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Peter and Rose Krasnow papers

Creator:: Krasnow, Peter, 1886-1979 Search this

Names:: Peter Krasnow Arts Foundation Search this; United States. Aircraft Warning Service. Ground Observer Corps Search this; Blades, Harriet Search this; Budnick, Dan Search this; Burton, Leslie Search this; Clements, Grace, 1905-1969 Search this; Cocker, Conrad Search this; Danieli, Fidel Search this; DeLuce, Robert Search this; Drake, Alfred S. Search this; Howe, Dudley Search this; Krasnow, Rose, 1885-1984 Search this; Morley, Grace, 1900-1985 Search this; Noer, Philip Search this; Owen, Dale Search this; Owen, Elaine Search this; Price, Aimée Brown, 1939- Search this; Raboff, Ernest Lloyd Search this; Raboff, Ina Search this; Stone, Irving, 1903- Search this; Weston, Edward, 1886-1958 Search this; Weston, Edward, 1886-1958 -- Photographs Search this; Weston, Flora -- Photographs Search this

Extent:: 6.9 Linear feet

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Sketchbooks; Photographs; Sketches; Diaries; Poems; Notes; Essays; Short stories; Prints; Transcripts; Sound recordings

Date:: 1914-1984

Summary:: The papers of painter, printmaker, and sculptor Peter Krasnow (1886-1979) and his wife, writer Rose Krasnow (1885-1984), measures 6.9 linear feet and date from 1914 to 1984. Papers include biographical materials, a sound recording, correspondence, essays, poetry, short stories, notes, transcripts of lectures and radio talks, five diaries of Peter Krasnow, personal business records, exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings, magazines, five sketchbooks, sketches and drawings in multiple media, prints, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note:: The papers of painter, printmaker, and sculptor Peter Krasnow (1886-1979) and his wife, writer Rose Krasnow (1885-1984), measures 6.9 linear feet and date from 1914 to 1984. Papers include biographical materials, a sound recording, correspondence, essays, poetry, short stories, notes, transcripts of lectures and radio talks, five diaries of Peter Krasnow, personal business records, exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings, magazines, five sketchbooks, sketches and drawings in multiple media, prints, and photographs.

Biographical materials include documentation of Rose Krasnow's service as a member of the Army Air Forces Ground Observer Corps, programs and other materials from various memorial services, a sound recording with commentary on a Peter Krasnow exhibition, and documentation of a project to publish Rose Krasnow's poetry.

Correspondence consists of Peter and Rose Krasnow's personal and professional correspondence as well as a small amount of third party correspondence. Personal correspondence with friends and family involves health, work, daily events, and other life updates. Professional correspondence with art dealers, curators, gallery and museum directors, collectors, and colleges and universities concerns exhibitions, sales, loans, and donations of artwork. Primary correspondents include Leslie Burton and Harriet Blades, Dan Budnik, Grace Clements, Conrad Crocker, Dudley Howe, Lilly Weil Jaffe, Grace L. McCann Morley, Dale and Elaine Owen, Aimée Brown Price, Ernest and Ina Raboff, Irving Stone, and Edward Weston. There are also numerous scattered letters from artists, writers, curators, critics, museums, arts associations, and Jewish organizations.

Writings and notes are by Peter Krasnow, Rose Krasnow, and others. Writings by Peter Krasnow include a draft autobiography, essays, lectures on wood sculpture, typescripts, notes, and writings on art. Writings by Rose Krasnow include essays, plays, poetry, and short stories. Writings by others consist of essays, lectures, notes, plays, poetry, short stories, and typescripts. Other writers include Grace Clements, Fidel Danieli, Robert DeLuce, Alfred S. Drake, and Philip Noer. There are also five handwritten personal diaries by Peter Krasnow.

Personal business records include Rose Krasnow's bank book from 1980, Peter Krasnow's naturalization certificate and passport, an inventory of paintings on index cards, tax applications for the Peter Krasnow Arts Foundation, materials relating to Peter Krasnow's estate and the purchase of his artwork, and various receipts.

Printed materials include exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings, bound books, magazines and journals, a Chicago Society of Artists block print calendar, and two printed posters from Peter Krasnow's exhibit at the Galerie Pierre in 1934.

Artwork is mostly by Peter Krasnow, and includes five sketchbooks, sketches and drawings, watercolors, preliminary studies in oil, and prints.

Photographs include personal photographs, photographs of major sculpture projects in progress, and artwork. Personal photographs are of Peter and Rose, family members, and friends, as well as a few scattered images of landscapes and architecture, possibly travel photographs. There are also photographs of Edward and Flora Weston. There are three photograph albums, one contains images of Krasnow's relief sculptures for the Sinai Temple's Kohn Chapel. Two photograph albums were compliled by Susan Ehrlich for Peter and Rose Krasnow. Also found are photographs of works of art. Some of the photographs in the papers were taken by Dan Budnik.

Arrangement:: The collection is arranged as 9 series:

Series 1: Biographical Materials, circa 1942-1983 (Boxes 1, 6; 7 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1930-1984 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1916-1980 (Boxes 1-2; 1.3 linear feet)

Series 4: Diaries, circa 1955-1968 (Box 2-3; 5 folders)

Series 5: Personal Business Records, circa 1914-1982 (Box 3; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Materials, circa 1922-1981 (Boxes 3-4 and OV 9; 1.1 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1918-1980 (Boxes 4-6 and OV 7-8, 10; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 8: Sketchbooks, circa 1918-1973 (Box 5; 5 folders)

Series 9: Photographs, circa 1914-1981 (Boxes 5-6; 0.6 linear feet)

Biographical Note:: Peter Krasnow (1886-1979) was a painter, sculptor, and printmaker who lived and worked primarily in Southern California. His wife, Rose Krasnow (1885-1984), was a prolific writer of poems, short stories, and plays.

Peter Krasnow was born on August 20, 1886 in the Ukraine, Russia to Jewish parents. His father's work as an interior designer inspired Krasnow's interest in art.

In 1907, Krasnow emigrated to the United States, first living in Boston. He moved to Chicago in 1908 to attend the Art Institute of Chicago, where he met his future wife, Rose Bloom. To support himself during his studies, Krasnow worked as a security officer and performed other manual jobs. He graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1916 and married Rose that same year.

The Krasnows moved to New York in 1919. In New York, Krasnow experienced some artistic success, participating in group and solo exhibitions at the Whitney Studio Club. During this time period, Krasnow often painted city scenes using a dark color palette.

In 1922, the Krasnows moved to Los Angeles, California. Krasnow built a studio near Glendale in 1923, on land purchased from photographer and friend Edward Weston. The studio also served as the Krasnows' main residence for the rest of their lives. In 1923 in Los Angeles, Krasnow exhibited with the Group of Independent Artists, which included Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Boris Deutsch, Nick Brigante, Ben Berlin, and other noteworthy artists. During his first years in California, Krasnow mostly created watercolor paintings, including a series of landscapes, using a lighter color palette than his earlier works. In the 1920s, Krasnow also accepted commissions for carved wood reliefs at the Temple Emmanu-El in San Francisco and the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.

Krasnow received a grant in 1931, and he and Rose temporarily relocated to the Dordogne region of France, where they lived until 1934. During this time, Krasnow painted a series of watercolors and paintings of the French landscape. Before returning to the United States, Krasnow exhibited these landscapes at the Galerie Pierre.

After returning to California, Krasnow began creating carved wood sculptures, which he named 'demountables,' often using wood from trees on his property. Krasnow created these sculptures to celebrate the organic shapes inherent in wood.

In 1934, Krasnow returned to painting, this time creating bright, colorful, geometric designs which often incorporated symbolism from his Jewish heritage. Krasnow focused on these paintings through the remaining years of his life. In 1977, Krasnow received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Peter Krasnow died on October 30, 1979 in Los Angeles. Rose Krasnow died five years later, in 1984.

Provenance:: The Peter and Rose Krasnow papers were donated in several increments between 1976 and 1998 by Peter Krasnow, the Estate of Peter Krasnow, and the Peter and Rose Krasnow Foundation.

Restrictions:: Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

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

Occupation:: Painters -- California -- Los Angeles Search this

Topic:: Wood sculpture Search this; Jewish artists Search this; Printmakers -- California -- Los Angeles Search this; Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles Search this

Genre/Form:: Sketchbooks; Photographs; Sketches; Diaries; Poems; Notes; Essays; Short stories; Prints; Transcripts; Sound recordings

Citation:: Peter and Rose Krasnow papers, 1914-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:: AAA.kraspete

See more items in:: Peter and Rose Krasnow papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-kraspete

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Hildreth Meière papers

Creator:: Meiere, M. Hildreth, d. 1961 Search this

Names:: Exposition internationale (1937 : Paris, France) Search this; New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.) Search this; Peter A. Juley & Son Search this; United States. Navy Search this; Abbott, Berenice, 1898-1991 Search this; Dunn, Louise Meière Search this

Extent:: 27.3 Linear feet; 0.068 Gigabytes

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Gigabytes; Slides (photographs); Transcripts; Video recordings; Photographs; Poetry; Diaries; Sketchbooks

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

Date:: 1901-2011; bulk 1911-1960

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Topic:: War relief Search this; Travel Search this; Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; World War, 1939-1945 Search this; World War I, 1914-1918 Search this; Women artists Search this; Mosaicists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Art commissions Search this; Motion pictures (visual works) Search this

Genre/Form:: Slides (photographs); Transcripts; Video recordings; Photographs; Poetry; Diaries; Sketchbooks

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

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

Identifier:: AAA.meiemari

See more items in:: Hildreth Meière papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-meiemari

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Lillian and Frederick Kiesler papers

Creator:: Kiesler, Lillian, 1910?-2001 Search this

Names:: Anthology Film Archives Search this; Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts Search this; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Search this; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) Search this; University of Iowa, Museum of Art Search this; Whitney Museum of American Art Search this; Adnan, Etel Search this; Andres, Jo Search this; Arnaud, Leopold, 1895- Search this; Bartos, Armand P., 1910- Search this; Bultman, Fritz, 1919-1985 Search this; Buscemi, Steve, 1958- Search this; Castelli, Leo Search this; Copley, Alfred L. Search this; Diller, Burgoyne, 1906-1965 Search this; Dlugoszewski, Lucia, 1931-2000 Search this; Dorazio, Piero, 1927- Search this; Dorazio, Virginia Dortch Search this; Dreier, Katherine Sophie, 1877-1952 Search this; Dubuffet, Jean, 1901- Search this; Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968 Search this; Hawkins, Erick Search this; Hodges, Alice Search this; Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966 Search this; Holtzman, Harry Search this; Howe, George, 1886-1955 Search this; Kamler, Richard Search this; Kiesler, Frederick Search this; MacIver, Loren, 1909- Search this; Meredith, Burgess, 1907-1997 Search this; Milius, Tom Search this; Miller, Henry, 1891- Search this; Mondrian, Piet, 1872-1944 Search this; Montgomery, Chandler Search this; Owen, Jane Blaffer, 1915-2010 Search this; Purdy, James Search this; Takaezu, Toshiko Search this; Tawney, Lenore Search this; Zogbaum, Wilfrid, 1915-1965 Search this

Extent:: 49.1 Linear feet; 0.001 Gigabytes

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Gigabytes; Scrapbooks; Sound recordings; Diaries; Interviews; Scripts (documents); Motion pictures (visual works)

Date:: circa 1910s-2003; bulk 1958-2000

Summary:: The papers of New York artist Lillian Kiesler and architect and sculptor Frederick Kiesler measure 49.1 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from circa 1910s-2003, with the bulk of the material from 1958-2000. The collection documents their personal and professional lives and the legacy of Frederick Kiesler's work through biographical material, correspondence, legal, financial and business records, teaching files, exhibition and performance files, artwork, subject files, printed and digital material, writings and interviews, monographs, photographic material, and sound and video recordings. Also found are papers related to Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann and the papers of artist Alice Hodges.

Scope and Content Note:: The papers of artist, performer, and arts educator Lillian Kiesler and sculptor, architect, set designer, educator, and writer Frederick Kiesler measure 49.1 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from circa 1910s-2003, with the bulk of the material from 1958-2000. The collection documents their personal and professional lives and the legacy of Frederick Kiesler's work through biographical material, correspondence, legal, financial and business records, teaching files, exhibition and performance files, artwork, subject files, printed and digital material, writings and interviews, monographs, photographic material, and sound and video recordings. Also found are papers related to Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann and the papers of artist Alice Hodges.

The collection is arranged into two series: the Lillian Kiesler Papers (Series 1) and the Frederick Kiesler Papers (Series 2). Measuring 41.1 linear feet, the Lillian Kiesler Papers (Series 1) make up the bulk of the collection and document her personal life and professional career as an artist, actor, teacher, arts benefactor and promoter of Frederick Kiesler's legacy. The series spans her lifetime, although most of the material is dated after 1965. Among her papers are biographical materials, correspondence, legal and financial records, teaching files, exhibition and performance files, artwork, subject files, printed material, monographs, papers related to Frederick Kiesler and his legacy, papers of and related to Hans Hofmann, papers of Alice Hodges, photographic material, and sound and video recordings.

Found among Lillian Kiesler's personal papers are address books, numerous calendars and appointment books, and diaries and journals. Her correspondence is extensive and contains business correspondence with John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, and Erick Hawkins Dance Foundation, and personal letters and greeting cards from friends, family, artists, scholars, and researchers, including Etel Adnan, Alcopley, Fritz Bultman, Steve Buscemi, Mike Diamond, Burgoyne Diller, Lucia Dlugoszewski, Piero Dorazio, Jean Dubuffet, Jay Gottlieb, Erick Hawkins, Burgess Meredith, Henry Miller, James Purdy, and Herrel Thomas. Of interest is a letter from Harry Holtzman postmarked March 13, 1935 describing his initial meeting with Mondrian, and a letter from E.B. Gordon describing Henry Miller in Paris.

Materials related to Lillian Kiesler's estate and last wishes can also be found, as well as teaching plans, student work, and writings by Lillian Kiesler's mentor and friend, New York University professor Chandler Montgomery. Various printed material, correspondence, scripts, and rehearsal schedules from Lillian Kiesler's exhibitions and performances are also found, and among the directors, artists and writers represented are Jo Andres, Steve Buscemi, Cindy Lugar, Tim Miller and James Purdy. Artwork contains photographs by Bob Del Fredici, drawings by Piero Dorazio, and notes to Frederick Kiesler from Lillian Kiesler.

Subject files about artists, friends, colleagues, performances, and organizations in which she supported, such as the Anthology Film Archives, include printed materials and research materials. Signed exhibition catalogs of Loren MacIver, Dina Ghen, Lenore Tawney, and Toshiko Takaezu, and a reprint article inscribed by Alcopley can be found, as well as numerous inscribed monographs, including books inscribed by Max Weiler and Piero Dorazio, an inscribed first edition of Henry Miller's Black Spring (1936), and a 1937 monograph by Harry Holtzman titled American Abstract Artists.

Series 1 also includes materials related to her husband Frederick Kiesler, papers of and related to Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann, and the personal papers of artist Alice Hodges. The Papers Related to Frederick Kiesler were primarily created or compiled by Lillian Kiesler and document her work on behalf of Frederick Kiesler's legacy. Of interest are letters from Frederick Kiesler to Lillian Kiesler and Alice Hodges; a bound volume of correspondence to Piero Dorazio; an inventory of objects in the Frederick Kiesler estate; photographs of artwork; an interview (sound recordings and transcript) with Lillian Kiesler about Frederick Kiesler for "Music of the Age," included on the tape is a portion of a Frederick Kiesler interview (1965); a recording of Lillian Kiesler interviewing Richard Kamler about Frederick Kiesler; and Frederick Kiesler's dialogue with Leo Castelli (undated).

Lillian Kiesler was a student of Hans Hofmann (1880-1966) in New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts, as well as an enthusiastic volunteer promoter and assistant to The Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts. The bulk of the papers of and related to Hans Hofmann were created or compiled by Lillian Kielser and are about Hofmann's career and legacy. However, also found are some papers of Hans Hofmann, including letters from Hofmann to Lillian Kiesler and Alice Hodges describing his artwork, life in Provincetown, and issues with The Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, typed and handwritten lectures given by Hofmann, Hofmann's 1941 address to the American Abstract Artists (AAA), three boxes of card files on students of the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in New York City and Provincetown, and photographs of Hofmann and his house in Provincetown taken by Wilfrid Zogbaum and Tom Milius.

The artist Alice Hodges (b. unknown-1965) was a close friend of Lillian Kiesler, a former secretary to Frederick Kiesler, and a student of Hans Hofmann. Included among her personal papers is some correspondence from Hans Hofmann and Katherine Drier and numerous postcards from Hodges and Lillian Kiesler's trip to Europe in 1950, posters and printed material from her exhibitions, an oversized scrapbook chronicling Lillian Kiesler's teaching career, records from the United States Treasury War Bond Art Auction in 1945, original artwork and greeting cards made by Hodges and Lillian Kiesler, and 31 rolled negative strips in metal canisters of Frederick Kiesler sculptures, Provincetown and Hans Hofmann, Wellfleet, Empire State Music Festival (1955), and travels to Colorado and Europe, some of which may be printed and found in this subseries.

