Search Results

Creator:

Lisle, Laurie  Search this

Names:

Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia , 1887-1986  Search this

Extent:

3.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Interviews

Date:

1902-1990

Summary:

The Laurie Lisle research material on Georgia O'Keeffe and Louise Nevelson measures 3.4 linear feet and dates from 1902-1990. The collection consists of copied biographical papers, recordings, correspondence, and printed material related to O'Keeffe, and 97 recorded interviews related to the life of Louise Nevelson. The outcome of Lisle's research on O'Keeffe resulted in her book, Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O'Keeffe (1980); and on Nevelson, Lisle authored, Louise Nevelson: A Passionate Life (1990).

Scope and Contents:

The Laurie Lisle research material on Georgia O'Keeffe and Louise Nevelson measures 3.4 linear feet and dates from 1902-1990. The O'Keeffe portion of the collection consists of biographical papers, recordings, correspondence, and printed material. Biographical material includes academic records, maps and ephemera regarding O'Keeffe's various residences, and legal records concerning law suits and her will. The correspondents in this series include artists, gallery representatives and collectors, and exhibition organizers. Printed material consists of newspaper clippings, magazines, and exhibition announcements for both her and her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. Also included in the printed material is a file pertaining to Laurie Lisle's book, Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O'Keeffe (1980).

The research material on Louise Nevelson consists of 97 audiocassettes featuring interviews with Louise Nevelson, some members of the Nevelson family, artists, dealers, and peers. The recordings were gathered in preparation for Lisles biography on Nevelson, Louise Nevelson: A Passionate Life (1990).

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged as two series.

Series 1: Research Files on Georgia O'Keeffe, 1902-1990 (1 linear foot; box 1)

Series 2: Interviews of and Related to Louise Nevelson, 1975-1988 (2.4 Linear feet; shoeboxes 2-7)

Biographical / Historical:

Louise Lisle is an art historian and author in Sharon, Connecticut. Lisle is originally from Providence, Rhode Island and attended college at Ohio Wesleyan University. After college she held positions at The Providence Journal and Newsweek magazine. She has published five books covering the topics of art history, education, sociology, and her own life. Lisle is married to painter and printmaker Robert Kipniss.

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconson in 1887. She was an artist who is mostly known for painting flowers, New York Skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe began high school at Sacred Heart Academy in Madison, Wisconsin, but ultimately graduated from Chatham Episcopal Institute in Virginia after her family moved to Williamsburg, Virginia in 1902. O'Keeffe went on to study at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, Art Students League, Teachers College of Columbia University, and taught art at high schools in Texas and at Chatham Episcopal Insitute, Columbia College, and became the chair of the art department at West Texas State Normal College. O'Keeffe's art was ultimately promoted by Alfred Stieglitz who, although eventually marrying O'Keeffe in 1924, first exhibited her artwork at his esteemed 291 gallery in New York City. O'Keeffe's fame as an artist took off from there. O'Keeffe was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters; she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the National Medal of Arts in 1985; and in 1993 was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) was born in Kiev, Russia in 1899. Her parents, Isaac and Minna Berliawsky, and their children emigrated to America in 1905 and settled in Rockland, Maine. She decided upon a career in art at an early age and took some drawing classes in high school, before graduating in 1918. Two years later, she married Charles Nevelson, a wealthy businessman, and moved to New York. She proceeded to study painting, drawing, singing, acting, and eventually dancing. In 1922, Nevelson gave birth to a son, Myron (later called Mike). Beginning in 1929, Nevelson began to study art full-time at the Art Students League, where she took classes with Kenneth Hayes Miller and Kimon Nicolaides. In 1931, she went to Europe and studied with Hans Hofmann in Munich before traveling to Italy and France. Over the years, she received honorary degrees from Rutgers University and Harvard University, among other schools, as well as numerous awards, including the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award in Sculpture and the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture in 1971, the gold medal for sculpture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1983, and the National Medal of the Arts in 1985.

Related Materials:

The Archives of American Art also houses the Louise Nevelson papers, circa 1903-1979.

Provenance:

This collection was donated by Laurie Lisle in two separate installments. The material on Georgia O'Keeffe was donated in 1991, and the material on Louise Nevelson was donated in 2004.

Restrictions:

The Georgia O'Keeffe portion of 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.

Occupation:

Art historians -- Connecticut  Search this

Authors -- Connnecticut  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Sound recordings  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Citation:

Laurie Lisle research material on Georgia O'Keeffe and Louise Nevelson, 1902-1990. 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.

Identifier:

AAA.lisllaur

See more items in:

Laurie Lisle research material on Georgia O'Keeffe and Louise Nevelson

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lisllaur

Creator:

Packard, Emmy Lou, 1914-1998  Search this

Names:

American Civil Liberties Union  Search this

Public Works of Art Project  Search this

Covarrubias, Miguel, 1904-1957  Search this

Edmunds, John, 1913-  Search this

Kahlo, Frida  Search this

Lange, Dorothea  Search this

O'Gorman, Juan, 1905-  Search this

O'Higgins, Pablo, 1904-  Search this

Refregier, Anton, 1905-  Search this

Reynolds, Malvina  Search this

Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957  Search this

Extent:

9.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Photographs

Interviews

Diaries

Date:

1900-1990

Summary:

The Emmy Lou Packard papers measure 9.4 linear feet and date from 1900 to 1990, and focus on the career of painter, printmaker, muralist, and sculptor Emmy Lou Packard. Also found are extensive materials relating to Packard's personal and professional relationship with muralist Diego Rivera and painter Frida Kahlo, with whom Packard lived for one year in Mexico. Papers include correspondence, financial records, notes, writings, exhibition files, photographs, and printed material.

