Search Results

Creator:

Lipman, Howard, 1905-1992  Search this

Names:

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Gaylor, Wood, 1883-1957  Search this

Huge, Jurgan Frederick, 1809-1878  Search this

Lipman, Jean, 1909-1998  Search this

Porter, Rufus, 1792-1884  Search this

Smith, David, 1906-1965  Search this

Extent:

46.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1848, 1916-2000

Summary:

The Howard W. and Jean Lipman papers measure 46.6 linear feet and span the years 1916 to 2000, with one brochure maintained in a research file dating to 1848. The bulk dates for the collection are 1932 to 1992. The papers primarily concern the art collecting activities and interests of the Lipmans which included modern American sculpture, American folk art, and other contemporary American paintings. Found within the papers are correspondence files, notes and printed material that served as research and reference material, along with financial material. The collection also contains writings, notes, and editorial material used by Jean Lipman in her dual roles as an editor for Art in America magazine and as a respected art critic and author.

Scope and Content Note:

The Howard W. and Jean Lipman papers measure 46.6 linear feet and span the years 1916 to 2000. A copy of an 1848 brochure, retained by Jean Lipman in her research and writings files accounts for the early span date listed in the title of the collection. The bulk dates for the collection are 1932 to 1992. The records include correspondence, notes and printed material that served as research and reference material, along with some financial material that documents the art collecting activities and interests of the Lipmans. The collection also contains writing and editorial material used by Jean Lipman in her dual roles as an editor for Art in America magazine and as a respected author.

The Personal Files describe the social activities and associations of the Lipmans and include biographical information, personal and family correspondence, gift giving activities, the art career of Jean Lipman, and relationships maintained by the Lipmans with various art organizations.

The Howard and Jean Lipman Art Collection Files describe the art collecting activities and interests of the Lipmans throughout their lifetime. The General Files section consists of reference files on art organizations and galleries with whom the Lipmans maintained relationships. Also included are particular topics or exhibitions of interest to the Lipmans. The Sculptors and Painters of Interest section served as reference files about the activities of artists in whom the Lipmans were interested and whose works they owned, or considered owning. The Folk Art Collection section documents the collecting and purchasing activities of the Lipmans as they amassed and then subsequently sold their two significant folk art collections.

The Artists Files document the friendship and projects that developed between the Lipmans and three major American artists: Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, and David Smith. Of special interest to researchers will be some original Calder artwork mixed into the correspondence between the Lipmans and Calder, as well as drawings, sketches, prints, and posters found in the associated oversize folder. Also found in the Calder subseries are some proofs from Calder's Circus, edited by Jean Lipman.

The Research and Writing Files is divided into five sections dealing with research and writing projects undertaken by Jean Lipman. The first three sections deal with biographical projects that resulted in books or articles about three significant American primitive artists: Jurgan Frederick Huge, Rufus Porter, and Samuel Wood Gaylor. The fourth section deals with writing projects that resulted in the publication of several generalized books on the topic of American folk art. The final section consists of materials associated with the published articles and other authored works of Jean Lipman on a variety of American art topics.

The Art in America Editorial Files consists of editorial material maintained by Jean Lipman during her tenure (1941-1971) as editor of Art in America. The Financial Files reflect the early financial activities of the magazine during the brief period when the Lipmans owned it.

During the period that Jean Lipman served as editor, a variety of distinguished art historians, artists, architects, novelists, and poets contributed articles, columns, or artwork to the magazine. A sampling of correspondents that can be found in the general correspondence of this series include: Joseph Albers, Marcel DuChamp, John Dos Passos, Nelson Rockefeller, Charles Sheeler, and Andrew Wyeth. The General Correspondence Files also document the two subsequent changes of ownership and the growth of subscribers that occurred during the period of Lipman's editorship.

Editorial material related to individual magazine issues is found within this series, as well as information pertaining to the innovative advertising and special projects undertaken by the magazine as it sought to expand its readership and prestige. The Art in America series also chronicles the changes at the magazine that led to Lipman's resignation as editor in 1971.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as five series. Arrangement is generally alphabetical by subject heading or type of material. Items within folders are arranged chronologically by year.

Series 1: Personal Files (Boxes 1-3; 3 linear ft.)

Series 2: Howard and Jean Lipman Art Collection (Boxes 3-15; 12 linear ft.)

Series 3: Artists Files (Boxes 15-18, 46-47, OV 50-52; 3.6 linear ft.)

Series 4: Research and Writings Files (Boxes 18-28, 48; OV 50, 53; 10.3 linear ft.)

Series 5: -- Art in America -- Editorial Files (Boxes 28-45; 49, OV 50; 17.3 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

Howard W. and Jean Lipman shared a lifetime sponsorship of art. The Lipmans' personal art collection, acquired throughout their marriage, was eventually divided into three separate parts: The Howard W. Lipman Foundation collection that was donated and merged into the modern sculpture holdings of the Whitney Museum of American Art; an American folk art collection that was later sold through two separate auctions in 1950 and 1981 and is now part of the holdings of the New York Historical Association and the Museum of American Folk Art; and a personal collection that was retained and displayed in the Lipmans' various residences in Connecticut, New York, and Arizona.

Married in 1933, the Lipmans began jointly collecting American folk art at a time when few art museums or institutions recognized the historical and artistic value of early primitive, self-taught artists. By the late 1940s, the Lipmans had amassed a large, significant collection that was highly regarded for its quality and scope.

During the early 1950s, the Lipmans also began actively collecting sculpture, focusing upon American contemporary sculptors. In the late 1950s they created the Howard W. Lipman Foundation, with an initial inventory of forty sculptures and three paintings by contemporary American artists. The purpose of the foundation was to acquire significant works by emerging American sculptors and to make them available through loans or donations to various art institutions.

In 1965 the Howard W. Lipman Foundation approached the Whitney Museum of American Art with a proposal to coordinate the foundation's efforts and goals with the museum's contemporary sculpture program. The foundation offered a majority of its growing collection of sculpture and acquisition funds towards the development of the evolving permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Thereafter, the Howard W. Lipman Foundation served in an advisory role to the museum's acquisitions, and the foundation supplied the necessary funds to acquire works of sculpture desired by the Whitney for its permanent collection.

In addition to their folk art and foundation collections, the Lipmans also acquired important works by Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, and David Smith, through their lifelong association and friendship with these artists. Many of these pieces were retained in the Lipmans' personal collection throughout their lives.

Individually the Lipmans also expressed their interest in art through various means. Jean Lipman served as editor of Art in America magazine from 1940 to 1970, which provided her with continuous exposure to emerging artists and trends in American art. Jean Lipman's abiding interest in folk and contemporary art was also expressed through her voluminous writings. Throughout her life she wrote and edited highly acclaimed books and articles about major themes and artists in American art, and she was a recognized folk art authority and connoisseur. Some of her best known works include: The Flowering of American Folk Art; Rufus Porter, Yankee Wall Painter; and Calder's Universe.

Jean Lipman, born in 1909, was also an amateur artist in her later years, creating paintings and assemblages that often dealt with the theme of "art about art." She was represented by a gallery in New York City, as well as one in Arizona, and she had several solo exhibitions.

Howard W. Lipman, born in 1905, showed an early interest in art. By the mid 1920s he had gone to Paris to study painting, but Lipman found himself more attracted to sculpture and he began studying with a German wood carver. In the late 1930s, after returning to the New York City area, Lipman began stone carving with the Clay Club on Eighth Street, adjacent to the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was represented by a New York City gallery and participated in local exhibitions.

Deciding that his sculptural talent was not sufficient for professional pursuit, Lipman began his business career as a stockbroker in Neuberger and Berman, a prominent New York investment management firm that he helped to establish in 1939. Lipman subsequently channeled his artistic endeavors toward collecting and supporting the work of established and emerging American sculptors. He also served on the boards of both the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Archives of American Art.

Howard and Jean Lipman maintained long and close relationships with three prominent American artists: Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, and David Smith. Jean Lipman, in particular, was involved in promoting and documenting Calder and his works through numerous articles, books, and exhibitions that she helped produce as editor of the magazine Art in America and publications director for the Whitney Museum of American Art. Calder's Universe, which she edited to accompany a major Whitney Museum of American Art retrospective exhibition of his works in 1976, was considered by Calder to be his "official" biography. The book went to fourteen printings, one of the largest ever, in the history of art books.

The Lipmans were also great admirers of Louise Nevelson and her work. They purchased her artwork for their own collection, as well as donating pieces to various art museums and institutions. Jean Lipman wrote articles about Nevelson and edited the book, Nevelson's World.

David Smith and the Lipmans established a friendship in the late 1950s that lasted until Smith's untimely death in May 1965. The Lipmans purchased several Smith sculptures, which they placed on the grounds of their Wilton, Connecticut, home. They also purchased Smith works for donation to public institutions, such as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

The Lipmans retired to Carefree, Arizona, a private residential community renowned for its sensitivity to ecologically-based, architectural design. Howard Lipman died in 1992. Jean Lipman remained active in art and community affairs until her death in 1998.

Provenance:

The papers of Howard and Jean Lipman were initially donated to the Archives of American Art by Howard and Jean Lipman from 1965-1989. Subsequent additions to the original gift were made by Jean Lipman in 1998 and by Peter and Beverly Lipman in 2001. Several small portions of these early accessions were microfilmed.

An associated gift that was originally accessioned as the Art in America Magazine Records was made by Howard and Jean Lipman from 1970-1973. This group, which largely consisted of Jean Lipman's editorial files from her years as editor of the magazine, was subsequently merged with the Howard W. and Jean Lipman records in 2004.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Howard W. and Jean Lipman papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art, Primitive  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Folk art -- United States  Search this

Sculptors  Search this

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

Citation:

Howard W. and Jean Lipman papers, 1848, 1916-2000. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.lipmhowa

See more items in:

Howard W. and Jean Lipman papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lipmhowa

Creator:

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this

Names:

American Artists' Congress  Search this

Artists League of America  Search this

Artists' Union (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Citizens' Committee for Government Arts Projects  Search this

Farmers Union of the New York Milk Shed  Search this

Federal Art Project  Search this

Federal Writers' Project  Search this

International Workers Order  Search this

Macbeth Gallery  Search this

National Farmers' Union (U.S.)  Search this

National Maritime Union of America  Search this

United American Artists  Search this

United Office and Professional Workers of America  Search this

United Scenic Artists  Search this

Boyesen, Bayard  Search this

Chamberlain, J. E.  Search this

Chase, William Merritt, 1846-1916  Search this

Cleland, T. M. (Thomas Maitland), 1880-1964  Search this

Daniel, Charles, 1878-1971  Search this

Davies, Arthur B. (Arthur Bowen), 1862-1928  Search this

DuBois, W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963  Search this

Fitzgerald, James, 1899-1971  Search this

Freuchen, Peter, 1886-1957  Search this

Gellert, Hugo, 1892-1985  Search this

Gottlieb, Harry, 1895-  Search this

Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943  Search this

Hays, Lee, 1914-1981  Search this

Henri, Robert, 1865-1929  Search this

Jones, Dan Burne  Search this

Keller, Charles, 1914-2006  Search this

Miller, Kenneth Hayes, 1876-1952  Search this

Nearing, Helen  Search this

Nearing, Scott, 1883-1983  Search this

Pach, Walter, 1883-1958  Search this

Phillips, Duncan, 1886-1966  Search this

Rasmussen, Knud, 1879-1933  Search this

Reeves, Ruth, 1892-1966  Search this

Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976  Search this

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945  Search this

Ruggles, Carl, 1876-1971  Search this

Seeger, Pete, 1919-2014  Search this

Stefansson, Vilhjalmur, 1879-1962  Search this

Untermeyer, Louis, 1885-1977  Search this

Wildenstein, Felix, 1883-1952  Search this

Zigrosser, Carl, 1891-  Search this

Extent:

88 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Poems

Sketches

Business records

Photographs

Drawings

Date:

circa 1840-1993

bulk 1935-1961

Summary:

The Rockwell Kent papers measure 88.0 linear feet and date from circa 1840 to 1993 with the bulk of the collection dating from 1935 to 1961. The collection provides comprehensive coverage of Kent's career as a painter, illustrator, designer, writer, lecturer, traveler, political activist, and dairy farmer.

Scope and Content Note:

The Rockwell Kent papers measure 88 linear feet and date from circa 1840 to 1993 with the bulk of the collection dating from 1935 to 1961. The collection provides comprehensive coverage of Kent's career as a painter, illustrator, designer, writer, lecturer, traveler, political activist, and dairy farmer.

Circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the papers are highlighted in an article by Garnett McCoy ("The Rockwell Kent Papers," in the Archives of American Art Journal, 12, no. 1 [January 1972]: 1-9), recommended reading for researchers interested in the collection. The collection is remarkably complete, for in the mid 1920s Kent began keeping carbon copies of all outgoing letters, eventually employing a secretary (who became his third wife and continued her office duties for the remainder of Kent's life).

