(catalogs; exhibition announcements; clippings; artist biography; photocopy of "Art of the Southwest...Art on the Border" [booklet?])
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Correspondence, business records, notes and writings, printed material, and photographs chart the gallery's history.
REELS 4180-4181: Correspondence from artists, patrons, and others (1811-1952) includes 8 letters from Winslow Homer (1898-1902). Business records include financial and legal documents (1857-1941), name lists and lists of paintings sold, painting and print registers (1898-1954), and minutes from corporation meetings (1901-1941). Howard O'Brien's writings include poems (1909-1944), some illustrated with photographs; a script "Cherchez La Femme"; and a typescript "The Long Trail". Printed material includes advertisements, clippings (1900-1970), exhibition catalogs (1921-1924), a sale catalog, and a booklet (1927) on landscape painters of America. An album contains photographs of portraits painted by Louis Betts, an artist promoted by O'Brien. Other photographs (1885-1936) show O'Brien family members, Winslow Homer, and one of Irene Dunne (an autographed publicity shot).
REEL 4193: A scrapbook contains exhibition announcements, clippings, and brochures from Chicago (1873-1941) and Arizona (1953-1958).
Biographical / Historical:
Art gallery; Chicago, Ill. and Scottsdale, Az. Chicago's first art gallery and one of the oldest family owned and operated gallery in the United States. It opened in 1855 as a frame shop, offering a variety of services to both artists and collectors. It was called by several names, including O'Brien's Art Emporium, O'Brien Art Galleries, O'Brien Galleries, House of O'Brien, and M. O'Brien & Sons. The gallery remained in Chicago until 1941, closed during the war, and resumed operation in Scottsdale, Arizona in the 1950s.
Three generations of O'Briens (Martin, William, and William Jr.) ran the gallery before it moved to Arizona; all were committed to bringing culture and the visual arts to Chicago. O'Brien's Art Emporium was a vital factor in shaping art collections and attitudes in the city; it supported and sold work by conservative, academic painters, developing and reflecting the taste of the majority of Chicagoans.
Other Title:
O'Brien's Art Emporium (microfilm title)
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1986 by the current owners of the gallery, Stephanie Roberts and her husband, Bill Dickerson.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
38 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 March 31
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Philip C. Curtis conducted 1965 March 31, by Sylvia Loomis, for the Archives of American Art. Curtis speaks of his background and education at Yale Fine Arts School; working for the Federal Art Project as supervisor of the mural project; starting an art center for the Federal Art Project in North Carolina, and another one in Phoenix; supervising a crafts program in Iowa; returning to Arizona; the response of the people of the region to the Federal Art Project; the project's effect on art in the area; and his feelings about current trends in painting.
Biographical / Historical:
Philip C. Curtis was a painter and an art administrator in Scottsdale, Arizona.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 1 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The scattered papers of painter Beth Ames Swartz measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1978 to 1984. Found are biographical materials, printed material, and slides of works of art. Also found is a published work on Swartz entitled Connecting: the Art of Beth Ames Swartz, by Mary Carroll Nelson.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers of painter Beth Ames Swartz measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1978 to 1984. Found are biographical materials, printed material, and slides of works of art. Also found is a published work on Swartz entitled Connecting: the Art of Beth Ames Swartz, by Mary Carroll Nelson.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Beth Ames Swartz (1936- ) is a painter in Scottsdale, Arizona. Originally from New York City, Swartz studied at Cornell University and New York University. She is active in the Phoenix area art world.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (Reel 3184 fr. 604-807) including a masters thesis written by Mary Lou Reed, Arizona State University, 1981. Originals were returned to the lender, Beth Ames Swartz, after microfilming and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Beth Ames Swartz lent some of her papers for microfilming in 1984 and donated a portion to the Archives of American Art in 1984.
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.
2.4 Linear feet (ca. 4500 items (partially microfilmed on 7 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1934-1980
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence; biographical data; photographs; sketches; notes and writings; calendars; teaching materials; exhibition catalogs and announcements; and clippings.
REELS N70-3-N70-4: Biographical data; a photograph of Calcagno; notes and writings; sketches; writings about Calcagno; a list of his paintings; correspondence with galleries, museums, universities, art organizations, friends and colleagues; teaching material; exhibition catalogs and announcements; and clippings.
REELS N70-43-N70-45: Letters to Calcagno's family, written from Madrid, Florence, Rome and Paris; correspondence with galleries, museums, art organizations, friends, artists, and buyers, including Charles Boggs, Richard Brewer, Adele Cohen, Beauford Delaney, Marilyn Einhorn, Rufus Foshee, Calcagno's sister Virginia Gibson, Alberto Gutierrez, Martha Jackson, Nesta Obermer, Mark Rothko (one letter), Clay Spohn, Hyde Solomon, Yaddo and others; an annotated calendar, 1969; and financial material.