Scope and Contents note:

The Emmy Lou Packard papers measure 9.4 linear feet and date from 1900 to 1990, and focus on the career of painter, printmaker, muralist, and sculptor Emmy Lou Packard. Also found are extensive materials relating to Packard's personal and professional relationship with muralist Diego Rivera and painter Frida Kahlo, with whom Packard lived for one year in Mexico. Papers include correspondence, financial records, notes, writings, exhibition files, photographs, and printed material.

Biographical materials include resumes, personal forms, and certificates. Correspondence is with family, friends, and colleagues, including muralist Anton Refregier, songwriter Malvina Reynolds, and composer John Edmunds. There is one letter from Dorothea Lange. Also found is correspondence with various political and arts organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Russian magazine Soviet Woman. Much of the correspondence discusses personal relationships and political and art-related activities. Additional correspondence with and concerning Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo is arranged in Series 6.

Personal business records found within the papers include studio real estate and rent records, insurance records, price lists for artwork, consignment records, and miscellaneous receipts. There is one interview transcript of an interview with Packard for the Radical Elders Oral History Project. The papers include a series of notebooks/diaries, address lists, and other notes.

Packard's reference files and personal papers documenting her professional and close personal relationship with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo are arranged into a separate series. They include her research files for a planned book on the two artists, personal letters between Packard and the couple, as well as several interesting photographs. Also found in this series are notes, writings, and printed materials relating to Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and other Mexican artists, such as Covarrubius, Juan O'Gorman, and Pablo O'Higgins.

The collection also includes typescripts and additional writings by Packard and others. Artwork consists of orginal drawings and prints by Packard and others not directly associated with projects. Exhibition and project files for many of Packard's commissioned projects are also found within the collection, including her files for the restoration of Anton Refregier's Rincon Annex Post Office mural in San Francisco and the Coit Tower murals in San Francisco. Many of the project files contain correspondence, reports, contracts, printed material, photographs, and artwork.

The papers also include photographs of Packard, her family, residences, artwork, friends, and colleagues, including Cesar Chavez, Juan O'Gorman, Malvina Reynolds, Charles Safford, Ralph Stackpole, and Tennessee Williams. Two scrapbooks are found, as well as additional printed materials such as clippings and exhibition announcements and catalogs. There are also two artifact items, a vinyl record of Malvina Reynolds and a political campaign button.

Arrangement note:

The collection is arranged into fifteen series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1942-1985 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1919-1990 (Box 1-3; 2.6 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1945-1985 (Box 3; 21 folders)

Series 4: Interview Transcript, 1979 (Box 3; 1 folder)

Series 5: Notes, 1900-1985 (Box 3-4, 10; 1.1 linear feet)

Series 6: Reference Files on Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, 1929-1986 (Box 5, 10, OV 11; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 7: Writings by Packard, 1953-1984 (Box 6; 17 folders)

Series 8: Writings by Others, 1955-1984 (Box 6; 19 folders)

Series 9: Artwork, 1921-1976 (Box 6; 10 folders)

Series 10: Exhibition Files, 1950-1964 (Box 6, OV 11; 5 folders)

Series 11: Project Files, 1953-1985 (Box 6-7, 10, OV 11; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 12: Photographs, 1914-1982 (Box 8, 10; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 13: Scrapbooks, 1947-1950 (Box 8, 10; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 14: Printed Material, 1936-1988 (Box 8-9, 10; 1 linear foot)

Series 15: Artifacts, 1984 (Box 9-10, OV 11; 2 folders)

Biographical/Historical note:

Emmy Lou Packard was born in Imperial Valley, California on April 15, 1914, to Walter and Emma Leonard Packard. In the late 1920s she lived with her family in Mexico City where she became acquainted with Diego Rivera, from whom she received regular art criticism and encouragement. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and completed courses in fresco and sculpture at the California School of Fine Arts in 1940. That year and the next, Packard worked as a full-time painting assistant to Rivera on his 1,650 square-foot fresco at the World's Fair in San Francisco. During this project, Packard became very close to Rivera and Frida Kahlo and returned to Mexico with them and spent a year living with the couple.

From then on, except for in 1944-1945 working for a defense plant, Packard worked and grew in various aspects of her art. In addition to her work in fresco, Packard is known for her work in watercolor, oil, mosaic, laminated plastic, concrete, and printmaking, both in linocuts and woodblocks. She received numerous commissions that included installations for ships, hotels, and private homes for which she executed large woodcuts and mural panels. During the 1950s and 1960s, Packard was hired to restore several historic murals, most notably the Rincon Annex Post Office mural by Anton Refregier and the Coit Tower murals in San Francisco.

Between 1966 and 1967 she was commissioned by architects to design and execute a number of concrete and mosaic pieces, one of which went to the Mirabeau Restaurant in Kaiser Center, Oakland. She also designed and executed a mural for the Fresno Convention Center Theater during that same period. In 1973-1974, she designed and supervised a glazed brick mural for a public library in Pinole, California.

Packard had one-woman shows at the San Francisco Museum of Art, Raymond and Raymond Gallery (San Francisco), Addison Gallery of American Art (Andover, Mass.), Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Pushkin Museum (Moscow), and March Gallery (Chicago). Emmy Lou Packard died in 1998.

