National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Engineering Search this
Extent:
2.5 Cubic feet (10 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Instructional materials
Lecture notes
Date:
1905-1964, undated
Summary:
The papers of immigrant engineer Nicholas C. Mandragos.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists almost entirely of notes Mandragos used as the basis for lectures to his engineering classes. They cover various problem areas: stress analysis of structures, strength of materials, hydraulics and other technical aspects of structural design. There are also a few notes Mandragos made as a student in the 1920s and 1930s. The notes are carefully hand printed with detailed technical drawings, sometimes in photocopy. They are arranged alphabetically by subject, usually with dates.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Nicholas C, Mandragos was born on the Greek island of Symi in 1896, was educated at the Salvago Professional School in Alexandria, Egypt, at New York University and at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He received a bachelor of science degree in engineering at the latter institution plus 21 points of graduate studies. After being employed as a structural engineer by New York Central RR, 1926 1937, Mandragos was employed in research during World War II at the War and Navy Depts. He also lectured on photoelasticity at George Washington University 1943 1949 and was an associate professor there 1947 1949; later he was a consulting engineer.
Separated Materials:
Instruments and models are housed in the the Division of Work and Industry.
Provenance:
This material was donated to NMAH, together with several instruments and models relating to materials testing, in October 1992 by Mr. Mandragos' widow, Frieda Mandragos.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The Frank Stella papers measure 12.4 linear feet and date from 1941 to 1993, with the bulk of the records spanning the period 1978 to 1989. The collection documents the professional and personal life of abstract artist, Frank Stella. Among the papers are correspondence, a small cache of records from his years as an undergraduate at Princeton University, writings by and about Stella, interview transcripts, sketchbooks, registers and inventories, financial records, printed matter, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The Frank Stella papers, 12.4 linear feet, document the artist's professional and personal life. Papers date from 1941-1993, with the bulk spanning the period 1978-1989. Among the papers are correspondence, a small cache of records from his years as an undergraduate at Princeton University, writings by and about Stella, interview transcripts, sketchbooks, registers and inventories, financial records, printed matter, and photographs.
Correspondence, 1966-1989 and undated (Series 1), consists mainly of incoming letters, many annotated with brief notes indicating Stella's reply, and carbon copies of a small number of replies. Correspondence is with individuals, dealers, institutions and organizations and concerns professionals and personal business matters including awards and prizes, exhibitions, art loans and sales, fan mail; requests for autographs, interviews, studio tours, donations, jury service, exhibitions, critiques, information, lectures, and for Stella's participation in programs or events; legal matters, and political fund raising activities.
Princeton University records, 1954-1958 (Series 2), contain course materials, papers examinations, notes, and Stella's thesis, "Art in Wester Christendom." Correspondence regards university and personal business, including Stella's Selective Service student deferment. Also included are letters from Stella's parents and friends, pencil drawings and sketches, photographs of student work by Stella, and printed matter.
Writings, 1968-1993 and undated (Series 3), consist of articles, talks and lectures by Stella, his Norton Lectures delivered at Harvard published as Working Space, and miscellaneous notes. Writings about Stella are drafts of exhibition catalogs and manuscripts of articles. Interview Transcripts, 1964-1993 and undated (Series 4), include 13 published and unpublished interviews with Frank Stella conducted for publication as magazine articles or as research for exhibition catalogs, and a transcript of an interview with Philip Leider.
Sketchbooks, 1956-1968 and undated (Series 5), 10 volumes, contain sketches in pencil, ink, and colored markers. One includes notes on new paintings, color, and shape; another contains a list of artists and notes on abstract composition. Registers and Inventories, 1959-1983 and undated (Series 6), were compiled for various purposes and record paintings, works in mixed media, drawings, series, inventories prepared by dealers, and miscellaneous notes and lists compiled or collected by Stella.
Financial Records, 1972-1986 (Series 7), document both personal and professional expenses. They consist of banking records, paid bills, payroll, petty cash slips and receipts, and records of race horse expenses.
Printed Matter, 1957-1993 and undated (Series 8), includes articles by Stella and his book Working Space. Articles about Stella include feature stories and interviews, exhibition reviews, reviews of his book, and other articles that mention him briefly and/or include a reproduction of his work. Also included are catalogs, invitations and announcements for solo and group shows, and exhibitions juried by Stella. Other printed matter consists of announcements of limited edition prints, printed matter from events in which Stella participated, and miscellaneous items.
