Search Results

Creator:

Reed, Robert, 1938-2014  Search this

Names:

Albers, Josef  Search this

Extent:

3.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1961-2020

Scope and Contents:

The papers of artist and teacher Robert Reed measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1960-2020. The collection documents Reed's extensive career as an exhibition artist as well as his teaching activities. The latter includes over four decades at the Yale School of Art. The papers include extensive printed material such as rare catalogs, gallery cards, and exhibition mailers. There is also correspondence from students and peers in the art world, notably including painter Philip Guston. At the beginning of his career, Reed was tasked by Josef Albers with mixing colors and creating color plates for Albers' book Interaction of Color, Yale University Press, 1963. Some of these tests are included in the papers, along with a transcription of Reed's interview by the Albers Foundation.

Biographical / Historical:

Robert Reed (1938-2014) was a painter and educator in New Haven, Conn.­ Reed was especially influential in the history of abstraction and African American art in the twentieth century.

Provenance:

Donated in 2022 by Susan Whetstone, Robert Reed's widow and by Dr. Lisabeth Jordan and Mark A. Reed, Robert Reed's children.

Restrictions:

Test plates made by Reed at the request of Josef Albers for Albers' book Interaction of Color are access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information. 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:

Painters -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this

Educators -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this

Topic:

African American artists  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.reedrobe

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw91b46191f-a69d-4af4-aeef-b0cc9e43aaf4

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-reedrobe

Creator:

Rossiter, Thomas Prichard, 1818-1871  Search this

Subject:

Remington, Frederic  Search this

Rossiter, Ehrick Kensett  Search this

Rossiter, Thomas Prichard  Search this

Soglow, Otto  Search this

Tack, Augustus Vincent  Search this

Sartain, William  Search this

Scott-Moncrieff, David  Search this

Whitmore, Elizabeth  Search this

Keller, A. J.  Search this

Jay, John  Search this

Hutt, Henry  Search this

Hunt, William Morris  Search this

Low, Will Hicok  Search this

Kimball, Fiske  Search this

Kent, Rockwell  Search this

Kensett, John Frederick  Search this

Mowbray, H. Siddons (Harry Siddons)  Search this

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese  Search this

Morris, William  Search this

Melchers, Gari  Search this

Pearson, Ralph M.  Search this

Gibson, Charles Dana  Search this

Peabody, George  Search this

Nicholls, Rhoda Holmes  Search this

Newell, Peter  Search this

French, Daniel Chester  Search this

Craig, Frank  Search this

Hambidge, Jay  Search this

Cooper, James Fenimore  Search this

Coffin, William A. (William Anderson)  Search this

Cox, Kenyon  Search this

Cory, Fanny Y.  Search this

Birch, Reginald Bathurst  Search this

Bevan, Edith Rossiter  Search this

Castaigne, Andre  Search this

Cadwalader-Guild, Emma Marie  Search this

Archipenko, Alexander  Search this

Beckwith, J. Carroll (James Carroll)  Search this

Beaux, Cecilia  Search this

Tryon, Dwight William  Search this

Type:

Sketches

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Rossiter Family papers, 1840-1961. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

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

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8395

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210569

AAA_collcode_rossthom

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210569

Creator:

Rossiter, Thomas Prichard, 1818-1871  Search this

Names:

Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964  Search this

Beaux, Cecilia, 1855-1942  Search this

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

Bevan, Edith Rossiter  Search this

Birch, Reginald Bathurst, 1856-1943  Search this

Cadwalader-Guild, Emma Marie, 1843-1911?  Search this

Castaigne, Andre  Search this

Coffin, William A. (William Anderson), 1855-1925  Search this

Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851  Search this

Cory, Fanny Y.  Search this

Cox, Kenyon, 1856-1919  Search this

Craig, Frank, 1874-1918  Search this

French, Daniel Chester, 1850-1931  Search this

Gibson, Charles Dana, 1867-1944  Search this

Hambidge, Jay, 1867-1924  Search this

Hunt, William Morris, 1824-1879  Search this

Hutt, Henry, b. 1875  Search this

Jay, John, 1817-1894  Search this

Keller, A. J.  Search this

Kensett, John Frederick, 1816-1872  Search this

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this

Kimball, Fiske, 1888-1955  Search this

Low, Will Hicok, 1853-1932  Search this

Melchers, Gari, 1860-1932  Search this

Morris, William, 1834-1896  Search this

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872  Search this

Mowbray, H. Siddons (Harry Siddons), 1858-1928  Search this

Newell, Peter, 1862-1924  Search this

Nicholls, Rhoda Holmes  Search this

Peabody, George, 1795-1869  Search this

Pearson, Ralph M., 1883-1958  Search this

Remington, Frederic, 1861-1909  Search this

Rossiter, Ehrick Kensett, 1854-1941  Search this

Rossiter, Thomas Prichard, 1818-1871  Search this

Sartain, William, 1843-1924  Search this

Scott-Moncrieff, David  Search this

Soglow, Otto, 1900-1975  Search this

Tack, Augustus Vincent, 1870-1949  Search this

Tryon, Dwight William, 1849-1925  Search this

Whitmore, Elizabeth  Search this

Extent:

0.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketches

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Date:

1840-1961

Summary:

The Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Rossiter Family papers measure 0.5 linear feet and date from 1840 to 1961. Included are letters to painter Thomas Prichard Rossiter and letters to his son, architect Ehrick Kensett Rossiter, documenting their friendships with many artists and Thomas Prichard Rossiter's sketchbook and loose sketches. Edith Rossiter Bevan's papers include her writings on her grandfather, Thomas Prichard Rossiter; a scrapbook; photographs of the Rossiter family; notes by Bevan; news clippings; and other printed material. Also found is Bevan's collection of artists' letters.

Scope and Content Note:

The Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Rossiter Family papers measure 0.5 linear feet and date from 1840 to 1961. Included are letters to painter Thomas Prichard Rossiter and letters to his son, architect Ehrick Kensett Rossiter, documenting their friendships with many artists. Notable letters are from James Fenimore Cooper, William Morris Hunt, John Jay, J. F. Kensett, William H. Morris, Samuel F. B. Morse, George Peabody, Cecelia Beaux, William A. Coffin, Daniel Chester French, Will H. Low, Gari Melchers, William Sartain, Augustus Vincent Tack, Dwight Tryon, and many others.

The collection contains Thomas Prichard Rossiter's sketchbook drawn while living in Italy in 1943, and three other sketches including a portrait of his family.

Also found are letters to Edith Rossiter Bevan and her writings on her grandfather, Thomas Prichard Rossiter, including a biography and checklist of his paintings. Bevan also compiled a scrapbook on his career and family history which includes drawings by Rossiter, photographs of the Rossiter family and his artwork, notes by Bevan, news clippings, and other printed material.

A collection of Edith Rossiter Bevan's artists' letters is found within the papers. Letters are from Alexander Archipenko, J. Carroll Beckwith, Reginald Birch, Emma M. Cadwalader-Guild, Andre Castaigne, Fanny Cory, Kenyon Cox, Frank Craig, Charles Dana Gibson, Jay Hambridge, Henry Hutt, A. J. Keller, Rockwell Kent, Fiske Kimball, David Scott Moncrieff, H. Siddons Mowbray, Peter Newell, Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, Ralph M. Pearson, Frederic Remington, Otto Soglow, and Elizabeth Whitmore.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 2 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Rossiter Family Papers, 1840-1961 (Box 1-2; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 2: Edith Rossiter Bevan Collection of Artists' Letters, circa 1891-1939, 1951 (Box 1; 2 folders)

Biographical Note:

Thomas Prichard Rossiter (1818-1871) was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He first learned painting as an apprentice for a Mr. John Boyd, and also studied with Nathaniel Jocelyn. In 1838 he exhibited two paintings at the National Academy of Design, and in 1939 moved to New York City and opened a studio.

In 1840, Rossiter traveled to Europe with Asher B. Durand, John Kensett, and John Casilaer, and while there visited Rome with Thomas Cole. He decided to stay in Italy until 1846 when he moved to New York City and shared a studio with Kensett and Louis Lang. During this period he relied on portrait painting for his income, but also painted historical and religious paintings.

