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Oral history interview with Margaret Tomkins, 1984 June 6

Interviewee:
Tomkins, Margaret, 1916-2002  Search this
Interviewer:
Guenther, Bruce  Search this
Subject:
FitzGerald, James  Search this
Artists Gallery (Seattle, Wash.)  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Margaret Tomkins, 1984 June 6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Artists -- Northwestern States -- Interviews  Search this
Art, Modern -- Northwestern States  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12308
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212455
AAA_collcode_tomkin84
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212455
Online Media:

Doris Chase papers

Creator:
Chase, Doris, 1923-  Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1954-1994
Summary:
The scattered papers of painter, sculptor, educator, and video artist Doris Totten Chase measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1954 to 1994. Found are biographical material, photographs and slides, and printed material concerning Chase's career.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers of painter, sculptor, educator, and video artist Doris Totten Chase measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1954 to 1994. Found are biographical material, photographs and slides, and printed material concerning Chase's career.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Doris Totten Chase (1923-2008) was a painter, sculptor, educator, and video artist, active in Washington State and New York City. Born in Seattle, Chase spent her early life in the Pacific Northwest where she was a member of the Women Painters of Washington. Chase was primarily a painter until the early 1970s when she began to focus on sculpture. In 1972, Chase moved to New York City where she began to create video art. She was one of the first video artists to lecture and show her work abroad under the auspices of the United States Information Agency.
Provenance:
Donated 1980 and 1997 by Doris Chase.
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:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Video artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women sculptors  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Women video artists  Search this
Citation:
Doris Chase papers, 1954-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.chasdori
See more items in:
Doris Chase papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9693bacd2-a659-44e7-bb2d-40e091bc30bf
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-chasdori

Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers

Creator:
Knight, Gwendolyn  Search this
Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000  Search this
Names:
Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988  Search this
Bocour, Leonard, 1910-1993  Search this
Dintenfass, Terry, 1920-  Search this
Eichenberg, Fritz, 1901-1990  Search this
Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973  Search this
Halpert, Edith Gregor, 1900-1970  Search this
Extent:
25.35 Linear feet
0.001 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Photographs
Date:
1816
1914-2008
bulk 1973-2001
Summary:
The papers of African American painter and educator Jacob Lawrence and his wife, artist Gwendolyn Knight measure 25.35 linear feet and 0.001 GB date from 1914 to 2008, with one item from 1816 and the bulk of the material dating from 1973 to 2001. The collection includes biographical material; correspondence including condolence letters to Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death; writings by Jacob Lawrence and others; printed and digital material; photographs; personal business records; artwork; records from the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project; materials related to the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation; professional files; and material related to awards and honors received by Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of African American painter and educator Jacob Lawrence and his wife, artist Gwendolyn Knight measure 25.35 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from 1914 to 2008, with one item from 1816 and the bulk of the material dating from 1973 to 2001. The collection includes biographical material; correspondence including condolence letters to Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death; writings by Jacob Lawrence and others; printed and digital material; photographs; personal business records; artwork; records from the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project; materials related to the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation; professional files; and material related to awards and honors received by Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.

Biographical material includes appointment and address books; education and personal identification certificates and documents; awards, certificates, curriculum vitae, and chronologies; biographical material related to other individuals, including identification documents and memorial programs; and transcripts of interviews with Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.

The correspondence series includes extensive personal and professional correspondence with family, friends, artists, admirers (including students in a number of elementary and middle schools), university students, government agencies, art schools, galleries, museums, publishing houses, and others. Included in this series are condolence letters received by Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death in 2000.

Writings include published and unpublished writings by and about Jacob Lawrence, as well as writings by others. These writings include speeches, notes, essays, articles, lists, and short stories. Also included is a visitor comment book from the Los Angeles County Museum exhibition of Jacob Lawrence's Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass series.

Printed material includes books; brochures; business cards; clippings; exhibition and event announcements, invitations, catalogs, and programs; magazines; newsletters; posters; post cards; and press releases. Books in this collection may include illustrations by Jacob Lawrence or have personal inscriptions from the author to Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.

Photographs include photographs of Jacob Lawrence artwork, photographs and reproductions of Gwendolyn Knight artwork, and photographs of Jacob Lawrence, Gwendolyn Knight, and other individuals. Also included in this series are photographs and reproductions of work by others.

Personal business records include a ledger; consignment, financial, and shipping records related to the Terry Dintenfass Gallery; contracts and agreements; and estate documents.

Artwork includes sketches by Jacob Lawrence, a blank sketchbook inscribed by Jacob Lawrence to Gwendolyn Knight, and artwork by other artists.

Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project Records include materials generated by the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project, a non-profit created with the goal of producing a catalogue raisonné (and later, a digital archive) of Jacob Lawrence's work. These records include address books and phone logs; copies of Jacob Lawrence's CV; founding documents, bylaws, and meeting minutes; correspondence; writings, including draft pages of the catalogue raisonné; business records, including employment files, contracts, invoices, insurance, and tax information; printed and digital material; and photographs and artwork.

The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation and Related Material series includes founding documents and foundation bylaws, correspondence, financial documents, reports, and proposals. Found within this series are materials related to the Lawrence Center for the Visual Arts, a subsidiary foundation of the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation.

Professional files include material related to projects and exhibitions, teaching files and inclusion in curricula, files regarding possible fake Jacob Lawrence works, and gallery files.