Related Archival Materials note:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Emmy Lou Packard conducted by Mary Fuller McChesney in 1964.

Provenance:

Emmy Lou Packard donated her papers to the Archives of American Art from 1984-1988.

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:

Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this

Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco  Search this

Topic:

Works of art  Search this

Printmakers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this

Mural painting and decoration, American  Search this

Mural painting and decoration, Mexican  Search this

Muralists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this

Latino and Latin American artists  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Photographs

Interviews

Diaries

Citation:

Emmy Lou Packard papers, 1900-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.packemmy

See more items in:

Emmy Lou Packard Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-packemmy

Original artist:

Thomas, Henry Atwell  Search this

Artist:

Humphrey, Charles S.  Search this

Lithographer:

Eno, Henry C.  Search this

Measurements:

image: 13 3/4 in x 17 1/4 in; 34.925 cm x 43.815 cm

Object Name:

lithograph

Place made:

United States: New York, New York City

Date made:

1864

Credit Line:

Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection

ID Number:

DL.60.3574

Catalog number:

60.3574

See more items in:

Cultural and Community Life: Domestic Life

Domestic Furnishings

Art

Horses

Peters Prints

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b5-09d0-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_745275

Creator:

Lawson, Ernest, 1873-1939  Search this

Names:

Salmagundi Club  Search this

Anderson, Victor C. (Victor Coleman), 1882-1937  Search this

Bensco, Margaret Lawson, 1895  Search this

Brown, George E.  Search this

Grant, Gordon, 1875-1962  Search this

Higgens, Eugene  Search this

Lawson, Ella  Search this

Olinsky, Ivan G. (Ivan Gregorewitch), 1878-1962  Search this

Speicher, Eugene Edward, 1883-1962  Search this

Wiggens, Guy  Search this

Williams, Keith Shaw, 1905-1951  Search this

Extent:

0.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Date:

1907-1967

Summary:

The scattered papers of painter Ernest Lawson measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1907 to 1967. The papers consist of family correspondence with daughter Margaret, and between Margaret and her mother Ella Lawson; a dismantled scrapbook containing exhibition announcements, catalogs, and clippings; and a 1937 photograph of a group of artists at a dinner at the Salmagundi Club honoring Lawson along with a photograph of a work of art by Lawson signed by the numerous artists attending the dinner, including Victor C. Anderson, George Elmer Browne, Gordon Grant, Eugene Higgens, Ivan G. Olinsky, Eugene Speicher, Guy Wiggens, and Keith Shaw Williams, among others.

Scope and Contents:

The scattered papers of painter Ernest Lawson measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1907 to 1967. The papers consist of family correspondence with daughter Margaret, and between Margaret and her mother Ella Lawson; a dismantled scrapbook containing exhibition announcements, catalogs, and clippings; and a 1937 photograph of a group of artists at a dinner at the Salmagundi Club honoring Lawson along with a photograph of a work of art by Lawson signed by the numerous artists attending the dinner, including Victor C. Anderson, George Elmer Browne, Gordon Grant, Eugene Higgens, Ivan G. Olinsky, Eugene Speicher, Guy Wiggens, and Keith Shaw Williams, among others.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 1 series.

Series 1: Ernest Lawson papers, 1907-1967 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 2-4)

Biographical / Historical:

Ernest Lawson (1873-1939) was painter active in New York City and member of the group of American early modernist painters known as "The Eight."

Born in Nova Scotia, Canada and raised in Kansas, Ernest Lawson moved to New York City in the 1880s. There, he studied at the Art Students League and studied under John Twachtman. He also studied at the Cos Cob Connecticut summer art school before moving to Paris in 1893 to study at the Académie Julian. While in Paris he also shared a studio with W. Somerset Maugham, who is believed to have used Lawson as the inspiration for the character "Frederick Lawson" in his 1915 novel Of Human Bondage .

Lawson returned to the United States in 1896 and transitioned from his Impressionist style to a Realist style, painting primarily cityscapes. Lawson had his first solo exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1907 and won a prize for a winter landscape. Lawson joined the group painters that would become known as "The Eight," whose members included Robert Henri, William Glackens, John Sloan, George Luks, Everett Shinn, Arthur B. Davies, and William Prendergast. These painters protested that the exhibition system in New York was a closed system that did not welcome change and modern style. In 1908, Macbeth Galleries staged the seminal show of the "The Eight."

Lawson married Ella Holman and they had two daughters Margaret and Dorothy. Lawson tragically drowned in Florida in 1939.

Provenance:

Margaret Lawson Bensco donated her father's papers in 1976. In 1985, Lawson's granddaughter Alice Simon donated the 1937 photograph of artists at the Salmagundi Club and the photograph of a work of art by Lawson signed by numerous artists.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Research Center in Washington, D.C. 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:

Painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Ernest Lawson papers, 1907-1967. 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.lawserne

See more items in:

Ernest Lawson papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lawserne

Creator:

Westermann, H. C. (Horace Clifford), 1922-1981  Search this

Topic:

Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10471

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213882

AAA_collcode_westhcpa

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213882

Creator:

Minor, Robert Crannell, 1839-1904  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7089

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209222

AAA_collcode_minorobe

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209222

Creator:

Momiyama, Nanae, 1924-2002  Search this

Subject:

Secor, Johanna  Search this

Kusama, Yayoi  Search this

Kenkeleba House  Search this

National Association of Women Artists (U.S.)  Search this

Bruce Museum  Search this

Type:

