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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
Galerie 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, 1898-1979  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
Sketchbooks
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Interviews
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:

Missing Title

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 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:
Sculptors -- California  Search this
Painters -- California  Search this
Jewelers -- California  Search this
Educators -- California  Search this
Authors -- California  Search this
Topic:
Art patronage  Search this
Artists' studios  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women designers  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketchbooks
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Citation:
Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.falkclai
See more items in:
Claire Falkenstein papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9911c74ff-413b-4b54-9280-89c8b0480495
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-falkclai
Online Media:

Marguerite Wildenhain papers

Creator:
Wildenhain, Marguerite  Search this
Names:
Anderson, Eugene Newton  Search this
Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965  Search this
Marcks, Gerhard  Search this
Wildenhain, Frans, 1905-1980  Search this
Extent:
3.7 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Video recordings
Date:
1930-1982
Summary:
The papers of California ceramicist and educator Marguerite Wildenhain measure 3.7 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1982. Found within the papers are biographical sketches; correspondence with patrons, students, and colleagues, including Eugene Anderson, T. S. Eliot, and Gerhard Marcks; writings by Wildenhain and others; designs for pottery and other artwork; one scrapbook; news clippings, exhibition catalogs, and scattered printed material. Also found are photographs of Marguerite and Frans Wildenhain, Pond Farm, workshops, exhibitions,and artwork, as well as two film reels depicting Wildenhain lecturing and in her studio. There is a 0.3 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2020 that includes photographs and negatives of Wildenhain's works of art, circa 1960-1970, (many in the collection of Forrest L. Merrill or Luther College) taken by David Stone and photographs at Pond Farm, circa 1980. Additional photographs are of Wildenhain and her works of art, circa 1950 (possibly taken by Otto Hagel).
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of California ceramicist and educator Marguerite Wildenhain measure 3.7 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1982. Found within the papers are biographical sketches; correspondence with patrons, students, and colleagues, including Eugene Anderson, T. S. Eliot, and Gerhard Marcks; writings by Wildenhain and others; designs for pottery and other artwork; one scrapbook; news clippings, exhibition catalogs, and scattered printed material. Also found are photographs of Marguerite and Frans Wildenhain, Pond Farm, workshops, exhibitions,and artwork, as well as two film reels depicting Wildenhain lecturing and in her studio. There is a 0.3 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2020 that includes photographs and negatives of Wildenhain's works of art, circa 1960-1970, (many in the collection of Forrest L. Merrill or Luther College) taken by David Stone and photographs at Pond Farm, circa 1980. Additional photographs are of Wildenhain and her works of art, circa 1950 (possibly taken by Otto Hagel).
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1943 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-1981 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1940-1980 (Box 1-2; 1.0 linear foot)

Series 4: Artwork, circa 1961-1969, 1975 (Box 2, OV 5; 4 folders)

Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1934-1963 (Box 2; 3 folders)

Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1932-1982 (Box 2, OV 5; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographs, 1930-1976 (Box 2-3, OV 4; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 8: Audio-Visual Recordings, 1954, circa 1965 (Box 3, FC 6-7; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 9: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1950-1980 (Box 8, OV 9; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Marguerite Wildenhain (1896-1985) was a ceramicist and educator in Guerneville, California. Born Marguerite Friedlaender in Lyon, France, Wildenhain received training in sculpture at the Berlin School of Applied Arts. She later worked as a designer for the Royal Berlin Porcelain Factory, leaving in 1919 to apprentice in pottery at the Bauhaus, under Max Krehan and Gerhard Marcks. After receiving her degree as master-potter, she was employed at the Municipal School for Arts and Crafts in Halle Saale, Germany. Fleeing the Nazis in 1933, she and her husband, potter Frans Wildenhain, operated a workshop in Holland before immigrating to the United States in 1940. In 1942 she settled near Guerneville, California, and established an artist colony known as Pond Farm. Following her divorce, she remained at Pond Farm and operated a summer school which lasted until 1980, training approximately 25 students each summer.
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art are the Marguerite Wildenhain exhibition records, 1977-1981, donated by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art; an oral history interview of Marguerite Wildenhain conducted 1982 Mar. 14, by Hazel Bray; and the Frans Wildenhain papers, 1890-1986. Additional Marguerite Wildenhain letters to Gerhard Marcks are located at the Archiv fur Buldende Kunst of the Germanisches Museum, Nurnberg, Germany.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Marguerite Wildenhain in 1973-1981. Additional material was donated in 2020 by David Stone, a student of Wildenhain.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Ceramicists -- California  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women ceramicists  Search this
Function:
Artists' studios -- California
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Video recordings
Citation:
Marguerite Wildenhain papers, 1930-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.wildmarg
See more items in:
Marguerite Wildenhain papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw95670c906-044e-4231-8338-34b9e41a131a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-wildmarg
Online Media:

Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990

Creator:
Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this
Subject:
O'Donnell, May  Search this
Still, Patricia  Search this
Still, Clyfford  Search this
Sawyer, Kenneth B.  Search this
Guggenheim, Peggy  Search this
Green, Ray  Search this
Kuh, Katharine  Search this
Wildenhain, Frans  Search this
Tapie, Michel  Search this
Temko, Allan  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Pond Farm Workshop  Search this
Merging One Gallery  Search this
San Francisco Museum of Art  Search this
John Bolles Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this
Martha Jackson Gallery  Search this
Malvina Miller  Search this
Los Angeles Museum of Art  Search this
Coos Art Museum  Search this
Galerie Anderson-Mayer  Search this
Galerie Stadler  Search this
Fresno Art Museum  Search this
Mills College  Search this
University of California, San Francisco. School of Fine Arts  Search this
Type:
Sketchbooks
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Citation:
Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art patronage  Search this
Artists' studios  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women designers  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Women  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6135
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)216351
AAA_collcode_falkclai
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Women
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_216351
Online Media:

Kitty C. L. Fischer papers relating to Frans Wildenhain, 1940-1981

Creator:
Fischer, Kitty C. L.  Search this
Subject:
Wildenhain, Frans  Search this
Fischer, Hermann G.L.  Search this
Bauhaus  Search this
Citation:
Kitty C. L. Fischer papers relating to Frans Wildenhain, 1940-1981. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Ceramics  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women textile artists  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8175
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210346
AAA_collcode_fisckitt
Theme:
Women
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210346

Marguerite Wildenhain conducting her Pond Farm Workshop

Collection Creator:
Wildenhain, Marguerite  Search this
Container:
Box 3, Folder 1
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1980
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Marguerite Wildenhain papers, 1930-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Marguerite Wildenhain papers
Marguerite Wildenhain papers / Series 7: Photographs
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92d6273e4-ae67-4339-9f37-e1b4ba6a4b35
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-wildmarg-ref117

Kitty C. L. Fischer papers relating to Frans Wildenhain

Creator:
Fischer, Kitty C. L.  Search this
Names:
Bauhaus -- Students  Search this
Fischer, Hermann G.L.  Search this
Wildenhain, Frans, 1905-1980  Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1940-1981
Scope and Contents:
Letters, 1940-1981, are primarily from ceramist Frans Wildenhain to Kitty and Hermann Fischer. Thirteen of the letters are illustrated. Also included are a watercolor sketch, undated; 3 clippings and an announcement for Wildenhain's pottery in Putten, Holland; and photographs, 1944-1975, of Wildenhain with his third wife Lili and Fischer's friend Helen Weynerowsky, and of 3 pots by Wildenhain.
Biographical / Historical:
Kitty, a weaver, and Hermann Fischer, an architect, both of Holland, became acquainted with ceramist Frans Wildenhain as fellow students at the Bauhaus. They maintained their friendship throughout World War II via correspondence. Wildenhain established pottery workshops in Putten and Amsterdam, Holland before immigrating to the United States in 1947. After spending three years with the Pond Farm Workshops in Guerneville, California, he became an instructor at the School for American Craftsmen, Rochester Institute of Technology, N.Y. After his divorce from Marguerite Friedlaender Wildenhain in 1955, he was married to Marjorie McIlroy until her death in 1967. His third wife was Elisabeth (Lili) Wildenhain.
Provenance:
Donated 1981 by Kitty C. L. Fischer.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Weavers -- Netherlands  Search this
Architects -- Netherlands  Search this
Topic:
Ceramics  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women textile artists  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.fisckitt
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f4af6a02-876c-47e3-a87a-631d8d074f1d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-fisckitt

Trude Guermonprez papers

Creator:
Guermonprez, Trude, 1910-1976  Search this
Names:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Elsesser, John  Search this
Guermonprez, Paul.  Search this
Marcks, Gerhard  Search this
Extent:
1.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Diaries
Drawings
Photographs
Prints
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Date:
circa 1900-1987
bulk 1932-1976
Summary:
The papers of fiber artist and educator Trude Guermonprez measure 1.2 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 1987 with the bulk of the material dating from 1932 to 1976. The collection includes biographical material, diaries, correspondence, printed material, artwork, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of fiber artist and educator Trude Guermonprez measure 1.2 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 1987 with the bulk of the material dating from 1932 to 1976. The collection includes biographical material, diaries, correspondence, printed material, artwork, and photographs.