The honors series is divided into two subseries: awards and certificates, and government honors. Awards and certificates includes honorary degrees, arts prizes, and any other honors awarded to Jacob Lawrence or Gwendolyn Knight. Government honors include resolutions, proclamations, and keys to cities. Also included in this series are correspondence related to awards and honorary degrees, commencement programs, plaques, and medals.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 11 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1914-2005 (Boxes 1, 11, 26, OV 10; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1943, 1952-2005 (Boxes 1-5, 12-14, 26; 7.7 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1954-1959, 1973-2005, undated (Boxes 5-6, 14-15; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1816, 1926, 1937, 1945-2008 (Boxes 6-9, 15-17, 26, OV 30, OV 31; 6.8 linear feet)

Series 5: Photographs, circa 1970-1997, undated (Boxes 9, 17, OV 10; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1962-2005 (Boxes 9, 17; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork, 1984, 1990-1994, undated (Boxes 9, 18, 26; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 8: Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonne Project Records, 1982-2002 (Boxes 18-23, Box 26; 5.1 linear feet, ER01; 0.001 GB)

Series 9: Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation and Related Material, 1997-2005 (Box 23; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 10: Professional Files, 1964-2004 (Boxes 23-24; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 11: Honors, 1948, 1966-2005 (Boxes 24-25, 27-29, OV 30; 2.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Modernist painter and educator Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was born in 1917 as Jacob Armstead Lawrence in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He began his art studies at the Utopia Children's Center in New York City's Harlem district where he studied under the painter Charles Alston. Lawrence dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen to continue his art instruction with Alston, this time at the Harlem Art Workshop, where he met several artists associated with the Harlem Renaissance including the sculptor Augusta Savage.

Gwendolyn Knight (1913-2005) was born in Barbados and moved to New York City with her adoptive parents when she was seven. She attended New York's Wadleigh High School and later Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she studied fine arts with Lois Mailou Jones and James Porter. Forced to leave her studies at Howard because of the Depression, Knight returned to Harlem and continued her artistic pursuits in Augusta Savage's workshop. In 1935, Knight joined the Harlem Mural Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) working under Selma Day and Charles Alston. Lawrence and Knight met in Savage's workshop and married in the summer of 1941.

During the Depression, Lawrence also joined the WPA Federal Arts Project in Harlem. Finding WPA murals overwhelming, Lawrence concentrated on traditional painting instead. He produced his first major works in the late 1930s, most notably the Toussaint L'Ouverture series, images that document the life of the revolutionary hero and Haiti's struggle for independence. Other significant works include visual narratives of the lives of abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. In 1940, Lawrence received the prestigious Julius Rosenwald Fellowship, which made it possible for him to purchase his first art studio on 125th Street in the heart of Harlem. He soon portrayed Harlem street life in paintings that became commentaries on the role of African Americans in United States society with highly developed themes of resistance and social opposition. That same year, Lawrence began his most celebrated series, The Migration of the American Negro, multiple tempera panels depicting the exodus of African American sharecroppers in the south to northern industrial cities in search of better employment and social opportunities. Edith Halpert exhibited the works in their entirety at her Downtown Gallery in 1941, establishing Lawrence as the first African American artist to exhibit in a top New York gallery. The following year, New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC each bought half of the sixty panels in the series, helping to further Lawrence's career within the larger world of American art.

In the summer of 1946, the artist Joseph Albers invited Lawrence to teach at North Carolina's Black Mountain College. It was the first in a series of teaching positions in prestigious art schools including Pratt Institute (1956-1971), Brandeis University (1965), The New School (1966), the Art Students League (1967), and others. During the 1950s and 1960s, Lawrence's work continued to focus on racism and political activism but in the late 1960s shifted to themes of racial harmony.

Both Lawrence and Knight continued independent careers in art. Knight pursued her art studies at the New School in New York and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. In the mid-1960s, she collaborated with other female artists to form the Studio Gallery in New York City. Knight's main body of work consists of portraits and still-lifes that incorporate expressions of African sculpture, Impressionism, dance, and theater. Focusing on gesture, her art is described as light and airy with a minimum of lines allowing empty space to define the work. In 1970, Lawrence traveled to Seattle to teach as a visiting artist at the University of Washington. He was hired on a permanent basis the following year and remained on staff until his retirement in 1986.

Jacob Lawrence died June 9, 2000, in Seattle, Washington at the age of 83. Gwendolyn Knight continued to paint and exhibit her work around the country until her death on February 18, 2005 in Seattle, Washington at the age of 92.
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview with Jacob Lawrence conducted by Carroll Greene (1968 October 26), interviews conducted by Avis Berman (1982 July 20-August 4), and an oral history interview with Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight conducted by Paul Karlstrom (1998 November 18). The Archives of American Art also holds a collection of Jacob Lawrence papers, available on microfilm only, reels D286 and 4571-4573. Originals reside at Syracuse University Library, Special Collections.
Provenance:
The Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in five accretions between 1979 and 1997. Additional papers were donated in 2012 by the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation via Barbara Earl Thomas, representative.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Educators -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
African American artists  Search this
Women artists  Search this
African American art -- African influences  Search this
African American educators  Search this
African American painters  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers, 1816, 1914-2008, bulk 1973-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.lawrjaco
See more items in:
Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw97b5bfd17-13f8-4cb6-ab12-22124f7d1fee
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-lawrjaco
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Frank S. Okada

