Search Results

Artist:

Earl Dotter, born Philadelphia, PA 1943  Search this

Medium:

gelatin silver print

Dimensions:

image: 8 3/8 × 6 3/8 in. (21.3 × 16.2 cm) sheet: 10 × 8 in. (25.4 × 20.3 cm)

Type:

Photography-Photoprint

Date:

1976-1977

Topic:

Figure group  Search this

Dress\accessory\cane  Search this

State of being\disabled\physical disability  Search this

Architecture Interior\domestic  Search this

Object\musical instrument\keyboard  Search this

Credit Line:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts

Object number:

1983.63.400

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department:

Graphic Arts

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk770090b97-9433-450f-aadd-2cd56f2bb9c8

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:saam_1983.63.400

Artist:

Louis Faurer, born Philadelphia, PA 1916-died New York City 2001  Search this

Medium:

gelatin silver print

Dimensions:

sheet: 14 x 10 15/16 in. (35.5 x 27.7 cm) image: 9 1/8 x 6 1/2 in. (23.1 x 16.6 cm)

Type:

Photography-Photoprint

Date:

1949, printed 1980-1981

Topic:

Figure male\knee length  Search this

Cityscape\Pennsylvania\Philadelphia  Search this

State of being\disabled\paralyzed  Search this

Object\other\sign  Search this

Architecture Exterior\commercial\bank  Search this

Architecture Exterior\commercial\Broad Street Trust Company  Search this

Credit Line:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of David L. Davies and John D. Weeden and museum purchase

Copyright:

© Estate of Louis Faurer

Object number:

2002.47.10

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department:

Graphic Arts

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7d93c55db-2867-4f92-a005-21d28f0efca1

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:saam_2002.47.10

Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Collection Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Sears & Wendell  Search this

Olmsted Brothers  Search this

Harvard University  Search this

American Society of Landscape Architects  Search this

Extent:

1 Slides (photographs) (glass lantern, col., 3 x 5 in.)

Type:

Archival materials

Slides (photographs)

Date:

1905

General:

John Haworth, 1020 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA. Eastman Kodak Co.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Summer  Search this

Flowering shrubs  Search this

Shrubs  Search this

Lawns  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection.

Identifier:

AAG.SRS, Item SRS086009

See more items in:

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection / Series 1: Photographic Images / United States / Unidentified Locations or Subjects / SRS086: Unidentified Gardens

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb60ba22ee9-f1be-485f-9b85-e8edd337e901

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-srs-ref3967

Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Collection Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Sears & Wendell  Search this

Olmsted Brothers  Search this

Harvard University  Search this

American Society of Landscape Architects  Search this

Extent:

1 Slides (photographs) (glass lantern, col., 3 x 5 in.)

Type:

Archival materials

Slides (photographs)

Date:

1905

General:

John Haworth, 1020 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA. Eastman Kodak Co.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Summer  Search this

Roads  Search this

Trees  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection.

Identifier:

AAG.SRS, Item SRS086023

See more items in:

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection / Series 1: Photographic Images / United States / Unidentified Locations or Subjects / SRS086: Unidentified Gardens

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6774d980a-b3bf-4658-95d6-16d453b7d379

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-srs-ref3973

Landscape architect:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Former owner:

Lavino, E. J.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Sears & Wendell  Search this

Olmsted Brothers  Search this

Harvard University  Search this

American Society of Landscape Architects  Search this

Extent:

1 Slides (photographs) (glass lantern, black-and-white, 3 x 5 in.)

Type:

Archival materials

Slides (photographs)

Place:

Pennsylvania -- Gravers Station

United States -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia County -- Philadelphia -- Graver's Lane Station

Date:

1905

General:

John Haworth Co. 1020 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA. Eastman Kodak Co.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Fountains  Search this

Evergreens  Search this

Allées  Search this

Walls, brick  Search this

Arbors  Search this

Perspective drawings  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection.

Identifier:

AAG.SRS, Item PA319008

See more items in:

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection / Series 1: Photographic Images / United States / Pennsylvania / PA319: Philadelphia (Gravers Station) -- Lavino Garden

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6295f8d7a-a02e-4f82-aa86-9410735548f0

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-srs-ref4285

Landscape architect:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Creator:

Schlotman, Joseph B.  Search this

Spahr, Albert H.  Search this

John Haworth Company  Search this

Collection Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Sears & Wendell  Search this

Olmsted Brothers  Search this

Harvard University  Search this

American Society of Landscape Architects  Search this

Extent:

1 Slides (photographs) (glass lantern, col., 3 x 5 in.)

Type:

Archival materials

Slides (photographs)

Place:

Stonehurst (Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan)

United States of America -- Michigan -- Wayne County -- Grosse Pointe Shores

Date:

[between 1914 and 1929]

General:

John Haworth Co. 1020 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA. Eastman Kodak Co.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- Michigan -- Grosse Pointe Shores  Search this

Perspective drawings  Search this

Driveways  Search this

Trees  Search this

Houses  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection.