Series 1: Alphabetical Files contain Kent's personal and professional correspondence, along with business records of the dairy farm and associated enterprises; also included are printed matter on a wide variety of topics and promotional literature relating to organizations and causes of interest to him. Voluminous correspondence with his three wives, five children, and other relatives, as well as with literally hundreds of friends, both lifelong and of brief duration, illuminates Kent's private life and contributes to understanding of his complex character. Among the many correspondents of note are: his art teachers William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, and Kenneth Hayes Miller; fellow artists Tom Cleland, Arthur B. Davies, James Fitzgerald, Hugo Gellert, Harry Gottleib, Marsden Hartley, Charles Keller, and Ruth Reeves; collectors Duncan Phillips and Dan Burne Jones; critics J. E. Chamberlain and Walter Pach; and dealers Charles Daniel, Felix Wildenstein, and Macbeth Galleries. Kent corresponded with such diverse people as Arctic explorers Peter Freuchen, Knud Rasmussen, and Vilhjalmar Steffanson; composer Carl Ruggles and songwriters Lee Hays and Pete Seeger; civil rights pioneers Paul Robeson and Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois; writers Bayard Boyesen, Scott and Helen Nearing, and Louis Untermeyer; and art historian and print curator Carl Zigrosser.

Kent's interest and involvement in the labor movement are reflected in correspondence with officials and members of a wide variety and large number of unions and related organizations, among them: the Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union of America, Farmers' Union of the New York Milk Shed, International Workers Order, National Maritime Union, and United Office and Professional Workers of America. Of special interest is his participation, often in leadership roles, in various attempts to organize artists. Files on the American Artists' Congress, Artists League of America, The Artists Union, United American Artists, and United Scenic Artists contain particularly valuable material on the movement.

A supporter of New Deal efforts to aid artists, Kent was actively interested in the various programs and often was critical of their limitations; he advocated continuing federal aid to artists after the Depression abated. The Kent papers include correspondence with the Federal Arts Project, Federal Fine Arts Project, Federal Writers Project, and the War Department, as well as correspondence with the Citizens' Committee for Government Art Projects and President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the subject.

Kent's professional correspondence documents exhibitions, sales, consignments, and reproduction of prints and paintings. He kept meticulous records of his advertising commissions and illustration work. Detailed correspondence with publishers and printers indicates Kent's involvement in the technical aspects of production and provides a good overview of the publishing industry during the mid-twentieth century.

Business records of Asgaard Farm include records of the dairy and transfer of ownership to its employees, tax and employee information, and documents concerning several related business ventures such as distributor ships for grain, feed, and farm implements.

Series 2: Writings consists of notes, drafts, and completed manuscripts by Rockwell Kent, mainly articles, statements, speeches, poems, introductions, and reviews. The Kent Collection given to Friendship House, Moscow, in 1960, was augmented later by a set of his publications and the illustrated manuscripts of many of his monographs. Also included are a small number of manuscripts by other authors.

Series 3: Artwork consists mainly of drawings and sketches by Kent; also included are works on paper by other artists, many of whom are unidentified, and by children.

Series 4: Printed Matter consists of clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, brochures, broadsides, programs, and newsletters. These include items by and about Kent and his family, as well as articles written and/or illustrated by him, and reviews of his books. There is also material on a variety of subjects and causes of interest to him. Additional printed matter is included among the alphabetical files, mainly as attachments to correspondence.

Series 5: Miscellaneous includes biographical material, legal documents, and memorabilia. Artifacts received with papers include textile samples, a silk scarf, dinnerware, ice bucket, and rubber stamp, all featuring designs by Rockwell Kent. Also with this series are a variety of documents including a phrenological analysis of an ancestor, lists of supplies for expeditions, a hand-drawn map of an unidentified place, and technical notes regarding art materials and techniques.

Series 6: Photographs includes photographs of Kent, his family and friends, travel, and art number that over one thousand. Also included here are several albums of family and travel photographs.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into six series. Series 1 is arranged alphabetically. The arrangement of the remaining series is explained in each series description. Note that sealed materials that became available in 2000 were microfilmed separately on reels 5740-5741, but have integrated into this finding aid.

Series 1: Alphabetical Files, circa 1900-1971, undated (Reels 5153-5249, 5256, 5740-5741)

Series 2: Writings, 1906-1978, undated (Reels 5249-5252, 5741)

Series 3: Art Work, 1910-1972, undated (Reels 5252, 5741)

Series 4: Printed Matter, 1905-1993, undated (Reels 5252-5254)

Series 5: Miscellaneous, 1859-1969, undated (Reels 5254, 5741)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1840-1970, undated (Reels 5254-5255, 5741)

Biographical Note:

Rockwell Kent (1882-1971), an energetic and multitalented man, pursued many interests and careers during his very long and active life. At various times he was an architect, draftsman, carpenter, unskilled laborer, painter, illustrator, printmaker, commercial artist, designer, traveler/explorer, writer, professional lecturer, dairy farmer, and political activist.

While studying architecture at Columbia University, Kent enrolled in William Merritt Chase's summer school at Shinnecock Hills, Long Island. He then redirected his career ambitions toward painting and continued to study with Chase in New York. Kent spent a summer working and living with Abbott H. Thayer in Dublin, New Hampshire, and attended the New York School of Art, where Robert Henri and Kenneth Hayes Miller were his teachers.

Critically and financially, Kent was a successful artist. He was very well known for his illustration work--particularly limited editions of the classics, bookplates, and Christmas cards. He was a prolific printmaker, and his prints and paintings were acquired by many major museums and private collectors. During the post-World War II era, Kent's political sympathies resulted in the loss of commissions, and his adherence to artistic conservatism and outspoken opposition to modern art led to disfavor within art circles. After many years of declining reputation in this country and unsuccessful attempts to find a home for the Kent Collection, Kent gave his unsold paintings--the majority of his oeuvre--to the Soviet Union, where he continued to be immensely popular.

An avid traveler, Kent was especially fascinated by remote, Arctic lands and often stayed for extended periods of time to paint, write, and become acquainted with the local inhabitants. Between 1918 and 1935, he wrote and illustrated several popular books about his experiences in Alaska, Tierra del Fuego, and Greenland. In the 1930s and 1940s, Kent was much in demand as a lecturer, making several nationwide tours under the management of a professional lecture bureau; he spoke mainly about his travels, but among his standard lectures were some on "art for the people."

In 1927, Kent purchased Asgaard Farm at AuSable Forks, New York, in the Adirondacks, where he lived for the remainder of his life, operating a modern dairy farm on a modest scale for many years.

As a young man, Kent met Rufus Weeks, became committed to social justice, and joined the Socialist Party. Throughout his life, he supported left-wing causes and was a member or officer of many organizations promoting world peace and harmonious relations with the Soviet Union, civil rights, civil liberties, antifascism, and organized labor. Kent was frequently featured as a celebrity sponsor or speaker at fund-raising events for these causes. In 1948, he ran unsuccessfully as the American Labor Party's candidate for Congress. Kent's unpopular political views eventually led to the dissolution of his dairy business, resulted in a summons to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and prompted the U.S. State Department to deny him a passport, an action that subsequently was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kent wrote two autobiographies, This Is My Own (1940) and It's Me, O Lord (1955). In 1969, he was the subject of an oral history interview conducted by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art.

1882 -- born, Tarrytown, New York

1887 -- death of Rockwell Kent, Sr.

1894-1896 -- attended Cheshire Academy

1895 -- toured Europe with Aunt Jo

1896 -- attended Horace Mann School, New York City

1900-1902 -- studied architecture at Columbia University

1900-1902 -- attended William Merritt Chase's summer school, Shinnecock Hills, Long Island

1903 -- studied with William Merritt Chase, New York City

1904 -- first sale of a painting

1904 -- met Rufus Weeks and attended first Socialist meeting

1905 -- lived and worked with Abbott H. Thayer, Dublin, New Hampshire

1905 -- first painting trip to Monhegan Island, Maine

1907 -- first one-man show, Claussen Galleries, New York City

1908 -- marriage to Kathleen Whiting

1908 -- studied with Robert Henri

1908 -- joined Socialist Party

1909 -- birth of Rockwell, III

1910 -- ran Monhegan Summer School of Art

1910 -- first trip to Newfoundland

1910 -- helped to organize first Independent Exhibition

1911 -- birth of Kathleen

1912 -- moved to Winona, Minnesota

1913 -- birth of Clara

1914 -- settled in Newfoundland

1915 -- deported from Newfoundland

1915 -- birth of Barbara

1917 -- served as full-time organizer and administrator of Independent Exhibition

1918-1919 -- in Alaska with son Rocky

1919 -- purchased Egypt Farm, Arlington, Vermont

1919 -- incorporated self

1920 -- publication of Wilderness

1920 -- birth of Gordon

1922 -- traveled to Tierra del Fuego

1924 -- publication of Voyaging

1925 -- trip to France

1925 -- divorced from Kathleen

1926 -- marriage to Frances Lee

1926 -- traveled to Ireland

1927 -- purchased Asgaard Farm, AuSable, New York

1927 -- editor of Creative Art

1927 -- helped organize National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Washington, D.C.

1929 -- sailed to Greenland on Direction

1930 -- publication of N by E

1932-1933 -- returned to Greenland

1934-1935 -- final trip to Greenland

1935 -- publication of Salamina

1936 -- trip to Puerto Rico

1937 -- trip to Brazil

1937-1938 -- Post Office Department mural commission and controversy over Eskimo-language message interpreted as encouraging Puerto Rican independence

1939 -- divorced from Frances

1939 -- General Electric Co. mural commission for New York World's Fair

1940 -- publication of This Is My Own

1940 -- marriage to Shirley Johnstone (Sally)

1942 -- solo exhibition, Know and Defend America, at Wildenstein Galleries, New York City

1946 -- elected to Executive Committee of American Labor Party

1948 -- congressional candidate, American Labor Party

1948 -- transferred ownership of dairy to remaining employees after boycott resulting from support of Wallace for president

1949 -- attended World Congress for Peace, Paris

1950-1958 -- denied U.S. passport; lawsuit, appeals, and Supreme Court decision reinstating right to travel

1953 -- testified before House Un-American Activities Committee

1955 -- publication of It's Me, O Lord

1958 -- one-man show at Hermitage Museum, Leningrad

1959 -- publication of Of Men and Mountains

1960 -- gift of Kent Collection to Friendship House, Moscow

1960 -- exhibition at Pushkin Museum, Moscow

1963 -- publication of Greenland Journal

1966 -- elected to Academy of Arts of the USSR

1967 -- awarded Lenin Peace Prize, Moscow

1969 -- oral history interview, Archives of American Art

1969 -- home at Asgaard destroyed by fire; papers survived with some water and smoke damage

1969 -- first installment of Rockwell Kent Papers donated to Archives of American Art

1971 -- died, Plattsburgh, New York

1971 -- gift of additional Rockwell Kent Papers to Archives of American Art

1979 -- gift of textile samples to the Archives of American Art

1996 -- gift of additional Rockwell Kent Papers to Archives of American Art

2000 -- death of Sally [Shirley Johnstone] Kent Gorton

2000 -- previously sealed correspondence of wives Frances and Sally (Series 1) opened to researchers

2001 -- gift of additional Rockwell Kent papers to the Archives of American Art from the Estate of Sally Kent [Shirley Johnstone] Gorton

Provenance:

In 1969, Rockwell Kent donated his papers to the Archives of American Art; textile samples were received in 1979, and his widow gave additional papers in 1971 and 1996. Letters to Rockwell Kent from wives Frances and Sally, sealed during Sally Kent Gorton's lifetime, became available for research after her death in 2000, and further material was donated to the Archives of American Art in 2001 by the Estate of Sally Kent [Shirley Johnstone] Gorton.