Sketchbooks

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Greeting cards

Interviews

Sketches

Drawings

Photographs

Place:

Japan

Topic:

Japanese American artists  Search this

Calligraphy, Japanese  Search this

Asian American art  Search this

Asian American artists  Search this

Asian American women artists  Search this

Japanese American art  Search this

Japanese American women artists  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Asian American painters  Search this

Asian American educators  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)15751

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)287096

AAA_collcode_mominana

Theme:

Women

Asian American

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_287096

Creator:

Petlin, Irving, 1934-2018  Search this

Topic:

Art and war  Search this

Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Protest movements -- United States  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)21701

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)398508

AAA_collcode_peltirvi

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_398508

Creator:

Kruse, Cornelius F., 1893-1978  Search this

Subject:

Logan, Robert Fulton  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7795

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209961

AAA_collcode_kruscorn

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209961

Creator:

Haskell, Ernest, 1876-1925  Search this

Subject:

Hartt, Hildegarde Haskell  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9005

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211194

AAA_collcode_haskerne

Theme:

Diaries

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211194

Creator:

Kelsey, Dorothea Storey, 1893-1980  Search this

Topic:

Painting, American  Search this

Women painters -- Connecticut  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9134

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211328

AAA_collcode_kelsdoro

Theme:

Women

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211328

Creator:

Kelsey, Luman Pierre, 1906-1961  Search this

Topic:

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- Connecticut  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9141

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211335

AAA_collcode_kelsluma

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Photography

Craft

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211335

Creator:

Deming, Adelaide, 1864-1956  Search this

Subject:

Bones, Helen Woodrow  Search this

Holt, Hamilton  Search this

Marlowe, Julia  Search this

Washington, Booker T.  Search this

Hugo, Victor  Search this

Topic:

Painting, American  Search this

Landscape painting -- Connecticut  Search this

Muralists  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7529

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209688

AAA_collcode_demiadel

Theme:

Women

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209688

Creator:

Freeman, George, 1789-1868  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8130

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210301

AAA_collcode_freegeor

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210301

Creator:

Dickinson, Anson, 1779-1852  Search this

Type:

Sketchbooks

Topic:

Painting, American  Search this

Miniature painting -- Connecticut  Search this

Portrait painting  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9749

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212124

AAA_collcode_dickanso

Theme:

Sketches & Sketchbooks

Audio - Visual

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_212124

Creator:

Thayer, Polly, 1904-2006  Search this

Names:

Copley Society (Boston, Mass.)  Search this

Friends General Conference (U.S.)  Search this

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston  Search this

Nucleus Club (Boston, Mass.)  Search this

Trustees of Reservations (Mass.)  Search this

Vose Galleries of Boston  Search this

Abramson, Doris E.  Search this

Cortissoz, Royal, 1869-1948  Search this

Hofer, Philip, 1898-1984  Search this

Koval, Dorothy  Search this

Sarton, May, 1912-  Search this

Starr, Donald C.  Search this

Thayer, Ethel Randolph, 1870-1953  Search this

Thayer, Ezra Ripley, 1866-1915  Search this

Tudor, Tasha  Search this

Wheelwright, John, 1897-1940  Search this

Yarnall, Agnes  Search this

Extent:

21.6 Linear feet

0.807 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Photographs

Sound recordings

Sketchbooks

Transcripts

Interviews

Sketches

Video recordings

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Date:

1846-2008

bulk 1921-2008

Summary:

The papers of Boston portraitist and painter Polly Thayer (Starr) (1904-2006) measure 21.6 linear feet and 0.807 GB and date from 1846 to 2008, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-2008. The papers document Thayer's personal life and career as a painter, portraitist, and pastel artist. Found within the papers are biographical materials, extensive family papers, correspondence with artists and art venues, interviews, writings, subject files, organization files, exhibition files, art inventory records, printed and digital materials, five sketchbooks, artwork, and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of Boston portraitist and painter Polly Thayer (Starr) (1904-2006) measure 21.6 linear feet and 0.807 GB and date from 1846 to 2008, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-2008. The papers document Thayer's personal life and career as a painter, portraitist, and pastel artist. Found within the papers are biographical materials, extensive family papers, correspondence with artists and art venues, interviews, writings, subject files, organization files, exhibition files, art inventory records, printed and digital materials, five sketchbooks, artwork, and photographs.

Biographical material includes a marriage certificate, school records, inventories of possessions, passports, files about the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake in Japan, and a few personal and scattered financial documents such as invoices and receipts for various art related expenses.

Extensive family papers on many of Polly Thayer's immediate and extended family members include obituaries, condolence letters, writings, and printed materials. The most voluminous files are about Polly Thayer's husband Donald Carter Starr, her mother Ethel Randolph Thayer, and her father Ezra Ripley Thayer.

There is limited correspondence with friends and and colleagues, including Royal Cortissoz, Philip Hofer, Tasha Tudor (photocopies), Dorothy Koval, the curator who wrote about Thayer for her first show at Vose Galleries in 2001, as well as two art consultants who helped Thayer inventory her artwork. The bulk of the correspondence is with museums, galleries, and other venues such as the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Copley Society of Boston, and Vose Galleries.

Interviews with Polly Thayer include transcripts as well as sound and video recordings. There is also a sound recording of poet and professor Doris Abramson discussing Catherine Sargent Huntington.