Identifier:

AAG.SRS, Item MI023004

See more items in:

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection / Series 1: Photographic Images / United States / Michigan / MI023: Grosse Pointe Shores -- Stonehurst

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb623685be6-221b-4a63-86e0-896cc8810dff

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-srs-ref5477

Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Satterwaite, George  Search this

Collection Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Sears & Wendell  Search this

Olmsted Brothers  Search this

Harvard University  Search this

American Society of Landscape Architects  Search this

Extent:

1 Slides (photographs) (glass lantern, col., 3 x 5 in.)

Type:

Archival materials

Slides (photographs)

Place:

Pennsylvania -- Meadowbrook

United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Montgomery County -- Abington Township -- Meadowbrook

Date:

1930

General:

John Haworth - 1020 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA. Eastman Kodak Co.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Perspective drawings  Search this

Shrubs  Search this

Ponds  Search this

Walkways, stone  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection.

Identifier:

AAG.SRS, Item PA304021

See more items in:

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection / Series 1: Photographic Images / United States / Pennsylvania / PA304: Meadowbrook -- Satterwaite Garden

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6fa545faf-86f0-41be-afea-54f759c1171a

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-srs-ref6003

Creator:

Pagon, Katherine W. Dunn, 1892-1988  Search this

Names:

Barnes Foundation  Search this

Philadelphia Museum of Art  Search this

Barnes, Albert C. (Albert Coombs), 1872-1951  Search this

Kimball, Fiske, 1888-1955  Search this

Extent:

0.4 Linear feet ((75 items))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

[ca. 1938-1961]

Scope and Contents:

Letters, notes, writings and printed material collected by Pagon regarding the Barnes Foundation, Albert C. Barnes, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Included are letters, 1948-1952, from Pagon to the editors of Philadelphia area newspapers regarding the Barnes Foundation, and several letters received, 1948-1953, including one from Barnes, 1950; Pagon's notes from a Barnes Foundation class taught by Angelo Pinto, 1946, and other notes; a file containing copies of correspondence between Barnes, Henry Clifford and Fiske Kimball regarding a 1948 Matisse exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; writings by Barnes, including pamphlets on art education and writings on Fiske Kimball, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the arts in Philadelphia, 1938-1948.

Printed material includes a pamphlet, 1938, by Harry Fuiman, "The Progressive Decay of the Pennsylvania Museum of Art," an article on Matisse, and pamphlets and clippings on Barnes and the Foundation, primarily focused on the lawsuit after Barnes' death to force the Foundation to open its gallery to the public, 1943-1961.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter, Philadelphia, Pa., and Baltimore, Md. Studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts between 1910 and 1918, and later at the Barnes Foundation. Albert C. Barnes was a collector of modern art who acquired over 800 paintings, particularly French Impressionists and other modern painters such as Cezanne, Renoir, Matisse and Picasso. The collection is housed in the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pa. Barnes directed in his will that the collection never be allowed to tour or be reproduced.

Provenance:

Donated by Pagon's granddaughter, Katherine Pagon Tawney and her husband, Lee Tawney, 1992.

Restrictions:

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

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Pennsylvania  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.pagokath

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f2b60957-e97e-487d-89c8-13305cc55287

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-pagokath

Interviewee:

Piper, Jane, 1916-1991  Search this

Interviewer:

Wolanin, Barbara A.  Search this

Subject:

Carles, Arthur B.  Search this

Hofmann, Hans  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Citation:

Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jane Piper, 1988 Jan. 16-17. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Theme:

Women  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)13201

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211979

AAA_collcode_piper88

Theme:

Women

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_211979

Creator:

National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (U.S.)  Search this

Collection Collector:

Whitehead, Henry Preston, 1917-2002  Search this

Extent:

1 Document (10 3/4 x 8 inches)

Type:

Archival materials

Documents

Programs

Place:

Washington (D.C.)

Date:

February 26, 1961

Collection Restrictions:

Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

The Henry P. Whitehead collection is the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with the Anacostia Community Museum. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.

Topic:

African American women -- Societies and clubs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Programs

Collection Citation:

Henry P. Whitehead collection, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Michael A. Watkins.

See more items in:

Henry P. Whitehead collection

Henry P. Whitehead collection / Series 3: Tomlinson D. Todd / 3.7: Subject Files / National Association of Colored Women's Club's, Inc.

Archival Repository:

Anacostia Community Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa77f56e978-41ce-449e-af49-38144baed3af

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-acma-06-042-ref1889

Creator:

Piper, Jane, 1916-1991  Search this

Extent:

0.2 Linear feet ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1943-1988

Scope and Contents:

Biographical information; class notes from a 2-dimensional painting class at the Philadelphia College of Art; a typescript from a lecture given by Piper; printed matter documenting her career; and photographs of her studio and of Piper with a painting.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter; Philadelphia, Pa. Died 1991.

