Also included are drawings and watercolors for potential art projects, as well as preliminary drawings and studies or technical drawings from his work as an industrial designer. Additionally, there are four sketchbooks, two of which include sketches and notes for the post office murals in Minden, Nebraska, and Hamburg, Iowa.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1910-2009 (Box 1, 12, FC 33; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1927-2006 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 3: Project Files, circa 1925-2002 (Box 1-3, 12, OV 15-19, RD 31; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Industrial Design Records, circa 1944-1977 (Box 3, 12, OV 20; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 5: Papers Relating to Grant Wood, 1935-2006 (Box 3-4, 12; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 6: Diaries and Journals, 1929-2003 (Box 4-6; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Writings and Notes, circa 1928-2004 (Box 6-7; 1.0 linear foot)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1896-2009 (Box 7-8, 12, OV 21; 1.4 linear feet)
Series 9: Photographs, 1863-1990s (Box 8-9, 13; 1.6 linear feet)
Series 10: Artwork, circa 1926-2004 (Box 9-11, 14, OVs 22-30, RD 32; 2.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
William E. L. Bunn (1910-2009) was a designer, muralist, and painter in Ft. Madison, Iowa and Ojai, California. Bunn was born in Muscatine, Iowa and received his B.A. in Graphic and Plastic Arts and an M.A. in Theater Design, both from the University of Iowa. In 1937 he was awarded a one-year post-graduate fellowship as an art intern for Grant Wood. From 1938 to 1942 he won four commissions from the Treasury Department to produce murals for Federal buildings. He also exhibited paintings, primarily depicting Mississippi River steamboats, at the National Academy of Design, Art Institute of Chicago, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and other group shows. Beginning in 1943 Bunn worked as an industrial designer at several companies including Sheaffer Pen Company (1946-1967) and Cuckler Steele Span Company (1967-1977). After his retirement, he and his wife, Annavene, moved to California, and he continued to paint. Bunn was also active in the Theosophical Society and had an interest in aviation.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by William E. L. Bunn in 1989 and in 2010 by Bunn's daughter, Chari Petrowski. In 1986 two sketchbooks and sketches were transferred with Bunn's permssion from the General Services Administration, which had received them from Bunn.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate 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.
The papers of New York City and California painter, printmaker, and teacher Harry Sternberg date from 1927 to 2000 and measure 3.4 linear feet and 0.553 GB. The collection documents Sternberg's career as an artist and art instructor through scattered biographical material, correspondence with friends, artists, collectors, curators, art organizations, universities, and galleries, writings by Sternberg and others, exhibition catalogs and announcements, news clippings, and other printed and digital material. Also found are photographs of Sternberg and his artwork, two sketchbooks and three loose drawings by Sternberg, audio visual recordings, and one scrapbook.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York City and California painter, printmaker, and teacher Harry Sternberg date from 1927 to 2000 and measure 3.4 linear feet and 0.553 GB. The collection documents Sternberg's career as an artist and art instructor through scattered biographical material, correspondence with friends, artists, collectors, curators, art organizations, universities, and galleries, writings by Sternberg and others, exhibition catalogs and announcements, news clippings, and other printed and digital material. Also found are photographs of Sternberg and his artwork, two sketchbooks and three loose drawings by Sternberg, audio visual recordings, and one scrapbook.
Biographical material includes an interview of Sternberg conducted by art curator Malcolm Warner, two ledgers documenting business activities, scattered financial and legal documents, and files regarding a few of his projects, including the film "Many Worlds of Art". Sternberg's personal and professional correspondence is with friends, artists, including Harry Wickey, Rockwell Kent, Philip Evergood, and Peter Blume, collectors and curators such as Hudson Walker and Carl Zigrosser, and art organizations, universities, and galleries.
The small number of writings by Sternberg in this collection includes drafts of articles and lectures, a manuscript for a book on etching, and notes. Writings by others consists of draft writings about Sternberg, draft exhibition catalogs, and writings by the artists Arthur Secunda and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Over one-third of this collection is printed material, including exhibition catalogs and announcements, news clippings, books written by Sternberg, school publications, and material regarding art events.