Writings include typescript and handwritten drafts of essays, notebooks, and notes on assorted topics. The bulk of the material was written by Thayer, with a few writings by others.

Subject files are found for people and general interests. The "People" files are collected documents about Thayer's friends, colleagues, artists, and portrait subjects. The files include short biographies, articles, obituaries, a few photographs, two videocassettes and one sound recording. The most voluminous files are on Francis DeLancey Cunningham, the Howe family, Rose Nichols, May Sarton, John Brooks Wheelwright, and Agnes Yarnall. Thayer's "Interests" files consist of articles and clippings on various topics such as animals, humor, and pacifism.

Organization files contain materials related to Polly Thayer's charitable contributions, club memberships and affiliations, including The Chilton Club, Nucleus Club, Religious Society of Friends, and Trustees of Reservations, among others. These files contain seven sound recordings.

Exhibition files contain exhibition catalogs, reviews, clippings, notes, inventory price lists, and other materials about Thayer's solo and group shows.

Art inventory records consist of dismantled binders of inventories that also include photographs of artwork and descriptive information such as the title, medium, and dimensions. There are also photographic inventories of works of art arranged by subject, and several partial art inventories.

Printed materials include two scrapbooks compiled by Polly Thayer's mother containing articles about Thayer, magazines, journals, exhibition catalogs, brochures, exhibition invitations, postcards, clippings, and miscellaneous materials. Digital materials consist of inventories and digitized audio interviews.

Five sketchbooks include figure drawings, portrait sketches, and landscape sketches. Also found are loose drawings of animals, landscapes, and people.

Disbound binders of photographs contain images of works of art that are grouped by subject, including portraits, landscapes, and "mystical/flowers/animals," as well as personal photographs of Polly Thayer and family members, houses, social events, pets, and friends. There is one small disbound photograph album of houses and properties.

Arrangement:

The Polly Thayer papers were organized and inventoried by curator Dorothy Koval and other art consultants prior to arriving at the Archives of American Art, and most likely do not reflect the original order by Polly Thayer. The Archives has maintained the arrangement imposed by Koval for the bulk of the papers. This collection is arranged as 13 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1921-2007 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1, 22, 0.582 GB; ER01-ER02)

Series 2: Family Files, 1846-2006 (2 linear feet; Box 1-3, 22)

Series 3: Correspondence, 1929-2008 (1.3 linear feet; Box 3-5)

Series 4: Interviews, 1995-2004 (0.2 linear feet; Box 5, 0.196 GB; ER03)

Series 5: Writings, 1922-2006 (1.7 linear feet; Box 5-6)

Series 6: Subject Files, circa 1900-2008 (3.3 linear feet; Box 7-10)

Series 7: Organization Files, 1931-2008 (1 linear feet; Box 10-11, 0.029 GB; ER04)

Series 8: Exhibition Files, 1928-2006 (1.9 linear feet; Box 11-13)

Series 9: Art Inventory, circa 1940-1999 (4.6 linear feet; Box 13-17)

Series 10: Printed Material, 1900-2006 (1.8 linear feet; Box 17-19, 22)

Series 11: Sketchbooks, 1930-circa 1970 (0.3 linear feet; Box 19, 23)

Series 12: Artwork, 1927-circa 1990 (0.4 linear feet; Box 19, 23, OV 25)

Series 13: Photographs, 1898-2006 (2.1 linear feet; Box 19-21, 24)

Biographical / Historical:

Polly Thayer (Starr) (1904-2006) was a Boston painter of portraits, landscapes, and still lifes.

Ethel Randolph Thayer, known as Polly, was born in Boston in 1904, the daughter of Professor Ezra Ripley Thayer, also Dean of the Harvard Law School, and Ethel Randolph Thayer, née Clark. Thayer began her drawing lessons at an early age and later attended the Westover Boarding School in Middlebury, Connecticut. Although she signed some of her early paintings Ethel Thayer, by the end of the 1920s she generally signed her work Polly Thayer. She continued to use Polly Thayer as her brush name after she married, although in 1967 she changed her name legally from Ethel Randolph Starr to Polly Thayer Starr.

After graduating from Westover School, Thayer traveled to China, Korea, and Japan with her brother and mother. While in Japan, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 struck just as their ship was about to leave Yokohama. In the devastation that followed, their ship was used as a hospital and Polly Thayer assisted with nursing the injured.

After returning home, Thayer began her formal studies at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts from 1923 to 1925 where she took painting classes taught by Philip Hale. She eventually left the Boston Museum and began private painting lessons with Hale. While working under Hale, she painted a large nude, Circles, which was awarded the National Academy of Design's coveted Julius Hallgarten Prize in 1929. She also spent the summer of 1924 in Provincetown studying with Charles Hawthorne and traveled to Europe where she studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. She later studied in Madrid and, from 1930-1933, at the Art Students League in New York City.

Thayer's first solo exhibition was held on New Year's Eve, 1930 at the Doll & Richards gallery in Boston. The Globe reviewer declared it "surely settles her status as one of the foremost painters in the country." The success of the exhibition led to numerous portrait commissions --any of them exhibited at Wildenstein gallery in New York City --and launched Thayer's career as a portrait artist. Her portrait subjects include Judith Anderson, Jacques Barzun, Maurice Evans, Lewis Galantiere, Robert Hale, May Sarton, John Wheelwright, and Agnes Yarnall, among others. Additional galleries that subsequently gave Thayer solo shows were the Sessler Gallery in Philadelphia; Contemporary Arts and Pietrantonio Galleries in New York; and in Boston the Guild of Boston Artists, Grace Horne Galleries, Child's Gallery, The Copley Society, the St. Botolph Club and the Boston Public Library.