Provenance:

Microfilmed in 1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. Lent by Jane Piper.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- History -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.pipejane

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92328df60-678c-43a6-b80b-51c2425131d9

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-pipejane

Interviewee:

Piper, Jane, 1916-1991  Search this

Interviewer:

Wolanin, Barbara A. (Barbara Ann)  Search this

Names:

Carles, Arthur B., 1882-1952  Search this

Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966  Search this

Extent:

43 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1988 Jan. 16-17

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Jane Piper conducted 1988 Jan. 16-17, by Barbara Wolanin, for the Archives of American Art. Piper speaks of her training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, her studies with Arthur B. Carles and Hans Hofmann and of Carles' influence on her. Piper describes Carles' classes, his teaching methods, as well as Carles' stroke and his final unsuccessful attempt to exhibit at Princeton before his death. Piper speaks about her career as a teacher and as an artist, her exhibition history, her working methods and the development of her painting, particularly the importance of color and the move between abstraction and representational painting.

Biographical / Historical:

Jane Piper (1916-1991) was a painter from Philadelphia, Pa.

General:

Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 2 min.

Provenance:

These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Occupation:

Painters -- Interviews  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.piper88

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw915e9aaf9-7a40-4e1d-957d-98f86f4d2458

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-piper88

Interviewee:

Gross, Estelle Shane, 1929-1992  Search this

Interviewer:

Pacini, Marina  Search this

Names:

Gross McCleaf Gallery  Search this

Day, Larry, 1921-  Search this

Emerson, Edith, 1888-1981  Search this

Howard, Humbert, 1905-1990  Search this

Lueders, Jimmy C., 1927-1994  Search this

Oakley, Violet, 1874-1961  Search this

Piper, Jane, 1916-1991  Search this

Pittman, Hobson Lafayette, 1899 or 1900-1972  Search this

Weidner, Roswell, 1911-1999  Search this

Weston, Harold, 1894-1972  Search this

Extent:

2 Items (Sound recording, sound cassettes)

61 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1989 Apr. 5

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Estelle Gross conducted 1989 Apr. 5, by Marina Pacini, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.

Gross speaks of her background and education; opening the Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia; the artists represented, including Larry Day, Edith Emerson, Violet Oakley, Humbert Howard, Jimmy Lueders, Jane Piper, Carroll Tyson, Roswell Weidner, Harold Weston, Arthur B. Carles, and Hobson Pittman; the Philadelphia art scene including other galleries, the art press, collectors and changes over the past twenty years. Gross also discusses her studies under Hobson Pittman.

Biographical / Historical:

Estelle Shane Gross (1929-1992) was a gallery director of Philadelphia, Pa.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Restrictions:

Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Gallery directors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.gross89

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9457ef8a6-1936-4533-b629-ac68fd7c168a

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-gross89

Creator:

Parsons, Betty  Search this

Names:

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Bess, Forrest, 1911-1977  Search this

Congdon, William, 1912-1998  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Extent:

61.1 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Video recordings

Drawings

Date:

1916-1991

bulk 1946-1983

Summary:

The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection.

Scope and Content Note:

The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection. Personal papers also include personal photographs.

Artists files, the largest and most extensive series, consist of a wide variety of documents, including biographical materials, correspondence with or related to the artist, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales and expense invoices, clippings, price lists, and photographs of the artist, exhibitions, and artwork. The files reflect Parsons's close personal relationships with certain artists, particularly Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnett Newman. Extensive documentation is also found for Forrest Bess, William Congdon, Paul Feeley, Thomas George, Alexander Liberman, Seymour Lipton, Richard Pousette-Dart, Jesse Reichek, and Jack Youngerman. Historians and researchers will find these files to be an invaluable resource both in tracing Betty Parsons's role in promoting Abstract Expressionism and researching individual artists.

Exhibition files primarily document the gallery's infrequent group or themed exhibitions. Of particular note are the files on The Ideographic Picture, which was organized by Barnett Newman and included his work, as well as that of Pietro Lazzari, Boris Margo, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Theodoros Stamos, and Clyfford Still. Price lists, artist biographies and exhibition schedules are housed in the general exhibition files. Loan exhibition files provide documentation of artwork borrowed by other galleries or institutions for exhibitions, as well as shows outside of the gallery that were organized by Betty Parsons. Also found are gallery exhibition guest books, and announcements and catalogs.

Gallery correspondence is primarily with galleries and dealers, museums, arts organizations, and collectors. Scattered letters from artists are also found, although the bulk of the artists' correspondence is filed in the Artists Files. Also found here are memoranda and letters between Betty Parsons and her staff that contain detailed information concerning Parsons's schedule and gallery activities. Similar correspondence is found amongst the correspondence files within the series Betty Parsons papers.