In 1851 Rossiter married Anna Ehrick Parmly and they toured Europe in 1853. They settled in Paris where Anna gave birth to twins Ehrick Kensett and Charlotte. Rossiter exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855. Anna died shortly after the birth of their daughter Anna, and the family moved back to New York.

For a brief period of time Rossiter had an art gallery, exhibiting his work and the work of his friends. In 1860 he married Mary (Mollie) Sterling and moved his family to Cold Spring, New York on the Hudson River. He continued to paint portraits, historical, and religious paintings, and exhibited at the National Academy of Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, until his death in 1871.

Ehrick Kensett Rossiter (1854-1941), named after his father's friend John Frederick Kensett, attended Cornell University and became an architect in New York as part of the firm Rossiter & Muller. He was a member of the Architectural League, United States Public Architects' League, and trustee of the American Fine Arts Society. In 1877 he married Mary Heath and they had three sons and a daughter. Their daughter Edith Rossiter Bevan was a historian and avid collector of historical autographs.

Related Material:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is a Thomas Prichard Rossiter letter to Elias Beirs dated January 12, 1840.

Provenance:

A portion of the collection was donated in 1957 by Edith Rossiter Bevan, daughter of Ehrick Kensett Rossiter, and granddaughter of Thomas Prichard Rossiter. Additional material was donated in 2007 by Patti Rossiter Ravenscroft, Rossiter's Great Great Granddaughter.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers 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.

Occupation:

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Topic:

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

Genre/Form:

Sketches

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Rossiter Family papers, 1840-1957. 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.

Identifier:

AAA.rossthom

See more items in:

Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Rossiter Family papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw972b743d7-b65e-4f8f-adad-58b96811325f

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-rossthom

Artist:

Cornell, Joseph  Search this

Names:

Benton, Elizabeth Cornell  Search this

Cornell, Robert  Search this

Extent:

196.8 Linear feet

186 Nitrate negatives

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Nitrate negatives

Photographic photoprints

Photographs

Place:

New York, New York

Date:

1750-1980, bulk 1930-1972

Summary:

The Joseph Cornell Study Center collection measures 196.8 linear feet and dates from 1750 to 1980, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930 to 1972. Documenting the artistic career and personal life of assemblage artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), the collection is primarily made up of two- and three-dimensional source material, the contents of the artists' studio, his record album collection, and his book collection and personal library. The collection also includes diaries and notes, financial and estate papers, exhibition materials, collected artifacts and ephemera, photographs, correspondence, and the papers of Robert Cornell (1910-1965) and Helen Storms Cornell (1882-1966), the artist's brother and mother.

Scope and Contents:

The Joseph Cornell Study Center collection measures 196.8 linear feet and dates from 1750 to 1980, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930 to 1972. Documenting the artistic career and personal life of assemblage artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), the collection is primarily made up of two- and three-dimensional source material, the contents of the artists' studio, his record album collection, and his book collection and personal library. The collection also includes diaries and notes, financial and estate papers, exhibition materials, collected artifacts and ephemera, photographs, correspondence, and the papers of Robert Cornell (1910-1965) and Helen Storms Cornell (1882-1966), the artist's brother and mother.

Correspondence is with collectors, museums, galleries, artists, friends, family, charity organizations, admirers and those admired by Cornell, and World War II European pen pals. Discussions about the appreciation, donation, sale, purchase, and exhibition of Cornell's works are frequent, with the inclusion of shipping and loan documentation or notices of payment installments. Galleries and museums frequently request that Cornell agree to an exhibition, which he often declines, and fans request free works be mailed or affordable works be sold to them. With friends, artists, and those he admired, Cornell discussed topics that fascinate him, included bits of poetry or philosophical musings, sent clippings or a collaged letter, and occasionally discussed a project or work in process. After World War II, when so many were displaced by the war in Europe, Cornell answered ads for pen pals in the "Christian Science Monitor," often responding to requests for clothing or other goods, and sometimes exchanging many letters over several years. Family correspondence is with his mother, sisters, brother, and others, and often notes activities of the day, foods eaten, and general musings, as well as occasionally mentioning a project or artwork. Correspondents of note include Stan Brakhage, Betty Freeman, Charles Henri Ford, Allegra Kent, Yayoi Kusama, Roberto Matta, Marianne Moore, Octavio Paz, Sonia Sekula, Pavel Tchelitchew, Parker Tyler, Dorothea Tanning, and Betsy von Furstenberg, among others.

Cornell was often preoccupied with his thoughts, feelings, memories, a project or thematic "exploration," and jotted notes on seemingly any surface available. Notes and musings are on napkins, the backs of envelopes, newspaper clippings, and paper bags from record and magazine stores. Frequently, an observation would trigger a lengthy nostalgic moment, or a "feé," fairy-like child or girl, would capture his imagination and lead him to thoughts of 18th-century ballerinas and silent film stars. Cornell wrote longer diary notes, sometimes expanding on an earlier notation or emotion, and often wrote when he experienced trouble sleeping or woke early. Drafted letters to imaginary muses or admired individuals are interspersed among diaries, often revealing Cornell's yearnings to find emotional intimacy and human connection. Over time, Cornell revisited his notes and occasionally made further notations about renewed thoughts on a topic, dating the note with "revisited" or "reviewed." Notes are often written in a stream-of-consciousness style, for example, jumping from the mention of a record album or composer, to a ballerina of the same period, a note about a French poet, the memory of childhood, or an observation made earlier in the day, all in the space of a few lines. Notes about artistic processes or meanings behind works or images do occasionally emerge from the tangled, poetic notations. Notes also often provide insights into Cornell's internal emotional state and give clues about his intentions behind an artwork or a particular thematic fixation.

Financial materials document Cornell's professional and personal business activities, including the sale of artworks, annual expenses for supplies and household incidentals, payments and schedules for personal assistants, receipts for donations to charities and nonprofits, and tax documents. There is also information about who worked as assistants, or "helpers," in his later years and where Cornell purchased art supplies. Additionally, specific details are documented through receipts and invoices, such as what kind of paint he purchased. Estate records include preparations made for Cornell's artworks after his death, and clippings about other deceased artist's estates show that he thought often about such arrangements in his later years.

Exhibition files highlight several select solo exhibitions for Cornell, as well as preparations and planning for the "Robert Cornell: Memorial Exhibition" in honor of his brother in 1966. Also included are several early exhibition catalogs and announcements, including "Surréalisme" (January 9-29, 1932) and "Exhibition of Objects (Bibloquet) by Joseph Cornell" (December 6-31, 1939) at the Julien Levy Gallery, and "Romantic Museum: Portraits of Women, Constructions and Arrangements by Joseph Cornell" (December 1946) at the Hugo Gallery.

Film projects and collected film materials consist of files related to Cornell's various experimental film projects: "Aviary," "Cappuccino," "Centuries of June," "Fable for Fountains," "Nymphlight," "Serafina's Garden," and unrealized film scenario "Monsieur Phot." Files include film-making notes, correspondence, and photographs. Cornell's interest in film also led him to collect film-related materials, such as film stills, film posters, and screening programs. Scattered correspondence documents the interest other institutions and individuals had in purchasing and viewing his collection. Though most of his collected film stills and movie posters were donated to the Anthology Film Archives, film stills from "Escape Me Never" (1935) and "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928) are still within the collection, as well as film-screening programs for Cornell's collection of films.

Writing and design projects document Cornell's work authoring articles and designing issues of specialty dance magazine "Dance Index," and his layouts for popular magazines like "Good Housekeeping," "House and Garden," and "Mademoiselle." Other writing projects include brochures dedicated to opera singers Maria Malibran and Giulia Grisi, "Maria" and "Bel Canto Pet." Materials used for these brochures, such as copper photo engraving plates, are also found. Design work includes a series of Christmas cards created with The Museum of Modern Art as well as traced patterns ("textile tracings") and design clippings from Cornell's time working as a "textile designer" for Traphagen Commercial Textile Studio.