Photographs found in the Lillian Kiesler Papers are mostly black and white and color snapshots of Lillian Kiesler's friends and family at events and at home, including candid photos of Hans Hofmann, Alice Hodges, Frederick Kiesler, and Alcopley. Slides prepared by Lillian Kiesler for a lecture on Frederick Kiesler and her lecture notes on index cards are found. Sound and video recordings include recordings of productions in which Lillian Kiesler performed, and music, film, or live stage performances written, directed, or performed by friends.

Measuring 7.1 linear feet, Frederick Kiesler's personal papers (Series 2) document his professional career and date from 1923-1992. Biographical materials include his curriculum vitae, four passports, and numerous appointment books and notes from late in his life. Correspondence with architects, publishers, editors, universities, museums, galleries, manufacturers, artists and friends includes letters from L. Alcopley, Leopold Arnaud, Armand P. Bartos, Piero and Virginia Dorazio, George Howe, Kay Johnson, Jane Owen, and others. There are also photocopied letters from Katherine Dreier, Marcel Duchamp, and Piet Mondrian. Business and financial records from the 1940s to mid-1960s comprise a significant bulk of this series and are primarily tax returns and receipts and statements used to file tax returns. Materials on the publication of "Inside the Endless House" (1966), the International Theatre Exposition (in German) in 1924 and other exhibits from shortly after his death are found, as well as student artwork and papers from Kiesler's classes in the mid-1950s. A bound copy of the "Bibliography of Writings of and About Frederick Kiesler" compiled by Lillian Kiesler is found, as well as printed material about Frederick Kiesler and a handful of photographs of artwork.

Users should note that Lillian Kiesler's and Frederick Kiesler's papers contain similar types of material that often overlap in subject matter, especially among the Papers Related to Frederick Kiesler (Subseries 1.10) in Series 1 and the Frederick Kiesler Papers (Series 2). This collection contains limited material related to Lillian Kiesler prior to the 1940s and Frederick Kiesler prior to his arrival in the United States in 1926.

Arrangement:: The collection is arranged into two series. Each series is divided into several subseries, with the arrangement described in detail in the series descriptions.

Series 1: Lillian Kiesler papers, circa 1910s-2003 (Box 1-39, 47-52, OV 53-55; 41.1 linear feet, ER01; 0.001 GB)

Series 2: Frederick Kiesler papers, 1923-1992 (Box 40-46, OV 53; 7.1 linear feet)

Biographical Note:: Frederick Kiesler (1890-1965) was a sculptor, architect, set designer, educator, and writer active in New York and Connecticutt. Lillian Kiesler (1911-2001) was a performer, arts educator, and painter married to Frederick Kiesler. She was also active in the administration of the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts.

Frederick Kiesler was born in Romania in 1890, although he gave various other dates for his birth and regularly cited Vienna as his birthplace. He arrived in the United States with his wife Steffi in 1926 for the International Theatre Exposition at Steinway Hall in New York City. They stayed in the United States and were granted citizenship in 1936.

Kiesler secured a teaching position at Columbia University's School of Architecture in 1930, and from 1934 through 1957 he was the scenic design director at The Juilliard School of Music. He also lectured at Yale University from 1950-1952. Often labeled a Surrealist, Kiesler's work was experimental and frequently described as ahead of its time. He published, lectured, and participated in numerous exhibitions throughout his career. He is known for his theory of "coreallism;" "The Space House" (1933), a full-scale model of a single family home; an installation designed for Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century gallery in 1942; "The Endless House" drawings and model (1950); "The Universal Theatre" (1961) model; and the Shrine of the Book (1965), a building to exhibit the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem. He died in New York City in December 1965.

Lillian Olinsey met architect and sculptor Frederick Kiesler in 1934. After years of friendship, they were married in 1964, a year and a half before Frederick's death in 1965.

Lillian Kiesler studied art at the Art Students League, Cooper Union, and the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, where she also assisted Hofmann and the school administration. She taught art to children and young adults for twenty years in New York City. From 1945 to 1955, she taught at the Greenwich House Art workshops and the Woodward School, followed by the Brooklyn Museum (1948-1958), Barnard School (1953-1963), New York University School of Education (1955-1966), and Juilliard School of Visual Arts (1963-1965). Lillian was involved in the performing arts and between the late 1970s through the 1990s she performed in New York City with numerous directors, notably Jo Andres, Steve Buscemi, Richard Foreman, John Jesurun, Cindy Lubar, and Tim Miller. She frequently performed with her close friend, painter Maryette Charlton, who was the executor of the Lillian Kiesler estate.

Lillian Kiesler tirelessly promoted Frederick Kiesler's work and legacy after his death in 1965. From the late 1980s through the 1990s, she delivered lectures about his work at universities and museums, gave interviews, corresponded with researchers, and organized his papers to donate to the Harvard Theatre Collection, Yale School of Art and Architecture, and the Archives of American Art. In 1997, she helped found the Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Foundation in Vienna, Austria. She endowed the Austrian Frederick Kiesler Prize, an award given to a notable contributor to the field of architecture. The first recipient was Frank Gehry in 1998. Lillian Kiesler passed away in 2001 in New York City.

Related Material:: The holdings of the Archives of American Art include the Hans Hofmann Papers, 1904-1978 and the Maryette Charlton Papers, 1929-1998. Additional Frederick Kiesler papers are available at the Museum of Modern Art, the Harvard Theater Collection, and the Yale School of Art and Architecture.

Separated Material:: Some of the materials related to Frederick Kiesler were initially loaned for microfilming on reels 57 and 127-128. This material is not described in the container listing of this finding aid. Most, but not all, of the loaned material was later donated and has been merged with the other accretions.

Provenance:: The collection was donated by Lillian Kiesler and Maryette Charlton, executrix of her estate, in several accessions between 1980-2002. Some of the papers related to Frederick Kiesler were originally loaned for microfilming in 1971, most of which was later donated in 1980. Additional papers related to Frederick Kiesler were donated in 1993. Papers related to Hans Hofmann were given in 1981. Lillian Kiesler's papers were donated in 2000 by Lillian Kiesler, and in 2002, by Maryette Charlton.

Restrictions:: Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

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

Topic:: Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Set Designers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Women artists Search this; Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Exhibition designers Search this; Art schools -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Art schools -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this; Art patrons -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Architects -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Actors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this

Genre/Form:: Scrapbooks; Sound recordings; Diaries; Interviews; Scripts (documents); Motion pictures (visual works)

Citation:: Lillian and Frederick Kiesler papers, circa 1910s-2003, bulk 1958-2000. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:: AAA.kieslill

See more items in:: Lillian and Frederick Kiesler papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-kieslill

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Claire Falkenstein papers

Creator:: Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997 Search this

Names:: Coos Art Museum Search this; Fresno Art Museum Search this; Galerie Anderson-Mayer Search this; Gallery Stadler Search this; Jack Rutberg Fine Arts (Los Angeles, Calif.) Search this; John Bolles Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.) Search this; Los Angeles Museum of Art Search this; Malvina Miller Search this; Martha Jackson Gallery Search this; Merging One Gallery Search this; Mills College -- Faculty Search this; Pond Farm Workshop Search this; San Francisco Museum of Art Search this; University of California, San Francisco. School of Fine Arts -- Faculty Search this; Green, Ray, 1908-1997 Search this; Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898- Search this; Kuh, Katharine Search this; O'Donnell, May, 1906-2004 Search this; Sawyer, Kenneth B. Search this; Still, Clyfford, 1904- Search this; Still, Patricia Search this; Tapie, Michel Search this; Temko, Allan Search this; Tobey, Mark Search this; Wildenhain, Frans, 1905-1980 Search this

Extent:: 42.8 Linear feet

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Drawings; Motion pictures (visual works); Scrapbooks; Sketchbooks; Diaries; Photographs; Sketches

Date:: circa 1914-1997; bulk 1940-1990

Summary:: The papers of sculptor, painter, jewelry designer, and teacher Claire Falkenstein measure 42.8 linear feet and date from 1917 to her death in 1997. There is extensive correspondence with fellow artists, collectors, critics, friends, museums, and galleries. The collection also contains biographical materials, much of it collected and organized by Falkenstein, personal and business records, writings, diaries, exhibition files, commission files, teaching files, photographs, original artwork, scrapbooks, and printed materials. There is a short motion picture film of an interview with Falkenstein featuring the windows she designed for St. Basil's Church in Los Angeles.

Scope and Content Note:: The papers of sculptor, painter, jewelry designer, and teacher Claire Falkenstein measure 42.8 linear feet and date from 1917 to her death in 1997. There is extensive correspondence with fellow artists, collectors, critics, friends, museums, and galleries. The collection also contains biographical materials, much of it collected and organized by Falkenstein, personal and business records, writings, diaries, exhibition files, commission files, teaching files, photographs, original artwork, scrapbooks, and printed materials. There is a short motion picture film of an interview with Falkenstein featuring the windows she designed for St. Basil's Church in Los Angeles.

Biographical material includes appointment calendars, awards and honorary degrees, interview transcripts, passports, resumes, wills, and scrapbooks. Scrapbooks were compiled by Falkenstein and focus primarily on her exhibitions at the Galerie Stadler and Gallery Meyer in 1959 and 1960. Also of interest are the "biography files" created and arranged by Falkenstein. These files contain material that she personally felt was the most important in documenting her activities each year. They include correspondence, exhibition catalogs, printed material, and invitations.

Measuring nine linear feet, correspondence is extensive and comprehensively documents Falkenstein's work, social life, relationships, and other business and personal activities. Correspondence dates from 1941 to 1997 and includes business letters and correspondence with friends and family. Her communications with friends, family, clients, gallery owners, collectors, museums, publishers, foundations, and grant agencies reveal many of her ideas and techniques. Individual correspondents include Ray Green, Peggy Guggenheim, Katharine Kuh, May O'Donnell, Ken Sawyer, Clyfford and Pat Still, Michel Tapie, Allan Temko, Mark Tobey, and Frans Wildenhain. Gallery and museum correspondence is with the San Francisco Museum of Art, Coos Art Museum, Los Angeles Museum of Art, Galerie Stadler (Paris), Gallery Mayer (Paris), Malvina Miller (New York), Martha Jackson Gallery (New York), Jack Rutberg Fine Arts (Los Angeles), Galerie Anderson-Mayer (Paris), and Bolles Gallery. Correspondence is also found in the Commission Files and Exhibition Files.

Personal and business records contain a wide variety of material documenting Falkenstein's business, financial, legal, professional, and personal transactions. Files are found for sales and prices, art inventories, smaller jewelry commissions, her work as a juror, her business with galleries, legal affairs and contracts, expenses, records of arts organizations to which she belonged, conferences, grants and fellowships, studio and house renovations, her Paris studio and Paris expenses, travel, donations, loans and consignments, conservation, art shipping, insurance, and taxes. Oversized visitor's logs contain comments from visitors to Falkenstein's studio in Venice, California.

Falkenstein maintained comprehensive documentation of her exhibitions from her first exhibition in the 1930s to the last one at the Merging One Gallery in 1996. Files include both a chronological record and individual record for nearly all of her exhibitions. Found with the files are correspondence, photographs, loan and shipping records, catalogs, announcements, clippings, articles, and other records. Most of the photographs related to exhibitions are found in the Photographs Series. The files for exhibitions at the Fresno Art Museum, Martha Jackson Gallery and Jack Rutberg Fine Art Gallery are particularly rich.

Commission files document nearly all of Falkenstein's public and private large-scale projects and often contain a visual record of the work, as well as correspondence, design notes, contracts, and expense reports. There is documentation of the St. Basils Church windows in Los Angeles; the Peggy Guggenheim gate in Venice, Italy; and the fountain at the California Savings and Loan, in Los Angeles; and many others. There is also a chronological record of her commissions. The bulk of the photographs of commissions are found in the Photograph series. Also, most of Falkenstein's jewelry design commissions are found in the Personal and Business Records series.

Falkenstein's work as a prolific writer, particularly in the 1940s and 1950s, is well-documented here through her numerous published articles in Arts and Architecture magazine, and the New York Herald-Tribune. Her work for Arts and Architecture was primarily written for the "Art Comments from San Francisco" section. She was living in Paris when she contributed an art news column to the New York Herald-Tribune. Also found here are five diaries and one journal dating from circa 1929-1978. The entries are inconsistent and concern mostly travel. The diaries from 1929 and 1934 are more personal. Falkenstein also maintained extensive notes and notebooks about artwork ideas, observations about art, research, and even drafts of letters. There are also many notes about various topics, including art and class notes. Additional writings are eclectic and cover a wide range of topics, including music, poetry, the script for Falkestein's film entitled Touching the Quick, and drafts of her unpublished book on murals. A handful of writings by others are found, most with annotations by Falkenstein.

Teaching files include Falkenstein's numerous lectures given while teaching at Mills College, Pond Farm Workshops, and California School of Fine Arts, and various symposiums and conferences. Also found are lesson plans, contracts, scattered correspondence, and notes. The files on her tenure at the Pond Farm Workshops are particularly interesting, with notes about her fellow teacher Frans Wildenhain and correspondence with workshop owners, Jane and Gordon Herr.

There are extensive photographs of Falkenstein, her family and friends, colleagues, commissions, exhibitions, and works of art. Included are many images of Falkenstein, of Falkenstien with her art, of Falkentstien working, and of Falkenstein's studio. There are numerous photographs of Falkenstein with friends, family, and colleagues in social or work settings. Also found are photographs of exhibition openings, installation views, and works of art exhibited. Additional photographs document Falkenstein's commissions, including images of her at work. Additional images of commissions may also be found in the Commission Series, but the bulk are filed here. There are numerous photographs of Falkenstein's works of art, including drawings, sculpture, jewelry, murals, lamps, and ceramics.

Falkenstein's papers include a large amount of sketches, sketchbooks, and drawings. Many of the sketches and drawings relate to her ideas about commissions and large sculpture, jewelry designs, and general sketches. Sketches are also found in the Commission Files. Also included are drawings by Mark Tobey and Michel Tapie, and others.

Finally, printed materials include general exhibition catalogs, newspapers clippings, and clippings of articles by and about Falkenstein. Also included are books that have been inscribed and signed by the author.

Arrangement:: The collection is arranged into 9 series:

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1934-1997 (Box 1-4, 41; 4.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1931-1997 (Box 5-13; 9 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal and Business Records, 1936-1997 (Box 14-17, 41, 46-49; 4.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Exhibitions, 1930-1996 (Box 18-21, 42, OV 50; 3.3 linear feet)

Series 5. Commissions, 1930-1992 (Box 21-22, OV 50-54 ; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 6: Writings, circa 1929-1993 (Box 22-26, 42, 55; 4.6 linear feet)

Series 7: Teaching Files, 1929-1995 (Box 26; .8 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1917-1997 (Box 27-35, 43, 55-56; 9.5 linear feet)

Series 9: Artwork, circa 1937-1995 (Box 36-37, 44, 57; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 10: Printed Materials, circa 1914-1990 (Box 37-40, 45, 58; 3.9 linear feet)

Biographical Note:: Claire Falkenstein (1908-1997) spent the majority of her life working as an artist, sculptor, jewelry designer, teacher, and writer in California.

Claire Falkenstein was born in 1908 and grew up in Coos Bay, Oregon. In 1920, Falkenstein and her family moved to Berkeley, California, where she attended high school and then college at the University of California at Berkeley, studying philosophy, anthropology, and art. She graduated in 1930. Falkenstein had her first solo show at the East-West Gallery in San Francisco in 1930, the only member of her class to have an exhibition before graduation.

During the early 1930s, Falkenstein studied at Mills College with modernist sculptor Alexander Archipenko. There she also met Bauhaus artists Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Gyorgy Kepes. Falkenstein married her high school sweetheart, Richard McCarthy in 1936.

In 1944, Falkenstein had her first New York exhibition at the Bonestall Gallery. At that time, Falkenstein's primary mediums were stone and wood. However, she became increasingly experimental with new materials that included sheet aluminum, Cor-Ten steel, glass, plastics, and welded wire rods while maintaining a connection to organic and natural forms. Her work in jewelry design was an outlet for exploring these new materials, forms, and techniques on a small scale. As her work grew physically larger, so did her recognition and it was her work in sculpture that won her a faculty appointment at the California School of Fine Arts from 1947-1949. It was here that she met Patricia and Clyfford Still, Hassel Smith, and Richard Diebenkorn.

In 1948, Falkenstein was invited to exhibit at the Salon des Realites Nouvelle in Paris, her first European show. She eventually moved to Europe in 1950 and had studios in Paris, Venice, and Rome. While in Europe, Falkenstein executed a number of large scale commissions, including the stair screen for Galerie Stadler (1955), grotto gates for Princess Pignatelli's villa in Rome (1957), and the bronze, steel, and the glass gate at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice (1961). While in Paris, she became acquainted with noted art critic Michel Tapie, with whom she maintained a life-long friendship.