Restrictions:

The microfilm of this collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. Use of material not microfilmed or digitized requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Rockwell Kent papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Designers -- New York (State)  Search this

Mural painting and decoration  Search this

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Politics and culture  Search this

Authors -- New York  Search this

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

Dairy farms  Search this

Federal aid to the arts  Search this

Illustrators -- New York (State)  Search this

Illustration of books  Search this

Works of art  Search this

World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief  Search this

Labor unions  Search this

Art and war  Search this

Commercial art  Search this

World War, 1939-1945 -- Art and the war  Search this

Genre/Form:

Poems

Sketches

Business records

Photographs

Drawings

Citation:

Rockwell Kent papers, circa 1840-1993, bulk 1935-1961. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.kentrock

See more items in:

Rockwell Kent papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-kentrock

Creator:

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this

Subject:

Wildenstein, Felix  Search this

Phillips, Duncan  Search this

Hays, Lee  Search this

Untermeyer, Louis  Search this

Zigrosser, Carl  Search this

Robeson, Paul  Search this

DuBois, W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt)  Search this

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano)  Search this

Ruggles, Carl  Search this

Stefansson, Vilhjalmur  Search this

Nearing, Helen  Search this

Nearing, Scott  Search this

Pach, Walter  Search this

Rasmussen, Knud  Search this

Reeves, Ruth  Search this

Seeger, Pete  Search this

Daniel, Charles  Search this

Cleland, T. M. (Thomas Maitland)  Search this

Davies, Arthur B. (Arthur Bowen)  Search this

Chamberlain, J. E.  Search this

Boyesen, Bayard  Search this

Chase, William Merritt  Search this

Freuchen, Peter  Search this

Gellert, Hugo  Search this

Gottlieb, Harry  Search this

Hartley, Marsden  Search this

Fitzgerald, James  Search this

Keller, Charles  Search this

Miller, Kenneth Hayes  Search this

Henri, Robert  Search this

Jones, Dan Burne  Search this

United American Artists  Search this

United Office and Professional Workers of America  Search this

United Scenic Artists  Search this

National Farmers' Union (U.S.)  Search this

National Maritime Union of America  Search this

American Artists' Congress  Search this

Artists' Union (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Artists League of America  Search this

Citizens' Committee for Government Arts Projects  Search this

Farmers Union of the New York Milk Shed  Search this

Federal Art Project  Search this

Federal Writers' Project  Search this

Macbeth Gallery  Search this

International Workers Order  Search this

Type:

Poems

Sketches

Business records

Photographs

Drawings

Topic:

Designers -- New York (State)  Search this

Mural painting and decoration  Search this

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Politics and culture  Search this

Authors -- New York  Search this

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

Dairy farms  Search this

Federal aid to the arts  Search this

Illustrators -- New York (State)  Search this

Illustration of books  Search this

Works of art  Search this

World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief  Search this

Labor unions  Search this

Art and war  Search this

Commercial art  Search this

World War, 1939-1945 -- Art and the war  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9557

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211757

AAA_collcode_kentrock

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211757

Creator:

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

Subject:

Stella, Joseph  Search this

Warren, Whitney  Search this

Mauer, Alfred  Search this

Benson, Frank Weston  Search this

Blashfield, Edwin Howland  Search this

Zorach, William  Search this

Gay, Walter  Search this

Gussow, Bernard  Search this

Bouché, Louis  Search this

Cortissoz, Royal  Search this

Pan-American Exposition  Search this

Société des artistes français  Search this

Exposition d'artistes de l'école Américaine  Search this

American Rights Committee  Search this

American Artists' Committee of One Hundred  Search this

Lotos Club (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Musée d'histoire et d'art (Luxembourg)  Search this

Committee for the Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture (Paris, France)  Search this

Type:

Scrapbooks

Photographs

Topic:

Harper's Weekly  Search this

New York Post  Search this

Art Exhibitions France Paris  Search this

Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Landscape painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art, American  Search this

World War, 1914-1918 -- Civilian relief -- France  Search this

Art critics -- France -- Paris  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7476

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209634

AAA_collcode_coffwill

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209634

Creator:

Suba, Miklos, 1880-1944  Search this

Extent:

1.2 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1908-2001

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence, photographs, works of art, printed material and biographical information.

REEL 3894: Letters; resume; scrapbook, containing exhibition catalogs, invitations, announcements, and clippings; exhibition catalogs; clippings; photographs of Suba's buildings in Hungary; and photographs of an exhibition of Suba's work at the Museum of Modern Art in 1943.

UNMICROFILMED: Letters of recommendation; letters from Suba to his daughter, Susanne, regarding the exhibition, reproduction, sale, and conservation of paintings by Suba; receipts; price lists of paintings; inventories; pencil studies and source material for Suba's painting "God Bless Them" (1942); photographs and slides of Suba's art work and two photographs of interiors designed by Suba, 1928; caricatures of Suba by Ted Kautzky, Allela Cornell and others; ; two exhibition announcements, Weyhe Gallery, 1976 and 1983; ; newspaper clippings; naturalization record; identification cards; passports; death certificate; and miscellany

Biographical / Historical:

Painter, architect; New York, N.Y. Born in Hungary.

Provenance:

Donated 1982, 1994 and 2005 by Susanne Suba, Suba's daughter via Kenneth S. Moser, Susanne Suba's guardian.

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:

Architects -- Hungary  Search this

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

Topic:

Architecture -- Hungary -- Photographs  Search this

Painting -- United States  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.subamikl

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-subamikl

Creator:

Slobodkina, Esphyr, 1908-2002  Search this

Bolotowsky, Ilya, 1907-1981  Search this

Names:

American Abstract Artists  Search this

Eckstein, Ruth, 1916-  Search this

Kelpe, Paul, 1902-1985  Search this

Morris, George L. K., 1905-1975  Search this

Rabkin, Leo  Search this

Tedlie, Harry  Search this

Extent:

1.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

circa 1925-1995

Summary:

The papers of painter, sculptor, author, and illustrator Esphyr Slobodkina measure 1.9 linear feet and date from circa 1925 to 1995. Found within the papers are personal and professional correspondence, including letters from Ilya Bolotowsky, George L.K. Morris, and Paul Kelpe; writings, including a copy of the autobiography Notes for a Biographer (vol. 1); printed materials; photographs; and material on the American Abstract Artists, including administrative records, business correspondence, and publications.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of painter, sculptor, author, and illustrator Esphyr Slobodkina measure 1.9 linear feet and date from circa 1925 to 1995. Found within the papers are personal and professional correspondence, including letters from Ilya Bolotowsky, George L.K. Morris, and Paul Kelpe; writings, including a copy of the autobiography Notes for a Biographer (vol. 1); printed materials; photographs; and material on the American Abstract Artists, including administrative records, business correspondence, and publications.

Correspondence is primarily with Slobodkina's family, friends, and business associates. The series includes significant correspondence from her first husband, Ilya Bolotowsky, as well as abstract artists George L.K. Morris, Paul Kelpe, Ruth Eckstein, Leo Rabkin, and Harry Tedlie. The series also includes correspondence regarding her published works.

Writings consist of 3 essays by Slobodkina on abstract art, the autobiography Notes for a Biographer (vol. 1), the edited folio Ilya Bolotowsky, and a small notebook kept by Ilya Bolotowsky during the 1920s-30s.

Printed material includes clippings; samples of announcements and cards designed by Slobodkina; exhibition announcements and catalogs; and press releases.

Photographs are of Slobodkina and her paintings and sculptures, as well as photographs of artwork by other abstract artists.

American Abstract Artists' records includes administrative material, correspondence, writings, selected exhibitions, and printed material dating from 1936 to 1996.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 5 series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1934-1992 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Writings, circa 1920-1985 (6 folders; Box 1)

Series 3: Printed material, circa 1939-1994 (7 folders; Box 1, OV 4)

Series 4: Photographs, circa 1925-1970 (3 folders; Box 1)

Series 5: American Abstract Artists, circa 1936-1995 (0.9 linear feet, Box 1-3, OV 4)

Biographical / Historical:

Painter, sculptor, author, and illustrator Esphyr Slobodkina (1908-2002) lived and worked in New York City, Great Neck, and Long Island, New York and was known for her abstract art and her children's books, including the seminal Caps For Sale.

Slobodkina was born in Chelyabinsk, Siberia to Solomon Slobodkin and his wife, Itta Agranovich. After the Russian Revolution and Civil War of 1917-1918, her family immigrated to Harbin, Manchuria where her father found work with Standard Oil and her mother contributed to the family's finances by working as a dressmaker. After graduating from high school in 1927, Slobodkina immigrated to the United States to join her brother in New York City where she enrolled at the National Academy of Design.

At the Academy, Slobodkina met her future husband, the artist and fellow Russian émigré Ilya Bolotowsky. In 1936, they became founding members of the American Abstract Artists, an artist run organization that worked to advance abstract art at a time when few opportunities to exhibit their works existed. She served as the organization's first secretary and later served as treasurer, president, and institutional bibliographer.

In 1937, Slobodkina met the children's author Margaret Wise Brown. After seeing her work, Brown invited Slobodkina to illustrate The Little Fireman, the first of their many collaborations together. In 1940, Slobodkina's first published book, Caps For Sale, was released and has remained in print for over 70 years. It won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958 and is considered a classic of children's literature.

Slobodkina and Bolotowsky divorced in 1938, after which she continued to produce abstract mixed media paintings and sculptures. Her first major one-person show was organized by the gallery owner A.E. Gallatin in 1940. Through the 1940s and into 1970s, Slobodkina regularly contributed to group exhibitions and her works are owned by numerous institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and Hillwood Art Museum.

In addition to publishing children's books, Slobodkina authored three volumes of her autobiography, Notes for a Biographer (1976-1983) and edited American Abstract Artists: Its Publications, Catalogs, and Membership (1979) and the folio Ilya Bolotwosky (1985). Active until the end of her life, she oversaw the production of musical audio recordings for her 20 children's books well into her 80s, and at the age of 90, designed a museum financed through the Slobodkina Foundation. She died at her home in Glen Head, Long Island in 2002.

Related Materials:

The Archives also holds the American Abstract Artists records.

Separated Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds materials lent for microfilming (N70-61) including a travel album, printed material, notes, McDowell colony correspondence, and an American Abstract Artists financial ledger. Lents materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Additionally, 69 rolled drawings on tracing paper were transferred to Hillwood Art Museum in 2006.

Provenance:

Esphyr Slobodkina loaned a portion of her papers for microfilming and donated material in 1970. She gave additional papers between 1995 and 1996.

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 Esphyr Slobodkina papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Sculptors -- New York (State)  Search this

Women artists -- New York  Search this

Authors -- New York  Search this

Illustrators -- New York (State)  Search this

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Painting, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

Esphyr Slobodkina papers, circa 1925-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Processing of this collection was funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Identifier:

AAA.slobesph

See more items in:

Esphyr Slobodkina papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-slobesph

Creator:

Kolin, Sacha, 1911-1981  Search this

Extent:

3.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Video recordings

Date:

ca. 1950-1980

Scope and Contents:

Papers of sculptor and painter Sacha Kolin date ca. 1950-1980, and include: ca. 250 photographs and snapshots; 24 boxes of color slides; photographic negatives; 9 reels of compiled Super 8mm film transferred to 2 VHS videos and 2 betacam masters showing Kolin, her work, installations, outdoor sculpture and outdoor scenes; photocopies of papers from Julian Kolin; copies of correspondence and appraisals; ten sketchbooks; an address book; exhibition announcements, 1980; and catalogs from her retrospective exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, N.Y..

Biographical / Historical:

Painter, sculptor; New York, N.Y. Kolin was born in Paris, France in 1911. She grew up in Vienna, Austria, attending the Wiener Kunstgewerbeschule (1930) and the Academy of Fine Arts (1931-32). In 1933 she moved to Paris, and studied with Naoum Aronson (a stone carver for Auguste Rodin). In 1935 she became the youngest full member of the Nationale Societe des Beaux Arts. In December 1936 she immigrated to New York and participated in many one-person and group exhibitions. She was the recipient in 1973 of a Mark Rothko Foundation grant award.

Provenance:

Donated 2000 by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University.

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.

Occupation:

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

Painters -- France -- Paris  Search this

Sculptors -- France -- Paris  Search this

Topic:

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Women artists -- France -- Paris  Search this

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

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Video recordings

Sponsor:

Funding for the preservation and transfer of motion picture film provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.kolisach

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-kolisach

Creator:

Anthony, William, 1934-  Search this

Names:

Carpenter, Charles Hope, 1916-  Search this

Johns, Jasper, 1930-  Search this

Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997  Search this

Little, Carl  Search this

Masheck, Joseph  Search this

Rosenblum, Robert  Search this

Ross, David A., 1949-  Search this

Schwabsky, Barry  Search this

Extent:

1.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Photographs

Date:

1956-2003

Summary:

The papers of contemporary painter and author William Anthony measure 1.5 linear feet and date from 1956 to 2003. Found within the papers are scattered biographical materials; correspondence files; exhibition files; original art work; files of reproductions of his art work; a file for his book A New Approach to Figure Drawing; clippings; photographs; a recorded lecture and announcements of Anthony's slide talks.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of contemporary painter and author William Anthony measure 1.5 linear feet and date from 1956 to 2003. Found within the papers are scattered biographical materials; correspondence files; exhibition files; original art work; files of reproductions of his art work; a file for his book A New Approach to Figure Drawing; clippings; photographs; a recorded lecture and announcements of Anthony's slide talks. This material offers a comprehensive record of the works and exhibitions of this prolific painter.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1976-2001 (Box 1; 2 folders; Reel 5875)

Series 2: Correspondence Files, 1961-2001 (Box 1; 16 folders; Reel 5875)

Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1961-2003 (Box 1, OV 3; 32 folders; Reel 5875)

Series 4: Art work, 1961-2003 (Box 1, OV 3; 6 folders; Reel 5875)

Series 5: Reproductions of Art Work Created in 1976-2003, undated (Box 1, 2; 25 folders; Reels 5875-5877)

Series 6: File for Book, -- A New Approach to Figure Drawing -- , 1965 (Box 2; 2 folders; Reel 5877)

Series 7: Clippings, 1956-2002, undated (Box 2; 2 folders; Reel 5877)

Series 8: Photographs, 1965-2000, undated (Box 2; 3 folders; Reel 5877)

Series 9: Recorded Lecture and Announcements of Slide Talks, 1985-1990, undated (Box 2; 1 folder; Reel 5877 and unfilmed)

Biographical Note:

American painter William Graham Anthony was born on September 25, 1934 in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. While majoring in history at Yale University, Anthony attended a few art courses, one of which was taught by Josef Albers. He also attended the Art Students' League in 1958 and 1961.