REELS N69-120-N69-121: Correspondence with galleries, museums, artists, art organizations and friends, including: The Gallery of Modern Art, Scottsdale, Arizona, Martha Jackson Gallery, Tirca Karlis Gallery, McRoberts and Tunnard, Ltd, London, Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogata, Columbia, The New Arts Gallery, Houston, Texas, Zuni Gallery, Buffalo, New York, and others; exhibition catalogs and correspondence regarding their publication.
UNMICROFILMED: Biographical data; correspondence with galleries, universities, museums, friends and others; writings and notes; annotated calendars; teaching notebooks; exhibition catalogs, announcements; press releases and invitations; price lists; photographs of Calcagno, his family, studios, and paintings, some which are now destroyed; and slides of paintings.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; New York, N.Y. Died 1993.
Provenance:
Material on reels N70-43-N70-45 and unfilmed material donated 1970-1980 by Lawrence Calcagno. Material on reels N70-3-N70-4 and N69-120-N69-121 lent 1969 for microfilming by Lawrence Calcagno.
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.
The papers of sculptor and educator John Battenberg measure 9.4 linear feet and 1.41 GB and date from 1936 to 2013, with the bulk of the records dating from the 1950s to 2012. The records document Battenberg's career through biographical material, correspondence with artists, potential clients, and others, gallery and museum files documenting sales and exhibitions, and professional files related to Battenberg's participation in exhibitions, his teaching work, public art, and other activities. Also found are project files including digital and video recordings documenting specific projects in Arizona, California and elsewhere, in addition to personal business records, printed material, photographic material, and artwork including sketches and a sketchbook.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor and educator John Battenberg measure 9.4 linear feet and 1.41 GB and date from 1936 to 2013, with the bulk of the records dating from the 1950s to 2012. The records document Battenberg's career through biographical material, correspondence with artists, potential clients, and others, gallery and museum files documenting sales and exhibitions, and professional files related to Battenberg's participation in exhibitions, his teaching work, public art, and other activities. Also found are project files including digital and video recordings documenting specific projects in Arizona, California and elsewhere, in addition to personal business records, printed material, photographic material, and artwork including sketches and a sketchbook.
Biographical material contains writings; appointment books; education, military service, and organization membership records; family histories and genealogical surveys; addresses; and several audiovisual recordings.
Correspondence files consist of Battenberg's communications with other artists, potential clients, collectors, galleries, universities, and others interested in Battenberg's artwork, his exhibitions, commissions, and projects. Personal correspondents include Battenberg's family and friends.
Gallery and museum files document Battenberg's relations with various galleries and museums through correspondence, photographs, sales records, inventories, exhibition material, and some audiovisual recordings.
Professional files shed light on Battenberg's involvement in several group exhibitions; papers related to Battenberg's lectures and teaching activities as well as public art commission competitions.
Project files include correspondence, site plans, photographs and digital photographs, slide copies, sketches, contractual agreements, audiovisual recordings, and more related to projects taken on by Battenberg in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Nevada.
Personal business records contain studio inventories, records of auctions, donations, and sales, legal documents, financial papers, and papers related to Battenberg's San Francisco studio.
The collection's printed material consists of newspaper clippings and other articles reviewing Battenberg's work, exhibitions, and career; exhibition invitations, announcements, posters, catalogs, and books; copies of Battenberg's self-published books and promotional materials; and two scrapbooks.
Photographs depict models as well as friends and family who posed for Battenberg; his artwork; and personal photographs of Battenberg, his friends, other artists, and family. Artwork consists primarily of sketches, some of which include color, created by Battenberg for various projects and series of work.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1952-2012 (Box 1; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1962-2008 (Box 1-2; 1 linear foot, ER01; 0.011 GB)
Series 3: Gallery and Museum Files, 1957-2006 (Box 2-3; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 4: Professional Files, 1969-2005 (Box 3-4; 1 linear foot)
Series 5: Project Files, 1983-2005 (Box 4-6; 1.1 linear feet, ER02-ER06; 0.381 GB)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1973-2008 (Box 6; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1956-2013 (Box 6-8, 10, OV 11, 1.8 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographic Material, 1936-2012 (Box 8-9; 0.9 linear feet, ER07; 1.01 GB)
Series 9: Artwork, circa 1950-2000s (Box 9-10; 0.7 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
California and Arizona sculptor, painter, and educator John Battenberg (1931-2012) was known primarily for his sculptures of wildlife including wolves, birds, and bears, and was influential in establishing bronze casting on the West Coast of the United States in the 1960s.
