Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Marion Sanford and Cornelia Chapin papers, 1929-1988. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Funding for the preservation of the Cornelia Chapin Home Movies was provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
The papers of photographer, painter, sculptor, and educator William Christenberry (1936-2016) measure 7.3 linear feet and 14.76 GB and date from circa 1917-2018, with the bulk of the records dating from 1960-2018. The collection sheds light on Christenberry's career through personal papers, gallery and museum files, professional files, personal business records, printed and digital material, photographs, artwork, and sound and video recordings about his work.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of photographer, painter, sculptor, and educator William Christenberry (1936-2016) measure 7.3 linear feet and 14.76 GB and date from circa 1917-2018, with the bulk of the records dating from 1960-2018. The collection sheds light on Christenberry's career through personal papers, gallery and museum files, professional files, personal business records, printed and digital material, photographs, artwork, and sound and video recordings about his work.
Personal papers include personal correspondence with friends and family and transcripts of interviews with Christenberry. Gallery and museum files mostly consist of correspondence, price lists, and records of exhibitions. Professional files shed light on Christenbery's relationship with various foundations, colleges and universities, his involvement in the renovation of the John A. Wilson Building in Washington, D.C., and his teaching tenure at the Corcoran College of Art and Design.
Personal business records document purchase of art supplies, and also include correspondence with collectors, sales records, permission forms, and papers concerning fellowships that Christenberry received. Printed materials include newspaper clippings and articles, solo and group exhibition material, and reproductions of Christenberry's work.
Photographs include several series of Christenberry's work and publicity photos of Christenberry. Artwork includes one sketchbook, and project sketches.
Recorded materials consist of sound, video, and digital recordings primarily of footage compiled during the creation of William A. Christenberry, Jr.: A Portrait (1997), produced by Stanley J. Staniski, and the making of The Place I know, Visions of the South (2003).
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 8 series.
Series 1: Personal Papers, circa 1917, 1953-2016 (Box 1; .3 linear feet)
Series 2: Gallery and Museum Files, 1984-2017 (Box 1; .7 linear feet)
Series 3: Professional Files, 1979-2018 (Box 2; .5 linear feet, ER01; 0.263 GB)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1979-2017 (Box 2; .3 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1947-2017 (Box 2-3, 8; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographs, 1958-2012 (Box 3, 8; .4 linear feet, ER02-ER03; 0.275 GB)
Series 7: Artwork, 1965-2000 (Box 3, 8; 4 folders)
Series 8: Recorded Materials, 1980-2009 (Box 4-7; 4 linear feet, ER04-ER12; 14.23 GB)
Biographical / Historical:
Washington, D.C. photographer, painter, sculptor, and educator William Christenberry (1936-2016) was a pioneer in the use of color photography and is known for his images of west-central Alabama and his explorations of the psychology of place.
Originally from Hale County, Alabama, Christenberry had an interest in art and photography from an early age. He earned his B.F.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Alabama and, after graduating in 1959, joined the faculty at his alma mater. After a brief stint in New York where he met Walker Evans, Christenberry took a position as assistant professor of art at Memphis State University in 1962. While in Memphis, Christenberry began exploring color photography more thoroughly while also crafting his own unique style; he also organized a small happening in Memphis in 1965.
Christenberry and his wife moved to Washington D.C. in 1968 where he took a position at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. While living in D.C., Christenberry began photographiing buildings and hand-lettered signs, and photographed other structures and scenes during trips back to Hale County.
Christenberry held solo exhibitions of his work at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Philips Collection, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium, and many more; and participated in group exhibitions such as Visualizing the Blues: Images of the American South, 1962-2000 (2000) at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, Picturing Modernity (2010) at the San Francisco Museum of Art, and Seeing Now: Photography Since 1960 (2011) at the Baltimore Museum of Art. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1984, an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Alabama in 1998, and several other notable awards for artistic merit. His work may be found in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Center for Creative Photography, Birmingham Museum of Art, and many others.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview with William Christenberry conducted by Merry Foresta, March 3 and 31, 2010, and an oral history interview of William Christenberry conducted by Buck Pennington, January 17, 1983.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2019 by Sandra Christenberry, William Christenberry's widow.
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 born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
William Christenberry Papers, circa 1917-2018. 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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jack Whitten, 2009 December 1-3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
United States. General Services Administration. Design Excellence and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Valerie Jaudon, 2009 Oct. 8-Dec. 22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Biographical material assembled by Henry on herself (1929-1987) and Rowena Fry (1927-1987) consists of brief typescripts, letters, clippings, exhibition catalogs, samples of Christmas cards designed by Henry and Fry, a print "Bird's Tree in Winter" by Henry (1968), and photographs of works of art. The material emphasizes Henry's mural for the Springdale, Arkansas post office, commisssioned for the Section of Fine Arts, and her work for the Oscar Mayer Company. A subject file contains clippings (1958-1987) concerning Hubert Ropp, Dean of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, who had a great influence on the careers of Henry and Fry.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Natalie Henry (1907-1992) was a muralist active in Chicago, Illinois. Rowena Fry (1892-1990) was a painter and educator active in Chicago, Illinois.
Natalie Henry was best known for her post office murals completed under the United States Department of the Treasury. She managed the art supply store at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1948 until her retirement in 1972. Fry was born in Alabama and moved to Chicago in 1923 to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Henry and Fry attended the Hubert Ropp School of Art. Both exhibited regularly at the Chicago Society of Artists and the Art Institute of Chicago during the 1930s and 1940s. Henry and Fry shared an apartment in the Lambert Tree Studios Building from 1948 until moving back to their respective family homes in Arkansas and Tennessee in the 1980s. In 1989, Fry joined Henry in her home in Malvern, Arkansas.
Provenance:
Donated 1989 by Natalie S. Henry.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with William Dawson, 1990 April 11-23. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Mansfield Bascom and Ruth Esherick Bascom about Wharton Esherick, 1990 July 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with William Walker, 1991 June 12-14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this
