Search Results

Creator:

Richardson, Edgar Preston, 1902-1985  Search this

Richardson, Constance Coleman, 1905-2002  Search this

Subject:

Rutledge, Anna Wells  Search this

Simper, Fred  Search this

McDermott, John Francis  Search this

Speck, Walter  Search this

Stevens, William B.  Search this

Fredericks, Marshall M.  Search this

Castano, Giovanni  Search this

Soria, Regina  Search this

Lynes, Russell  Search this

Frankenstein, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor)  Search this

Hardy, Jeremiah Pearson  Search this

Pleasants, J. Hall (Jacob Hall)  Search this

Garrison, Eve Josephson  Search this

Bishop, Isabel  Search this

Allston, Washington  Search this

Woolfenden, William E. (William Edward)  Search this

Ripley, S. Dillon (Sidney Dillon)  Search this

Morse, John D.  Search this

Watkins, Franklin Chenault  Search this

Lewis, W. S. (Wilmarth Sheldon)  Search this

Marsh, Reginald  Search this

Sheeler, Charles  Search this

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo  Search this

Bostick, William A.  Search this

Jungwirth, Irene G. (Irene Gayas)  Search this

Oliver, Andrew  Search this

Simpson, Corelli C. W.  Search this

Andrews, Wayne  Search this

Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold  Search this

Middeldorf, Ulrich Alexander  Search this

Spark, Victor D. (Victor David)  Search this

Fleischman, Lawrence A. (Lawrence Arthur)  Search this

Sellers, Charles Coleman  Search this

Heil, Walter  Search this

Lee-Smith, Hughie  Search this

Bouché, Louis  Search this

Moser, Liselotte  Search this

Flexner, James Thomas  Search this

Vose, Robert C. (Robert Churchill)  Search this

Cohn, Harold  Search this

Aram, Siegfried F.  Search this

Mast, Gerald  Search this

Krentzin, Earl  Search this

Groce, George C.  Search this

Peale, Charles Willson  Search this

Culver, Charles B. (Charles Beach)  Search this

Wedda, John  Search this

Boyd, Julian P. (Julian Parks)  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia  Search this

Wyeth, Andrew  Search this

Hopper, Edward  Search this

Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich)  Search this

Rockefeller, John D.  Search this

Copeland, Lammot du Pont  Search this

Freeman, Michael W.  Search this

Allen, Joseph  Search this

Peale family  Search this

Castano Galleries (Boston, Mass.)  Search this

Historical Society of Pennsylvania  Search this

Macbeth Gallery  Search this

Archives of American Art  Search this

Philadelphia Museum of Art  Search this

National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.)  Search this

National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)  Search this

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this

White House (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum  Search this

Type:

Photographs

Manuscripts

Interviews

Diaries

Transcripts

Sketches

Lectures

Place:

Detroit (Mich.)

Citation:

E.P. (Edgar Preston) and Constance Richardson papers, 1814-1996, bulk 1921-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Painting, American  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Romanticism  Search this

Art -- History -- Study and teaching  Search this

Theme:

Diaries  Search this

Research and writing about art  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10104

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212990

AAA_collcode_richedga

Theme:

Diaries

Research and writing about art

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_212990

Creator:

Refregier, Anton, 1905-  Search this

Names:

ACA Galleries  Search this

Bard College -- Faculty  Search this

Gosudarstvennyĭ Ėrmitazh (Russia)  Search this

National Council of American-Soviet Friendship (U.S.)  Search this

New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.)  Search this

United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this

Woodstock Artists Association (Woodstock, N.Y.)  Search this

World Peace Council  Search this

De Diego, Julio, 1900-  Search this

Dreyfuss, Henry, 1904-  Search this

Elisofon, Eliot  Search this

Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973  Search this

Fast, Howard, 1914-2003  Search this

Geddes, Norman Bel, 1893-1958  Search this

Greenwood, Marion, 1909-1970  Search this

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953  Search this

Morley, Eugene, 1909-1953  Search this

O'Higgins, Pablo, 1904-  Search this

Packard, Emmy Lou, 1914-1998  Search this

Randall, Byron, 1918-1999  Search this

Refregier, Lila  Search this

Siqueiros, David Alfaro  Search this

Yavno, Max  Search this

Extent:

35.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Travel diaries

Greeting cards

Interviews

Cartoons (working drawings)

Scrapbooks

Transcripts

Photographs

Diaries

Sketches

Place:

Chile

Soviet Union

Guatemala

Mexico

Date:

circa 1900-circa 1990

Summary:

The papers of Woodstock area painter, muralist, and designer, Anton Refregier (1905-1979) date from circa 1900 to circa 1990 and measure 35.9 linear feet. The collection records Refregier's early commercial work and murals for the Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) and documents his career through to the 1970s with records of commissions for many public and private buildings, exhibitions in the United States and abroad, teaching positions, essays and publications, and extensive travel, particularly to the Soviet Union and Mexico. The collection contains scattered biographical material, personal and business correspondence, notes and writings, 15 diaries and journals, mural and tapestry files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, 10 scrapbooks, artwork including sketches and cartoons for murals, and photographs of Refregier, his friends, family and travels.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of Woodstock area painter, muralist, and designer, Anton Refregier (1905-1979) date from circa 1900 to circa 1990 and measure 35.9 linear feet. The collection records Refregier's early commercial work and murals for the Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) and documents his career through to the 1970s with records of commissions for many public and private buildings, exhibitions in the United States and abroad, teaching positions, essays and publications, and extensive travel, particularly to the Soviet Union and Mexico. The collection contains scattered biographical material, personal and business correspondence, notes and writings, diaries and journals, mural and tapestry files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork including sketches and cartoons for murals, and photographs of Refregier, his friends, family and travels.

Biographical material contains legal records such as Refregier's will and marriage and death records, passports, resume material and 2 interview transcripts.

Correspondence, both chronological and alphabetical, constitutes almost a third of the collection and documents all aspects of Refregier's career including his work for the WPA, private commissions, representation by ACA Galleries, his involvement with groups such as the Woodstock Artists Association and his teaching work for institutions such as Bard College. Also documented are his involvement with local political groups and international organizations such as the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship and the World Peace Council, and travels including visits to the Soviet Union. Notable correspondents include Henry Dreyfuss, Philip Evergood, Rockwell Kent, Emmy-Lou Packard, and Byron Randall. Correspondence also includes family letters written primarily by Refregier to Lila Refregier, in addition to greeting cards received by the Refregier family, many of which contain original arwork.

Writings are primarily by Refregier and include drafts of many essays and autobiographical writings, in addition to copies of published works including Natural Figure Drawing, An Artists Journey and Sketches of the Soviet Union.

The collection contains diaries and journals from 12 years in various formats including published and handmade day planners and typed and handwritten journal entries. They include sketches and primarily record travel and daily activities including specific projects such as the New York World's Fair mural (1938-1939).

Mural and Tapestry files document individual commissions bid on and/or completed by Refregier. The creation of the Rincon Annex Post Office mural and subsequent controversies over its subject matter are well-documented here, as are many of Refregier's commissions for banks, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers, and schools.

Exhibition files document at least 15 of Refregier's exhibitions, including his first one-man show at ACA Galleries (1942) and his exhibition of paintings at the Hermitage Museum (1967) in what was then Leningrad.

Personal business records contain addresses of contacts. Scattered records referencing market values for Refregier's work can be found throughout the series in records such as bills and receipts, financial notes and tax records.

Printed material provides extensive coverage of Refregier's entire career through announcements, invitations, catalogs, and news clippings. His interests in art, literature, music, theater and politics are also well-represented in these files.

The collection contains 10 scrapbooks, mostly in fragmented condition, which contain a mixture of photographs, sketches and other artwork, notes and fragments of writings, and printed material. The scrapbooks document a variety of subjects including Refregier's family life, travels to Guatemala and the Soviet Union, and the artist at work.

Artwork consists primarily of artwork by Refregier in the form of mural design sketches and cartoons in various media, including pencil, ink and pastel, in addition to 21 sketchbooks, many of which also contain journal entries and notes. Also found here are prints and reproductions of Refregier's "Peace card" block engravings for every year from 1950-1973, with the exception of 1970.

Photographs document all phases of Refregier's career and include family photographs dating from circa 1900, photos of Refregier in the studio including work for the WPA, Refregier and other artists and individuals at events and parties from the 1940s-1970s, travel snapshots probably taken in Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Soviet Union, and photographs of artwork and installations. Individuals pictured include Julio de Diego, Marion Greenwood, Rockwell Kent, Pablo O'Higgins and David Siqueiros; also, a series of press photographs by Albert A. Freeman pictures Refregier with Howard Fast, Norman Bel Geddes, Marion Greenwood, John Kingsbury, Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Harry Stockwell. One photograph by Eliot Elisofon, 2 by Eugene Morley and 4 by Max Yavno can also be found here.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 11 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1925-1980 (Box 1; 0.25 linear ft.)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1912-circa 1990s (Boxes 1-11, 36, OVs 38, 45; 10.2 linear ft.)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1930s-circa 1970s (Boxes 11-14, OV 45; 3.3 linear ft.)

Series 4: Diaries and Journals, 1923-1979 (Box 15; 0.6 linear ft.)

Series 5: Mural and Tapestry Files, circa 1930s-circa 1970s (Boxes 15-18, 36, OVs 38, 45, 46, RD 42; 3.65 linear ft.)

Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1942-1981 (Boxes 18-19; 0.6 linear ft.)

Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1920s-1980s (Boxes 19-20; 1.8 linear ft.)

Series 8: Printed Material, circa 1920s-1980s (Boxes 21-28, 36; 7.4 linear ft.)

Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1930s-1960s (Boxes 28, 37, BV 47; 1.1 linear ft.)

Series 10: Artwork, circa 1930s-circa 1970s (Boxes 28-30, 36, OVs 40, 41, RDs 42-44; 3.5 linear ft.)

Series 11: Photographic Material, ca. 1900-1980s (Boxes 31-35, 39; 4.5 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

Russian-born Woodstock painter Anton Refregier (1905-1979) immigrated to the United States in 1920. Refregier was well-known for his sometimes controversial social realist murals for the WPA.

After an apprenticeship to the sculptor, Vasilief, in Paris, Anton Refregier attended the Rhode Island School of Design from 1920-1925 and studied with Hans Hofmann in Germany in 1927. He had his first one-man show at ACA Galleries in New York City in 1942 and settled in Woodstock, New York, with his wife, Lila, and three children Anton, Jr., Brigit and Aleksandre, where he became a prominent member of the artist community.

Refregier completed several social realist murals for the federal Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) program, including one at the New York Worlds Fair in 1939 and the controversial Rincon Annex Post Office mural in San Francisco begun in 1941. He also completed interior design installations for businesses such as the nightclub, Cafe Society Uptown, and the restaurant, The Cookery, in New York City. In addition to being an easel and mural painter Refregier worked in tapestry, mosaic, ceramic, and collage, and completed many commissions for hotels, banks, hospitals, restaurants, synagogues, supermarkets and deparment stores throughout the country.

Refregier taught at various institutions including Stanford University, the University of Arkansas, and Bard College and his publications inlcude Natural Figure Drawing (1948), An Artist's Journey (1965), and Sketches of the Soviet Union (1978). He traveled regularly to the Soviet Union to explore and exchange ideas about art and culture and as a representative of the World Peace Council.

Anton Refregier died in Moscow in October 1979 while visiting the Soviet Union. His work can be found in many museums including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Related Material:

Also found in the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview with Anton Refregier, 1964, Nov. 5 by Joseph Trovato; and Papers regarding Anton Refregier mural controversy, 1953.

Provenance:

Donated 1983 by Lila Refregier, widow of Anton Refregier, and in 1992 by Brigit R. Sutton, Refregier's daughter.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposes of publication requires written permission from Bridget R. Sutton via Bridget's son, Tim Sutton. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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:

Tapestry  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Political clubs  Search this

Muralists -- New York -- Woodstock  Search this

Art -- Commissioning  Search this

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

Mural painting and decoration -- Archival resources -- 20th century  Search this

Designers -- New York (State)  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Travel diaries

Greeting cards

Interviews

Cartoons (working drawings)

Scrapbooks

Transcripts

Photographs

Diaries

Sketches

Citation:

Anton Refregier papers, circa 1900-circa 1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.refranto

See more items in:

Anton Refregier papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9545f99ed-0a65-4626-904d-8dda5c569fcf

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-refranto

Creator:

Davis, Gene, 1920-1985  Search this

Subject:

Baro, Gene  Search this

Wall, Donald  Search this

Greenberg, Clement  Search this

Colby, Carl  Search this

Davis, Douglas  Search this

Davis, Florence  Search this

McGowin, Ed  Search this

Naifeh, Steven  Search this

Nordland, Gerald  Search this

North, Percy  Search this

Seitz, William C. (William Chapin)  Search this

Thomas, Alma  Search this

White House (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Photographs

Interviews

Video recordings

Citation:

Gene Davis papers, 1920-2000, bulk 1942-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Color-field painting  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7153

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209287

AAA_collcode_davigene

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209287

Creator:

Davis, Gene, 1920-1985  Search this

Names:

White House (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

Baro, Gene  Search this

Colby, Carl  Search this

Davis, Douglas  Search this

Davis, Florence  Search this

Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994  Search this

McGowin, Ed, 1938-  Search this

Naifeh, Steven, 1952-  Search this

Nordland, Gerald  Search this

North, Percy, 1945-  Search this

Seitz, William C. (William Chapin)  Search this

Thomas, Alma  Search this

Wall, Donald  Search this

Extent:

17.7 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Photographs

Interviews

Video recordings

Date:

1920-2000

bulk 1942-1990

Summary:

The papers of the artist Gene Davis measure 17.7 linear feet and date from 1920-2000, with the bulk of materials dating from 1942-1990. Papers document Davis's personal life and his career as an artist and educator, as well as his career as a journalist in the 1940s and 1950s, through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, business records, estate records, writings by and about Gene Davis, printed materials concerning Davis's art career, personal and art-related photographs, and artwork by Davis and others.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of the artist Gene Davis measure 17.7 linear feet and date from 1920-2000, with the bulk of materials dating from 1942-1990. Papers document Davis's personal life and his career as an artist and educator, and to a lesser degree his early career as a journalist in the 1940s and 1950s, through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, business records, estate records, writings by and about Gene Davis, printed materials concerning Davis's art career, personal and art-related photographs, and artwork by Davis and others.

Biographical materials include birth and death certificates, awards, biographical narratives by Gene Davis and others, CVs, résumés, personal documents from Davis's family and childhood, documents related to his work as a White House correspondent, documentation related to his death and memorial service, and papers for the family pets. A video documentary about Davis by Carl Colby is found on one videocassette.

Correspondence is mainly of a professional nature, and correspondents include gallery and museum curators, private art collectors, publishers, fellow artists, art educators, academics, and students. Letters document exhibitions, sales, book projects, teaching jobs, visits to studios, local art community events in the Washington, D.C. area, and other projects. Significant correspondents include Gene Baro, Douglas Davis, Clement Greenberg, Gerald Nordland, William Seitz, Alma Thomas, and Donald Wall. Interviews and lectures include sound recordings and transcripts. Many of the interviews were broadcast or published. Also found is a single lecture by Davis given in 1969 at the National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, entitled "Contemporary Painting." Sound recordings are found for three of the interviews and for the lecture, on 4 sound reels and 1 sound cassette.

Business records include artwork documentation, price lists, sales records, contracts, financial and legal records, gallery and museum files documenting sales and exhibitions, records related to the construction of Davis's home studio in 1970, and a few teaching records. Estate records mainly reflect Florence Davis's efforts to document the works of her husband, and to manage their exhibition, promotion, and sale after his death in April 1985. Estate records include an inventory of artworks, documentation of gifts to museums, correspondence, legal, and financial records. Writings include notes, drafts of essays, artist statements, and articles by Davis, and many articles by others about Davis. Several of Davis's articles reflect specifically on the Washington, D.C. art scene. Also found are drafts of monographs on Davis including one by Donald Wall (1975) and one by Steven Naifeh (1982). Records of Naifeh's book also include photographs of all black and white and color plates from the published book. Among the writings are also notes and research files of Percy North, who worked on an update to Naifeh's 1982 bibliography after Davis's death.