During the 1940s and 1950s Falkenstein was a regular contributor to Arts and Architecture magazine, most often writing the "Art Comments from San Francisco" section. While in Paris, she also wrote a column on art news for the New York Herald Tribune.

Falkenstein returned to the United States in 1962, eventually renovating a studio space in Venice, California. It was here that she conceived her largest commissions. In 1965, Falkenstein received a commission from the California Savings and Loan to create a sculpture for a large fountain at the front of the bank in downtown Los Angeles. The copper tube fountain, entitled "Structure and Flow #2," was the first of many large scale public art commissions that Falkenstein completed during her years in California. Her most important commission in the United States, completed in 1969, was for the doors, rectory gates and grills and stained-glass windows for St. Basil's Church on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The eight doors and fifteen rectory screens, including 80 foot high windows in the nave, were an expansion of the "never ending screen" concept that Falkenstein executed with the Pignatelli commission in Rome. She continued to use this motif in her work throughout her career.

Claire Falkenstein worked as an arts instructor, visiting artist, and guest lecturer at many colleges, workshops, and schools in California. Her first position was at Mills College from 1946-1947. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed to the faculty at the California School of Fine Arts and later taught in the Extension Divisions of the University of California, Berkeley. She taught classes at California State Polytechnic University, California State University at Davis, and the Anna Head School. Falkenstein also taught art at the Pond Farm Workshops in California, and lectured at numerous colleges and museums. She served on many juried art shows in Southern California.

Falkenstein was acquainted with many artists, writers, instructors, collectors, gallery owners, and critics. Close friends included Esther and Bob Robles, Clyfford and Patricia Still, Michel Tapie, Allan Temko, Mark Tobey, Frans Wildenhain, and other notable figures in the art world.

Falkenstein continued to complete large scale private and public commissioned sculptures during the 1960s through the 1980s, including work for the University of Southern California, Hyland Biological Laboratory, California State University at Dominquez Hills and the California State Department of Motor Vehicles. Throughout her career, Falkenstein's work was featured in numerous exhibitions across the country. Her sculpture and other artwork can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Coos Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museum, University of Southern California Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Tate Gallery.

Falkenstein died in 1997 at the age of 89.

Related Material:: The Archives of American Art also holds two oral history interviews with Claire Falkenstein. The interview on April 13, 1965 was conducted by Betty Hoag and the one on March 2 and 21, 1995 was conducted by Paul Karlstrom.

Provenance:: The Claire Falkenstein papers were donated in 1997 by Steffan Wacholtz and Nancy Kendall, trustees for the Claire Falkenstein Trust.

Restrictions:: Use of original papers requires an appointment.

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

Occupation:: Painters -- California Search this

Topic:: Women artists -- California Search this; Women artists -- France -- Paris Search this; Sculptors -- California Search this; Interviews Search this; Awards Search this; Transcripts Search this; Articles Search this; Designers -- California Search this; Drafts (documents) Search this; Art -- Study and teaching Search this; Poetry Search this; Scripts Search this; Notebooks Search this; Artists' studios Search this; Art -- Economic aspects Search this; Art patronage Search this; Educators -- California Search this; Jewelry -- Design Search this; Sculptors -- France -- Paris Search this

Genre/Form:: Drawings; Motion pictures (visual works); Scrapbooks; Sketchbooks; Diaries; Photographs; Sketches

Citation:: Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:: Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation.

Identifier:: AAA.falkclai

See more items in:: Claire Falkenstein papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-falkclai

Online Media:

No Image Available

Calendars, address books, passports, international driving permit, blank business forms, and calling cards

Collection Collector:: Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981 Search this

Collection Printer:: Janus, Allan Search this

Collection Interviewee:: Hanfstaengl, Erna Search this

Container:: Box 1 (Series 4)

Type:: Archival materials

Date:: 1954-1979

Collection Restrictions:: Collection is open for research.

A small number of letters and photographs are restricted until the year 2031. Identification list in box.

Collection Rights:: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Identifier:: NMAH.AC.0145, Subseries 4.1

See more items in:: Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection; Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection / Series 4: Biographical Materials

Archival Repository:: Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:: ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0145-ref302

Mack Gordon Papers

Composer:: Myrow, Josef Search this; Revel, Harry -- 20th century Search this; Warren, Harry, 1893-1981 -- 20th century Search this

Creator:: Gordon, Mack, 1904-1959 Search this

Actor:: Berle, Milton Search this; Dailey, Dan Search this; Dunne, Irene -- 20th century Search this; Faye, Alice -- 20th century Search this; Gable, Clark, 1901-1960 -- 20th century Search this; Henie, Sonja, 1912-1969 -- 20th century Search this; Lombard, Carole -- 20th century Search this; O'Hara, Maureen, 1920- -- 20th century Search this; Oakie, Jack, 1903-1978 -- 20th century Search this; Payne, John -- 20th century Search this; Power, Tyrone, 1914-1958 -- 20th century Search this; Taylor, Robert -- 20th century Search this

Singer:: Cantor, Eddie, 1892-1964 Search this; Crosby, Bing, 1904-1977 Search this; Fisher, Eddie -- 20th century Search this; Jolson, Al, d. 1950 -- 20th century Search this; Langford, Frances -- 20th century Search this; Merman, Ethel -- 20th century Search this

Dancer:: Castle, Nick -- 20th century Search this

Producer:: Grainger, Edmund -- 20th century Search this

Director:: Taurog, Norman -- 20th century Search this

Extent:: 1 Motion picture film; 3 Cubic feet (9 boxes)

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Motion picture films; Motion pictures (visual works); Motion picture stills; Passports; Contracts; Correspondence; Clippings; Business records; Photographs; Scrapbooks; Photograph albums; Songs; Writings; Scripts (documents); Sheet music

Date:: 1926-1977, undated

Summary:: Mack Gordon (1904-1959) was a prolific and successful songwriter, lyricist, and composer. He composed songs for stage and screen. He and Harry Warren won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1943.

Scope and Contents:: The papers document the life and career of songwriter Mack Gordon. They include business records, both personal and business correspondence, contracts, royalty statements, commercially published sheet music, a script for the motion picture Three Little Girls in Blue, photograph albums, a scrapbook of clippings, original music manuscripts, notes and writings that may have served as mnemonic devices for song ideas, an excerpt from the Paramount short film, The Collegians, funeral materials, name change documents, and a passport. The production and creative files give insight into Gordon's creative process, and ideas for lyrics, song titles, and word play are found throughout these files.

The collection is organized in seven series.

Series 1: Production and Creative Files, 1931-1950, undated. This series contains files relating to motion picture and theatrical productions, both produced and unproduced. This series also contains unidentified lyric notes, instrumental sketches, and themes.

Series 2: Business Records, 1931-1975, undated. This series contains business records, royalty contracts, telegrams, correspondence and other business records pertaining to Gordon and his work for theatrical and motion picture companies.

Series 3: Original Music Manuscripts, 1940-1952, undated. This series contains original music manuscripts written by Gordon.

Series 4: Commercial Sheet Music, 1928-1959, undated. This series contains commercially published sheet music. The sheet music was bound by Gordon into volumes he titled, Majors & Minors, there is also a folder of unbound sheet music.

Series 5: Personal and Family, 1935-1977, undated. This series contains personal documents such as passports, life insurance documents, name change documents, the auction catalogue from the sale of furnishings at Gordon's Pacific Palisades home. This series also contains personal correspondence from singer Sandra Werner to Gordon.

Series 6: Photographs, 1933-1956, undated

Series 7: Audio-Visual, 1926

Arrangement:: The collection is organized in seven series.

Series 1: Production and Creative Files, 1931-1950, undated

Series 2: Business Records, 1931-1975, undated

Series 3: Original Music Manuscripts, 1940-1952, undated

Series 4: Commercial Sheet Music, 1928-1959, undated

Series 5: Personal and Family, 1935-1977, undated

Series 6: Photographs, 1933-1956, undated

Series 7: Audio-Visual, 1926

Biographical / Historical:: Mack Gordon was a prolific and successful songwriter, lyricist, and composer who composed songs for stage and screen. Born Morris Gitler (he legally changed his name to Mack Gordon in later life) in Poland on June 21, 1904, his family immigrated to the United States in 1908 and settled in New York. His early career was as a performer in vaudeville and minstrel shows, but by the early 1930s he had formed a songwriting partnership with pianist Harry Revel. Gordon wrote for the Broadway stage and eventually made his way to Hollywood where he worked at a number of different motion picture studios.

In addition to Revel, Gordon worked with such well-known composers as Harry Warren, with whom he won his only Academy Award for Best Song for "You'll Never Know" from Hello Frisco Hello, and Josef Myrow, to name just three. Some of his more famous songs are "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "At Last," and "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?". He was nominated for the Academy Award nine times and became a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He died on February 28, 1959 in New York City (some biographies have his date of death as March 1), and is entombed at the Corridor of Immortality at the Home of Peace Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California.

Provenance:: Collection donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution by Jack Gordon, son of Mack Gordon, in 2015.

Restrictions:: Collection is open for research.

Rights:: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Occupation:: Motion picture actors and actresses Search this; Composers Search this

Topic:: Motion pictures -- 1930-1940 Search this; Motion pictures, American Search this; Motion pictures and music -- 1930-1970 Search this; Theater Search this; Musicals Search this; Music -- 20th century Search this; Motion pictures Search this; Musical theater Search this; Music -- United States Search this

Genre/Form:: Motion pictures (visual works) -- 1930-1950; Motion picture stills; Passports; Contracts -- 20th century; Correspondence -- 20th century; Clippings -- 20th century; Business records -- 20th century; Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 20th century; Scrapbooks -- 1930-1940; Photograph albums -- 20th century; Songs; Writings; Scripts (documents); Sheet music -- 20th century

Citation:: Mack Gordon Papers, 1926-1977, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:: NMAH.AC.1363

See more items in:: Mack Gordon Papers

Archival Repository:: Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1363

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection

Collector:: Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981 Search this

Printer:: Janus, Allan Search this

Interviewee:: Hanfstaengl, Erna Search this

Names:: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Search this; Chautauqua Institute Search this; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Search this; Holland-America Cruises Search this; Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945 Search this

Extent:: 87.6 Cubic feet (318 boxes)

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Passports; Photographs; Travelogs; Receipts; Ephemera; Files; Filmstrips; Lecture notes; Personal papers; Silver-dye bleach process; Contracts; Notebooks; Prints; Press releases; Ships' passenger lists; Project files; Magnetic tapes; Posters; Postcards; Vertical files; Dye destruction process; Travel diaries; Letters (correspondence); Professional papers; Bank statements; Correspondence; Audiotapes; Series 12.; Clippings; Card files; Concert programs; Dye destruction photoprints; Biography files; Awards; Business records; Birthday cards

Date:: circa 1790-1981; bulk 1945-1980

Scope and Contents:: This collection is primarily the work of one individual, Donald Harvey Sultner, known professionally as Donald Sultner-Welles (1914-1981). The collection forms a written and visual record of Sultner's family, life, and career from 1913-1980. Its major strength is Sultner's photographic documentation of the world during his travels, ca. 1950-1980. Work by other photographers and artists, correspondence, greeting cards, and contemporary memorabilia and ephemera are included, along with fewer than fifty examples of earlier materials, ca. 1790-1900, collected by Sultner.

The entire collection reflects Sultner's lifework and interests. Housed in @ boxes (.W cubic feet), the collection is organized into eleven series: Personal Papers; Professional Papers; Lecture Materials; Biographical Materials; Transparencies; Photoprints; Photonegatives; Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media; Audio Tapes; Miscellaneous; and Restricted Materials. The arrangement within each series is based as closely as possi-ble on Sultner's own organization of the materials. However, in several instances similar materials were found separated and have been placed together. In addition, obvious filing mistakes and spelling errors have been corrected. The spelling of geographic place names is based on Offi-cial Standard Names prepared by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Of-fice of Geography, U.S. Department of the Interior. Not all names given by Sultner were found in the gazetteers, so there may be errors.

The bulk of the collection consists of 2-1/4-inch by 2-1/4-inch color transparencies (Series 5). However, the manuscript materials (Series 1-4) provide a detailed complement to the transparencies. For example, from the mid-1950s until the late 1970s, Sultner kept a travel diary (Se-ries 1). Written on the backs of postcards, this stream-of-consciousness journal reflects not only his daily trips, but his impressions of the countries and thoughts on his photography. A juxtaposition of cards with images is especially useful in understanding what Sultner photographed as well as why and how he photographed it. Sultner's professional corre-spondence (Series 2) documents the various types of groups before which he performed and equipment manufacturers dealt with for cameras, projectors, and so on. Notes, drafts, and final lectures (Series 3) present the performance side of Sultner. This material, when viewed with tapes of concerts and slides, begins to recreate the photo-concert as Sultner presented it. Scrapbooks (Series 4), kept by Sultner from the 1940s to the 1980s, present Sultner's life and career in chronological fashion.

The transparency portion of the collection (Series 5), containing over 87,000 images, is especially rich because of its documentation of the countries of the world. People are seen at their daily tasks, such as washing clothes, marketing, shopping, and eating. Cities are documented as they changed over the years. Two areas in particular will be of spe-cial interest to European and Asian researchers. The first is Sultner's USIS Asian tour in 1959. He visited Japan, Java, India, Korea, the Phil-ippines, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The serene, prewar cities and coun-tryside of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam evince nothing of the devastation to come in the 1960a and 70s.

The second area of interest is Sultner's passion for documenting archi-tecture. As a guest of the German government in 1954, Sultner documented the devastation of World War II and photographed both the reconstruction of bombed buildings and the construction of buildings reflecting "new" postwar architectural styles. In addition to photographing post-WW II styles, throughout his career Sultner documented Palladian, baroque and Rococo architecture. This interest manifested itself in several of his lectures.

A third subject area of interest to Sultner was gardens. Among his first lectures following his USIS tour was "Gardens of the World." Sultner de-veloped this theme into an ongoing commitment to ecology, culminating in a filmstrip, "The Time is Now" (Series 10), prepared for the Hudson River Conservation Society in the 1960s. Carl Carmer, a noted author, wrote the text for the filmstrip. Sultner's taped interviews, lectures, and program music (Series 9) complement the transparencies. During his USIS-sponsored Asian tour in 1959, Sultner recorded impressions of his trip on tape. Interviews with people living in the countries he visited, radio interviews, and his own personal reflections are included. Of particular interest are his "No Harm Asking" interviews in Manila (tape #2), his interview of two French hotel managers in Saigon discussing post-French control conditions (tape #9), and--perhaps the most unusual--his discussion with Erna Hanfstaengl about her personal relationship with Adolf Hitler (tape #107). Scripts for lectures (Series 3) round out the documentation of Sultner's profes-sional work.

Because of the arrangement of the transparencies, it is necessary to check several areas for the same subject. For example, Vietnam images are in the "World" section alphabetically under Vietnam (box 81). Sult-ner also lectured on Vietnam, so there are Vietnamese images in the "framed subjects" (Boxes 137-138). Another example, perhaps more compli-cated, but more common to Sultner, was his distinguishing between images of unidentified "People" and identified "Portraits." Transparency stud ies of human beings will be found under the subseries "People." "Subjects --Portraits," various countries in the subseries "World," and "Lectures." There are also individuals in the black-and-white photoprints (Series 6), and photonegatives (Series 8). The painter and print-maker Charles Shee-ler appears in a number of locations, as does tenor Roland Hayes. Another area of complexity with regard to people concerns the transparencies and negatives. Sultner interfiled his transparencies and negatives of iden-tified individuals. For appropriate storage, these two different formats have been arranged in separate series. Therefore, instead of container lists for the two series, there is a combined alphabetical index to both (pp. 166-206).

Of tangential interest are the photoprints (Series 6), etchings, wood-cuts, and other prints (Series 8) collected by Sultner. One particular subseries of interest contains photographs presented to Sultner by Asian photographers during his 1959 tour. Over 45 images were given to Sultner and represent the standards of camera-club photography in the 1950s. Thesecond subseries consists of over 25 prints by the Italian-American art-ist Luigi Lucioni (1900- ). For further information on this artist,see The Etchings of Luigi Lucioni, -A Catalogue Raisonne', by Stuart P.Embury (Washington, 1984). Lucioni also painted Sultner's portrait in1952 and the "People" section of the transparencies contains a number of images of Lucioni at work. Another significant category is the Japanese prints, including two by a major nineteenth-century artist, Ando Hiro-shige (1797-1858).

Series 11 contains restricted letters to Sultner from friends. These materials will become available to the public in the year 2031. Twenty-three document boxes of clippings and magazine articles found in standard magazines and newspapers (e.g., Time, Life, Look, Modern Ma-turity, etc.) were destroyed. These materials represented general arti--cles being published on a number of topics during Sultner's lifetime. A list of subject file headings Sultner used is with the manuscript mate-rials.