Also found are photographs of Sternberg in his studio, with students, with his wife Mary, and at the Idyllwild School. Other photographs include group photographs of Art Students League faculty as well as photographs of exhibitions, murals, and artwork. The collection also contains original artwork including two sketchbooks and three loose drawings by Sternberg and one scrapbook of news clippings and exhibition materials. Audio and video materials include several interviews of Sternberg and a video copy of his film "Many Worlds of Art".
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1927-2000 (Box 1, OV 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1928-2000 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1940s-2000 (Box 1, 4; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1933-2000 (Box 1-3; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1930s-1998 (Box 3, 4; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 6: Artwork, circa 1928-1980s (Box 3, OV 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Audio Visual Material, circa 1980s-2000 (Box 3; 0.5 linear feet, ER01; 0.553 GB)
Series 8: Scrapbook, 1929-1958 (Box 4; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Harry Sternberg (1904-2001) was a New York painter, muralist, printmaker, etcher, teacher, and political activist who relocated to California in 1957.
Harry Sternberg was born in 1904 in the Lower East Side of New York City and grew up in Brooklyn. As a child he attended his school art club where he met and became lifelong friends with artists Peter Blume and Philip Reisman. He took free Saturday art classes at the Brooklyn Museum of Art for two years and attended the Art Students League part time from 1922 to 1927 where he studied with George Bridgman. In 1926 he shared a studio with Philip Reisman where they received private instruction in etching from Harry Wickey. Sternberg began exhibiting his etchings and intermittently had drawings published in New Masses, a prominent American Marxist publication. In the late 1920s he became friends with Hudson Walker who also became a major collector of his work. In 1933 Sternberg was hired as instructor of etching, lithography, and composition at the Art Students League and continued teaching there for the next 33 years. Also around this time he became politically active in artist rights organizations, serving on the planning committee to create the American Artists' Congress and later serving as an active member of the Artists Equity Association. In 1935 he became the technical advisor of the Graphic Art Division of the Federal Art Project. From 1937 to 1939 he completed three federal mural commissions. His first mural Carrying the Mail was created for the Sellersville, Pennsylvania post office in 1937. His most famous mural Chicago: Epoch of a Great City was painted for the Lakeview post office in Chicago. It depicts the history of the city and its workers, particularly life for the workers in Chicago's stockyards and steel mills.
During the 1940s Sternberg remained very active in arts organizations, as one of the founders of the National Serigraph Society and a member of the Committee on Art and Education in Society. In 1942 he published the first of five books on printing. Sternberg had his first retrospective in 1953 at ACA Galleries, and in 1957 he taught summer painting courses at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in California. He continued teaching in the summers there from 1960 to 1967 and 1981 to 1989. Suffering from lung disease, Sternberg moved with his wife, Mary, to Escondido, California in 1966 in hopes that the climate would improve his health. In 1972 he was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. During the 1970s and 1980s Sternberg traveled extensively throughout the US and Mexico where he found new inspiration for his artwork. He continued teaching, exhibiting, and creating new work until his death in 2001.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the May Konheim papers concerning Harry Sternberg, 1934-1981, and an oral history interview of Harry Sternberg, conducted March 19, 1999, October 8, 1999, and January 7, 2000, by Sally Yard for the Archives of American Art
Provenance:
The Harry Sternberg papers were donated by Sternberg in several installments from 1967 to 2001.
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.
The papers of artist Robert Pearson McChesney measure 6 linear feet and date from 1913 to 2006. McChesney was an abstract expressionist painter and muralist based in Petaluma, California. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition files, printed materials, scrapbooks, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of artist Robert Pearson McChesney measure 6 linear feet and date from 1913 to 2006. McChesney was an abstract expressionist painter and muralist based in Petaluma, California. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition files, printed materials, scrapbooks, and photographic materials.
Biographical materials consist of legal documents, estate papers, awards, genealogical information, a few notebooks and writings, and other assorted personal papers.
The bulk of the correspondence is with galleries and museums about shows and art sales. There is very limited personal correspondence with friends and family. There are a few holiday cards designed by Mary Fuller and Robert McChesney.