Printed materials include annual reports of museums, published arts-related calendars, auction catalogs, brochures from organizations with which Davis had some affiliation, exhibition announcements and invitations, exhibition catalogs, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, newsletters, posters, press releases, and other published material. Photographs include personal photographs of Gene and Florence Davis and their families, portraits of Gene Davis, photographs of Gene Davis with artworks and working in the studio, Davis' art classes and students, installations of site-specific works, conceptual and video works, exhibition openings, and photographs of artwork, both installed in exhibitions and individually photographed. Found among the photographs are also four videocassettes documenting the Gene Davis retrospective as installed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art in 1987.

Artwork includes photographs, drawings, moving images, and documentation of conceptual art. Works by Davis include documentation of the 1969 "Giveaway" with Douglas Davis and Ed McGowin, "The Artist's Fingerprints Except for One which belongs to someone else," documentation of his "Air Displacement" happening, a short film entitled "Patricia," and a video entitled "Video Puzzle." Other moving images include four reels of film of Davis's stripe paintings, and other experiments with motion picture film and photographs.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 8 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1930-1987 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1, 17)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1943-1990 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)

Series 3: Interviews and Lectures, 1964-1983 (0.3 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 4: Business and Estate Records, 1942-1990 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 3-5, 17, OV 20)

Series 5: Writings, 1944-1990 (2 linear feet; Boxes 5-6, 17, OV 19)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1942-1990 (5.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-11, 17-18, OV 20, FC 35-37)

Series 7: Photographs, 1920-2000 (3.8 linear feet; Boxes 11-15, 17, OV 19)

Series 8: Artwork, 1930-1985 (2.2 linear feet; Boxes 15-16, 18, FC 21-34)

Biographical / Historical:

Gene Davis (1920-1985) was a Washington, D.C.-based artist and educator who worked in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, collage, video, light sculpture, and conceptual art. Davis is best known for his vertical stripe paintings and his association with the Washington Color School.

Davis was born in 1920 in Washington, D.C. and began his career as a writer. In his twenties he wrote pulp stories and worked as a journalist, reporting for United Press International and serving as a White House correspondent for Transradio Press Service during the Truman administration. Later, he worked in public relations for the Automobile Association of America. A self-taught artist, Davis began painting while still working full-time as a writer, influenced by the prevailing abstract expressionist artists of the time, his frequent visits to the Corcoran Gallery and Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and by his friend and mentor, Jacob Kainen. His first one-man show was held in the lobby of the Dupont Theater in Washington in 1952. He had a drawing accepted in the Corcoran Area Show in 1953, and won several local art prizes in the 1950s. He began showing work regularly in galleries around Washington, such as the Watkins Gallery at American University, the Gres Gallery, and the Henri Gallery, and had solo exhibitions at Jefferson Place Gallery in 1959 and 1961. Many of the painters who made up what became known as the Washington Color School also showed there, including Kenneth Noland, Howard Mehring, and Sam Gilliam. In 1965, the Washington Gallery of Modern Art held a seminal exhibition entitled Washington Color Painters, which included Davis, Noland, Mehring, Morris Louis, Thomas Downing, and Paul Reed.

Davis began showing outside of Washington regularly in the 1960s, including the Poindexter and Fischbach galleries in New York City, and in several important group shows at museums such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He had three works shown in the 1964 exhibition Post-Painterly Abstraction, organized by the influential art critic Clement Greenberg at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In the late 1960s, he began teaching art classes at the Corcoran School, and spent the summer of 1969 as artist in residence at Skidmore College's "Summer in Experiment" program.

Davis experimented with form continuously throughout his career, including a period of conceptual work in the late 1960s. In 1969 he participated in the "Giveaway," organized by Douglas Davis and Ed McGowin, in which multiple copies of a Davis painting were given away to invited guests in a gesture intended to subvert the art market. Davis also began experimenting with scale, creating a series of tiny paintings he called "Micro-paintings," which were exhibited at Fischbach Gallery in 1968. Around this time he also began working with film and video, recruiting models from his art classes to enact tightly choreographed movement pieces that played with rhythm and interval. Convinced by a lawyer that his videos were a liability without having obtained releases from the models, Davis destroyed all but one of his video works. The surviving video, "Video Puzzle," shows a foreshortened view of a model on the floor of a gallery spelling out a statement by Clement Greenberg at predetermined intervals.

Davis made several large-scale site-specific works using the stripe motif in public places. The first of these was created in the Bal Harbour, Florida, Neiman Marcus department store in 1970. Later works included Franklin's Footpath, executed in the road leading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1972, and Niagara (1979) at ArtPark in Lewistown, NY, promoted at the time as the largest painting in the world. Interior large-scale works were created twice at the Corcoran Gallery, with Magic Circle (1975) and Ferris Wheel (1982), both executed in the museum's rotunda. Black Yo-Yo was created for the Cranbrook Academy in 1980, and Sun Sonata (1983), an illuminated wall of colored liquid-filled tubes, was created as an architectural feature of the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, Virginia. Plans for an unexecuted work called "Grass Painting," for a site near the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., were exhibited in the 1974 "Art Now" festival.

In the late 1970s and 1980s Davis consistently exhibited his work in several solo gallery shows a year, and also had numerous solo exhibitions in major museums. A major exhibition, Recent Paintings, was organized by the Walker Art Center in 1978, and traveled to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1979. A drawing retrospective was held at the Brooklyn Museum of art in 1983, and the same year the Washington Project for the Arts organized an exhibition entitled Child and Man: A Collaboration, featuring drawings Davis made in response to childrens' drawings. Davis died suddenly in April 1985 at the age of 65, and a major retrospective of his work was held at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art in 1987.

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Gene Davis conducted by Estill Curtis Pennington on April 23, 1981. A transcript is available on the Archives of American Art website.

Provenance:

Donated 1981 by Gene Davis and 1986 by his wife, Florence. Additional material donated 1991 and 1993 from Smithsonian American Art Museum via a bequest to them from the Gene and Florence Davis estate. Much of the 1993 addition was assembled by art historian Percy North at the request of Florence Davis. An additional folder of photographs of Davis taken in 1969 but printed in 2000 was later added to the collection.

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:

Reporters and reporting -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Video artists -- Washington, D.C.  Search this

Conceptual artists -- Washington, D.C  Search this

Painters -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Collagists -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Topic:

Color-field painting  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Photographs

Interviews

Video recordings

Citation:

Gene Davis papers, 1920-2000, bulk 1942-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program.

Identifier:

AAA.davigene

See more items in:

Gene Davis papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90a230f67-650f-483a-acdf-50b6ca91fe59

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-davigene

Creator:

Yoshida, Ray  Search this

Names:

Art Institute of Chicago. School -- Faculty  Search this

Phyllis Kind Gallery  Search this

Berdich, Vera, 1915-2003  Search this

Blackshear, Kathleen, 1897-1988  Search this

Brown, Roger, 1941-1997  Search this

Ito, Miyoko, 1918-1983  Search this

Kapsalis, Thomas Harry, 1925-  Search this

Kim, Jin Soo, 1950-  Search this

Nilsson, Gladys, 1940-  Search this

Nutt, Jim, 1938-  Search this

Ramberg, Christina  Search this

Rossi, Barbara, 1940-  Search this

Spears, Ethel, 1903-1974  Search this

Wirsum, Karl, 1939-  Search this

Extent:

10 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Sketchbooks

Scrapbooks

Collages

Drawings

Interviews

Prints

Sketches

Transcripts

Video recordings

Date:

circa 1895-2010

bulk 1950-2005

Summary:

The papers of Chicago artist and educator Ray Yoshida measure 10 linear feet and date from circa 1895 to 2010, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950 to 2005. Yoshida's career as a painter and collagist as well as his long tenure as a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are documented through biographical material, personal correspondence, notebooks and writings, teaching records, personal business records, printed material, source material, photographs, sketchbooks, artwork by Yoshida and others, and scrapbooks. Items within the collection also document Yoshida's personal interest in collecting folk art and artifacts.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of Chicago artist and educator Ray Yoshida measure 10 linear feet and date from circa 1895 to 2010, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950 to 2005. Yoshida's career as a painter and collagist as well as his long tenure as a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are documented through biographical material, personal correspondence, notebooks and writings, teaching records, personal business records, printed material, source material, photographs, sketchbooks, artwork by Yoshida and others, and scrapbooks. Items within the collection also document Yoshida's personal interest in collecting folk art and artifacts.

Biographical material about Ray Yoshida includes award certificates, identification records, student records, and interview transcripts. Also found is one video recording of a documentary short about Yoshida's art and object collection at his Chicago home.

Correspondence includes letters, postcards, and greeting cards from friends, colleagues, and artists, including Roger Brown, Jim Nutt, Gladys Nilsson, Christina Ramberg, Karl Wirsum, Miyoko Ito, Jin Soo Kim, Barbara Rossi, Vera Berdich, and Tom Kapsalis.

Notebooks contain notes on art history, art technique, Japanese language, travel, and other subjects. Many of the notebooks include sketches and contain loose items.

Writings by Yoshida consist of college papers, fragments of writings on art and other subjects, and notes. Writings by others include essays by Yoshida's students, exhibition essay drafts, and poetry.

Teaching records primarily document Yoshida's tenure as a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, though a few records of guest professorships at other schools are included. These records include course evaluations, employment records, teaching notes, and letters of recommendation for students. Miscellaneous teaching records include department memos, course summaries, correspondence, and notes.

Personal business records consists of documentation regarding the sale, exhibition, and loan of artwork by Ray Yoshida, including his business dealings with the Phyllis Kind Gallery. Additionally there are several files regarding the estate of artist Roger Brown.

Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, news clippings, newsletters and press releases documenting Yoshida's career and other subjects.

Source material consists of material that Yoshida gathered and intended to use for his art. Collected printed material includes postcards, comics and comic books, mail order catalogs, magazines, product labels, and advertisements. Also found are many small clippings from comics collected for collages.

Photographs depict Ray Yoshida, friends, students, travel, and artwork. Also found are a few photographs of Karl Wirsum's studio, as well as photographs of various subjects collected by Yoshida. Additionally, there is one photograph album from the early 1910s of an unidentified family.

Sketchbooks include pencil and ink sketches of various subjects.

Artwork by Ray Yoshida includes collages on paper, pencil sketches, and ink drawings. Artworks by others include numerous prints by Kathleen Blackshear, Ethel Spears, and Vivian Mayers, and collages, drawings, and prints given to Yoshida by students and friends. Some work by unidentified artists is included as well. Other artwork, such as handmade picture and alphabet books, appears to have been created by children and collected by Yoshida.

Scrapbooks include volumes that were created by Yoshida as well as books created by others. Three of the scrapbooks containing source images, clippings, and comics appear to have been created by Yoshida. Additional scrapbooks were created by others and collected by Yoshida.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 12 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1950-2005 (0.5 Linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1952-2009 (2 Linear feet; Boxes 1-3, 11, 15)

Series 3: Notebooks, circa 1956-circa 2000 (0.3 Linear feet; Box 3)

Series 4: Writings, circa 1950-2003 (0.3 Linear feet; Box 3)

Series 5: Teaching Records, circa 1960-2003 (0.6 Linear feet; Boxes 3-4)

Series 6: Personal Business Records, circa 1960-2010 (0.4 Linear feet; Box 4)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1906-2010 (1.8 Linear feet; Boxes 4-6, 11, OV 14)

Series 8: Source Material, circa 1940-circa 2005 (0.7 Linear Feet; Boxes 6-7, 11)

Series 9: Photographs, circa 1910-circa 2005 (0.5 Linear feet; Box 7)

Series 10: Sketchbooks, circa 1960-circa 2000 (1.1 Linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 11-13)

Series 11: Artwork, 1903-2009 (0.7 Linear feet; Boxes 8, 13)

Series 12: Scrapbooks, circa 1895-circa 2005 (1 Linear feet; Boxes 8-10, 13)

Biographical / Historical:

Ray Yoshida (1930-2009) was a Japanese American painter, collagist, and educator based in Chicago, Illinois.

Raymond Kakuo Yoshida was born in Kapaa, Hawaii, in 1930. He attended the University of Hawaii for two years and completed a B.A. in Arts Education at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953. He also served in the U.S. Army for two years during the Korean War. In 1957 he recieved his M.F.A from Syracuse University and became a faculty member at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1959. He was named Frank Harold Sellers Professor in the Department of Painting and Drawing in 1971, retired as professor emeritus in 1998, and continued to teach until 2003.

Yoshida was a member of the Chicago Imagists, a loose and informal group of representational artists from the late 1960s to early 1970s who were influenced by Surrealism and connected to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Yoshida's friends and contemporaries among this group include but are not limited to Roger Brown, Ed Paschke, Christina Ramberg, and Barbara Rossi. Yoshida was an inspiring teacher and he mentored many of the later Chicago Imagists such as Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, and Karl Wirsum.

Yoshida's paintings and collages were strongly influenced by comics as well as his own collection of folk and outsider art. He regularly exhibited at Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago from 1975 to 1996, and a major retrospective of his work was organized by the Contemporary Museum of Honolulu in 1998. He retired to Hawaii in 2005 where he lived until his death in 2009 due to cancer. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Sullivan Galleries held a posthumous retrospective exhibition of Yoshida's work from 2010-2011 and the John Michael Kohler Art Center had an exhibition of Yoshida's personal collection of art and artifacts in 2013.

Provenance:

The collection was donated in 2012 by Ray Yoshida via Terri Yoho of the Kohler Foundation, representing Yoshida's estate, and in 2013 and 2015-2016 by Jennifer Sabas and Shayle Miller, estate executors.

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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copy requires advance notice. One box of letters from Jim Nutt are ACCESS RESTRICTED; use requires written permission.