A second grouping of materials destroyed were nine filing cabinet drawers of travel material--maps, guide books, and other tourist pamphlets used by Sultner on his travels. This material, as with the first group of ma-terial, was of the common variety easily found. Any books or pamphlets found with the clippings were sorted out and sent to Smithsonian Institu-tion Libraries. Other library material that came in with the estate was sent immediately to the library and disposed of through their channels. Any office equipment, such as filing cabinets and supplies, etc., has been put to use in the National Museum of American History.

Arrangement:: Series 1: Personal Papers, 1923-1981

Series 2: Professional Papers, 1954-1980

Series 3: Lecture Materials, 1952-1980

Series 4: Biographical Materials, 1954-1980

Series 5: Transparencies, 1947-1980

Series 6: Photoprints, 1913-ca. 1980

Series 7: Photonegatives, 1929-1981

Series 8: Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media, ca. 1790-1979

Series 9: Audio Tapes, 1947-1980

Series 10: Miscellaneous, 1947-1980

Biographical / Historical:: Donald Harvey Sultner was bom in York, Pennsylvania, on April 13, 1914, the son of Lillian May Arnold Sultner and Harvey A. Sultner. In 1923 Sultner attended the Lewis Institute in Detroit, Michigan, to overcome a speech impediment. He entered the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1932 and graduated in 1936. Sultner studied merchandising and sang in the glee club, then under the direction of composer Harl MacDonald. Sultner, a baritone, continued his interest in music and studied voice with Reinald Werrenrath and with Florence Benedict and Bruce Benjamin in New York City. In the late 1940s and early 1950s he appeared in concert with accompanists at schools, clubs, and resort hotels along the East Coast. It appears that photography was always an important part of Sultner's life. Using a small format (120) camera, he recorded his vacation travels around the United States and Canada, parties, and his family. While living in New York, Sultner continued photographing friends and family and began photographing the famous people he encountered on his concert tours. In the early 1950s he began taking 2-1/4-inch by 2-1/4-inch color transparencies (slides) of landscapes and architecture as he traveled giving concerts.

Sultner, who had taken the stage name of "Sultner-Welles," began what was to be his lifework as a professional "photo-lecturer" in 1952. He illustrated his talks on nature, art, architecture, and the environment with his color slides. In 1954 Sultner toured West Germany as a guest of the Bonn government, and in 1959 he lectured in Asia under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. He was dubbed the "camera ambassador." Constantly adding new material to his collection of slides, Sultner traveled extensively throughout the United States, speaking before garden clubs, cultural organi-zations, and schools. He also appeared aboard various ships of the Holland-America line during a number of cruises abroad.

Sultner had established his performance style by the early 1960s. He expanded his lectures to include a combination of art, words, and music. The expanded presentation resulted in the "photo-concert," a unique synthesis of light and sound that Sultner frequently per-formed with a symphony orchestra. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra commissioned "Concertino for Camera and Orchestra" by Eric Knight with Sultner in mind. The world premiere was in Baltimore in March 1979. While he spoke on many art, garden, and architectural topics, Sultner specialized in subjects relating to the baroque and rococo periods and Palladian architecture.

Sultner died of cancer in York, Pennsylvania, on March 25, 1981, at the age of 67.

1914 -- April 13, born York, Pennsylvania.

1929 -- In Detroit at Lewis Institute to overcome a speech impediment.

1932 -- To University of Pennsylvania.

1935 -- Summer trip to Roanoke (VA), Picketts, Hershey (PA); fall trip to New England for fraternity (AXP) convention.

1936 -- Spring glee club trip; graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; summer trips to Newport News (VA), northern trip to Canada, Picketts (PA).

1937 -- Fall trip to Williamsburg (VA), Duke University (NC); Sultner family begins building "Glen Hill" (Dover, PA).

1938 -- Summer at home, and Picketts (PA), Camp Pratt.

1939 -- Spring trip to Washington, D.C.; September trip to The Homestead (WV), Hot Springs (WV), Virginia; Lake Mohonk (NY).

1940 -- Summer trip to New Orleans, Blowing Rock (NC); winter trip to Skytop Club (NY); fall trip to Atlantic City (NJ), Philadelphia (PA), Annapolis (MD).

1941 -- Winter 1941-42 appearance in "Hit the Deck." Lake Mohonk (NY) with Ted Walstrum (Sept. 22-23); Skytop Club (NY) (February); summer trip to Canada, Lake Chazy (NY) (Aug. 17-23).

1942 -- Spring in Atlantic City (NJ); summer to Buck Hill Falls, Lakes Chazy and Mohonk.

1943 -- Summer trip to Mohonk (NY).

1944 -- Summer: To Toronto (Ontario), Muskoka Lake, Bigwin Island, Montreal (Quebec), Mohonk (NY).

1945 -- Summer: To Winnepesauke (ME), Woodstock (NY), Ogunquit (ME), Bridgeport (CT).

1946 -- To Mohonk (NY), Ogunquit (ME), Old Saybrook (CT), Nantucket (RI).

1947 -- Singing tour of Canada and New England; winter-spring tour to Georgia and Florida.

1948 -- To Florida and Nassau, Feb.-Mar., Vermont, July-Aug.; Nassau-Havana-Miami-Bermuda, October.

1949 -- Singing tour of North and South Carolina.

1950 -- Summer trip to South.

1951 -- To District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, [New Jersey?], New York, Vermont.

1952 -- January 9: first public photo-concert, Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts, Philadelphia; trips to Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont.

1953 -- To Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont.

1954 -- Guest of German government for a study tour in the fall. To District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia.

1955 -- To Holland; Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

1956 -- To California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.

1957 -- Holland-America Cruise to Germany, Austria, Italy. To Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1958 -- Holland-America Cruises to Germany, Austria, Holland, Italy, Switzerland. To Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota., Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin.

1959 -- United States Information Service (USIS)-sponsored tour of Asia: Burma, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam. Also visited Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Spain; Alaska, California, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania.

1960 -- Holland-America Cruise to Austria, Belgium, Caribbean, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Morocco. To Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

1961 -- To Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland; Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode.Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

1962 -- Portfolio, "Autumn in Vermont," with introduction by Carl Carmer, published in Autumn issue of Vermont Life. Holland-America Cruise to Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden. To Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

1963 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Canada, Sweden, Thailand. To Alabama, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, N;w York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington.

1964 -- Holland-America Cruise to Germany, Canada, England, Holland, Wales. To Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia.

1965 -- Holland-America Cruise to Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Wales. To Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1966 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Germany, France, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland. To New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.

1967 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Austria, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Wales. To Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia.

1968 -- To Germany; Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1969 -- To England, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland; Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

1970 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden. To Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

1971 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Sweden. To Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania.

1972 -- Holland-America Cruise to Asia, Pacific, Caribbean, Africa, Austria, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Turkey. To California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia.

1973 -- Holland-America Cruise to Austria, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Sweden. To California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont.

1974 -- To Germany, Switzerland; California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

1975 -- To Austria; California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

1976 -- To Canada; Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah.

1977 -- To Canada, Germany; New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1978 -- To Scotland; Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina.

1979 -- To England; Florida.

1980 -- To Florida.

1981 -- March 25: Sultner dies of cancer, York, Pennsylania.

Introduction:: The Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection, ca. 1790-1981, came to the National Museum of American History in 1982 from the estate of Mr. Sultner. The collection was created by Sultner over his adult life and represents one of the most extensive collections of color transparencies created by one individual and held in a public repository. Sultner's emphasis was on world culture. He took the majority of his photographs in the eastern United States, western Europe, and Asia. Gardens, architecture, and people are the three major subject areas represented in the collection. Of additional interest are Sultner's taped impressions of his 1959 United States Information Service (USIS)-sponsored Asian tour. The collection occupies 309 boxes and covers more than 83 cubic feet.

The Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection is open to researchers in the Archives Center, third floor east, of the National Museum of American History, between 12th and 14th Streets, on Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20560. The Archives Center is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Written and telephone (202/357-3270) inquiries are welcome and researchers are encouraged to contact the Archives Center before their arrival. The FAX number is 202/786-2453.

This is the eleventh in a series of occasional guides to collections in the Archives Center. Finding aids to other collections are available. The Guide to Manuscript Collections in the National Museum of History and Technology (1978) and an updated compilation contain brief descriptions of all archival holdings in the Museum. All current Archives Center holdings are available for search on the Smithsonian Institution Bibliographic Information System (SIBIS), an online database.

General:: References in notebook to tapes not located:

5/1960 Laddsl--Pasadena, CA (Thornton Ladd, Helen Peabody, me, Mrs. Ladd

5/11/1968 Glen Foerd, dinner party--F. Tonner, T[onner] tribute

List of Illustrations:: Frontispiece: Portrait of Donald Harvey Sultner-Welles by Ludwig Harren, Nuremberg, Germany, May, 1957. Series 6: Photo¬prints, box 6; Series 7: Photonegatives, 700.1.

vii Donald Sultner-Welles inspecting slides at his 2101 E. Market Street apartment. Photograph by Gretchen H. Goughnour, York, Pennsylvania, December 1958. Series 6: Photoprints, box 6, folder 5; Series 7: Photonegatives, Box 11, 696.1.

 Sultner-Welles with Rollei, Kobe, Japan, April 1959. Press photograph, photographer unknown. Series 7: Photonegatives, 687.1.

10 Americana by the Roadside" (boy with soda, Beech Creek, North Carolina). Series 5, Subseries 5: Subjects, Box 102: 6.3.

20 "Americana in Europe" (sign: "To the Elephant Kraal," South Africa). Series 5, Subseries 5: Subjects, Box 102: 6.33.

39 North Miami Beach Motel, Florida, February 1960. Series 5, Subseries 1: United States, Box 8: 9.11. SI Neg. 87-326, Videodisc Frame 2942.

40 Beech Creek, North Carolina (portrait of elderly woman), June 1956. Series 5, Subseries 1: United States, Box 28: 12.10. SI Neg. 87-327, Videodisc Frame 10156.

97 Brookgreen Sculpture Garden, South Carolina, ca. 1963. Series 5, Subseries 1: United States, Box 35.35.11. SI Neg. 87-328; Videodisc Frame 12747.

98 "Six Irrigation Paddlers Outside Hue," South Vietnam, 1959. Series 5, Subseries 2: World, Box 81: 35.11; also Series 7: Photonegatives, 658.1 (copy neg.). Videodisc Frame 27960.

151 Alkmaar Cheese Market, The Netherlands, September 1969. Series 5, Subseries 2: World, Box 70: 17.9. SI Neg. 87-329; not shown on videodisc.

152 African Cruise: Victoria Falls, Rhodesia, February 1972. Series 5, Subseries 3: Cruises, Box 83: 9.12. SI Neg. 87-330, Videodisc Frame 28344.

166 Il Galero, Italy, July 1966. Series 5, Subseries 4: European Architectural Styles, Box 99: 48.4. SI neg. 87-331.

179 "Baroque--Germany: Alterding," July 1965. Series 5, Subseries 4: European Architectural Styles, Box 94: 1.8. SI Neg. 87-332, Videodisc Frame 31310.

180 Design Elements, Hotel Fontainebleau, New Orleans,, Louisiana, April, 1961. Series 5, Subseries 5: Subjects, Box 106: 23.2. SI Neg. 87-333, Videodisc Frame 34912.

192 Charles Sheeler, ca. 1957-1965. Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 169: 49.2. SI Neg. 87-334. Videodisc Frame 52713.

238 "Ba-Rococo," Detail, Ottobeuren Church, Bavaria. Series 5, Subseries 7: Framed Subjects, Box 141: 47.7, Videodisc Frame 45665.

276 Villa Barbaro, Maser, Treviso, Italy. Series 7. Photonegatives, 715.1. SI Neg. 87-335.

281 "Water--Economics," Storm-Damaged Beach House. Series 5, Subseries 8: Notecard Transparencies, Box 155: 22.12. SI Neg. 87-336.

282 Market in Madeira. Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 161: 48.12. SI Neg. 87-337, Videodisc Frame 48435.

298 Children (South Carolina?). Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 104: 17.2. SI Neg. 87-338.

311 Goethe Statue, Chicago, Illinois. Series 7: Photonegatives, 678.1.

316 Feeding Gulls, Florida. Series 7. Photonegatives, 684.1.

331 Montage for Sultner's concerts. Series 8: Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media, filing case. Series 7: Photonegatives, 740.1.

332 Sultner Showing Slides to Garden Club, Caterpillar Tractor Co. Auditorium, Dec. 1958. Photograph by Gretchen H. Goughnour, York, Penn. Series 7: Photonegatives, 690.1.

340 Montage for Sultner's concerts. Series 8: Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media, filing case. Series 7: Photonegatives, 742.1.

341 Children, Ohio (boy in box in wagon) Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 165: 13.2; Series 7: Photonegatives, 667.4 (copy neg.)

352 Publicity/brochure photograph. Drinking cup and water, Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania. Series 7: Photonegatives, 651.1.

353 Publicity/brochure photograph, Milles Gardens, Stockholm, Sweden. Series 7: Photonegatives, 659.1.

Restrictions:: Collection is open for research.

A small number of letters and photographs are restricted until the year 2031. Identification list in box.

Rights:: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:: Portraits -- 20th century Search this; Lecturers Search this; Photographers Search this; Gardens -- Photographs -- 1300-1980 Search this; Architecture -- Photographs -- 1300-1980 Search this; Travel photography -- 1950-2000 Search this

Genre/Form:: Passports; Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film; Travelogs; Receipts -- 20th century; Ephemera; Files; Filmstrips; Lecture notes; Personal papers -- 20th century; Silver-dye bleach process; Contracts; Notebooks; Prints; Press releases; Ships' passenger lists; Project files; Magnetic tapes; Posters; Postcards; Vertical files; Dye destruction process; Travel diaries; Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.; Professional papers; Bank statements; Correspondence -- 1930-1950; Photographs -- Phototransparencies -- 20th century; Audiotapes -- 1940-1980; Series 12. -- Cibachrome (TM); Photographs -- 20th century; Clippings; Card files; Concert programs; Dye destruction photoprints; Biography files; Awards; Business records; Birthday cards

Identifier:: NMAH.AC.0145

See more items in:: Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection

Archival Repository:: Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0145

Online Media:

Harold Weston papers

Creator:: Weston, Harold, 1894-1972 Search this

Names:: Adirondack Trail Improvement Society Search this; Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA). Americans-in-Britain Outpost Search this; Corcoran Gallery of Art Search this; Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors Search this; Food for Freedom, Inc. Search this; Harvard Lampoon (Organization) Search this; Harvard University -- Students Search this; International Association of Art. United States Committee Search this; Montross Gallery Search this; National Council on the Arts and Government Search this; National Endowment for the Arts Search this; New York State Council on the Arts Search this; Phillips Collection Search this; Studio House (Phillips Memorial Gallery) Search this; Carmichael, Leonard, 1898-1973 Search this; Dows, Olin, 1904-1981 Search this; Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990 Search this; Phillips, Duncan, 1886-1966 Search this; Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962 Search this; Rosenfeld, Paul, 1890-1946 Search this; Sizer, Theodore, 1892-1967 Search this; Weston, Faith Search this

Extent:: 24.3 Linear feet

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Christmas cards; Notes; Etchings; Speeches; Articles; Postcards; Poems; Woodcuts; Sketches; Photographs; Scrapbooks; Glass negatives; Lantern slides; Copper plates

Place:: Adirondack Mountain Reserve (N.Y.)

Date:: 1894-1978; bulk 1912-1972

Summary:: The papers of modernist painter and activist Harold Weston (1894-1972) date from 1894 to 1978 and measure 24.3 linear feet. The papers focus on Weston's painting career and his involvement with humanitarian and artistic causes. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, association and organization records, commission and project files, materials relating to Weston's book Freedom in the Wilds, writings, artwork, printed materials, two scrapbooks, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note:: The papers of modernist painter and activist Harold Weston (1894-1972) date from 1894 to 1978 and measure 24.3 linear feet. The papers focus on Weston's painting career and his involvement with humanitarian and artistic causes. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, association and organization records, commission and project files, materials relating to Weston's book Freedom in the Wilds, writings, artwork, printed materials, two scrapbooks, and photographs. The papers document his involvement with the Committee to Defend America, Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, Food for Freedom, the International Association of the Plastic Arts, National Countil on the Arts and Government, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council for the Arts, Reconstruction Service Committee, and the YMCA in Baghdad.

Biographical materials include biographical sketches and resumes, including a short biography written by Faith Weston in 1969. There are records from his school years at Exeter Academy and Harvard University that include yearbooks, report cards, scholarship information, Harvard Lampoon materials, and a diploma from Harvard. Also found are materials relating to Faith Weston, membership cards, memorials information, passports and travel papers, and wedding wishes.