Photographs, 1941-1989 and undated (Series 9), are of people, exhibitions, works of art, places, and miscellaneous subjects. Photographs of Stella include an image of him as a young child, Stella with his wife Dr. Harriet McGurk, with his infant son, and with others. Exhibition photographs are of the opening of "Frank Stella: Neue Werke" at Galerie Würthle, 1984, and installation views of his 1989 show at Knoedler & Co., "Frank Stella: New Work." Photographs of works of art include prints, 35 mm color slides, and color transparencies of works by Stella. Places pictured are views of the Gemini G.E.L. studio, and miscellaneous subjects are horses and a banner at the Metropolitan Museum of art mimicking a black painting (not created or authorized by Stella).
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into nine series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1966-1989, undated (Boxes 1-4; 3.25 linear feet)
Series 2: Princeton University, 1954-1958, undated (Box 4; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1968-1993, undated (Boxes 4-7; 2.3 linear feet)
Series 4: Interview Transcripts, 1964-1993, undated (Box 7; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 5: Sketchbooks, 1956-1968, undated (Box 8; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 6: Registers and Inventories, 1959-1983, undated (Box 8; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 7: Financial Records, 1972-1986 (Boxes 8-11; 4.0 linear feet)
Series 8: Printed Matter, 1957-1993, undated (Boxes 12-13 and ov fldr 14; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 9: Photographs, 1941-1989, undated (Box 13; 0.25 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Frank Stella (b. 1936) achieved professional recognition at a young age and soon became internationally prominent and influential. Known for his amazing productivity and energy, for more than forty years this abstract artist has made paintings, prints, and sculpture in a variety of styles that have been described as ranging from minimalist to "maximalist."
While a student at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., Stella enrolled in an art appreciation course with a studio component held at the school's Addison Gallery of American Art. He then immersed himself in a studio program and became friendly with the instructor, abstract painter Patrick Morgan. Frank Stella, Carl Andre, and other students were often invited to Morgan's home where he and his wife Maude, also an artist, showed their collection of contemporary American art and discussed art seen at New York galleries. At Princeton University Stella decided to major in history, and continued to paint on his own. Studio art courses were not yet a part of the curriculum, but he soon learned that art history instructor and abstract painter William Seitz had started a not-for-credit painting studio that met at night in one of the architectural drawing studios. In this informal group Stella met Darby Bannard, a serious painter who was to become a close friend; he also developed a friendship with fellow student Michael Fried during their years at Princeton. Following Seitz's recommendation, Stella began visiting New York galleries. With the 1956 appointment of Stephen Greene as its first artist-in-residence, Princeton began offering studio courses which Stella took full advantage of. His work was influenced by what he had seen at the galleries on his many trips to New York - de Kooning and Frankenthaler, and later Rothko and Gottlieb - and his junior year essay about Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscripts, "Art in Western Christendom," made reference to Jackson Pollock.
Stella headed for New York City after his 1958 graduation from Princeton, where his family expect he would study law at Columbia or New York University. Instead, he rented a storefront studio on the Lower East Side and began his "transitional" paintings, earning a living by painting houses a few days a week. Before long he moved to a loft, and by winter had begun the Black series. Once settled in New York, Stella was introduced to critic Clement Greenberg and began meeting artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. He first exhibited professionally at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery in the spring of 1959 when one of his Black paintings, Club Onyx, was included in a group show. By the end of that summer the artist was represented by the Leo Castelli Gallery which soon sold a Black painting, Clinton Plaza, the first to be acquired by someone outside his immediate circle of friends. Stella's former teacher, William Seitz, recommended that Stella be included in an exhibition of emerging talent at the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College; he also urged Museum of Modern Art curator Dorothy Miller to look at Stella's painting at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery, which resulted in an invitation participate in her exhibition, Sixteen Americans. The Museum of Modern Art purchased The Marriage of Reason and Squalor from the exhibition. Opportunities to show in group and solo exhibitions continued at a steady pace, and in1961 Stella had his first one-man show in Europe. He is one of the very few artists honored by The Museum of Modern Art with two retrospective exhibitions (1970 and 1987).
Frank Stella's work is characterized by changing styles. Abstract expressionist paintings of his student days gave way to minimalist work that soon incorporated shaped canvases and eventually stressed color and curved motifs. By the 1980s his minimalist aesthetic had been replaced by dynamic mixed media pieces. Shaped paintings developed into wall constructions with large, projecting, multiple components and lively brush stroke patterns. By the 1990s, much of Stella's work was fully three-dimensional.