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:

Educators -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Painters -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Collagists -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Topic:

Folk art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Art -- History  Search this

Art -- Technique  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Asian American art  Search this

Asian American artists  Search this

Japanese American art  Search this

Japanese American artists  Search this

Asian American painters  Search this

Asian American educators  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Sketchbooks

Scrapbooks

Collages

Drawings

Interviews

Prints

Sketches

Transcripts

Video recordings

Citation:

Ray Yoshida papers, circa 1895-2010, bulk 1950-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

The processing and digitization of the Ray Yoshida papers received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Identifier:

AAA.yoshray

See more items in:

Ray Yoshida papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw993d0cce5-3340-4d85-adeb-cb1711fd67e8

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-yoshray

Interviewee:

Sekula, Allan  Search this

Interviewer:

Panzer, Mary  Search this

Names:

Artforum  Search this

California Institute of the Arts  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

Students for a Democratic Society (U.S.)  Search this

The Ohio State University -- Faculty  Search this

University of California, San Diego  Search this

Altoon, John, 1925-  Search this

Antin, David  Search this

Antin, Eleanor  Search this

Ascott, Roy  Search this

Baldessari, John, 1931-  Search this

Barthes, Roland  Search this

Becker, Howard  Search this

Bercovitch, Sacvan  Search this

Beveridge, Karl  Search this

Bo Diddley, 1928-2008  Search this

Brach, Paul, 1924-  Search this

Braderman, Joan  Search this

Burch, Noël, 1932-  Search this

Burn, Ian, 1939-1993  Search this

Captain Beefheart  Search this

Charlesworth, Sarah, 1947-2013  Search this

Chayefsky, Paddy, 1923-1981  Search this

Conde, Carol  Search this

Connell, Brian  Search this

Evans, Walker, 1903-1975  Search this

Farber, Manny  Search this

Feldman, Ronald, 1938-  Search this

Folks, Homer, 1867-1963  Search this

Fox, Terry, 1943-  Search this

Fried, Howard, 1946-  Search this

Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997  Search this

Graham, Dan, 1942-  Search this

Graves, Michael, 1934-2015  Search this

Halleck, DeeDee  Search this

Hanhardt, John G.  Search this

Hassan, Ihab, 1925-2015  Search this

Hayes, Woody, 1913-1987  Search this

Heinecken, Robert, 1931-  Search this

Higgins, Dick, 1938-1998  Search this

Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940  Search this

Kienholz, Edward, 1927-  Search this

Kirschenbaum, Baruch David, 1931-  Search this

Knowles, Alison, 1933-  Search this

Kosuth, Joseph.  Search this

Kozloff, Max  Search this

Kramer, Hilton  Search this

Krauss, Rosalind E.  Search this

König, Kasper  Search this

Liebling, Jerome  Search this

Lifson, Ben  Search this

Little Richard, 1932-  Search this

Lonidier, Fred  Search this

Lord, Catherine, 1949-  Search this

Lunn, Harry, 1933-1998  Search this

Mac Low, Jackson  Search this

Mandel, Mike  Search this

Matta, 1912-2002  Search this

Mayer, Grace M.  Search this

Michelson, Annette  Search this

O'Doherty, Brian  Search this

Pommer, Richard  Search this

Ramsden, Mel  Search this

Raskin, Jef  Search this

Reagan, Ronald  Search this

Rosler, Martha  Search this

Ross, David A., 1949-  Search this

Ruby, Jay  Search this

Ruscha, Edward  Search this

Salle, David, 1952-  Search this

Salvesen, Britt  Search this

Schimmel, Paul  Search this

Segalove, Ilene, 1950-  Search this

Stein, Sally  Search this

Steinmetz, Philip  Search this

Sultan, Larry  Search this

Van Riper, Peter  Search this

Wakoski, Diane  Search this

Wall, Jeff, 1946-  Search this

Extent:

12 Items (Sound recording: 12 sound files (6 hr.,14 min.), digital, wav)

143 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Sound recordings

Date:

2011 August 20-2012 February 14

Scope and Contents:

An interview with Allan Sekula conducted 2011 August 20-2012 February 14, by Mary Panzer, for the Archives of American Art at Sekula's studio and home in Los Angeles, California and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, New York.

Sekula speaks of his career and some of the mediums he works in; language and contemporary art; Roland Barthes; his relation to contemporary art; west coast conceptualism; genre switches; realism; documentary photography; Belgium and the industrial revolution; Meunier; minor figures; art history and marginalism; Roberto Matta; World War I; Homer Folks; Fish Story; historic cinema; economic factors of art shows and publication; galleries and the art world; growing up and his family; his father and moving; Ohio; his brothers and sisters; San Pedro; demographics of students at school; sports at school; Vietnam; protests; cross country and swimming; California; fishing; college; U.C. system; declaring a major; John Altoon; Ed Kienholz; exposure to art; visiting museums; Marcuse's classes; Baldessari's classes; course work and student life; student demonstrations; working in a library and exposure to books; father losing his job; science and working as a chemical technician; politics; his uncle committing suicide; moving away from his father; the draft; John Birch; Students for a Democratic Society; his mother; politics of his parents; Aerospace Folk Tales, autodidacts and scholarship; San Diego and Mexico; obtaining a camera and starting to use it; art school; CalArts; UCSD; Meditations on a Triptych; David Salle; Fred Lonidier; Phel Steinmetz; MFA and art training; poets; story of Allen Ginsberg and one of Sekula's sculptures; production and the audience; A Photograph is Worth a Thousand Questions, photography and the burden of tradition; pictorialism; moving to New York; Artforum; October; New York music scene; Captain Beefheart; Bo Diddley; Little Richard; Steichen and aerial photography; origins of October; New Criterion; Art Critic's Grant; teaching at Ohio State; television; technological historians; New York subway and getting a ticket for using French money; RISD lectures; Long Beach; photography; collages; Metro Pictures; New Topographics; School as a Factory; moral choice and the viewer; work method and the audience; Social Criticism and Art Practice; east and west coasts; Ed Ruscha; documentary; film, Los Angeles; cinema and social history; Ohio State Department of Photography and Cinema; Los Angeles Plays Itself; Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador; Ohio State campus, anti-Semitism; Ronald Reagan and protest; influences and colleagues; intellectual genealogy; Michael Graves and Ohio State architecture; Bad Ohio; tenure; University Exposed; AIDS issue of October; The Body and the Archive; making film; Korean War; collectors and images. Sekula also recalls Eleanor Antin, Jeff Wall, Terry Fox, Lewis Hine, Walker Evans, Paul Saltman, Marcuse, Baldessari, Sacvan Bercovitch, Stanley Miller, Jef Raskin, Paul Brach, David Antin, Howard Fried, Peter Van Riper, Alison Knowles, Dick Higgins, Manny Farber, Ihab Hassan, Diane Wakoski, Jackson Mac Low, Martha Rosler, Lenny Neufeld, Joshua Neufeld, David Wing, Brian Connell, Max Kozloff, Ian Burn, Mel Ramsden, Carole Conde, Karl Beveridge, Barry Rosens, Tom Crow, John Copeland, Harry Lunn, Hilton Kramer, Grace Mayer, Carol Duncan, Eva Cockroft, Richard Pommer, Rosalind Krauss, Sally Stein, Paddy Chayefsky, John Hanhardt, Mel Ramsden, Sarah Charlesworth, Jospeh Kosuth, Baruch Kirschenbaum, Robert Heinecken, Brian O'Doherty, Howard Becker, Jay Ruby, Jerry Liebling, Anna Wilkie, Ronald Feldman, John Gibson, David Ross, Britt Salvesen, Larry Sultan, Mike Mandel, Roy Ascott, Ilene Segalove, Paul Schimmel, DeeDee Halleck, Noel Burch, Joan Braderman, Woody Hayes, Thom Andersen, John Quigley, Ron Green, Kasper Koenig, Dan Graham, Jonathan Green, Christa Wolf, Catherine Lord, Ben Lifson, and Annette Michelson.

Biographical / Historical:

Allan Sekula (1951-2013) was a photographer, filmmaker, and writer, based at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. Mary Panzer (1955- ) is a historian from New York, New York.

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.

Occupation:

Photographers -- California  Search this

Filmmakers -- California  Search this

Authors -- California  Search this

Topic:

Activism  Search this

Antisemitism  Search this

Architecture  Search this

Art -- Exhibitions -- Economic aspects  Search this

Art -- History  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Conceptual art  Search this

Documentary photography  Search this

Korean War, 1950-1953  Search this

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

Photography  Search this

Realism  Search this

World War, 1914-1918  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Identifier:

AAA.sekula11

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d657e5da-cd1b-4366-9fe9-1852a4c5be81

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-sekula11

Interviewee:

Weidner, Roswell, 1911-1999  Search this

Interviewer:

Pacini, Marina  Search this

Names:

Barnes Foundation  Search this

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this

United States. National Youth Administration  Search this

United States. Work Projects Administration  Search this

United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this

Curran, Mary  Search this

De Mazia, Violette, 1899-  Search this

Garber, Daniel, 1880-  Search this

Harding, George, 1882-1959  Search this

Laessle, Albert, 1877-1954  Search this

McCarter, Henry, 1866-1942  Search this

Nuse, Roy Cleveland, b. 1885  Search this

Pierson, Joseph  Search this

Pinto, Angelo, 1908-1994  Search this

Speight, Francis, 1896-1989  Search this

Thrash, Dox, 1892-1965  Search this

Weidner, Marilyn Kemp, 1928-  Search this

Extent:

134 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1989 July 20-27

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Roswell Weidner conducted 1989 July 20-27, by Marina Pacini, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project. Weidner discusses his early life, education, and art training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, first at the school at Chester Springs, and later at the main school in Philadelphia. He discusses the programs at both schools, and recalls some of the faculty members, including Roy Nuse, Albert Laessle, George Harding, Joseph Pierson, Francis Speight, Daniel Garber, and Henry McCarter. He discusses the courses, exhibitions, and the competitions for traveling scholarships. He also discusses his study at the Barnes Foundation with Violette De Mazia and Angelo Pinto. After leaving the Academy, he joined the National Youth Administration and then transferred to the WPA with the Museum Extension, the Painting Project and the Print Project. He speaks of his work for each of these programs, their administration, and some of the individuals involved including Dox Thrash. He recalls Mary Curran and the efforts made by Albert Barnes to have her removed as head of the Painting Project. Weidner discusses his fifty years as a teacher at the Academy, beginning in 1939, and the changes in the institution since then, including the introduction of printmaking, the growth of abstraction, the hiring of women and black instructors, and other changes. He speaks of his wife, Marilyn Kemp Weidner, a paper conservator, and the development of her practice, as well as his own future work.

Biographical / Historical:

Roswell T. Weidner (1911-1999) was a painter and educator from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

General:

Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr.; 18 min.

Provenance:

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

Restrictions:

Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this

Educators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.weidne89

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d0c1ada8-2608-4b70-b8bd-f95469159f82

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-weidne89

Creator:

Gilliam, Sam, 1933-2022  Search this

Names:

Carl Solway Gallery  Search this

Philadelphia Museum of Art  Search this

Studio Museum in Harlem  Search this

Andrews, Benny, 1930-2006  Search this

Driskell, David C.  Search this

Gilliam, Dorothy Butler, 1936-  Search this

Krebs, Rockne, 1938-2011  Search this

Mondale, Walter F., 1928-  Search this

Extent:

7.9 Linear feet

7.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Interviews

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Sound recordings

Date:

1957-1989

1957-1989

Summary:

The papers of contemporary Color Field painter and educator Sam Gilliam measure 7.9 linear feet and date from 1957 to 1989. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writings, business records, printed material, subject files, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographic material that document Gilliam's life beginning as a student, through to his teaching, professorial, and artistic career based in Washington D.C. The collection highlights Gilliam's close involvement with the art institutions, racial politics, and artistic innovation from the 1960s through the 1980s, and particularly showcases the planning and creation of Gilliam's large-scale three-dimensional paintings, often associated with the Washington Color School.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of contemporary Color Field painter and educator Sam Gilliam measure 7.9 linear feet and date from 1957 to 1989. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writings, business records, printed material, subject files, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographic material that document Gilliam's life beginning as a student, through to his teaching, professorial, and artistic career based in Washington D.C. The collection highlights Gilliam's close involvement with the art institutions, racial politics, and artistic innovation from the 1960s through the 1980s, and particularly showcases the planning and creation of Gilliam's large-scale three-dimensional paintings, often associated with the Washington Color School.

Biographical material includes résumés, passports, exhibition lists, artists' statements and essays, interview transcripts and recordings. Also included are audio recordings of conversations between Sam Gilliam and artist Benny Andrews, between Gilliam and artist Rockne Krebs, as well as recordings of a 1968 interview conducted by Dorothy Gilliam.

Correspondence spans over 20 years and includes letters to and from museums and galleries such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, Carl Solway Gallery, collectors, artists including David Driskell, friends, family, students, and fans.

Writings include notes, statements, and essays by and about Gilliam, writings by university students of Gilliam, and writings related to Gilliam's artwork and public commissions including measurements for artworks, material research, and information regarding prints created for the private home of Walter Mondale.

Business records primarily include the daily records of activities kept by Sam and Dorothy Gilliam's secretary, Debby, from 1973 to 1978. Also present are resumes for a studio assistant for Gilliam, certificates of originality, legal documents, receipts and invoices, a record of donated paintings, financial records, ledgers, contracts, records and paperwork for the Gilliam's company Enterprise 101, and miscellany.

Printed materials include photocopies, exhibition announcements, magazines, and clippings regarding exhibitions, specific artworks, and commissions, and Gilliam and/or his then-wife, Dorothy Gilliam.

The subject file series contains letters, photographic material, business records, sketches, and printed materials concerning specific galleries, public art commissions, arts organizations, workshops, teaching positions, Gilliam's studio, art suppliers, and other topics.

A disbound scrapbook contains photographs, notes, and printed material related to Gilliam and his studio practice.

The artwork series includes sketches, personal notes, and small preparatory drawings by Gilliam.

Photographic material includes negatives, slides, and transparencies of artworks, Gilliam in his studio, and Gilliam and staff preparing museum and gallery exhibition spaces. Also included are records of student artwork, and photos and slides of artwork sent to Gilliam by students and aspiring artists.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged as 9 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1958-1988, (Box 1; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1965-1989, (Boxes 1-2; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1962-1988, (Box 2; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Business Records, 1957-1986, (Boxes 2-3; 1.0 linear foot)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1962-1987, (Boxes 3-4; 1.0 linear foot)

Series 6: Subject Files, 1963-1988, (Boxes 4-7; 2.2 linear feet)

Series 7: Scrapbook, 1958-1968, (Box 7; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 8: Artwork, 1970-1980, undated, (Boxes 7-9; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographic Material, 1960-1985, (Boxes 8-9; 0.3 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

Sam Gilliam (1933-2022) was an African American artist based in Washington, D.C. He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, where he began painting as a child, eventually attending the University of Louisville where he received his B.A. in Fine Art and M.A. in Painting. He went on to teach art to high school students in the Washington D.C. public school system, and university-level students at the Corcoran School of Art, the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), the University of Maryland, and Carnegie Mellon University. His numerous grants and awards include the 1971 Solomon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and multiple Honorary Doctoral degrees.

As an artist, Gilliam is best known for his three-dimensional draped and suspended paintings, covered with large fields of poured paint, pigment, and colorful staining influenced by the movement and colors of Abstract Expressionist painters. He created many public works that incorporated new materials such as custom designed metal forms, quilted canvas, and textiles; his works often included subtle social commentaries through their titling. His suspended paintings cemented Gilliam as an innovative and influential presence in 20th century American art.

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art are two oral history interviews with Sam Gilliam, one conducted by Kenneth Young, September 18, 1984, and the other by Ben Forgey, November 4-11, 1989.

Provenance:

The Sam Gilliam papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Sam Gilliam in 1989.

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:

Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Sam Gilliam. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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:

Educators -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Painters -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Color-field painting  Search this

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Washington Color School (Group of artists)  Search this

African American artists  Search this

African American educators  Search this

African American painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Sound recordings

Citation:

Sam Gilliam papers, 1957-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.gillsam

See more items in:

Sam Gilliam papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90b5177ef-7a80-48b3-bcdb-3f1f74d21b5c

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-gillsam

Creator:

Ryan, Paul, 1943-  Search this

Names:

Dalton School (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Earth Environmental Group  Search this

Earthscore Foundation  Search this

Gaia Institute  Search this

New School for Social Research (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Raindance Corporation  Search this

Savannah College of Art and Design  Search this

Anderson, Myrdene, 1934-  Search this

Berg, Peter, 1937-2011  Search this

Berman, Morris  Search this

Berry, Thomas, 1914-2009  Search this

Bianchi, Lois  Search this

Bijvoet, Marga, 1948-  Search this

Dunn, David  Search this

Johnson, Avery  Search this

Kevelson, Roberta  Search this

Lansing, Gerrit  Search this

Lira, Aldo  Search this

Lord, Chip  Search this

Lowenstein, Oliver  Search this

Ponsol, Claude  Search this

Procter, Jody, 1943-1998  Search this

Robbins, Al  Search this

Segura, Phyllis Gershuny  Search this

Shamberg, Michael  Search this

Sibert, Jodi  Search this

Sturken, Marita, 1957-  Search this

Zerella, Lida  Search this

Extent:

19.7 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Prints

Illustrations

Video recordings

Writings

Date:

1931-2009

Summary:

The Paul Ryan papers measure 19.7 linear feet and document Ryan's education and career as a pioneering video artist, theorist, writer, and educator. Records include school records, family papers, correspondence, writings, project files, video recordings, teaching files, printed materials, scattered photographs, and artwork by others. Organizational records are also found for the Earthscore Foundation, Earth Environmental Group, the Gaia Institute, and the Raindance Corporation, among others. The bulk of Ryan's professional work is documented in his writings and project files.