Correspondence from Harold Weston dates from his school years up until his death in 1972. In letters to his family, Weston discusses his education; his travel and activities in the Middle East during World War I; the Adirondacks; convalescense in France in the mid-1920s; his immediate family life; and exhibitions. Also found are holiday cards designed and printed by Weston. The majority of correspondence is with his father S. Burns Weston, mother Mary, sister Esther, brother Carl, Faith Weston and the Borton family, children Barbara, Bruce, and Haroldine, and others. Also found are letters between Weston and friend Theodore Sizer and Duncan Phillips of the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

Personal business and financial records relating to Weston's exhibitions include delivery receipts, agreements, hand-drawn gallery plans for exhibitions, lists of exhibitions, framing invoices, legal information, pricelists, records of sales, and lists of works of art. Galleries with which Weston held exhibitions, sold, or lent works of art include Boyer Galleries, Corcoran Gallery, the Gallery in Paoli, Montross Gallery, the Phillips Collection, and Studio House Galleries.

Records relating to Harold Weston's memberships and involvement with professional associations and service organizations are from the Adirondack Trail Improvement Society, the Committee to Defend America, Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, Food for Freedom, International Association of the Plastic Arts/International Arts Association, National Countil on the Arts and Government, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Reconstruction Service Committee, and the Young Men's Christian Association, Baghdad. The files include correspondence, financial records, meetings and membership information, notes, organizational history, photographs, printed materials, programs and activities records, speeches, and writings.

Files that document Weston's Building the United Nations and the Treasury Relief Project sponsored "Procurement Building Murals" are found within the Commissions and Project files series. The files include correspondence, financial information, legal documents, photographs of the works of art and research photos, and printed materials. Correspondence of note includes letters written by Lewis Mumford, Duncan Phillips, Eleanor Roosevelt on behalf of Weston's Building of the United Nations and letters from Leonard Carmichael, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Letters from Olin Dows of the Treasury Relief Art Project are within correspondence relating to the "Procurement Building Murals." Also found are preliminary sketches of the murals.

The Freedom in the Wilds series contains materials relating to the book which combined Weston's autobiography with a history of the Adirondack Mountain Reserve. Additional writings and notes are by Harold Weston and others, and include articles, poetry, notes, speech notes and speeches, and lists. Harold Weston's articles include "Persian Caravan Sketches" published in 1921 discussing his travels throughout the Middle East. Other articles are written by Duncan Phillips, Paul Rosenfeld, Barbara Weston, and Faith Weston. Also found are postcards annoted with notes by Harold Weston about his travels.

Artwork inlcudes sketches, etchings, copperplates, and woodcuts. There are copperplates entitled "Shroud" and of the series Building the United Nations for the Harvard Alumni bulletin in 1957; an untitled etching by Weston; sketches including those from Baghdad and watercolor sketches; a woodcut of the 1924 Weston holiday card; and scattered unsigned sketches probably not by Weston.

Printed materials include calendars with notations; clippings; exhibition catalogs and announcements for Weston's exhibitions dating from 1922-1976 and for others; gallery tags or labels for paintings shown in exhibitions; reproductions of illustrations for the Harvard Lampoon and full issues from 1911-1916; materials relating to the Harvard production of Henry IV, for which Weston designed the sets; reproductions of works of art by Weston and by others; school seals; and various art related publications.

There are two scrapbooks compiled by Faith Weston about her husband. The first contains materials relating to Weston's activity with the International Association of the Plastic Arts Conference of 1963, including a letter and photograph of President John F. Kennedy. The second scrapbook dates from 1977 and consists of general clippings relating to Weston's career, dating from 1917 to 1952 with additional materials added by Faith in 1977.

Photographs are of Weston, family members, exhibitions and installations, and works of art by Weston and others. There are also numerous photographs of Weston's travel through the Adirondacks, the Middle East, Europe, and India. Also found are glass plate negatives of works of art painted in France between 1926-1930; scattered glass plate negatives of Baghdad and the Middle East; glass plates belonging to S. Burns Weston of the Adirondacks, circa 1900; and approximately 100 lantern slides of the various Middle Eastern cities and ruins - probably used by Weston to illustrate his talks given in the 1920s.

Arrangement:: The collection is arranged as 11 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers:

Series 1: Biographical Information, 1896-1974 (Box 1, 38; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1894-1975 (Box 1-3, 38; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Business and Financial records, 1912-1977 (Box 4; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Associations and Organizations records, 1916-1972 (Box 4-10, 37-38; 6.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Commissions and Project files, 1935-1965 (Box 10-12, 38, OV 39; 1.4 linear feet)

Series 6: -- Freedom in the Wilds -- records, late 1960s-1976 (Box 12-13; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 7: Writings and Notes, 1912-1975 (Box 13-14; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 8: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1917-1967 (Box 14, 21; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 9: Printed Material, circa 1900-1978 (Box 15-18, 38; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 10: Scrapbooks, circa 1963-1977 (Box 17-18; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 11: Photographs, circa 1900-1975 (Box 18-20, 22-36, 38; 4.8 linear feet)

Biographical Note:: Modernist painter and federal Treasury Relief Art Project artist Harold Weston (1894-1972) worked primarily in New York City and St. Huberts, New York in the Adirondacks. Weston was president of the U.S. Commission of the International Association of Art/Plastic Arts and the Federation of Modern Painters and Scultors. He was also chairman of the National Council on the Arts and Government and active with various political and humanitarian causes.

Harold Weston was born in 1894 in Merion, Pennsylvania into a privileged family. He attended school in Europe as a teenager, where he began to draw and sketch. In 1910, Harold contracted Polio which left him with a weak leg. After graduating from Exeter Academy, Harold entered Harvard University with the class of 1916 and was active in the Delta Upsilon Club and the Harvard Lampoon, for which he illustrated.

Despite his leg, Weston was determined to serve in some form during World War I. He traveled to Baghdad and volunteered with the YMCA. Here he started the Baghdad Art Club and organized exhibitions of soldier art. He remained in the Middle East until 1919 and served as the official painter for the British Army. The colors and the landscape of the region also inspired later works of art.

Upon returning to the United States, Weston built a one-room cabin in the Adirondack Mountains, where he lived and painted. He had his first one-man exhibtition at the Montross Gallery in 1922. In 1923, he married Faith Borton who moved with him to the Adirondacks. His wife inspired his series of "landscape nudes" which treated the body with different techniques that would typically be used in landscape painting. After suffering from a kidney infection in 1925, Weston and his wife moved to Ceres, France to recover. Weston continued to paint and started a family with Faith while in France. In 1930, the family moved back to the United States and lived in Greenwich Village, New York.

From 1936-1938, Harold Weston worked with the federal Treasury Relief Art Project and painted murals in the Procurement Building in Washington, D.C. The murals represent the growth of public buildings during the Great Depression. He took on a second major project to document the contruction of the United Nations in a series of six paintings. Later, the Smithsonian Instution received the paintings as gifts through an independent committee.

In addition to painting, Harold Weston devoted himself to public service by becoming involved in humanitarian causes, artist professional organizations, and federal government support of the arts. Weston served as president or chairman of three different organizations including the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, the International Association of Art/International Association of the Plastic Art, and the National Council on the Arts and Government. Before the start of World War II, Harold Weston was named the Chairman of Essex County Committee to Defend America, which argued for financial support of the allied forces in World War II. After the start of the war, he helped form the Food for Freedom movement which urged American aid for European and Asian refugees. Similarly, Weston served as Executive Secretary for the Reconstruction Service Committee which was established to assist the rebuilding of Europe.

Later in life, Weston wrote a book Freedom in the Wilds, which combined his own autobiography with a history of the Adirondack Mountain Reserve. Harold Weston died on April 10th, 1972 in New York City.

Separated Material:: The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel N69-76) including biographic notes, exhibition material, clippings, a presentation album, and commemorative stamps. Some, but not all, of these papers were included in later donations. Materials not donated remain with the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Syracuse University also holds circa 14 linear feet of Harold Weston's papers.

Provenance:: Harold Weston lent the Archives of American Art materials for microfilming in 1969. Faith Borton Weston, Harold Weston's widow, donated the papers in several increments between 1972-1980 and lent materials for microfilming in 1977.

Restrictions:: Use of original papers requires an appointment.

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

Topic:: Painting, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Federal aid to the arts Search this; Art and state Search this; Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, American Search this; Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this

Genre/Form:: Christmas cards; Notes; Etchings; Speeches; Articles; Postcards; Poems; Woodcuts; Sketches; Photographs; Scrapbooks; Glass negatives; Lantern slides; Copper plates

Citation:: Harold Weston papers, 1894-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:: Funding for the processing 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.

Identifier:: AAA.westharo

See more items in:: Harold Weston papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-westharo

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Henry-Russell Hitchcock papers

Creator:: Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, 1903-1987 Search this

Names:: Abbott, Jere Search this; Austin, Arthur Everett, 1900-1957 Search this; Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981 Search this; Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959 Search this; Berman, Eugene, 1899-1972 Search this; Berman, Leonid, 1896-1976 Search this; Doesburg, Theo van, 1883-1931 Search this; Erffa, Helmut von, 1900-1979 Search this; Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956 Search this; Francis, Henry Sayles, 1902-1994 Search this; Gill, Brendan, 1914-1997 Search this; Goldwater, Robert John, 1907-1973 Search this; Howe, George, 1886-1955 Search this; Johnson, Philip C. Search this; Kaufmann, Edgar, 1910- Search this; Kirstein, Lincoln, 1907- Search this; McCormick, Thomas J. Search this; Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990 Search this; Oud, J. J. P. (Jacobus Johannes Pieter), 1890-1963 Search this; Panofsky, Erwin, 1892-1968 Search this; Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1902-1983 Search this; Porter, Kingsley Search this; Sachs, Paul J. (Paul Joseph), 1878-1965 Search this; Schindler, R. M. (Rudolph M.), 1887-1953 Search this; Scully, Vincent Joseph, 1920- Search this; Sizer, Theodore, 1892-1967 Search this; Smith, E. Baldwin (Earl Baldwin), 1888-1956 Search this; Smith, Peter van der Meulen Search this; Soby, James Thrall, 1906- Search this; Spark, Victor D. (Victor David), 1898-1991 Search this; Sterner, Harold Search this; Summerson, John Newenham, Sir, 1904- Search this; Thomson, Virgil, 1896- Search this; Vanderbilt, Paul Search this; Washburn, Gordon B. (Gordon Bailey), 1904-1983 Search this; Wittkower, Rudolf Search this; Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959 Search this

Extent:: 24.8 Linear feet

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Writings; Photographs

Date:: 1919-1987

Summary:: The papers of architectural historian, author, critic, teacher, and museum director, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, date from 1919-1987 and measure 24.8 linear feet. Almost all of the collection is comprised of Hitchcock's correspondence files relating to academic research, teaching, curatorial interests, and professional associations. Letters are from prominent architectural historians, architects, artists, preservationists, museum directors and curators, and family and friends. Also found are two feet of writings by Hitchcock and others, scattered biographical information, printed material, and photographs of Hitchcock and architecture.

Scope and Content Note:: The papers of architectural historian, author, critic, teacher, and museum director, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, date from 1919-1987 and measure 24.8 linear feet. Almost all of the collection is comprised of Hitchcock's correspondence files relating to academic research, teaching, curatorial interests, and professional associations. Letters are from prominent architectural historians, architects, artists, preservationists, museum directors and curators, and family and friends. Also found are two feet of writings by Hitchcock and others, scattered biographical information, miscellaneous records, printed material, and photographs of Hitchcock and architecture.

Among the biographical documents are Hitchcock's birth certificate, passport, and wills. Awards, citations, honorary degrees and commendations are from the University of Pennsylvania, Wesleyan University, the Friends of Cast Iron Architecture, National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the Victorian Society in America.

Chronological name and subject files consist mostly of correspondence and printed material along with a small number of photographs. They include personal and professional correspondence and subject files relating to academic research, teaching, curatorial interests, and professional associations. The correspondence includes large numbers of letters from prominent architectural historians, architects, artists, preservationists, museum directors and curators. Also included are students, friends, relatives, publishers, and representatives of organizations and institutions. Among those of note are: Jere Abbott, Everett A. (Chick) Austin, Alfred H. Barr, Bernard Berenson, Eugene Berman, Leonid Berman, Lyonel Feininger, Henry (Harry) Sayles Francis, Brendan Gill, Robert Goldwater, George Howe, Philip C. Johnson, Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., Lincoln Kirstein, Thomas J. McCormick, Lewis Mumford, J.J.P. Oud, Erwin Panofsky, Nikolaus Pevsner, Kingsley Porter, Paul J. Sachs, R. M. Schindler, Vincent Scully, Jr., Theodore Sizer, E. Baldwin Smith, Peter van der Meulen Smith, James Soby, Victor Spark, Harold Sterner, John Summerson, Virgil Thomson, Paul Vanderbilt, Theo Van Doesburg, Helmut von Erffa, Gordon Washburn, Rudolf Wittkower, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Writings by Hitchcock consist of manuscripts and drafts of numerous published and unpublished articles, book chapters, and his masters thesis. Other writings by Hitchcock include lecture notes and texts, book reviews, notes, outlines, photo lists, and a bibliography. Among the other authors represented in this series are John Coolidge and Sir Wilfred Green.

Miscellaneous records consist of the alien registration card of Hitchcock's friend Peter van der Meulen Smith, architectural drawings by Hitchcock, book contracts, and a small number of receipts and invoices.

Printed material consists of articles about, by, or mentioning Henry-Russell Hitchcock, along with advertisements for his books, and postcards of architectural subjects.

Photographs are of architecture, art work, events, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects; also included are color slides, negatives, and transparencies. Architectural subjects include the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Gaudi, as well as interior and exterior views of buildings identified only by location. Photographs of people include Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Chick Austin and Ernestine Carter, Alexander Dorner, Tammy Grimes, Lincoln Kirstein, the Steinway family, and Edgar Tafel. Events recorded include the Society of Architectural Historians at the Newport Casino, Hitchcock receiving honorary degrees at the University of Glasgow and Wesleyan University, and a high tea sponsored by the Victorian Society in America. Family houses and views of Greece are among the photographs of places. Miscellaneous subjects include exhibition installations and family heirlooms.

Arrangement:: The collection is arranged as 6 series:

Series 1: Biographical Information, 1922-1984 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 2: Chronological Name and Subject Files, 1919-1987 (Boxes 1-22; 21.9 linear ft.)

Series 3: Writings, 1922-circa 1978 (Boxes 23-24; 2.0 linear ft.)

Series 4: Miscellaneous Records, 1928-1977 (Box 25; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1922-1984 (Boxes 25-26; 0.4 linear ft.)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1926-1979 (Box 26; 0.3 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:: Henry-Russell Hitchcock, considered the "father" of modern architectural historiography, played a major role in bringing modern architecture to the United States. As an eminent professor for more than forty years, Hitchcock trained and influenced several generations of scholars and critics. He combined a love of architecture with criticism and scholarship to produce a large number of distinguished monographs and articles on a broad range of styles and periods.

Born in Boston in 1903, Henry-Russell Hitchcock was the son of Mayflower descendants. At Harvard University, he studied medieval history with A. Kingsly Porter as his mentor and completed the undergraduate curriculum in three years. Hitchcock spent his senior year studying architecture, graduated in 1924, and stayed to study for a master's degree, which was awarded in 1927. During his years at Harvard, he wrote for Hound and Horn and knew Alfred Barr, T. S. Eliot, Philip Johnson, Lincoln Kirstein, Virgil Thomson, and others who became leaders in the modernist movement.

Henry-Russell Hitchcock's teaching career began when he was appointed an assistant professor at Vassar College for the academic year 1927-28. In 1929, he joined the faculty of Wesleyan University, where he remained for two decades before moving to Smith College in 1949. During his tenures at Wesleyan and Smith, his services as a visiting lecturer were employed on many occasions by Cambridge University, Connecticut College, Harvard University, the Institute of Fine Arts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University. Upon retiring from Smith College in 1968, Hitchcock moved to New York City and taught briefly at Columbia University, the Institute of Fine Arts, and the University of Massachusetts, at Amherst.

Best known as a proponent of modernism, Hitchcock wrote more than two dozen books about a wide range of styles and periods, and most are considered standard works on their subjects. His first, Modern Architecture: Romanticism and Reintegration, appeared in 1929 and was the first book on the subject to be published in English; his final book, German Renaissance Architecture, was published in 1981.

Henry-Russell Hitchcock served as director of the Smith College Museum between 1949 and 1955. In addition, he was curator of several exhibitions, the first and most important of which was Modern Architecture: International Exhibition, organized in collaboration with Philip C. Johnson and held at the Museum of Modern Art. Their book, The International Style: Architecture Since 1922, was published in 1932 in conjunction with the exhibition.

During World War II, Hitchcock's civilian service included working as director of the U. S. Navy's Photographic Library and writing Pratt and Whitney aircraft engine manuals.

Henry-Russell Hitchcock was an active member of many professional associations. He served as president of the Society of Architectural Historians from 1952 to 1954. In addition, he was a founding member of The Victorian Society in Great Britain, and between 1969 and 1974 was president of its sister organization, The Victorian Society in America.