After graduating from Yale, he joined his family in California, where he attended the San Francisco Art Institute. In 1962, Anthony taught figure drawing at a commercial art school in San Francisco, where he developed a method of drawing that resulted in his book A New Approach to Figure Drawing. Two years later he moved to New York City.

From 1977 to 1978, Anthony made a series of drawings for magazine Andy Warhol's Interview, and published another book Bible Stories. In 1983, he married Norma Neuman, and continued to produce and exhibit his art work, including solo exhibitions in New York, California, and Europe. In 1988, the Jargon Society published an additional book, Bill Anthony's Greatest Hits. Anthony also teaches painting to senior citizens.

Provenance:

The William Anthony papers were donated by Anthony from 2001 to 2003. In 1976, he lent miscellaneous photocopied material for microfilming. The loaned materials do not duplicate the later gifts except for single letters from Jasper Johns (1972), William King, Claes Oldenburg, Theodoros Stamos, and a book endorsement comment signed by Larry Rivers. [Note: Reel 1094 is not described in this finding aid.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Rights:

The William Anthony papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Painting, American -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

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

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Photographs

Citation:

William Anthony papers, 1956-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.anthwill

See more items in:

William Anthony papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-anthwill

Creator:

Charles Scribner's Sons  Search this

Names:

Berger, William Merritt, b. 1872  Search this

Extent:

7 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Sketches

Date:

1839-1962

Summary:

The records of the Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Department measure 7.0 linear feet and date from 1839 to 1962. The records of the department include original art works, photographs, scattered letters, and miscellaneous printed material reflecting the portraiture and other illustration work completed in support of the wide range of materials and topics published by Charles Scribner's Sons over the company's long publishing history.

Scope and Content Note:

The records of the Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Department measure 7.0 linear feet and date from 1839 to 1962. The records of the department include original art works, photographs, scattered letters, and miscellaneous printed material reflecting the portraiture and other illustration work completed in support of the wide range of materials and topics published by Charles Scribner's Sons over the company's long publishing history.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into 3 alphabetically-arranged series. Oversized material from all series have been housed in Box 7 (Sol), Box 8 (Sol), and OVs 9 - 12. Notations for the oversized materials are noted at the appropriate folder title with see also/see references

Series 1: Portrait Files, 1839-1962, undated (Boxes 1-5, 7, OV 11; 4.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Illustrator Files, 1878-1921, undated (Box 5, 6, 8-OV12; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Miscellaneous Reference Files, 1933-1952, undated (Box 6, 8, OV 12; 1.0 linear feet)

Historical Note:

Charles Scribner's Sons was founded as a publishing partnership of Isaac D. Baker and Charles Scribner in 1846. The company set out to discover and publish the work of new American authors. The first work to be published was The Puritans and Their Principles by Edwin Hall, followed by many theological treatises, and the first bestseller, Napoleon and His Marshals by the Rev. J. T. Headley.

After Isaac Baker's death in 1850, Charles Scribner continued to direct the company which was primarily known for its books on religion. In the mid-1860s, Scribner published an American version of German author Johann Peter Lange's Biblical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. Co-published with T. and T. Clark of Edinburgh, the resulting twenty-six volume work was both a commercial and critical success. Almost a century later, the two publishing houses again collaborated on a revision of Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible.

In 1865, Charles Scribner and Company expanded its range into magazine publishing with the quasi-religious Hours at Home that promoted the virtues by which Americans were supposed to live. In 1870 a new firm, Scribner & Company, was formed to publish a successor magazine entitled Scribner's Monthly. The magazine thrived and began to attract young American writers.

Charles Scribner died of typhoid in Lucerne, Switzerland on August 26, 1871, leaving the business to his eldest son, John Blair Scribner. In 1873 Scribner & Company launched a children's periodical, St. Nicholas, under the editorship of Mary Mapes Dodge, with Frank R. Stockton as assistant editor. The magazine brought many now-classic books to the publishing firm and established it permanently in the field of children's literature.

The 1870s saw the growth of the subscription book department. In association with Messrs. Black of Edinburgh, Scribners brought out the first American edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, selling 70,000 sets. In later years the subscription department published library sets of the works of well-known authors including J. M. Barrie, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Its successor, the reference book department, became the foremost American publisher of reference works such as the Dictionary of American Biography, the Dictionary of American History.

In 1875, Charles Scribner II joined his brother, John Blair Scribner, and other partners, Edward Seymour and Andrew Armstrong, in the firm. Seymour died in 1877, and Armstrong sold his share to the Scribner's in 1878, leaving the book publishing company wholly controlled by the Scribner family. The name was changed to Charles Scribner's Sons. John Blair Scribner died in 1879, leaving his brother to manage the business.

In 1881 one of the outside partners, Roswell Smith, bought up enough stock to acquire individual control of Scribner & Company, the magazine company. Thus, Scribner's Monthly and the children's magazine St. Nicholas passed entirely out of the hands of the Scribner family. The remaining owners were reincorporated as the Century Company and Scribner's Monthly was renamed the Century Magazine. Charles Scribner's Sons agreed to stay out of the magazine publishing business for five years.

Charles Scribner II was joined by his younger brother, Arthur Hawley Scribner, in 1884, and during their almost fifty year partnership, they focused the company's business on publishing American literature. The publications of this period include Frances Hodgson Burnett's Little Lord Fauntleroy, Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventure of Robin Hood, and Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. A popular series of books, "Scribner Illustrated Classics" became famous for their illustrations by Howard Pyle, Jessie Willcox Smith, N. C. Wyeth, and other members of the Brandywine school. In 1889, Henry Adams published his History of the United States in nine volumes.

Following the five-year moratorium on magazine publishing, the firm re-entered the magazine market and introduced the new Scribner's Magazine in December 1886. Under its original editor, Edward L. Burlingame, the magazine grew into a profitable enterprise and was an important venue for new authors, including Edith Wharton, who would follow their magazine debuts with many successful books. By the turn of the 20th century, Scribner's had virtually cornered the market in American literature and was enjoying a golden age of American book publishing. During this period, authors included Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, and Elizabeth Wharton. In 1913, Charles Scribner III joined the firm.

During the 1920s, many important new authors were published, including James Boyd, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Ring Lardner, and Thomas Wolfe. In 1928, Charles Scribner II turned over the presidency to his younger brother Arthur, who began the publication of the first volumes of the Dictionary of American Biography. Charles Scribner II died in 1930 and Arthur Scribner died two years later, leaving Charles Scribner III to preside alone. In spite of the Depression, Charles Scribner's Sons continued to promote new authors including Taylor Caldwell, Marcia Davenport, Nancy Hale, and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. During the 1930s a separate children's department was established by Alice Dalgliesh. In 1937, Scribner's Magazine folded after fifty years of publication. The Dictionary of American History was published in 1940.

Charles Scribner III died suddenly in 1952, necessitating the relocation of Charles Scribner IV from his employment as a cryptoanalyst in Washington, D.C. to take charge of the firm in New York. He established the Scribner Library, a line of quality paperbacks that included the titles The Great Gatsby, Tender Is the Night, The Sun Also Rises, and Ethan Frome. Scribner also set out to develop fields of non-fiction such as history, biography, how-to books, and reference works including the Album of American History, and the Dictionary of Scientific Biography.

Related Materials:

Additional Charles Scribner's Sons Art Department files are in the Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, 1786-2003 (mostly 1880s-1970s), at Princeton University Library, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, identified as Series 2. Art Department Files, 1907-1951, and comprise correspondence and department printing records (on cards) for selected Scribner publications. See Princeton's finding aid for the collection at http://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/C0101/

Provenance:

The Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Department records were donated in 1957 and 1958 by Charles Scribner's Sons.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Department records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Works of art  Search this

Photographers  Search this

Illustrators -- Great Britain  Search this

Designers -- Great Britain  Search this

Sculptors -- France  Search this

Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Sketches

Citation:

Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Department records, 1839-1962. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.charscrs

See more items in:

Charles Scribner's Sons Art Reference Department records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-charscrs

Creator:

Olitski, Jules, 1922-2007  Search this

Extent:

4.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound recordings

Interviews

Video recordings

Date:

1959-2012

Scope and Contents:

Printed material, photographs, and audio-visual material documenting the career of painter Jules Olitsky.

The majority of the collection consists of printed material that is a comprehensive collection of announcements, catalogs and newspaper clippings from Olitski's exhibitions at galleries and museums and covers the entirety of Olitski's career. Photographs, 1967-2006, include professional portraits of Olitski. Audio visual material includes audio cassettes, VHS, and U-Matic tapes of interviews with Olitski on the occasion of exhibitions of his work and recorded lectures given by Olitski at Brown University, the University of Miami, and the National Museum of American History, among others. The bulk of these recordings date from the 1990s.

Biographical / Historical:

Jules Olitski (1922-2007) was a painter in New York, N.Y.

Provenance:

Donated 2012 and 2013 by Olitski Family Estate via Lauren Olitski Poster, Director of the estate and Olitsky's daughter.

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 donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.

Occupation:

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

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Video recordings

Identifier:

AAA.olitjule

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-olitjule

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2020-04-20T13:59:25.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

See more by:

americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_D-p96np-Pw4

Creator:

Bluemner, Oscar, 1867-1938  Search this

Names:

Bourgeois, Stephan, 1881-1964  Search this

Bruce, Edward, 1879-1943  Search this

Fiene, Ernest, 1894-  Search this

Friedman, Arnold, 1874-1946  Search this

Hirsch, Stefan, 1899-1964  Search this

Hochschild, Walter  Search this

Lewisohn, Margaret  Search this

Liebman, Aline Meyer, 1879-1966  Search this

Of, George F. (George Ferdinand), b. 1876  Search this

Rothbart, Albert  Search this

Stieglitz, Alfred, 1864-1946  Search this

Vogelstein, Ludwig, 1871-1934  Search this

Extent:

6.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketches

Writings

Diaries

Photographs

Date:

1886-1939, 1960

Summary:

The papers of painter Oscar Bluemner date from 1886 to 1939, with one item from 1960, and measure 6.9 linear feet. The collection documents Bluemner's career through scattered biographical material and personal and professional correspondence. Almost one-half of the collection consists of Bluemner's extensive writings and notes about his artwork, painting techniques, and art theory in the form of diaries, notebooks, lists, essays, and notes - many of which are also illustrated. Also found are annotated books, exhibition catalogs, newsclippings, artwork and sketches by Bluemner, and photographs of Bluemner's artwork and of architecture. Bluemner's work in architecture is documented to a lesser degree through scattered licenses, photographs, and design drawings.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of painter Oscar Bluemner date from 1886 to 1939, with one item from 1960, and measure 6.9 linear feet. The collection documents Bluemner's career through scattered biographical material and personal and professional correspondence. Almost one-half of the collection consists of Bluemner's extensive writings and notes about his artwork, painting techniques, and art theory in the form of diaries, notebooks, lists, essays, and notes - many of which are also illustrated. Also found are annotated books, exhibition catalogs, newsclippings, artwork and sketches by Bluemner, and photographs of Bluemner's artwork and of architecture. Bluemner's work in architecture is documented to a lesser degree through scattered licenses, photographs, and design drawings.

Biographical material is scattered and includes autobiographical writings, a list of published works, an essay for a Guggenheim fellowship application, certificates, legal documents, and membership records. Also of note are detailed technical diagrams of his studio easel. The small amount of correspondence in this collection is with family, friends, artists, art galleries and museums, art collectors and patons, and others. Notable correspondents include Stephan Bourgeois, Edward Bruce, Ernest Fiene, Arnold Friedman, Stefan Hirsch, Walter Hochschild, Margaret Lewisohn, Aline Liebman, George Ferdinand Of, Albert Rothbart, Alfred Stieglitz, and Ludwig Vogelstein.