The University of California at Irvine invited Stella to be its artist in residence in 1967; Barbara Rose (Stella's wife from 1961-1969), who was in the process of writing American Art Since 1960, was asked to lecture on contemporary art. With their young daughter and infant son, they moved to California. Upon arrival they were asked to sign a loyalty oath required of all state employees; Barbara signed, but Frank refused. While she lectured and wrote, he played lots of tennis. Soon master printer Ken Tyler persuaded Stella, who had never seriously pursued printmaking, to work with lithography. His first prints were Star of Persia I and Star of Persia II (designs from the Notched V series of 1964-65 not previously executed) and the entire edition sold by the end of the year. He has continued making prints, working in series as he does with his paintings; many of his print series are based on painting series of the same name. Stella's prints often rival paintings in their scale and bold color. Since 1967 Stella has produced prints with Ken Tyler, first in Los Angeles at Gemini G.E.L., and later in Bedford, N.Y. where Tyler Graphics Ltd. was established in 1974. Their close working relationship has resulted a large number of remarkable prints employing practically every graphic technique - sometimes in startling combinations - using a wide range of materials, and prompting innovative solutions to technical challenges. By 1972, Stella was also producing prints with Petersburg Press, Ltd. of London and New York; three years later, Petersburg installed a commercial lithography press on the first floor of Stella's home in New York City.
Throughout his career, Frank Stella has been sought after as a speaker, teacher, visiting critic, and artist in residence. Most noteworthy among these activities was his appointment as the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard for the academic year 1983-84. Stella, Accompanied by his wife Harriet and their two small boys, Stella spent much of the preceding year at the American Academy in Rome looking at Italian art, particularly Caravaggio, planning and researching the lectures he would deliver at Harvard. His six Norton Lectures, which presented a nontraditional evaluation the work of Caravaggio, Rubens, Carracci, Picasso, Pollock, and others, related abstract painting of the twentieth century to the art of the past. These well-received lectures were published in 1986 as book titled Working Space.
In recent years Stella was commissioned to produce several large works for public spaces including several outdoor sculptures, a large decorative relief frieze and the interior dome of the Princess of Wales Theater in Toronto, and his first completed architectural project, a bandshell for the City of Miami.
Missing Title
1936 -- Born May 12, Malden, Mass.
1950-1954 -- Student at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.; studies painting with Patrick Morgan; meets Carl Andre and Hollis Frampton, fellow students.
1954-1958 -- Student at Princeton University; paints in William Seitz's non-credit open studio; Darby Bannard is a fellow student; begins visiting New York galleries to see contemporary art studies with Stephen Greene, 1956, artist-in-residence; meets Michael Fried, also a Princeton undergraduate; writes thesis on Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscripts.
1958 -- Moves to New York City, rents a storefront on the Lower East Side to use as a studio during the summer and works part-time as a house painter; in the fall moves to a loft on West Broadway; Darby Bannard introduces him to critic Clement Greenberg.
1959 -- Black series painting included in a group show at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery, Stella's first professional exhibition included in "Sixteen Americans" exhibition, Museum of Modern Art; joins Castelli Gallery; The Marriage of Reason and Squalor purchased by Museum of Modern Art; Carl Andre introduces him to Barbara Rose, a Columbia University graduate student in art history; resumes friendships with Carl Andre and Hollis Frampton.
1960 -- Paints first shaped canvases; first solo exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery.
1961 -- Applies for Fulbright Grant to study in Japan; first trip to Europe; first solo exhibition at Galerie Lawrence, Paris; marriage to Barbara Rose.
1962 -- Birth of daughter Rachel.
1963 -- Artist in Residence, Dartmouth College; travels in Iran.
1964 -- Included in U.S. section, XXXII Venice Biennale.
1965 -- Travels to Brazil.
1966 -- Performs in "Open Score," a game of tennis with racquets that transmitted sound and light composed by Robert Rauschenberg; birth of son Michael.
1967 -- Appointment as Artist in Residence, University of California, Irvine but refuses to sign the required loyalty oath and does not teach; makes first prints at Gemini G.E.L.; teaches advanced summer workshop, University of Saskatchewan; designs sets and costumes for "Scramble," Merce Cunningham's performance at Connecticut College Dance Festival.
1969 -- Divorce from Barbara Rose; teaches beginning painting to undergraduates at Brandeis University, spring semester.
1970 -- Retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.
1973 -- Travels to Brazil, Paris, London.
1974 -- Honorary degree, Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
1975 -- Birth of daughter Laura to Shirley De Lemos Wyse.
1976 -- Car painted with design Stella created for BMW races at Le Mans.
