0.6 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Date:
1959-1981
Scope and Contents:
Sketchbooks, correspondence, photographs, notes, and printed material.
REEL 8: Three sketchbooks, 1959-1961.
UNMICROFILMED: Material generated in preparation for an exhibition of work by Elizabeth Fay Evans at the Santa Rosa Junior College Art Gallery, including correspondence, exhibition catalogs, drafts of the catalog, exhibition announcements, and photographs. Also included are correspondence with Raymond A. MacDonald, Elizabeth Quandt Barr, and Roger Barr; post cards, airograms, and xeroxes of letters sent.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and art historian; Detroit, Michigan and later Santa Rosa, California.
Related Materials:
James Mahlon Rosen papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Sketchbooks on reel 8 donated 1964 by Lloyd Rodnick of Flint Community Junior College. Unmicrofilmed material donated by Rosen, 1981-1982.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- California -- Santa Rosa Search this
Clayberger, Samuel R. (Samuel Robert), 1926-2018 Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1945-1981
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material; correspondence; exhibition catalogs, undated and 1966-81; and photographs of Clayberger, his models, and works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, instructor; Los Angeles, Calif.
Provenance:
Donated by Samuel R. Clayberger, 1981.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
A 144 page draft of an unpublished biography of Rollins by his grandson Warren Griffin, entitled A CIRCLE OF LIGHT; negatives and photographs of Rollins' home in Antioch, Calif., his art work, Rollins in his studios, his wife, Birdella Rollins, and a self portrait by Rollins.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and teacher; Antioch, Calif.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming, 1984, by Warren Griffin, Rollins' grandson, as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
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
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.
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
The papers of Irving and Hela Norman measure 10.0 linear feet and 142.32 GB and date from circa 1920 to 2010. The papers document the career of painter Irving Norman through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, curators, art galleries, and museums; writings, exhibition records, personal business records, printed material, personal photographs, and photographs of his artwork. Also found are numerous audio and video interviews of Irving and Hela Norman. Some of the materials, interviews and photographs are digital.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Irving and Hela Norman measure 10.0 linear feet and 142.32 GB and date from circa 1920 to 2010. The papers document the career of painter Irving Norman through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, curators, art galleries, and museums; writings, exhibition records, personal business records, printed material, personal photographs, and photographs of his artwork. Also found are numerous audio and video interviews of Irving and Hela Norman. Some of the materials, interviews and photographs are digital.
Researchers should note that the collection primarily documents Irving Norman's late career and Hela Norman's work to manage the exhibition and sale of Irving's work after his death. Almost all of the Norman's drawings and personal records were lost in a house and studio fire in December 1988.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1929-2010 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1951-2010 (3 linear feet; Box 1-4)
Series 3: Interviews, circa 1974-2008 (3 linear feet; Box 4-7, 45.17 GB; ER01-ER18)
Series 4: Writings, circa 1974-2010 (5 folders; Box 7, 0.002 GB; ER19)
Series 5: Exhibition Records, 1980-2008 (1 linear foot; Box 7-8)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1974-2010 (0.8 linear feet; Box 8-9, 2.52 GB; ER20-21)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1940s-2000s (0.3 linear feet; Box 9)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1920-2010 (1.4 linear feet; Box 9-10, 94.63 GB; ER22-ER34)
Biographical / Historical:
Irving Norman (1906-1989) was a social surrealist painter in San Francisco, Calif. He married Hela Bohlen (1927-2010) in 1955.
Norman was born Irving Noachowitz in Vilna, Russia in 1906. He emigrated to the United States in 1923 and worked in a barber shop in Monticello, New York. In 1934 he moved to Los Angeles and opened his own barber shop in Laguna Beach. A few years later he volunteered for service in the Abraham Lincoln battalion in Spain, and upon returning to California , he joined a life drawing group. He attended the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco in 1940, studying with William Gaw and Spencer Macky, and in 1945 had his first major solo exhibition. At this time he also won the San Francisco Art Association's Albert Bender Memorial Prize. In 1946 he studied at the Art Students' League in New York and traveled to Mexico. He received much press when one of his paintings was removed from an exhibition at the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum for obscenity in 1950. Despite this setback, he continued to regularly exhibition his work over the next decade.
A renewed interest in Irving Norman's work occurred in the mid-1970s, at which time he exhibited many new paintings. During the 1980s he continued to exhibit his work and participated in several video interviews. In 1988 a storm caused a fire which destroyed his house and studio, including drawings and most personal papers. Irving Norman passed away at home in July 1989 and a memorial retrospective of his work was held at San Jose State University the following year. Hela Norman continued to manage the sale and exhibition of Irving's artwork until her death in 2010.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art is a videorecording of an interview with Irving Norman, produced by Bay Area Video Coalition, Zeke Richardson and Larry Andrews, in cooperation with the Archives of American Art. The interview was conducted by Michael S. Bell, March 5, 1988.