Scope and Contents:

The Paul Ryan papers measure 19.7 linear feet and document Ryan's education and career as a pioneering video artist, theorist, writer, and educator. Records include school records, family papers, correspondence, writings, project files, video recordings, teaching files, printed materials, scattered photographs, and artwork by others. Organizational records are also found for the Earthscore Foundation, Earth Environmental Group, the Gaia Institute, and the Raindance Corporation, among others. The bulk of Ryan's professional work is documented in his writings and project files.

Biographical materials include family papers, early correspondence among Ryan family members, school records, selective service records, photographs of Paul Ryan, and career documentation such as résumés, CVs, recommendation letters, and narratives written by Ryan describing his career. Records related to Ryan's time in the seminary and monastery include letters home during this period, and his letter of resignation from 1965.

Correspondence is mainly professional in nature, and spans Ryan's career. Correspondence between Ryan and family members is also found. Professional correspondence is found with Myrdene Anderson, Peter Berg of Planet Drum, Morris Berman, Avery Johnson, Marga Bijvoet, Thomas Berry, Lois Bianchi, David Dunn, Roberta Kevelson, Gerrit Lansing, Aldo Lira, Oliver Lowenstein, Chip Lord, Claude Ponsol, Jody Procter, Jodi Sibert, Phyllis Gershuny Segura, Michael Shamberg, and Marita Sturken. Corporate correspondence is found regarding job applications, manuscript submissions to publishers, and video submissions to museums and broadcasters.

Writings include mainly articles and notebooks by Ryan, but also drafts of books, lectures, poetry, short stories, a treatment for a television show, and writings by others in various genres. Most of Ryan's prose writing is theoretical in nature, although personal writings and notes from projects are also found. Articles include both published and unpublished writings, with some published multiple times under different titles. Over one hundred notebooks spanning forty years contain a variety of content including drafts of letters, articles, grant proposals, lectures, and other writings. Ryan's two major publications, Cybernetics of the Sacred and Video Mind, Earth Mind, are documented with drafts, contracts, correspondence with publishers, layout documents, and notes.

Organizational records include writings, correspondence, printed material, financial records, grant proposals, and other records concerning various organizations, collectives, and companies in which Ryan participated, mostly having to do with environmental advocacy, video production, or a combination of the two. Organizations with substantial records in this series include the Earth Environmental Group, the Earthscore Foundation, Environment '89 (and '90, '91, and '92), the Gaia Institute, and the Raindance Corporation, among others. Documentation is most comprehensive for The Earthscore Foundation, including by-laws, grant proposals, extensive writings, financial records, and printed materials.

Project files contain video recordings, production notes, photographs, proposals, correspondence, a computer program designed by Ryan, prints for exhibition, illustrations and designs, posters, circulars, contracts, and scripts. Many of the projects documented in this series relate to Ryan's many explorations of the use of video to monitor and interpret two seemingly different subjects, environmental change and human behavior in relationships, expressed through a ritual of interaction among three persons designed by Ryan and called "Threeing," or "Triadic Behavior." The most thoroughly documented projects in this series include "Nature in New York City," "New York City Eco-Channel for Sustainable Television (NEST)," Talking Wood (a publication that incorporated the project "Watershed Watch"), "Inventing Triadic Behavior" (also known as the "Triadic Tapes"), "Tethys"(with artist Bob Schuler), and "Video Wake for my Father," a performance for video that saw many iterations, including a private performance, a public performance, an edited video program, and a published script.

Video recordings are found for three projects, including "Nature in New York City," "Inventing Triadic Behavior," and a threeing workshop held at the Kitchen entitled "Video Variations on Holy Week." A printout of records in a videotape database kept by Ryan is found in this series, with a proposal for video preservation; the list of tapes includes those found in the collection as well as tapes not extant.

Teaching files include documentation of Ryan's work at Dalton School, Hudson School, the New School for Social Research, and Savannah College of Art and Design, and many other workshops and training programs Ryan taught. Included are grade books, correspondence, curricula, training materials, and reports. Two of his programs, the Black Rock Rangers at the Dalton School, and the Urban Conservation Corps Pilot Video Program involve the implementation of the Earthscore Notational System in school curricula.

Printed material includes books, newspaper clippings, conference programs and published proceedings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, film and video programs, flyers, periodicals, poetry publications, posters, and materials relating to the artist Al Robbins, which includes an obituary written by Ryan. Also found are publications of the Raindance Corporation, which include the book, Guerrilla Television (1971), and four issues of their magazine, Radical Software (1971-1972). Most of the printed material was either written by Paul Ryan, contains articles by Paul Ryan, or documents activities of Paul Ryan. Other materials found contain works by Ryan's associates and collaborators.

Artwork contains artists' books, doodles, illustrations, prints, and photographs by named and unnamed artists. None of the artwork in this series appears to be by Ryan. Notable is an artist's book entitled "Patterns" by Lida Zerella, which incorporates still images from Ryan's Triadic Tapes in a small album. Two illustrations are found by Claude Ponsot, who also illustrated many of Ryan's publications relating to Kleinform and threeing.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged as 8 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1931-2003 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 1, 20)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1965-2007 (2 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)

Series 3: Writings, 1955-2001 (6.8 linear feet; Boxes 3-10, 20)

Series 4: Organizational Records, 1968-1996 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 10-11, 20, OV 21)

Series 5: Project Files, 1968-2008 (6.5 linear feet; Boxes 11-17, 20, OV 21-22, 24, RD 26)

Series 6: Teaching Files, 1967-2008 (0.7 linear feet; Box 17)

Series 7: Printed Materials, 1968-2009 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 18-20, OV 23, 25)

Series 8: Artwork, 1965-2003 (0.1 linear feet; Boxes 19-20, OV 22)

Biographical / Historical:

Paul Ryan was a pioneering video artist, writer, teacher, and theoretician based in New York City and the Hudson Valley of New York State. Born in 1943, Ryan spent his early adulthood as a seminarian and later a member of the Roman Catholic order of Passionist monks, which he left in 1965. He eventually received a B.A. from New York University. During the Vietnam War, Ryan received conscientious objector status and studied with Marshall McLuhan at Fordham University as alternative service. It was McLuhan's influence that led Ryan to begin to explore the possibilities of the medium of video.

In 1969, Ryan participated in the landmark exhibition "TV as a Creative Medium" curated by Howard Wise, which served to link the kinetic art movement of the 1960s with the emergent medium of video art. The first exhibition in the United States devoted to video, "TV as a Creative Medium" signaled radical changes and defined an emerging artistic movement. In 1969 Ryan co-founded the Raindance Corporation along with Ira Schneider, Michael Shamberg, David Cort, Beryl Korot, Phyllis Gershuny, and others. Raindance was an influential media collective that proposed radical theories and philosophies of video as an alternative form of cultural communication. Influenced by the communications theories of Marshall McLuhan and Buckminster Fuller, the collective produced tapes and writings that explored the relation of cybernetics, media, and ecology. From 1970-1974, Raindance published the seminal video journal Radical Software, which provided a network of communications for the fledgling alternative video movement. In 1971, Shamberg published Guerrilla Television, a summary of the group's principles and a blueprint for a decentralization of television through access to public and cable programming. The original Raindance collective dispersed in the mid-1970s; the nonprofit Raindance Foundation continued into the 1990s. Ryan's core writings from the Raindance era were gathered into his 1973 publication Birth and Death and Cybernation, republished in 1974 as Cybernetics of the Sacred.

Ryan's work to develop alternative uses of video technology continued long after his involvement with Raindance. He began to implement his theories about the use of video monitoring and feedback within dynamic systems with the work that came to be known as the Earthscore Notational System. With Steve Kolpan and Bob Schuler, he founded the Earthscore Foundation, through which he raised money for the exploration and development of this applied practice. Earthscore, based largely on the writings of philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce and Gregory Bateson's work on cybernetics, provided the theoretical and logical underpinnings of both the ecosystem documentation and interpretation process, and the triadic rituals of interpersonal behavior, that became the core of Ryan's work for much of his life. These ideas were implemented in a wide variety of projects such as eco-channel design, video scores specific to certain locations, threeing projects exploring interpersonal behavior with video and computer technology, and a curriculum for combining media production training with environmental education.

Ryan later worked with organizations such as Talking Wood, The Earth Environmental Group, and Environment '89, (re-named in later years Environment '90, '91, and '92) to implement Earthscore systems and prototypes. He co-founded The Gaia Institute, hosted at Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and co-directed it from 1985-1991. The Institute fostered dialogs between science, religion, and art through workshops, lectures, exhibitions and events. He was an artist-in-residence for Earth Environmental Group in 1988 via a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, and used the residency to carry out his video project "Nature in New York City," documenting city ecosystems and demonstrating how an eco-channel might work. Environment '89 organized a coordinated campaign for a cable channel devoted to the environment, the New York City Eco-channel for a Sustainable Tomorrow (NEST).

Ryan spent his later years as a professor of media production and theory at Savannah College of Art and Design, and then at the New School for Social Research. His work has been exhibited widely in the United States, including "The Primitivism Show" in The Museum of Modern Art (1984), "The American Century Show" at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1999-2000), and the Venice Biennale (2002). He died in 2013.

Provenance:

The papers of Paul Ryan were donated to the Archives of American Art by Ryan in 2008.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers and 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.

Occupation:

Video artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Monasticism and religious orders  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Prints

Illustrations

Video recordings

Writings

Citation:

Paul Ryan papers, 1931-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program.

Identifier:

AAA.ryanpaul

See more items in:

Paul Ryan papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw989287f33-5086-40f3-bd04-a4e270afabb3

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-ryanpaul

Creator:

Pearlstein, Philip, 1924-  Search this

Names:

WBAI Radio (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

WRFM (Radio station : New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Barnet, Will, 1911-2012  Search this

Blaine, Michael  Search this

Cantor, Dorothy  Search this

Close, Chuck, 1940-  Search this

Downes, Rackstraw  Search this

Dückers, Alexander, 1939-  Search this

Field, Richard  Search this

Haas, Richard, 1936-  Search this

Hampleman, Jean  Search this

Kelly, W. J.  Search this

Levine, Jack, 1915-2010  Search this

McCarthy, David, 1960-  Search this

Shaman, Sanford Sivitz  Search this

Storr, Robert  Search this

Tamburini, Fernando  Search this

Tsao, Vivian, 1950-  Search this

Updike, John  Search this

Viola, Jerome  Search this

Wallin, Leland  Search this

Ward, John  Search this

Warhol, Andy, 1928- -- Photographs  Search this

Witkin, Jerome  Search this

Yezzi, David  Search this

Extent:

31.8 Linear feet

16.68 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Interviews

Motion pictures (visual works)

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Slides (photographs)

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Video recordings

Date:

circa 1940-2008

Summary:

The papers of New York artist Philip Pearlstein measure 31.8 linear feet and 16.68 GB and date from circa 1940 to 2008. The collection is comprised of biographical material, correspondence, interviews and transcripts, writing projects and lectures, personal business records, printed material, three scrapbooks, photographs and moving images, documentary production material, digital records, sound and video recordings, and motion picture film that documents Pearlstein's career as a painter and educator.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York artist Philip Pearlstein measure 31.8 linear feet and 16.68 GB and date from circa 1940 to 2008. The collection is comprised of biographical material, correspondence, interviews and transcripts, writing projects and lectures, personal business records, printed material, three scrapbooks, photographs and moving images, documentary production material, digital records, sound and video recordings, and motion picture film that documents Pearlstein's career as a painter and educator.

Biographical material includes appointment books, several awards, annotated calendars, a catalogue raisonné working list, identification card, membership files, resumes, and one sound recording. Correspondence is with Will Barnet, Chuck Close, Rackstraw Downes, Richard Haas, Jack Levine, Robert Storr, John Updike, Leland Wallin, Jerome Witkin, family, galleries and museums, students, colleagues, artists, arts organizations, and includes a digital recording.

Also found are sound recordings and transcripts of interviews with Pearlstein by Vivian Tsao, Michael Blaine, Sanford Sivitz Shaman, David McCarthy, and broadcast stations WRFM and WBAI. Writing projects and lectures by Pearlstein consist of student work, numerous articles and essays, sound and video recordings of lectures and speeches, letters, memorials, miscellaneous manuscripts and notes, and a U.S. and U.S.S.R. Workshop Exchange project proposal. Writings by others about Pearlstein are by W.J. Kelly, Alexander Dückers, Richard Field, John Ward, Jerome Viola, Robert Storr, and David Yezzi.

Personal business records contain agreements, consignment and loan documents, donations, financial material, exhibition files, insurance and inventories, recommendations written by Pearlstein, reproduction permissions, digital recordings, and teaching files for various institutions. Art reproductions, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs for exhibitions of artwork by Pearlstein and others, magazines and journals, newsletters, postcards, and publicity files that include one digital recording are in printed materials.

Two scrapbooks are of Egyptian and Roman architecture and objects accompanied by notes and a small amount of sketches, and one scrapbook is printed material regarding Pearlstein's work and exhibitions. Artwork is by Jean Hampleman, Fernando Tamburini, and unidentified artists. Photographs and moving images that include video recordings and motion picture film of Pearlstein in the studio, portraits, and candids; personal photographs of family, travel, and classmates including Andy Warhol and Dorothy Cantor; artist's models; events and exhibitions; and works of art.

Completed and unedited video and sound recordings, computer graphics footage, soundtrack material, and administrative records for the 1985 documentary video production Philip Pearlstein Draws the Artist's Model are also in this collection.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 10 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1964-2008 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 1, 36, OV42)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1955-2008 (8.5 linear Feet; Boxes 1-10, OVs 42-43, 0.168 GB; ER01)

Series 3: Interviews and Transcripts, 1957-2003 (0.5 linear Feet; Box 10)

Series 4: Writing Projects and Lectures, circa 1945-2008 (2.5 linear Feet; Boxes 10-13, 37-38, 8.26 GB: ER02-ER13)

Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1955-2007 (1 linear Feet; Boxes 13-14, 3.77 GB: ER14-ER15)

Series 6: Printed Materials, 1946-2008 (3.0 linear Feet; Boxes 14-21, 36, OVs 42-43)

Series 7: Scrapbooks, circa 1953-1970s (0.4 linear Feet; Box 22)

Series 8: Artwork, undated, 1967-2004 (0.2 linear Feet; Box 22, OV 42)

Series 9: Photographs and Moving Images, 1940s-2008 (3.3 linear Feet; Boxes 22, 37, 39-41, 4.18 GB; ER16-ER18)

Series 10: Philip Pearlstein Draws the Artist's Model, Documentary Production Material, 1983-1991 (8.5 linear Feet; Boxes 23-30, SAV 31-35)

Biographical / Historical:

Philip Pearlstein (1924- ) is a painter and educator based in New York, N.Y.

Pearlstein was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and he attended classes at the Carnegie Museum of Art as a child. While still in high school, his paintings were reproduced in Life magazine after winning Scholastic magazine's high school art competition. After graduating from high school Pearlstein enrolled in the Carnegie Institute of Technology's (CIT) art school, but left after a year to serve in the Army during World War II. He gained knowledge of printing, drafting, and sign painting while stationed in Florida and Italy. After the war he returned to CIT as a student and became art editor of the engineering school's Carnegie Technical magazine. During this time Pearlstein met his wife, Dorothy Cantor, and became close friends with Andy Warhol, both classmates at CIT. Pearlstein moved to New York City with Warhol after receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1949. In 1955, he completed his thesis on Francis Picabia and received a Master of Arts in art history from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts.

As Pearlstein's career evolved, he became known for his realistic nudes and landscapes. Many of Pearlstein's paintings were inspired by his travels to the western United States, Peru, Egypt, and to Italy as a 1958 Fulbright Grant recipient. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally, and he has worked closely with the Tanager and Alan Frumkin Galleries in New York. In addition to his painting career, Pearlstein was an instructor at Pratt Institute from 1959 to 1963 and at Brooklyn College from 1963 to 1988. He is also a member of the National Academy of Design and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, serving as president from 2003 to 2006.