1977 -- Travels to India, London, and Germany; meets race drivers Ronnie Peterson and Peter Gregg.
1978 -- Marries Dr. Harriet McGurk
1979 -- Receives Claude Moore Fuss Award for "distinguished contribution to public service," Phillips Academy; creates design for Peter Gregg's race car.
1980 -- Survives auto crash with Peter Gregg en route to Le Mans.
1981 -- Awarded Honorary Fellowship, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem; travels in Egypt and Venice; awarded Medal for Painting, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
1982 -- Mayor's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture; birth of son Peter; Residency in Painting, American Academy in Rome (Nov.-Dec. and Spring 1983), where he begins researching and writing the lectures he will present at Harvard during the coming academic year.
1983-1984 -- Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry, Harvard University; delivers a series of six lectures titled "Working Space" (Oct.-April)
1984 -- Honorary degree, Princeton University; birth of son Patrick.
1985 -- Honorary degree, Dartmouth College; Award of American Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
1986 -- Honorary degree, Brandeis University; travels to England; publication of Working Space.
1987 -- Second retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.
1988 -- First architectural project, a proposal for a footbridge over the Seine River, in collaboration with engineer Peter Rice.
1990 -- The Symphony commissioned by Art In Embassies Program, U. S. State Department.
1991 -- The Leaves, a work created in collaboration with Peter Rice, Alexander, Cott, Earl Childress, and Bob Kahn for the New Groninger Museum, The Netherlands.
1992 -- Designs decorative relief frieze and interior dome, commissioned by David Mirvish, for the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto.
Provenance:
The collection was a gift of Frank and Harriet Stella in 1993.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Personal business records includes documents regarding Browne's time as a teacher for the Art Students League of New York and New York University, membership cards and letters from various organizations, advertisement receipts for exhibitions, documents for professional expenses, and other business related documents.
Collection 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.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Byron Browne papers, circa 1920-1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with William Underhill, 2002 June 8. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of New York painters and teachers Josef Presser and Presser's wife Agnes Hart measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1980, with the bulk of the material from 1940 to 1980. The collection documents their personal and professional lives as artists and educators and consists of biographical material, business and personal correspondence, teaching files, printed material, and scattered photographs. The collection also includes writings, personal business records, and artwork by Presser.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York painters and teachers Josef Presser and Agnes Hart measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1980, with the bulk of the material from 1940 to 1980. The collection documents their personal and professional lives as partners, artists, and educators and consists of biographical material, business and personal correspondence, teaching files, printed material, and scattered photographs. The collection also includes writings, personal business records, and artwork by Presser.
The collection is divided into two series. Series 1 consists primarily of Presser's papers from 1913 to his death in 1967, and Hart's correspondence dating from 1967 to 1977 regarding the management of his estate. Biographical material includes an address book, curriculum vitae, family history, and personal identification records. Presser's personal correspondence is with family and friends, including the artists Charles Hopkinson and Vera Fraser. Business related correspondence is with various collectors, galleries, museums, art associations, and art schools. There is also correspondence related to Presser's law suit against the New York Port Authority, and Presser and Hart's real estate purchases in Hurley and Woodstock, New York. Hart's correspondence concerns Presser's estate and artwork after his death, including letters related to the organization of Presser's memorial exhibition in 1968.
Writings by Presser include essay fragments, 4 notebooks, and numerous note fragments. His teaching files include memoranda, syllabi, and class assignments from his tenure at New York University from 1947 to 1952. There are also memoranda from the New York School of Visual Arts and the Prospect Hill School. Personal business records include bank registers, artwork sales records, and receipts from his residency in Paris in the 1960s.
Printed material consists of bulletins, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs related to Presser's career. There are also draft and final versions of Presser's memorial exhibition catalog, and a copy of the 1951 conference Artist and the Museum sponsored by the Artists Equity Association and the Woodstock Artists Association.
Artwork consists of loose sketches, artwork on postcards and printed material, and 9 sketchbooks dating from the 1950s to 1960s. Photographic material includes photographs of Presser with friends and family, and photographs of his studio and artwork. There are also 4 photographs of the artist Abraham Walkowitz dating from the 1940s.
Agnes Hart's papers documenting her own career are arranged in Series 2 and date from 1930 to 1980. Biographical materials include two engagement calendars, curriculum vitae, consignment lists, and critiques. Her correspondence with family and friends includes letters from artist Lucile Blanch, journalist Agnes Smedley, and Yaddo director Elizabeth Ames. Business correspondence is with galleries, collectors, art associations, and art schools.
