The papers of California painter, writer, and teacher Erle Loran measure 12.6 linear feet and date from 1912 to 1991. Found are biographical materials; two linear feet of personal and professional correspondence; personal business records; writings which include extensive drafts and notes for Loran's book Cezanne's Composition; over 400 items of artwork that include watercolors, drawings, charcoal, and pastel studies; printed materials; photographs of Loran, family, and friends, and artwork; and one audio recording of a lecture by Loran on Cezanne.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of California painter and teacher Erle Loran measure 12.6 linear feet and date from 1912 to 1991. Found are biographical materials; two linear feet of personal and professional correspondence; personal business records; writings which include extensive drafts and notes for Loran's book Cezanne's Composition; over 400 items of artwork that include watercolors, drawings, charcoal, and pastel studies; printed materials; photographs of Loran, family, and friends, and artwork; and one audio recording of a lecture by Loran on Cezanne.
Biographical materials include biographical sketches, curriculum vita, a will, notes and a notebook, and an appointment book for 1987. Also found is an anniversary invitation, a certificate from the University of California, and the Pepsi-Cola award for 1948.
Two linear feet of correspondence is with artists, critics, galleries, and universities. Correspondents inlcude Romare Bearden, Andrew Dasburg, Clement Greenberg, John Haley, Dalzell Hatfield, Hans Hofmann, Harry Levinson (president of Permanent Pigments), Sam Sabean, Bertha Schaefer, Clyfford Still, and Ulfert Wilke. There is also correspondence with the University of California.
Personal business records include exhibition files, price and consignment lists, teaching materials, University of California Press records, and records relating to the publication of his book on Cézanne. Some of these records also document Loran's involvement with the Fine Arts Museum, Friends of Ethnic Arts, and the San Francisco Art Institute. In addition, there are records related to Loran's role in a donation of forty-five paintings by Hans Hofmann to the University Art Center. Also found are materials related to Loran's activities as an art collector including sales receipts, auction catalogs, and photographs of artwork owned by Loran.
Writings by Loran include a complete manuscript version of Cézanne's Composition along with additional notes and drafts, and numerous other short essays on Cézanne's life and art. Loran's other writings include essays about Hans Hofmann, Marsden Hartley, symbology in abstract art, and contemporary art.
Loran's career as an artist is extensively documented by four linear feet of original artwork, mostly preliminary sketches. The work demonstrates a variety of techniques including watercolor, pastel, pencil, pen, gouache, and oil sketches. Content includes landscapes, portraits, fantasy scenes, urban scenes, and rural scenes.
Printed materials include extensive newsclippings from seven decades, exhibition announcements, and exhibition catalogs. Photographs are of Loran, his second wife Clyta, the Loran family, friends and colleagues, artwork, and source materials. Also found within the papers is an audio recording on cassette of a lecture by Loran on Cézanne.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 8 series:
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1930s-1990s (Box 1; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1912-1992 (Boxes 1-3; 2.0 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1930s-1992 (Box 3; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1921-1999 (Boxes 3-4; 1.25 linear feet)
Series 5: Artwork, 1920s-1980s (Boxes 4-8, 13-14; 4.3 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1925-1999 (Boxes 8-10, 14; 2.3 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1910s-1990s (Boxes 10-12, 14; 2.5 linear feet)
Series 8: Audio Recording, 1982 (Box 12; 1 folder)
Biographical Note:
California painter, writer, and teacher Erle Loran was born on October 2, 1905 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended the Minneapolis School of Art and graduated in 1926. That same year, Loran won the Paris Prize from the Chaloner Foundation which enabled him to study in France for the next three years. Here, he immersed himself into the world of Paul Cezanne. He lived for two years in Cézanne's studio, meeting many who knew Cezanne, including painter Emile Bernard, and art dealer Ambroise Vollard. This experience was critical to the development of Loran's artistic vision and his later writings and lectures about Cézanne.
In 1929, Loran returned to the United States, and published the article "Cézanne's Country" in The Arts in 1930. He then spent the early 1930s in Minnesota, after returning to Minneapolis to be treated for tuberculosis. There, Loran began to paint in a regionalist style, producing landscapes and scenes of life in rural Minnesota. In 1931, Loran was given his first one-man show at the Kraushaar Gallery in New York. During the depression, Loran began teaching art and was given painting commissions as part of the federal arts programs of the WPA.
Loran moved to California in 1937 and accepted a position as professor in the art department at the University of California, Berkeley. There he taught until retiring in 1973, serving as the department's chair in the 1950s. He established a program to invite east coast artists to teach at the university, and participants included Conrad Marca-Relli and Milton Resnick. Loran's students included Jay DeFeo, Richard Diebenkorn, and Sam Francis. In 1941 Loran began to write the synthesis of his research and interpretations about Cézanne's work, culminating in his pioneering book Cézanne's Composition published in 1943 by the University of California Press.
During this period Loran associated himself with modernist Hans Hofmann. Loran's early paintings were lyrical abstractions in primary colors; however, his style constantly changed with the times. Watercolor was Loran's medium of choice because it lent itself to his often-remote plein air locations, such as the ghost towns of California and Nevada. With John Haley and Worth Ryder he formed the "Berkeley Group," whose paintings consisted of scenes of the California and southwestern landscape painted in flat, open areas of color. During the war, painting in the open became increasingly difficult and Loran transitioned from plein-air painting to studio work. Shortly thereafter he began to focus his painting on abstraction.
Loran's artwork during the 1950s consisted primarily of abstractions based on natural forms like crystal and driftwood. In 1955, he spent six weeks studying with Hans Hofmann, whom he later called, along with Cézanne, a second "great father figure." In 1960, he was instrumental in securing a gift of forty-five paintings by Hans Hofmann for Berkeley's University Art Center. In the late 1960s, his work became a fusing of Op, Pop, and Hard Edge. From this he moved to figurative painting and later to geometric designs and symbols.
Loran continued to paint throughout the rest of his life in a variety of styles, including nudes, abstractions, and landscapes. Besides being an artist and a teacher, Loran was also a lifelong collector of ethnic art who specialized in African, Asian, Native American, and pre-Columbian tribal art. Many works from his collection are presently housed at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Loran died in 1999 in Berkeley, at the age of 93.
Related Material:
Found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Erle Loran conducted by Herschel Chipp, June 18, 1981, and a 1981 interview with Erle and Clyta Loran in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Interviews With Artists collection. Also found is a letter from Loran to Richard Wattenmaker, 1975.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel 906) including photographs of artwork by Erle Loran and two clippings of reproductions of Loran's artwork. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Erle Loran lent the Archives of American Art materials for microfilming and donated papers in 1975. In 1999 Mrs. Ruth Schora-Loran, Loran's widow, donated additional material, including artworks.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- California -- Berkeley Search this
The papers of Los Angeles art critic and writer, art historian, professor, collector, and artist Fidel Danieli (1938-1988) measure 8.4 linear feet and date from 1962 to 1987. Found within the papers are writing and research files, and 108 sound recordings of interviews with or about 45 Los Angeles artists conducted by Danieli in 1974-1975 for the U.C.L.A. oral history project "L.A. Community Artists." There are also sound recordings of art performances and art talks, and printed materials, including numerous exhibition announcements.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Los Angeles art critic and writer, art historian, professor, collector, and artist Fidel Danieli (1938-1988) measure 8.4 linear feet and date from 1962 to 1987. Found within the papers are writing and research files, and 108 sound recordings of interviews with or about 45 Los Angeles artists conducted by Danieli in 1974-1975 for the U.C.L.A. oral history project "L.A. Community Artists." There are also sound recordings of art performances and art talks, and printed materials, including numerous exhibition announcements.