Exhibition files include announcements, catalogs, publicity, reviews, correspondence, exhibition lists, price lists, and other material.
Printed materials consist of clippings, reviews, announcements, catalogs, books, and periodicals.
There are 4 scrapbooks of printed material and photographs of Robert McChesney's shows and artwork.
Photographic materials include photographs, slides, and negatives of Robert McChesney and his artwork along with photographs of travels, friends, and family.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 6 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1931-1995 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, OV 9)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1936-2006 (1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1970-2006 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Series 4: Printed Materials, 1945-2006 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 3-4, OV 9)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1940-2002 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 6-8)
Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1913-2002 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 4-5, 7, OV 9)
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Pearson McChesney (1913-2008) was a California Abstract Expressionist painter and muralist.
Robert McChesney was born on January 16, 1913 in Marshall, Missouri. His parents were Ruby Eversmann Pearson and Jack Wiley McChesney who ran a photography studio. McChesney attended Washington University School of Fine Arts in St. Louis, Missouri from 1933-1934 and Otis Arts Institute in Los Angeles, California from 1936-1937. In 1937, he married Frances, an artist figure model, and they later divorced.
McChesney worked in the mural division of the depression-era Federal Works Project Administration on the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) in San Francisco from 1938 to 1940. At the GGIE, McChesney and other artists worked on a mural series designed by Herman Volz. During World War II, he served in the U. S. Merchant Marine in the South Pacific. He painted a great deal while he was in the South Pacific and when he returned to San Francisco those paintings became the basis for his first solo exhibition in 1944 at the Richmond and Richmond Gallery.
After the war, McChesney lived in a house in Point Richmond, California with several artists, including the sculptor Mary Fuller whom he married in 1949. Beginning in 1950, he taught at the California School of Fine Arts, California State University at Hayward, and the California Labor School. In 1952, he moved to Sonoma Mountain in Petaluma, California where he built in a house and studio.
Over the course of his artistic career, McChesney had over 40 solo exhibitions and his artwork is included in the collections of many museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Robert McChesney died on May 10, 2008 in Sonoma County, California.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art has an oral history interview with Robert McChesney conducted in 1964 by Lewis Ferbraché.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of Art also holds materials lent for microfilming (reel 878) including three scrapbooks. Two of the scrapbooks were later donated and integrated with the collection. The remaining scrapbook is only available on microfilm and is not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Robert McChesney loaned three scrapbooks to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1975. Mary Fuller McChesney, Robert McChesney's widow, donated the rest of the Robert McChesney papers in 2015.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
An interview of Juana Alicia conducted 2000 May 8-July 17, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in Alicia's studio, Berkeley, California.
Juana Alicia discusses her childhood in Detroit and Texas; her feelins of identification with the Black community; admiration of Paul Robeson and Martin Luther King, Jr., whose death "devastated" her; moving in 1972 to Salinas, California at the invitation of Cesar Chavez; working in the lettuce fields and inspiration for her mural Lechugueras (1985) in the Mission District of San Francisco; Chicana identity; art as central to her story; her work during the 1970s and 80s becoming more international in scope and connecting to the struggles of others; her interest in ancient techniques and in the work of Los Tres Grandes and the frescos of Diego Rivera; her current project, Santuarios, with her partner, at SFO, and the iconography of the work in terms of three forces at work: artist's experience, mandate of commission, spiritual/universal force; El Cordon Rota (1998), a banner prepared for and withdrawn from a Tijuana show in response to John Valadez's poster image of a nude Chicana; interest in aesthetics and the idea of beauty in art as vital to survival; her views on gender equality, empowerment through art, differences between men and women; the "Positive Visability" mural (1995) in San Francisco's lower Haight district, with a description of the iconography and recent restoration project supported by Neighborhood Beautification Program fighting hate crimes throughout the city.
Biographical / Historical:
Juana Alicia Araiza (1953-), commonly known as Juana Alicia, is a painter, printmaker, and educator in Berkeley, California. Juana Alicia is among the leading Chicana muralists in California and a major figure in Bay Area Chicana and women's movements. Among her commissions is a mural done with her partner Emmanuel C. Montoya at the San Francisco International Airport. Uses only her forenames; does not use her last name.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 6 minutes.