During his long and illustrious career, Henry-Russell Hitchcock won many awards and honors. Awards for Early Victorian Architecture in Britain and Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries were conferred by the Society of Architectural Historians (1955) and College Art Association (1960), respectively. Hitchcock received the Royal Society of Arts Medal for Best Lecture (1956) and its Benjamin Franklin Medal (1970), in addition to the American Institute of Architects' Architectural Critics' Medal (1970). Other awards include: National Institute of Arts and Letters Award (1956), American Council of Learned Societies Prize for Distinguished Accomplishment in Humanistic Scholarship (1961), Friends of Cast-Iron Architecture Certificate of Commendation (1978), the American Institute of Architects Award of Merit (1978), and Municipal Art Society Certificate of Merit (1978).

He received honorary degrees from Glasgow University and the University of Pennsylvania in 1973, and in 1979 from Wesleyan University. In Search of Modern Architecture: A Tribute to Henry-Russell Hitchcock, edited by Helen Searing, was published by The Architectural History Foundation in 1982.

Due to declining health, Henry-Russell Hitchcock lectured rarely and wrote little in the three years preceding his death from cancer. He died in New York City, February 19, 1987.

Related Material:: The Archives of American Art also holds Henry-Russell Hitchcock letters to Dorothy Stroud and John N. Summerson, 1946-1949. Additional Henry-Russell Hitchcock papers (circa 8 linear feet) are in the Special Collections division of Wesleyan University Library.

Provenance:: Mosette Broderick, assistant to Hitchcock and his literary executor, donated the papers to the Archives of American Art in 1988.

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

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

Occupation:: Architectural historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this

Topic:: Museum directors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this

Genre/Form:: Writings; Photographs

Citation:: Henry-Russell Hitchcock papers, 1919-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

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

Identifier:: AAA.hitchenp

See more items in:: Henry-Russell Hitchcock papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-hitchenp

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Walter Pach papers

Creator:: Pach, Walter, 1883-1958 Search this

Names:: Armory Show (1913: New York, N.Y.) Search this; Association of American Painters and Sculptors (New York, N.Y.) Search this; Brummer Gallery (New York, N.Y.) Search this; Laurel Gallery (New York, N.Y.) Search this; New York School of Art Search this; Avery, Milton, 1885-1965 Search this; Barye, Antoine-Louis, 1796-1875 Search this; Brooks, Van Wyck, 1886-1963 Search this; Burroughs, Bryson, 1869-1934 Search this; Charlot, Jean, 1898-1979 Search this; Chase, William Merritt, 1849-1916 Search this; Davies, Arthur B. (Arthur Bowen), 1862-1928 Search this; Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968 Search this; Duchamp-Villon, Raymond, 1876-1918 Search this; Faure, Elie, 1873-1937 Search this; Henri, Robert, 1865-1929 Search this; Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973 Search this; Marsh, Reginald, 1898-1954 Search this; Matisse, Henri, 1869-1954 Search this; Miró, Joan, 1893- Search this; Monet, Claude, 1840-1926 Search this; Of, George F. (George Ferdinand), b. 1876 Search this; Ogihara, Moriye Search this; Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949 Search this; Pach, Magda, 1884-1950 Search this; Pach, Nikifora Search this; Pach, Raymond Search this; Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973 Search this; Prendergast, Maurice Brazil, 1858-1924 Search this; Renoir, Auguste, 1841-1919 Search this; Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957 Search this; Schamberg, Morton L., 1881-1918 Search this; Sloan, John, 1871-1951 Search this; Villon, Jacques, 1875-1963 Search this

Extent:: 20.7 Linear feet

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Sketchbooks; Scrapbooks; Prints; Drawings; Diaries; Travel diaries; Photographs

Date:: 1857-1980

Summary:: The papers of New York artist, critic, historian, writer, art consultant and curator Walter Pach, measure 20.7 linear feet and date from 1857-1980. The collection documents Pach's promotion of modernism through his role in the landmark 1913 Armory Show, his relationships with artists and art-world figures and his extensive writings on art. Records include biographical material, correspondence with family, friends and colleagues including noted artists, handwritten and edited versions of manuscripts by Pach, diaries and journals, business records, printed material, scrapbooks, sketchbooks and artwork by Pach and others, and photographs of Pach and his family, friends, and colleagues. The collection also includes 12 linear feet of selections from Walter Pach's library.

Scope and Contents note:: The papers of New York artist, critic, historian, writer, art consultant and curator Walter Pach, measure 20.7 linear feet and date from 1857-1980. The collection documents Pach's promotion of modernism through his role in the landmark 1913 Armory Show, his relationships with artists and art-world figures and his extensive writings on art. Records include biographical material, correspondence with family, friends and colleagues including noted artists, handwritten and edited versions of manuscripts by Pach, diaries and journals, business records, printed material, scrapbooks, sketchbooks and artwork by Pach and others, and photographs of Pach and his family, friends, and colleagues. The collection also includes 12 linear feet of selections from Walter Pach's library.

Biographical material includes a copy of Pach's birth certificate and two passports for Walter and Magda Pach, in addition to address books, association membership cards and certificates.

Correspondence is both personal and professional. Family correspondence includes letters from Pach's son, Raymond, his first wife Magdalene (Magda), and his second wife Nikifora, whom he married in 1951 following the 1950 death of Magda. General correspondence includes letters from artists including Jean Charlot, Arthur B. Davies, Marcel Duchamp, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Jacques Lipchitz, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Maurice Prendergast, Diego Rivera, Morton Livingston Schamberg, John Sloan, and Jacques Villon; and other art-world figures including writers Van Wyck Brooks and Elie Faure, and Bryson Burroughs, curator of painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Writings series represents an extensive collection of hand-written manuscripts, typescripts, annotated drafts and notes for published and unpublished writings by Pach, including lectures, monographs such as Queer Thing, Painting and Ananias, or The False Artist, and journal and newspaper articles such as "Pierre-Auguste Renoir" (1912).

Diaries and journals include one of particular note recording Pach's trip to Europe circa 1903-1904, with William Merritt Chase's class.

Business records include 2 notebooks recording sales at the Armory Show in New York, Boston and Chicago, a record book with handwritten lists of paintings owned and sold by Pach in the early 1930s, and two books, one maintained by Nikifora Pach, recording pictures sold, lectures and publications by Pach from the early 1900s to the early 1960s.

Printed material documents Pach's career through exhibition catalogs of Pach's solo and group exhibitions, news clippings about Pach, including reviews of his writings on art, and an almost comprehensive collection of copies of Pach's published journal and newspaper articles.

Scrapbooks include a book of reviews and original letters pertaining to Pach's book Ananias or the False Artist, and a scrapbook documenting Pach's activities during the 1920s which included his first one-man show at the Brummer Gallery in New York and the publication of his books Masters of Modern Art and Raymond Duchamp-Villon.

Artwork inlcudes a small group of drawings and three sketchbooks by Pach. Also of note are two print portfolios published in 1947 by the Laurel Gallery which include an essay and an etching by Pach, in addition to hand-pulled prints by artists such as Milton Avery, Reginald Marsh and Joan Miro.

Photographs are of Pach from childhood through to the 1950s, in addition to Magda and Raymond Pach and other family members, artists, colleagues and friends. Included are photographs of William Merritt Chase's class and Robert Henri's class at the New York School of Art, circa 1904, and photos of artists including Robert Henri, Moriye Ogihara, and Pablo Picasso. Photographs of artwork by Pach and other artists can also be found here including Mexican mural projects by José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera, and works by Antoine-Louise Barye and George Of.

Selections from Pach's library include works written by or translated by Pach, and items central to Pach's interests and work.

Arrangement note:: The Walter Pach papers are arranged as ten series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1884-circa 1950s (Box 1, 9; 9 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1883-1980 (Box 1-3, FC 23; 2.1 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1899-circa 1950s (Box 3-5; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 4: Diaries and Journals, 1903-circa 1950s (Box 5; 5 folders)

Series 5: Business Records, circa 1913-circa 1960s (Box 5-6; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1900-1977 (Box 6-7, 9; 1.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Scrapbooks, circa 1890-circa 1940s (Box 7, 9; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 8: Artwork, circa 1860-circa 1950s (Box 7, 10; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographs, 1857-1959 (Box 7-8, 10; 1.4 linear feet)

Series 10: Selections from Walter Pach's Library, 1880-1963 (Box 11-22; 12 linear feet)

Biographical/Historical note:: New York artist, critic, writer, art consultant, and curator, Walter Pach (1883-1958) was an influential promoter of modern art and was instrumental in organizing the landmark Armory Show in 1913.

Walter Pach was born in New York City, July 11, 1883. His father, Gotthelf Pach, was a prominent commercial photographer who, along with his family, ran the New York firm of Pach Brothers. The company did the bulk of the photographic work for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the young Pach often accompanied his father on museum assignments. In 1903, Pach graduated from the City College of New York with a degree in art. He also studied with Robert Henri at the New York School of Art and went abroad to paint with William Merritt Chase in the summers of 1903 and 1904.

In 1906 Pach presented his first art history lecture at the Westfield State Normal School in Westfield, Massachusetts.

In 1907, Pach went to France and as an artist and critic moved among the Parisian avant-garde and became part of the Gertrude and Leo Stein circle. Gertrude Stein's "Portrait of Walter Pach was painted in 1908. Pach wrote extensively about modern art and through his numerous books, articles, and translations of European art texts, brought an emerging modernist viewpoint to the American public. In 1908 he wrote the first article published in America on Cézanne, and also wrote on such established artists as Claude Monet, whom he interviewed in 1908 for Scribner's Magazine..

Pach organized exhibitions of contemporary art for important New York City galleries of the period, as well as the landmark exhibition of 1913, "The International Exhibition of Modern Art," commonly known as the Armory Show. Along with painters Arthur B. Davies and Walt Kuhn, he brought together leading contemporary European and American artists. Pach served with Kuhn as administrator, publicist and gallery lecturer for the Armory Show Chicago for the run of the exhibition.

Pach helped to form major collections for John Quinn and Walter Arensberg. He was also instrumental in securing individual works of art for museums, such as a portrait for the Louvre Museum by American master Thomas Eakins, and Jacques-Louis David's Death of Socrates for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Pach married artist Magdalene Frohberg in February 1914, and their son Raymond was born at the end of that year. The Pachs lived primarily in New York, but spent time abroad from 1928 to 1932. Intermittently, they lived on the West Coast, where Pach taught at the University of California at Berkeley. In the 1920s he taught at the University of Mexico on a Shilling Fund grant, lecturing and writing on Native American art and developing a strong interest in Pre-Columbian art. He took an active interest in organizing exhibitions and raising money for a museum to be dedicated to the indigenous art of the Americas. In addition, he was a friend of José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera and helped organize the Mexican chapter of the Society of Independent Artists, the New York-based organization he founded in 1917 with Walter Arensberg and Marcel Duchamp.

While not well known today as a painter, Walter Pach devoted much of his creative effort to painting. He considered himself both an artist and a writer, even though friends like art historian Bernard Berenson urged him to devote all his time to writing. Among his writings are monographs on a wide range of subjects, social commentary on the art world, and a book on museum structures. Among his first publications were a series of brochures produced for the 1913 Armory Show, including Odilon Redon and, in the same year, A Sculptor's Architecture, a book about the work of Raymond Duchamp-Villon, a close friend whom he admired greatly. In 1923, Pach wrote Georges Seurat, a book later cited by art historian John Rewald as an important early text on the artist. Masters of Modern Art and the monograph Raymond Duchamp-Villon were published the following year, and in 1928 Pach's well-known indictment of opportunistic artists and corruption in the art world, Ananias, or The False Artist, created a stir in art circles. Pach considered Vincent Van Gogh to be a seminal figure in the development of modern art and was the first historian to lecture on him in America. In 1936, he published his well-received monograph, Vincent Van Gogh. His recollections of a life spent in art, Queer Thing, Painting appeared in 1938. Ingres was published in 1939, as well as Masterpieces of Art, written for the 1939 New York World's Fair, for which Pach was exhibition director. His Art Museum in America, published in 1948, called into question the relevance, responsibility, and future direction of the American art museum. He long championed the artists of Mexico and published an essay on Diego Rivera in 1951 for the National Museum of Fine Arts, Mexico, for its 50-year retrospective exhibition on the artist. The Classical Tradition in Modern Art, Pach's last book, was published posthumously in 1959.

Pach's fluency in French, German, and Spanish allowed him to understand and interpret new avant-garde ideas developing in Europe and to translate them for an English-speaking audience. His language skills also allowed him to communicate personally with many noted artists in Europe and Mexico and to mediate between gallery dealers and museum curators on their behalf. His correspondence with major figures in 20th-century art are a fascinating and important source of information, not only about the artists themselves but about the art world in general during the first half of this century.

Chronology of Exhibitions and Writings

1908 -- "Cézanne," by Walter Pach, the first American article on the subject, published in December issue of Scribner's.

1911 -- "Albert P. Ryder," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Scribner's.

1912 -- Met with Arthur B. Davies and Walt Kuhn to begin preparations for the Armory Show. Was responsible for the exhibition's European operations. Completed Portrait of Gigi Cavigli (exhibited at the Armory Show the following year). "Pierre-Auguste Renoir," by Walter Pach, published in May issue of Scribner's.

1913 -- Exhibited 5 paintings and 5 etchings in "The International Exhibition of Modern Art" (Armory Show), which opened in New York City on February 13. Served as administrator, publicist, and gallery lecturer for the Armory Show Chicago with Kuhn for the run of the exhibition. At the close of the show, Matisse, Brancusi, and Pach were hanged in effigy by the students of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

1915 -- Publication of The John Quinn Collection, catalog of a collection Pach was instrumental in assembling.

1916 -- Founded Society of Independent Artists in collaboration with Marcel Duchamp, Walter Arensberg, and others. Adviser to collector Walter Arensberg.

1917 -- Designed sets for Wallace Stevens's play, Bowl, Cat and Broomstick, produced at the Neighborhood Playhouse, New York City. Arranged a Gino Severini exhibition at Stieglitz's 219 gallery, New York City.

1918 -- "Universality in Art," by Walter Pach, published in February issue of Modern School. "Jean Le Roy," by Walter Pach, published in October issue of Modern School

1919 -- "The Schamberg Exhibition," by Walter Pach, published in May 17 issue of the Dial. Wrote introduction for Odilon Redon, the catalog for a graphics show at Albert Roulliers Gallery, Chicago.

1920 -- "The Art of the American Indian," by Walter Pach, published in January 20 issue of the Dial. His paintings abandoned the cubist-futurist mode and returned to a more naturalistic style.

1921 -- Publication of History of Art: Ancient Art, volume 1, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach.

1922 -- Lecturer, University of Mexico, where he developed a strong interest in Pre-Columbian art. Lectured at Société Anonyme. Publication of History of Art: Mediaeval Art, volume 2, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach. Contributed a chapter, "Art," to Civilization in the United States: An Inquiry by Thirty Americans, edited by Harold E. Stearns.

1923 -- Publication of Georges Seurat by Walter Pach. Publication of The Art of Cineplastics and History of Art: Renaissance Art, volume 3, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach. "Georges Seurat," by Walter Pach, published in March issue of the Arts.

1924 -- Publication of Masters of Modern Art, by Walter Pach. Publication of Raymond Duchamp-Villon, by Walter Pach. Publication of History of Art: Modern Art, volume 4, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach. "The Greatest American Artist," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Harper's Magazine.

1926 -- "Graveur Américain," by Léon Rosenthal, an article about Pach's graphics (illustrated with an original etching, New York), published in September issue of Byblis, Miroir des Arts du Livre et de L'Estampe. "Brancusi," by Walter Pach, published in December 1 issue of the Nation. Instructor, New York University. First solo exhibition at Brummer Gallery, New York, New York.

1927 -- "What Passes for Art," by Walter Pach, published in June issue of Harper's Magazine

1928 -- Publication of Ananias, or The False Artist, by Walter Pach. Pach family relocated to Europe.

1929 -- "The Evolution of Diego Rivera," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Creative Art. "John Ruskin and Walter Pach: Defenders of the Faith," by W.H. Downes, published in August issue of American Museum Art.

1930 -- Publication of An Hour of Art, by Walter Pach. Publication of History of Art: The Spirit of the Forms, volume 5, by Elie Faure, translated by Walter Pach. "Notes sur le classicisme de Delacroix," by Walter Pach, published in June issue of L'Amour de L'Art.

1931 -- Solo exhibition at Kraushaar Gallery, New York City, with review published in March 21 issue of Art News. "Raymond Duchamp-Villon," by Walter Pach, published in May issue of Formes XV.

1932 -- "Le Classicisme de Barye," by Walter Pach, published in November issue of L'Amour de L'Art . Returned to the United States.

1933 -- "Address at the Worcester Opening of International, 1933," by Walter Pach, and "Georges Rouault," by Walter Pach, both published in January issue of Parnassus. "American Art in the Louvre," by Walter Pach, published in May issue of Fine Arts 20. "On Owning Pictures," by Walter Pach, published in August issue of Fine Arts 20. "Rockefeller, Rivera and Art," by Walter Pach, published in September issue of Harper's Magazine.