Writing and research files consist of articles and reviews written by Fidel Danieli and supporting documentation and printed material. Files cover individual artists, exhibitions, and other scattered topics. Files on reviews of artists Danieli wrote include typescripts and handwritten drafts, printed materials, and photographs. Artists covered include Carlos Almarez, Larry Bell, Wallace Berman, Lorser Feitelson, Dan Flavin, Robert Graham, Jules Langsner, Richard Pettibone, Rachel Rosenthal, Alexis Smith, and John White, among many others. The file for Richard Pettibone includes 2 original sound cassettes and duplicates. Writings for exhibition catalogs and reviews of exhibitions focus primarily on Los Angeles area exhibitions or exhibitions of California artists. These files include notes, typescripts, and printed materials. Also found are files for magazine articles written by Danieli. Research files include a set of index cards documenting a chronology of Los Angeles art and 9 sound cassettes of television shows that focus on California art.
Interviews of and performances by Los Angeles comprise 108 sound cassettes. The majority of the cassettes are artist interviews conducted by Danieli in 1974-1975 for the U.C.L.A. oral history project "L.A. Community Artists," but there are also scattered recordings of art talks, panel discussions, and performances. Artists include David Antin, Eleanor Antin, Judith Bettelheim, Nick Brigante, Annita Delano, Allan Kaprow, Peter Krasnow, Peter Plagens, Gary Lloyd, John McLaughlin, Shirley Pettibone, Betye Saar, and John White, among many others.
Printed material consists primarily of exhibition announcements about California artists and exhibitions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 3 series.
Series 1: Writing and Research Files, 1962-1987 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-4)
Series 2: Los Angeles Artist Interviews and Performances, 1974-1975 (3.1 linear feet; Boxes 4-7)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1969-1985 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 7-9)
Biographical / Historical:
Fidel Danieli (1938-1988) was an art critic and writer, art historian, educator, and artist based in Los Angeles, California. Danieli received his B.A. in 1960 and M.A. in 1965 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). For nearly 22 years, he taught at the Los Angeles Valley College in Van Nuys. He also taught and lectured at the California State College in Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley State College in Northridge.
Danieli was perhaps best known for his work as an art critic and writer, notably his reviews for Artforum from 1963-1968 that brought national recognition to many modern Southern California artists, such as Billy Al Bengston, Bruce Nauman, Robert Graham, and George Herms. Danieli was a member of the editorial committee of the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art's (LAICA) Journal, a contributing editor to Artweek, and writer and reviewer for ArtScene and Images and Issues.
Danieli's special interest was in the early Los Angeles Modernists and he received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant around 1974 to fund research on the subject. From 1974-1975, he was also an interviewer for the UCLA oral history project "Los Angeles Art Community." The project culminated in the 1974 exhibition Nine Senior Southern California Painters at LAICA.
Danieli was also a painter, sculptor, and collector. His extensive art collection included photographs, paintings, ceramics, and prints. He bequeathed the bulk of his collection to the Oakland Museum and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and a few private collectors who were friends. His art library was donated to Los Angeles Valley College.
He was briefly married to Edie Ellis though they later separated. He suffered ill health for several years and passed away in North Hollywood on March 26, 1988, at the age of 49.
Provenance:
The Fidel Danieli papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1990 by Sage Stormcreek, executor of Danieli's estate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Art historians -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Educators -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Art critics -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Photographs
Interviews
Citation:
Fidel Danieli papers, 1962-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Collections grant program.
The papers of painter, teacher, and writer Hans Hofmann measure 29.92 linear feet and 5.00 GB and date from circa 1904 to 2011, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1945 to 2000. The majority of the papers were created after 1932 and document Hofmann's life and professional career after settling in the United States. Among his papers are personal and professional correspondence; records of his schools in Munich, New York City, and Provincetown, Mass.; writings and notes; financial records; photographs; printed matter; estate records; and a small number of personal papers of his second wife, Renate Schmitz Hofmann. Hofmann's personal papers are augmented by a large selection of printed matter, including exhibition catalogs, articles, news clippings, and monographs about Hofmann and modern art, as well as documentary projects including Tina Dickey's compilation of oral histories and records of Hofmann's students, and research materials, sound and video recordings, digital material, and motion picture film created and gathered by Madeline Amgott during the production of two video documentaries about Hans Hofmann released in 1999 and 2002. Hofmann's Library was acquired with his papers; inscribed/annotated volumes have been retained with the collection.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter, teacher, and writer Hans Hofmann measure 29.92 linear feet and 5.00 GB and date from circa 1904 to 2011, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1945 to 2000. The majority of the papers were created after 1932 and document Hofmann's life and professional career after settling in the United States. Among his papers are personal and professional correspondence; records of his schools in Munich, New York City, and Provincetown, Mass.; writings and notes; photographs; address and appointment books; artifacts; artwork; biographical information; interview transcripts; sales and estate records; and a small number of personal papers of his second wife, Renate Schmitz Hofmann. Hofmann's personal papers are augmented by a large selection of printed matter, including exhibition catalogs, articles, news clippings, and monographs about Hofmann and modern art, as well as documentary projects including Tina Dickey's compilation of oral histories and records of Hofmann's students, and research materials, sound and video recordings, digital materials, and motion picture film created and gathered by Madeline Amgott during the production of two video documentaries about Hans Hofmann released in 1999 and 2002. Hofmann's Library was acquired with his papers; inscribed/annotated volumes have been retained with the collection.
Correspondence, 1914-1966 (Series 1), consists mainly of incoming letters about professional matters and personal business. A large portion of the letters are from museum directors and curators regarding the exhibition, loan, sale or donation of Hofmann's work; publishers, editors, and others preparing catalogs or biographical works; and galleries that showed Hofmann's paintings or represented him. Also among the correspondents are students and former students, art historians, art critics, fans, and friends. Family correspondents are a sister-in-law, nieces, and a nephew in Germany. Additional correspondence concerning administrative matters, and requests for catalogs, transcripts and recommendations are among the Records of the School of Fine Arts (Series 2). Financial Records (Series 4) contain a small amount of correspondence regarding banking, taxes, and Social Security. Estate Records (Series 9) include correspondence relating to taxes, the sale of Hofmann's Provincetown house, and various legal documents. Correspondence among the Papers of Renate Schmitz Hofmann (Series 10) include condolence letters, and a small number of personal letters and business correspondence regarding Hofmann's estate.
School of Fine Arts Records, 1915-1965 (Series 2), include a very small number of items relating to the Hans Hofmann Schule fur Bildende Kunst that operated in Munich from 1915 until 1933. These are printed prospectuses, a financial record, 1925; and "Italian Schools of Painting: The Renaissance in Italy," a printed chart, probably used as a teaching aid. Other items relating to the Munich school are photographs (Series 6) of Hans Hofmann with students in the 1920s, including some taken during the summer course in Capri, circa 1925. Travel photographs, 1920s, may have been taken while teaching summer courses in Europe, and an unidentified photograph, undated, of an exhibition installation in Germany may be school-related.
The Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts was established in New York in 1933, and his summer school in Provincetown, Mass., opened in 1934; both operated continually until Hofmann closed them in 1958 in order to paint full-time. Records of these schools are more substantial, but still quite incomplete. They consist of administrative files containing accreditation records, correspondence, model bookings, inquiries from prospective students, and printed matter about the schools. Financial records are comprised of expense statements and an analysis of income from the 1956 summer session. Student records consist of student ledgers, registration and payment records, and requests for transcripts and recommendations. Miscellaneous items are student artwork and notes. Records postdating the schools' closing are inquiries from prospective students and requests from former students for transcripts or recommendations. Additional letters from former students about matters other than transcripts and recommendations are filed with Correspondence (Series 1).
Writings, circa 1904-1965 (Series 3), are published and unpublished manuscripts by Hans Hofmann and other authors. Hoffman wrote extensively about his philosophy of painting, about himself as a teacher and an artist, and about modern art. Included are manuscripts, drafts, and revisions of Hofmann's book, Das Malerbuch: Form und Farbe in Gestaltung, circa 1904-[1952?], Search for the Real in the Visual Arts and Other Essays, published in 1948, and The Painter and His Problems-A Manual Dedicated to Painting, 1963. Articles and Essays include the constituent essays of Search for the Real in the Visual Arts and Other Essays and others on theoretical aspects of painting, Alfred Maurer, and Charles W. Hawthorne. Talks and Lectures consist of notes, outlines, and some complete texts of Hofmann's speeches. Miscellaneous Writings are shorter, informative pieces, mostly unpublished. Representative titles include: "I Am Often Asked to Explain My Work," 1946, and "About the Relation of Students and Teachers," undated. Poems by Hofmann include some written to Miz Hofmann. Notes and Lists include notes on specific works of art and lists of paintings for exhibitions, framing, and shipping.
Financial Records, 1927-1966 (Series 4), consist mainly of banking records and tax returns with supporting documentation. There are also statements of assets and liabilities, and a few subject files concerning financial matters such as "House Expenses," "Social Security," and "University of California-Financial Standing With." Additional tax records are among the documents of the Estate of Hans Hofmann (Series 9), and expenses are recorded in his 1932 appointment book (Series 5).
Miscellaneous Records, 1906-1966 (Series 5) include Addresses and Appointment Books. Artifacts are a leather wallet and 6 photogravure blocks. Artwork consists of 4 sketches and block prints of 3 red shapes, one the numeral 5. Included with Biographical Information are birth and marriage certificates, immigration and naturalization papers, wills, Hofmann and Wolfegg family documents, biographical notes and chronologies, and a bibliography of writings on and by Hofmann. Interview Transcripts are of 3 interviews with Hofmann conducted for various purposes. Sales Records include lists of paintings sold through galleries and privately, and a list of prices computed by canvas size.
Photographs, circa 1925-1966 (Series 6) are of People, Events, Places, Works of Art, and Miscellaneous Subjects; also, Oversize Photographs. People include views of Hofmann alone and with Miz, students, and others; Miz Hofmann; Renate Schmitz Hofmann; and the Hofmann family. Also, there are pictures of identified and unidentified individuals and groups. Events recorded are "Forum 49" at Gallery 200, exhibition installations, openings, and ceremonies for honorary degrees awarded Hofmann. Photographs of places include Miz Hofmann's Munich apartment; interior and exterior views of Hofmann's Provincetown house; exterior views of the Provincetown school; Hofmann's New York studio; and unidentified houses and landscapes. Travel pictures are of Italy, Mexico, California [?], and unidentified locations. Photographs of works of art by Hofmann are mainly 35-mm color slides of works completed from 1935 to 1965. There are also photographs of works by other artists and Hofmann students. Teaching materials are photographs of Old Masters paintings, drawings, and Classical sculpture, some marked to indicate line, form, or proportion. Miscellaneous subjects are a dog, cat, and doll; also, a cover design for Search for the Real in the Visual Arts. The oversize photographs include portraits of Hans Hofmann and Miz, and works of art by Hofmann students.
Printed Matter, 1930-1978 (Series 7), contains articles, essays and a letter to the editor by Hans Hofmann; the remaining material by other authors is categorized by type. Exhibition Catalogs and Related Items (mainly announcements and invitations), 1931-1978, undated, are from group and solo shows that featured the work of Hans Hofmann; also, catalogs and announcements of other artists' exhibitions collected by Hofmann. Newspaper clippings and articles from periodicals include reviews, feature articles, articles with brief references to Hofmann or reproductions of his work, and obituaries. Others are on art-related topics and miscellaneous subjects. Miscellaneous printed matter includes a variety of items such as brochures about art courses (not the Hofmann school), reproductions of works by Hofmann and other artists, book prospectuses, and statements. Art Museum: A Center for Cultural Study, a prospectus showing models and drawings of the proposed University Art Museum, Berkeley, notes the location of its Maria and Hans Hofmann Wing. A Scrapbook, 1944-1962, contains clippings, exhibition reviews, and some catalogs, checklists, and invitations. Nineteen books that mention or are about Hofmann are a part of this series.
Hans Hofmann's Library (Series 8) of art books and general literature was acquired with his papers. Inscribed and annotated volumes have been retained. Books about or mentioning Hofmann are among Printed Matter (Series 7). All other books and periodicals (376 items) were transferred to the Library of the Smithsonian's American Art Museum.
Estate of Hans Hofmann, 1945-1974 (Series 9), consists of records of Hofmann's attorney and co-executor, Robert Warshaw, and includes correspondence and legal documents concerning taxes, the Provincetown house, and miscellaneous business matters.
Papers of Renate Schmitz Hofmann, 1962-1967 (Series 10), include notes, correspondence, condolence letters and records regarding Hans Hofmann's funeral, and information about the theft of Hofmann paintings from his Provincetown house in 1966.
Hans Hofmann Documentary Projects, 1944-2011 (Series 11) includes research materials compiled by Tina Dickey concerning Hofmann's students, correspondence as well as primary source and supplementary research materials produced and gathered by Madeline Amgott for two video documentaries on Hofmann released in 1999 and 2002. Original and edited audiovisual recordings are included in the series, as well as primary source material gathered from a variety of sources. Some material is in digital format.
Arrangement:
The Hans Hofmann papers are arranged into 11 series. Correspondence (Series 1), Financial Records (Series 4), and Papers of Renate Schmitz Hofmann (Series 10) are arranged alphabetically by folder title. Unless noted otherwise, material within each folder is arranged chronologically.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1914-1966 (3 linear feet; Box 1-3)
Series 2: School of Fine Arts records, 1915-1965 (2 linear feet; Box 4-5)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1904-1965 (2.5 linear feet; Box 6-8)
Series 4: Financial records, 1927-1966 (0.5 linear feet; Box 8)
Series 5: Miscellaneous records, 1906-1966 (0.8 linear feet; Box 9)
Series 6: Photographic materials, circa 1925-1965 (1.5 linear feet; Box 9-10, Box 19, MGP 1)
Series 7: Printed material, 1928-1978 (5.2 linear feet; Box 11-15, Box 20)
Series 8: Hans Hofmann Library (2.5 linear feet; Box 16-18, Box 20)
Series 9: Estate of Hans Hofmann, 1945-1974 (0.5 linear feet; Box 18)
Series 10: Papers of Renate Schmitz Hofmann, 1962-1967 (0.1 linear feet; Box 18)
Series 11: Hans Hofmann Documentary Projects, 1944-2011 (12.3 linear feet; Box 19, 21-31, FC 32-44, 5.00 GB; ER01-ER04)
Biographical Note:
German-born Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), a leading figure of the 20th century art world, was the first painter to be called an Abstract Expressionist. An esteemed and influential teacher, Hofmann operated his own school in Munich and later in New York City and Provincetown, Mass. He wrote extensively on theoretical aspects of modern art, and about himself as an artist and teacher, and was in demand as a speaker. Hofmann alternated among a variety of styles and techniques throughout his career. Many paintings combine Fauve-inspired color and Cubist structure; influenced by the Surrealist's automatism, much of Hofmann's abstract work often uses poured and spattered paint.