Interviewee:
Okada, Frank S. (Frank Sumio), 1931-2000  Search this
Interviewer:
Johns, Barbara  Search this
Names:
Cornish School of Allied Arts (Seattle, Wash.)  Search this
Cranbrook Academy of Art -- Students  Search this
Northwest Asian American Project  Search this
University of Oregon -- Faculty  Search this
Bunce, Louis, 1907-1983  Search this
Charles, Ray, 1930-2004  Search this
Chin, Frank, 1940-  Search this
Davis, Sammy, 1925-  Search this
Derbyshire, Leon  Search this
Dusanne, Zoe, 1884-1977  Search this
Horiuchi, Paul, 1906-  Search this
Inada, Lawson Fusao  Search this
Ivey, William, 1919-1992  Search this
Jones, Quincy, 1933-  Search this
Kusama, Yayoi, 1929-  Search this
Martin, David Stone  Search this
Nomura, Kenjiro, 1896-1956  Search this
Okada, John  Search this
Peck, James Edward, 1907-  Search this
Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Tsutakawa, George  Search this
Extent:
87 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1990 Aug. 16-17
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Frank Okada conducted 1990 Aug. 16-17, in Seattle, Wash., by Barbara Johns, for the Archives of American Art Northwest Asian American Project. Okada discusses his parents' background; his family including his brothers, John, author of "No-No Boy," and Charlie, a graphic designer; traveling to Japan for the Pacific Northwest Artists and Japan exhibition; being in an internment camp; painting in Eugene, Ore. and Seattle, Wash.; his painting techniques; studying under Leon Derbyshire; his connection with the jazz scene in Seattle in the late 1940s and 1950s including musicians Sammy Davis, Ray Charles, and Quincy Jones; attending Cornish School of Art, Seattle; meeting Mark Tobey; comparision of his painting style to Tobey's; his stint in the Army; attending Cranbrook Academy of Art and studying with painter Fred Mitchell; his Whitney fellowship in New York; study of Japanese, Chinese, and Zen paintings; working for Boeings in the early 1960s; traveling to France on a Guggenheim; teaching at University of Oregon in Eugene; his minimalist work; influence of Japanese art in his painting. Okada mentions Lawson Inada (Asian American poet), Frank Chin (Asian American playwright), artists David Stone Martin, James Edward Peck, Yayoi Kusama, George Tsutakawa, Paul Horiuchi, Ben Shahn, Kenjiro Nomura, Louis Bunce, Bill Ivey, and art gallery owner Zoe Dusanne.
Biographical / Historical:
Frank S. Okada (1931-2000) was a Japanese American painter based in Seattle, Washington. He taught at University of Oregon from 1969-1999.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 38 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- United States  Search this
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
Asian American art  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Japanese American art  Search this
Japanese American artists  Search this
Painting, Japanese  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Painting, Chinese  Search this
Asian American painters  Search this
Asian American sculptors  Search this
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.okada90
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ff6868c7-38fd-4e50-9323-474b69e03b8e
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-okada90
Online Media:

Kamekichi Tokita Papers, circa 1900-circa 2010, bulk 1900-1948

Creator:
Tokita, Kamekichi, 1897-1948  Search this
Subject:
Callahan, Kenneth  Search this
Tokita, Shokichi  Search this
Tokita, Elsie  Search this
Art Institute of Seattle  Search this
Seattle Art Museum  Search this
Hotel Cadillac (Seattle, Wash.)  Search this
Henry Art Gallery  Search this
Public Works of Art Project  Search this
Minidoka Relocation Center  Search this
Group of Twelve (Seattle, Wash.)  Search this
Type:
Photograph albums
Photographs
Sketches
Scrapbooks
Diaries
Citation:
Kamekichi Tokita Papers, circa 1900-circa 2010, bulk 1900-1948. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans  Search this
Asian American art  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Japanese American art  Search this
Japanese American artists  Search this
Asian American painters  Search this
Art, American -- Northwestern States  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Northwestern States  Search this
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945 -- Diaries  Search this
Theme:
Asian American  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10444
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213849
AAA_collcode_tokikame
Theme:
Asian American
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213849
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Frank S. Okada, 1990 Aug. 16-17

Interviewee:
Okada, Frank S. (Frank Sumio), 1931-2000  Search this
Interviewer:
Johns, Barbara  Search this
Subject:
Bunce, Louis  Search this
Charles, Ray  Search this
Chin, Frank  Search this
Davis, Sammy  Search this
Derbyshire, Leon  Search this
Dusanne, Zoe  Search this
Horiuchi, Paul  Search this
Inada, Lawson Fusao  Search this
Ivey, William  Search this
Jones, Quincy  Search this
Kusama, Yayoi  Search this
Martin, David Stone  Search this
Nomura, Kenjiro  Search this
Okada, John  Search this
Peck, James Edward  Search this
Shahn, Ben  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Tsutakawa, George  Search this
Cornish School of Allied Arts (Seattle, Wash.)  Search this
University of Oregon  Search this
Cranbrook Academy of Art  Search this
Northwest Asian American Project  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Frank S. Okada, 1990 Aug. 16-17. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Asian American art  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Japanese American art  Search this
Japanese American artists  Search this
Painting, Japanese  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Painting, Chinese  Search this
Asian American painters  Search this
Asian American sculptors  Search this
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945  Search this
Theme:
Asian American  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)11693
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)216548
AAA_collcode_okada90
Theme:
Asian American
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_216548
Online Media:

Kamekichi Tokita Papers

Creator:
Tokita, Kamekichi  Search this
Names:
Art Institute of Seattle  Search this
Group of Twelve (Seattle, Wash.)  Search this
Henry Art Gallery  Search this
Hotel Cadillac (Seattle, Wash.)  Search this
Minidoka Relocation Center  Search this
Public Works of Art Project  Search this
Seattle Art Museum  Search this
Callahan, Kenneth, 1905-1986  Search this
Tokita, Elsie  Search this
Tokita, Shokichi  Search this
Extent:
1.5 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photograph albums
Photographs
Sketches
Scrapbooks
Diaries
Date:
circa 1900-circa 2010
bulk 1900-1948
Summary:
The personal papers of Seattle area painter Kamekichi Tokita (1897-1948) measure 1.5 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to circa 2010 with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1910 to 1948. The papers include biographical materials, including documents about the closing of the War Relocation Authority's Minidoka Camp in Idaho; correspondence; three diaries written in Japanese documenting Tokita's war time experiences and forced relocation to Minidoka, two earlier notebooks, also written in Japanese, and scattered notes; a few personal business records; printed materials; one scrapbook; sketches; and one family photograph album.
Scope and Contents:
The personal papers of Seattle area painter Kamekichi Tokita (1897-1948) measure 1.5 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to circa 2010 with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1910 to 1948. The papers include biographical materials, including documents about the closing of the War Relocation Authority's Minidoka Camp in Idaho; correspondence; three diaries written in Japanese documenting Tokita's war time experiences and forced relocation to Minidoka, two earlier notebooks, also written in Japanese, and scattered notes; a few personal business records; printed materials; one scrapbook; sketches; and one family photograph album.

Biographical materials include a file on the Public Works of Art Project, a file on the War Relocation Authority and the closing of the Minidoka incarceration camp, an immigration document, and an essay on Tokita written by Shokichi and Elsie Tokita.

Correspondence is primarily professional in nature and concerns exhibitions at the Seattle Museum of Art (previously the Art Institute of Seattle) and other topics. Correspondents include Kenneth Callahan, Henry Gallery, the Seattle Art Museum, and others.

Tokita's writings consist of three diaries, two notebooks, and scattered general writings, most of which are in Japanese. The diaries were kept during World War II and document the family's incarceration at the Minidoka Relocation Camp in Idaho. Included is a transcript of the diaries which were translated from prewar to modern Japanese by Haruo Takasugi and from modern Japanese to English by Naomi Kusunoki-Martin.

Scattered business records include a patent application, records from the Cadillac Hotel, and a claim filed through the Department of Justice. A few published books in English and Japanese are about art and religion. Also found are exhibition catalogs for shows in which Tokita participated and clippings. There is one mixed media scrapbook about Tokita's exhibitions.

Artwork consists of unsigned pencil and watercolor sketches by Tokita. There is also a family photo album containing snapshots and portraits of the Tokita family and friends.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1934-1985 (Box 1; 5 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1920-1944 (Box 1; 8 folders)

Series 3: Diaries and Writings, 1923-circa 1950 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1928-1950 (Box 1; 3 folders)

Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1910-1940 (Box 1-3; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 6: Scrapbook, 1929-1933 (Box 2-3; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1910-1940s (Box 2-3; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 8: Photograph Album, circa 1900-1930 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Kamekichi Tokita (1897-1948) was a Japanese American painter and businessman who emigrated from Japan in 1919 and settled in Seattle, Washington. Tokita was a member of the Seattle area progressive artists' collective known as the "Group of Twelve" and widely exhibited his artwork throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Kamekichi Tokita was born in Shizouka City, Japan and immigrated to the United States at the age of twenty-two. He settled in the Japantown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington where he opened the Noto Sign Company with business partner Kenjiro Nomura. Nomura was also an artist and encouraged Tokita's interest in oil painting. They both used the sign shop as their studio after-hours. In 1936, the Noto Sign Company closed and Tokita took over management of the Cadillac Hotel, although he continued to paint commercial signs. Tokita married Haruko Suzuki in 1932 and together they had eight children.

As a child in Japan, Tokita studied calligraphy in China. Although he attended a few art school classes in in the U.S. and went on weekend painting trips with Nomura and other Seattle artists, Tokita is considered to be a largely self-trained artist. Support and recognition came from Dorothy V. Morrison of the Henry Gallery at the University of Washington who wrote to Tokita to inquire whether a "group of Japanese artists in the city" would be interested in exhibiting their work. Although the exhibition of Japanese artists did not happen, Tokita later loaned paintings to the gallery for inclusion in an exhibition sponsored by the American Federation of Arts. Throughout the late 1920s and 1930s Tokita exhibited widely in the Seattle area. In 1935, the Seattle Daily Times touted the work of Tokita and other painters in the "Group of Twelve" that also included Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, Walter F. Isaacs, and Ambrose and Viola Patterson, among others. In 1942, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Kamekichi Tokita and his family (five children at the time), along with the approximately 120,000 Japanese and Japanese American citizens living on the West Coast, were ordered under President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 to be forcibly removed to one of several incarceration camps. For the first six months of their imprisonment, the family lived at a temporary Civilian Assembly Center in Puyallup, Washington. They were transferred to the Minidoka Relocation Camp in Hunt, Idaho where they remained until their release in 1945. While incarcerated in Minidoka, Tokita worked as a sign painter and continued to privately paint, using whatever materials he could find, including beaver board. His work was featured in art shows at the camp. Many of his camp scenes are now lost or were given away.

At the end of World War II, Tokita and his family (now seven children) moved back to the Seattle-area. Unable to find housing, the Tokitas lived at a Japanese language school until Tokita was able to re-establish his business. During this period he painted very little. In 1946 Tokita and his wife purchased the New Lucky Hotel in the Chinatown area of Seattle. Shortly thereafter, Tokita fell ill and died in 1948. Many of his works are believed to have been destroyed or lost. Some of his work remains, however, and is among the permanent collections of the Seattle Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Portland Art Museum.