Appraisal and conservation files include correspondence, appraisal invoices, forms, and appraisal requests and other information from the Art Dealers Association of America, and conservation invoices and reports. The majority of the appraisal records contain information about the specific works of art, including artist, title, date, current owner and the estimated value at the time of the request. Conservation records document conservation treatments undertaken by outside conservators to gallery stock.

Sales, purchases, stock and inventory are well documented in the sales and inventory records. The records provide detailed information about individual sales, prices of individual pieces of artwork, consignments, and loans. Most sales records also include detailed information about the buyer and are a valuable resource for provenance research. Files documenting the general administration, routine business operations, and financial transactions (not individual sales) of the gallery are housed in the general business and financial records. These records include ledgers, receipts, tax records, and banking records. There is some limited information about works of art scattered amongst the receipts and in the "in/out slips" files. Legal records house general legal documents and those concerning specific lawsuits. Of particular note is the file detailing the lawsuit between Betty Parsons and Sidney Janis over the fifth floor of 24 West 57th Street.

The remainder of the collection consists of Betty Parsons's personal papers which document her career prior to opening her own gallery, her work as an artist, and her personal art collection.

Some information about Parsons's work prior to opening her own gallery is found in the early curatorial files she retained from her curatorial and administrative work at the Wakefield Gallery and the Mortimer Brandt Gallery. Clippings, correspondence, announcements, exhibition lists and exhibition files are found. For both positions, she kept only the exhibition files for a small group of exhibitions organized around a specific theme, the most notable being the exhibition of Pre-Columbian Sculpture at the Wakefield Gallery.

Biographical materials include copies of her biography, family genealogies, photographs of Parsons, interviews with Colette Roberts and WYNC radio, memberships, photographs, and ephemera, including a collection of programs and invitations from events that she attended. Throughout her life Parsons gave generously of her time to various cultural and charitable institutions and was awarded for her contributions. There are also a number of files that document her speaking engagements, her participation as a juror in numerous juried exhibitions, charitable work, and awards that she received.

Parsons's personal correspondence files reflect how deeply Parsons's life was intertwined with the gallery. There are letters from museum directors, dealers, artists seeking representation, and personal letters from artists with whom she had close personal relationships, most notably Larry Bigelow, Alexander Calder, William Condon, and Ad Reinhardt. There are also letters from the English artist Adge Baker, with whom Parsons was romantically involved. Correspondence also includes several files of postcards and Christmas cards.

Pocket diaries and engagement calendars, spanning from 1933-1981, record social engagements, meetings, vacations, and telephone numbers. Also found are circa two linear feet of notebooks and sketchbooks, many of which are annotated with addresses, poetry, journal entries, and other observations of people, places, and travels. Writings by others include writings about Betty Parsons or the Betty Parsons Gallery, such as Lawrence Alloway's unpublished typescript titled "An American Gallery" and other topics.

Printed material consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs, art magazines, and newspaper and magazine clippings about Betty Parsons, her family and acquaintances, artists, and other art related topics, coupled with a miscellaneous selection of clippings, and a video recording, on topics that presumably captured Parsons's attention.

Personal art work records document Betty Parsons's career as an artist through inventories, group and solo exhibitions files, price lists, appraisals, sales and consignment invoices. Photographs are primarily reproductions of her works of art, although there are scattered photographs of exhibition installations.

Betty Parsons's private art collection files document her extensive personal collection of art that included works by Jackson Pollock, Agnes Martin, Romare Bearden, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, in addition to Amlash sculpture from ancient Persia and primitive sculpture from New Hebrides. These files include inventories, lists, exhibition records, sales and purchase invoices, and photographs. There are also files for donations and loans from Parsons's personal collection to museums and fund raising auctions for several non-profit institutions.

Finally, the personal financial records provide information about the Parsons's family finances and her personal financial success as an art dealer. In addition to her own investments, Parsons inherited shares in family investments through the estates of her parents, J. Fred Pierson, Jr. and Suzanne Miles Pierson, and younger sister, Emily Rayner. Real estate files include correspondence, utility bills, receipts, area maps, and land plots for houses in Sheepscot, Maine and St. Maartens, Netherlands Antilles. Tax returns, ledger worksheets, receipts, banking statements, deposit slips, and cancelled checks are among the other financial records.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as seven series. Many of the series are further divided into subseries.

Missing Title

Series 1: Artists Files, 1935-1983 (19.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-18, 51, 55-56, OVs 53, 65)

Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1941-1983 (2.9 linear feet; Boxes 18-21, 51, 55, OVs 54, 66)

Series 3: Correspondence Files, 1941-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 21-24, 52, 56)

Series 4: Appraisal Files, 1954-1983 (0.7 linear feet; Box 24)

Series 5: Sales and Inventory Records, 1946-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 25-28, 51)

Series 6: General Business and Financial Records, 1946-1983 (9.3 linear feet; Boxes 28-38, 51, 56)

Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers, 1916-1991 (21 linear feet; Boxes 38-51, 55-64, OVs 65-67)

Historical Note:

Betty Parsons (1900-1982) was one of the leading art dealers in New York City specializing in modern art, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists, and an abstract painter and sculptor in her own right. She opened Betty Parsons Gallery in 1946 at 15 E. 57th St., later moving to 24 W. 57th St.