Bluemner' extensive writings about his painting techniques and theories, and art history and criticism are found in painting and theory diaries, notebooks, notes, lists of artwork, essays, and writings for publication. Painting Diaries contain Bluemner's handwritten notes about newly-completed paintings and current work. Theory Diaries contain his notes on art theory. Both sets of diaries contain many color illustrations and sketches. Also of particular interest are Bluemner's notes and homemade notebooks on techniques which he often called "Easel Notes." Also found are notes on paintings he viewed in American art collections and four volumes of notes taken during his tour of Europe in 1912. Bluemner also maintained extensive notes on Chinese and Japanese art history and styles. Additional writings include a collection of notes he compiled and organized from his other diaries, notebooks, and writings for a book on painting.

Bluemner's papers also contain books and exhibition catalogs annotated with his notes and illustrations - many of which are on the subject of Chinese and Japanese art. Art motif and travel sketches contain motifs and artwork that Bluemner developed into themes for his paintings. Most of the travel sketches are of towns in New Jersey, but also include sketches and notes on Italy, which he visited in 1912. There is also a small sketchbook and drawings of buildings Bluemner designed.

Printed material includes exhibition catalogs and announcements, some of which are annotated with prices and additional information, as well as news and magazine clippings, and prints of published writings by Bluemner. Photographs found in the collection include three photographs of buildings Bluemner designed, photographs of artwork, one print of Bluemner, and negatives.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 9 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1886-circa 1937 (Box 1, OV 9; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1889-1936 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Painting & Theory Diaries, 1911-1936 (Box 1-2, 7; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings & Notes, 1891-1892, 1909-1937 (Box 2-4, 8; 2.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Annotated Books & Catalogs, 1907-1933 (Box 4-5; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 6: Art Motifs & Travel Sketches, 1902-1936 (Box 5-6, 8; 1.4 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork, 1892-circa 1930s (Box 6; 4 folders)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1906-1939, 1960, undated (Box 6; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographs, 1891, 1903, circa 1930s (Box 6; 5 folders)

Biographical Note:

Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938) was born Friedrich Julius Oskar Blümner in Prussia in 1867. As a child he received some formal art training. He enrolled in the architecture department of the Konigliche Technische Hochschule (Royal Technical Academy), Berlin, and received his architecture degree in 1892. A few months later he moved to the United States and worked in Chicago as a draftsman at the World's Columbian Exposition. After the exposition, Bluemner attempted to find work in both Chicago and New York City, but could not find steady employment. In 1903 he created the winning design for the Bronx Borough Courthouse, and for the next few years had various intermittent jobs as an architect in New York. Around this time Bluemner also began writing down his thoughts on aesthetics, art history, and art theory, which he would continue to do for the rest of his life in various journals, diaries, and notebooks.

In 1908 Bluemner met Alfred Stieglitz at Stieglitz's gallery, known as "291", and by 1910 he had decided to pursue painting full-time rather than architecture. From 1911 to 1912 he worked on a set of Neo-Impressionist paintings and, using the money he won in a suit regarding the Bronx Courthouse design, he went on a seven-month trip to Europe, touring museums and galleries, and exhibiting his own work in Germany. Upon returning to the United States, Bluemner exhibited in the 1913 Armory Show, and in 1915 had a one-man show at 291. Despite participating in several exhibitions, including solo shows, for the next ten years Bluemner failed to sell many paintings and lived with his family in near-poverty. In 1916 he moved to New Jersey, living as an itinerant, until finally settling in South Braintree, Massachusetts, after his wife's death in 1926. Over the next few years, Bluemner had several prominent one-man shows at the Whitney Studio Galleries and at the Marie Harriman Gallery in New York. He was briefly employed for the Public Works of Art Project in 1934 and the Federal Art Project in 1936, but due to failing health was forced to stop painting. Oscar Bluemner committed suicide in 1938.

Related Material:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is the John Davis Hatch papers, 1790-1995, which include correspondence, printed material, and research files regarding Oscar Bluemner.

Additional Oscar Bluemner materials are available at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, and within the Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection, Stetson University, Deland, Florida.

Separated Material:

The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reel N737. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

The material on reel N737 was lent by Graham Gallery in 1968. The rest of the collection was donated between 1970-1985 by John David Hatch, a close friend of Bluemner and an art historian.

Restrictions:

The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.

Rights:

The Oscar Bluemner papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Art -- Philosophy  Search this

Works of art  Search this

Painting -- Technique  Search this

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

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

Art -- History  Search this

Art criticism  Search this

Art, Chinese  Search this

Art, Japanese  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketches

Writings

Diaries

Photographs

Citation:

Oscar Bluemner papers, 1886-1939, 1960. 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.blueosca

See more items in:

Oscar Bluemner papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-blueosca

Creator:

National Academy of Design (U.S.)  Search this

Names:

American Federation of Arts  Search this

Abbey, Edwin Austin, 1852-1911  Search this

Durand, Asher Brown, 1796-1886  Search this

Lanyon, Ellen  Search this

Ranger, Henry Ward, 1858-1916  Search this

Extent:

92.7 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Interviews

Date:

1817-2012

Summary:

The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.

Scope and Contents:

The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.

The Academy minutes and committee files consist of official, original, and transcribed proceedings for the council, annual, business, and some committee meetings, as well as related correspondence, reports, financial documents, notes, drafts, and ballots pertaining to the Academy's administration and activities from its 1825 founding until 2006. As an organization actively engaged in the development of art and art education in the United States, the Academy minutes and committee files are a valuable resource on subjects and topics in the Academy's history; in particular, its founding, administration, school, and exhibition program.

Director files date from 1942-1990 and document the activities of four of the Academy's chief administrators, including Vernon Porter (1950-1966), Earl Tyler (1966-1967), Alice Melrose (1967-1977), and John H. Dobkin (1978-1990). Items include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and printed material.

Annual reports, dating from 1828-2003, summarize the activities of the Academy over the course of a year, and may include presidents' reports, treasurers' reports, audits of financial operations by public accountants, and printed annual reports containing summaries from multiple council officers. Information pertains to the year's activities including finances, exhibitions, membership, the school, committee activities, awards, and other business.

Academy constitutions date from 1826-2012 and include the printed constitutions and by-laws as well as constitutional proposals. Constitutions and by-laws name the current council officials, professors, academicians, associates, and honorary members, and state the mission and guidelines for operation in regards to membership, officers, annual meetings, elections, school, exhibitions, and how the constitution can be amended or altered. Constitutional proposals contain amendment drafts, alterations, and related correspondence.

Council officer files, dating from 1848-1980, contain the correspondence and subjects files of Academy officers—presidents, vice presidents, corresponding secretaries, and treasurers—concerning all matters of Academy business and operations including membership, gifts and funds, the federal charter, exhibitions, juries, the school, scholarships, committee affairs, anniversaries, publicity, administrative matters, resignations, and relationships with other organizations.

General administrative files date from 1825-1982 and include ledgers, certificates, correspondence, and legal documents pertaining to the Academy's founding, building, financial accounts, art collection, and other administrative matters.

Exhibition files, dating from 1826-2003, document the Academy's long exhibition history and includes annual, gallery, special, and museum exhibitions. Files may include exhibition catalogs, photographs, press clippings, sales records, and correspondence related to jury selection, awards and prizes, and logistical planning. Files pertaining to the Academy's annual exhibitions comprise a bulk of the series. Held since 1826, the Annuals were organized and curated by Academy members, and considered to be an important and sweeping survey of contemporary American art.

Gifts and funding files date from 1860-2009 and include financial documents, ledgers, legal material, and correspondence concerning the bequests, endowments, donations, and other gifts that financed the operations of the Academy and school. A significant number of records pertain to the Abbey Trust Fund and the Archer M. Hunting Fund.

Membership files, 1826-2012, document Academy members, honorary members, fellows, and the nominations and elections whereby members were voted into the Academy. Materials include registers, certificates, nomination ledgers and proposals, candidate biographies, and ballots.

The National Academy Association files date from 1911-1959 and contain a constitution, plan, and agreement, as well as correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports for the Association, incorporated in 1912 with the aim to erect a building shared by several New York art societies. At the time of incorporation, the Association consisted of members from the National Academy of Design, American Water Color Society, American Institute of Architects, Architectural League of New York, New York Water Color Club, National Sculpture Society, Municipal Art Society, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, Mural Painters, Society of Illustrators, and a number of city representatives and citizens.

The Ranger Fund assignment files, 1919-2008, document the distribution of artworks by living American artists to institutions throughout the United States, in accordance with the will of Henry Ward Ranger. The Ranger Fund was initiated to stimulate public interest in the work of contemporary American painters in 1919, when the Academy received a bequest from Henry Ward Ranger, totaling $400,000. Ranger stated in his will that the capital should be invested and the income used as a purchase fund to facilitate gifts of paintings by living American artists to arts institutions throughout the United States. Files document the assignment of particular works of art to institutions through the official agreement, related correspondence, and in some instances, photographs of the artwork.

Extensive school records, dating from 1826-2008, contain administrative files, enrollment records, course files, student affairs files, and printed material documenting all aspects of the school's activities aligned with the Academy's mission to educate aspiring professional artists. A bulk of this series consists of student course registrations, documented in registers, then on index cards beginning in the 1930s. While information collected varied over the decades, registrations document student names and the year, and may additionally include course name, instructor, and cost.

Twenty Academy scrapbooks document the organization's activities from 1828-1939 and include clippings and ephemera. Three of the scrapbooks are devoted to specific topics, including one for the Society of American Artists, one for both the Society of American Artists and the Society of American Fakirs, and one for the Academy's centennial exhibition.

The Society of American Artists files, 1878-1906, document the formation of the Society as a departure from the Academy in 1877, its independent operations and activities, and its eventual consolidation with the Academy in 1906. The Society's members have included Edwin Abbey, James Carroll Beckwith, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, George Inness Jr., John La Farge, Albert Pinkham Ryder, among many others.

Files from other organizations date from 1817-1997 and may include correspondence, ledgers, and printed material. Many of these organizations had business with the Academy, and records pertain to events, meetings, and exhibitions. Notable organizations include the American Academy of Fine Arts, American Federation of Arts, American Watercolor Society, Art Students League, Fine Arts Federation of New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Etching Club, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Salmagundi Club.

Oral history transcripts date from 2002-2007. Eight comprehensive interviews, conducted by Avis Berman for the Academy, are with Academy members and cover all aspects of the artists' lives, including family, early life, beginning career, mentors, contemporaries, influences, patrons, awards, residencies, as well as the artists' relationship with the Academy. The interview transcripts provide first-hand accounts of the organization, particularly from circa 1940 up to the time of the interview. Artists interviewed include Will Barnet, Hyman Bloom, Richard Haas, Ellen Lanyon, Jules Olitski, Bernard Olshan, Paul Resika, and Dorothea Rockburne.

Photographic material, dating from 1845-2010, includes a wide variety of formats and processes including 19th and 20th photographic prints, glass plate negatives, copy prints, contact sheets, slides, and 35mm negatives. Subjects include artists and others associated with the Academy, the school, exhibitions and events, Academy buildings, artwork, and reference photographs. Many 19th century photographs contain descriptive annotations. Supplementary inventories and guides prepared by Academy archivists are scattered throughout the series.

Artist files date from 1826-2004 and include the correspondence, writings, manuscripts, diaries, exhibition catalogs, and clippings of many notable artists involved with the Academy, including Asher B. Durand and Rembrandt Peale. Of particular note are two notebooks Durand gifted to the Academy, both containing notes and sketches from anatomy lectures.

While printed material is scattered throughout, the final series collects a small number of additional announcements, brochures, clippings, illustrations, and other ephemera not filed in other series.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as nineteen series.

Series 1: Minutes and Committee Files, 1825-2006 (11.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-11, BV 100-106)

Series 2: Director Files, 1942-1990 (0.5 linear feet; Box 11)

Series 3: Annual Reports, 1828-2003, circa 2010 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 11-13, OV 139-142)

Series 4: Constitutions, 1826-2012 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 13-14)

Series 5: Council Officers, 1848-1980 (4 linear feet; Boxes 14-18)

Series 6: General Administration, 1825-1982 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 18, 126)

Series 7: Exhibitions, 1826-2003, 2008 (14.4 linear feet; Boxes 18-33)

Series 8: Gifts and Funding, 1860-2009 (4.1 linear feet; Boxes 33-37)

Series 9: Membership, 1826-2012 (3.4 linear feet; Boxes 37-39, 127-131)

Series 10: National Academy Association, 1911-1959 (0.4 linear feet; Box 39)

Series 11: Ranger Fund Assignments, 1919-2008 (4.3 linear feet; Boxes 39-44)

Series 12: School, 1826-2008 (28.5 linear feet; Boxes 44-56, 68-99)

Series 13: Scrapbooks, 1828-1939 (4 linear feet; Box 56, BV 107-125)

Series 14: Society of American Artists, 1878-1906 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 56-57)

Series 15: Other Organizations, 1817-1997 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 57-59, 131)

Series 16: Oral History Transcripts, 2002-2007 (0.7 linear feet; Box 59)

Series 17: Photographic Material, 1845-2010 (6.1 linear feet; Boxes 60-63, 131-138, OV 143-144)

Series 18: Artist Files, 1826-2004 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 63-66)

Series 19: Printed Material, 1839-1954 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 67, 131, OV 145)

Biographical / Historical:

The National Academy of Design (1825- ) based in New York City, is a tripartite organization consisting of a membership body of artists, a school, and an exhibition program. The Academy was founded in 1825 by a group of professional artists with the mission to promote the fine arts in America through exhibition and education. Originally named the New York Drawing Association, the Academy was the first organization in the United States established and managed by professional artists. Samuel F.B. Morse, the Academy's first president, was influenced by the organization of the Royal Academy in London, which was comprised of professional artist members and elected government council, an art school, and a venue for exhibitions. After unsuccessful negotiations to unite with the American Academy of Fine Arts, the New York Drawing Association reformed as the National Academy of The Arts of Design on January 19, 1826. Among the founders were mostly young artists who became prominent figures in American art, including Frederick S. Agate, Thomas Cole, Thomas S. Cummings, Asher B. Durand, John Frazee, Charles C. Ingham, Henry Inman, Gerlando Marsiglia, Samuel F. B. Morse, Samuel L. Waldo, and Charles Cushing Wright.