Note: Much of this biographical note was taken from "A Biographical Resume" written by Shokichi and Elsie Y. Tokita.
Separated Materials:
A watercolor painting on paper by Kamekichi Tokita, Untitled (Still Life), 9 x 12 in. was transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2012.
Provenance:
The Kamekichi Tokita papers were donated by his son, Shokichi Tokita in 1990. He donated a third and final diary in 2017. They were collected as part of the Archives of American Art Northwest Asian American project in Seattle, Washington.
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:
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans  Search this
Asian American art  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Japanese American art  Search this
Japanese American artists  Search this
Asian American painters  Search this
Art, American -- Northwestern States  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Northwestern States  Search this
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945 -- Diaries  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photograph albums
Photographs
Sketches
Scrapbooks
Diaries
Citation:
Kamekichi Tokita papers, circa 1900-circa 2010, bulk circa 1910-1948. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.tokikame
See more items in:
Kamekichi Tokita Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a680d2f9-94bf-4350-9f34-69068917ef42
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-tokikame
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight

Interviewee:
Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000  Search this
Knight, Gwendolyn  Search this
Interviewer:
Karlstrom, Paul J.  Search this
Extent:
82 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1998 November 18
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight conducted 1998 November 18, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in the artists' home in Seatle, Washington.
Biographical / Historical:
Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was a painter and educator in Seattle, Washington and New York, New York. Gwendolyn Knight (1914-2005) was the wife of Lawrence, as well as an artist, herself and lived in New York, New York and Seattle Washington.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
African American artists  Search this
African American painters  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.lawren98
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9c4cfd632-d284-4160-826b-182cd12bfc23
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-lawren98

Windsor Utley papers

Creator:
Utley, Windsor, 1920-  Search this
Names:
Hallsten, Pehr, d. 1965  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1951-1959
Scope and Contents:
28 letters and 36 postcards from Mark Tobey and his companion Pehr Hallsten, 3 small sketches by Tobey, dated 1954 and 1955, and 3 blank cards designed by Hallsten. Most of the letters were written while Toby and Hallsten were travelling in Europe, although several were sent from New York. Topics include Tobey's critical responses to specific exhibitions with reactions to works of art, artists, and others involved in the art world, as well as more general attitudes towards contemporary art in Europe.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and patron; Seattle, Wash. Born 1920. Utley was a protegé and friend of Mark Tobey.
Provenance:
Donated 1987 by Windsor Utley.
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 -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.utlewind
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw99c7b982a-ba68-493a-bf5a-974ad3c4432a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-utlewind

Oral history interview with Andrew Chinn

Interviewee:
Chinn, Andrew, 1915-1996  Search this
Interviewer:
Bestor, Dorothy K., 1913-  Search this
Creator:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this
Names:
Federal Art Project (Wash.)  Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this
Chong, Fay  Search this
Cumming, William  Search this
Elshin, Jacob Alexander, 1891-1976  Search this
Graves, Morris, 1910-  Search this
Extent:
47 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 May 24
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Andrew Chinn conducted 1965 May 24, by Dorothy Bestor, for the Archives of American Art. Chinn speaks of his memories of the Federal Art Project in Washington state; how the program affected Seattle as an art center; and he recalls other artists involved in the project: Fay Chong, William Cumming, Jacob Elshin, and Morris Graves.
Biographical / Historical:
Andrew Chinn (1915-1996) was a Chinese American painter based in Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 2 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- Interviews  Search this
Topic:
Art and state -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Asian American art  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Chinese American art  Search this
Chinese American artists  Search this
Asian American painters  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.chinn65
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9769c1f32-ba11-4013-8a5f-6bfb201c031a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-chinn65
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Viola Patterson

Interviewee:
Patterson, Viola, 1898-1984  Search this
Interviewer:
Kingsbury, Martha, 1941-  Search this
Names:
Group of Twelve (Seattle, Wash.)  Search this
Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964  Search this
Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949  Search this
Patterson, Ambrose, 1877-1966  Search this
Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957  Search this
Extent:
57 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1982 Oct. 22-29
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Viola Patterson conducted 1982 Oct. 22-29, by Martha Kingsbury, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project, in the artist's home in Seattle, Wash.
Patterson speaks of her education; family background; her early interest in art; studying at the University of Washington art department; the influence of Japanese artists; teaching art to children; her husband, Ambrose Patterson, and his life and career; and working on murals with Jose Clement Orozco and Diego Rivera. She recalls Alexander Archipenko. Patterson was a member of the Seattle area progressive artists' collective known as the "Group of Twelve."
Biographical / Historical:
Viola Patterson (1898-1984) was a painter from Seattle, Wash.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 33 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Northwest Oral History Project, begun in 1982 to document the Northwest artistic community through interviews with painters, sculptors, craftsmen, educators, curators, and others, in Oregon, Washington and Montana.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
Artists -- Northwestern States -- Interviews  Search this
Art, Modern -- Northwestern States  Search this
Art, American -- Northwestern States  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.patter82
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90149e58a-5439-4922-aadb-4c5546e44592
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-patter82
Online Media:

Mark Tobey letters to Helen Freeman Corle

Creator:
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Names:
Corle, Helen Freeman  Search this
Extent:
4 Items
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
[ca. 1935-1945]
Scope and Contents:
Four letters from Mark Tobey to Helen Freeman Corle, relating to one of his paintings.
Biographical / Historical:
Tobey was a painter; Seattle, Wash. Corle was at one time a New York City stage actress and wife of novelist, Edwin Corle. McCandless sold the painting to the University of Arizona Museum, Tucson.
Provenance:
Donated 2000 by Duncan McCandless, inherited them from his mother, Ruth Stout McCandless. Ruth McCandless was a friend of Corle's in Pasadena, and received the letters directly from Corle. According to McCandless, Corle left his mother a painting purported to be "The Tobey" painting and, in fact, Tobey actually did sign it through Ernst Beyeler, in Basle, Switzerland, whose gallery represented Tobey. [McCandless sold the painting to the University of Arizona Museum, Tucson.]
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 -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.tobemark
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d8c23660-6810-464d-85b9-46558868003c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-tobemark