Teaching files include employment contracts, class catalogs, newsletters, and photographs from Hart's tenure at the Art Students League (1965-1975), and class catalogs and memoranda from Dalton Schools and Parnassus Square. Printed material includes bulletins, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs related to Hart's career. There are also draft and final versions of the 1956 Yasuo Kuniyoshi memorial exhibition catalog. Additional photographic material consists of a photograph of the Central Cown Art Center, a gallery Hart managed in 1937.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 2 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Josef Presser, 1913-1977 (3 linear feet; Boxes 1-3, Box 5)
Series 2: Agnes Hart, 1930-1980 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Biographical Note:
Josef Presser (1909-1967) lived and worked primarily in New York City as a painter, educator, and lecturer.
Presser was born in Lublin, Poland and immigrated with his family to Boston, Massachusetts in 1913. He showed an early affinity for art and, at the age of 12, was accepted to the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts on a four year scholarship. After completing his education, he spent several years traveling in Europe and visited the major museums of France, Italy, and Belgium before returning to America in 1931. Upon his return, Presser opened his first solo New York show at the Montross Gallery in 1931, moved to Philadelphia, painted murals as part of the Works Progress Administration program, and began receiving private commissions. By the mid-1930s, Presser was exhibiting regularly in solo shows in Philadelphia and had began accepting teaching positions. While lecturing at Iowa State University, Presser met his future wife and artist, Agnes Hart, who he married in 1941.
After moving to New York City in 1940, Presser continued to exhibit in New York galleries throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and eventually accepted teaching positions at New York University, Queens College, Cooper Union, and the Brooklyn Museum Art School, among others. Though he was familiar with the work of the abstract expressionists, Presser is known primarily for his figurative paintings featuring women, children, clowns, and horses, with the latter two subjects inspired by circuses he had traveled with in Europe. In 1940, Presser and Hart purchased studio space in Woodstock, New York where they exhibited as members of the Woodstock Artists Association. Presser's solo shows include exhibitions at Contemporary Arts Gallery, Associated American Artists Galleries, and the Vera Lazuk Gallery.
In 1965, Presser went on an extended trip abroad to Paris, and continued working until his death in 1967.
Agnes Hart (1912-1979) was born in Meridan, Connecticut and studied art at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida and at Iowa State University. Hart was a prolific painter and printmaker of abstract forms and urban landscapes. In 1948 and 1949, she received fellowships as a guest painter at the Yaddo Foundation and exhibited her first solo show in New York City at the RoKo Gallery in 1948. She continued to exhibit regularly at New York City galleries into the 1970s, and also accepted several teaching positions, including a ten year tenure with the Art Students League of New York. She continued to paint and teach until her death in 1979.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel N69-1) including original clippings and exhibition announcements. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The papers of Josef Presser were lent for microfilming by Agnes Hart in 1968. Excluding certain printed material, Hart later donated the bulk of these papers and additional Presser materials in 1977 and 1979. Hart donated her papers in 1978. Frances Hitchcock, Hart's sister, gave additional material in 1981.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of art historian, educator, editor, and museum director Robert John Goldwater measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1902-1974. Found are correspondence, subject files, teaching records, writings, and printed material. Also included are the papers, primarily correspondence, of Goldwater's father, S. S. Goldwater, M. D., a nationally recognized expert in the fields of public health, hospital administration, and hospital design and construction.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of art historian, educator, editor, and museum director Robert John Goldwater measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1902-1974. Found are correspondence, subject files, teaching records, writings, and printed material. Also included are the papers, primarily correspondence, of Goldwater's father, S. S. Goldwater, M. D., a nationally recognized expert in the fields of public health, hospital administration, and hospital design and construction.
The bulk of Robert John Goldwater's correspondence focuses on his writings and editing work, including his work for Magazine of Art and the Museum of Primitive Art. It is with academic colleagues, art museums, colleges and universities, publishers, former students, and family. There is also scattered correspondence with artists. A list of correspondents is found at the end of this finding aid.
Subject files concern topics of interest to Goldwater as well as exhibitions and organizations with which he was involved, and include correspondence, printed material, and notes. Teaching records are from Goldwater's work at both Queens College and New York Universtity and consist mainly of course syllabi, bibliographies, and notes, as well as some administrative records.
The largest series in the collection consists of Goldwater's writings, including drafts, manuscripts, and notes for several books, reviews, and talks and lectures. Found here are complete and partial manuscript versions of his books Artists on Art; From David to Delacroix; Jacques Lipchitz; Paul Gaugin; Rufino Tamayo; and Symbolism. Printed material includes many items about or mentioning Goldwater, as well as printed or published articles and reviews written by him.