Cornell acquired troves of source material from bookstalls, antique stores, sporting good and department stores, hardware stores, and magazine and record shops. He kept boxes and files of material on admired individuals, such as actresses, artists, dancers, and singers, as well as on art projects or thematic "explorations." Files are on general topics such as American history, scientific phenomena, animals, plants, and humankind, as well as on series of artworks, such as "Castles," "Homage to the Romantic Ballet," and "Medici Slot Machines." Focused "exploration" projects include "Celestial Theatre," "Colombier," "GC 44," and "Switzerland," among others. Materials include photographs, photostats, maps, book fragments, autographed letters, notes, collage clippings and cutouts, collected prints and engravings, box and collage fragments, and scattered artifacts.

Collected ephemera includes large amounts of blank postcards and greeting cards, stamps, collected bus and train tickets, food labels and packaging, decals, and other materials. Artifacts are three-dimensional collected objects and source objects, which include found objects from the streets, dried flowers, and pieces of nature gathered from walks around his neighborhood. Cornell may have gathered materials because they inspired a memory or nostalgic feeling, or because they fit with a bin of other similar objects to select from for an artwork in progress.

Photographs found within the collection are of Cornell at work and as a child with family. Also found are assorted personal and family photographs, photographs of Cornell's attic and garage storage, and photographs of his Utopia Parkway house. Photographs of artwork include few installation photographs, in addition to photographs of Cornell's boxes and collages. Collected photographic materials include vintage photographs, such as tintypes, a cyanotype, stereoscopic glass slides, albumen prints, cabinet cards, and cartes-de-visite. Cornell also collected cased photographs, such as daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and one opalotype. Negatives and photostats were often produced from various prints and even other photographs and used in Cornell's boxes and collages. Images are of men and women, actors, authors, dancers, performers, well-known men and women, royalty, places, and artwork. Photographs of note include those by Hans Namuth of Willem and Lisa de Kooning and of Edward Hopper's bedroom; photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson; a photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron; photographs by Brassai; and a photogravure by Alfred Stieglitz from "Camerawork."

Also found in the collection are works of art by others, including a sketch by Pavel Tchelitchew, as well as artwork by Cornell, such as unfinished collages, Rorschach drawings or ink blots, and childhood artwork. Printed material includes assorted bulletins, flyers, exhibition materials for other artists, journals, and sent printed membership and charity materials. Magazines, including "View," are also included, and often have annotations by Cornell or a note to "cut" or "review" with page numbers. A large amount of magazine and newspaper clippings are in the collection, sometimes collected with a group of like material by Cornell, and at other times simply gathered in heaps. Occasional annotations are also found on the clippings.

Cornell's personal library and book collection includes over 2500 titles, ranging from fiction, poetry, and cinema, to history, science, and travel. Notable among the titles are "Baedeker's" travel guides that Cornell often sourced for his "Hotel" box series, as well as an influential publication by Max Ernst, "La Femme 100 têtes," which includes a typed letter and exhibition flyer tucked within. Books often have annotations, some fairly extensive, by Cornell, and assorted collected items, notes, and correspondence tucked between pages. Pages were often cut by Cornell, either to make photostats and use in a box, or to file with other thematic "explorations." A wide range of authors and topics provide insight into Cornell's interests and to ideas behind artwork and diary notes. Cornell's collection of record albums includes over 145 records. These contain inserted notes and clippings and are often referenced in diary notes Cornell made, noting a recent album or song listened to while at work in his studio.

The papers of Cornell's mother, Helen Storms Cornell, and his brother, Robert Cornell, are also included in the collection. Both lived with Cornell his whole life, spending the most time with him at their home at 3708 Utopia Parkway. Financial materials document shared responsibilities for billing, utilities, household fixes and chores, and expenditures, and Helen kept detailed financial records in a series of ledgers. Robert notes when he borrowed money from Cornell, or when he means to pay Cornell back for the purchase of a typewriter. Activities documented in diaries also occasionally cross paths with Cornell, noting his visitors or an exchange of letters continued after introductions through Cornell. Personal activities, such as Robert's interest in his train collection and his drawing projects and cartoon series, are also documented.

Arrangement:

The Joseph Cornell Study Center Collection is arranged into 15 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1917-1972 (Boxes 1, 98, OV118; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1813, 1934-circa 1973 (Boxes 1-8, 86; 6.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Diaries and Notes, 1940-1976 (Boxes 8-10, 98-99, 135, OV108, OV119; 3.5 linear feet)

Series 4: Personal Business and Estate Records, 1950-1978 (Boxes 10-14; 4.1 linear feet)

Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1932-1973 (Box 14; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Film Projects and Collected Film Materials, circa 1924-1972 (Boxes 14-16, 100, 133; 1.6 linear feet)

Series 7: Writing and Design Projects, circa 1910s, 1936-1962 (Boxes 16-18, 86, 100, 131-132, OV109-OV111, OV120-OV122; 3.6 linear feet)

Series 8: Source Material, 1750-circa 1911, 1926-1972 (Boxes 19-49, 86-92, 96, 100-105, 126-130, 132-137, OV112-OV115, OV125; 42.2 linear feet)

Series 9: Artifacts and Ephemera, 1768, circa 1839-1972 (Boxes 49-52; 3.2 linear feet)

Series 10: Photographic Material, circa 1800s-1972 (Boxes 52-56, 80-86, 93, 106, 128, 133, OV116, OV123-OV124; 7.5 linear feet)

Series 11: Artwork, circa 1810-1972 (Boxes 56-57, 107, OV117; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 12: Printed Material, 1855-1972 (Boxes 57-76, 94-96, 107; 16 linear feet)

Series 13: Book Collection and Personal Library, 1722-1980 (99.8 linear feet)

Series 14: Record Album Collection, circa 1925-1974 (3.2 linear feet)

Series 15: Cornell Family Papers, 1910-1980 (Boxes 77-79, 97, 107; 3.2 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) was a self-taught assemblage and collage artist, and filmmaker, active in New York City. He was born in Nyack, New York on December 24, 1903, and died of heart failure at his home in Queens, New York on December 29, 1972. The oldest of four children, he was born Joseph I. Cornell to his mother, Helen Storms Cornell (1882-1966), and his father, Joseph I. Cornell (1875-1917). Cornell had two younger sisters, Elizabeth ("Betty") Cornell Benton (1905-2000) and Helen ("Sissy") Cornell Jagger (1906-2001), as well as one brother, Robert Cornell (1910-1965), who had cerebral palsy.

Cornell attended the Phillips Academy, a preparatory boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts, beginning shortly after his father's death in 1917. He attended for four years but did not receive a diploma, and soon began work as a textile salesman for the William Whitman Company in Manhattan. His work took him, by foot, through the city, visiting secondhand bookshops on Fourth Avenue, browsing music stores and magazine shops, and catching early shows at the Metropolitan Opera House. He would occasionally wait outside the stage doors for favorite singers and dancers to emerge, requesting signatures on photographs or bits of costumes.

Around 1926, Cornell joined the Christian Science Church, joined by his brother Robert shortly thereafter, and both continued to be lifelong members. Cornell kept a number of books in his personal library on Christian Science teachings and regularly subscribed to "The Christian Science Monitor."

After living in several rental houses in Bayside, New York, Cornell's mother purchased a house for the family in 1929 in Flushing, Queens. Cornell, along with his mother and brother, would live at 3708 Utopia Parkway, for the rest of their lives. His two sisters soon married and moved away, eventually settling in Westhampton, Long Island and in the poultry-farming business.

With no formal art training to speak of, Cornell's first work was a Max Ernst-inspired collage, "Untitled (Schooner)," created in 1931. He was especially inspired by Ernst's collage novel, "La Femme 100 têtes," published in 1929. French artist Odilon Redon was also among the few artists Cornell named as an influence on his art. His first sculptural works were small, cardboard pill boxes with bits of ephemera, costume adornments, and nature hidden inside. Cornell also created a series of glass bell jar works, placing small trinkets and Victorian-era-like compositions within. It was these early collages and bell jar works that were included in Cornell's debut exhibition, "Surréalisme" (January 9-29, 1932), a group show at the Julien Levy Gallery. Cornell designed the announcement for the show and exhibited alongside Max Ernst, Man Ray, Pierre Roy, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Eugène Atget, George Platt Lynes, Jean Cocteau, and Salvador Dalí. Months later, Cornell was invited to have his first solo show, "Objects by Joseph Cornell: Minutiae, Glass Bells, Shadow Boxes, Coups d'Oeil, Jouets Surréalistes" (November 26-December 30, 1932), also at the Julien Levy Gallery.