In 1933, Polly Thayer married Donald Starr, a Boston lawyer and avid sailor. They married in Italy and honeymooned in Paris while he took a break from a sailing trip around the world on his schooner "Pilgrim." They had two daughters, Victoria and Dinah. In 1942 Thayer joined the Society of Friends (Quakers) which became an important part of her life and identity. She was active in many educational, charitable and cultural institutions and local clubs. Thayer had long been fascinated by the dynamics, meaning and variety of visual experience. In 1981 the Friends Journal published her essay "On Seeing," a paper she continued to refine until she was ninety-seven.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Polly Thayer began focusing more on landscapes and still lifes and continued to be prolific artist, exhibiting in numerous solo and group exhibits in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. In her later years she renewed an early affiliation with Vose Galleries which she maintained for the rest of her life. In 2001, she was the only living artist whose work was included in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts exhibition "A Studio of Her Own" and a banner of her portrait of May Sarton hung over the entrance to the Museum.

Polly Thayer (Starr) died on August 30, 2006.

Related Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview of Polly Thayer conducted May 12, 1995-February 1, 1996, by Robert F. Brown.

The Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust holds archival materials and artwork by Polly Thayer.

Provenance:

The Polly Thayer (Starr) papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Polly Thayer in 1998 and again in 2008 by Thayer via Stephanie S. Wright, executor. A notebook was donated in 2016 by Dinah Starr, daughter of Polly Thayer (Starr) and merged with the rest of the collection.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of 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:

Portrait painters  Search this

Topic:

Painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Kanto Earthquake, Japan, 1923  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Sound recordings

Sketchbooks

Transcripts

Interviews

Sketches

Video recordings

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Polly Thayer (Starr) papers, 1846-2008, bulk 1921-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust

Identifier:

AAA.thaypoll

See more items in:

Polly Thayer (Starr) papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-thaypoll

Creator:

Weir, Julian Alden, 1852-1919  Search this

Names:

Bastien-Lepage, Jules, 1848-1884  Search this

Baude, Charles  Search this

Beckwith, J. Carroll (James Carroll), 1852-1917  Search this

Dubois, Charles  Search this

Edelfelt, Albert, 1854-1905  Search this

Ely, Caroline Alden, 1884-1974  Search this

Gérôme, Jean Léon, 1824-1904  Search this

Hinckley, Robert C., 1853-1941  Search this

Huntington, Daniel, 1816-1906  Search this

Inness, George, 1825-1894  Search this

Peppercorn, A. D.  Search this

Sargent, John Singer, 1856-1925  Search this

Weir, John F. (John Ferguson), b. 1841  Search this

Wencker, Joseph  Search this

Whittredge, Worthington, 1820-1910  Search this

Young, Dorothy Weir  Search this

Extent:

5 Microfilm reels

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Microfilm reels

Date:

1869-1966

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence (mostly typed transcripts); scrapbooks; photographs; sketches; notebooks and scrapbooks and clippings compiled by Dorothy Weir Young in preparation for her book, The Life and Letters of J. Alden Weir (1960, Yale University Press).

REEL 70: Typescripts of 31 letters including: correspondence between Weir, his family and friends, 1881; letters to Weir from A. D. Peppercorn, Charles Baude and Robert Hinckley; letters from Weir to his parents; and correspondence with his brother John Ferguson Weir. Also included are 13 original letters, 1881, to Weir from George Inness, Worthington Whittredge, Daniel Huntington and others; 2 exhibition catalogs, 1916 & 1952; 3 indexed scrapbooks, 1892-1916, containing clippings about Weir's paintings, letters, photos and receipts; a scrapbook containing prints by Weir (often several states of each are included), untitled and undated, some of which are of family and friends; a scrapbook of prints, "Etchings- J. A. Weir, Isle of Man 1889"; sketches; photographs; and clippings.

REEL 71: Correspondence (mostly transcripts), 1869-1880, including: over 200 letters from Weir to his parents and 50 to his brother John Ferguson Weir, mostly from Paris where Julian was a student of Jean Leon Gerome and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts; letters from James Carroll Beckwith, Charles Baude, Wyatt Eaton, Jean Leon Gerome, John Singer Sargent, Albert Edelfelt, Charles Dubois, Filadelfo Simi, John Henry Twachtman, Joseph Wencker, Jules Bastien-Lepage, and his father and brother; excerpts from diaries of trips in Europe; reproductions of works of art and architectural scenes; and miscellany.

REELS 125-126: Notebooks and scrapbooks compiled by Dorothy Weir Young and clippings; catalogs; and correspondence of her sister, Mrs. Caroline Alden Ely (Mrs. Page Ely). The notebooks contain mostly typescripts of letters to and from Weir during 1882-1920, plus some photographs; original letters; and memorabilia. The scrapbooks contain photographs of Weir's works; notes; some original letters; and clippings.

REEL 577: Fragments (45 pp.) of a rough draft of Weir's biography, devoted to Weir's career from 1898 to 1900, with particular reference to the "revolt" of "The Ten" from the Society of American Artists.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter, etcher, printmaker; New York, N.Y. and Connecticut. Weir was the son of painter Robert Walter Weir (1803-1889), and brother of painter John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926).