1934 -- Organized Maurice Prendergast retrospective for Whitney Museum of American Art.

1935 -- Exhibition at Knoedler Gallery, New York City included Walter Pach's Respice, Adspice, and Prospice, a fresco commissioned for the City College of New York by the Class of 1903.

1936 -- Exhibition of watercolors at Kleemann Galleries, New York City. Publication of Vincent Van Gogh, by Walter Pach." The Raphael from Russia," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Virginia Quarterly Review. "First Portfolio of American Art," by Walter Pach, published in October 3 issue of Art News. Wrote foreword to First Exhibition in America of Géricault, catalog of exhibition at Marie Sterner Gallery, New York City. "The Outlook for Modern Art," by Walter Pach, published in April issue of Parnassus. Article about Pach's City College mural published in February issue of City College Alumnus Magazine.

1937 -- Publication of The Journal of Eugène Delacroix, translated by Walter Pach. Publication of Thomas Eakins, by Walter Pach, catalog of exhibition at Kleemann Gallery, New York City.

1938 -- Publication of Queer Thing, Painting: Forty Years in the World of Art, by Walter Pach. "Delacroix Today," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Magazine of Art.

1939 -- Publication of Ingres, by Walter Pach. Appointed general director, "Masterpieces of Art" exhibition, New York World's Fair.

1940 -- Publication of Masterpieces of Art, New York World's Fair, 1940, Official Illustrated Catalogue, by Walter Pach.

1941 -- Solo exhibition at Schneider-Gabriel Gallery, New York City.

1942 -- "Newly Discovered Ingres: The Lovers," by Walter Pach, published in October issue of Art in America Exhibition at Whitney Museum of American Art, "Between the Wars: Prints by American Artists, 1914-1941," included Walter Pach's etching Saint-Germain-des-Pres (1911). Lecturer, University of Mexico, Shilling Fund grant.

1943 -- "A Newly Found American Painter: Hermenegildo Bustos," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Art in America. "Unknown Aspects of Mexican Painting," by Walter Pach, published in October issue of Gazette des Beaux-Arts. Marriage of son, Raymond.

1944 -- "The Eight, Then and Now," by Walter Pach, published in January issue of Art News. "Problemas del arte americano," by Walter Pach, published in December issue of Origenes.

1946 -- "La Barricade in America," by Walter Pach, published in July issue of Art News. "On Art Criticism," by Eugène Delacroix (first published in Revue de Paris, May 1829), translated by Walter Pach for catalog of exhibition at Curt Valentin, New York City.

1947 -- Publication of Picasso, by Juan Larrea, edited by Walter Pach. Publication of "Museums Can Be Living Things," by Walter Pach, in Laurels Number One, Laurel Gallery. Etching, Scopasian Head, by Walter Pach, included in Laurels Number Two, Laurel Gallery.

1948 -- Publication of The Art Museum in America, by Walter Pach. "The Past Lives On," by Walter Pach, parts 1 and 2, published in October and November issues of American Artist.

1949 -- "Thus Is Cubism Cultivated," by Walter Pach, published in May issue of Art News.

1950 -- Contributed a chapter, "The State of the Arts in the Democratic Way of Life: A Postscript," to Perspectives on a Troubled Decade: Science, Philosophy and Religion, 1939-1949, edited by Lyman Bryson, Louis Finkelstein, and R. M. MacIver. Death of wife, Magdalene.

1951 -- "Reaciones entre la cultura nordeamericana y la ombre de Diego Rivera," a major essay by Walter Pach published in Diego Rivera, 50 años de su labor artistica, exposition de normenaje nacional, Museo nacional de artes plasticas, Mexico City. Married Nikifora.

1953 -- "A Modernist Visits Greece," by Walter Pach, reprinted in autumn issue of Archaeology.

1954 -- "John Sloan," by Walter Pach, published in August issue of Atlantic Monthly.

1956 -- "Introducing the Paintings of George Of (1876-1954)," by Walter Pach, published in October issue of Art News.

1958 -- Professor, City College of New York. Died, New York City, following an operation for stomach ulcers.

1959 -- Publication of The Classical Tradition in Modern Art, by Walter Pach.

1986 -- Exhibition, "Walter Pach, A Retrospective," at Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, North Carolina.

1988 -- Exhibition, "The Art of Walter and Magda Pach," at Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio.

1990 -- Exhibition, "Discovering Modernism: Selections from the Walter Pach Papers," at the Archives of American Art, New York City.

1991 -- Exhibition, "The Paintings of Walter Pach," at Forum Gallery, New York City.

Related Materials:: Papers of Walter Pach, 1885-1956, are also located at the Helen Farr Sloan Library & Archives.

Separated Materials note:: When the Archives of American Art acquired the Walter Pach Papers, some portion of his library was also received. The bulk of the library was transferred to the Smithsonian's American Art/Portrait Gallery Library where the items could be properly cataloged, cared for, and used.

Provenance:: The Walter Pach papers were acquired in several installments. After Pach's death his widow, Nikifora Pach, sold Pach's papers to Salander-O'Reilly Galleries. They were purchased by the Archives of American Art in 1988 with a grant from the Brown Foundation, Inc.

Eight family photographs, donated by Raymond Pach, son of Walter Pach, were received in 1990.

In 2012 Francis M. Naumann donated an additional 5.7 linear feet of material to the Archives of American Art.

Restrictions:: Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

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

Occupation:: Art critics Search this; Art historians Search this; Artists Search this

Topic:: Art schools -- Photographs Search this; Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Art criticism Search this; Art -- Study and teaching Search this; Art -- Expertising Search this; Mural painting and decoration, Mexican Search this; Curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Modernism (Art) Search this

Genre/Form:: Sketchbooks; Scrapbooks; Prints; Drawings; Diaries; Travel diaries; Photographs

Citation:: Walter Pach papers, 1857-1980. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:: Funding for the initial digitization of the microfilm of this collection was provided by the Gladys K. Delmas Foundation. Funding for the processing of the addition to the Walter Pach papers and digitization of the fully re-processed collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Identifier:: AAA.pachwalt2

See more items in:: Walter Pach papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-pachwalt2

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Rockwell Kent papers

Creator:: Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971 Search this

Names:: American Artists' Congress Search this; Artists League of America Search this; Artists' Union (New York, N.Y.) Search this; Citizens' Committee for Government Arts Projects Search this; Farmers Union of the New York Milk Shed Search this; Federal Art Project Search this; Federal Writers' Project Search this; International Workers Order Search this; Macbeth Gallery Search this; National Farmers' Union (U.S.) Search this; National Maritime Union of America Search this; United American Artists Search this; United Office and Professional Workers of America Search this; United Scenic Artists Search this; Boyesen, Bayard Search this; Chamberlain, J. E. Search this; Chase, William Merritt, 1846-1916 Search this; Cleland, T. M. (Thomas Maitland), 1880-1964 Search this; Daniel, Charles, 1878-1971 Search this; Davies, Arthur B. (Arthur Bowen), 1862-1928 Search this; DuBois, W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963 Search this; Fitzgerald, James, 1899-1971 Search this; Freuchen, Peter, 1886-1957 Search this; Gellert, Hugo, 1892-1985 Search this; Gottlieb, Harry, 1895- Search this; Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943 Search this; Hays, Lee, 1914-1981 Search this; Henri, Robert, 1865-1929 Search this; Jones, Dan Burne Search this; Keller, Charles, 1914-2006 Search this; Miller, Kenneth Hayes, 1876-1952 Search this; Nearing, Helen Search this; Nearing, Scott, 1883-1983 Search this; Pach, Walter, 1883-1958 Search this; Phillips, Duncan, 1886-1966 Search this; Rasmussen, Knud, 1879-1933 Search this; Reeves, Ruth, 1892-1966 Search this; Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976 Search this; Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945 Search this; Ruggles, Carl, 1876-1971 Search this; Seeger, Pete, 1919-2014 Search this; Stefansson, Vilhjalmur, 1879-1962 Search this; Untermeyer, Louis, 1885-1977 Search this; Wildenstein, Felix, 1883-1952 Search this; Zigrosser, Carl, 1891- Search this

Extent:: 88 Linear feet

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Poems; Sketches; Business records; Photographs; Drawings

Date:: circa 1840-1993; bulk 1935-1961

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1882 -- born, Tarrytown, New York

1887 -- death of Rockwell Kent, Sr.

1894-1896 -- attended Cheshire Academy

1895 -- toured Europe with Aunt Jo

1896 -- attended Horace Mann School, New York City

1900-1902 -- studied architecture at Columbia University

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

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

1904 -- first sale of a painting

1904 -- met Rufus Weeks and attended first Socialist meeting

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

1905 -- first painting trip to Monhegan Island, Maine

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

1908 -- marriage to Kathleen Whiting

1908 -- studied with Robert Henri

1908 -- joined Socialist Party

1909 -- birth of Rockwell, III

1910 -- ran Monhegan Summer School of Art

1910 -- first trip to Newfoundland

1910 -- helped to organize first Independent Exhibition

1911 -- birth of Kathleen

1912 -- moved to Winona, Minnesota

1913 -- birth of Clara

1914 -- settled in Newfoundland

1915 -- deported from Newfoundland

1915 -- birth of Barbara

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

1918-1919 -- in Alaska with son Rocky

1919 -- purchased Egypt Farm, Arlington, Vermont

1919 -- incorporated self

1920 -- publication of Wilderness

1920 -- birth of Gordon

1922 -- traveled to Tierra del Fuego

1924 -- publication of Voyaging

1925 -- trip to France

1925 -- divorced from Kathleen

1926 -- marriage to Frances Lee

1926 -- traveled to Ireland

1927 -- purchased Asgaard Farm, AuSable, New York

1927 -- editor of Creative Art

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

1929 -- sailed to Greenland on Direction

1930 -- publication of N by E

1932-1933 -- returned to Greenland

1934-1935 -- final trip to Greenland

1935 -- publication of Salamina

1936 -- trip to Puerto Rico

1937 -- trip to Brazil

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

1939 -- divorced from Frances

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

1940 -- publication of This Is My Own

1940 -- marriage to Shirley Johnstone (Sally)

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

1946 -- elected to Executive Committee of American Labor Party

1948 -- congressional candidate, American Labor Party

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

1949 -- attended World Congress for Peace, Paris

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

1953 -- testified before House Un-American Activities Committee

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

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

1959 -- publication of Of Men and Mountains

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

1960 -- exhibition at Pushkin Museum, Moscow

1963 -- publication of Greenland Journal

1966 -- elected to Academy of Arts of the USSR

1967 -- awarded Lenin Peace Prize, Moscow

1969 -- oral history interview, Archives of American Art

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

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

1971 -- died, Plattsburgh, New York

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Topic:: Designers -- New York (State) Search this; Mural painting and decoration Search this; Politics and culture Search this; Authors -- New York Search this; Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States -- Political aspects Search this; Dairy farms Search this; Federal aid to the arts Search this; Illustrators -- New York (State) Search this; Illustration of books Search this; Works of art Search this; World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief Search this; Labor unions Search this; Art and war Search this; Commercial art Search this; World War, 1939-1945 -- Art and the war Search this

Genre/Form:: Poems; Sketches; Business records; Photographs; Drawings

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

Identifier:: AAA.kentrock

See more items in:: Rockwell Kent papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-kentrock

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Bobby Short Papers

Creator:: Short, Bobby Search this

Names:: Carlyle Hotel New York, New York Search this; Hildegarde, 1906-2005 Search this; Mercer, Mabel, 1900-1984 Search this; Minnelli, Liza Search this; Putney, Charles Search this

Photographer:: Bull, Clarence Sinclair, 1896-1979 Search this

Extent:: 13.6 Cubic feet (35 boxes)

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Correspondence; Clippings; Business records; Music; Contracts; Photographs; Passports; Posters; Scrapbooks; Concert programs

Place:: New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century

Date:: 1908-2006

Summary:: Bobby Short was a singer and pianist whose career spanned seven decades. An interpreter of American popular music, he became a performer in childhood and remained active until his death. He is best known for his more than 35 years as performer-in-residence at the Hotel Carlyle's Café Carlyle in New York City. This collection contains personal papers and photographs as well as business papers, musical materials and photographs relating to Mr. Short's career as a performing artist.

Scope and Contents:: This collection consists of personal materials relating to Mr. Short's childhood, family, and friends as well as business materials relating to his career as a performer. These include photographs, correspondence, business documents, periodicals, musical materials, manuscripts and awards. Most of the material is arranged chronologically. The container list is detailed as to the type and date of the materials.

Series 1, Personal Materials, circa 1908-2005. This series is divided into four Subseries: Early Life in Danville, Illinois; Awards, Honors, and Milestones; Personal Ephemera and Miscellaneous Publications; and Original Artworks owned by Bobby Short. Subseries 1 includes poems written in childhood and two high school annuals. Subseries 2 includes numerous citations and awards as well as three Grammy nominations. Subseries 4 contains small prints and sketches as well as larger works by various artists.

Series 2, Correspondence, circa 1950-2005. This Series is divided into three Subseries: Personal Correspondence; Correspondence with Celebrities and Notable People; and Business Correspondence and Related Materials. The material is arranged chronologically. The material in Subseries 1 and 2 consists of letters, telegrams, invitations, and notes.

Series 3, Photographs, circa 1908-2005. This Series is divided into six Subseries: With and of Family and Friends; With Celebrities and Notable People; Other Performers, Notable People, and Autographed; In Performance; Publicity, Fashion, and Advertising; and Photographs of Artworks Depicting Bobby Short.

Subseries 1 contains a number of early family photographs and early photographs of Bobby Short. Subseries 1 and 3 include photographs by Carl Van Vechten. Subseries 1 and 5 include photographs by Horst, Hurrell, and Scavullo. Subseries 4 contains photographs of Bobby Short in performance, both alone and with others.

Series 4, Contracts and Related Documents, 1953-2005. This series is divided into six Subseries: Appearances in the United States and Foreign Countries; Film, Radio and Television Appearances; Recording Contracts, Royalty Statements and Related Materials; Print, Radio and Television Advertising; Licensing Proposals; and Union and Labor Department Documents.

Subseries 1 is arranged as follows: Hotel Carlyle Contracts; United States Contracts arranged alphabetically by state. These are followed by foreign contracts arranged alphabetically by name of country. Subseries 2 is arranged as follows: contracts and related materials for radio appearances, television appearances and appearances in films. Subseries 3 consists of recording contracts and royalty statements arranged chronologically and by company. Subseries 4, 5, and 6 are arranged chronologically.

Series 5, Programs, Publicity, and Promotion, 1956-1996. This series is divided into three Subseries: Programs for Performances by Bobby Short; Newspaper Clippings and Magazines; and Promotional Materials.

Subseries 1 consists primarily of programs for performances at concert halls. Subseries 2 consists largely of newspaper and entertainment magazine notices from the 1950s and 1960s. Subseries 3 includes flyers, announcements and table cards.

Series 6, Special Events, 1963-2003. This series consists of materials relating to special events such as charity benefits and anniversary celebrations at which Short performed or was otherwise involved. Several of these events benefited the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Series 7, Musical Materials, circa 1920s-1995. This series consists of a variety of materials relating to music; publications, sheet music, lyrics, recording contracts, album covers, and two 45 rpm recordings. Song lists, discographies, and articles about music are included.

Series 8, Theatrical Productions as Producer or Investor, 1979-1988 This series consists of contracts and performance materials for productions for which Bobby Short acted as a producer and/or investor. Programs, correspondence, and publicity materials are included; also partnership documents and financial statements.

Series 9, Manuscripts, Research, and Publishing Materials, circa 1954-1997. This series is arranged in two Subseries: Writings: Bobby Short; Writings: Others.

Subseries 1 includes a partial manuscript for Black and White Baby and research and other materials for a proposed volume, Black Lady Singers, that was not written. Subseries 2 consists of miscellaneous writings by others including a partial script for a play, Tinsel Town, and a film script, Johnny Twennies.