In 1932, after eleven years of work, Cornell was laid off from the William Whitman Company due to the Great Depression. Soon after, he took on more responsibility in the church, working part-time as an attendant in the Christian Science Reading Room in Great Neck, New York. Beginning in 1933, he taught Sunday school classes for three years and in 1935, became the Sunday school librarian. However, his religious activities and artistic ventures continued to remain separate.

In the early 1930s, Cornell progressed from movie lover to filmmaker. When Julien Levy began his New York Film Society in 1933, holding screenings of various experimental films in the gallery, Cornell began buying and collecting films and film stills in earnest. He set up a 16-millimeter projector in his home to screen favorites, such as those by Georges Méliès, D.W. Griffith, and Louis Feuillade. His collection quickly grew to over 2,500 film stills and several hundred films, and included silent era films, such as nature documentaries, goofy newsreels, travelogues, early cartoons, and slapstick comedies, as well as several feature films. In 1933, Cornell wrote a screenplay, or "scenario," entitled "Monsieur Phot." Between 1935 and 1937, Cornell also occasionally created publicity photomontages for Universal and Columbia studios. Of the nearly thirty films Cornell created, periods of activity can generally be separated into two areas: collage films of the late 1930s, consisting of combined elements from films in his own collection, and films he directed in the 1950s, which were collaborations with other filmmakers set in New York City. "Rose Hobart," Cornell's most celebrated collage film, was created and shown in the Julien Levy Gallery in 1936 and includes clipped footage from "East of Borneo." Later films were directed and filmed with cinematographers Stan Brakhage, Rudy Burckhardt, and Larry Jordan.

In 1934, Cornell began a job at the Traphagen Commercial Textile Studio as a "textile designer," a job he held for six years. Continuing to work at his kitchen table in the evenings, Cornell completed his first assemblage box construction, "Untitled (Soap Bubble Set)," in 1936. It was first exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art's show, "Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism" (December 9, 1936-January 17, 1937). This work was also the first to be acquired by a museum, purchased for $60.00 by the Wadsworth Atheneum in Massachusetts in 1938. Cornell's European debut was also in 1938, as one of three Americans represented in the "Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme" (January 17-Febuary 24, 1938) at the Galerie Beaux-Arts in Paris, alongside Man Ray and Anne Clark.

At the end of 1939, Cornell began corresponding with poet Charles Henri Ford, founder of avant-garde magazine "View," Pavel Tchelitchew, and Parker Tyler. After his "Soap Bubble Sets," this period saw the development of Cornell's homages to singers and actresses, including "Untitled (Fortune-Telling Parrot for Carmen Miranda)," the destroyed "Garbo (Greta Garbo in the Legendary Film 'The Crystal Mask,' c. 1845)," and "Dressing Room for Gilles." He also began using photostats of art reproduction prints, as with the print of Jean Antoine-Watteau's painting, "Pierrot" (circa 1719), used in his "Gilles" box.

In the 1940s, the Romantic ballet emerged as Cornell's new topic of interest. Through his friend Pavel Tchelitchew, Cornell was introduced to the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet founders, Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine. Cornell collected dance memorabilia and had a great love of the Romantic ballet. His favorite dancers were primarily ballerinas of the nineteenth century, including Fanny Cerrito, Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, Lucille Grahn, and Carlotta Grisi. Cornell's "Homage to the Romantic Ballet" works largely took the shape of jewel-box style wooden boxes with glass overlays and included bits of velvet, tulle, sequins, crystals, and chiffon, occasionally collected from dancers themselves. His most well-known work of this series is "Taglioni's Jewel Casket" (1940). Cornell also admired several living ballet dancers, including Tamara Toumanova, Zizi Jeanmaire, and Allegra Kent, who would all make their way into Cornell's box works and/or collages. Collecting for the "exploration," "Portrait of Ondine," Cornell's cased portfolio dedication to Fanny Cerrito and her role in the ballet "Ondine," began in the 1940s, though not completed until around 1960.

In late 1940, Cornell quit his job at Traphagen to concentrate on freelance commercial magazine design and editorial work during the day and his artwork at night. That same year, Charles Henri Ford started "View" magazine to promote Surrealists and Neo-Romantics in New York City and often asked Cornell to contribute. Published in the December 1941-January 1942 issue, one of his early contributions was a collage dedication to stage actress Hedy Lamarr: "Enchanted Wanderer: Excerpt from a Journey Album for Hedy Lamarr" (1941). Along with writing the accompanying text, he created a photomontage of Lamarr with her face overlaying the painted portrait of a Renaissance boy by Italian painter Giorgione. Peggy Guggenheim, at the advice of Marcel Duchamp, purchased multiple Cornell works prior to opening her new gallery, Art of This Century. Cornell also befriended Roberto Matta Echaurren, another Surrealist living in exile, who introduced him to Robert Motherwell.

After deciding to fully dedicate his time to his art in early 1940, he set up a studio in his basement. Complete with floor-to-ceiling wooden shelving, he kept his large collection of boxed source material stacked with handwritten labels in cardboard boxes. Themed folders of materials such as "Stamps" or "Maps" were kept in stacks and works in progress and finished works were stored in the basement, garage, and attic. Entering a renewed period of productivity, Cornell embarked on many new and important box projects in 1942. One of the first boxes created in his new basement studio, and the first of the "Penny Arcade" or "Medici Slot Machine" series, was "Medici Slot Machine" (1942), which includes a photostat of "Portrait of Marquess Massimiliano Stampa" (1557) by Sofonisba Anguissola. Another work from this time is the first of his "Castle" or "Palace" series, "Setting for a Fairy Tale" (1942), which uses a photostat of a French building from Jacques Androuet du Cerceau's book, "Les Plus excellents bastiments de France" (1576). "Untitled (Pharmacy)" (circa 1942) was the first of his "Pharmacy" series and included twenty-two apothecary jars. Cornell tended to work in series and created thirteen "Palace" boxes between 1942 and 1951, and ultimately created six "Pharmacy" works.

In 1943, Cornell began working at an electronics company, the Allied Control Company, Inc., to do his part to contribute to the defense effort during the war. He also sent correspondence and care packages to displaced Europeans, who listed their needs in "The Christian Science Monitor." Influenced by World War II, one of his strongest works to emerge in 1943 was "Habitat Group for a Shooting Gallery." Another notable work to come out of this period, "The Crystal Cage (Portrait of Berenice)," was an excerpt from one of his album "explorations" that was published in the January 1943 issue of "View."

Cornell left his job at Allied Control in 1944, but soon began working at the Garden Centre in Flushing, owned by a fellow Christian Scientist. Cornell was often nostalgic for this time in his life, devoting an entire "exploration" of material fondly remembered as "GC 44." He rode a bicycle to work and enjoyed collecting trips gathering dried grasses, driftwood, shells, and other relics of nature on the same bicycle as he rode through the streets of Queens. During this time, he continued to tend to his projects for "Dance Index," a magazine founded in 1942 by Lincoln Kirstein, but taken over by Donald Windham in 1944. Cornell designed several covers for the magazine and was given control of the entire summer 1944 issue, which he devoted to the Romantic ballet. He also devoted a special 1945 issue to Hans Christian Andersen, making great use of the New York Public Library Picture Collection.

Throughout the 1940s, Cornell continued to support himself with commercial design work for magazines like "Vogue," "Good Housekeeping," "Harper's Bazaar," "Town & Country," and "Mademoiselle." In 1946, after thirteen years at the Julien Levy Gallery, he joined the Hugo Gallery. In December 1946, Cornell's solo exhibition, "Romantic Museum at the Hugo Gallery: Portraits of Women by Joseph Cornell," celebrated his favorite movie stars, singers, and ballet dancers, and included his work created for the show, "Untitled (Penny Arcade Portrait of Lauren Bacall)." Cornell's "Greta Garbo" box, as well as "Souvenir for Singleton," an homage to Jennifer Jones and her role in the film "Love Letters," were also included in the show. In late 1948, his West Coast debut was in the exhibition, "Objects by Joseph Cornell," held at the Copley Gallery. The end of the 1940s saw the final issue of "View" magazine in 1947, the closure of the Julien Levy Gallery in April 1949, and Cornell's departure from the Hugo Gallery after his last show in November 1949.