Pearlstein continues to work and live in New York, N.Y.

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Philip Pearlstein conducted by Paul Cumming, June 8 to August 10, 1972.

Provenance:

The papers were donated in multiple installments by Philip Pearlstein from 1975 to 2009.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings and born-digital records with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.

Rights:

Audio visual material "Philip Pearlstein Draws the Artists' Model": Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposese of publication requires written permission from Pearlstein or his heirs. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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

Topic:

Architecture -- Egypt  Search this

Architecture, Roman  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

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

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Motion pictures (visual works)

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Slides (photographs)

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Video recordings

Citation:

Philip Pearlstein papers, circa 1940-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.pearphil

See more items in:

Philip Pearlstein papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ae8de1cb-660c-49be-b009-d765ed771ebe

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-pearphil

Creator:

D'Harnoncourt, Rene, 1901-1968  Search this

Names:

American Federation of Arts  Search this

Art in America  Search this

Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Sarah Lawrence College -- Faculty  Search this

United States. Indian Arts and Crafts Board  Search this

Alvarez Bravo, Manuel, 1902-  Search this

Covarrubias, Miguel, 1904-1957  Search this

Durieux, Caroline, 1896-1989  Search this

Fosado, Víctor  Search this

Klumb, Henry, 1905-1984  Search this

Marriott, Alice  Search this

Tantaquidgeon, Gladys Iola  Search this

d'Harnoncourt, Sarah  Search this

Extent:

2.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Sketches

Scrapbooks

Drawings

Place:

Mexico -- description and travel

Date:

1921-1983

Summary:

The papers of Austrian born curator, lecturer, and museum director, René d'Harnoncourt (1901-1968), document d'Harnoncourt's activities, primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly as they relate to Mexican and Native American art. D'Harnoncourt's career, including his arrival in Mexico in 1925, his curation of the exhibitions, Mexican Art (1930-1932), and Indian Art of the United States (1941), and his work for the Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1937-1944, are documented in small amounts of biographical material and correspondence, published writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs of d'Harnoncourt and colleagues, and photographs of works of art. The collection also contains a drawing of d'Harnoncourt, and photocopies of caricatures of d'Harnoncourt and others.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of Austrian-American curator, lecturer, and museum director, René d'Harnoncourt (1901-1968), document d'Harnoncourt's activities, primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly as they relate to Mexican and Native American art. D'Harnoncourt's career, including his arrival in Mexico in 1925, his curation of the exhibitions, Mexican Art (1930-1932), and Indian Art of the United States (1941), and his work for the Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1937-1944, are documented in small amounts of biographical material and correspondence, published writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs of d'Harnoncourt and colleagues, and photographs of works of art. The collection also contains a drawing of d'Harnoncourt, and photocopies of caricatures of d'Harnoncourt and others.

Biographical material consists of d'Harnoncourt's official Austrian departure documents for his travel to Mexico in 1925; pages of an appointment book from 1932; and notes on d'Harnoncourt's career that index publications in which he is mentioned amongst other things, prepared by Sarah d'Harnoncourt.

Correspondence and memoranda relate primarily to the Mexican Arts exhibition, (1930-1932) sponsored by the American Federation of Arts; the "Art in America" radio program, organized by the American Federation of Arts with the cooperation of the Museum of Modern Art; d'Harnoncourt's part time teaching position at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville; and his appointment as General Manager of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Later correspondence references research on d'Harnoncourt's work for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, and includes information on d'Harnoncourt, provided in response to inquiries about him.

Writings by d'Harnoncourt include published articles on Mexican and Indian arts and crafts, a 1969 reprint of d'Harnoncourt's and Frederic H. Douglas's expanded version of the catalog for Indian Art of the United States, a foreword, and two seminar/symposium papers. Unpublished writings comprise two typescripts. The series also includes several writings by others.

Printed material includes announcements and exhibition catalogs, documentation of the "Art in America Program," published books belonging to and/or referencing d'Harnoncourt, Department of Interior publications, including some issued by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Museum of Modern art press releases, news clippings relating to d'Harnoncourt and his activities, and miscellaneous printed material.

Additional clippings from a dismantled scrapbook(s) document the Mexican Arts exhibition.

Artwork and artifacts include one original sketch in colored pencil of d'Harnoncourt by Austrian artist, Silverbauer, photocopies of caricatures and doodles by d'Harnoncourt, Miguel Covarrubias, and Caroline Durieux, and two Indian Arts and Crafts Board weaving samples.

Photographs are of d'Harnoncourt, Sarah d'Harnoncourt, and friends and colleagues. They include a photograph of d'Harnoncourt by Manuel Alvarez-Bravo; snapshots of others including Fred Davis; Sarah d'Harnoncourt and folk art specialist, Victor Fosado; fellow Indian Arts and Crafts Board members, architect Henry Klumb, Alice Marriot, and anthropologist, author, and tribal council member, Gladys Tantaquidgeon. Also found are three photographs of Mexican Art exhibition installations; fourteen photographs of Native Americans; three photographs showing covers and/or fronts pieces of d'Harnoncourts books Beast, Bird and Fish, Mexicana, The Hole in the Wall, and The Painted Pig; and photographs of artwork included in the Mexican Art exhibition and an exhibition of Australian Aboriginal Cave Paintings (1947).

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as seven series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1925-circa 1978 (5 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence and Memoranda, 1929-1981 (5 folders; Box 1)

Series 3: Writings, 1928-circa 1970s (0.4 linear feet; Box 1, OV 4)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1921-1979 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 4)

Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1930-1933 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 6: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1926-circa 1950s (3 folders; Box 3)

Series 7: Photographs, 1930-1983 (0.25 linear feet; Box 3, OV 4)

Biographical / Historical:

Austrian born curator, lecturer, and museum director, René d'Harnoncourt (1901-1968), was an authority on Native American art and Mexican arts and crafts. He curated and toured with a traveling exhibition, Mexican Art, from 1930-1932, guest curated the exhibition, Indian Art of the United States, for the Museum of Modern Art in 1941, served on the Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1937-1944, and was Director of the Museum of Modern Art from 1949-1968.

D'Harnoncourt was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1901. He left Austria for Mexico in 1925, and began working for American, Frederick Davis, who owned a shop that sold Mexican antiquities and folk art in Mexico City. At this time, d'Harnoncourt made many important connections, including meeting American Ambassador to Mexico, Dwight Morrow, and his wife, Elizabeth Morrow. D'Harnoncourt illustrated several books in the early 1930s, including The Painted Pig (1930) and Beast, Bird and Fish (1933), both written by Elizabeth Morrow, and The Hole in the Wall (1931) and Mexicana: A Book of Pictures (1931). According to Sarah d'Harnoncourt, her husband considered himself an amateur in the field of book illustration, which he enjoyed as a means of self-amusement.

In 1929, d'Harnoncourt was asked to curate an extensive exhibition of Mexican art to travel to major cities in the United States, sponsored by the American Federation of Arts. D'Harnoncourt toured with this exhibition, Mexican Art, for two years, beginning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in October, 1930.

D'Harnoncourt visited Austria briefly in 1932, then returned to the United States in 1933 and married Sarah Carr the same year. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1939.

Between 1933 and 1944, d'Harnoncourt directed the radio program "Art in America," organized by the American Federation of Arts in cooperation with the Museum of Modern Art. He also taught art history at Sarah Lawrence College from 1934-1937. In 1936 he began working for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the Department of the Interior, becoming General Manager in 1937, and the Board's Chairman in 1944. As General Manager he curated an exhibition on Indian art for the San Francisco Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939, and installed an expanded version of the exhibition, Indian Art of the United States, as guest curator for the Museum of Modern Art in 1940-1941.

In 1944, d'Harnoncourt joined the Museum of Modern Art as Vice President in charge of Foreign Activities, focusing his work on Latin America, and as Director of the Department of Manual Industries, responsible for the preservation of Native American art and culture. In 1949 he was appointed Director of the Museum of Modern Art, and served in this capacity until his death in an automobile accident in 1968.

Related Materials:

An oral history of René d'Harnoncourt, interviewed by Isabel Grossner in 1968, can be found at Columbia University, Oral History Research Office, 801 Butler Library, 535 West 114 Street, New York, NY 10027.

Separated Materials:

The bulk of René d'Harnoncourt's papers are in the Museum Archives of the Museum of Modern Art. The Museum's 59.25 linear feet document, in particular, d'Harnoncourt's years with the Museum from 1944-1968. That collection also includes papers donated by Sarah d'Harnoncourt which relate to d'Harnoncourt's time in Mexico, from 1925-1932, and his work in the United States from 1933-1944. While these holdings may overlap occasionally with the papers in the Archives of American Art (some items at the Archives of American Art, for instance, may be photocopies of originals at the Museum), the bulk of the Archives' d'Harnoncourt papers appear to be distinct from those at the Museum.

The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 2919-2931) including papers generated by d'Harnoncourt during his professional affiliation with the Museum of Modern Art, such as, personal files, three appointment notebooks, professional files including Latin American correspondence, exhibition files, files documenting outside affiliations, and departmental and special event files. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

D'Harnoncourt's widow, Sarah d'Harnoncourt, donated the René d'Harnoncourt papers to the Archives of American Art in 1975, 1981, and 1984. An additional eleven linear feet of material was lent by the Museum of Modern Art's for microfilming in 1983.

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:

Reels 2919-2931: Authorization to publish requires written permission from Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y. MoMA requires full citation to include microfilm reel and frame numbers, and reference to MoMA as the owner of the Rene d'Harnoncourt papers. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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:

Art museum directors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art, Mexican  Search this

Art, Aboriginal Australian  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Latino and Latin American artists  Search this

Indian art -- Exhibitions  Search this

Cave paintings -- Austrailia  Search this

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

Art, Latin American  Search this

Function:

Art museums -- New York (State)

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Sketches

Scrapbooks

Drawings

Citation:

René d'Harnoncourt papers, 1921-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.dharrene

See more items in:

René d'Harnoncourt papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9356d27d9-b5c7-460b-aed6-eb1caf6be354

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-dharrene

Creator:

Lippard, Lucy R.  Search this

Names:

Addison Gallery of American Art  Search this

Alliance for Cultural Democracy  Search this

Art Workers Coalition  Search this

Heresies Collective, Inc.  Search this

Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Political Art Documentation/Distribution (Organization)  Search this

Printed Matter, Inc.  Search this

Studio International (Firm)  Search this

University of Colorado -- Faculty  Search this

Women's Caucus for Art  Search this

Andre, Carl, 1935-  Search this

Chicago, Judy, 1939-  Search this

Darboven, Hanne  Search this

Edelson, Mary Beth  Search this

Hammond, Harmony  Search this

Henes, Donna  Search this

Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this

Judd, Donald, 1928-  Search this

LeWitt, Sol, 1928-2007  Search this

Pearson, Henry, 1914-2006  Search this

Stevens, May  Search this

Extent:

70.5 Linear feet

0.454 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Sound recordings

Interviews

Photographs

Date:

1930s-2010

bulk 1960-1990

Summary:

The papers of New York and New Mexico writer, art critic, and curator, Lucy R. Lippard, measure 70.5 linear feet and 0.454 GB and date from the 1930s to 2007, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1990s. Over half of the collection consists of correspondence files documenting Lippard's professional relationships with artists, writers, galleries, art institutions, and political organizations, and her interest in conceptual and minimalist art, feminism and political activism. Also found are Lippard's notes and writings including sound recordings and interviews, teaching and exhibition files, printed and digital material, several works of art, and photographs of artwork and artists. Scattered throughout the collection are a small number of records concerning Lippard's personal life. An addition of 3.0 linear feet donated 2015 includes subject files on feminist and conceptual art as well as land use, development, and local politics and history in New Mexico.

There is a 17.0 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2015 and 2021 that incudes research files (press clippings, notes, correspondence, ephemera) related to the publications 'Lure of the Local' and 'Undermining' are a significant portion. In addition there are approximetley 50 notebooks ranging from 1965-1996, containing notes and daily tasks. Printed material and ephemera includes promotional materials for talks and public engagements, as well as press clippings of reviews and other news items featuring Lippard. Another significant portion of the addition is labeled "miscellaneous professional correspondence."Materials date from circa 1965-2010.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York and New Mexico writer, art critic, and curator, Lucy R. Lippard, measure 70.5 linear feet and 0.454 GB and date from the 1930s to 2007, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1990s. Over half of the collection consists of correspondence files documenting Lippard's professional relationships with artists, writers, galleries, art institutions, and political organizations, and her interest in conceptual and minimalist art, feminism and political activism. Also found are Lippard's notes and writings including sound recordings and interviews, teaching and exhibition files, printed and digital material, several works of art, and photographs of artwork and artists. Scattered throughout the collection are a small number of records concerning Lippard's personal life. An addition of 3.0 linear feet donated 2015 includes subject files on feminist and conceptual art as well as land use, development, and local politics and history in New Mexico.

A small amount of biographical material comprises resumes and an address book.

Correspondence files document all aspects of Lippard's professional life including her relationships with artists such as Carl Andre, Judy Chicago, Hanne Darboven, Ray Johnson, Sol LeWitt, and Henry Pearson; feminist artists including Mary Beth Edelson, Harmony Hammond, Donna Henes, and May Stevens; political and art-related activist groups such as Alliance for Cultural Democracy, Art Workers Coalition, Political Art Documentation/Distribution, Printed Matter, and Women's Caucus for Art; galleries and museums including Addison Gallery of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art, and publishers including Art International and Art Forum. The series also traces the development of Lippard's involvement in activist causes including censorship and the rights of artists, Central America and the impact of U.S. policy on the region, and equality and reproductive rights for women, as well as her interest in conceptual and minimalist art. The series includes scattered artwork and photographs of artists.

Writings are primarily by Lippard and include correspondence, manuscript drafts, extensive notes, and publication records for some of her best-known books such as The Graphic Work of Philip Evergood (1966), Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object (1973), Eva Hesse (1976), Ad Reinhardt (1985), and Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America (1990), as well as essays for publications such as Art Forum and Studio International and contributions to exhibition catalogs. Also found are edited transcripts from conferences, symposia and interviews conducted by and of Lippard, some audio recordings of interviews and symposia, including an interview with Donald Judd, and notes and typescripts for lectures and speeches.

A small number of files document Lippard's teaching work during the 1970s and 1980s, primarily at the University of Colorado, Boulder where she taught several courses and seminars.

Exhibition files document Lippard's involvement with exhibitions she helped to organize or curate such as A Different War: Vietnam in Art (1989-1991) 557,087 and 955,000 (1969, 1970), 2,972, 453 (1971) c.7,500 (1973-1974) and those for which she wrote catalog contributions.

Printed material includes a collection of articles written by Lippard and a small amount of material concerning events, such as speaking engagements, in which Lippard was involved. Other printed material reflects Lippard's wide range of artistic, political and activist interests and documents exhibitions and performances and the activities of art-related and political groups. Material includes many exhibition catalogs, announcements, invitations, printed posters, news clippings, journal articles, brochures, pamphlets and other publications.

Artwork includes sixteen items by unidentified artists, including two by children. Photographs consist primarily of photographs of works of art in addition to a small number of photos of exhibition installations.