Johann (Hans) Georg Albert Hofmann showed musical and artistic talent as a boy and excelled in the study of science and mathematics. Technical knowledge acquired through working as assistant to the Director of Public Works of the State of Bavaria enabled him, while still a teenager, to invent several mechanical devices. Hofmann attended Moritz Heymann's Munich art school in 1898. Willi Schwarz, one of his teachers during this period, introduced him to Impressionism, and by visiting galleries Hofmann's awareness of contemporary art movements expanded. Schwarz also introduced him to art collector Phillip Freudenberg whose patronage made a move to Paris possible.
Hofmann arrived in Paris in 1904 and began attending evening sketch classes at the Académie Colarossi and the Académie de la Chaumière where Matisse was among his fellow students. During his 10 years in Paris, Hofmann established a close friendship with Robert Delaunay and met Braque, Arthur B. Carles, Léger, Picasso, and Leo Stein. He painted Cubist landscapes, still lifes, and figure studies, and participated in group shows with Neue Sezessions, Berlin, 1908 and 1909. In 1910, the Paul Cassierer Gallery, Berlin, presented Hofmann's first solo exhibition.
When World War I broke out, Hofmann was visiting Germany. War conditions prevented his return to Paris and terminated Freudenberg's financial assistance. Disqualified for military service due to a lung condition, Hofmann decided to earn his living by teaching. The Hans Hofmann Schule für Bildende Kunst in Munich opened in 1915 and was a success from its earliest days. Beginning in 1917, summer courses were offered in locations such as Italy, France, Bavaria, and Dalmatia. After the war, Hofmann's school began to attract American students including Carl Holty, Alfred Jensen, Louise Nevelson, Worth Ryder, Vaclav Vytlacil, and Glenn Wessels.
Hofmann first came to the United States in 1930, when former student Worth Ryder, art department chairman at the University of California, Berkeley, invited him to teach the summer session at Berkeley. He returned to California the following year, teaching a semester at the Chouinard School of Art, Los Angeles, followed by another summer session at Berkeley. Hofmann moved to New York in 1932 because of the political situation at home and at the urging of his wife, who was to remain in Germany until 1939.
While Hofmann served as guest instructor at the Thurn School of Art, Gloucester, Mass., during the summers of 1932 and 1933, his Munich school offered summer sessions taught by Edmund Daniel Kinzinger. Its 1933 prospectus noted, "Mr. Hofmann will probably conduct the summer school personally..." But he did not return, and the school closed in the fall of 1933.
Hofmann taught at Art Students League in the fall of 1932. The Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts opened in New York City in the autumn of 1933, operating in several locations before moving to permanent quarters at 52 West 8th Street in 1938. He established the summer school at Provincetown, Mass. in 1934. Firsthand knowledge of Picasso, Matisse, and european modern art trends, along with his theories and the freedom he offered students, made Hofmann a widely admired, influential, and important teacher. Among his students were: Burgoyne Diller, Ray Eames, Helen Frankenthaler, Red Grooms, Harry Holtzman, Allen Kaprow, Lillian Kiesler, Lee Krasner, George McNeil, Irene Rice Pereira, and Richard Stankiewicz. In addition, art critic Clement Greenberg was significantly influenced by Hofmann's lectures on artistic theory. Both schools flourished until Hofmann decided to close them in 1958; after teaching for 43 consecutive years, he wanted to paint full-time.
In his writings, Hofmann expanded on theories regarding form, color, and space developed during his years in Paris. His most important text, Das Malerbuch: Form und Farbe in Gestaltung, based on notes begun in Paris circa 1904, was written during his second summer at Berkeley, 1931. That same year, Glenn Wessels translated it into English as Creation in Form and Color. Although Hofmann produced additional notes and revisions over the next two decades, the manuscript remains unpublished. Hofmann wrote essays and articles, many of which were published. A collection of Hofmann's writings, Search for the Real and Other Essays, was published in conjunction with his 1948 retrospective exhibition at the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Mass., the first solo show of an Abstract Expressionist to be organized by a museum. Other published and unpublished articles, essays, and shorter writings that elucidate his theoretical concerns include: "The Mystification of the Two- and Three-Dimensional in the Visual Arts," 1946; "Pictorial Function of Colours," 1950; "Space Pictorially Realized Through the Intrinsic Faculty of the Colours to Express Volume," 1951; "The Color Problem in Pure painting-Its Creative Origin," 1955; "The Creative Process-Its Physical and Metaphysical Performing," 1956; "Nature as Experience and Its Pictorial Realization," undated; and "Pure Colour Space," undated.
Hofmann's lectures to his own students, and talks presented to art groups and the general public addressed many of the same themes. He gave his first American lecture in 1930 at the University of Minnesota, and presented talks to a variety of groups while in California. Hofmann was a frequent speaker at the Provincetown Art Association, and participated in the "Forum 49" series he helped to organize at Gallery 200 in Provincetown, 1949.
In the last decade of his life, Hofmann produced a large number of paintings. He was represented in the XXX Venice Biennale, 1960, and major retrospective exhibitions were organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1957, and the Museum of Modern Art, 1963. In 1963, he made a gift of 45 paintings to the University of California, Berkeley, and funded construction of a wing to house them in the soon-to-be-built University Art Museum. Hans Hofmann died in New York City on Feb. 17, 1966.
1880 -- Hans Hofmann is born in Weissenburg, Bavaria, on 21 March, the son of Theodor and Franziska Hofmann.
1886 -- The family moves to Munich, where Theodor becomes a government official. Hans studies mathematics, science, and music at the gymnasium. He plays the violin, piano and organ and begins to draw.
1896 -- With his father's help, finds a position as assistant to the director of public works of the State of Bavaria. Develops his technical knowledge of mathematics, resulting in several scientific inventions, including an electromagnetic comptometer.
1898 -- Studies with Willi Schwarz at Moritz Heymann's art school in Munich, where he is introduced to Impressionism.
1900 -- Meets Maria (Miz) Wolfegg, his future wife.
1903 -- Through Willi Schwarz, he meets the nephew of a Berlin collector, Philipp Freudenberg, who becomes his patron from 1904-1914 and enables him to live in Paris.
1904 -- Frequents the Café du Dome, a haunt of artists and writers, with Jules Pascin, a friend from Moritz Heymann's school. Miz joins him in Paris. Attends evening sketch class at the Académie de la Grand Chaumière and the Académie Colarossi. Meets Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Henri Matisse.
1908 -- Exhibits with the Neue Sezession in Berlin and again in 1909. Miz designs scarves with Sonia Delaunay (then Sonia Uhde).