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 this interview provided by SI Latino Initiative II, 1999.
The papers of muralist, writer, and activist Philip Stein regarding the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros measure 3.8 linear feet and 3.88 GB and date from 1933 to 2012. The papers reflect Stein's relationship with Siqueiros as an art assistant and their shared commitment to leftist politics. Much of the material relates to Stein's book Siqueiros, His Life and Work (1994) and his first book The Mexican Murals (1984). Found are research materials, correspondence, interviews, printed and digital material, photographic materials, video and film recordings, writings about and by David Alfaro Siqueiros, and materials concerning Stein as a painter.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of muralist, writer, and activist Philip Stein regarding the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros measure 3.8 linear feet and 3.88 GB and date from 1933 to 2012. The papers reflect Stein's relationship with Siqueiros as an art assistant and their shared commitment to leftist politics. Much of the material relates to Stein's book Siqueiros, His Life and Work (1994) and his first book The Mexican Murals (1984). Found are research materials, correspondence, interviews, printed and digital material, photographic materials, video and film recordings, writings about and by David Alfaro Siqueiros, and materials concerning Stein as a painter.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1934-2010 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Interviews, 1977-1994 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, 1937-2006 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 0.021 GB; ER01)
Series 4: Subject Files and Research Files, 1933-2009 (0.6 linear feet;Boxes 2-3)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1949-2009 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 2-3,5)
Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1933-2005 ( 0.5 linear Feet; Boxes 3-4, 0.011 GB; ER02)
Series 7: Sound, Video and Film Recorings, circa 1967-2012 (1.3 linear feet; Box 3, 4, FC 6-9, 3.85 GB; ER03-ER04)
Biographical / Historical:
Artist, author and political activist, Philip Stein (1919-2009), also called "Estano," lived and worked in New York City, Mexico, and Spain. Stein worked as an assistant to muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. Both men were committed to the Mexican Mural School of new-realism, painting exterior murals rather than easel paintings so art could be public and directed to the masses.
Stein was born in Newark, New Jersey and was a mostly self-taught artist, occasionally studying at local art schools. He served in the armed forces during World War II as a meteorologist, seeing action throughout Europe. After the war, he moved to California to paint movie sets. In 1948, Stein and his wife Gertrude moved to Mexico where he studied art on the GI Bill at The School of Fine Arts of San Miguel de Allende. There he met Siqueiros, an ardent communist, who had attempted to assasinate Leon Trotsky. Stein worked with Siqueiros on several murals in Mexico until Siqueiros' death in 1974.
Between 1953 and 1993 Stein occasionally exhibited in Mexico, New York City and Spain. One of Stein's best known murals is at the Village Vanguard club in New York City. His biography of Siqueiros, Siqueiros, His Life and Work was published in 1994. Stein died at home in Manhattan in 2009 at age 90.
Provenance:
The Philip Stein papers regarding David Alfaro Siqueiros were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2015 by Anne Stein, daughter of Philip Stein.
Restrictions:
Use of original material 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.
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.
An interview of Dorothy Cravath conducted 1964 May 13 - 27, by Minette Martin for the Archives of American Art.
Interview conducted at the home of Leota Molten in Berkeley, California. Cravath speaks of her youth and art education at the California School of Fine Arts; painting murals for the Federal Art Project; and restoring the murals at Coit Tower. She recalls Diego Rivera and discusses his influence on muralists.
Biographical / Historical:
Dorothy Cravath (1901-1974) was a mural painter in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 55 min.
Provenance:
This interview 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.
Occupation:
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
42 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 July 8
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Ann Rice O'Hanlon conducted 1964 July 8, by Mary Fuller McChesney, for the Archives of American Art, in Mill Valley, Calif.
Biographical / Historical:
Ann O'Hanlon (1908-1998) was a mural painter from Ky. and Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 49 min.
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.