The papers of S. S. Goldwater, M. D. (1873-1942) consist primarily of correspondence documenting his work as a hospital administrator, public health expert, and New York City's Commissioner of Hospitals. They also include biographical information, legal documents, photographs, printed material, and writings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1934-1973 (Box 1; 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 2: Subject Files, 1931-1973 (Box 1; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 3: Teaching Records, 1935-1973 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear ft.)
Series 4: Writings, 1932-1973 (Boxes 3-5; 2.2 linear ft.)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1931-1974 (Box 5; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 6: Papers of S. S. Goldwater, M.D., 1902-1956 (Boxes 5-6; 0.9 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Robert John Goldwater (1907-1973), a native New Yorker, studied art history at Columbia College (B.A., 1929), Harvard University (M.A., 1931), and New York University (Ph.D., 1937). Goldwater was a Carnegie Corporation Fellow, 1930-31, a Guggenheim Fellow, 1944-45, and a Fulbright Fellow in France, 1944-45. He was especially interested in primitive art, primitivism and symbolism in modern art, and the history of art criticism.
His teaching career began at New York University in 1934. Five years later, Goldwater moved to Queens College. In 1957, he joined the faculty of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where he remained until his death in 1973.
Goldwater wrote a large number of articles, books, and reviews on a variety of art topics. His books include: Primitivism in Modern Painting (1938), Artists on Art from the XIV to the XX Century (1945), Rufino Tamayo (1947), Modern Art in Your Life (1949), Vincent van Gogh (1954), Jacques Lipchitz (1954), Paul Gauguin (1957), Senufo Sculpture from West Africa (1964), Space and Dream (1968), What Is Modern Sculpture (1969), and Symbolism (1979).
From 1957-1963 Goldwater was Director of the Museum of Primitive Art, and for the next decade was Chairman of its administrative committee. In addition, Goldwater served as book review editor of the College Art Association's Art Bulletin from 1944-1947, and from 1947-1953 he was editor of the American Federation of Art's Magazine of Art.
Provenance:
The Robert John Goldwater papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1976 by Goldwater's widow, Louise Bourgeois.
Restrictions:
This material is ACCESS RESTRICTED; permission; written permission is required. 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:
Editors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Goldwater's correspondence is with academic colleagues, art museums, arts organizations, publishers, and former students. There is also scattered correspondence with artists and with family. Subjects include: requests to write book reviews and employment references, and to critique others' writings and provide research advice; Magazine of Art and Museum of Primitive Art business; awards and memberships; details about publishing texts by Goldwater and others; and congratulatory letters, comments, and questions about his writings. A small number of letters include comments about the personal lives of the correspondents, usually routine news of family and friends; a few letters are of a purely social nature. There are three letters addressed to Louise Bourgeois: two from Erick Hawkins and one from Ronnie Elliott.
Also found here are condolence letters received upon the deaths of Goldwater's mother and father in 1942 and 1958 respectively, and a small number of letters from his parents. Family letters include a few addressed to Clara A. Goldwater (Mrs. S. S. Goldwater).
Small amounts of additional correspondence can be found in Series 2: Subject Files and Series 3: Teaching Records.
See Appendix for a list of correspondents from Series 1.
Appendix: Correspondents from Series 1:
What follows is a complete list of correspondents (and the years of correspondence) in this series.