1910 -- First one-person exhibition held at Paul Cassirer Gallery, Berlin. Meets Robert Delaunay, with whom he designs patterns for Sonia Delaunay's Cubist fashions. During their close friendship, both men develop as colorists.
1914 -- Hans and Miz leave Paris for Corsica so that Hans can regain his health during a bout of what turned out to be tuberculosis. Called to Germany by the illness of his sister Rosa, they are caught on the Tegernsee by the outbreak of World War I.
1915 -- Disqualified for the army due to the after effects of his lung condition, and with the assistance of Freudenberg terminated by the war, Hofmann decides to earn a living teaching. In the spring, he opens the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts at 40 Georgenstrasse, Munich.
1918-29 -- After the war his school becomes known abroad and attracts foreign students such as Worth Ryder, Glenn Wessels, Louise Nevelson, Vaclav Vytlacil, Carl Holty, Alfred Jensen, and Ludwig Sander. Holds summer session at Tegernsee, Bavaria (1922), Ragusa (1924), Capri (1925-1927), St. Tropez (1928-1929). Makes frequent trips to Paris. Has little time to paint but draws continually.
1924 -- Marries Miz Wolfegg on 5 June.
1929 -- A series of his drawings is reproduced by a photographic process known as Lichtdrucke.
1930 -- At the invitation of Worth Ryder, teaches in a summer session at the University of California, Berkeley, where Ryder is chairman of the Department of Art. Returns to Munich for the winter.
1931 -- In the spring, teaches at the Chouinard School of Art, Los Angeles, and again at Berkeley in the summer. Wessels helps him with the first translation of his book Form und Farbe in der Gestaltung, begun in 1904. Exhibits a series of drawings at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, his first show in the United States.
1932 -- Returns to the Chouinard School of Art in the summer. Advised by Miz not to return to Munich because of a growing political hostility to intellectuals, settles in New York. Vaclav Vytlacil helps arrange a teaching position for him at the Art Students League.
1932-33 -- Summer sessions at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts continue in St. Tropez (1932) and Murnau (1933), taught by Edmund Daniel Kinzinger. The school closes in the fall of 1933, and Miz gives up the lease in 1936.
1933 -- Spends the summer as guest instructor at the Thurn School of Art in Gloucester, Mass. In the fall, opens the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts at 444 Madison Avenue in New York. After a prolonged period of drawing, begins to paint again.
1934 -- Upon the expiration of his visa, travels to Bermuda to return with a permanent visa. Opens a summer school in Provincetown, Mass. The Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts opens at 137 East 57th Street in New York. In 1936, the Hofmann School moves to 52 West 9th Street.
1938 -- The Hofmann School moves to 52 West 8th Street. A planned European summer session (traveling to Paris, the Cote d'Azure, Italy, and Capri) is called off after Hitler moves into Austria in the Spring. Delivers a lecture series once a month at the school in the winter of 1938-39, which is attend by the vanguard of the New York art world, including Arshile Gorky and Clement Greenberg.
1939 -- Miz Hofmann arrives in America. After a stay in New Orleans, joins her husband in Provincetown. They spend five months each summer in Provincetown and the rest of the year in New York.
1941 -- Becomes an American citizen. Delivers an address at the annual meeting of the American Abstract Artists at the Riverside Museum. One-person exhibition at the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, New Orleans.
1942 -- Hofmann's former student Lee Krasner introduces him to Jackson Pollock.
1944 -- First exhibition in New York at Art of This Century Gallery, arranged by Peggy Guggenheim. "Hans Hofmann, Paintings, 1941-1944" opens at the Arts Club in Chicago and travels on to the Milwaukee Art Institute in January 1945. Howard Putzel includes Hofmann in "Forty American Moderns" at 67 Gallery, New York. He is also included in "Abstract and Surrealist Art in America" at the Mortimer Brandt Gallery, New York (arranged by Sidney Janis in conjunction with publication of Janis's book of the same title).
1947 -- Exhibitions at Betty Parsons Gallery in New York, in Pittsburgh, and at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The Texas show travels to Denton, Tex.; Norman, Okla.; and Memphis, Tenn. Begins to exhibit with the Kootz Gallery in New York. Kootz holds a one-person show of Hofmann's work each year until his death (with the exception of 1948 and 1956).
1948 -- Retrospective exhibition a the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Mass., in conjunction with publication of his book, Search For the Real and Other Essays.
1949 -- Travels to Paris to attend the opening of his exhibition at the Galerie Maeght and visits the studios of Picassso, Braque, Constantin Brancusi, and Joan Miro. Helps Fritz Bultman and Weldon Kees organize Forum 49, a summer series of lectures, panels, and exhibitions at Gallery 200 in Provincetown.
1950 -- Participates in a three-day symposium at Studio 35 in New York with William Baziotes, James Brooks, Willem de Kooning, Herbert Ferber, Theodoros Stamos, David Smith, and Bradley Walker Tomlin. Joins the "Irascibles"-a group of Abstract Expressionists-in an open letter protesting the exclusion of the avant-garde from an upcoming exhibition of American art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
1951 -- Juries the 60th Annual Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago with Aline Louchheim and Peter Blume.
1954 -- One-person exhibition held at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
1955 -- Designs mosaic murals for the lobby of the new William Kaufmann Building, architect William Lescaze, at 711 Third Avenue, New York. Retrospective held at the Art Alliance in Philadelphia.
1957 -- Retrospective exhibitions held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, which then travel to Des Moines, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, Utica, and Baltimore.
1958 -- Hofmann ceases teaching to devote himself full time to painting. He moves his studio into the New York and Provincetown schools. Completes a mosaic mural for the exterior of the New York School of Printing (Kelley and Gruzen, architects) at 439 West 49th Street.
1960 -- Represents the United States with Philip Guston, Franz Kline, and Theodore Roszak at the XXX Venice Biennale.
1962 -- Retrospective exhibition opens in Germany at the Frankische Galerie am Marientor, Nuremberg, and travels to the Kolnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, and the Kongreilhalle, Berlin. In Munich, Neue Galerie im Kunstlerhaus presents "Oils on Paper, 1961-1962." Awarded an honorary membership in the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Nuremberg and an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by Dartmouth College in Hanover, N. H.
1963 -- Miz Hofmann dies. Retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art organized by William Seitz travels throughout the United States and internationally to locations in South America and Europe, including Stuttgart, Hamburg, and Bielefeld. Signs a historic agreement to donate 45 paintings to the University of California at Berkeley and to fund the construction of a gallery in his honor at the new university museum, then in the planning stage. The exhibition "Hans Hofmann and His Students," organized by the Museum of Modern Art, circulates in the United States and Canada.
1964 -- Awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Serves on the jury for the 1964 Solomon Guggenheim International Award. Becomes a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York. Renate Schmitz inspires the Renate series.
1965 -- Awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by Pratt Institute, New York. Marries Renate Schmitz on 14 October.
1966 -- Hans Hofmann dies on 17 February in New York.
Related Material:
The holdings of the Archives of American Art include papers and oral history interviews of many former students and friends of Hofmann; among these collections are correspondence, photographs, reminiscences, writings, and printed items relating to Hofmann and his school. The Lillian Kiesler Papers, 1920s-1990s include records of the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts. Researchers are advised to conduct a name search in the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS).