The first Academy members were elected in January 1826, and levels of membership were established shortly thereafter. Originally there were four levels of Academy membership: associates, academicians, artists, and honorary corresponding members. The category of artists was eliminated in 1829, and the honorary member category, established to recognize American artists living outside New York, distinguished foreign artists, and patrons and friends of the Academy, was eliminated in 1862 (the constitution was not amended with this change until 1896). Since 1869, the residency requirement for election to active membership was eliminated and membership was opened to all American artists. In 1920, the classification of honorary corresponding member was re-introduced to recognize representatives of other national academies. With the 1997 constitution, the honorary corresponding member classification was again eliminated, and in 1994 the associate category was eliminated.

Artists are proposed for membership by academicians through the membership committee and are elected for life by a sixty percent majority, based on recognized excellence and significant contributions to the field. Procedures and rules for nominating and choosing new academicians changed over the years, as detailed in the constitutions. Associates were at one time required to present a portrait of themselves upon election and academicians were required to provide an additional representative work upon election. With the elimination of the category of associate in 1994, only one representative work is currently required. These works of art become part of the Academy's permanent collection.

The original classes of professional artists were painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving. These professional classes were modified over the years. In 1936 the engraving class was made more comprehensive, including all of the graphic arts. Watercolor was added as a class in 1943 and was codified in the 1945 constitution. However, the division into five distinct classes started to create difficulties in how specific works of art were to be categorized. In 1981 the council eased the rules regarding separate media classification so that members could submit a work in any medium to the annual exhibitions regardless of the class to which they had been elected. The constitution of 1994 restated four professional classes—painting, sculpture, graphics, and architecture—which were further reduced in the 2011 constitution to two: visual arts and architecture.

Until 2009, the governing body of the Academy was the council. The seven officers of the council were president, vice-president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, corresponding secretary, assistant corresponding secretary and recording secretary, all of whom were required to be academicians. In 2009, a new constitution provided for a board of governors, replacing the council. The five officers of the board of governors are chair, vice-chair, president, vice-president, and treasurer. Only the offices of president and vice-president are required to be held by academicians.

Central to the Academy's mission, the school began with an anatomy lecture for the New York Drawing Association, delivered by Dr. Frederick G. King in November 1825. The first drawing session took place in November 1826 in the Old Alms House at City Hall Park with two academicians and twenty students. In the school's early years, professional artists met with students to draw from plaster casts of antique sculpture in the academic tradition. Both lectures and studio training were central the school's early curricula. Life classes, the practice of drawing from live models, were introduced in 1837, but only to advanced male students. A life class for women was not instituted until 1857, even though women were allowed membership to the Academy since its beginning. Due to financial difficulties at the Academy, the school was forced to move locations and shut down its operations for extended periods. Mounting dissatisfaction and frustration led several students and Lemuel E. Wilmarth, one of the school's leaders and first full-time professional instructor, to leave the Academy in 1875 and form a new school, the Art Students League. While charging tuition was unpopular, the Academy realized that it was necessary to ensure the school's sustainability, and implemented fee structures with varying success over the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th. Eventually, tuition was established by 1951, when the school was reopened at a new location, 5th Avenue and 89th Street.

Exhibitions have always been an important activity for the Academy, even prior to the opening of the National Academy Museum in 1979. Since 1826, the Academy has held annual exhibitions intended to reflect contemporary art currents in America. Any American artist was eligible to submit work to be reviewed by a jury of selection, comprised of academicians. Throughout the 19th century, the annual exhibitions at the Academy were one of the most significant and influential in the country. The selection process for these exhibitions was a critical topic, at times actively discussed in the press, and continually undergoing modification and change. In addition to the Annuals, the galleries of the Academy were often rented or loaned to outside organizations such as the American Watercolor Society, Audubon Artists, and the National Association of Women Artists. The galleries also mounted special exhibitions curated by its members and hosted a certain number of travelling exhibitions organized by other museums or art organizations. The museum, opened in 1979, hosted and presented major exhibitions, many focusing on historic European subjects.

Official Names of the Academy 1825-2017

1825 -- The New York Drawing Association

1826 -- The National Academy of The Arts of Design

1828 -- The National Academy of Design

1997 -- The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Art

2017 -- The National Academy of Design

National Academy of Design Meeting, Exhibition, and School Locations

1826 -- Old Alms House at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan

1827-1830 -- Chambers Street over the Arcade Baths

1831-1840 -- Corner of Nassau and Beckman Streets, the Mercantile Library on the third floor of Clinton Hall

1841 to 1849 -- 346 Broadway (at Leonard Street), the third and fourth floors of the New York Society Library

1850-1854 -- 663 Broadway, where the Academy erected a suite of six galleries

1855-1856 -- 548 Broadway (over Dr. Chapin's Church)

1857 -- 663 Broadway

1858-1861 -- 10th Street and 4th Avenue, the upper floor of a building

1861-1863 -- 625 Broadway, the Institute of Art

1865-1899 -- 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South)

1899-1940 -- 109th Street and Amsterdam Avenue; exhibition galleries at 215 West 57th Street

1940-2017 -- 1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street

Provenance:

The bulk of the collection was donated by the National Academy of Design in 2018. The trustees' ledger book in series 6 was donated in 1979 by Warder Cadbury of the Adirondack Museum; it is unclear how Cadbury acquired the ledger. Microfilm reels 798-799 containing transcriptions of minutes were given to the Archives by Lois Fink in 1974.

Restrictions:

This bulk of this collection is open for research. Boxes 63-66 are temporarily closed to researchers due to archival processing and digitization. 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.

Function:

Art Schools -- New York (State) -- New York

Arts organizations -- New York (State) -- New York

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Interviews

Citation:

National Academy of Design records, 1817-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.natiacad

See more items in:

National Academy of Design records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-natiacad

Creator:

Kent, Norman, 1903-1972  Search this

Subject:

Aiken, Charles Avery  Search this

Albee, Grace  Search this

Anderson, Ernfred  Search this

Arms, John Taylor  Search this

Avery, Ralph Hillyer  Search this

Aylward, W. J. (William James)  Search this

Bailey, Merrill A.  Search this

Bailey, Vernon Howe  Search this

Biddle, George  Search this

Bouché, Louis  Search this

Boyd, Fiske  Search this

Bransom, Paul  Search this

Burchfield, Charles Ephraim  Search this

Carter, Clarence Holbrook  Search this

Cheffetz, Asa  Search this

Clark, Eliot Candee  Search this

Cook, Howard Norton  Search this

Cornwell, Dean  Search this

Daugherty, James Henry  Search this

Deines, E. Hubert  Search this

Eichenberg, Fritz  Search this

Fabri, Ralph  Search this

Fawcett, Robert  Search this

Havens, James D.  Search this

Heitland, Wilmot Emerton  Search this

Helck, Peter  Search this

Hoftrup, Julius Lars  Search this

Kappel, Philip  Search this

Kent, Rockwell  Search this

Lankes, Julius J.  Search this

Leighton, Clare  Search this

Mack, Warren Bryan  Search this

Mason, Roy Martell  Search this

Meissner, Leo J. (Leo John)  Search this

Menihan, John C.  Search this

Pitz, Henry Clarence  Search this

Pleissner, Ogden M.  Search this

Reynard, Grant T.  Search this

Rice, William S.  Search this

Rockwell, Norman  Search this

Sandzén, Birger  Search this

Schafer, Alice Pauline  Search this

Sloane, Eric  Search this

Smith, Charles (Charles William)  Search this

Swann, James  Search this

Teague, Donald  Search this

Unwin, Nora Spicer  Search this

Von Neumann, Robert  Search this

Ward, Lynd  Search this

Waters, Herbert  Search this

Watson, Aldren Auld  Search this

Wengenroth, Stow  Search this

Whitaker, Frederic  Search this

Williams, Esther  Search this

Wilson, Edward Arthur  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7688

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209851

AAA_collcode_kentnorm

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209851

Creator:

Brook, Alexander, 1898-1980  Search this

Subject:

Bacon, Peggy  Search this

Biddle, George  Search this

Brett, Catherine  Search this

Covarrubias, Miguel  Search this

Pollock, Jackson  Search this

Spencer, Niles  Search this

Knee, Gina  Search this

Bouché, Louis  Search this

Type:

Photographs

Watercolors

Sketches

Transcriptions

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Etchings

Illustrations

Topic:

Post-impressionism (Art) -- United States -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

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

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)6833

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208960

AAA_collcode_brooalex

Theme:

Diaries

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208960

Creator:

Meiere, M. Hildreth, d. 1961  Search this

Names:

Exposition internationale (1937 : Paris, France)  Search this

New York World's Fair (1939-1940)  Search this

Peter A. Juley & Son  Search this

United States. Navy  Search this

Abbott, Berenice, 1898-1991  Search this

Dunn, Louise Meière  Search this

Extent:

27.3 Linear feet

0.068 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Slides (photographs)

Transcripts

Video recordings

Photographs

Poetry

Diaries

Sketchbooks

Place:

Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939

Date:

1901-2011

bulk 1911-1960

Summary:

The papers of Hildreth Meière measure 27.3 linear feet and 0.068 GB and date from 1901 to 2011, with the bulk of material dating from 1911 to 1960. The collection documents Meière's life and travels, and her long and prolific career as an architectural muralist through biographical material, correspondence, writings, thirteen diaries, files regarding her war relief work during the Spanish Civil War and World War II, printed and digital materials, extensive photographs and slides, eight sketchbooks, and two videocassettes and 93 reels of motion picture film documenting her travels, her volunteer efforts in Spain following the civil war, artwork, and home movies.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of Hildreth Meière measure 27.3 linear feet and 0.068 GB and date from 1901 to 2011, with the bulk of material dating from 1911 to 1960. The collection documents Meière's life and travels, and her long and prolific career as an architectural muralist through biographical material, correspondence, writings, thirteen diaries, files regarding her war relief work during the Spanish Civil War and World War II, printed and digital materials, extensive photographs and slides, eight sketchbooks, and two videocassettes and 93 reels of motion picture film documenting her travels, her volunteer efforts in Spain following the civil war, artwork, and home movies.

Biographical material includes an autobiographical narrative written by Meière, her many awards and certificates, membership information, passports, her U.S. Navy service records from World War I, documentation of her brief marriage and family genealogy, obituaries, and memorial service documentation. Also found are extensive writings and research conducted by Meière's daughter, Louise Meière Dunn, which include a complete list of Meière's commissions, detailed biographical narratives, and records of Meière's works held elsewhere.

The papers contain Meière's personal and family correspondence, travel correspondence, and business correspondence regarding professional activities. Much of the correspondence with family and friends was written during Meière's extensive travels over the world. Both family and travel correspondence have extensive indexes, summaries, and in some cases, transcripts prepared by Meière's daughter, Louise Meière Dunn. Some of the indexes, summaries and transcripts are digital. Writings include poetry and diaries kept during childhood and school years, travel diaries, essays and talks written about Meière's work, writings Meière prepared for committees of the National Mural Painters Association, and detailed travelogues of her trips to Constantinople and the Balkans in 1933, to Russia in 1936, her "Grand Tour" to Australia, Southeast Asia, India, Africa, and Europe in 1952-1953, and her "Holy Land" tour of the Middle East in 1954.

Civilian War Service Records document Meière's efforts at war relief organization during and after the Spanish Civil War and during World War II. The Spanish Civil War files include extensive photographs provided by the Spanish government as well as three motion picture films documenting refugees and damaged architecture and public artwork shot by Meière during a trip sponsored by Franco's government. World War II activities concern Meière's efforts to organize artists in the United States to design and execute murals and other works of public art at military facilities around the U.S.