Oral history interview with Marijane Warren

Interviewee:
Warren, Marijane  Search this
Interviewer:
Bestor, Dorothy K., 1913-  Search this
Creator:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this
Extent:
19 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 November 12
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Marijane Warren conducted 1965 November 12, by Dorothy Bestor, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Marijane Warren was a mural painter from Seattle, Washington.
General:
Transcript is missing 5 pages.
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 40 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
Occupation:
Muralists -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Mural painting and decoration  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.warren65
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9e8d2d762-4bed-446f-82d4-796f8fcc92b8
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-warren65

Mark Tobey papers

Creator:
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Names:
Willard Gallery  Search this
Ashton, Dore  Search this
Dahl, Arthur L., 1942-  Search this
Elmhirst, Dorothy Payne Whitney Straight  Search this
Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956  Search this
Hallsten, Pehr, d. 1965  Search this
Hauberg, Anne Gould  Search this
Hauberg, John H. (John Henry), 1916-  Search this
Hillman, Kay  Search this
Holty, Carl, 1900-1973  Search this
Leach, Bernard, 1887-1979  Search this
Ritter, Mark  Search this
Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957  Search this
Seliger, Charles, 1926-2009  Search this
Willard, Marian, 1904-  Search this
Extent:
11 Microfilm reels
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
[ca. 1920]-1977
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material; correspondence; financial records; Baha'i material; music; writings; art works; printed material; and photographs.
Biographical material includes diaries with sporadic entries, undated and 1958-1959; address books; membership cards, and honorary titles. Correspondents include Stephen Andrus, Dore Ashton, Arthur G. Barnett, John and Betty Bowen, Adelyn Breeskin, Cliffa Carson (niece), Thomas A. Chew, Lillian Clark, Paul Cummings, Arthur Dahl, Shoghi B. Effendi, Dorothy Elmhirst, Claire Falkenstein, Lyonel Feininger, Janet Flanner, John Ford,Miriam Gabo, Colin Graham, Pehr Hallsten, Pamela Harkins, Nina Harwood, John and Anne Hauberg, Kay Hillman, Joseph Hirshhorn, David Hofman, Carl Holty, Herbert Hoover, Leroy and Silvia Ioas, Berthe P. and Claire Jacobson, Nina Kandinsky, Helen Kendall, Carolyn Kizer, Katharine Kuh,Rene Lauby, Bernard Leach, Gerald Lieberman, Andre Masson, Marjory Masten, George Mathieu, N. Richard Miller, Joan Miro, Axel Mondell, Alfred Neumeyer, Ben Nicholson, Vincent Price, Mark Ritter, Diego Rivera, Nancy W. Ross, John Russell, Henry Seldis, Charles Seliger, Otto Seligman, Art Smith, James Speyer, Michel Tapie, Miriam Terry, Roland Terry, Juliet Thompson, Kenneth Tyler, Charmion Von Wiegand, Heloise Wardall, Ulfert Wilke, and Marian Willard of the Willard Gallery.
Also found are: notes taken while studying French; financial, legal and medical records; material relating to Baha'i, including credential for Tobey for the Baha'i World Congress, 1963, class notes, photographs, prayer books, and printed material; music, including sheet music by Tobey, recital program, and music by Harold Budd, John Sundsten,and Debussey; writings and poetry by Tobey and Dahl; writings on Tobey; a transcript of an interview of Tobey conducted by William Seitz; sketches and sketchbooks by Tobey and by others, including Bernard Leach; printed material on Tobey, including reproductions of work, exhibition catalogs and announcements, magazine articles, and clippings; and printed material on others, including Hallsten, Leach, Seliger, Feininger, Abraham Walkowitz, Alberto Burri, and Jules Pascin.
Also included are photographs of: Tobey, Tobey with family and friends, exhibition installations, works of art, an album containing photos, sketches and notes, ca. 1920-1950, an album of photos of Tobey's Seattle studio taken after his death by Kenneth Tomlinson, 1976, and miscellaneous photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Abstract Expressionist. Also worked as fashion illustrator, portrait painter. Born in Wisconsin, December 11, 1892. Died 1976. Worked in Chicago, Seattle, Basel, Switzerland; New York, N.Y., Dartington Hall, Devonshire, England, and Paris. Convert to Baha'i religion.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1984 by the Seattle Art Museum.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- History  Search this
Bahai Faith  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.tobemark2
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90fac0bce-dc54-4b2a-ba63-d45cca8069f6
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-tobemark2