Other Hans Hofmann Papers, 1929-1976 (1.65 linear ft.) are owned by The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (Collection number: BANC MSS 80/27 c). An inventory is available on The Bancroft Library's website at http//www.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/
Separated Materials:
Monographs and periodicals (376 items) from Hofmann's Library not directly related to the artist were transferred to the Library of the Smithsonian's American Art Museum in 2001. The Library retained relevant volumes, dispersed others to appropriate libraries within the Smithsonian Institution, and made final decisions regarding disposition of any remaining items.
Provenance:
Renate Schmitz Hofmann, widow of the artist, donated to the Archives of American Art 313 35-mm color slides of work by Hans Hofmann in 1974. The remainder of the collection was a gift of the Estate of Hans Hofmann in 1997. Tina Dickey donated her research material in 2000 and 2001 under the auspices of the Renate, Hans, and Maria Hofmann Trust. In 2006, additional manuscripts, notes, and illustrations for Hofmann's Das Malerbuch: Form und Farbe in der Gestaltung were received from the Trust. In 2015, the Trust donated additional correspondence, research and video production materials related to two documentaries on Hans Hofmann by Madeline Amgott. 13.0 linear ft. books, exhibition catalogs, and periodicals (376 items) from Hofmann's library, received with the collection, were transferred to the Smithsonian's American Art Museum-National Portrait Gallery Library.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Max Spoerri interview: Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposes of publication requires written permission from Max Spoerri. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Art schools -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Study and teaching Search this
Art students -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Genre/Form:
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Scrapbooks
Transcripts
Interviews
Photographs
Citation:
Hans Hofmann papers, circa 1904-2011, bulk 1945-2000. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
The Carl Holty papers are dated circa 1860s-1972 (bulk 1940-1967), measure 1.8 linear feet and contain correspondence, writings, printed material and photographs documenting Holty's career as an abstract painter and painting teacher.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Carl Holty are dated circa 1860s-1972 (bulk 1940-1967), measure 1.8 linear feet and consist of correspondence, writings, printed material and photographs documenting Holty's career as an abstract painter and painting teacher.
Correspondence with Romare Bearden, Charles Byrne and Hilaire Hiler concerns art, exhibitions and reviews, education, and news of mutual friends. Holty's writings include articles, autobiographical writings, unpublished manuscripts of a monograph, Art In America, and an untitled novel. Also found among his writings is a journal which contains his reminiscences of artist friends and acquaintances, and reflections on art, art history, and his life, personal plans and aspirations.
Printed material consists mainly of clippings about or mentioning Holty, and reviews and publicity relating to The Painter's Mind, a book Holty wrote with Romare Bearden. Miscellaneous records consist of a transcript of an interview with Carl Holty and an identification card issued to his father.
Photographs are of artwork, people and places. Also included are 6 photograph albums of Holty's artwork, and a small number of negatives. The people pictured are mainly Holty, friends and family. There is also a group photograph that includes Joan Miró.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged as 5 series:
Series 1: Correspondence, 1940-1972 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 2: Writings, 1944-1967 (Box 1; 0.6 linear ft.)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1931-1972 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 4: Miscellaneous Records, 1900, 1966 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1860s-1972 (Boxes 1-3; 0.9 linear ft.)
Biographical/Historical note:
Carl Holty was born in 1900 to American parents in Freiburg, Germany, where his father was studying medicine. Carl was still an infant when the family returned to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they lived with his grandparents in a traditional German neighborhood. It was Carl's grandfather who first introduced him to art through visits to a small local commercial gallery.
After showing an interest in being an artist at around age 12, Holty began taking lessons with a local painter. As a teenager he began drawing cartoons and soon set his sights on becoming a poster artist. With that in mind, Holty enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1919. He soon headed to New York and took courses at the Parsons School of Design and then at the National Academy of Design. In 1923 he returned to Milwaukee and opened a portrait painting studio.
Holty married in 1925 and took his bride to Europe, remaining abroad for the next decade. He entered Hans Hofmann's school in Munich in 1926, and exposure to Hofmann's ideas about color, space, and form greatly influenced and transformed his work. In 1927, the Holtys relocated to Switzerland in search of treatment for Mrs. Holty's tuberculosis. Holty and Hofmann remained in touch, and while in Switzerland, Holty increasingly incorporated Hofmann's teachings into his paintings as they grew more abstract in style.
After his wife's death in 1930, Holty moved to Paris for five years where he participated in several exhibitions and his work was well-received. Robert Delaunay invited him to join Abstration-Création, and the group published some of Holty's work in its magazine.
Upon returning to the United States in 1935, Holty settled in New York City where he eventually remarried and had a daughter. He renewed friendships with Hans Hofmann, Vaclav Vytlacil, and Stuart Davis, whom he had known in Paris. A figure in vanguard art circles, Holty was involved in meetings that resulted in the formation of the American Abstract Artists, and in 1938 he served as the group's chairman.
Holty taught drawing and paining at Brooklyn College from 1950 until his retirement in 1970, when he was designated Professor Emeritus. His years at Brooklyn College were punctuated by brief stints as a visiting instructor at the Art Students League, Washington University (St. Louis), and University of Louisville; he served as artist-in-residence at the universities of Georgia, Florida, California (Berkeley), and Wisconsin, and the Corcoran School of Art.
He exhibited widely at major museums throughout the United States including: the San Francisco Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Carnegie Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Holty's work was shown at major New York galleries such as J. B. Neumann, Samuel Kootz Gallery, and Graham Gallery, and is in the permanent collections of many museums including: Addison Gallery of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, Butler Institute of Art, Carnegie Institute, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Carl Holty died March 22, 1973 in New York City, after a short illness.
Related Archival Materials note:
Six interviews with Carl Holty (in addition to the one described in this finding aid) are available at the Archives of American Art. Three are oral histories conducted by the Archives of American Art, 1964-1968. The others are parts of interview collections accessioned by the Archives: Interviews relating to American Abstract Artists (Ruth Bowman), Anne Bowen Parsons collection of Interviews on Art, and Collette Roberts Interviews with Artists.
In addition, substantial correspondence with Carl Holty is included among the Hilaire Hiler papers and Romare Bearden papers owned by the Archives of American Art.
Separated Materials note:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels N68-93 and N68-105), much of which was subsequently donated. Loaned material that was not later donated includes Holty's letters to his wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Antonia, letters to Zoe Dusanne, letters from Ulfert Wilkie and Erwin Breithaupt, a small amount of general correspondence, and a typescript copy of Holty's journal. This material remains with the lender and is not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The Carl Holty papers were donated in increments between 1972 and 2006. The bulk of the papers were originally loaned in 1968, and later donated by Holty in 1972. Charles Byrne, a friend of Holty, donated a small amount of correspondence, printed material, and photographs in 1976-1977; family photographs were given by Holty's biographer, Virginia Liles, in 2006.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
An interview of Karl Benjamin conducted 1981 September 10-12, by William Weiss, for the Archives of American Art.
Benjamin speaks of his background and education; the development of his work; artists and galleries he was associated with in Los Angeles; his personal philosophy of painting and teaching.
Biographical / Historical:
Karl Benjamin (1925- ) is a painter from Claremont, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 30 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California Search this
Westermann, H. C. (Horace Clifford), 1922- Search this
Extent:
33 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2002 August 7-October 2
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Billy Al Bengston conducted 2002 August 7 and 2002 October 2, by Susan Ford Morgan, for the Archives of American Art, in subject's studio/home, in Venice, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Billy Al Bengston (1934- ) is a painter from Venice, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav file. Duration is 2 hrs., 6 min.
