The papers of photographer Nickolas Muray measure 1.5 linear feet and date from 1910 to 1978. Found within the papers are biographical materials; business and personal correspondence, including a handful of letters from Frida Kahlo; writings; teaching files, primarily of photography courses taught at New York University; printed material; artwork; and photographic materials of Muray, his family and friends, and his work.
There is a 0.6 linear feet Unprocessed Addition which includes biographical material, correspondence, photographs, research notes and a diary about Africa, and a subject file on the book The Revealing Eye, Personalities of the 1920s, written by Paul Gallico with photographs taken by Muray, 1967.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of photographer Nickolas Muray measure 1.5 linear feet and date from 1910 to 1992. Found within the papers are biographical materials; business and personal correspondence, including a handful of letters from Frida Kahlo; writings; teaching files, primarily of photography courses taught at New York University; printed material; artwork; and photographic materials of Muray, his family and friends, and his work.
There is a 0.6 linear feet Unprocessed Addition which includes biographical material, correspondence, photographs, research notes and a diary about Africa, and a subject file on the book The Revealing Eye, Personalities of the 1920s, written by Paul Gallico with photographs taken by Muray, 1967.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 2 series.
Series 1: Nickolas Muray papers, 1910-1978 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 3)
Series 2: Unprocessed Addition, 1927-1992 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)
Biographical / Historical:
Photographer Nickolas Muray (1892-1965) lived and worked in New York, New York and was known for his portrait, fashion, and advertising photography and for his mastery of the carbro color printing process.
Born in Szeged, Hungary, Muray spent time in Budapest as an engraver's apprentice and moved to Germany at the age of 16 to expand his technical knowledge of photo-engraving and photography. In 1913, Muray immigrated to America where he worked as a photo engraver at Stockinger Engraving Co. and eventually opened his own photography studio in 1920. After successfully completing a commission to photograph Broadway star Florence Reed, Muray continued to build his portfolio with regular commissions for Harper's Bazaar and Vanity Fair to photograph movie stars, artists, musicians, artists, and models. In the 1930s, Muray mastered the carbro printing process and established one of the first color labs in America. His color fashion and advertising work continued to appear regularly in Vogue, Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Home Companion, McCall's and other periodicals.
In addition to his professional work, Muray wrote reviews for Dance magazine and represented the United States in 1928 and 1932 as a member of the Olympic fencing team. He maintained a long distance affair with artist Frida Kahlo throughout the 1930s, eventually ending the relationship but remaining friends until her death in 1954. In 1942, Muray married his fourth wife, Margaret (Peggy) Schwab, with whom he had a daughter, Mimi. Muray died of a heart attack in 1965.
Provenance:
The papers were donated in 1988 and 2019 by Muray's daughter, Mimi Murray.
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.
A sample book containing laminated pages illustrating "Jane Parker" made to order cakes, baked by in-store pastry chefs for the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) grocery chain. "Jane Parker" was the house brand of A&P.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of one copy of the Jane Parker Special Occasion Cakes sample book. It was produced for the 1947 advertising and bake shop campaign for the A&P chain of grocery stores. The book was created by Litho-Krome of Columbus, Georgia. Pages are loose with each page consisting of a plastic laminated color lithograph of the specialty cake, specifications with regard to size and number of servings, and a listing of choices, or options, pertaining to that particular cake. The cakes and their decorations and uses all speak to a specific time in American society following World War II when the country's emphasis was returning to the home, marriage, and child rearing.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
Jane Parker was one of the in-house store brand names created by The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) grocery chain. A&P was the first grocery chain and the credited inventor of the "supermarket". Within each store there was a full service bakery supplying fresh baked goods, breads, specialty cakes and cookies to the buying public. The goal was "one stop" food shopping and maximizing customer purchases by providing under one roof a variety of goods usually found in small specialty shops.
To advertise their specialty cakes, A& P employed leading food photographers to photograph their cakes; these photographs were lithographed by the Litho-Krome Company and combined into a promotional book for distribution among the Jane Parker bake shops. J. Tom Morgan, Jr., founder and president of Litho-Krome Company, Columbus, Georgia, writes about the development of this particular book,
"We were proud; we were confident; we were beginning to gain a well-earned reputation for quality. No longer would we wince when we remembered, "You will never, not ever, do fine color lithography in the South. NEVER!"
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) grocery chain had become our first New York account in 1946. We produced for them color reproductions for aisle end cards and color brochures regularly each month.