Travel records include maps, ephemera, slides, and 83 motion picture films taken on trips abroad between 1933 and 1958. Trips include Eastern and Western Europe, the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East, South America, Mexico and Guatemala, India, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and the UK. The motion picture films are mostly shot in Kodachrome color and many contain intertitles prepared by Meière to identify locations for travel lectures.

Printed materials consist primarily of clippings and publications that reference Meière's work, contain profiles of her, or contain published writings by her. A single published educational film is also found, given to her by an Australian filmmaker friend. Additional photographs, digital photographs and moving images include personal photographs of Meière, with portraits by Peter A. Juley and Sons and Berenice Abbott, photographs of many of her commissioned works, and a few photographs of artwork by others. Home movies show Meière with friends in 1926 and 1940. Among the photographic documentation of artworks by Meière and others are motion picture films of the 1939 New York World's Fair, the D.C. Municipal Building Frieze, and the 1937 Paris Fair; also found are 311 lantern slides and 201 glass copy negatives of her own completed works as well as murals she documented while traveling, notably murals in Norway and Oberammergau, Bavaria, taken in the 1930s.

Eight sketchbooks date to her early years as an art student and artist and include many figure studies, landscapes, and theatrical sketches made at home and abroad.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in 8 series. Indexes, summaries, and transcripts prepared by Louise Meière Dunn that relate directly to archival materials in the collection are found throughout the collection with the material they describe. These indices are particularly rich in Series 2, Correspondence.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1915-2003 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1, 14, OV18)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1901-2011 (3 linear feet; Boxes 1-4, RD19, 0.038 GB; ER01-ER03)

Series 3: Writings, 1904-1960 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)

Series 4: Civilian War Service Records, 1938-2006 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 5-6, 15, FC 28-30)

Series 5: Travel Records, 1933-1958 (12.8 linear feet; Boxes 6-10, 15, OV18, FC 31-111)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1913-1998 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 10-12, 15, FC 112)

Series 7: Photographs and Moving Images, 1915-1966 (5.8 linear feet; Boxes 12-13, 16, 20-27, FC 17, 113-127, 0.029 GB; ER04)

Series 8: Sketchbooks, 1911-1922 (0.4 linear feet; Box 13)

Biographical / Historical:

Hildreth Meière (1892-1961) was born in Flushing, New York, and had a prolific career from 1921-1961 as an architectural muralist working primarily in an Art Deco style. Meière painted murals and designed for various mediums including mosaic, metal, and stained glass. In 1956 the American Institute of Architects awarded Meière their Fine Arts Medal.

Meière was educated at New York's Convent of the Sacred Heart, Manhattanville, the Art Students League in New York, the California School of Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art Institute), and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, in addition to pursuing studies in Italy. Her major commissions include the Nebraska State Capitol at Lincoln, the National Academy of Sciences, the Resurrection Chapel of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. In New York, she designed the Art Deco plaques on the exterior wall of Radio City Music Hall; created mosaic interiors for the Irving Trust Building at 1 Wall Street; and provided ecclesiastical decorations for St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, Temple Emanu-El, and elsewhere. She also created murals for the Chicago 1933 Century of Progress Fair, and the 1939 New York World's Fair.

She was also an active officer in the Art Students League and the National Society of Mural Painters. Some of her most inspired collaborations were with the architect Bertram Goodhue in the 1920s, and only his sudden death in 1924 put an end to them, although some projects were finished with the successor firm.

Meière died in 1961 at the age of 68. Her work is remembered in several major publications, including The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière by Catherine Coleman Brawer and Kathleen Murphy Skolnik, with photographs by Meière's granddaughter, Hildreth Meière Dunn, published in 2014; and the catalog of the 2009 exhibition at St. Bonaventure University, curated by Brawer and photographed by Dunn, entitled Walls Speak: the Narrative Art of Hildreth Meière.

Provenance:

A majority of the collection placed on deposit 2001 by Louise Meière Dunn, daughter of Hildreth Meière. The collection was donated incrementally by Dunn through 2012. Donations occurred 2001-2007, and again in 2010-2012.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires and appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Rights:

The Hildreth Meière papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

War relief  Search this

Travel  Search this

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

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

World War, 1939-1945  Search this

World War I, 1914-1918  Search this

Women artists  Search this

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

Art commissions  Search this

Motion pictures (visual works)  Search this

Genre/Form:

Slides (photographs)

Transcripts

Video recordings

Photographs

Poetry

Diaries

Sketchbooks

Citation:

Hildreth Meière papers, 1901-2011, bulk 1911-1960. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the digitization of 84 reels of motion picture film in the collection was provided by The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University through a generous grant from the Ruth Dayton Foundation. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.meiemari

See more items in:

Hildreth Meière papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-meiemari

Creator:

Ryan, Anne, 1889-1954  Search this

Names:

McFadden, Elizabeth  Search this

Extent:

3.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Travel diaries

Diaries

Photographs

Drawings

Date:

circa 1905-1970

Summary:

The papers of New York-based painter, printmaker, collagist and writer Anne Ryan measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1905 to 1970. The papers document her career as an artist and writer in New York, New Jersey and Spain through biographical material, correspondence, diaries and journals, writings, printed material, photographic material and artwork.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York-based painter, printmaker, collagist and writer Anne Ryan measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1905 to 1970. The papers document her career as an artist and writer in New York, New Jersey and Spain through biographical material, correspondence, diaries and journals, writings, printed material, photographic material and artwork.

Biographical material includes a mixture of legal and financial records as well as other personal documents. There are account books, art inventories, biographical statements, estate papers, exhibition lists, price lists, loan and consignments records, bills and receipts, banking and tax records, assorted travel documents, and other miscellaneous items.

Correspondence is with editors, museums, galleries, family and friends. Many of the letters have typed transcriptions that go along with the original handwritten correspondence. There is also correspondence with Anne Ryan's daughter, Elizabeth McFadden.

There are six diaries, journals, and travel diaries. The diaries and journals describe progress on artwork and writing, as well as daily appointments and activities.

Writings consists of notes, notebooks, poetry and manuscripts. The bulk of the series consists of handwritten and typescript drafts of books, short stories and essays. There are a few items written by others.

Printed material includes exhibition announcements, catalogs, clippings and magazines. Most of the periodicals include essays and stories written by Ryan. There are some printed materials such as postcards, travel brochures and clippings from Ryan's time in Spain.

Two family albums and photographs depict Anne Ryan, family, friends, colleagues, artwork, exhibition installations and houses.

Also found are materials Ann Ryan used to make artwork, such as engraved metal plates for prints, engraved woodcuts for woodblock prints, and handmade stencils. Some drawings are also included.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as seven series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1920-circa 1970 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1922-1968 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 3: Diaries and Journals, 1924-1942 (Boxes 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, circa 1923-circa 1954 (Boxes 2-3; 1.4 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1925-1970 (Boxes 3-4; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1905-circa 1954 (Boxes 4-5; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1930-circa 1954 (Box 5; 0.3 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

Anne Ryan (1889-1954) was a painter, printmaker, collagist, graphic artist and author who primarily worked in New York City, but also in New Jersey and Spain.

Anne Ryan was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1889. She attended St. Elizabeth's Academy and College. She married lawyer William J. McFadden and had three children – William, Elizabeth and Thomas. They lived in Newark, New Jersey and divorced in 1923. Ryan often went to Greenwich Village in New York City and was something of a fixture in the arts and literary community. In 1925 she published a book of poetry, Lost Hills, and her novel Raquel was also published around this time.

Around 1931, Ryan moved to Spain and lived there for roughly four years, mostly in Mallorca and Ibiza, though she traveled to Paris as well. She then returned to New York City and moved into 124 West Fourth Street, which was occupied by many artists and writers. She opened a restaurant called The Hearthstone in the building's basement.

Ryan began painting around 1938. Artist Hans Hofmann lived nearby and visited her studio to provide encouragement, telling her to pursue her own course artistically and not to seek formal instruction. Ryan's first exhibition was in 1941. During this time she joined the printmaking studio Atelier 17 run by British artist William Stanley Hayter who had fled from Paris, France due to World War II. Thanks to the studio, Ryan befriended many European expatriate artists and started making woodblock prints and engravings.

In 1948, Ryan saw an exhibition of collages by Kurt Schwitters that inspired her to begin creating collages herself. During her late career, she made hundreds of collages and had multiple exhibitions at Betty Parsons Gallery in New York City. Ryan was also a prolific writer and many of her short stories and travel essays were published in magazines and periodicals. She died in 1954 in Morristown, New Jersey.

Provenance:

The Anne Ryan papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1971 by Elizabeth McFadden, Anne Ryan's daughter.

Restrictions:

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

Topic:

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

Authors -- Spain  Search this

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

Collagists -- Spain  Search this

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

Painters -- Spain  Search this

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

Printmakers -- Spain  Search this

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

Women artists -- Spain  Search this

Genre/Form:

Travel diaries

Diaries

Photographs

Drawings

Citation:

Anne Ryan papers, circa 1905-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.ryananne

See more items in:

Anne Ryan papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-ryananne

Creator:

Refregier, Anton, 1905-  Search this

Names:

ACA Galleries  Search this

Bard College -- Faculty  Search this

Gosudarstvennyĭ Ėrmitazh (Russia)  Search this

National Council of American-Soviet Friendship (U.S.)  Search this

New York World's Fair (1939-1940)  Search this

United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this

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

World Peace Council  Search this

De Diego, Julio, 1900-  Search this

Dreyfuss, Henry, 1904-  Search this

Elisofon, Eliot  Search this

Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973  Search this

Fast, Howard, 1914-  Search this

Geddes, Norman Bel, 1893-1958  Search this

Greenwood, Marion, 1909-1970  Search this

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953  Search this

Morley, Eugene, 1909-1953  Search this

O'Higgins, Pablo, 1904-  Search this

Packard, Emmy Lou, 1914-1998  Search this

Randall, Byron, 1918-1999  Search this

Refregier, Lila  Search this

Siqueiros, David Alfaro  Search this

Yavno, Max  Search this

Extent:

35.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Travel diaries

Greeting cards

Interviews

Cartoons (working drawings)

Scrapbooks

Transcripts

Photographs

Diaries

Sketches

Place:

Chile

Soviet Union

Guatemala

Mexico

Date:

circa 1900-circa 1990

Summary:

The papers of Woodstock area painter, muralist, and designer, Anton Refregier (1905-1979) date from circa 1900 to circa 1990 and measure 35.9 linear feet. The collection records Refregier's early commercial work and murals for the Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) and documents his career through to the 1970s with records of commissions for many public and private buildings, exhibitions in the United States and abroad, teaching positions, essays and publications, and extensive travel, particularly to the Soviet Union and Mexico. The collection contains scattered biographical material, personal and business correspondence, notes and writings, 15 diaries and journals, mural and tapestry files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, 10 scrapbooks, artwork including sketches and cartoons for murals, and photographs of Refregier, his friends, family and travels.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of Woodstock area painter, muralist, and designer, Anton Refregier (1905-1979) date from circa 1900 to circa 1990 and measure 35.9 linear feet. The collection records Refregier's early commercial work and murals for the Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) and documents his career through to the 1970s with records of commissions for many public and private buildings, exhibitions in the United States and abroad, teaching positions, essays and publications, and extensive travel, particularly to the Soviet Union and Mexico. The collection contains scattered biographical material, personal and business correspondence, notes and writings, diaries and journals, mural and tapestry files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork including sketches and cartoons for murals, and photographs of Refregier, his friends, family and travels.

Biographical material contains legal records such as Refregier's will and marriage and death records, passports, resume material and 2 interview transcripts.

Correspondence, both chronological and alphabetical, constitutes almost a third of the collection and documents all aspects of Refregier's career including his work for the WPA, private commissions, representation by ACA Galleries, his involvement with groups such as the Woodstock Artists Association and his teaching work for institutions such as Bard College. Also documented are his involvement with local political groups and international organizations such as the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship and the World Peace Council, and travels including visits to the Soviet Union. Notable correspondents include Henry Dreyfuss, Philip Evergood, Rockwell Kent, Emmy-Lou Packard, and Byron Randall. Correspondence also includes family letters written primarily by Refregier to Lila Refregier, in addition to greeting cards received by the Refregier family, many of which contain original arwork.

Writings are primarily by Refregier and include drafts of many essays and autobiographical writings, in addition to copies of published works including Natural Figure Drawing, An Artists Journey and Sketches of the Soviet Union.

The collection contains diaries and journals from 12 years in various formats including published and handmade day planners and typed and handwritten journal entries. They include sketches and primarily record travel and daily activities including specific projects such as the New York World's Fair mural (1938-1939).

Mural and Tapestry files document individual commissions bid on and/or completed by Refregier. The creation of the Rincon Annex Post Office mural and subsequent controversies over its subject matter are well-documented here, as are many of Refregier's commissions for banks, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers, and schools.