In late 1949, Cornell joined the Charles Egan Gallery, known primarily for showing Abstract Expressionists. At this time, Cornell was working on a new series of boxes known as his "Aviary" works, most of which include a white-painted box with cutouts of birds mounted on wood. Though he had worked on bird-related boxes before, including an "Owl" series in the mid-1940s, his "Fortune Telling Parrot" (1939), and "Object 1941" (1941), these newer works were stripped of French elements and left "clean and abstract" by design. His first show at the Egan Gallery, "Aviary by Joseph Cornell" (December 7, 1949-January 7, 1950), included twenty-six "Aviary" works, nearly all created in 1949. Donald Windham agreed to write the foreword for the exhibition catalog, a single folded sheet, and Cornell gave him one of the boxes in the show, "Cockatoo: Keepsake Parakeet," in appreciation. Through the Egan Gallery, Cornell became friends with a new group of artists, including Franz Kline, Jack Tworkov, and Willem de Kooning. Cornell also held two screenings of a selection of his collected films at Subjects of the Artist, an art school founded by Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, David Hare, and William Baziotes.

In 1950, Cornell's second show at the Egan Gallery, "Night Songs and Other New Work" (December 1, 1950-January 13, 1951), introduced his new "Observatory" series. These works are largely defined by stark, whitewashed spaces with astronomical charts and constellations replacing colorful birds. The Museum of Modern Art purchased its first Cornell work from this show in early 1951, "Central Park Carrousel, in Memoriam" (1950).

For three months in 1951, Cornell was beset by various ailments and had trouble finding the energy to create new work. He worried more for his aging mother and the health of his brother. After a monthlong vacation with his sisters in Westhampton, he returned with renewed interest in Emily Dickinson's poetry. His whitewashed boxes took on a new form in his newest "Dovecote" series, using grids and circular cutouts. The works then transformed into homages to Dickinson, notably "Toward the Blue Peninsula: For Emily Dickinson" (circa 1953), and then to his "Hotel" series. Cornell's "Hotel" boxes include photostats of vintage European ads for hotels collected from vintage travel guides, especially "Baedeker's," adhered to the back walls of the boxes. Another new series of work, his "Juan Gris" series, was dedicated to Cubist artist Juan Gris. Between 1953 and the mid-1960s, Cornell created at least fifteen "Juan Gris" boxes, which often include a cutout of a white cockatoo in a Cubist-collage habitat. Cornell's third and last show at Egan Gallery, "Night Voyage" (February 10-March 28, 1953), included some of these newest works. After leaving Egan Gallery, his work was introduced to Chicago collectors in a solo show at the Frumkin Gallery, "Joseph Cornell: 10 Years of His Art" (April 10-May 7, 1953), which included nearly thirty pieces. Cornell's first museum retrospective was this same show held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (July 12-August 30, 1953).

As New York City continued to change, Cornell grew more nostalgic for the city he had explored since the 1920s. The impending closure of the Third Avenue El train prompted him to dream up a film project to capture its last days, resulting in "Gnir Rednow," a reworking of Stan Brakhage's 1955, "Wonder Ring." During this time, Cornell joined the Stable Gallery, run by Eleanor Ward, interacting often with Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, and Joan Mitchell, remaining there until the end of the 1950s. His astronomy-themed exhibition, "Winter Night Skies" (December 12, 1955-January 13, 1956), included his "Night Skies" series of work with celestial chart fragments, Greek mythological figures, and paint-splattered "windows" representative of star-filled night skies. In 1956, he became aware of ballerina Allegra Kent, and began a series of work devoted to her, the first of which was "Via Parmigianino (Villa Allegra)" (1956), which included a photostat of a painting by Parmigianino, "The Madonna of the Long Neck" (circa 1540). In late 1957, after two years, Cornell had his last show at Stable Gallery, "Joseph Cornell: Selected Works" (December 2-31, 1957), consisting of a series of "Sand Fountain" boxes and "Space Object" or "Celestial Navigation" works. The "Sand Fountain" boxes included different colors of sand meant to flow within, often from the tops into cordial glasses. His "Celestial Navigations" included galaxy-like compositions set within the boxes, with rolling, painted cork balls, metal rings, and constellation charts, sometimes hovering over cordial glasses or clay pipes. This last Stable Gallery show earned him his first published profile, written by Howard Griffin for the December 1957 issue of "Art News." Also in 1957, he won the Kohnstamm Prize for Construction at the Art Institute of Chicago's 62rd Annual Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture.

Towards the end of the 1950s, Cornell spent less time creating new bodies of work, and focused more on revisiting previous series and reviewing piles of collected source material. In 1959, Cornell returned to making collages, frequently sourcing popular magazines. In December 1959, Cornell was awarded $1,500 for his "Orion" collage, entered in the Art Institute of Chicago's "63rd American Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture." Also in December, he was offered a show at Bennington College in Vermont, which he titled, "Bonitas Solstitialis: Selected Works by Joseph Cornell and an exploration of the Colombier" (November 20-December 15, 1959). The show included one of his newest "explorations" of collected material related to "colombier," or pigeon houses.

By 1962, Cornell was working diligently on new collages, using Masonite boards and colorful magazine clippings. He also began creating collages using nude images interspersed with constellation clippings or hazy blue dyes. As in previous decades and art movements, Cornell became acquainted with new artists, spending less time in the city and more time hosting visitors at his Utopia Parkway home. Visitors included artists Walter De Maria, Robert Whitman, Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, and Robert Indiana. Tony Curtis also became a frequent visitor and friend, introduced by Richard Feigen in 1964. The early 1960s was also the first time Cornell put out an advertisement for assistants in the "Long Island Star-Journal," employing a number of young men and women who helped organize clippings and run errands. Cornell also met Joyce Hunter, a young runaway waitress at a city coffee shop, who would occupy his thoughts and diary notes for the next several years. When she was murdered at the end of 1964, Cornell paid for her funeral. He went on to make several "Penny Arcade" collages in memoriam to her, including, "Penny Arcade (re-autumnal)" (1964).

In 1964, Cornell began friendships with several women including artist Carolee Schneeman, who was his first assistant in the early 1960s. He also met artist Yayoi Kusama through art dealer Gertrude Stein. After becoming friends, she visited him often and they exchanged letters and notes. As he did with other artist friends, Cornell supported her by purchasing several of her early watercolor paintings, and they stayed connected until his death in 1972.

Cornell's life greatly changed in 1965 with the death of his brother, Robert. By this time, his mother lived with his sister in Long Island, and Cornell was alone in the Utopia Parkway house for the first time. He exchanged frequent letters and phone calls with his mother and devoted much time to thinking about Robert and Joyce, often aligning them in his diary notations. Cornell also created a series of collages dedicated to his brother's memory, incorporating photostats of Robert's hundreds of drawings into Cornell's work, as with the later collage, "The Heart on the Sleeve" (1972). Cornell's "Time Transfixed" series of collages were also dedications to Robert's memory, referencing Magritte and Robert's love of trains. He mounted an exhibition, "Robert Cornell: Memorial Exhibition" (January 4-29, 1966), at the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, where he showed Robert's artwork alongside his newly created collage dedications.

After Robert's death, Cornell relied more heavily on assistants, going through many part-time "helpers." In October 1966, Cornell's mother died, adding her to his constant thoughts and diaries. Though he was still grieving, he was given two major retrospectives in 1967. The first was at the Pasadena Art Museum, put on by James Demetrion and Walter Hopps, "An Exhibiton of Works by Joseph Cornell" (January 9-February 11, 1967). The second retrospective was at the Guggenheim Museum just three months later, "Joseph Cornell" (May 4-June 35, 1967), organized by Diane Waldman. After these shows, he was highlighted in the December 15, 1967 issue of "Life" in the article, "The Enigmatic Bachelor of Utopia Parkway."