Sound Quality is poor. Session 2 inaudible. Interviewer did not check taping quality before taping interview.
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.
An interview of Billy Al Bengston conducted 1980 September 9, by Susan Larsen, for the Archives of American Art.
Bengston speaks of his youth and education, the development of his interest in art, his short career in ceramics, his affiliation with the Ferus Gallery, the arts community in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, and his motives and methods of painting. He recalls Kenneth Price and Edward Ruscha.
Biographical / Historical:
Billy Al Bengston (1934- ) is a painter from Venice, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 20 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Ceramicists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California Search this
Scrapbooks, photograph albums, sketchbooks, correspondence, manuscripts, and printed material reflect Brown's work as a painter, and his ties with contemporary musical and literary figures.
REEL 877: Four scrapbooks, 1946-1972, containing: photographs of composers Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith, artist Don Bachardy and Brown; letters and notes to Brown from musicians Stravinsky, Hindemith, John Cage, and Samuel Barber; drawings and photographs of works by Brown; clippings; and manuscript material by John Cage and Francis Poulenc.
REEL 921: Eight photograph albums, 1941-1971, including photos of Brown's work; photos of Brown at MacDowell Colony working on a series of self-portraits; of Brown, friends, and other artists, including Paul Wonner, Sonia Sekula, John McLaughlin, Jack Zajac, Sterling Holloway, Richard Diebenkorn, Mary Callery, David Park, Robert Shaw, poet May Sarton, playwright William Inge, composers Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith, author Christopher Isherwood, and others.
REELS 1095 and 1116 (photographs only): Correspondence, ca. 1923-1974; with artists, musicians, writers, composers, and others; privately published letters of Brown's grandfather; sketchbooks, including two from his early years, 1926 and 1930-1934, and six done in Europe, 1945; one sketch by Brown and one each by Paul and Gertrude Hindemith; manuscripts; photographs of family, friends, and associates; photographs of drawings; catalogs and announcements; printed papers; legal documents; and 2 clippings relating to Igor Stravinsky.
REEL 1095: Correspondents include: Eugene Anderson, Cecil Beaton, James Broughton, Van Deren Coke, Robert Craft, Jay DeFeo, Elaine De Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Richard Donovan, Vladimir Golschmann, George H. Hamilton, Thomas B. Hess, Gertrude Hindemith (36 letters), Paul Hindemith, David Hockney, Bart Howard, William Inge, Christopher Isherwood, Dorothy Jenkins, Frank Johnson, Gavin Lambert, Jo Lathwood, Amy Loomis, Ben Masselind, Everett Meeks, Nathan Oliveira, Mary Petty, Josephine Carson Rider, Muriel Rukeyser, Eva Marie Saint, Leo Schrade, Bruce Simonds, Helen Stone, Vera Stravinsky, Richard Swift, Ann Tardos and Wayne Thiebaud; many are represented with only one letter.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; San Francisco, Calif. Associated with the late 1950s movement of Bay Area figurative painting. Had particularly close ties with contemporary musical and literary worlds.
Provenance:
Material on reels 877 and 921 lent for microfilming and remainder donated 1974 by William T. Brown. Catalogs on reel 1095 were transferred to NMAA/NPG Library after microfilming.
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.
Correspondence, writings, sketchbooks, photographs, diaries, biographical material, and printed material.
REEL N/70-47: Correspondence; 3 notebooks with diary entries; 5 sketchbooks; painting notes; exhibition announcements; and writings.
UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence; writings; lithographs; sketchbooks; appointment and address books containing notes; personal photographs and photographs of Zilzer's art work; exhibition catalogs and announcements; and biographical data.
Biographical / Historical:
Gyula Zilzer (1898-1969) was a painter, printmaker, illustrator, and film designer in Hollywood, California and New York, New York. Born in Budapest, Hungary. Studied at the Hans Hofmann School in Munich.
Provenance:
Donated by Mrs. Mary Zilzer, widow of Gyula Zilzer, 1970.
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 -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art directors -- California -- Hollywood Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Prints -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Letters received, 1884-1967, concern Wores' art work, the Bohemian Club, the work of sculptor Douglas Tilden, and other matters. William Keith writes of his own work and choice of subject matter. Other correspondents include Orrin Peck, Frank Duveneck, Charles Rollo Peters, Mrs. Alexander Russel, Matteo Sandona, and Percy Gray. In addition, there are two scrapbooks, 1881-1938; a typescript of CALIFORNIA ART RESEARCH, 1937-Abstract from WPA Project 2874, which is a monograph on Wores with penciled corrections by him; and 5 articles from THE CENTURY ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE, 1889-1899, 4 of them written by Wores, and 1 illustrated by him.
Biographical / Historical:
Landscape painter, portrait painter, illustrator, teacher. Year of birth also cited as 1860. Born in San Francisco, resided many places.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming April 1974 by A. Jess Shenson, M.D., along with his brother Ben who spent many years researching Wores.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview with Millard Sheets conducted 1986 October-1988 July, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Sheets speaks of his childhood and early education; attending Chouinard Art Institute and being influenced by instructor F. Tolles Chamberlin; teaching at Scripps College Foundation of Art from 1931 to 1955; the beginnings of the California Watercolor Society; his painting career; his thoughts on Southern California Modernism; the growth and development of California art; artists including Lorser Feitelson and Rico Lebrun; designing forty buildings for Howard Ahmanson from the 1950s through the 1970s; his relationships with art critics; his involvement with architecture and design; and his philosophy as an art teacher. He recalls Theodore Modra and Dalzell Hatfield.
Biographical / Historical:
Millard Sheets (1907-1989) was a painter, educator, designer, and mural painter from California.
General:
Originally recorded on 8 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 16 digital wav files. Duration is 8 hr., 13 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- California Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California Search this
Journals containing ideas for Wiley's paintings, accounts of days, and puns and word games. One journal is from a summer spent in Italy (1971) and includes some sketches. The remaining four journals (1971-1974) are filled with watercolors and sketches.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; San Francisco Bay area, California. Achieved international recognition for highly imaginative and unconventional art. Studied at California School of Fine Art 1956-1962 with Frank Lobdell and other exponents of Abstract Expressionism.
Provenance:
Lent 1975 by William T. Wiley.
Restrictions:
ACCESS RESTRICTED; use requires written permission. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Topic:
Painting, Abstract -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
23 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 May 28
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Donald Totten conducted 1964 May 28, by Betty Hoag for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Donald Cecil Totten (1903-1967) was a painter in Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 1 min.
Provenance:
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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
The papers of California pop artist and teacher Mel Ramos measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1959 to 1984. The collection documents Ramos's career as an artist through correspondence with Lawrence Alloway, Dwan Gallery, Roy Lichtenstein, David Stuart, and Tom Wesselman, among others; a few inventories, invoices, and loan agreements; documentation of his work with the San Francisco Art Institute; and exhibition announcements and catalogs. Writings include two manuscripts on Ramos and the Pop Art movement, a one-page interview of Ramos, and poetry by Robin Skelton. Of interest in the collection, are files containing photographs, photo-collages, and clippings used for paintings such as "Elephant Seal," "Virnaburger," and "Manet's Olympia."