Battenberg attended the University of Wisconsin (1949), St. Cloud State College, Minnesota (1954), and Oxford University in England (1955-1957). He received Master of Fine Arts degrees from both Michigan State University (1960) and California College of Arts of Crafts (1964).
Battenberg began exhibiting his work in the late 1940s as a participant in Wisconsin state fair exhibitions. He held had first solo show in 1955 at St. Cloud State College, and had multiple shows during his career including exhibitions at Temple Gallery, London, University of Nevada, Nevada Museum of Art, and the Fresno Art Museum. Group shows that exhibited Battenberg's work included New American Sculpture, U.S. Information Agency (1972), 15th Biennial Exhibit of Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture, University of Illinois (1974), Chicago International Art Show (1990), and many more.
Battenberg had several public art commissions throughout his career for projects in California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona. These projects led to the creation of his sculptures Mystical Bear (1992), Creatures of Nevada (1991), and Flying Pilots (1980). Battenberg's artwork can be found in private collections as well as public collections of the Commune di Pietrasanta, Italy, Royal British War Museum, England, San Diego Museum of Art, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Wyoming, and many more.
Battenberg was also a professor of art at San Jose State University from 1966-1985 and subsequently received the title of professor emeritus. He also worked as an instructor at Contra Costa College, California, California College of Arts and Crafts, and New Mexico Western University. Around 2007 Battenberg returned to painting after an injury prevented him from sculpting, and relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona where he remained for the rest of his life.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2015 by Lynn Battenberg, John Batternberg's wife.
Restrictions:
The 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 and audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. 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.
John Battenberg papers, 1936-2013. 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.
An interview of Fritz Scholder conducted 1995 March 3-30, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Scholder discusses his family background and growing up in parallel worlds of Anglo and Indian cultures and the frustration of western versus tribal life; his education in Lawrence, Kan. and the University of Wisconsin; moving to California; his father's job as head of Indian relocation; studying at the Indian art program at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and the Indian Art Institute in Santa Fe, N.M.; his views on Indians in general and the difficulty of operating in the mainstream art world; his travels and search for adventure in Europe and Egypt; the importance of magic and the occult in his work; myths as a basis for human experience; art as an agent of social change; objections of Indian groups to his work; and his experience as an Indian role model while not part of the movement. He recalls Robert B. Green, Wayne Thiebaud, Ralph Lauren, Vincent Price, Georgia O'Keeffe, Charles Loloma, Agnes Martin, Elaine Horowitch, and Leonard Baskin.
Biographical / Historical:
Fritz Scholder (1937-2005) was a painter and sculptor from Scottsdale, Ariz.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 11 min.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Painters -- Arizona -- Scottsdale -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Arizona -- Scottsdale -- Interviews Search this
Painters -- Southwest, New -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Southwest, New -- Interviews Search this
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New -- Art 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.
Over 700 photographs of Patton's work; sketches and drawings; and miscellaneous papers.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Scottsdale, Ariz.
Provenance:
The donor, Paul Stephenson, is the executor of James Patton's estate.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Fritz Scholder, 2000 December 7. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- Arizona -- Scottsdale -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Fritz Scholder conducted 2000 December 7, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in Karlstrom's home, San Francisco, Calif.
The interview focused on the theme of artists and models. Topics discussed include how the incorporation and transformation of the human figure (generally female) occur in Scholder's paintings, from first idea through studio interaction to finished work. He described his goal of breaking with the cliché of the female nude and make the subject his own in terms of expression. Among the artist's thematic series are one devoted to vampires, monsters, passion, shamans, and witches. He describes these themes as providing opportunities to work with nude female individuals as unpracticed amateur models. The model, if stimulated by the themes, contributes to their transformation into works of art. According to Scholder, a special rapport between artist and model (including in some cases intimacy) is often reflected in the final image. He views the studio as an arena for self-discovery, for the artist but especially for the models. The second half of the interview involved a discussion of specific works within key series, including Monster Love, Dreams, Passion, Mystery Women, and Lilith; Scholder idea of the artist-as-vampire. In his view this is a positive attribute, one that brings for the "victim" transformation, release, and self-knowledge and his stated goal to inscribe that experience into his art.
Biographical / Historical:
Fritz Scholder (1937-2005) was a painter from Scottsdale, Ariz.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 31 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for the transcription of this interview provided by the Pasadena Art Alliance.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Fritz Scholder, 1995 March 3-30. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- Arizona -- Scottsdale -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Arizona -- Scottsdale -- Interviews Search this
Painters -- Southwest, New -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Southwest, New -- Interviews Search this
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New -- Art Search this