In 1968, Cornell was given an "award of merit," which included a medal and $1,000, by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He was also given a medal and $1,000 by the Brandeis University Creative Arts Awards in the painting category, along with an exhibition. Days later, "The New York Times" announced Cornell the winner, along with Donald Judd, of India's first Triennale of Contemporary World Art. The Brandeis exhibition, "Boxes and Collages by Joseph Cornell" (May 20-June 23, 1968), was organized by William Seitz and concentrated on Cornell's more recent 1960s collages. Cornell was also included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's hundredth anniversary show, "New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940 to 1970" (October 18, 1969-February 1, 1970), where twenty-two of Cornell's boxes were shown in their own gallery. At the end of 1970, Cornell was given a solo show at the Metropolitan, "Collages by Joseph Cornell" (December 10, 1970-January 24, 1971), which included forty-five of his newest collages.

Now preferring to stay closer to his home in Flushing, Cornell was more interested in sharing his art with young adults and children, than an adult audience. He hosted a group of high school students, sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's education department, at his home in conjunction with his collage show (1970-1971). He also showed his work in the art department of Queens College of the City University of New York. Cornell still hosted visitors on occasion, having Yoko Ono and John Lennon at his home at least once. Leila Hadley, Betsy von Furstenberg, and Anne Jackson also made frequent visits. With his deteriorating health, Cornell worried about what would happen to his work after his death and hired lawyer Harry Torczyner to help him plan his estate and get his affairs in order.

In 1972, Cornell had a show at the Cooper Union, a college in New York, specifically for children. He displayed his boxes and collages at child-height and had cherry soda and brownies at the opening reception on February 10. He then held a show at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, also for children: "Children's Preview of the Exhibition of Joseph Cornell – Collages and Boxes (April 18-June 17, 1972). In the winter of 1972, at the request of the Phoenix House drug treatment and prevention program, Cornell contributed to a charity project compiling limited-edition lithographic prints for a portfolio, which included artists like David Hockney, James Rosenquist, and Ellsworth Kelly.

On December 29, 1972, a week after turning sixty-nine, Cornell died of heart failure at his home. He was cremated and interred near the graves of his mother, father, and brother, overlooking the Hudson River in Nyack, New York.

Works Cited:

1. Hartigan, Lynda Roscoe. "Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination." New Haven, Connecticut and London: Yale University Press, 2007. Exhibition Catalog.

2. McShine, Kynaston. "Joseph Cornell." New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1980.

3. San Francisco Cinematheque and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Joseph Cornell: Films." 2007. Exhibition Program. (Presented in conjunction with SFMOMA's exhibition of "Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination").

4. Schaffner, Ingrid and Lisa Jacobs. "Julien Levy: Portrait of an Art Gallery." Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: The MIT Press, 1998.

5. Solomon, Deborah. "Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell." New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997.

Separated Materials:

The Smithsonian Archives of American Art houses the Joseph Cornell papers, 1804-1986, bulk 1939-1972.

Provenance:

The Joseph Cornell Study Center collection was donated to the Smithsonian American Art Museum by Joseph Cornell's sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth Cornell Benton and John A. Benton, in 1978, which prompted the creation of the Joseph Cornell Study Center. Additional materials were donated in installments by the artist's estate, the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, from 1985 to 1997. Elizabeth and John A. Benton originally donated 66 linear feet of three-dimensional and non-textual source material and 50 linear feet of books to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, which were subsequently transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Joseph Cornell Study Center in 1994 and 1995.

Restrictions:

Access to the collection requires an advanced appointment. Contact collection staff at least two weeks prior to preferred date, at AmericanArtCornellStudy@si.edu.

Series 9: Artifacts and Ephemera, Series 13: Personal Library and Book Collection, and Series 14: Record Album Collection, are still undergoing processing and preservation and may not be available for research use. Record albums are unavailable for playback. Contact collection staff for full lists of publications and record albums.

Rights:

Unpublished materials are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Occupation:

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

Topic:

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

Assemblage (Art)  Search this

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

Found objects (Art)  Search this

Works of art  Search this

Celebrities  Search this

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

Genre/Form:

Photographic photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1900-1950

Photographs -- 1860-1870 -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver albumen -- Cartes-de-visite

Photographs -- Daguerreotypes -- 1840-1860

Citation:

Joseph Cornell Study Center collection, 1750-1980, bulk 1930-1972. Joseph Cornell Study Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was generously provided by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

Identifier:

SAAM.JCSC.1

See more items in:

Joseph Cornell Study Center Collection

Archival Repository:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Research and Scholars Center

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ih7d97fc249-474d-41bf-953d-5305df1e4c06

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-saam-jcsc-1

Collection Creator:

André Emmerich Gallery  Search this

Container:

Box 60, Folder 48

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1976-1978

Collection Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Access of diaries and appointment books required written permission.

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:

André Emmerich Gallery records and André Emmerich papers, circa 1929-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Leon Levy Foundation.

See more items in:

André Emmerich Gallery Records and André Emmerich Papers

André Emmerich Gallery Records and André Emmerich Papers / Series 6: Artists Files

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b22b43a7-6975-4111-bde2-eec155362cd9

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-andremmg-ref3008

Painter:

Taylor  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Culture:

African American  Search this

Type:

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Yale University New Haven Connecticut 06520

Date:

1852

Topic:

Occupation--Vendor  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

State of Being--Other--Enslaved  Search this

State of Being--Other--Imprisonment  Search this

Cityscape--Street  Search this

Figure group  Search this

Control number:

IAP 81110098

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_189452

Painter:

Walker, William Aiken 1838-1921  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Type:

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Yale University New Haven Connecticut 06520

Date:

1888

Topic:

Portrait group  Search this

Portrait male  Search this

Landscape--Farm  Search this

State of Being--Other--Enslaved  Search this

Control number:

IAP 81110096

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_189450

Artist:

Jackson Pollock, American, b. Cody, Wyoming, 1912–1956  Search this

Medium:

Oil, enamel, and cigarette fragment on canvas mounted on fiberboard

Dimensions:

62 x 37 1/4 in. (157.5 x 94.6 cm)

Type:

Painting

Date:

1949

Credit Line:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1972

Accession Number:

72.235

See more items in:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

School:

Abstract Expressionism (First Generation)

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/py23a0e72b1-1137-4d13-9ff4-b9e2ed8071e2

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:hmsg_72.235

Interviewee:

Chaet, Bernard  Search this

Interviewer:

Brown, Robert F.  Search this

Names:

Boris Mirski Gallery (Boston, Mass.)  Search this

Yale University. School of Art  Search this

Albers, Josef  Search this

Zerbe, Karl, 1903-1972  Search this

Extent:

5 Items (sound files (3 hrs., 30 min.), digital, wav file)

92 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1997 June 18-August 15

Scope and Contents:

An interview with Bernard Chaet conducted 1997 June 18-August 15, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art, at Chaet's home in Rockport, Massachusetts.

Chaet briefly speaks of his life growing up in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston and his family, in particular his father, before segueing into his early beginnings as an artist and his acceptance into the School of the Museum of Fine Arts; he discusses his training there, as well as the three-year interim after he quit and before he completed his education at Tufts University when he worked alone; he refers to his teacher and the head of the Department of Painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Karl Zerbe, often, including his falling out with Zerbe, citing this as the reason his quit the school; he recalls his relationship with Boston art gallery owner Boris Mirski, who supported him from an early stage and sent him to Europe when he was young, the evolution of his relationship with Mirski, and the reason for their eventual falling out; Chaet describes his trip to Europe, where he traveled for several months with friends, at length, including the art museums and the suffering he witnessed in Italy and Spain, as well as accidentally meeting Picasso in Antibes, and the influence the trip had on his work; he recalls how he became an art teacher, how he was hired by Josef Albers at Yale, his tenure at Yale, some of the students there, including Chuck Close, Nancy Graves, and Richard Serra, as well as the internal politics and his accomplishments; he discusses his own evolution as an artist, including his use of watercolors, as well as his return to certain themes, such as his painting of cows (and how, more generally, artists do return to themes throughout their lives), and the balance between teaching and being an artist; Chaet mentions the beginnings of Artists Equity and Cold War politics. Chaet also recalls his wife, the artist Ninon Lacey, his former roommate, the artist David Aronson, and art world figures: Hyman Swetzoff, Edith Halpert, Dorothy Adlow, Charles Sawyer, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Hyman Bloom, Willem de Kooning, Rico Lebrun, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Bernard Chaet (1924-2012) was a painter and teacher from New Haven, Connecticut and Rockport, Massachusetts.