The papers of California painter, printmaker, and art instructor Dorr Bothwell date from 1900-2006, and measure 10.6 linear feet and 1.72 GB. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, notes and writings, five diaries, art work and 19 sketchbooks, three scrapbooks, printed material, and print and digital photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of California painter, printmaker, and art instructor Dorr Bothwell date from 1900-2006, and measure 10.6 linear feet and 1.72 GB. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, notes and writings, five diaries, art work and 19 sketchbooks, three scrapbooks, printed material, and print and digital photographs.
Biographical material consists of biographical sketches, resumés, identity cards, award certificates, typescripts of autobiographical interviews, address books, and a file concerning UFOs, spirituality, and philosophy.
Correspondence consists of letters exchanged between Bothwell and her colleagues and friends discussing their art-related activities, travel, and birthday greetings. There are scattered letters from Ansel and Virginia Adams, Etel Adnan, Benjamin Chinn, Claire Falkenstein, and Emmy Lou Packard.
Personal business records include teaching contracts, contracts and royalty statements for the publication of Bothwell's book Notan, insurance records, income tax records, records concerning a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, estate records, card files, lists of art work, price lists, exhibition entry cards, receipts for the sale of art work, travel receipts, medical receipts, and consignment/sales records.
Notes and writings include three diaries, two travel journals, guest books, miscellaneous lists, schedules of classes for various organizations and art schools including the Ansel Adams Yosemite Workshop, typescripts of lecture notes, and miscellaneous notes. There are also scattered writings by Bothwell and others.
Seventeen sketchbooks, including several completed during Bothwell's travels, and one dated 1942 illustrated with daily drawings of her activities while preparing for World War II, are found within the papers. There are also miscellaneous drawings, collages, a serigraph It's Time for a Change, an etching by Martha Jackson, and a drawing by Charles Howard.
Three scrapbooks contain clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, programs, and photographs of art work. Scrapbook 3 contains materials concerning spiritualism and mysticism. Additional printed material consists of clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, press releases, brochures for art classes, the sale of art work, travel, and camera equipment, reproductions of art work, picture postcards, programs, books, and miscellaneous commercial business cards.
Photographs are of Bothwell, her mother and brother, her studio/residences, miscellaneous friends and colleagues including her former husband, sculptor Donal Hord, miscellaneous events, and art classes conducted by Bothwell. There are also photographs of art work by Bothwell and others, as well as numerous photographs and slides of travel various forms in nature that Bothwell would incorporate into her art work.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1939-2001 (Box 1, 11, 13, 15; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1942-2002 (Box 1-3, 13; 2.3 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1925-2006 (Box 3-4; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1949-1998 (Box 4, 11, 14, 15; 0.8 linear feet.)
Series 5: Art Work, 1920-1994 (Box 4-5, 11, 13, 16, 17; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1926-1979 (Box 5, 11, 12; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1923-2000 (Box 5-7, 12, 13; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1900-2001 (Box 7-9, 10; 2.4 linear feet, ER01-ER04; 1.72 GB)
Biographical Note:
Dorr Bothwell (1902-2000) worked primarily in California as a painter, printmaker, and art instructor.
Doris Bothwell was born on May 3, 1902 in San Francisco, and later changed her first name to Dorr in order to more easily enter the art business. Bothwell began her art studies in 1916 with her parents' friend Anna Valentien, a student of Rodin. Between 1921 and 1922, she studied at the California School of Fine Art, and continued her studies at the University of Oregon at Eugene. After attending the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in 1924, she established her own studio in San Francisco from 1924 to 1927. Also during this time Bothwell, with eight other artists opened the Modern Gallery on Montgomery Street, mounting her first solo exhibition there in 1927.
Between 1928 and 1929, Bothwell traveled to American Samoa, where she created paintings and drawings, and documented tapa (barkcloth) drawings for the Bishop Museum of Honolulu. She then spent a year of study in Europe, returning to San Diego, California in 1931 and marrying sculptor Donal Hord. Four years later, they divorced and she moved to Los Angeles where she worked for the pottery manufacturer Gladding McBean, joined the post-surrealist group around Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg and opened the Bothwell-Cooke Gallery.