Abramson, Jerry, 1969
Albright Art Gallery, 1947, 1954-1955
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, 1953
Allen, Harold, 1953
Allert de Lange Verlag, 1952-1954
American Association of University Professors, 1946
American Council of Learned Societies, 1967-1968
American Federation of Arts, 1953
American Studies Association of Metropolitan New York, 1955
Anderson, Wayne V., 1964
Andiron Club of New York City, 1945-1946
Argent Galleries, 1947
Arnason, H. Harvard, 1948
Arnheim, Rudolf, 1945
Art Bulletin, 1940-1945, 1955
Art Forum, 1967
Art Gallery of Ontario, 1970
Art Gallery of Toronto, 1972
Art In America, 1941-1947, 1955
Art Institute of Chicago, 1940
Art News, 1946-1947
Art Students League of New York, 1940, 1943
Arts Magazine, 1964, 1967
Atlantic Transports, 1952
Auchincloss, James C., 1953
Authors Guild, 1947
Baltimore Museum of Art, 1946, 1954
Baltrusaitis, Mr., 1952, 1973
Barnard College, 1954
Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1938-1939, 1949, 1951-1952
Becker, Marion R., 1945, 1949
Bellew, Peter, 1951
Bennington College, 1950
Benz, Helen, 1946
Bernheimer, Richard, 1955
Bernier, Rosamond, 1955
Besson, Mr., 1946
Black Mountain College, 1948
Board of Higher Education, City of New York, , 1944
Booth, Cameron, 1942
Boston Art Festival, 1954
British Council, 1951
British Museum, 1934
Brooklyn College, 1946
Brown University, 1964, 1968
Burlington Magazine, 1954
Busa, Peter, 1946
California Arts and Architecture, 1944
California School of Fine Arts, 1949
California State College, 1969
Carnegie Corporation, 1942-1943
Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1942
Chanticleer Press, Inc., 1955
Chapman, Ed, 1946
Choate, Mabel, 1946
Church, Howard, 1947
Cincinnati Modern Art Society, 1946-1946
Cleveland Institute of Art, 1952
Cleveland Museum of Art, 1952-1953
Colorado College, 1952
Columbia University Press, 1948
Columbia University, 1940, 1953-1955, 1962, 1965
Comité des Arts du Congres pour la Liberté de la Culture, 1964
Cook, Walter W. S., 1942-1943, 1945-1946, 1949-1950, 1955
Criterion Books, Inc., 1955
Critique, 1946
Crosby, Sumner McK., 1942
Dartmouth College, 1942
Davis, Stuart, 1943, 1945
Dersky, Morris, 1966
Dictionary of the Arts, 1941
Direction Départmentale de la Population de la Giornde, 1948
Dodd, Mead & Company, 1945
Duke University, 1946-1948, 1950
Edman, Irwin, 1942
Elliott, Ronnie, 1950*
Elsen, Al, 1969
Engel, Eugene W., 1946-1947
Exhibition Momentum, 1953, 1956
Falkenstein, Claire, 1951
Farwell, Beatrice, 1968-1969
Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, Inc., 1946, 1950
Fitzsimmon, Jim, 1953
Florida State University, 1953
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1945-1947, 1949, 1954, 1956, 1971
Ford Foundation, 1969
Fox, Milton, 1958
[Frankenthaler?], Helen, 1950-1951
Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1969
Frick Collection, 1941
Fried, Richard N., 1950
Friedensohn, Elias, 1956
Fund for the Republic, Inc., 1956
G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1956
Gallatin, A. E., 1944
Goldwater, Barry, 1966
Goodrich, Lloyd, 1945
Goucher College, 1967
Greene, Balcomb, 1942, 1947, 1951-1953
Guggenheim Foundation, 1945-1946, 1953-1955
Hallmark Art Award, 1949
Hammacher, Mr., 1952
Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc., 1945
Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc., 1952
Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1939-1942
Harry N. Abrams Incorporated, 1953, 1955, 1957
Harvard University, 1949-1951, 1968
Hawkins, Erick, 1950*
Herbert, Robert L., 1954
Hollins College, 1950
Hope, Henry R., 1943-1944, 1947, 1955
Horizon, 1949
Hunter College, 1967
Hunter, Sam, 1955
Indiana University, 1966
Ingram Merrill Foundation, 1966-1967
Institute for Advanced Study, 1964, 1966
Institute for Sex Research, Inc, Indiana University, 1966
Institute of Contemporary Arts, 1951
Institute of Design, 1947
Institute of Fine Arts Alumni Association, 1954
Institute of Fine Arts, 1969
Institute of International Education, 1953-1955
Intercultural Publications, Inc., 1953
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1954
Janson, H. W., 1952-1954
Johns Hopkins Press, 1966-1967
Joslin, Andrew, 1972
Kamer, Henri A., 1964
Karl, Aline, 1953
Kenyon Review, 1945-1947, 1954
Kerns Foundation, Theosophical Society in America, 1968
Keyserling, Leon H., 1948
Kimball, Fiske, 1945, 1949
Knowles, Edwin B., Jr., 1945
Koch, Bob, 1954