Arthur L. and Joyce Lyon Dahl papers

Creator:
Dahl, Arthur L., 1942-  Search this
Dahl, Joyce Lyon  Search this
Names:
Barnett, Arthur  Search this
Guérin, Jacques  Search this
Hallsten, Pehr, d. 1965  Search this
Johnson, Dan Rhodes  Search this
Malraux, André, 1901-1976  Search this
Mathieu, Georges, 1921-  Search this
Seitz, William C. (William Chapin)  Search this
Seligman, Otto D., 1890-1966  Search this
Speyer, Darthea  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Willard, Marian, 1904-  Search this
Wummer, John  Search this
Extent:
3.6 Linear feet ((microfilmed on 7 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Date:
1926-1988
Scope and Contents:
Letters; photographs; writings; sketches; financial records; a scrapbook; a phonograph album; exhibition announcements and clippings mainly relating to Mark Tobey.
REEL 3829: Six letters to Dahl from Mark Tobey; a letter from Jermayne MacAgy requesting Tobey's painting "Autobiography" for an exhibit and Dahl's response; a letter from the Whitney Museum of Art regarding a Tobey painting; and a letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahai's of the U.S. regarding a Tobey exhibit. Also included is a phonograph album, 1959, of a Tobey musical composition "Suite for Flute," performed by John Wummer, inscribed on the jacket "To Mark Tobey, composer - Marion - 12/59."
REELS 1785-1788: Correspondence; writings on Tobey; three sketches by Tobey; financial records relating to the sale of art works; organizational records of the Pacific Northwest Arts Center; exhibition announcements and catalogs; clippings; a scrapbook; and 13 photographs. Among the correspondents are Tobey, Pehr Hallsten, art dealers Otto D. Seligman, Dan Rhodes Johnson, and Marian Willard Johnson, museum curator William C. Seitz, and Tobey's attorney Arthur Barnett.
REEL 1819: Photographs of two retrospective exhibitions of Mark Tobey's paintings at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Louvre, Paris, 1961, and at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1962. Included are installation shots and photographs of Tobey, Pehr Hallsten, William C. Seitz, Joyce Lyon Dahl, Andre Malraux, Georges Mathieu, Otto Seligman, Darthea Speyer, Arthur Barnett, Marian Willard Johnson, and Jacques Guerin.
REEL 4909(fr. 972-980): Two letters 1971 & 1975, from Arthur Barnett to Arthur Dahl regarding Tobey; a black and white photograph taken by Arthur Dahl of Mark Tobey having tea with friends, including Joyce Dahl, on the occassion of his retrospective at the Louvre, 1961; and a snapshot of Dahl, his wife, Tobey, Pehr, and others taken at the home of George and Lucile Herbert.
Biographical / Historical:
Art collectors; Pebble Beach and San Francisco, California. The Dahls became close friends with Mark Tobey (1892-1976) through their involvement in the Baha'i World Faith and corresponded regularly with him.
Provenance:
Donated 1977-1986 by Arthur and Joyce Lyon Dahl.
The second movement of Mark Tobey's composition, "Suite for Flute," was used on the sound track of "Mark Tobey," a 20-minute experimental film made in Seattle in 1952 by Robert Gardner. In 1959, Marian Willard Johnson, on the occasion of Tobey's birthday, engaged John Wummer to record this work privately. The record contained within this set of papers is the one she gave to Mark Tobey. Tobey gave the record to Dahl sometime before moving to Switzerland in 1960.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- France -- Paris  Search this
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Artists and patrons -- France -- Paris  Search this
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Identifier:
AAA.dahlarth
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93e8d3b1f-ae79-475b-856a-83fcb75da6f4
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-dahlarth

Oral history interviews with Robert Bruce Inverarity

Creator:
Inverarity, Robert Bruce, 1909-1999  Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this
Interviewer:
Phillips, Harlan B. (Harlan Buddington), 1920-  Search this
Names:
Federal Art Project (Wash.)  Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this
Extent:
4 Sound tape reels (Sound recordings (1 hour 30 min.), 7 in.)
75 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound tape reels
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 Oct. 29-Nov. 4
Scope and Contents:
Interviews of Robert Bruce Inverarity conducted 1964 Oct. 29-Nov 4. by Harlan Phillips for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, lecturer, state director of the Federal Art Project; Seattle, Wash. Studied at the University of Washington, Fremont University and with Kazue Yamagishi and Mark Tobey. Exhibited in one-man shows and group exhibitions in the U.S. and Canada. Directed the Museum of International Folk Art, the Adirondack Museum, and the Philadelphia Maritime Museum. Wrote and illustrated BLOCKPRINTING AND STENCILLING and A MANUAL OF PUPPETRY.
General:
Sound quality is poor.
The conclusion of the interview was over-recorded by another interview.
An interview of Audrey McMahon conducted by H. Phillips, 11/4/64 is also on this tape.
An interview of Gordon M. Smith conducted by H. Phillips, 11/4/64 is also on this tape.
An interview of Julius Davidson conducted by H. Phillips is also on tape 2.
An interview of Lincoln Rothschild conducted by H. Phillips is also on one tape.
An interview of Henry Billings conducted by H. Phillips is also on one tape.
An interview of Peter Pollack conducted by H. Phillips is also on one tape.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Washington (State) -- Seattle -- Interviews  Search this
Topic:
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle -- Interviews  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.invera64
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92b60d8c4-755d-4d18-969c-b6730a256e54
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-invera64

Photographs and letters relating to Mark Tobey murals

Creator:
Straight, Michael Whitney  Search this
Names:
Dartington Hall (Totnes, England)  Search this
Morel, Paula  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Extent:
13 Items
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1933-1988
Summary:
The photographs and letters relating to Mark Tobey murals consist of nine photographs (ca. 1933) of murals of dancers by Mark Tobey at the Dartington Hall dance center in Devonshire, England; one photograph each of Mark Tobey and dancer Paula Morel; and two letters (1988) from Mary Bride Nicholson, the archivist at Dartington Hall, and donor Michael Straight discussing the murals.
Scope and Contents:
The photographs and letters relating to Mark Tobey murals consist of nine photographs (ca. 1933) of murals of dancers by Mark Tobey at the Dartington Hall dance center in Devonshire, England; one photograph each of Mark Tobey and dancer Paula Morel; and two letters (1988) from Mary Bride Nicholson, the archivist at Dartington Hall, and donor Michael Straight discussing the murals.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of the collection the papers are arranged as one series.