There is a 17.0 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2015 and 2021 that incudes research files (press clippings, notes, correspondence, ephemera) related to the publications 'Lure of the Local' and 'Undermining' are a significant portion. In addition there are approximetley 50 notebooks ranging from 1965-1996, containing notes and daily tasks. Printed material and ephemera includes promotional materials for talks and public engagements, as well as press clippings of reviews and other news items featuring Lippard. Another significant portion of the addition is labeled "miscellaneous professional correspondence."Materials date from circa 1965-2010.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as nine series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1960s-circa 1980s (Box 1; 2 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1950s-2006 (Boxes 1-28, 51, OVs 54-63; 28.8 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1930s-1990s (Boxes 28-41, 51-52, OVs 64-66; 13.24 linear feet, ER01; 0.454 GB)

Series 4: Teaching Files, 1966-1993 (Boxes 41, 52; 0.76 linear feet)

Series 5: Exhibitions, 1960s-1990s (Boxes 42-45, 52, OVs 67-68; 4.2 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1940s-2007 (Boxes 45-49, 52, OVs 69-77; 5.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork and Ephemera, circa 1960s-circa 1990s (Boxes 50, 53; 4 folders)

Series 8: Photographs, 1950s-circa 1990s (Boxes 50, 53, OV 71; 1.0 linear foot)

Series 9: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1965-2010, (Boxes 78-94; 17.0 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

New York and New Mexico writer and art critic, Lucy R. Lippard, is the curator of numerous exhibitions and the author of over twenty-four books and other writings that trace the emergence of minimalist and conceptual art and document Lippard's commitment to feminism and political activism.

Born in New York City in 1937, Lippard earned a B.A. from Smith College in 1958 and an M.A. in 1962 from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. In the 1960s she began writing art criticism for the journals Art International and Artforum. In 1966 she curated the landmark exhibition Eccentric Abstraction at the Fischbach Gallery in New York City. Lippard then curated the first of four defining conceptual art exhibitions that became known as her "numbers" shows, each titled after the populations of the cities in which they took place, with catalogs in the form of a set of 10 x 15 cm index cards. Opening at the Seattle Art Museum in 1969, 557,087 was followed by 955,000 in Vancouver, Canada, a few months later. 2,972,453 was held at the Centro de Arte y Comunicacíon in Buenos Aires in 1971 and c.7500 opened in Valencia, California, in 1973-1974 before traveling to several other venues in the United States and Europe.

Lippard's first book, The Graphic Work of Philip Evergood was published in 1966, followed by Pop Art the same year, and a collection of her early essays, Changing, in 1971. Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object (1973) and From the Center: Feminist Essays on Women's Art (1976) documented the emergence of conceptual art and the early years of feminist art respectively. In 1976 Lippard published her seminal book on the life and work of Eva Hesse.

Between 1977 and 1978 Lippard lived on a farm in Devon, England, and worked on a novel, The First Stone, about the role of politics in the lives of three generations of women. During her walks across the English countryside she became interested in landscape art and conceived of her book Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory which was subsequently published in 1983. Other books include Get the Message?: A Decade Of Art For Social Change (1984), Ad Reinhardt (1985), and Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America (1990). Lippard has also written regular columns on art and politics for the Village Voice, In These Times and Z Magazine, and has been a contributing editor of Art in America.

Lippard was radicalized during a trip to Argentina in 1968 when she was invited to be a juror at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. On her return to the United States she became heavily involved in anti-war activities and the Art Workers Coalition. She is a co-founder of several feminist and artist organizations including the feminist collective Heresies, which produced Heresies: A Feminist Journal on Art and Politics from 1977-1992, Ad Hoc Women Artists, Alliance for Cultural Democracy, Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America, Women's Action Coalition, and Women's Art Registry. In 1976 she was a founder of Printed Matter, a New York nonprofit dedicated to producing artists' publications. She also worked closely with Franklin Furnace, an artist-run space devoted to the promotion of artists' books, installation art, and video and performance art, and served on the organization's International Committee.

Lippard has been a visiting professor at the School of Visual Arts, the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the University of Queensland, Australia, and was Eminent Artist in Residence at the University of Wyoming Department of Art in 2015. She has received honorary doctorates in fine arts from Maine College of Art, the Massachusetts College of Art, Moore College of Art, San Francisco Art Institute, and others, and awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants in criticism, the Smith College Medal, the ArtTable Award for Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts, and the Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies Award for Excellence.

Lippard has lived in New Mexico since 1992 and works as a freelance writer and speaker.

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Lucy Lippard conducted in 2011 March 15, by Sue Heinemann, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts project, funded by a grant from the A G Foundation.

Provenance:

Lucy R. Lippard donated her papers in several increments between 1972-1995, 2006, 2015 and 2021.

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:

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

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

Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Artists -- Political activity  Search this

Art criticism  Search this

Feminism and art  Search this

Women authors  Search this

Women art critics  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Conceptual art  Search this

Minimal art  Search this

Women museum curators  Search this

Women educators  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Photographs

Citation:

Lucy R. Lippard papers, 1930s-2007, bulk 1960s-1990s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.lipplucy

See more items in:

Lucy R. Lippard papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9101c6a69-dde9-42ed-94cc-d03650c249ed

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lipplucy

Creator:

Selz, Peter Howard, 1919-2019  Search this

Names:

College Art Association of America  Search this

Institute of Design (Chicago, Ill.) (Faculty)  Search this

Marlborough Gallery  Search this

Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.)  Search this

San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (Calif.)  Search this

University of California, Berkeley. University Art Museum  Search this

Baykam, Bedri, 1957-  Search this

Beckmann, Max, 1884-1950  Search this

Benton, Fletcher, 1931-  Search this

Bergman, Ciel, 1938-  Search this

Bury, Pol, 1922-2005  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Chase-Riboud, Barbara  Search this

Christo, 1935-  Search this

Conner, Bruce, 1933-2008  Search this

Dubuffet, Jean, 1901-  Search this

Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956  Search this

Giacometti, Alberto, 1901-1966  Search this

Golub, Leon, 1922-2004  Search this

Graves, Morris, 1910-  Search this

Guston, Philip, 1913-1980  Search this

Hadzi, Dimitri, 1921-2006  Search this

Lebrun, Rico, 1900-1964  Search this

Lindner, Richard, 1901-1978  Search this

Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986  Search this

Onslow-Ford, Gordon  Search this

Paris, Harold, 1925-1979  Search this

Petlin, Irving, 1934-  Search this

Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Tinguely, Jean, 1925-  Search this

Extent:

31.5 Linear feet

0.696 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Video recordings

Place:

San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)

Date:

1929-2014

bulk 1950-2005

Summary:

The papers of art historian and writer Peter Howard Selz measure 31.5 linear feet and 0.696 GB and date from 1929 to 2018, with the bulk of the materials from 1950 to 2005. The papers document Selz's long career via correspondence, writings, professional files, project files, membership and association records, artists' research files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed and digital materials, and nine scrapbooks.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of art historian and writer Peter Howard Selz measure 31.5 linear feet and 0.696 GB and date from 1929 to 2018, with the bulk of the materials from 1950 to 2005. The papers document Selz's long career via correspondence, writings, professional files, project files, membership and association records, artists' research files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed and digital materials, and scrapbooks.

Correspondence is with colleagues, artists, museums, and galleries concerning a wide variety of topics, including exhibitions and publications. The bulk of the correspondence consists of alphabetical files (two linear feet) that includes correspondence with artists. Notable correspondents include Pol Bury, Alexander Calder, Gordon Onslow Ford, Alberto Giacometti, Morris Graves, Philip Guston, Dimitri Hadzi, Jacques Lipchitz, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Jean Tinguely, and others. Eight additional files of chronological correspondence is with curators, arts organizations, and publishers. Additional correspondence is found in the professional files, project files, membership files, artists' research files, and exhibition files.

The bulk of the writings series is comprised of files related to Selz's books and includes typescript drafts and galleys, printed and digital material, correspondence, and publishing contracts. Files are found for Art in Our Times, Art of Engagement, Beyond the Mainstream, and Theories of Modern Art. Other writings consist of drafts of articles, essays, notes, and lectures by Selz. Also included are writings by others, including materials related to Paul Karlstrom's biography of Selz.

Professional files document curatorial and teaching positions at the Chicago Institute of Design, Pomona College, University of California, Berkeley, and the Museum of Modern Art. The series includes contracts, recommendations, syllabi, and correspondence.

Project files document Selz's professional work on specific art projects, panels, and symposiums. There is extensive documentation of Selz's work as project director of Christo's Running Fence, as well as other environmental art work projects by Christo, the Berkeley Art Project, Disney Art Project, "Funk Art" symposium, and the "Art and Politics in the 20th Century" symposium. Project files contain a wide variety of materials, such as correspondence, printed material, financial records, reports, photographs, and other documents. There are 2 tape reels, 1 VHS, and 1 sound cassette.

Membership and association records document Selz's involvement with or membership in various art councils, trustee boards, such as the College Art Association, Art in Chicago Advisory Committee, Bay Area Rapid Transit (B.A.R.T.) Art Council, and the San Francisco Crafts and Folk Art Museum Advisory Board, among others. Materials include meeting minutes, bulletins, correspondence, and memoranda.

Artists' Research Files consist of a wide variety of research materials Selz compiled about artists for lectures, writings, projects, exhibitions, etc. Files vary and may include original and photocopied correspondence, photographic material, resumes, printed and digital material, and writings. There is also 1 sound cassette. Files are found for Bedri Baykam, Max Beckmann, Fletcher Benton, Ciel Bergman, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Bruce Conner, Jean Dubuffet, Lyonel Feininger, Leon Golub, Dimitri Hadzi, Rico Lebrun, Harold Paris, Irving Petlin, among many others.

Exhibition files include catalogs, reviews, clippings, writings, correspondence, and other material documenting exhibitions organized by Selz. Limited materials are found for the MOMA Art Nouveau exhibition. More extensive documentation is found for Seven Decades of Modern Art, 1895-1965, The Joint Show (1967), The American Presidency in Political Cartoons (1976), American Modern Art Between the Two World Wars (1979), German Realism in the Twenties: Artist As Social Critic (1980), Twelve Artists from the German Democratic Republic (1989), a Richard Lindner Retrospective (1996), Spaces of Nature (1999), Color and Fire: Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950-2000 (2000), and a Nathan Oliviera Retrospective (2002), among others. Some of the materials are in digital format.

Personal business records are related to the Mark Rothko estate and Kate Rothko's legal case against Marlborough Gallery, Inc. Also included in this series are Peter Selz's school transcripts, bequests, royalty statements, house designs, and other material.

Printed materials include clippings, prints of articles written by Peter Selz, exhibition announcements and invitations, and photocopies of artwork images.

There are nine disbound scrapbooks dating from the 1940s up through 2012 containing clippings, exhibition announcements, and photographs of art events, Selz, and artists. This series also includes materials from the 2018 addition that may have previously been compiled in binders.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged as 10 series. When possible the original order of Peter Selz was maintained. However, multiple accessions were merged and integrated.

Missing Title

Series 1: Correspondence, 1942-2013 (2.3 linear feet; Box 1-3, Box 37)

Series 2: Writings, 1942- circa 2014 (8.3 linear feet; Box 3-10, OV 32, Box 37, 0.035 GB; ER01, ER12)

Series 3: Professional Files, 1949-2012 (1 linear feet; Box 11, Box 37)

Series 4: Project Files, 1962-2015 (2.8 linear feet; Box 12-14, OV 33, Box 37)

Series 5: Membership and Association Records, 1958-2014 (1.1 linear feet; Box 14-15, Box 37)

Series 6: Artists' Research Files, 1955-2014 (7.9 linear feet; Box 15-22, OV 34-35, 0.520 GB; ER02-ER08)

Series 7: Exhibition Files, 1959-2014 (5.2 linear feet; Box 23-27, Box 38, 0.093 GB; ER09-ER11)

Series 8: Personal Business Records, 1929-2014 (1.2 linear feet; Box 28-29, OV 36, Box 38)

Series 9: Printed Material, 1957-2014 (0.3 linear feet; Box 29, Box 38)

Series 10: Scrapbooks, 1947-2018 (1.4 linear feet, Box 29-31, Box 38)

Biographical / Historical:

Peter Howard Selz (1919-2019) was a pioneering historian of modern art, professor, and writer who taught at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1965-1988 and founded and directed the Berkeley Art Museum from 1965-1973.

Selz was born in 1919 in Munich, Germany to Eugene Selz and Edith Drey Selz. In 1936, the family fled Nazi Germany and immigrated to the United States. Selz attended Columbia University from 1937 to 1938 and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. During World War II, Selz served in the U.S. Army in the Office of Strategic Services. He married writer Thalia Cheronis in 1948 but they later divorced in 1965; he married several times afterwards.

After the war, Selz attended and taught at the University of Chicago where he received a Ph. D. in German Expressionism. He spent a year in Paris, 1949-1950, at the Sorbonne and École du Louvre on a Fulbright grant. He received a second Fulbright grant in 1953 to study at the Royal Museums of Art and History in Belgium. From 1953-1955, Selz also taught at the Chicago Institute of Design.

In 1955 Peter Selz accepted a position to chair the art history department at Pomona College in Claremont and relocated to California for a few years. He also became director of the college's art gallery.

In 1958 Selz moved to New York City to become curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art and was there through the transformative mid-1960s. While at MOMA, he organized several significant exhibitions of modern art, including the 1960 Jean Tinguely "Homage to New York," a sculpture that destroyed itself (and started a fire) in the sculpture garden of the museum; New Images of Man (1959), the Art Nouveau show (1960), and the Art of Assemblage (1961). He also launched important retrospectives, including the first Rodin retrospective in the United States and a comprehensive exhibition of Alberto Giacometti's work in 1965.

In 1965, Peter Selz returned to California to become the founding director of the Berkeley Art Museum at the University of California, Berkeley, a position he held until 1973. He organized exhibitions of Funk, film, and ceramicists like Peter Voulkos and Robert Arneson. Peter Selz later became project director for Christo's "Running Fence", the 24.5-mile long fabric fence over the Marin County hills in 1976. He also served concurrently as a professor of art history at UC until retiring in 1988.

Peter Selz was a member of the College Art Association's board of directors for two terms, 1958-1964 and 1966-1971. Selz is a prolific writer, and the author or co-author of numerous books, exhibition catalogs, and articles. Notable books include German Expressionist Painting (1957), Art in a Turbulent Era (1965), Art in Our Times (1981), and Sam Francis (1975).

In 1988 Peter Selz was named emeritus professor at University of California, Berkeley. In 1993 he was on the acquisitions committee of the Museums of Fine Arts, San Francisco. In 2012, Selz curated The Painted Word exhibition. Selz died in 2019 in Albany, California.

Related Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds oral history interviews of Peter Selz conducted by Paul J. Karlstrom on July 28, 1982, October 12, 1982, and November 3, 1999.

Provenance:

The Peter Howard Selz papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Peter Selz in multiple installments from 1976 through 2014. Additional papers were donated in 2018 by Gabrielle Selz, Peter Selz's daughter.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Authors -- California -- Berkeley  Search this

Art historians -- California -- Berkeley  Search this

Topic:

Realism  Search this

Political cartoons  Search this

Pop art  Search this

Environment (Art)  Search this

Painting, Abstract  Search this

Ceramics  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching -- California  Search this

Art -- Political aspects  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Exhibitions  Search this

Art -- Germany  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Video recordings

Citation:

Peter Howard Selz papers, 1929-2018, bulk 1950-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the 2014 processing of this collection was provided by the Frederick Hammersley Foundation. Funding for the processing of the 2018 addition was provided by Gerald and Bente Buck.