Between 1936 and 1939, Bothwell worked in the mural division of the Federal Arts Project of Los Angeles, and learned the art of serigraph printing. She designed dioramas and mechanized exhibitions for the Los Angeles County Museum. In 1940 she also created murals in the Manning Coffee Restaurant in San Francisco.
After teaching color and design at the California School of Fine Art in San Francisco from 1944 to 1948, Bothwell was awarded the Abraham Rosenberg Traveling Scholarship that financed study in Paris from 1949 to the fall of 1951. In 1952 she taught textile design for mass production at the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
Returning to San Francisco, Bothwell taught again at the California School of Fine Art from 1953 to 1958, and at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1959 to 1960. From 1960 to 1961 she took a sabbatical in England and France, creating paintings for an exhibition. In 1962 she was asked to teach at the new Mendocino Art Center and she taught there until 1983. She was also asked by Ansel Adams to teach design and composition for photographers at his Yosemite Workshop summer sessions, which she did from 1964 to 1977.
From 1966 to 1967, Bothwell documented indigo dying techniques, strip weaving, and pottery in Western Nigeria and Tunisia. In 1968, she published her book, co-authored with Marlys Frey, NOTAN The Principle of Dark-Light Design. The book was reissued in 1991. Bothwell continued her travels from 1970 to 1971, when she studied 12th century enamels in England, France, and Holland, and conducted a symposium, "Notan Design," for the London Educational Authority. In 1974, she traveled to Bali, Java, and Sumatra, making a slide documentary on batik, woodcarving, and folk design.
In 1977 Bothwell moved to Joshua Tree, California, from Mendocino in Northern California, but moved back and forth between the two studio/residences until 1992 when she moved to her last residence on the desert at Apache Junction, Arizona. From 1979 to 1980, she taught composition at the Victor School of Photography in Colorado and a design course at the Women's Art Guild in Kauai, Hawaii. Following a tour of China with a watercolor artists' group in 1982, Bothwell conducted workshops at the Mendocino Art Center. In 1985, she traveled to Japan.
Dorr Bothwell died on September 24, 2000 in Fort Bragg, California.
Provenance:
The Dorr Bothwell papers were donated in 1978 by the artist, and in 2002, 2009, and 2012 by the Dorr Bothwell Trust.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings 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.
A transcript of an interview of Edith Hamlin conducted by Donald J. Hagerty for the American Studies Program at the University of California at Davis, November 29, 1979 - March 4, 1980. Hamlin discusses her career and the life and works of her husband Maynard Dixon. Also included are photographs of Hamlin and her works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Hamlin: mural painter; b. 1902. Active in California and Southwestern U.S. during the period from 1920-1946. She was a major figure in the San Francisco art scene in the 20's and worked for the WPA and the PWAP during the Depression.
Provenance:
Donated 1982 by Donald J. Hagerty.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Richard Haines conducted 1965 Jan. 29, by Betty Hoag. Haines speaks of the Treasury Department competition for art work in various public buildings; and working on a Wichita, Kan. Post Office mural.
Biographical / Historical:
Richard Haines (1906-1984) was a painter and mural painter from Santa Monica, Calif.
General:
Only a portion of this interview was successfully recorded.
Sound quality is poor.
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:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
48 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 June 14
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Julian Williams conducted 1964 June 14, by Mary Fuller McChesney, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Julian Williams (1911- ) was a muralist from Sausalito, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 43 min.
Provenance:
This interview 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.
An interview of Patricia Stanley Cunningham conducted 1964 July 28, by Mary Fuller McChesney, for the Archives of American Art.
Cunningham speaks of her training at the University of California, Berkeley; her work for the Federal Art Project as a muralist in public school buildings and on the easel painting project; how her work was supervised; artists she knew; and the effect of the Federal Art Project on her career. She recalls Bruce Ariss, Burton Boundey, Beniamino Bufano, and Amalie Waldo.
Biographical / Historical:
Patricia Stanley Cunningham (1907-1984) was a painter, sculptor, designer, and muralist from Carmel, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 48 min.
Provenance:
This interview 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.