In 1947 Hi Williams, one of the leading food photographers in New York City, had received a tremendously large order from A&P, which planned to open a Jane Parker bake shop section in a select group of its many stores all over the nation. As part of its campaign for these bake shops, A&P planned to focus on their bake shop's ability to prepare special occasion cakes - cakes for weddings, for births, for anniversaries, for almost any special occasion. A Jane Parker special occasion cake book in full color was part of that campaign, and Litho-Krome was chosen by A&P's advertising agency, Paris and Peart, to lithograph the book. Paris and Peart account executives were Ray Largo and Remus Harris.
For the special campaign a sample cake for each of approximately fifty different special occasions was prepared, and each cake was photographed separately. Several different photographers did the photographic work. I had the opportunity to meet and work with several of the great color photography pioneers and experts: men like George Greb, Nickolas Muray, Charles Thill, and Leon DeVos. Each of these photographers became acquainted with Litho-Krome and were later responsible for sending work to our company. Litho-Krome could do justice to their beautiful color pictures, and they liked that." AC NMAH Control File
Related Materials:
#60 Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (Baking).
#396 Product Cook Book Collection
#690 Pillsbury Company Bake-Off Collection
Provenance:
More than likely collected for the Advertising History Collection of the National Museum of American History in the 1960s by Dr. John Hoffman.
Found in collections. ACNMAH 720.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research access on site by appointment.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Photograph of sample four-tiered wedding cake decorated with paper swans and a cake topper of a bridal couple; cake was available for order from Jane Parker, in-store brand name for A&P grocery chain. Photographer unidentified.
Local Numbers:
02072001.tif (AC Scan)
Collection Restrictions:
Unrestricted research access on site by appointment.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
[Cake, decorated for a baby shower, available for order from Jane Parker, in-store brand name for A&P grocery chain : plastic laminated color lithograph]
1 Item (Color lithograph on paper laminated with plastic, 10.75 x 14")
Container:
Box 1, Folder 1
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Date:
1947
Scope and Contents:
Photographer unidentified.
Local Numbers:
02072002.tif (AC Scan)
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site by appointment. Photographs must be handled with cotton gloves unless protected by sleeves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The papers of art writer and editor Mary Fanton Roberts measure 3.8 linear feet and are dated 1880 to 1956. The bulk of this collection is Roberts' correspondence with numerous important artists, dancers, actors, writers, and musicians of the day. Also found are scattered biographical materials, family correspondence, writings, printed material, photographs and artwork.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of art writer and editor Mary Fanton Roberts measure 3.8 linear feet and are dated 1880 to 1956. The collection is comprised mainly of correspondence with family members, artists, dancers, actors, writers, musicians, and visual and performing arts organizations. Also found are scattered biographical materials, writings, printed material, photographs and artwork.
The collection contains a small amount of biographical material about Mary Fanton Roberts and her husband, William Carman Roberts, including his journal of a vacation with Ernest Thompson Seton and his wife. Personal Correspondence is with her husband and sister Belle Fanton, and with friends. Business and political correspondence documents her career as a magazine editor and writer, her participation in political organizations and events, her participation in radio talks, and her correspondence regarding war issues.
Art correspondence/subject files include correspondence with and collected materials on artists, photographers, art patrons, critics, and wives of artists, as well as arts organizations, museums, and schools. Correspondence of note is with George Gray Barnard, Gutzon Borglum, Ben Ali Haggin, Leon Kroll, Frederic Remington, W. Goodridge Roberts, Nicholas Roerich, Pierre Troubetzkoy, illustrator Oliver Herford, John Butler Yeats, and Ashcan school artists Robert Henri, John Sloan, and William Glackens, as well as many others. Dance and theatre correspondence/subject files include correspondence with actors, dancers, playwrights, patrons, organizations and theatres. Correspondence of note in this series is with Charles "Orlando" Coburn, Eva Le Gallienne, Angna Enters, and the "Duncan Dancers." Literary and music orrespondence/subject files include correspondence with authors, poets, critics, singers, publishers, and musicians, such as Bliss Carman, Yvette Guilbert, and Lloyd Osbourne. Additional material found in these subject files, other than letters, includes invitations, photographs, calling cards, artwork, news clippings, and printed material.
Writings by Roberts include an autobiographical essay about her youth and early career, guest lists and notes concerning hosted events, and typescripts of poems by her niece Dorothy Gostwick Roberts. Printed material is comprised of art exhibition catalogs, published articles and trade bulletins written by Roberts, and newsclippings. Photographs are of Roberts, her family, friends, and places she lived, and include autographed portraits given to her, primarily from actors and actresses. Also found are photographs taken by Nickolas Muray of art models. Scattered artwork in this collection includes several small drawings by unidentified artists, as well as a pencil portrait of Roberts by John Butler Yeats.