Identifier:

AAA.selzpete

See more items in:

Peter Howard Selz papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ce9d9d14-7599-455d-828d-57077e76ef17

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-selzpete

Interviewee:

Sekula, Allan, 1951-2013  Search this

Interviewer:

Panzer, Mary, 1955-  Search this

Subject:

Altoon, John  Search this

Antin, David  Search this

Antin, Eleanor  Search this

Ascott, Roy  Search this

Braderman, Joan  Search this

Baldessari, John  Search this

Barthes, Roland  Search this

Becker, Howard  Search this

Bercovitch, Sacvan  Search this

Beveridge, Karl  Search this

Bo Diddley  Search this

Brach, Paul  Search this

Burch, Noël  Search this

Burn, Ian  Search this

Captain Beefheart  Search this

Charlesworth, Sarah  Search this

Chayefsky, Paddy  Search this

Conde, Carol  Search this

Connell, Brian  Search this

Evans, Walker  Search this

Farber, Manny  Search this

Feldman, Ronald  Search this

Folks, Homer  Search this

Fox, Terry  Search this

Fried, Howard  Search this

Ginsberg, Allen  Search this

Graham, Dan  Search this

Graves, Michael  Search this

Halleck, DeeDee  Search this

Hanhardt, John G.  Search this

Hassan, Ihab  Search this

Hayes, Woody  Search this

Heinecken, Robert  Search this

Higgins, Dick  Search this

Hine, Lewis Wickes  Search this

Kienholz, Edward  Search this

Kirschenbaum, Baruch David  Search this

Knowles, Alison  Search this

König, Kasper  Search this

Kosuth, Joseph.  Search this

Kozloff, Max  Search this

Kramer, Hilton  Search this

Krauss, Rosalind E.  Search this

Liebling, Jerome  Search this

Lifson, Ben  Search this

Little Richard  Search this

Lonidier, Fred  Search this

Lord, Catherine  Search this

Lunn, Harry  Search this

Mac Low, Jackson  Search this

Mandel, Mike  Search this

Matta  Search this

Mayer, Grace M.  Search this

Michelson, Annette  Search this

O'Doherty, Brian  Search this

Pommer, Richard  Search this

Ramsden, Mel  Search this

Raskin, Jef  Search this

Reagan, Ronald  Search this

Rosler, Martha  Search this

Ross, David A.  Search this

Ruby, Jay  Search this

Ruscha, Edward  Search this

Salle, David  Search this

Salvesen, Britt  Search this

Schimmel, Paul  Search this

Segalove, Ilene  Search this

Stein, Sally  Search this

Steinmetz, Philip  Search this

Sultan, Larry  Search this

Van Riper, Peter  Search this

Wakoski, Diane  Search this

Wall, Jeff  Search this

Artforum  Search this

California Institute of the Arts  Search this

The Ohio State University  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

Students for a Democratic Society (U.S.)  Search this

University of California, San Diego  Search this

Type:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Citation:

Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Allan Sekula, 2011 August 20-2012 February 14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Activism  Search this

Antisemitism  Search this

Architecture  Search this

Art -- Exhibitions -- Economic aspects  Search this

Art -- History  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Conceptual art  Search this

Documentary photography  Search this

Korean War, 1950-1953  Search this

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

Photography  Search this

Realism  Search this

World War, 1914-1918  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)16239

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)370420

AAA_collcode_sekula11

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_370420

Creator:

Cowin, Eileen  Search this

Names:

California State University, Fullerton -- Faculty  Search this

Franconia College -- Faculty  Search this

Chiarenza, Carl  Search this

Curran, Darryl, 1935-  Search this

Gonzalez, Maria  Search this

Heinecken, Robert, 1931-  Search this

Korsower, Ellen  Search this

Larson, William  Search this

Siskind, Aaron  Search this

Extent:

20.1 Linear feet

29.56 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Sketchbooks

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Drawings

Date:

circa 1900-2020

Summary:

The papers of Los Angeles photo and video artist Eileen Cowin measure 20.1 linear feet and 29.56 GB and date from circa 1900 to 2020. The papers include biographical materials consisting of school records, identification cards, an interview transcript, and other personal files; personal and professional correspondence; writings for essays, video art pieces, panels, and lectures; teaching files; project files containing grant and fellowship records, files for Cowin's Los Angeles Metro Public Art Project, and other commission files; exhibition files documenting Cowin's group and solo exhibitions including Still (and all): Eileen Cowin, 1971-1998, a retrospective of Cowin's work; printed material; video artwork including laserdiscs of ...and Their Daughter Married a Prince, "Speaking Woman," and "Scarcely Had They Uttered," as well as sketches and and etching of family; photographic material of Cowin, family, friends and colleagues, proofs and prints of works; and personal business records consisting of artwork donation records, business records with galleries, and insurance and inventory lists.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of Los Angeles photo and video artist Eileen Cowin measure 20.1 linear feet and 29.56 GB and date from circa 1900 to 2020. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, writings, teaching files, project files, exhibition files, printed and digital material, artwork and sketchbooks, sound and video recordings, and photographic material.

Biographical material consists of diplomas, passports, rolodexes, faculty identification cards, legal papers, interview transcripts, and miscellaneous documents in hard copy and digital formats.

Personal and professional correspondence is with family, friends, artists, collectors, gallery owners, museums, and universities. Notable correspondents include Carl Chiarenza, Darryl Curran, Maria Gonzalez, Robert Heinecken, Ellen Korsower, William Larson, and Aaron Siskind.

Writings include notebooks, annotated appointment calendars and wall calendars, lectures, essays, drafts and notes, artists statements, guest registers, and some writings by others. A few lectures and one essay are on sound and digital video recordings.

Teaching files are mostly related to material from California State University, Fullerton. There are a few documents from Franconia College and other universities where Eileen Cowin taught workshops or had faculty appointments. The files include student evaluations, promotion notifications, and limited correspondence.

Project files include professional files, such as grant applications, artist residencies, and symposiums. Also found are art project proposals, publication agreements for art projects, and commissions,. Files contain correspondence, printed and digital material, application forms, research notes, and photographic material.

Exhibition files include announcements, catalogs, reviews, correspondence, price lists of artwork, and assorted material for Eileen Cowin's group and solo shows.

Printed material consists primarily of clippings, exhibition catalogs, announcements, books, periodicals, and clippings.

Artwork includes 26 videocassettes of Cowin's artwork, 1 sketchbook, drawings, 4 digital audio recordings, and a few college art projects.

Photographic material includes press prints, digital photographs, proofs, contact sheets, slides, negatives, transparencies, and test shots. There are photographs of installations and artwork as well as images for exhibition mock-ups. There are also batches of "research photographs" which were used for reference. Also included are portraits and snapshots of Cowin, photographs of Cowin with friends and colleagues, and photographs of family.

Personal business records consisting of equipment lists for insurance, gallery files, addresses and contacts, and artwork donation files.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 10 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1927-2015 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 1, 24, ER01; 0.016 GB)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1969-2018 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-4, 24, 28, ER02-ER03; 0.199 GB)

Series 3: Writings, 1963-2014 (2.4 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, 24-25, ER04-ER06; 11.88 GB)

Series 4: Teaching Files, 1974-2008 (0.3 linear feet, Boxes 6, 25, ER07; 0.171 GB)

Series 5: Project Files, 1979-2019 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 25-26, OV 30, ER08; 9.35 GB)

Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1979-2012 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 26, ER09; 0.001 GB)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1966-2014 (2.6 linear feet; Boxes 8-10, 17, 26, OV 20, ER10; 0.011 GB)

Series 8: Artwork and Sketchbooks, 1964-2014 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 10-13, 17, 26, 28, ER11; 0.076 GB)

Series 9: Photographic Material, circa 1900-2020 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 13-16, 18-19, 26-28, OVs 21, 31-32, ER12-ER13; 7.86 GB)

Series 10: Personal Business Records, 1972-2017 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 27-28)

Biographical / Historical:

Eileen Cowin (1947-) is a photographer and video artist who lives in Los Angeles, California.

Eileen Cowin was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1947. She graduated from the State University of New York, New Paltz in 1968 and received her master's degree in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago in 1970. At IIT, she studied with Aaron Siskind and Arthur Siegel.

Cowin was involved in the L.A. experimental photography scene that began in the mid-1970s led by Robert Heinecken and Darryl Curran. In the early 1980s, Cowin gained initial prominence with staged photographs of family and friends in various roles, work in keeping with The Pictures Generation emerging at the same time on the East Coast.

From 1971-1975, Cowin taught photography at Franconia College in New Hampshire, and later became a professor at California State University, Fullerton, where she continued to teach until retiring in 2008.

Cowin's artwork has been featured in over 40 solo exhibitions and over 165 group exhibitions in the United States and abroad. She has received numerous awards for her art and worked on many public art projects.

Provenance:

The Eileen Cowin papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Eileen Cowin in 2015 and 2021.

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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

One box of correspondence with Michael Dorris and Louise Erdrich and one box of correspondence with Robert Fichter are ACCESS RESTRICTED; use requires written permission.

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:

Video artists -- California  Search this

Photographers -- California  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Drawings

Citation:

Eileen Cowin papers, circa 1900-2020. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.cowieile

See more items in:

Eileen Cowin papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw94268d668-090e-4f26-9621-4e5d875f9d26

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-cowieile

Creator:

Taylor, Joshua C., 1917-1981,  Search this

Subject:

National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.)  Search this

National Museum of American Art (U.S.)  Search this

Citation:

Joshua Charles Taylor papers, 1931-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Art, American -- Study and teaching -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Theme:

Diaries  Search this

Research and writing about art  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)5876

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208716

AAA_collcode_tayljosh

Theme:

Diaries

Research and writing about art

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208716

Creator:

Turner, Lorenzo Dow, 1890-1972  Search this

Names:

Fisk University  Search this

Howard University  Search this

Roosevelt University  Search this

Turner, Geneva Calcier  Search this

Turner, Lorenzo Dow, 1890-1972  Search this

Extent:

23.97 Linear feet (20 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Audiovisual materials

Field recordings

Photographs

Photographic prints

Maps

Correspondence

Date:

1895 - 1972

Summary:

The collection, which dates from 1895 to 1972 and measures 23.97 linear feet, documents the career and travels of Professor Lorenzo Dow Turner. The collection is comprised of correspondence, academic papers, research materials, books, newspaper and journal articles, sound recordings, and photographs.

Arrangement note:

The collection is arranged in the following series:

Series 1: Biographical

Series 2: Academic Career

Series 3: Writings

Series 4: Research

Series 5: Photographs

Series 6: Sound Recordings

Series 7: Printed Materials

Biographical/Historical note:

Lorenzo Dow Turner was born in Elizabeth City, N.C. in 1895. He earned his B.A. in 1914 from Howard University; in 1917, he received an M.A. in English from Harvard University. He received his doctorate in English from the University of Chicago in 1926 while simultaneously serving as chairman and professor of the Department of English at Howard from 1917 to 1928. He held the same positions at Fisk University in Nashville from 1929 to 1946. In 1946 he accepted a professorship in the English department at Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he remained as professor of English and lecturer in African Cultures until his retirement in 1970. Turner was professor emeritus at Roosevelt until his death at age 77 in 1972. Turner's professional and academic interests encompassed both English and linguistics. A noted scholar of African languages and linguistics, he learned numerous West African languages, mastering five of them. He was a noted authority on Gullah, a Creole language spoken in the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia.

Related Archival Materials note:

Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers at Northwestern University Library

Restrictions:

Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.

Topic:

Sea Islands Creole dialect  Search this

African languages -- Study and teaching -- United States  Search this

Linguistics -- Research -- United States  Search this

Genre/Form:

Audiovisual materials

Field recordings

Photographs

Photographic prints

Maps

Correspondence

Citation:

Lorenzo Dow Turner papers,Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Lois Turner Williams.

Identifier:

ACMA.06-017

See more items in:

Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers

Archival Repository:

Anacostia Community Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa7bf5c3bd8-0ec9-4bc9-810c-3857a6a7420e

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-acma-06-017

Creator:

Taylor, Joshua C. (Joshua Charles), 1917-1981  Search this

Names:

National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.)  Search this

National Museum of American Art (U.S.)  Search this

Extent:

20.3 Items (linear ft. (partially microfilmed))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1931-1982

Scope and Contents:

The papers of museum director and art historian Joshua Charles Taylor, measure 20.3 linear feet and date from 1931-1982 and include biographical information, correspondence, writings, works of art, a scrpabook, photographs, teaching material and printed material. Biographical information consists of curriculum vitae, bibliographies, and a military honorable discharge certificate. Correspondence is with students and others. Writings include journals 1967, 1969, 1978-1981. Works of art consist of 12 sketchbooks and sketches by Taylor and others. A scrapbook contains programs, photographs, and clippings concerning puppet shows, musical reviews, symphony concerts, and plays, 1933, 1935-1941. Writings include notes, manuscripts, and typescripts for forewords, publications and lectures. photographs and slides are of Taylor, others and artwork. Taylor;s teaching material regards the University of Chicago and includes minutes of meetings, class lists and course outlines, and students' papers.

Biographical / Historical:

Museum director, art historian; Washington, D.C. Taylor was born in Oregon and received his B.A. from Reed College in 1939. He taught theater and served in World War II before completing his M.F.A. and Ph.D. in Art History at Princeton. For more than twenty years he was professor of art history and humanities at the University of Chicago. In 1970 he became the director of the National Museum of American Art (then the National Collection of Fine Arts) a position he held until his death in 1981.

Provenance:

Material on reels 2228-2232 and 14 feet of unmicrofilmed material donated 1981 by Mrs. Stanley Johnson and Mrs. William Wuorinen, sisters of Joshua C. Taylor. Additional 2 feet of additional material was transferred from the National Museum of American Art, 1982-1984.

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.

Occupation:

Art historians  Search this

Art museum directors  Search this

Topic:

Art, American -- Study and teaching -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Function:

Art museums -- Washington (D.C.)

Identifier:

AAA.tayljosh

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw958ca7a5d-5715-4821-ac37-92e5f3b3527a

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-tayljosh

Creator:

Finkel, Bruria, 1932-  Search this

Extent:

15.3 Linear feet

83.815 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Photographs

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Date:

1953-2020

Summary:

The papers of California artist, curator, and educator Bruria Finkel measure 15.3 linear feet and 83.815 GB, and date from 1953 to 2021. This collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, writings, project files, professional records, exhibition files, artists' files, personal business records, printed and digital materials, photographic materials, and sound and video recordings.

There is a 3.2 linear foot and .225 GB unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 and 2022 that includes photographs, film photo slides and slides of works of art; printed material; biographical material; research material regarding papermaking in Japan; journals; project and exhibition files; interviews with Bruria and others on audio cassette, mini DVs and ¼ inch reels; and 16 mm film "Bruria" sequence from Art in America Part 5- Art Careers; and a video, Artist Talk with Bruria Finkel, October 21, 2021, created by the Southern California Women Caucus for the Arts for Third Thursday Artist Talk Time. Material dates from circa 1960-2021.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of California artist, curator, and educator Bruria Finkel measure 15.3 linear feet and 83.815 GB, and date from 1953 to 2021. This collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, writings, project files, professional records, exhibition files, artists' files, personal business records, printed and digital materials, photographic materials, and sound and video recordings.

Biographical materials include curriculum vitae, art portfolios, documents about studios, honors and awards, website designs and contents, travel documents, family-related video recordings, and miscellaneous items.

The bulk of the correspondence consists of professional correspondence with artists, curators, museums, and galleries about exhibitions. There is some personal correspondence with friends and family.

Writings include an annotated appointment calendar, book proposals, notes, and typescript drafts of statements and articles by Bruria Finkel, along with some writing by others.

Project files include correspondence, proposals, designs, photographic material, notes, budgets, reports, invoices, and printed and digital materials. Notable projects include the Natural Elements Sculpture Park, Tibet Project, and Verona Hotel Wall.

Professional records document Finkel's feminist and political activities. There are membership records of organizations, councils, and committees in addition to files on symposiums, conferences, workshops, and artist residencies. This series includes reports, correspondence, grant applications, mailing lists, presentations, video cassettes and digital video recordings, and other material.

Exhibition files contain material related to exhibitions that featured Bruria Finkel's work as well as exhibitions she curated. There are press releases, reviews, catalogs, correspondence, photographs, digital photographs, slides, price lists, resumes, videocassettes, and digital video recordings. Major exhibitions include Across Time, Space and The Ages (1992-1993), On Xenophobia and Walls (1997), and Women Artists of Southern California Then and Now (2007).

Artists' files consist of limited correspondence, resumes, photographs, and printed and digital materials.

Personal business records include assorted financial and legal documents such as price lists, sales invoices, contracts, and a financial ledger.

Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, clippings, newspapers, magazines, documentaries, and news programs. Some of the materials are in digital format. Most of the material is related to Bruria Finkel, but there is some material on other artists and subjects.