Series 1: Photographs and Letters Relating to Mark Tobey Murals (13 items; Folder 1)
Biographical / Historical:
The donor, Michael Straight, grew up at Dartington Hall, Devonshire, England, an experimental community founded by his mother, Dorothy Whitney Straight and her second husband Leonard K. Elmhirst. The community included a progressive coeducational boarding school and a cluster of art centers. In the early 1930s, Straight's sister, Beatrice, returned from the Cornish School in Seattle, where she had studied drama, with Mark Tobey. He became an artist-in-residence and, around 1933, was commissioned to paint a series of murals in the Dartington dance center. In the following decade, the murals were damaged beyond repair and the walls were painted over.
Provenance:
The photographs and letters relating to Mark Tobey murals were donated to the Archives of American Art by Michael Straight, son of Dorothy Whitney Straight who was the founder of Dartington Hall. He found the photographs in the Dartington Hall archives.
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. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning 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:
Muralists -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
Mural painting and decoration, British  Search this
Citation:
Photographs and Letters Relating to Mark Tobey Murals, circa 1933-1988. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.stramich
See more items in:
Photographs and letters relating to Mark Tobey murals
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9e2530ac4-80a0-4fe2-b854-f14d564d5c17
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-stramich
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Robert Sperry

Interviewee:
Sperry, Robert, 1927-1998  Search this
Interviewer:
Harrington, LaMar, 1917-2005  Search this
Names:
Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002  Search this
Extent:
75 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1983 August 11
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Robert Sperry conducted 1983 August 11, by LaMar Harrington, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project.
Sperry speaks of his family background; his army service; his education; his early career in ceramics; the Oriental influence in his work; folk art; his contemporaries in ceramics; and his current plans. He recalls Peter Voulkos.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Sperry (1927-1998) was a ceramist from Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 4 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Northwest Oral History Project, begun in 1982 to document the Northwest artistic community through interviews with painters, sculptors, craftsmen, educators, curators, and others, in Oregon, Washington and Montana.
Topic:
Folk art  Search this
Ceramics  Search this
Art, American -- Northwestern States  Search this
Ceramicists -- Washington (State) -- Seattle -- Interviews  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.sperry83
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9fd38aa8c-f062-4663-b0f0-b2781bf2ec26
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-sperry83
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Dorothy Malone

Interviewee:
Malone, Dorothy, 1912-  Search this
Interviewer:
Ragen, Suzanne  Search this
Names:
Seattle Art Museum  Search this
Anderson, Guy, 1906-1998  Search this
Callahan, Kenneth, 1905-1986  Search this
Fuller, Richard E. (Richard Eugene), 1897-1976  Search this
Graves, Morris, 1910-  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Extent:
32 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1983 Jan. 27
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Dorothy Malone conducted 1983 Jan. 27, by Suzanne Ragen, at the Seattle Art Museum in Seattle, Wash., for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project. Malone speaks of her association with the Seattle Art Museum since its founding in 1933; working as Dr. Richard Fuller's secretary; Fuller's policies and administration; major shows at the Museum; the "Northwest School" and some of its members, including Morris Graves, Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, and Guy Anderson.
Biographical / Historical:
Dorothy Malone (1912- ) was a secretary from Seattle, Wash. She worked for Richard E. Fuller, director of the Seattle Art Museum.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 19 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Northwest Oral History Project, begun in 1982 to document the Northwest artistic community through interviews with painters, sculptors, craftsmen, educators, curators, and others, in Oregon, Washington and Montana.
Topic:
Northwest school of artists  Search this
Art -- Northwestern States  Search this
Function:
Art museums -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.malone83
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw96b6b19c0-5491-4ae8-8a09-b99161712713
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-malone83
Online Media:

Yasushi Tanaka letters to Frederic C. Torrey

Creator:
Tanaka, Yasushi, 1886-1941  Search this
Names:
Butler, John Davidson, 1890-1974  Search this
Cann, Louise Gebhard  Search this
Torrey, Frederic C.  Search this
Extent:
0.01 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1913-1924
1963
Summary:
The Yasushi Tanaka letters to Frederic C. Torrey date from 1913-1924, and 1963, and consist of 35 items. Letters from Tanaka to Torrey concern the contemporary art world, Tanaka's paintings and exhibitions, and other subjects.
Scope and Contents:
The Yasushi Tanaka letters to Frederic C. Torrey date from 1913-1924, and 1963, and consist of 35 items. Letters from Tanaka to Torrey concern the contemporary art world, Tanaka's paintings and exhibitions, and other subjects. Also found are three exhibition catalogs, an announcement, and three clippings. The 1963 item is a letter from Torrey's daughter, Dorothea Torrey Kelly, inquiring about a slide show of paintings.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection, papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Yasushi Tanaka (1886-1941) was a Japanese American painter and art instructor, born in Saitana, Japan, on May 13, 1886. In 1904 he emigrated to Seattle, Washington, then settled permanently in Paris in 1920. Torrey was an art dealer with the San Francisco gallery Vickery, Atkins & Torrey. Tanaka was married to writer Louise Gebhard Cann, who was the author of several articles and books on French artists.
Provenance:
Donated 1992 by Gryffyd Partridge. The letters were received in the papers of his father, Seattle artist Roi Partridge; it is unclear how Partridge received them.
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:
Artists -- France -- Paris  Search this
Artists -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this
Topic:
Asian American artists  Search this
Japanese American artists  Search this
Asian American painters  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.tanayasu
See more items in:
Yasushi Tanaka letters to Frederic C. Torrey
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw98f904540-a28e-4a28-b97b-ccbd9961b0c6
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-tanayasu
Online Media:

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