General:

Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 29 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:

This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire audio recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Occupation:

Painters -- Connecticut -- Interviews  Search this

Art teachers -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- Interviews  Search this

Topic:

Painters -- Massachusetts -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

The digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.

Identifier:

AAA.chaet97

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ece6734d-fae8-47b2-b7af-301c64a1ccdd

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-chaet97

Creator:

Trumbull, John, 1756-1843  Search this

Names:

American Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this

Poggi, A. C. de  Search this

Extent:

5 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1790-[ca. 1800]

Scope and Contents:

A ticket to the American Academy of Fine Arts, undated; a receipt for a subscription, April 27, 1790, signed by Anthony C. Poggi; a written receipt to A. C. Poggi, March 8, 1800, and a receipt for a subscription for a print of the Declaration of Independence "which I hereby promise to deliver according to the Propsals published at New-York on the 15th of January, 1818," all signed by Trumbull. Also found is a printed advertisement for "Declaration of Independence. Published by John Trumbull, New-York, Sept. 10th, 1822," describing the delay in printing due to "political convulsions which, during 25 years, were so fatal to the arts of peace."

Biographical / Historical:

Painter; New Haven, Connecticut. Born in Lebanon, Ct. Studied under Benjamin West in London. Painted historic portraits and paintings.

Provenance:

Ticket and receipt donated 1956 by Charles Feinberg. The Poggi note was donated 1958 by Argosy Book Shop. The advertisement and receipt relating to The Declaration of Independence has an unknown donor.

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  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 19th century -- United States  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.trumjoht

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b142cba8-42bc-426c-a28a-85d610b93ca5

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-trumjoht

Interviewee:

Von Schlegell, David, 1920-1992  Search this

Extent:

1 Sound cassette (analog)

30 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound cassettes

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1967 June 5

Scope and Contents:

Interview of David Von Schlegell, conducted by Dorothy Gees Seckler for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in New York on June 5, 1967.

Von Schlegell speaks of growing up in St. Louis; his father, who was also a painter; training in Ogunquit, ME and with the Art Students League in New York; entering World War II as an Air Force pilot; the decision to take up sculpture; his artistic preferences and influences; his use of materials and methods of working; his impressions of Minimalism; and comparisons between sculpture and architecture. He also recalls David Smith, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Mark di Suvero, Robert Morris, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Interviewee David von Schlegell (1920-1992) was a sculptor, painter, and educator in New Haven, Connecticut. Interviewer Dorothy Seckler (1910-1994) was an art historian.

General:

Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 29 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.

Occupation:

Painters -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this

Sculptors -- Connecticut  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.schleg67

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93fb53b94-62e8-45a9-8997-3c7019b81ac5

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-schleg67

Interviewee:

Johnson, Lester, 1919-2010  Search this

Interviewer:

Cummings, Paul  Search this

Extent:

3 Sound tape reels (Sound recording, 5 in.)

147 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound tape reels

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1976 Nov. 1-18

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Les Johnson conducted 1976 Nov. 1-18, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.

Biographical / Historical:

Lester Johnson (1919-2010) was a painter and educator from New Haven, Conn.

Provenance:

These interviews are 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 others.

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Educators -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- Interviews  Search this

Painters -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.johnso76

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9e02492af-6be8-4dff-b364-47d4df0f4afa

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-johnso76

Creator:

Trumbull, John, 1756-1843  Search this

Extent:

1 Volume ((15 items on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Volumes

Date:

1820-1831

Scope and Contents:

One bound volume containing a letter from Trumbull to Richard Rush regarding the death of Benjamin West; a letter to Sir Thomas Lawrence congratulating him on becoming president of the Royal Academy; a color chart for "Our Saviour Receiving Little Children"; 7 proofs of an engraving of the painting "Surrender of Cornwallis"; and an invitation to a dinner in honor of Daniel Webster.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter; New Haven, Connecticut. Born in Lebanon, Ct. Studied under Benjamin West in London. Painted historic portraits and paintings.

Provenance:

Microfilmed 1984 along with other selected art related papers from the Gilcrease Institute.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Painters  Search this

Topic:

Painting, American  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.trumjohc

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw98090a011-926e-440b-9d16-fa8724611adb

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-trumjohc

Creator:

Durrie, George Henry, 1820-1863  Search this

Extent:

1 Item ((on 1 partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1845-1846

Scope and Contents:

A typed copy of George H. Durrie's diary, January 1, 1845 to July 1, 1846. The diary consists of 548 entries written while Durrie was in Hartford, Connecticut, and Richmond, Virginia. He writes about his everyday activities, the people with whom he associates, his thoughts on daily events, etc. This copy was made by Whitlock's, Inc., New Haven, Connecticut in 1938. Typed note on first page: This typescript was given to me by Harry T. Peters in April 1946. That was at the time that the plan to write a book on Durrie appeared to be vague because of Mr. Peters' health - M.B. Cowdrey. Tipped in are: a typed letter from C.E.H. Whitlock to Harry T. Peters; and a handwritten letter from Mary Clarissa Durrie to a Mrs. Collins dated Feb. 1929, as well as a typescript of that letter made by Whitlock's.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter; Connecticut. Durrie is best known for his rural winter scenes.

Provenance:

Donated 1956 by Mary Bartlett Cowdrey. Cowdrey wrote the introduction of George Durrie's exhibition catalog 1947 at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

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

Topic:

Painting, American -- Connecticut  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.durrgeor

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw947ae3a83-9166-4ea7-8f34-e13cf59529b0

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-durrgeor

Creator:

Albers, Josef  Search this

Names:

Neumann, J. B. (Jsrael Ber)  Search this

Extent:

1 Microfilm reel (41 items on partial microfilm reel)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Microfilm reels

Date:

1934-1947

Scope and Contents:

The microfilm collection of the Josef Albers letters to J. B. Neumann contains 40 letters, primarily in German, written to J. B. Neumann by Josef Albers. Also included is an article on Albers written by Alexander Dorner.

Biographical / Historical:

Josef Albers (1888-1976) was a German-born painter, printmaker, and educator who advocated a disciplined approach to composition, form, and color. He immigrated to the United States in 1933 and taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. In 1949 he moved to New Haven, Connecticut to teach at Yale University and serve as Chairman of the art department.

J. B. (Jsrael Ber) Neumann (1887-1961) was an Austrian-born gallery director, art dealer, and publisher. Neumann had art galleries in Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf, and Bremen, Germany. In 1923 he immigrated to the United States and founded the New Art Circle Gallery in New York.

Related Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds the Josef Albers papers, 1929-1970; the oral history interview with Josef Albers, 1968 June 22-July 5; and the J. B. Neumann papers, 1905-1967. Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives holds the Josef Albers Papers (MS 32). The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library holds the Josef Albers Papers, 1933-1961.

Provenance:

Lent for microfilming 1966 by the Brooklyn Museum, Department of Prints.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Painters -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this

Painters -- Germany  Search this

Painters -- North Carolina  Search this

Educators -- North Carolina  Search this

Educators -- Connecticut  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.albejose2

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9849ed0e2-3656-4f4e-a427-6fb7c8c99a28

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-albejose2

Interviewee:

Albers, Josef  Search this

Interviewer:

Fesci, Sevim  Search this

Names:

Bauhaus  Search this

Heckel, Erich, 1883-1970  Search this

Itten, Johannes, 1888-1967  Search this

Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig, 1880-1938  Search this

Schmidt-Rottluff, Karl, 1884-1976  Search this

Stuck, Franz, Ritter von, 1863-1928  Search this

Extent:

24 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1968 June 22-July 5

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Josef Albers conducted 1968 June 22-July 5, by Sevim Fesci, for the Archives of American Art.

This interview was conducted in New Haven, Connecticut. Albers speaks of his childhood in the industrial area of Westphalia, Germany; his father's influence as a house painter and set designer; his young interest in technical toys; his educational history, beginning at the Royal Art School, an art teacher prep school; his education in art history in conjunction with fine arts; his brief experience teaching in public schools; his time studying at the Applied Art School in Essen while living and teaching in Berlin; and the beginning of professional career after having passed his exam in Berlin in 1915.