Related Materials:

Researchers should also consult the Weir family papers for additional material of and about Julian Alden Weir.

Provenance:

Material on reels 70-71 & 125-126 lent for microfilming 1971 by Mrs. Caroline Weir Ely (Mrs. Page Ely, d. 1974), sister of Dorothy Weir Young; both daughters of Julian Alden Weir. The donor of the draft of the biography on reel 577 is unspecified.

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:

Painters -- Connecticut  Search this

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

Topic:

Painting, American  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.weirjuli

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-weirjuli

Creator:

White, Nelson C.  Search this

Lucioni, Luigi, 1900-1988  Search this

Names:

National Academy of Design  Search this

Extent:

0.02 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1922-1927

Summary:

The three letters from artist Luigi Lucioni to art historian Nelson C. White measure 0.02 linear feet and are dated June 5, 1922, June 27, 1923, and December 11, 1927. In these letters, which reflect the friendship between Lucioni and White, Lucioni writes about various topics the two correspondents had discussed in person, including the National Academy of Design, his studio and work, and novels and plays that interest him.

Scope and Contents:

The three letters from artist Luigi Lucioni to art historian Nelson C. White measure 0.02 linear feet and are dated June 5, 1922, June 27, 1923, and December 11, 1927. In these letters, which reflect the friendship between Lucioni and White, Lucioni writes about various topics the two correspondents had discussed in person, including the National Academy of Design, his studio and work, and novels and plays that interest him.

Arrangement:

Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.

Series 1:Luigi Lucioni letters to Nelson C. White, 1922-1927 (Folder 1; 3 Items)

Biographical / Historical:

Connecticut painter, art historian, and collector, Nelson C. White (1900-1989), was born in Waterford, Connecticut. Son of artist Henry C. White, Nelson was a friend of the artist Luigi Lucioni (1900-1988), a realist painter best known for his landscapes of Vermont and portraits of opera singers.

Provenance:

The Luigi Lucioni letters to Nelson C. White,1922-1927, were donated in 2017 by George Cooke White, Nelson C. White's son.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.

Occupation:

Art historians -- Connecticut  Search this

Topic:

Artists' studios  Search this

Italian American artists  Search this

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

Citation:

Luigi Lucioni letters to Nelson C. White, 1922-1927. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.whitnelso

See more items in:

Luigi Lucioni letters to Nelson C. White

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-whitnelso

Creator:

Dowden, Raymond Baxter, 1905-1982  Search this

Dowden, Anne Ophelia Todd, 1907-  Search this

Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation  Search this

Names:

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Art School -- Faculty  Search this

Yale Summer Art School (Norfolk, Conn.) -- Faculty  Search this

Arnheim, Rudolf  Search this

Starr, Floyd Elliot, 1883-1980  Search this

Thomas, Byron, 1902-1978  Search this

Extent:

0.8 Linear feet ((microfilmed on 2 partial reels))

12 Items (Addition)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1937-1996

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence, letter essays, writings, project files, printed material, works of art, and photographs primarily regarding Dowden's positions as head of the Design Department at Cooper Union Art School (CUAS) for 32 years and Director of the Yale summer art school in Norfolk, Connecticut. Also included are papers of Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden.

REELS 4884-4885: Biographical material consists of memorial tributes and obituaries, 1982. Correspondence, 1952-1980, is with friends and colleagues, primarily concerning the Cooper Union Art School and it's publications and projects, calligraphy, and the Yale-Norfolk art school, 1952-1982. Among the correspondents are Rudolf Arnheim, painter Byron Thomas, and Floyd Starr of the Starr Commonwealth for Boys, where Dowden had gone as a boy. Letters, written in essay form, 1955-1978, by Dowden regard Anne Ophelia's botanical drawing publications, his health concerns, travel plans, and general thoughts. Writings, ca. 1960, concern Dowden's philosophy of art in relation to CUAS.

Also included are files regarding CUAS publications, Green Camp, Dowden's participation as an art juror, the Yale summer art school, and Byron Thomas's death and memorial service, 1978. Printed material, 1940-1976, includes exhibition announcements and catalogs, CUAS publications, newspaper and magazine clippings, and reproductions of Dowden's art work. Original art work by Raymond and Ophelia include ink drawings and pencil sketches. Photographs are of family and friends, works of art and exhibition installations, and friends while Dowden was a resident fellow at the Tiffany Foundation in 1929 and 1932.

Unmicrofilmed addition: Biographical material, writings, an outline of a book on design, exhibition announcements, printed material, and photographs.

Biographical / Historical:

Painters; New York, N.Y. Raymond Dowden taught design at Cooper Union Art School, New York, N.Y., and is known also for his calligraphy work. His wife, Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden, was a botanical artist. Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden died in 2007.

Provenance:

Donated 1978-1982 by Raymond Baxter Dowden and Anne Ophelia Dowden; and in 1990 and 2004 by Anne Dowden.