Exhibition files document at least 15 of Refregier's exhibitions, including his first one-man show at ACA Galleries (1942) and his exhibition of paintings at the Hermitage Museum (1967) in what was then Leningrad.

Personal business records contain addresses of contacts. Scattered records referencing market values for Refregier's work can be found throughout the series in records such as bills and receipts, financial notes and tax records.

Printed material provides extensive coverage of Refregier's entire career through announcements, invitations, catalogs, and news clippings. His interests in art, literature, music, theater and politics are also well-represented in these files.

The collection contains 10 scrapbooks, mostly in fragmented condition, which contain a mixture of photographs, sketches and other artwork, notes and fragments of writings, and printed material. The scrapbooks document a variety of subjects including Refregier's family life, travels to Guatemala and the Soviet Union, and the artist at work.

Artwork consists primarily of artwork by Refregier in the form of mural design sketches and cartoons in various media, including pencil, ink and pastel, in addition to 21 sketchbooks, many of which also contain journal entries and notes. Also found here are prints and reproductions of Refregier's "Peace card" block engravings for every year from 1950-1973, with the exception of 1970.

Photographs document all phases of Refregier's career and include family photographs dating from circa 1900, photos of Refregier in the studio including work for the WPA, Refregier and other artists and individuals at events and parties from the 1940s-1970s, travel snapshots probably taken in Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Soviet Union, and photographs of artwork and installations. Individuals pictured include Julio de Diego, Marion Greenwood, Rockwell Kent, Pablo O'Higgins and David Siqueiros; also, a series of press photographs by Albert A. Freeman pictures Refregier with Howard Fast, Norman Bel Geddes, Marion Greenwood, John Kingsbury, Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Harry Stockwell. One photograph by Eliot Elisofon, 2 by Eugene Morley and 4 by Max Yavno can also be found here.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 11 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1925-1980 (Box 1; 0.25 linear ft.)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1912-circa 1990s (Boxes 1-11, 36, OVs 38, 45; 10.2 linear ft.)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1930s-circa 1970s (Boxes 11-14, OV 45; 3.3 linear ft.)

Series 4: Diaries and Journals, 1923-1979 (Box 15; 0.6 linear ft.)

Series 5: Mural and Tapestry Files, circa 1930s-circa 1970s (Boxes 15-18, 36, OVs 38, 45, 46, RD 42; 3.65 linear ft.)

Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1942-1981 (Boxes 18-19; 0.6 linear ft.)

Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1920s-1980s (Boxes 19-20; 1.8 linear ft.)

Series 8: Printed Material, circa 1920s-1980s (Boxes 21-28, 36; 7.4 linear ft.)

Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1930s-1960s (Boxes 28, 37, BV 47; 1.1 linear ft.)

Series 10: Artwork, circa 1930s-circa 1970s (Boxes 28-30, 36, OVs 40, 41, RDs 42-44; 3.5 linear ft.)

Series 11: Photographic Material, ca. 1900-1980s (Boxes 31-35, 39; 4.5 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

Russian-born Woodstock painter Anton Refregier (1905-1979) immigrated to the United States in 1920. Refregier was well-known for his sometimes controversial social realist murals for the WPA.

After an apprenticeship to the sculptor, Vasilief, in Paris, Anton Refregier attended the Rhode Island School of Design from 1920-1925 and studied with Hans Hofmann in Germany in 1927. He had his first one-man show at ACA Galleries in New York City in 1942 and settled in Woodstock, New York, with his wife, Lila, and three children Anton, Jr., Brigit and Aleksandre, where he became a prominent member of the artist community.

Refregier completed several social realist murals for the federal Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) program, including one at the New York Worlds Fair in 1939 and the controversial Rincon Annex Post Office mural in San Francisco begun in 1941. He also completed interior design installations for businesses such as the nightclub, Cafe Society Uptown, and the restaurant, The Cookery, in New York City. In addition to being an easel and mural painter Refregier worked in tapestry, mosaic, ceramic, and collage, and completed many commissions for hotels, banks, hospitals, restaurants, synagogues, supermarkets and deparment stores throughout the country.

Refregier taught at various institutions including Stanford University, the University of Arkansas, and Bard College and his publications inlcude Natural Figure Drawing (1948), An Artist's Journey (1965), and Sketches of the Soviet Union (1978). He traveled regularly to the Soviet Union to explore and exchange ideas about art and culture and as a representative of the World Peace Council.

Anton Refregier died in Moscow in October 1979 while visiting the Soviet Union. His work can be found in many museums including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Related Material:

Also found in the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview with Anton Refregier, 1964, Nov. 5 by Joseph Trovato; and Papers regarding Anton Refregier mural controversy, 1953.

Provenance:

Donated 1983 by Lila Refregier, widow of Anton Refregier, and in 1992 by Brigit R. Sutton, Refregier's daughter.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Anton Refregier papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. They may be used for research, study and scholarship. Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposes of publication must be obtained from: Brigit R. Sutton, Box 344D, Woodstock, New York, 12498.

Topic:

Tapestry  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Political clubs  Search this

Muralists -- New York -- Woodstock  Search this

Art -- Commissioning  Search this

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

Mural painting and decoration -- Archival resources -- 20th century  Search this

Designers -- New York (State)  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Travel diaries

Greeting cards

Interviews

Cartoons (working drawings)

Scrapbooks

Transcripts

Photographs

Diaries

Sketches

Citation:

Anton Refregier papers, circa 1900-circa 1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.refranto

See more items in:

Anton Refregier papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-refranto

Creator:

Gurr, Lena, 1897-1992  Search this

Names:

ACA Galleries  Search this

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

John Reed Club  Search this

New York World's Fair (1939-1940)  Search this

Allen, Mary Cecil, 1893-1962  Search this

Ascher, Mary G. (Mary Goldman), b. 1900  Search this

Baron, Herman, 1892-1961  Search this

Biel, Joseph, 1891-1943  Search this

Block, Dorothy, 1904-1984  Search this

Ehrenreich, Emma, 1906-  Search this

Fabri, Ralph, 1894-1975  Search this

Force, Juliana, 1876-1948  Search this

Grosz, George, 1893-1959  Search this

Harkavy, Minna, b. 1895  Search this

Jones, Joe, 1909-1963  Search this

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this

Knaths, Karl, 1891-1971  Search this

Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000  Search this

Lozowick, Louis, 1892-1973  Search this

Model, Elisabeth D. (Elisabeth Dittmann), 1897-1993  Search this

Norman, Maria  Search this

Soyer, Raphael, 1899-1987  Search this

Von Wicht, John, 1888-1970  Search this

Ward, Lynd, 1905-1985  Search this

Extent:

7 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Prints

Photographs

Christmas cards

Interviews

Phonograph records

Sketchbooks

Place:

New York (N.Y.) -- Pictorial works

Date:

1908-1979

Summary:

The Lena Gurr (1897-1992) papers date from 1908 to 1979 and measure 7.0 linear feet. Gurr was a painter and printmaker who studied under John sloan and Maurice Sterne at the Art Students League between 1920-1922. She also studied in France and married painter and photographer Joseph Biel in 1931. The papers document both Gurr and Biel's careers through correspondence, notes, art work, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs. The collection offers researchers a valuable resource for studying the New York art community of the pre-war era.

Scope and Content Note:

The Lena Gurr papers date from 1908 to 1979 and measure 7.0 linear feet. The collection presents a good overview of Gurr's career as a painter and printmaker, and her relationship with her husband, painter Joseph Biel. Through biographical material, correspondence, notes, an interview with Lena Gurr, original artwork by Gurr and others, scrapbooks, printed material, photographs of Gurr, family, and friends, and photographs of artwork by Gurr and others, the collection offers researchers a valuable resource for studying the New York art community of the pre-war era.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into eight series. Material within each series is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1968, undated (box 1; 1 folder)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1921-1979, undated (boxes 1-4; 3.1 linear ft.)

Series 3: Notes, 1926-1972 (box 4; 4 folders)

Series 4: Interview, 1950 (box 4; 1 folder)

Series 5: Artwork, circa 1908-1951 (box 4; 36 folders)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1912-1948 (boxes 4-5, 8-11; 1.45 linear ft.)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1926-1978 (box 5; 21 folders)

Series 8: Photographs, 1912-1978 (boxes 5-7; 1.05 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

Born October 27, 1897, in Brooklyn, New York, Lena Gurr was the daughter of Hyman and Ida (Gorodnick) Gurr. She attended the Maxwell Training School for Teachers from 1915 to 1917, then turned her energies toward art. She studied painting and printmaking at the Educational Alliance Art School in 1919, and at the Art Students League (1920-1922), where she was a student of John Sloan and Maurice Stern. She also studied art in Paris, Nice, and Mentone, France. Her first solo exhibition was in 1932 at the Brooklyn Museum.

On November 24, 1931, Gurr married painter and photographer Joseph Biel. He was born October 27, 1891 in Russia, studied at the Russian Academy in Paris, and at the Workman's College, Melbourne, Australia. He also established the first Jewish Library in Melbourne. Upon his arrival in the United States, he studied under George Grosz at the Art Students League. Biel died in April 1943 of a heart ailment.

Provenance:

The Lena Gurr papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Lena Gurr from 1966 to 1979.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Rights:

The Lena Gurr papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Occupation:

Painters  Search this

Topic:

Works of art  Search this

Photographers  Search this

Artists' studios -- France -- Paris -- Photographs  Search this

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

Painting, American -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Printmakers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Prints

Photographs

Christmas cards

Interviews

Phonograph records

Sketchbooks

Citation:

Lena Gurr papers, 1908-1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.gurrlena

See more items in:

Lena Gurr papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-gurrlena

Creator:

Goldin, Amy  Search this

Names:

Duncan, Robert Edward, 1919-  Search this

Grabar, Oleg  Search this

Extent:

3.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Date:

1945-1978

Summary:

The papers of author, art critic, and educator Amy Goldin measure 3.5 linear feet and date from 1945 to 1978. The collection comprises biographical materials that include identification documents, a sketchbook from 1946, student records, and other material; personal and professional correspondence with Goldin's sister Ruth Huston, Oleg Grabar, Robert Duncan, and others; Goldin's writing and research projects and a few writings by others; printed materials mainly featuring Goldin's published writings; and photographic materials consisting of photographs of Goldin, friends and family, and works of art by Goldin and others.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of author, art critic, and educator Amy Goldin measure 3.5 linear feet and date from 1945 to 1978. The collection comprises biographical materials that include identification documents, a sketchbook from 1946, student records, and other material; personal and professional correspondence with Goldin's sister Ruth Huston, Oleg Grabar, Robert Duncan, and others; Goldin's writing and research projects and a few writings by others; printed materials mainly featuring Goldin's published writings; and photographic materials consisting of photographs of Goldin, friends and family, and works of art by Goldin and others.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as five series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1945-1978 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1959-1978 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Research and Writing Projects, 1950-1977 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 1-3, OV 4)

Series 4: Printed Materials, circa 1960-1978 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 3-4, OV 5)

Series 5: Photographic Materials, circa 1950-circa 1975 (0.1 linear feet; Box 4)

Biographical / Historical:

Amy Goldin (1926-1978) was an art critic, author, and educator in New York, New York.

Goldin started her career in art as a painter in her birthplace of Detroit, Michigan. She attended Wayne University from 1944 to 1946 before attending the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1948. She continued her training in painting after receiving the Art Students' League scholarship for 1948 to 1949 and a scholarship to train under Hans Hofmann from 1950 to 1952. She eventually settled in New York City.

Goldin was a prolific writer over the course of her short career as an art critic. She was contributing editor for the publications Arts, Arts News and Art in America. In 1972 she received a National Endowment Critic's Grant to study with Dr. Oleg Grabar, a leading scholar on Islamic art, at Harvard University and traveled to Iran to study the country's architecture. Goldin devoted much of her career to covering topics such as Islamic art, decoration and pattern, and examining folk art from an original viewpoint. In 1976 the College Art Association awarded her the Frank Jewett Mather award for distinguished art criticism.

Goldin was also a visiting lecturer and educator at the University of California in San Diego, Northwestern University, and Queens College. Goldin and Dr. Michael Brown of Queens College collaborated on the book Collective Behavior (1974) that explored style and collective behavior.

Goldin died of cancer in 1978 in New York, N.Y.

Related Materials:

Also found at the Archives of American art is the Herb Bronstein correspondence with Amy Goldin, circa 1952-1976.

Provenance:

The Amy Goldin papers were donated by Mrs. Ruth M. Huston, the sister of Amy Genevieve Goldin, in 1978.

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Rights:

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

Occupation:

Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

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

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

Topic:

Women authors  Search this

Women art critics  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Citation:

Amy Goldin papers, 1945-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.goldamy

See more items in:

Amy Goldin papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-goldamy