Komroff, Manuel, 1944, 1946
[Krautheimer], Richard, 1944
Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, 1944
Lee, Rensselaer W., 1942, 1944
Levy, Adele R., 1956
Levy, Julien, 1944
Leylan, Robert M., 1941
Library of Congress, 1944-1947, 1952-1953
Loran, Erle, 1941
Loshak, David, 1946
Lougee and Company, 1952
M. I. T. Press, 1967
MacAgy, Douglas, 1948
Magazine of Art, 1944-1945, 1948, 1950-1951
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1967
Masson, Rose, 1944
Mayhew, Edgar deN., 1944
McGraw, Patricia, 1953
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1950, 1965
Mellquist, Jerome, 1951
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1940, 1954
Miller, Peter, 1944
Mitchell, Eleanor, 1945
Moffett, Charles, 1969
Museum of Modern Art, 1942, 1946-1947, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1969
Museum Purchase Fund, 1952
National Arts Club, 1946
Nelson, Kathleen L., 1945
New School Associates, 1953
New School for Social Research, 1949
New School, 1953, 1955
New York Times, 1946
New York University, 1934, 1937-1941, 1945, 1947, 1954, 1956-1959, 1963, 1966, 1970
New York University Press, 1970
Newark Museum, 1944
Okun, Henry, 1967-1968
Old Dominion Foundation, 1969
Ozenfant, [Amédée], 1949
Pantheon Books, Inc., 1944-1946, 1953-1954
Partisan Review, 1946, 1961-1962
Perry, William, 1941
Perspectives U.S.A., 1952
Phillips, Duncan, 1952
Photo Berard, 1951
Pietrantoni, M. L., 1955
Plass, Margo, 1962
Porter, James A., 1942
Prendergast, Charles, 1945
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1950
Princeton University, 1943, 1949
Princeton University Press, 1947-1949, 1954-1955, 1959
Prior, Harris, 1946
Quadrum, 1956
Queens College, 1938-1957, 1972, undated
Rand School of Social Science, 1945
Random House, 1964
[Rattner], Abe, 1945
Redon, Ari, 1951
Rewald, John, 1941-1942, 1946
Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, 1946
Rice Institute, 1954
Rice, Philip, 1952
Richter, H., 1952, 1954
Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller-Otterlo, 1957
Robb, David M., 1946-1947
Robinson, Cortland A., 1945
Rockefeller Foundation, 1946, 1951, 1954, 1956
Rockefeller, Nelson A., 1957-1958, 1965
Roditi, Edouard, 1951
Rodman, Selden, 1946
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, 1967-1968
Ruksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, 1952
Sachs, Mrs. H. F., 1941
Samuel Kress Foundation, 1968
San Francisco Museum of Art, 1953
Sandström, Sven, 1954
Sarah Lawrence College, 1949-1950
Saturday Review, 1951, 1954
Schaefer-Sinnevenm 1945
Scheeffner, Denise Pauline, 1964
Schmalenbach, Fritz, 1951-1952, 1954
Seeman, Hugh, 1953
Seligman, Germain, 1947
Seuphor, Michel, 1951-1953, 1955
[Schapiro?], Meyer, 1941, 1943, 1952, 1960
Sihara, Laxmi P., 1968
Sloane, Joe, 1941
Smyth, Craig Hugh, 1952-1954, 1956
Soby, James Thrall, 1946-1947, 1950, 1955-1956
Société des Africanistes, 1936
Sokol, David M., 1969
Solomon, Alan, undated
State University of New York, Buffalo, 1969
State University of New York, Stony Brook, 1969
Stix, Hugh, 1952
Stokowski, Gloria (Mrs. Leopold), 1952
Sweeney, James Johnson, 1953, 1956
Sypher, Wylie, 1954
Time, 1945
Times Book Club, 1945
Tobé-Coburn School for Fashion Careers, 1947, 1950
[Trilling], Lionel, 1945-1946
Twin Editions, 1944
United States Educational Commission for France, 1951
United States Information Agency, 1959
University Club of Jamaica, New York, 1941
University of Birmingham, 1969
University of Birmingham, 1970
University of California, 1968-1969
University of California, Berkeley, 1948
University of Connecticut, 1950
University of Guelph, 1970-1971
University of Illinois, 1967
University of Iowa, 1968-1969
University of Massachusetts, 1966-1967, 1972
University of New Mexico, 1967
University of North Carolina, 1953
University of Texas, 1947
University of Washington Press, 1967
Valentin, Curt, 1953
Venturi, [illegible], 1941
Viking Press, Inc., 1944, 1968
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1953
Visson, Assia R., 1942-1943, 1947, 1950
Vytlacil, Vaclav, 1942
Walker Art Center, 1954
Walker, Hudson D., 1948
Wardwell, Allen, II, undated
Webster J. Carson, 1945, 1955
Webster, J. Carson, 1955
Weller, Allen S., 1958
Werner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, 1970
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Collection Citation:
Robert John Goldwater papers, 1902-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