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

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

Botanical artists  Search this

Topic:

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

Identifier:

AAA.dowdraym

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-dowdraym

Creator:

Sanford, Marion  Search this

Names:

Chapin, Cornelia, 1893-1972  Search this

Hernández, Mateo, 1884-1949  Search this

Extent:

2.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound recordings

Photographs

Motion pictures (visual works)

Scrapbooks

Video recordings

Interviews

Drawings

Date:

1929-1988

Summary:

The papers of sculptors and close companions Marion Sanford and Cornelia Chapin measure 2.5 linear feet and date from 1929-1988. The papers include scattered materials created by and about both women, including biographical materials, one folder of correspondence for each woman, a few writings and essays, newsclippings, exhibition catalogs, other printed materials, and four scrapbooks (three about Chapin and one about Sanford). Photographs are of Chapin only and of artwork of both women. There is also one phonograph album transferred onto cassette of a radio interview with Chapin and several motion picture films of Chapin's home movies shot in upstate New York and Paris.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of sculptors Marion Sanford and Cornelia Chapin measure 2.5 linear feet and date from 1929-1988. Sanford and Chapin were close companions and shared a studio in New York City. The papers include scattered materials created by and about both women, including biographical materials, one folder of correspondence for each woman, a few writings and essays, newsclippings, exhibition catalogs, other printed materials, and four scrapbooks (three about Chapin and one about Sanford). Photographs are of Chapin only and of artwork of both women. There is also one sound recording of a radio interview with Chapin and several motion picture films of Chapin's home movies shot in upstate New York and Paris.

Biographical material consists of scattered items documenting the careers of Marion Sanford and Cornelia Chapin. Included are a small amount of correspondence of both women, membership certificates, an index card file of Sanford's artwork, Chapin's written description of her sculpting process, and writings by others about Chapin. The sound recording is a radio interview of Chapin after she sculpted a bear for the National Zoo. Films include several home movies of Chapin from 1932-1936, showing Chapin at a summer home in Harpursville, NY, working in her studio, and working in Paris with teacher Mateo Hernandez.

Printed material includes exhibition announcements and catalogs for many group and solo shows of both women, news clippings about Chapin and Sanford, and a few reproductions of their artwork. Source files consist of postcards and clippings of various images that were most probably used as references or inspiration for their artwork.

The collection includes four scrapbooks compiled by Sanford and Chapin documenting their careers through news clippings, a few exhibition materials, and photographs of their artwork. There are three scrapbooks about Chapin, and one about Sanford. Also found are two additional scrapbooks on the subject of bas-relief and sculpture. Photographs include several of Cornelia Chapin in her studio and with her teacher Mateo Hernandez. There are numerous photographs of artwork by Chapin and Sanford. Artwork includes drawings of animals, architectural elements, coins, and people, by either Sanford or Chapin.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 6 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1930-1986 (Box 1, 6, 8; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 2: Printed Material, 1931-1972 (Box 1-2; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Source Files, 1940s-1960s (Box 2-3; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Scrapbooks, 1932-1949 (Box 3-7; 1.0 linear foot)

Series 5: Photographs, circa 1930-1962 (Box 4, 7; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 6: Artwork, 1929-circa 1960s (Box 4; 5 folders)

Biographical Note:

Marion Sanford was born in 1904 in Ontario, Canada and was raised in Warren, Pennsylvania. She studied painting at the Pratt Institute in New York, and worked for a period of time as a stage and costume designer. She developed an interest in sculpture, and studied the direct-carving method briefly at the Art Students League, but was largely self-taught. In 1937 she had her first exhibition of sculptures depicting women performing household chores and everyday tasks. She later created a series called "Women at Work" and her imagery of women would be the subject for which she would become best known, although she also completed bronze portraits and bas-reliefs. In 1941 and 1943 she worked as a Guggenheim Fellow, and became a member of the National Academy of Design, National Sculpture Society, and the National Association of Women Artists. Sanford won many awards and medals for her works and also created sculptures on commission, including a carved altar panel for the First Methodist Church in Warren, Pennsylvania. Marion Sanford died in 1987.

Cornelia Van Auken Chapin was born in 1893 in Waterford, Connecticut. After exploring other interests, including aeronautics, she decided to become a sculptor in the 1920s. She studied with Gail Corbett and in the early 1930s began exhibiting her sculptures of animals. In 1934 she moved to Paris, France and studied with Mateo Hernandez as his only student. Under Hernandez, she learned the technique of direct-carving from life in stone and wood and won the 2nd grand prize at the Paris Exposition in 1937. In 1936, Chapin was the only foreign and woman sculptor elected to the Societaire Salon d'Automne in Paris. The threat of World War II brought her back to the United States in 1939. Chapin won many awards for her sculptures and became a member of the National Academy of Design in 1945 and the National Sculpture Society. She was also one of the founding members of Artists' for Victory, Inc. and a participant in the women's artist group known as "The Philadelphia Ten," a unique and progressive group of women painters and sculptors who often exhibited together in the Philadelphia area.

In the late 1930s Chapin purchased a studio in New York City which had formally belonged to sculptor Gutzon Borglum. She shared the studio with her fellow sculptor Marion Sanford, and often modeled for Sanford's work. Sanford and Chapin remained close companions until Chapin's death in 1972.

Related Material:

Harvard University Library houses the the bulk of Cornelia Van Auken Chapin's papers, 1877-1959.

Provenance:

A portion of the Marion Sanford and Cornelia Chapin papers were donated by Marion Sanford in 1974. Additional materials were donated by Sanford's caretaker, Brenda Brenwell-Lejeune, in 1999.

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.

Topic:

Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Sculpture -- Technique  Search this

Women sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Bas-relief  Search this

Sculpture, American -- 20th century  Search this

Artists' studios  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Photographs

Motion pictures (visual works)

Scrapbooks

Video recordings

Interviews

Drawings

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.

Identifier:

AAA.sanfmari

See more items in:

Marion Sanford and Cornelia Chapin papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-sanfmari