Scope and Contents:
The papers of California pop artist and teacher Mel Ramos measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1959 to 1984. The collection documents Ramos's career as an artist through correspondence with Lawrence Alloway, Dwan Gallery, Roy Lichtenstein, David Stuart, and Tom Wesselman, among others; a few inventories, invoices, and loan agreements; documentation of his work with the San Francisco Art Institute; and exhibition announcements and catalogs. Writings include two manuscripts on Ramos and the Pop Art movement, a one-page interview of Ramos, and poetry by Robin Skelton. Of interest in the collection, are files containing photographs, photo-collages, and clippings used for paintings such as "Elephant Seal," "Virnaburger," and "Manet's Olympia."
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection, the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Mel Ramos (1935-2018), born Melvin John Ramos, was a painter, pop artist, and teacher in California. Ramos was born in Sacramento, California. In 1955 he married Leta Helmers, who served as a model for many of his early paintings. Ramos received his M.A. from Sacramento State College in 1958 and taught a Mira Loma High School. In 1963 his work was included in Six More, a major exhibition of Pop Art at the Los Angeles County Museum. One year later he had his first solo show in New York at Bianchini Gallery. In 1965, he began showing his art at David Stuart Gallery in Los Angeles. Ramos also had a long career (1966-1997) as a professor at California State University, East Bay.
Related Materials:
Also found at the Archives of American Art is an interview of Mel Ramos conducted on May 15, 1981, by Paul Karlstrom.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Mel Ramos in July 1985.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
2.5 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 4 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1941-1970
Scope and Contents:
Primarily research material for exhibitions organized by Story at the American British Art Center and at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
REELS 601-602: Correspondence, photographs, catalogs and business records for five exhibitions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, including: William Merritt Chase (1964-1965), Surrealism - A State of Mind (1966), Five Centuries of Prints (1967), Max Weber (1968), and Trends in 20th Century Art (1970).
REEL 2086: Papers, 1943, relating to Charles Dana Gibson exhibition at the American British Art Center, NYC, including sketches by Gibson, letters from him, price lists, a catalog of the exhibit, and miscellany.
REEL 3977: Biographical notes, photographs of drawings and paintings and exhibition announcements used by Story for exhibitions on William Merritt Chase, Harold Sterner and John Craske while at the American British Art Center; three letters from Robert Henri to Mrs. William Kennedy Thompson and one letter from William Merritt Chase to Della F. Shull; photographs of Henri and Chase; receipts and checks regarding Chase; and records of the American British Art Center, including 6 sales books, two guestbooks, a petty cash book, exhibition catalogs, and photocopies of exhibition catalogs and clippings.
ADDITION: 16 items including correspondence, 1941-1951, and a printed ceremonial program, 1952, of The American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Correspondents include Alfred Barr, R.A. Beaes, M. Buller, Sir Kenneth Clark, Rene d'Harnoncourt, Alfred A. Longden, H. F. Perkins, and Mary F. Wilson.
Biographical / Historical:
Curator, museum director; New York, N.Y. and Santa Barbara, Calif. Born 1907. Died 1972.
Provenance:
Donated by Margaret Mallory, 1970-1984.
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.
The Clay Spohn papers measure 20.4 linear feet and date from circa 1862 to 1985 with the bulk of the material dating from 1890 to 1985. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, business records, notes and writings, art work, printed material, and photographs which reflect the life and career of painter and educator Clay Spohn.
Scope and Content Note:
The Clay Spohn papers measure 20.4 linear feet and date from circa 1862 to 1985 with the bulk of the material dating from 1890 to 1985. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, business records, notes and writings, artwork, printed material, and photographs reflecting the life and career of painter and educator Clay Spohn.
Part 1 includes sketchbooks with annotated drawings by Spohn, writings including reminiscensces by Spohn, letters, clippings, and photographs of Spohn's artwork.
Part 2 includes biographical material; correspondence between Spohn and his colleagues; business records such as Spohn's general accounting records; Spohn's notes and writings on a variety of subjects; drawings and sketchbooks; printed material such as exhibition announcements and catalogs; and photographs of subjects such as Spohn, his family and colleagues, his house, and his artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three parts. Part 1 was lent to the Archives of American Art in 1964 by Clay Spohn, and was microfilmed and returned to Spohn. Part 2 was donated to the Archives of American Art by Urban Neininger in 1978 and was partially microfilmed. Because material from part 2 was not processed until over three decades after filming Part 1, the overall organization is inconsistent. In general, material within folders is arranged chronologically.
Part 1: Clay Spohn Papers, 1926-1963
Part 2: Clay Spohn Papers, circa 1862-1985 (boxes 1-22, OV 23, 19.9 linear ft.)
Part 3: Addition to the Clay Spohn Papers, 1958-1977 (box 24; 0.4 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Clay Edgar Spohn was born November 24, 1898, in San Francisco, to Lena (Schaefer) and John Henry Spohn. From 1919 to 1921, Spohn studied at the University of California at Berkeley, and from 1922 to 1924, he studied at the Art Students League in New York under Kenneth Hayes Miller, Boardman Robinson, George Luks and Guy Pene Du Bois. He also became acquainted with Alexander Calder at the Art Students League. In 1924, Spohn was employed as an assitant designer to muralist Ezra Winter. From 1926 to 1927 he studied in Paris at the Academie Modern, a school run by Fernand Leger and Orthon Fireze.
Returning to San Francisco in 1927, Spohn became an active member in the Bay Area art scene. The Treasury Department commissioned him, in 1938, to execute a mural for the Montebello, California post office, and in 1939, he completed another mural under the sponsorship of the WPA for Los Gatos Union High School in Los Gatos, California.
In 1942, the San Francisco Museum of Art mounted Spohn's solo exhibition "Fantastic War Machines and Guerragraphs", consisting of a series of drawings inspired by dreams of World War II. From 1945 until his resignation in 1950, Spohn was employed as instructor of drawing and painting at the California School of Fine Arts, where he befriended Clyfford Still and Mark Rothko. In 1949, at the California School, he organized a group exhibition entitled "The Museum of Unknown and Little Known Objects", in which Spohn's extraordinarily-constructed objects were a focal point.
Spohn moved to Taos, New Mexico in 1952, and participated in several national exhibitions. He was Visiting Lecturer at Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, in 1958, after which he moved to New York City where he executed a series of paintings under the sponsorship of the collector J. Patrick Lannan. From 1964 to 1969, he taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
After a two year move to Taos, Spohn returned to New York in 1971. In 1974, the Oakland Museum sponsored a retrospective of Spohn's work.
Clay Spohn died in New York City on December 19, 1977.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (D169) including sketchbooks, writings, correspondence, and related material. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are described in the first series of the finding aid.
Provenance:
The material on reel D169 was lent for filming by Clay Spohn in 1964. The material on reel 5461-5474 was donated by Spohn's friend and the executor of his estate, Urban Neininger, in 1978. An additional 0.4 linear feet of papers were donated by Spohn's biographer, David Beasley, in 2008.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use of unfilmed material requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
0.4 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1952-1996
bulk 1952-1959
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material, correspondence, a poem by Reichman, printed material, and photographs of Reichman with friends, family, and his works of art. Correspondents include Max Weber, Clyfford Still, Andrew Dasburg, Mark Tobey, Louise Nevelson, Dan Shapiro, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; San Francisco, Calif.
Provenance:
Material on reel 912 was lent for microfilming by Reichman, 1975 and subsequently donated in 2007 with additional material by Reichman's daughter, Alexandra Reichman. Material on Reel 3470 donated by Reichman in 1976.
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 -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco Search this