The history of the Betty Parsons Gallery is inextricably bound to the life and experiences of its founder. Betty Parsons was born Betty Bierne Pierson on January 31, 1900 in New York City. She enjoyed a privileged childhood, which included vacation homes in Newport and Palm Beach. Her only formal education was a five-year stint at the prestigious Chapin School from 1910-1915, where she met many of the women who would become life-long friends and supporters. In the spring of 1920, she married Schuyler Livingston Parsons from one of New York's oldest families. The marriage ended after only three years and the couple traveled to Paris where they could obtain a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. She retained her married surname and purchased a house on the rue Boulard in Paris, where she remained for ten years, pursuing studies in painting and sculpture.

Financial constraints forced Parsons to return to the United States in 1933. She first traveled west to California, but it was her return to New York in 1935 that marked the start of her career as an art dealer. Her first opportunity to connect with the New York art world came after a successful exhibition of her watercolors at the Midtown Galleries where the owner, Alan Gruskin, noted Parson's faithful and wealthy group of supporters and offered her work installing exhibitions and selling paintings on commission. Her work for the Midtown Galleries led to a second position in the Park Avenue gallery of Mary Sullivan, one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art. Here, Parsons learned the business of running a gallery. By 1940 Parsons was ready to take on more independent responsibility and agreed to manage a gallery within the Wakefield Bookshop. In this job, she exercised full curatorial control by selecting artists and organizing exhibitions. She championed then unknown contemporary American artists and the gallery's roster soon included Saul Steinberg, Hedda Sterne, Alfonso Ossorio, Joseph Cornell, Walter Murch, and Theodore Stamos. Although the majority of the exhibitions were solo shows, there were a few group shows and themed exhibitions, such as Love in Art (1941) and Ballet in Art (1942). Under Parson's direction, the gallery hosted an important exhibition of Pre-Columbian sculpture, curated by Barnett Newman.

When the owners of the Wakefield Bookshop decided to close the gallery late in 1944, Mortimer Brandt, a dealer who specialized in Old Master paintings and drawings, offered her a position as head of the newly created contemporary section of his gallery. Many of the artists who had shown with Parsons at the Wakefield Gallery followed her to her new gallery, where they were joined by Ad Reinhardt, Boris Mango, and Hans Hofmann. While the exhibitions garnered attention from the press and the interest of contemporary artists, the contemporary section was not a financial success and Brandt opted to close his gallery in 1946.

Using $1000 of her own money and an additional borrowed $4000, Parsons sublet the space that previously housed Mortimer Brandt's contemporary section, on the fifth floor of 15 East 57th Street, and opened the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In many respects the early years of the Betty Parsons Gallery were the most vital, as it was during the period of 1947-1951 that the gallery became linked with the Abstract Expressionists and the history of post-WWII American Art. In an unpublished history of the gallery, noted art critic Lawrence Alloway stated that the significance of the gallery's early exhibitions ranks with Durand-Ruel's Impressionists exhibitions or Kahnweiler's shows of the Cubists. Betty Parsons Gallery quickly became one of the most prestigious galleries in New York City associated with new American Art of all styles. Her close friend Barnett Newman organized the gallery's inaugural exhibition of Northwest Coast Indian Art and he soon began to exhibit his own work at the gallery. When Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery closed, Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, and Mark Rothko joined Parsons' growing stable of artists. Although Parsons continued to promote and exhibit many of the artists whom she had previously discovered, these four artists dominated this period. Newman, Pollock, Still, and Rothko worked closely together, holding themselves apart from the other artists somewhat. They were actively involved in the curatorial process and often hung their own shows. For these artists, the exhibition itself was an artistic act of creation.

Parsons provided a supportive environment and allowed her artists enormous freedom in planning and designing their exhibitions. She was not, however, an aggressive salesperson. During this early period the gallery ledgers document sales to an impressive array of museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as important collectors such as Edward Root and Duncan Phillips. Nevertheless, the art that the gallery promoted was not yet widely accepted. Sales were few, prices were low and the business would not turn a profit for several years. Meanwhile, there was mounting pressure from Pollock, Newman, Still, and Rothko to drop some of the other artists from Parsons' stable and focus all resources on them. They wanted to be promoted to a larger audience and have their work sold at higher prices, but Parsons enjoyed discovering new artists and did not want to be restricted in this endeavor. The year 1951 marks the last time that Pollock's drip paintings or the monumental works of Newman, Rothko or Still were shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In the following years the Betty Parsons Gallery continued to attract a diverse group of talented artists. Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Tuttle, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jack Youngerman had their first New York exhibitions at the Betty Parsons Gallery. Parsons opened Section Eleven in 1958, a short-lived annex to the main gallery, so that she could promote younger, less well-known artists. It closed in 1960 due to the administrative difficulties in running two essentially separate galleries.