Series 2: Personal Correspondence, 1902-1951, undated (Box 1; 7 folders)
Series 3: Business and Political Correspondence, 1903-1959, undated (Box 1; 6 folders)
Series 4: Art Correspondence/Subject Files, 1898-1956, undated (Box 1-2; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Dance and Theatre Correspondence/Subject Files, 1902-1953, undated (Box 2-3; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 6: Literary and Music Correspondence/Subject Files, 1900-1952, undated (Box 3; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: General Correspondence, 1898-1946, undated (Box 3-4; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 8: Writings, 1915-1926, 1952, undated (Box 4; 3 folders)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1899, 1909-1947, undated (Box 4-5; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, 1880-circa 1943, undated (Box 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 11: Artwork, 1906, undated (Box 5; 3 folders)
Biographical Note:
Mary Fanton Roberts was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1864. When she was a young girl her family moved to Deadwood, in the Montana territory, where her father had mining prospects. When she was old enough, she and her sister were sent back to New York to attend the Albany Female Academy. After finishing school, Roberts pursued journalism and became a staff writer for four years for the Herald Tribune, the Journal, and the Sun in New York. During her long career she was editor of Demorest Magazine, editor-in-chief of New Idea Woman's Magazine, managing editor of The Craftsman, and creator and editor of The Touchstone Magazine and Decorative Arts magazine. Her longest period at one publication was seventeen years as editor of Arts and Decoration. She often wrote articles on the topic of decorative arts and home decorating, and published two books, Inside 100 Homes, and 101 Ideas for Successful Interiors.
In 1906 she married William Carman Roberts, writer and editor of Literary Digest for thirty years. They lived in Manhattan and Waterford, Connecticut.
Roberts was very involved in the artistic, theatrical, and literary circles in New York City, and met and became friends with many young avant garde American artists, including Robert Henri and John Sloan. Through her husband she met many writers and poets, including Theodore Dreiser and Bliss Carman. Roberts was active in organizations such as the Women's City Club, Pen and Brush, and the MacDowell Society and also attended countless art openings, theater performances, and other social events. As an avid supporter of modern dance, she became friends with many performers, including Isadora Duncan and Angna Enters. After her husband's death in 1941, Roberts moved to the Chelsea Hotel, where she lived for the rest of her life. She maintained lifelong relationships with a wide circle of friends and continued to correspond with them and attend social events until her death in 1956 at the age of 92.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1957 by Phoebe DuBois and Violet Organ.
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.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Editors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Biographical materials include curriculum vitae, identification cards related to Muray's particaption in Olympic fencing events, and membership related to the Circle of Confusion and the New York Coffee House Club. There is also a transcript of Muray's interview with the NY radio station WEAF regarding beauty and aesthetics, and documentation of Muray's 1961 heart attack and recovery.
Correspondence is primarily with Muray's friends, business associates, and clients, including Martha Graham, Claude Monet, Ruth St. Denis, and H.G. Wells. There are also letters related to his participation in the Olympic Games, his application to the Army Signal Corps Photographic Services, and a handful of letters from Frida Kahlo that discouss her health, impending divorce from Diego Rivera, and plans regarding the exhibition of her artwork.
Writings include an autobiographical account by Muray; lists and notes regarding celebrity portrait photo sittings; typescripts of theater perfermance reviews; and a mock-up of Great Tribes of the World, with photographs by Muray. There is also a typescript commentary of Revealing Eye by Paul Gallico.
Teaching files are primarily course materials relating to Muray's 1940 and 1941 New York University photography classes and a lecture series based on his travels in Africa. Printed material includes a copy of Muray's book Celebrity Portraits of the Twenties and Thirties, a brochure advertising Muray Studios, clippings, and miscellaneous printed material.
There are also a handful of sketches by illustrator Willy Pogany and photographic materials of Muray, his family and friends, and his work. Photographs include Muray in uniform as a member of the 1928 Olympic fencing team; carbro prints of Loretta Young, 3 models, and and arrangements of food; and a photograph of Muray with Miguel Covarrubias, Diego Rivera, and Frida Kahlo.
Collection 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.
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:
Nickolas Muray papers, 1910-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Nickolas Muray papers, 1910-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Nickolas Muray papers, 1910-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