Photographic materials include photographs, digital photographs, and slides. Photographs are of Bruria Finkel, her artwork, projects, and exhibitions. There are some photographs of family, friends, and travel.

There is a 3.2 linear foot and .225 GB unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 and 2022 that includes photographs, film photo slides and slides of works of art; printed material; biographical material; research material regarding papermaking in Japan; journals; project and exhibition files; interviews with Bruria and others on audio cassette, mini DVs and ¼ inch reels; and 16 mm film "Bruria" sequence from Art in America Part 5- Art Careers; and a video, Artist Talk with Bruria Finkel, October 21, 2021, created by the Southern California Women Caucus for the Arts for Third Thursday Artist Talk Time. Material dates from circa 1960-2021.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 11 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1977-circa 2014 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, 15.64 GB; ER01-ER13)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1953-2014 (2.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)

Series 3: Writings, 1978-circa 2010 (0.2 linear feet; Box 4)

Series 4: Project Files, 1979-2014 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, OV 14, 2.01 GB; ER14-ER20)

Series 5: Professional Records, 1971-2013 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, OV 14, 0.941 GB; ER21-ER22)

Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1972-2012 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 7-10, OV 15, 54.34 GB; ER23-ER49)

Series 7: Artists' Files, 1979-2013 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 10-11, 4.47 GB; ER50-ER55)

Series 8: Personal Business Records, 1977-2007 (0.2 linear feet; Box 11)

Series 9: Printed Materials, 1970-2014 (1 linear feet; Boxes 11-12, OV 15-16, 1.01 GB; ER56-ER58)

Series 10: Photographic Materials, circa 1963-2014 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 12-13, 5.18 GB; ER59-ER66)

Series 11: Unprocessed Addition, 2021 and 2022 (Boxes 17-19, OV 20-21, .225 GB)

Biographical / Historical:

Bruria Finkel (1932-) is an artist, curator and teacher based in Santa Monica, California.

Bruria Finkel was born in Jerusalem in 1932. She studied animal husbandry at Ayanot Agriculture School and received a teaching degree from Seminar Hakibutzim in Tel Aviv, Israel. In 1953, she married a musician and immigrated to the U.S. Their two daughters were born in New York City. In 1959, she divorced and moved to Santa Monica, California with her children. She later married David Finkel, a civil rights lawyer who went on to become a Superior Court judge, with whom she had a son and daughter.

Finkel works with a variety of mediums including pottery, paper, painting, porcelain, and sculpture. She has exhibited widely and her work has been featured in galleries and museums in California, across the country, and abroad. Major exhibitions include Across Time, Space and The Ages (1992-1993) at the Dusseldorf Stadtmuseum in Germany, On Xenophobia and Walls (1997) at the Mill Gallery in England, and The Complete Aleph Series (2009) at Track 16 Gallery in California.

In addition to being a prolific artist, Finkel also has a successful career as a curator. She has curated major exhibitions featuring artists such as Lita Albuquerque, John Baldessari, and Frank Gehry. Santa Monica Originals (2004-2005), Women Artists of Southern California Then and Now (2007), and Breaking in Two: Provocative Images of Motherhood (2012) are a few of the exhibitions she has curated.

Finkel has a long history of political activism and advocating for women. She helped establish the Santa Monica Arts Commission which is dedicated to creating city art programs. She is also a founding member of the Los Angeles County of Women Artists and Womenspace Gallery in Los Angeles. She continues to be actively involved in the Santa Monica community and art scene.

Provenance:

The Bruria Finkel papers were donated in 2015 and 2020-2022 by Bruria Finkel.

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 and born-digital records 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:

Sculptors -- California  Search this

Curators -- California  Search this

Photographers -- California  Search this

Painters -- California  Search this

Educators -- California  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Political activists  Search this

Feminism and art  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

Women photographers  Search this

Women educators  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Citation:

Bruria Finkel papers, 1953-2021. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.finkbrur

See more items in:

Bruria Finkel papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f7f8c06a-1c5c-4b40-8ef9-338b4828d241

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-finkbrur

Creator:

Sarchiapone, Cosmos Andrew, 1931-2011  Search this

Names:

Parsons School of Design -- Faculty  Search this

Push Pin Studios  Search this

School of Visual Arts (New York, N.Y.) -- Faculty  Search this

Arbus, Diane, 1923-1971  Search this

Cage, John, 1912-1992  Search this

Glaser, Milton  Search this

Hay, Alex  Search this

Huebler, Douglas  Search this

Israel, Marvin  Search this

Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this

Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923-  Search this

Scull, Robert C.  Search this

Sonneman, Eve  Search this

Extent:

49.2 Linear feet

0.367 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Drawings

Ephemera

Illustrations

Music

Photocopies

Photographs

Posters

Prints

Sketchbooks

Sound recordings

Video recordings

Place:

New York (State) -- New York City -- Photographs

Date:

circa 1860-2011

bulk 1940-2011

Summary:

The papers of New York City photographer, conceptual artist, and musical composer Cosmos Sarchiapone measure 49.2 linear feet and 0.367 GB and date from circa 1860-2011, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1940-2011. The collection includes biographical material and personal business records; correspondence; extensive writings, including written and recorded music compositions; teaching files; printed material and published sound and video recordings; photographic material; artwork; artifacts; and unpublished sound recordings and born-digital material. Highlights of the collection are more than 40,000 photographic images documenting New York's avant-garde art scene of the 1970s, along with celebrity parties, concerts, exhibition openings and other occasions in the art, music, and theater world. Extensive and somewhat rare printed materials offer users a visual chronical of the downtown art world in the form of posters from the 1970s, including a number of Milton Glaser's, and hundreds of exhibition announcements, theater programs, and playbills.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York City photographer, conceptual artist, and musical composer Cosmos Sarchiapone measure 49.2 linear feet and 0.367 GB and date from circa 1860-2011, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1940-2011. The collection includes biographical material and personal business records; correspondence; extensive writings, including written and recorded music compositions; teaching files; printed material and published sound and video recordings; photographic material; artwork; artifacts; and unpublished sound recordings and born-digital material. Highlights of the collection are more than 40,000 photographic images documenting New York's avant-garde art scene of the 1970s, along with celebrity parties, concerts, exhibition openings and other occasions in the art, music, and theater world. Extensive and somewhat rare printed materials offer users a visual chronical of the downtown art world in the form of posters from the 1970s, including a number of Milton Glaser's, and hundreds of exhibition announcements, theater programs, and playbills.

Biographical material and personal business records include address books, calendars, legal paperwork, life documents, resumes, and other material. Correspondence is both personal and professional in nature. Personal correspondence is between Cosmos and friends, family, and pen pals. Professional correspondence is with curators, publishers, and estates and mostly concerns Cosmos's artwork, photographs, or objects he lent for exhibition or publication.

Writings include general writings and notes, including a book layout for a book never realized; fifteen notebooks containing Cosmos's writings about projects, dreams, and miscellany; music compositions in both written form and on sound recordings; and scattered writings by others, including manuscripts and theater scripts.

Teaching files document photography courses taught by Cosmos at the School of Visual Arts in 1974-1976, and the Parsons School of Design in 1980.

Printed materials and commercially published sound and video recordings in the collection are extensive and reflect Cosmos's unique interests and inspirations, and his tendency to save and collect material discarded or rejected by others. There are books and periodicals featuring Cosmos's work, annotated by Cosmos, or of special significance to Cosmos. There is also a list of books in Cosmos's library. Some of the periodicals concern Push Pin Studios and Milton Glaser. There is a large group of ephemera, such as announcements, catalogs, press releases, programs, playbills, posters, and assorted items covering several decades of New York exhibitions, events, concerts, and performances. There are posters for exhibitions, events, performances, film screenings, and concerts. Some of the clippings and other ephemera may have been removed from scrapbooks or other compilations, and some remain collated and mounted on mat board. Some of the printed materials may have been used by Cosmos as source materials.

Photographic material makes up a significant portion of the collection (14.5 linear feet), and illustrates the breadth of Cosmos's documentation of New York City, capturing the avant-garde art and theater worlds, the people and streets, self-portraits, and numerous other subjects. There are images of named people and people at parties, of exhibitions and performances, of New York City streets and buildings, of a more personal and family nature, of artwork, and of miscellaneous subjects. There are also collected photographs, some of which are vintage. There is a large group of unidentified and unsorted negatives, slides, and contact sheets. Where they existed, labeling and descriptive notes have been preserved with the unidentified materials.

Artwork is also quite extensive (10.5 linear feet) and found in a variety of genre, format, and media. There is also a small subseries of artwork by others. One group of artwork consists of titled or named art projects and series, often executed in the form of series that spanned decades. This group includes Cosmos's Reciprocal project that incorporated his photographic work. For this project, he would photograph notable figures, including John Cage, Robert Scull, and others, and ask them to photograph him. There are also several folders of Cosmos's work focusing on photographer Diane Arbus.

A group of artwork identified as "compilations" consist primarily of photocopies of compiled presentations of documents, photographs, fragments, writings, drawings, printed materials and ephemera, and bits and pieces of Cosmos's titled work. These compilations were prepared by Cosmos for individuals in the art world to whom he was close. The original compilations were then photocopied and presented to the intended receiver. The subseries of compilations contains both originals and photocopied versions that do not always correlate with one another. Also found among the artwork are drawings, illustrations, a few paintings, collages, and sketchbooks by Cosmos. Artwork by others includes an artist book, drawings, a sketchbook, and prints by Milton Glaser, Alex Hay, Douglas Huebler, Marvin Israel, Ray Johnson, Ellsworth Kelly, and Eve Sonneman.

Found within the collection are three dimensional artifacts, including eight cameras and other items Cosmos saved and collected to incorporate into his photographs.

There is a large series of unpublished sound recordings and born-digital material, some of which is clearly identified and labeled, and some of which is unidentified. When known, labeling has been incorporated into the folder titles in the container inventory. Users should note that sound recordings that were clearly identified and associated with other projects were arranged in context with those related materials.

Printed material (series 5), photographic material (series 6), and artwork (series 7), include many photocopies. Cosmos used the photocopy process to make copies of his work to share with others, and as a creative form of art in itself, experimenting with tonality, collage, and the degeneration of images from repeated copying. Photocopies were also made of articles, newspapers, and various source material and ephemera that he collected. Many photocopies have descriptive labeling on the back. For some photographs and projects, photocopies are the only form of documentation located in the collection.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as nine series

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material and Personal Business Records, circa 1949-2011 (1 linear foot; Box 1, 44, OV 49)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1940s-2011 (.7 linear feet; Box 1-2)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1947-2000s (4.2 linear feet; Box 2-6, 44, OV 50-51)

Series 4: Teaching Files, 1970s-1980s (1.9 linear feet; Box 6-8, 44, OV 52)

Series 5: Printed Material, Published Sound, Video Recordings, 1894-2000s (8.3 linear feet; Box 8-13, 44-45, OV 53-73, RD 105)

Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1860-2000s, bulk 1970-2010 (14.5 linear feet; Box 14-26, 46-47, OV 74-80)

Series 7: Artwork, 1947-2000s (10.5 linear feet; Box 27-34, 47-48, OV 81-104)

Series 8: Artifacts, 1960s-2000s (1.5 linear feet; Box 34-35)

Series 9: Sound Recordings and Born-Digital Material, 1950s-2000s (6.6 linear feet; Box 36-43, 0.367 GB; ER01-ER02)

Biographical / Historical:

Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone (1931-2011) was a documentary photographer, musical composer, and conceptual artist who worked in New York City.

Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone was named Cosime Sarchiapone at birth, and was also known as Cosmos, Cosmos Savage, and Richard Savage. His parents, Lois and Aldo, had seven children, including twins Cosmos and Damian. Born in Manhattan, Cosmos graduated from the La Guardia High School of Music and Art in New York City in 1948 and from Syracuse University in 1958 with a concentration in music composition and studio art. After college, he studied musical composition with John Cage at the New School in 1961, art history with Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University from 1963-1965, illustration with Marvin Israel from 1966-1971, design with Milton Glaser from 1968-1973, and photography with Diane Arbus from 1970-1971. He taught photography at the School of Visual Arts from 1974-1976, and at Parsons School of Design in 1980. In the early 1970s, he led experimental theater workshops at Columbia-Barnard University.

Between 1968-1969, Cosmos worked with Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast at their Push Pin Studios, a graphic design and illustration studio.

Sometime between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Cosmos began photographing New York City, capturing the art and theater worlds, the people and streets, self-portraits, and numerous other subjects. As a freelance photographer for New York magazine (founded by Milton Glaser) and other mass-market publications, Cosmos photographed Andy Warhol and his circle, Halloween parties at the Waldorf, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon convention, the Jesus Joy Jubilee at Carnegie Hall, the Beat Poets' reunion and private parties attended by Hollywood actors and directors, often capturing the overlapping worlds of art, movies and music. Cosmos's photographs have been published in numerous books and publications. His work was featured in several exhibitions in the 1970s, including shows at the Jamie Gallery, the Fine Arts Building, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. But he created the bulk of his work for himself and much of it remains unpublished.

Throughout the 1970s, Cosmos documented the avant-garde art scene in New York City. He captured performances at The Kitchen and La Mama, the offices of New York magazine and Push Pin Studios, Tom O'Horgan's Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, and much more. He photographed performances and installations at 112 Greene Street in SoHo, an interdisciplinary art space that nurtured the experiments of a number of now significant American artists, dancers and musicians, including Chris Burden, Vito Acconci, Suzanne Harris and Phillip Glass, all of whom were photographed by Cosmos. He also photographed numerous images of 112 Greene Street's sister space, Matta-Clark's FOOD, an artist-run eatery at the corner of Prince and Wooster Streets where exotic meals were offered up as both performance art and nourishment. Cosmos used his camera as a way to get close to artists he admired, including Diane Arbus, Milton Glaser, and Marvin Israel.

According to Milton Glaser, "Cosmos was a brilliant photographer who was never without a camera….He was always everywhere. In terms of documentation of that period, there was no one like him."

Cosmos often incorporated aspects of his photography into conceptual art pieces, including two serial works that Cosmos made from fragments of Diane Arbus' discarded photographs, transforming her iconic work. Many of Cosmos's conceptual art pieces often took the form of a series, and were continuously revisited. In Reciprocal, Cosmos photographed figures—including those he admired like John Cage, Meyer Schapiro, Robert Scull, and others—then asked each to photograph him. Many of Cosmos's art projects were based in photographic documentation of his "performances", as in Sheet Music, where he is seen tearing a white sheet outside Bloomingdale's during the 'white sale.' Cosmos's convictions about smoking, its hazards, and the nefarious actions of tobacco companies led to several related projects, among them, Photo Arrest, where Cosmos captured on camera people smoking illegally in hospitals, classrooms, grocery stores, and elevators.

Cosmos created scores for plays and dance performances, including Churchyard by the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1970, and numerous Off-Off Broadway theater productions in the 1960s. He wrote an opera, Vox Humana #3. The opera is about three heroines of history: Antigone, Joan of Arc, and Patty Hearst, and synthesizes a variety of media, including music composition, stage direction, and video (Patty Hearst in Chains), into a four hour performance that was staged at La Mama in 1976 and The Kitchen in 1977.

Cosmos lived at Westbeth Artists' Community from 1970-2011, but had largely withdrawn from the world by the 2000s. Cosmos Sarchiapone died in 2011.

Provenance:

Donated to the Archives of American Art in 2015 by Tom Sarchiapone, Cosmos Sarchiapone's brother, via Catherine Morris, curator and friend of Cosmos.

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.

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.

Occupation:

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

Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

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

Topic:

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

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Conceptual art  Search this

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

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

Photography -- Study and teaching  Search this

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

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

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Ephemera

Illustrations

Music

Photocopies

Photographs

Posters

Prints

Sketchbooks

Sound recordings

Video recordings

Citation:

Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone papers, circa 1860-2011, bulk 1940-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.sarccosm

See more items in:

Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9bf441ea1-b8c9-46c4-a9ec-01ea133658fb

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-sarccosm