In 1962, Sidney Janis, another prominent art dealer, started proceedings to evict Parsons from the floor that they shared on 15 East 57th Street. The Betty Parsons Gallery moved to 24 West 57th Street in 1963, where it remained until it closed in 1983, following Parsons' death the preceding year. Throughout the gallery's history, Parsons continued to promote faithful artists such as Hedda Sterne and Saul Steinberg, who had been with her from the beginning and to seek out new talent, both for her main gallery and for other venues, such as the short-lived Parsons-Truman Gallery, which she opened in 1974 with former Parsons Gallery director Jock Truman to show works on paper by emerging artists.

In addition to being an art dealer, Betty Parsons was a respected artist and collector. With her connoisseur's eye and connections, Parsons amassed an impressive private collection of art. She bought her first piece while an art student in Paris in the 1920s, a small gouache by Zadkine, but did not begin acquiring works in earnest until she was established as an art dealer. Partial inventories of her personal collection show that the majority of her collection contained works by artists associated with the gallery. Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Ad Reinhardt, Agnes Martin, and Kenzo Okada were among the artists represented. Many were gifts from the artists, such as an ink drawing by Jackson Pollock, inscribed "For Betty." Selections from her collection appeared in small museums across the United States, including a traveling exhibition organized by Fitch College, New York, in 1968. In her role as a promoter of contemporary American art, Parsons lent generously from her collection, particularly to the federal Art in the Embassies Program. Throughout her life she also donated works to a variety of museums, most notably, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark.

Parsons frequently claimed that her desire to pursue a career as an artist stemmed from a visit to the Armory Show when she was thirteen. In her late teens, after pressuring her father for art lessons, she studied with the sculptor Gutzon Burglum of Mount Rushmore fame. In Paris, she continued her studies first with Antoine Bourdelle, whose sculptures she had admired at the Armory Show, and later with Ossip Zadkine. The first exhibition of her work, figurative watercolors and sculptures, took place in Paris in 1927. As she matured as an artist, her art became more abstract. Her late works were painted wood sculptures that she pieced together from wood that she found near her studio in Long Island. Parsons's work was exhibited in more than thirty solo exhibitions, including, Betty Parsons; Paintings, Gouaches and Sculpture, 1955-1968, at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. During her lifetime, she would not allow her works to be shown in her own gallery. Shortly after she died of a stroke in 1982, In Memoriam, Betty Parsons: Late Sculptures, opened at the Betty Parsons Gallery.

Related Material:

Also found in the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews with Betty Parsons, June 4-9, 1969, by Paul Cummings, and June 11, 1981 by Gerald Silk.

Separated Material:

Some of the material originally loaned for microfilming in 1968 and 1969 was not included in later donations and can be viewed on microfilm reels N68/62-N68/74 and N69/105-N69/106. Loaned materials are not described in the container listing in this finding aid.

Provenance:

The gallery donated some records in 1974, many of which had been loaned earlier for microfilming. The bulk of the collection was donated in 1984 and 1986 by William Rayner and Christopher Schwabacher, executors of the Estate of Betty Parsons. Additional material was donated by William Rayner in 1998 and Christopher Schwabacher in 2017. Additional material was donated in 2018 by the Lee Hall estate via Carolyn Crozier and Deborah Jacobson, co-executors. Hall was Parsons's biographer and had the material in her possession at the time of Parsons's death. An additional photograph of Parons and Marie Carr Taylor by Henri Cartier-Bresson was donated in 2021 by Mary Carpenter, who inherited the photograph from her mother, Nan Thorton Jones, who received it as a gift from Taylor.

Restrictions:

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

Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.

Rights:

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

Occupation:

Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

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

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

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

Topic:

Women art dealers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Abstract expressionist  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Video recordings

Drawings

Citation:

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.parsbett

See more items in:

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw956c1036f-b673-4dc1-8c1b-cde0bd641c60

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-parsbett

Maker:

Henry Troemner  Search this

Measurements:

box: 34.2 cm x 20.3 cm x 20.3 cm; 13 7/16 in x 8 in x 8 in

overall in box: 7 7/8 in x 13 1/2 in x 8 1/4 in; 20.0025 cm x 34.29 cm x 20.955 cm

Object Name:

Weight Set

Object Type:

Weights

Credit Line:

Transfer from Excess Property, National Bureau of Standards

ID Number:

CH.326632

Catalog number:

326632

Accession number:

261654

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Chemistry

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a0-e547-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_2503

Maker:

Henry Troemner  Search this

Measurements:

weight 1:;

weight 2:;

weight 3:;

pan: 102 mm; x 4 in

overall: 19.8 cm x 10.2 cm x 27.4 cm; 7 13/16 in x 4 in x 10 13/16 in

dish: 93 mm; x 3 11/16 in

overall: scale: 7 3/4 in x 10 1/4 in x 3 3/4 in; 19.685 cm x 26.035 cm x 9.525 cm

overall: weights, in container: 2 in x 1 1/2 in; 5.08 cm x 3.81 cm

Object Name:

Trip Scale

Object Type:

Scales

Place made:

United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Date made:

late nineteenth century

Subject:

Weights & Measures  Search this

ID Number:

CH.337121

Catalog number:

337121

Accession number:

1979.0026

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Chemistry

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a0-e609-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_2989

Maker:

Troemner, Henry  Search this

Measurements:

overall: 9 1/4 in x 17 1/2 in x 10 in; 23.495 cm x 44.45 cm x 25.4 cm

overall: 9 1/4 in x 21 1/2 in x 10 in; 23.495 cm x 54.61 cm x 25.4 cm

Object Name:

balance

Place made:

United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Date made:

1931

Subject:

Weights & Measures  Search this

Credit Line:

From Henry Troemner

ID Number:

CH.M-03084

Catalog number:

M-03084

Accession number:

116033

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Chemistry

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a1-9fc6-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_376185

Maker:

Henry Troemner  Search this

Measurements:

overall: 8 5/8 in x 12 7/8 in x 6 1/4 in; 21.9075 cm x 32.7025 cm x 15.875 cm

overall: balance: 8 3/4 in x 12 3/4 in x 6 3/4 in; 22.225 cm x 32.385 cm x 17.145 cm

overall: parts in museum housing: 1 1/2 in x 7 1/8 in x 3 1/2 in; 3.81 cm x 18.0975 cm x 8.89 cm

Object Name:

Balance

Place made:

United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Date made:

1919

Subject:

Weights & Measures  Search this

Credit Line:

Gift of Henry Troemner

ID Number:

CH.M-00526

Catalog number:

M-00526

Accession number:

64117

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Chemistry

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a1-a02a-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_376191

Interviewee:

Metcalf, Bruce, 1949-  Search this

Interviewer:

Cooke, Edward S., 1954-  Search this

Creator:

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Names:

Colorado State University -- Faculty  Search this

Kent State University -- Faculty  Search this

Montana State University (Bozeman, Mont.)  Search this

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Society of North American Goldsmiths  Search this

State University of New York at New Paltz -- Students  Search this

Syracuse University -- Students  Search this

Tyler School of Art -- Students  Search this

University of the Arts (Philadelphia, Pa.) -- Faculty  Search this

Adamson, Glenn  Search this

Arneson, Robert, 1930-1992  Search this

Bauer, Fred  Search this

Bennett, Jamie, 1948-  Search this

Burns, Mark, 1950-  Search this

Church, Sharon, 1948-  Search this

Clark, Garth, 1947-  Search this

Craig, Gabriel  Search this

Cummins, Susan  Search this

Daley, William, 1925-2002  Search this

Ebendorf, Robert, 1938-  Search this

Eidelberg, Martin P.  Search this

Flynn, Pat, 1954-  Search this

Getty, Nilda  Search this

Gill, John, 1949-  Search this

Griffin, Gary, 1945-  Search this

Halem, Henry  Search this

Hammer, Wayne  Search this

Hash, Arthur, 1976-  Search this

Jerry, Michael John, 1937-  Search this

Kington, L. Brent (Louis Brent), 1934-2013  Search this

Koplos, Janet  Search this

Koss, Gene  Search this

Kumata, Carol  Search this

La Plantz, David  Search this

Lechtzin, Stanley, 1936-  Search this

Long, Randy  Search this

Matzdorf, Kurt  Search this

Mawdsley, Richard, 1945-  Search this

Moran, Lois  Search this

Morris, William, 1834-1896  Search this

Pritchard, Marian  Search this

Rogers, Harriet  Search this

Rogers, Steve  Search this

Ruskin, John, 1819-1900  Search this

Schaechter, Judith, 1961-  Search this

Shaw, Richard, 1941 Sept. 12-  Search this

Slivka, Rose  Search this

Slosberg, Jill  Search this

Wilson, Anne, 1949-  Search this

Woell, J. Fred, 1934-  Search this

Extent:

96 Pages (Transcript)

5 Items (Sound recording: 5 sound files (4 hr., 10 min.), digital, wav)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Place:

California -- description and travel

Seoul (Korea) -- Description and Travel

Date:

2009 June 10

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Bruce Metcalf conducted 2009 June 10, by Edward S. Cooke, Jr., for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Metcalf's home, in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Mr. Metcalf discusses his early years in Amherst, Massachusetts; beginnings as a maker with modeling clay and plastic airplane models; undergraduate years at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York in the late 1960s; early interest in architecture; early disenchantment with modernist discourse and theory; introduction to Marxist theory and idealism of the 1960s; summer trip to California in 1970; return to the East Coast upon the death of his father; return to college, transferring into jewelry in his senior year; influence of his teacher Michael Jerry; seeing the work in "Objects: USA" exhibition (1969) and influence of the work of J. Fred Woell, Richard Mawdsley, L. Brent Kington; rejection of current trends in art, including conceptual art and formalism; his affinity for the medium of metal, and hammersmithing; influence of funk ceramics, including work by Fred Bauer and Richard Shaw; brief stint at Montana State University, Bozeman; working in cardboard and wood; graduate school at the State University of New York, New Paltz; working with Robert Ebendorf and Kurt Matzdorf at New Paltz; work as a production artist/craftsperson; attending Rhinebeck, New York, craft fair in the mid-1970s; the influence of writings by William Morris and John Ruskin and the notion of "dignified labor"; graduate school at Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; formulating his aesthetic of narrative symbolism; publication of his first article in 1977 as a response to review of the exhibition "Forms in Metal: 275 Years of Metalsmithing in America" (1975); yearlong teaching position at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado; taking a teaching position at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio (1986-1991); publication of his article "Crafts: Second-Class Citizens?" in the first issue of Metalsmith, 1980; growing involvement with the Society of North American Goldsmiths; development of his notion of "social utility" and the role and function of crafts and making; expansion of his writing on craft; rejection of the deconstructivist school of thought in the 1980s; abandonment of sculptural objects for jewelry in the early 1990s; return to Philadelphia in 1991; early teaching of history of craft, first at Kent, then on a Fulbright scholarship in Seoul, South Korea (1990), later at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, in the early 1990s; influence of Martin Eidelberg; development of his vision for a history of craft course; collaboration with Janet Koplos on "Makers: A History of American Studio Craft"; use of his medium and craft to explore issues of nurturing and anxiety; the psychological/social effect and aesthetic importance of wearing jewelry (for the wearer and the artist); the pros and cons of craft collectors; the problematics of installation work by craft artists; recent trends in craft, including Anne Wilson's notion of "sloppy craft" and an "anti-craft" attitude; recent artists, including Arthur Hash and Gabriel Craig; lack of exhibition opportunities for younger/emerging artists; influential recent texts, including "Shards," by Garth Clark. He also recalls Robert Arneson, Randy Long, Carol Kumata, Jamie Bennett, Steve and Harriet Rogers, Wayne Hammer, Stanley Lechtzin, Gene Koss, Henry Halem, Mark Burns, Rose Slivka, Nilda Getty, Jill Slosberg, Sharon Church, John Gill, David La Plantz, Lois Moran; Gary Griffin; William Daley, Marian Pritchard, Glenn Adamson, Pat Flynn, Susan Cummins, and Judith Schaechter.

The following oral history transcript is the result of a recorded interview with Bruce Metcalf on June 10, 2009. The interview took place in Bala Cynwyd, Penn., and was conducted by Edward S. Cooke, Jr. for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. This interview is part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Bruce Metcalf has reviewed the transcript. His corrections and emendations appear below in brackets with initials. This transcript has been lightly edited for readability by the Archives of American Art. The reader should bear in mind that they are reading a transcript of spoken, rather than written, prose.

Biographical / Historical:

Bruce Metcalf (1949- ) is a jeweler and writer in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

General:

Originally recorded as 5 sound files. Duration is 4 hr., 10 min.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Restrictions:

This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Topic:

Ceramics  Search this

Communism  Search this

Deconstructivism (Architecture)  Search this

Conceptual art  Search this

Formalism (Art)  Search this

Jewelers -- Pennsylvania -- Interviews  Search this

Metal-work  Search this

Jewelry making  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.

Identifier:

AAA.metcal09

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw974054f15-9dfd-4aea-98f7-707fd609918e

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-metcal09

Performer:

Vesey, John, 1925-1995  Search this

Standeven, Thomas L., Jr., 1931-2002  Search this

Collection Creator:

Asch, Moses  Search this

Distler, Marian, 1919-1964  Search this

Folkways Records  Search this

Extent:

1 Sound recording (sound-tape reel, analog, 7 in.)

Culture:

Americans  Search this

Irish Americans  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Sound recordings

Place:

Pennsylvania

United States

Ireland

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Scope and Contents:

Side 1 of tape contains three songs featuring John Vesey on fiddle. First and last song are accompanied by Tom L. Standeven Jr. on piano. Side 2 contains fragments of songs - Invercargill March and Slide Waltz - performed on pipe organ by Al Melgard at the Chicago Stadium

Local Numbers:

FW-ASCH-7RR-2758

Restrictions:

Restrictions on access. No duplication allowed listening and viewing for research purposes only.

Collection Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

British Isles -- Songs and music  Search this

Ireland -- Songs and music  Search this

Violin  Search this

Collection Citation:

Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.ASCH, Item FW-ASCH-7RR-2758

See more items in:

Moses and Frances Asch Collection

Moses and Frances Asch Collection / Series 9: Audio Recordings / RR

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5f1691b94-2b21-440d-8efb-18bbff2e3cd4

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-cfch-asch-ref25698