Separated Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art is material lent for microfilming (reel 4705) including slides, photographs of artwork, and letters. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Irving and Hela Norman first donated a small amount of papers in 1988-1989. Hela Norman loaned additional material for microfilming in 1990. The rest of the collection was gifted in 2011 by Hela Norman via Tom Von Tersch, Trustee.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Interviews
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Citation:
Irving and Hela Norman papers, circa 1920-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Robert S. Neuman conducted 1991 May 1-1991 June 19, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Neuman discusses his childhood in Idaho; art training in Idaho and San Francisco; California artists Clyfford Still, Richard Diebenkorn, Hassel Smith, and Nathan Oliveira; WWII service; the School of the Pacific vs. Euro-centric New York; studying in Germany on a Fulbright scholarship; the influence of work by Willi Baumeister and Wolfgang Wols; moving to Boston and the art community there in the 1950s and 1960s; studying in Barcelona on a Guggenheim fellowship; the evolution of his painting in overlapping phases; and his preference for being outside the mainstream art world.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert S. Neuman (1926- ) is an abstract painter and art instructor from San Francisco, Germany, Spain, and Boston.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hrs., 41 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:
Art teachers -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Three letters pertaining to Kessler's research on Clyfford Still; including one letter from Rosamond McCanless, one from Still and one from Betty Parsons Gallery.
Biographical / Historical:
Art critic and artist; Venice, California.
Provenance:
Donated 1980 by Charles Kessler.
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.
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:
Missing Title
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.
Photographs of paintings by Hardy done for the Federal Art Project in California.
Biographical / Historical:
Merlin C. Hardy (1910-1984) was a painter and mural painter from northern Calif. Painted for the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration.
Provenance:
The lender, Lewis Ferbrache, collected papers for AAA from artists and administrators of the various government funded art programs of the Depression. It was part of a larger nation-wide, collecting project, "New Deal and the Arts."
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Four exhibition announcements and three clippings; biographical and career information; and photographs of Dixon, his paintings, and his studio. Also included but not microfilmed are sixteen slides of his paintings.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; San Francisco, California.
Provenance:
Donated by Mrs. Peggy Dixon, James Budd Dixon's wife, 1974.
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
Resumes, awards, and memberships; letters thanking the Burkhardts for paintings, regarding visits to their home and studio, and from scholars and institutions requesting information about his own work as well as his collection of works by Mark Tobey and Arshile Gorky; writings and notes by and about Burkhardt; 2 bound sketchbooks, undated and 1961, containing black felt-tip pen drawings; exhibition related materials including lists of works exhibited, acknowledgements of gifts, loan agreements, and receipts; exhibition announcements and catalogs; clippings, press releases, and bulletins, and 2 scrapbooks of clippings; and photographs of Burkhardt, his wife Thordis, and others including Mark Tobey and Willem de Kooning.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and collector; Los Angeles, Calif.; d. 1994.
Provenance:
Donated 1975-1981 by the Burkhardts.
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.
Correspondence, printed materials, and photographs.
REEL LA 1: Catalogs and photographs of Brigante's work.
REEL 1357: Letters to Brigante; exhibition catalogs and announcements; and invitations.
REEL 3967: Nine letters from Stanton Macdonald-Wright, and a letter from Brigante to Macdonald-Wright; an undated letter from Macdonald-Wright to Frank Stevens; an undated photograph of Macdonald-Wright with Jack Wells; Macdonald-Wright exhibition announcements and catalogs; 2 newsletters; and a gallery review relating to Brigante.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Los Angeles, California. Brigante and Stanton Macdonald-Wright were close friends.
Other Title:
Betty Hoag (microfilm title, reel LA 1)
Provenance:
Material on reels 1357 and 3967 donated 1975 and 1986 by Brigante. Material on reel LA 1 lent 1964 by Brigante.
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.
An interview of Clifford Amyx conducted 1982 December 28, by Buck Pennington, for the Archives of American Art.
Amyx speaks of moving around during his childhood due to his father's career; moving from Kentucky to Hollywood during the Depression to work on a sound stage for Warner Brothers but when he arrives the job is no longer available, so he enrolls in the San Francisco Art Institute; working in a coal yard Berkeley, California, where he met Joseph Danysh from the Federal Art Project; working as a graphic artist for the Federal Art Project as part of the Works Progress Administration in the Bay Area.
Biographical / Historical:
Clifford Amyx (1909-1997) was a painter and educator from Lexington, Kentucky.
General:
Originally recorded as 1 cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 48 minutes.
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.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- Kentucky -- Lexington -- Interviews Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Kentucky Search this
Educators -- Kentucky -- Lexington -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Sam Francis the artist's materials Debra Burchett-Lere, Aneta Zebala ; with scientific analysis by Catherine Defeyt, Lynn Lee, Joy Mazurek, Alan Phenix ; prologue by Peter Selz
Author:
Burchett-Lere, Debra (Debra Sue) 1955- Search this