He discusses the influence of the European movements/artists, Die Brucke; Schmidt-Rottluff, Heckel, and Kirchner; his move to Munich and time spent working with Stuck (the teacher of Kandinsky and Klee); his eventual shift to the Bauhaus working in collage and stained glass under Itten; his refusal to do the traditional apprenticeship at the Bauhaus and surprising success with stained glass while striking out on his own; his initial experiments while working in the new studio for stained glass at the Bauhaus with frosting (a.k.a. thermometer style); his move from collage to montage; his disbelief in the use of past art as a source for current art; his distaste for the concept of art as self-expression; his use of repetitive forms in his painting as a method of "solving the problem;" his belief that the spectator makes the vision of the artist more lively; his belief that he teaches philosophy (how to see) not technique (how to paint); the fine line between influencing students and creating disciples; color as the most relative medium in art and a study of ourselves; his use of squares (the most man-made form), beginning in 1949; the role of art in society to reveal visually the attitude of our mentality; and his belief as to the future of art as being a further consideration of order.

Biographical / Historical:

Josef Albers (1888-1976) was a painter and educator in New Haven, Connecticut.

General:

Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 11 min.

Provenance:

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

Restrictions:

Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

Occupation:

Art teachers -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- Interviews  Search this

Collagists  Search this

Stained glass artists  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Die Brücke (Dresden)  Search this

Painters -- Connecticut -- New Haven -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Identifier:

AAA.albersj68

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9df07b806-7f25-4144-b4d2-8d490d11428b

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-albersj68

Creator:

Chaet, Bernard  Search this

Extent:

8.1 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Date:

circa 1944-2012

Scope and Contents:

The papers of painter and teacher, Bernard Chaet (1924-2012), measure 8.1 linear feet and date from circa 1944-2012. Included is biographical material, correspondence, writings, photographs, works of art and printed material.

Biographical material includes resumes and awards. Correspondence is with students, friends and other artists and art related professional and letters from various galleries and schools that represented Chaet or employed him. Also included are a significant number of condolence letters and cards to Chaet's wife, Ninon, upon Chaet's death. Writings include manuscripts for Chaet's books, "The Art of Drawing," and "An Artist's Notebook: Techniques and Materials," and assorted lecture notes.

Photographs are of Chaet in studio and the classroom and with family, friends, and students and a DVD of images of Chaet's work. Artwork includes sketchbooks and loose sketches by Chaet. Printed material consists of press clippings, catalogs, and gallery announcements.

Biographical / Historical:

Bernard Chaet (1924-2012) was a painter and teacher in Boston, Massachusetts and New Haven, Connecticut. Chaet was born March 7, 1924 in Boston, and attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, studying with Karl Zerbe and graduating in 1949 with a B.S. from Tufts University which had an affiliated program with the MFA. On Zerbe's recommendation, he began teaching painting at Yale University in 1951, retiring in 1990. He exhibited often in Boston at the Boris Mirski Gallery and the Alpha Gallery. Chaet is the author of "Artists at Work" (1961), the "Art of Drawing" (1971 and 1977), and "An Artists's Notebook: Techniques and Materials" (1979).

Provenance:

Donated 1995 by Bernard Chaet and 2014 and 2020 by Leah Vogel, Bernard Chaet's daughter. One drawing of Chaet donated 1998 by Chaet's wife, Ninon Chaet.

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 in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.

Rights:

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

Occupation:

Art teachers -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this

Painters -- Connecticut  Search this

Painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Technique  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Drawing -- Study and teaching  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Identifier:

AAA.chaebern

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw95d466842-9602-4330-b64e-2a2a6fe9f255

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-chaebern

Creator:

Haberle, John, 1856-1933  Search this

Names:

Benjamin-Constant, 1845-1902  Search this

Clairin, Georges, 1843-1919  Search this

Frankenstein, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1906-1981  Search this

Gérôme, Jean Léon, 1824-1904  Search this

Munkácsy, Mihály, 1844-1900  Search this

Rochegrosse, Georges, 1859-1938  Search this

Extent:

1.1 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1882-1985

bulk 1882-1931

Scope and Contents:

Biographical material, letters, notes and writings, a monograph design, printed material, a scrapbook, and photographs.

REEL 2813: Eighteen letters to Haberle regarding the exhibition and sale of his work, 1891-1901; and a letter from J. William Middendorf to Haberle's son-in-law, Victor Demmer, concerning a Haberle exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Art, 1966.

REEL 3753: 176 drawings, 1882-1931, and 24 commercially printed greeting cards.

UNMICROFILMED: Biographical material; an autobiographical account, 1925; letters to Haberle from colleagues discussing his work, 1870-1915; letters from Haberle to his wife Sarah "Sadie" Haberle, 1893-1898, and his daughter Vera, 1898; and letters to Vera and Victor Demmer and Gladys Haberle Fresnada concerning Haberle's work, 1960-1971, from Alfred Frankenstein and others; notes and writings including poems, 1925, musical annotations, a card file on writing, 8 pages from a travel journal, 1931, and "directions for finishing the painting donated to New Britain."

Also included are a monogram design, 1903; photographs of Haberle, members of his family, 1894, works of art, 1888, views of 2 houses, 1960, and artists in their studios including Georges Clairin, Benjamin Constant, Jean Léon Gérome, Mihaly Munkacsy, and Georges Rochegrosse; clippings, 1887-1970; a scrapbook containing greeting cards and stickers; and printed material, 1874-1932.

Biographical / Historical:

Still-life painter, art instructor; New Haven, Conn. Haberle was apprenticed to a lithography and engraving company during the 1870s, studied at the National Academy of Design between 1884 and 1885 and later founded the New Haven Sketch Club, where he also taught. He specialized in trompe l'oeil still-life paintings, producing most of this work between 1887 and 1900. Deteriorating eyesight caused him to paint broader, more traditional still-lifes and landscapes in later life.

Provenance:

Material on reel 2813 was donated 1969 by Mrs. Vera Haberle Demmer, the daughter of John Haberle. Material on reel 3753 lent, and unmicrofilmed material donated 1986 by James and Claudia Mize, descendants of Haberle.

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.

Occupation:

Painters -- Connecticut -- New Haven  Search this

Topic:

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Trompe l'oeil painting  Search this

Painting, American  Search this

Still-life painting  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.habejohn

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw951616074-5d66-4ce7-a535-9cb06a10db16

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-habejohn

Creator:

Presser, Josef, 1906-1967  Search this

Names:

Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Faculty  Search this

Artists Equity Association  Search this

Central Cown Art Center  Search this

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

New York University -- Faculty  Search this

Parnassus Square  Search this

Port of New York Authority  Search this

Prospect Hill School (New Haven, Conn.)  Search this

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

Ames, Elizabeth  Search this

Blanch, Lucile, 1895-1981  Search this

Fraser, Vera  Search this

Hart, Agnes, 1912-1979  Search this

Hopkinson, Charles, 1869-1962  Search this

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953  Search this

Smedley, Agnes, 1892-1950  Search this

Walkowitz, Abraham, 1880-1965  Search this

Extent:

4.3 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketches

Postcards

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Date:

1913-1980

Summary:

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

Painting, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketches

Postcards

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Citation:

Josef Presser and Agnes Hart papers, 1913-1980, bulk 1940-1980. 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.

Identifier:

AAA.presjose

See more items in:

Josef Presser and Agnes Hart papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw98563d5b1-b5d0-43ff-b465-95c8d2bab0d3

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-presjose

Creator:

Motherwell, Robert  Search this

Extent:

1 sound tape ; (26 p. transcript) (5 in.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound recordings

Date:

1973 Apr. 18

Scope and Contents:

A lecture delivered by Robert Motherwell at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter, printmaker; Greenwich, Connecticut. Born 1915. Died 1991.

Provenance:

Provenance unknown.

Occupation:

Painters -- Connecticut  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Identifier:

AAA.mothrobe3

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw96ea20bbf-a67d-4e2a-8810-7542d2b98011

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-mothrobe3