Arrangement:: The papers are arranged in nine series

Series 1, Personal Materials, circa 1908-2005

Subseries 1, Early Life in Danville, Illinois, 1924-1942

Subseries 2, Awards, Honors and Milestones, 1964-2005

Subseries 3, Personal Ephemera and Miscellaneous Publications, 1937-2002

Subseries 4, Original Artworks Owned by Bobby Short, 1841-1990s

Series 2, Correspondence, circa 1938-2005

Subseries 1, Personal Correspondence, 1950s-2004

Subseries 2, Correspondence with Celebrities and Notable People, 1962-2004

Subseries 3, Business Correspondence and Related materials, 1938-2005

Series 3, Photographs, circa 1908-2005

Subseries 1, With and of Family and Friends, circa 1908-2005

Subseries 2, With Celebrities and Notable People, circa 1953-1990s

Subseries 3, Other Performers, Notable People, and Autographed, circa 1920s-1990s

Subseries 4, In Performance and Related Subjects, circa 1940s-2001

Subseries 5, Publicity, Fashion, and Advertising, circa 1930s-2000s

Subseries 6, Photographs of Artworks Depicting Bobby Short, circa 1960s-1990s

Series 4, Contracts and Related Documents, circa 1953-2005

Subseries 1, Appearances in the United States and Foreign Countries, circa 1953-2005

Subseries 2, Radio, Television, and Film Appearances, 1978-2000

Subseries 3, Recording Contracts, Royalty Statements and Related Materials, 1955-2003

Subseries 4, Print, Radio and Television Advertising, 1976-1997

Subseries 5, Licensing Proposals, 1984-2000

Subseries 6, Union and Labor Department Documents, 1981-2005

Series 5, Programs, Publicity, and Promotion, 1956-1996

Subseries 1, Programs for Performances by Bobby Short

Subseries 2, Newspaper Clippings and Magazines

Subseries 3, Promotional Materials

Series 6, Special Events, 1963-2003

Series 7, Musical Materials, circa 1920-1995

Series 8, Theatrical Productions as Producer or Investor, 1979-1988

Series 9, Manuscripts, Research, And Publishing Materials, circa 1954-1997

Subseries 1, Writings: Bobby Short

Subseries 2, Writings: Others

Biographical / Historical:: Bobby Short (Robert Waltrip Short) was born to Rodman and Myrtle Short on September 15, 1924, in Danville, Illinois. He was one of six surviving children. As part of the town's relatively small African American community, the Short family maintained a middle-class standard of living, even during the Great Depression. Rodman Short pursued several occupations but spent most of his life as a coal miner in West Virginia and was seldom at home. Myrtle Short, a domestic worker, was a fastidious housekeeper who expected a high standard of deportment in her children. In Bobby Short's first memoir, Black and White Baby, he wrote: "Except for our color, we conformed in almost every degree to the image of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant-in our manners, our mores, and our way of life." Music was an important part of that life; many members of the extended family played instruments or sang, some professionally. Short first played a song by ear at the family upright piano when he was four years old and began his life-long love affair with words and music. Church, school, vaudeville, and minstrel shows provided his earliest musical influences and repertoire; his innate musicality and enthusiasm enabled him to become a skilled performer at an early age. By the time he was ten years old, he was playing and singing in local night spots and as far away as Indianapolis. At twelve, he was playing in vaudeville, at times billed as "the Miniature King of Swing." At thirteen, he returned to Danville, attended high school, and after graduating in 1942, left his home town to begin his professional life in earnest.

Short spent the 1940s and early 1950s as an increasingly successful entertainer in sophisticated night clubs and jazz venues in Chicago and other Midwestern cities, California, and New York, as well as Paris and London. While his early repertoire featured novelty songs and boogie-woogie, as he matured he embraced the standards of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and other notable composers and song writers. He enthusiastically promoted the work of African American composers such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and Andy Razaf. His encyclopedic knowledge of popular songs, both the well-known and the obscure, gave his performances a freshness that delighted his audiences.

In 1956, Short moved to New York City, taking up residence in a Carnegie Hall studio apartment. His career as a "saloon singer" (his words) continued in New York and in frequent visits to the Midwest and California. He appeared in theatrical roles and began recording for Atlantic Records. In 1968 his concert at Carnegie Hall with Mabel Mercer led to his engagement at the intimate Café Carlyle at the Hotel Carlyle. He remained there, playing for six months of the year, for the rest of his life. His performances at the Carlyle made him a darling of society and an icon of sophisticated New York style. In the early 1970s his album "Bobby Short Loves Cole Porter" introduced him to a larger audience; he published his first memoir, Black and White Baby, in 1971.

Short recorded numerous albums, earning several Grammy nominations. He appeared on radio and television, occasionally acted on stage and was seen in small roles in several films. He produced "Black Broadway," a theatrical review featuring many veteran performers he had long revered; he was instrumental in the revival of Alberta Hunter's career. Four Presidents--Nixon, Carter, Clinton and Reagan--invited him to perform at the White House. When he was not at the Café Carlyle, he traveled extensively in the United States and abroad, appearing in both night clubs and symphony halls. Success enabled him to purchase a villa in the south of France. His second memoir, Bobby Short, the Life and Times of a Saloon Singer, was published in 1995. Short earned many awards and honors during his lengthy career and was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 1999. He died in New York on March 21, 2005.

Sources: Short, Bobby. Black and White Baby, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company,1971. Short, Bobby (with Robert Mackintosh). Bobby Short, the Life and Times of a Saloon Singer, New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1995.

Related Materials:: Objects (2006.0071): awards, clothing, medals, and a music portfolio, including thirteen sound recordings (1984.0134), are housed in the Division of Music, Sports, and Entertainment, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Provenance:: Bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution by Bobby Short.

Restrictions:: This collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow. Researchers must use photocopies of scrapbooks due to the fragility of the originals, unless special access is approved.

Technical Access: Listening to sound recordings requires special appointment; please inquire.

Rights:: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:: Entertainment Search this; Works of art Search this; African American entertainers -- 20th century Search this; Vaudeville Search this; Pianists Search this; Nightclubs Search this; Popular music -- 20th century -- United States Search this; Musicians -- 20th century Search this; Music -- 20th century -- United States Search this

Genre/Form:: Correspondence -- 20th century; Clippings; Business records -- 20th century; Music -- Manuscripts; Contracts; Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 20th century; Passports; Posters; Scrapbooks -- 20th century; Concert programs

Citation:: Bobby Short Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:: NMAH.AC.0946

See more items in:: Bobby Short Papers

Archival Repository:: Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0946

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Daniel Varney Thompson papers

Creator:: Thompson, Daniel V. (Daniel Varney), 1902-1980 Search this

Names:: Courtauld Institute of Art -- Faculty Search this; Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959 Search this; Greene, Belle da Costa, 1883-1950 Search this; McKean, Mary Sargeant Search this; Thompson, Randall, 1899-1984 Search this; Winslow, Henry, b. 1874 Search this

Extent:: 10.1 Linear feet

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Notebooks; Diaries; Sketchbooks; Drawings; Watercolors; Photographs; Poetry; Musical scores; Prints; Oil paintings; Manuscripts

Date:: 1848-1979; bulk 1923-1979

Summary:: The papers of art conservator and historian, engineer, and professor Daniel Varney Thompson (1902-1980) are dated 1848-1979, with the bulk of the material dated 1923-1979. The collection measures 10.1 linear feet and consists of biographical material, correspondence, subject files, writings, artwork, printed material, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note:: The papers of art conservator and historian, professor, engineer, and writer Daniel Varney Thompson (1902-1980) are dated 1848-1979, with the bulk of the material dated 1923-1979. The collection measures 10.1 linear feet and consists of biographical material, correspondence, subject files, writings, artwork, printed material, and photographs.

Biographical information includes certificates and diplomas, passports, and wills. Correspondence documents Daniel Varney Thompson's personal and professional life. Personal correspondence centers heavily on family members including his brother, the composer Randall Thompson. Professional correspondence concerns Thompson's academic career, research, writing, and work as a technical consultant and engineer. Among the correspondents are colleagues from Harvard, Yale, the Courtauld Institute, publishers, and academic and technical journals, in addition to corporate clients.

Subject files are comprised of varying correspondence, printed matter, photographs, notes and writings relating to Thompson's areas of interest. Personal and professional subject files include many relating to his research interests and engineering consulting projects. Of particular interest are numerous letters from Bernard Berenson. There is also correspondence with Belle da Costa Greene, as well as files concerning the Kermes beetle (a source of crimson dyes in the middle ages). Food and gardening subject files reflect Thompson's career as a writer and columnist on these subjects.

Writings consist mainly of manuscripts, drafts, research and miscellaneous notes; also included are diaries, poems, miscellaneous items, and a music score. Daniel Varney Thompson's personal and professional writings include two diaries, poems, and student writings. Most of his extant writings are on art-related topics, science and technology. Among the notes is an index to medieval manuscripts on craftsmanship in major European libraries was compiled by Thompson in 1935. His work on the subject remains unpublished and his notes are extremely valuable since some of the materials noted were lost in World War II. Scientific and technical notebooks, along with various wirings and reports, document projects undertaken as a technical consultant and engineer. The food and gardening writings are extensive and consist of manuscripts and notes for articles and columns, and for a book-length compilation of these writings. Among the writings by other authors are diaries of his mother and wife, and a music score by his brother, Randall Thompson.

Artwork by Daniel Varney Thompson, Mary Sargent McKean, and Henry Winslow consists of drawings, prints, watercolors, a sketchbook, and an oil painting. Printed material includes articles and book reviews by Daniel Varney Thompson, and items about or mentioning him and his family. Also found are articles and books about art, history, medieval studies, science and technology, and food and gardening topics.

Photographs are of artwork, people, places and miscellaneous subjects. Images of people are mainly Thompson and family members.

Arrangement:: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Information, 1848-1970s (Box 1, OV 11-12; 0.3 linear ft.)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1914-1979 (Boxes 1-3; 2.0 linear ft.)

Series 3: Subject Files, 1925-1979 (Boxes 3-6; 3.0 linear ft.)

Series 4: Writings, 1907-1970s (Boxes 6-9; 2.85 linear ft.)

Series 5: Artwork, 1923-1934 (Box 9, OV 13; 5 folders)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1917-1979 (Box 9; 0.75 linear ft.)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1900-1972 (Box 10; 0.4 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:: Daniel Varney Thompson (1902-1980) was an art conservator and historian, professor, engineer, and writer. A noted authority on medieval painting, Varney lived and worked primarily in the Boston area and London.

Daniel Varney Thompson was born in New Jersey in 1902. He was the son of Grace Randall Thompson and Daniel Varney Thompson, Sr., a classics teacher at the Lawrenceville School and later headmaster of Boston Latin School. American composer Randall Thompson was his older brother. Following family tradition, Thompson attended Harvard, earning the A.B. in 1922 and A.M. in 1926, focusing his attention on fine arts, physical chemistry, and literature. Daniel V. Thompson stopped using the designation Jr. after his father's death in 1932.

Between 1922 and 1925 Thompson was employed in the Fogg Museum's laboratory devoted to analyzing art materials for the purposes of detecting forgeries, preserving works of art, and devising methods to aid working artists. During this period, Thompson went to Italy as a Sheldon Fellow in Fine Arts, to learn medieval fresco painting techniques from Edward W. Forbes, Director of the Fogg Museum. He also had an opportunity to study medieval and Renaissance painting techniques with Inicio Federico Joni, and while in Italy began life-long friendships with the Forbes family and Bernard Berenson. Thompson served as a technical advisor to the 1924-1925 Second Harvard China Expedition; he traveled to China by way of India, where he studied wall paintings in caves at Ajanta and Elura and researched newly discovered scrolls.

Daniel Varney Thompson was on the faculty of Yale from 1926-1933, where he taught art history, and tempera painting courses, and laid the foundation for the Department of Fine Arts when Yale became a university in 1932. During his time at Yale, Thompson married Cecile [Cecily] de Luze Simonds.

When The American Council of Learned Societies awarded Thompson a research fellowship for the academic year 1933/34, he returned to Europe and surveyed major libraries for materials concerning the history of technology of the arts. Thompson was then invited to be Professor of the History of Technology at the University of London. He was on the faculty from 1934-1946, and also served as research and technical advisor, developing a laboratory at the Courtauld Institute for analysis of art materials.

During World War II, the Courtauld's laboratory - which had facilities for emission, absorption, and x-ray spectrography - was offered to the Ministry of Aircraft Production. To avoid compromising the University's tax-free status, Thompson formed and served as managing director of Daniel Varney Limited, a private company which leased the premises and equipment. From 1940 to 1945, the company was operated in the name of the Courtauld Institute, employing 200 people in tool making, gauge making, fine mechanisms, and development and production of optics instruments. After the war, Daniel Varney Limited shifted its interests to high vacuum diffusion pumps, gas manipulation, and glassblowing.

Upon returning to the United States in 1947, Thompson settled in the Boston area, becoming a technical consultant. He worked on projects for E-Z Mills, Inc., Sylvania Eloctronics, Comstock & Wescott, Inc., and other corporations. He was chief engineer of Jarrell-Ash Co., 1953-1955, redesigning optical instruments, spectrography, and schlieren systems. Between 1955 and 1957, Thompson served as Vice President of Swett & Sibley, involved with the design and development of optical instruments, scanning spectrometers, and densistometers. He then moved to Avco Corporation, where for the next decade he was a Senior Staff Consultant working on optical design in rocket instrumentation. Thompson retired from his engineering career in 1967.

Daniel V. Thompson wrote and published extensively. Art-related writings include translations and a monograph published by Yale University Press, and numerous articles and reviews. Translations are: Cennino Cennini's Il Libro dell'Arte (3 volumes: Text of Il Libro dell'Arte, 1932; The Craftsman's Handbook, 1933; and The Practice of Tempera Painting, 1936), and An Anonymous Fourteenth Century Treatise ( De arte illuminadi) (with his student George Heard Hamilton), 1936. A monograph, The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting (foreword by Bernard Berenson) appeared in 1936.

Most of Thompson's scientific and technical writings are unpublished and relate to projects for which he served as a consulting engineer.

Soon after retiring, Thompson began a new career that he continued for the remainder of his life. A serious cook and long-time gardener, he began writing about these topics, producing weekly columns that were published by newspapers from Maine to Chicago and contributing articles to Gourmet, Horticulture, and similar periodicals. Thompson also lectured to garden clubs and judged garden and flower competitions.

Daniel Varney Thompson died on January 4, 1980, following an automobile accident in Malaga, Spain.

Related Material:: Also found in the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews conducted with Daniel V. Thompson by Robert Brown, September 25, 1974-November 2, 1976. There are also three letters from Thompson to his sister-in-law Edith Simonds Moore.

Provenance:: The Daniel Varney Thompson papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in increments between 1974-1981 by Mr. Thompson and his estate.

Restrictions:: Use of original papers requires an appointment.

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

Occupation:: Conservators Search this; Art historians Search this

Topic:: Food Search this; Gardening Search this; Engineers -- United States Search this; Authors -- Massachusetts Search this; Kermes (Insect) Search this

Genre/Form:: Notebooks; Diaries; Sketchbooks; Drawings; Watercolors; Photographs; Poetry; Musical scores; Prints; Oil paintings; Manuscripts

Citation:: Daniel Varney Thompson papers, 1848-1979, bulk 1923-1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:: AAA.thomdani

See more items in:: Daniel Varney Thompson papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-thomdani

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Quintango Danzarin (Musical and Dance Performance)

Creator:: Smithsonian Education Search this

Type:: YouTube Videos

Uploaded:: 2011-10-14T12:50:41.000Z

YouTube Category:: Entertainment Search this

Topic:: Education Search this

See more by:: SmithsonianEducation

Data Source:: Smithsonian Education

YouTube Channel:: SmithsonianEducation

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:yt_fItkCk19cog

How to Make a "Clay Llama" (Demonstration)

Creator:: Smithsonian Education Search this

Type:: YouTube Videos

Uploaded:: 2011-10-14T12:47:34.000Z

YouTube Category:: Howto & Style Search this

Topic:: Education Search this

See more by:: SmithsonianEducation

Data Source:: Smithsonian Education

YouTube Channel:: SmithsonianEducation

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:yt_i0Tfi9tdJEQ

South of Zamboanga - 1970

Creator:: Human Studies Film Archives Search this

Type:: YouTube Videos

Uploaded:: 2011-03-17T18:56:39.000Z

YouTube Category:: Education Search this

Topic:: Anthropology Search this

See more by:: HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:: Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:: HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:yt_CVCZxYv80PU

Leptis Magna Roman Ruins, Libya (1972)

Creator:: Human Studies Film Archives Search this

Type:: YouTube Videos

Uploaded:: 2010-10-26T14:50:37.000Z

YouTube Category:: Education Search this

Topic:: Anthropology Search this

See more by:: HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:: Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:: HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:yt_NX2HY2cpdu0

Caravan to Kabul - 1975

Creator:: Human Studies Film Archives Search this

Type:: YouTube Videos

Uploaded:: 2011-03-17T18:34:15.000Z

YouTube Category:: Education Search this

Topic:: Anthropology Search this

See more by:: HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:: Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:: HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:yt_W2wQuWsoDRQ

Congo River Fishing - 1975

Creator:: Human Studies Film Archives Search this

Type:: YouTube Videos

Uploaded:: 2011-03-15T19:24:48.000Z

YouTube Category:: Education Search this

Topic:: Anthropology Search this

See more by:: HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:: Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:: HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:yt_eM5c5NeFwOk

Mountain Dancers of Poland - 1973

Creator:: Human Studies Film Archives Search this

Type:: YouTube Videos

Uploaded:: 2011-03-17T19:41:22.000Z

YouTube Category:: Education Search this

Topic:: Anthropology Search this

See more by:: HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:: Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:: HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:yt_qxy8uYEL4ow

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Caravan to Kabul - 1975

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Mountain Dancers of Poland - 1973

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