Biographical material includes an address book, awards and certificates, two diaries, and a wedding announcement. Correspondence is with Guermonprez's family, Paul Guermonprez, John Elsesser, Gerhard Marcks, and others. Printed materials include Clippings and periodicals about Guermonprez. Artwork contains doodles, sketches and drawings, etchings, and two sketchbooks by Guermonprez and others. Photographs are of Guermonprez and her family.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, circa 1950-1975 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, OV 4)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1930s-1987 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)

Series 3: Printed Materials, 1946-1976 (2 folders; Box 2)

Series 4: Artwork, circa 1940-1976 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-3, OV 4)

Series 5: Photographs, circa 1900-circa 1970 (2 folders; Boxes 2-3, OV 4)
Biographical / Historical:
Trude Guermonprez (1910-1976) was a fiber artist and educator in San Francisco, California.

Guermonprez was born in Germany to Dr. Heinrich and Jalena Jalowetz and attended the Municipal School of Arts and Crafts in Halle Saale, Germany where she learned weaving from Bauhaus artist Benita Otte. In 1933, her parents and sister Lisa immigrated to the United States. Her parents began teaching at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Guermonprez stayed with her husband, photographer Paul Guermonprez, in the Netherlands where he became involved in the Dutch resistance during World War II. Paul was killed fighting with the resistance on D-Day in 1944. After his death, Guermonprez decided to move to the United States to be with her mother and sister. Her father had died a year earlier. Guermonprez temporarily led the weaving program at Black Mountain College when Josef and Anni Albers went on sabbatical, and eventually she became a full time faculty member. When the weaving program ended in 1949, she left North Carolina for California to join her former classmate Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm Workshops. There she met her second husband, craftsman John Elsesser. They moved to San Francisco and Guermonprez began teaching at the California College of Art and Design. She was designated chair of the crafts department in 1960.

Outside of teaching, Guermonprez completed designs for textile companies and commissions while still creating her own works of fiber art. She gained little recognition during her career, winning a couple of awards before her death from cancer in 1976. Her only exhibition, The Tapestries of Trude Guermonprez, was held several years after her death in 1982 at the Oakland Museum of California.
Provenance:
The Trude Guermonprez papers were donated in 2004 by Eric Elsesser, Guermonprez's stepson, as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Fiber artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Educators -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Decorative arts  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women textile artists  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Genre/Form:
Diaries
Drawings
Photographs
Prints
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Citation:
Trude Guermonprez papers, circa 1900-1987, bulk 1932-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.guertrud
See more items in:
Trude Guermonprez papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw945bab192-2076-4234-893a-b882c760d629
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-guertrud

Teaching, 1929-1995

Collection Creator:
Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this
Extent:
(Box 26; .8 linear feet)
Type:
Archival materials
Scope and Contents note:
This series documents Falkenstein's long career as a teacher and lecturer with correspondence, contracts, and notes on her many lecture engagements at schools, galleries, museums, and art associations. The remaining files document Falkenstein's teaching positions, including her first position at Mills College in California from 1946-1947. These files include lesson plans and notes, contracts, and correspondence. 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.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.falkclai, Series 7
See more items in:
Claire Falkenstein papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a528fe58-56ae-40cc-91e2-7c1f95d4f0df
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-falkclai-ref966

Pond Farm Workshops, Guerneville, California

Collection Creator:
Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this
Extent:
(2 folders)
Container:
Box 26, Folder 33-34
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1949-1950
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Claire Falkenstein papers
Claire Falkenstein papers / Series 7: Teaching, 1929-1995
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw91e3fa54b-7a5b-403f-ac43-ae43cc077270
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-falkclai-ref980

Marguerite Wildenhain papers, 1930-1982

Creator:
Wildenhain, Marguerite Friedlaender, 1896-1985  Search this
Subject:
Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns)  Search this
Wildenhain, Frans  Search this
Anderson, Eugene Newton  Search this
Marcks, Gerhard  Search this
Type:
Scrapbooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Video recordings
Citation:
Marguerite Wildenhain papers, 1930-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women ceramicists  Search this
Theme:
Craft  Search this
Women  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)5583
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211569
AAA_collcode_wildmarg
Theme:
Craft
Women
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211569
Online Media:

Trude Guermonprez collection

Creator:
Guermonprez, Trude, 1910-1976  Search this
Names:
Akron Art Institute  Search this
American Crafts Council. Museum of Contemporary Crafts  Search this
American Institute of Architects  Search this
Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)  Search this
California College of Arts and Crafts  Search this
Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive  Search this
Holland Amerika Lijn  Search this
Johnson Wax -- Art collections  Search this
Municipal School of Arts and Crafts (Halle an der Saale, Germany)  Search this
Oakland Art Museum  Search this
Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation  Search this
Pasadena Art Museum  Search this
Pond Farm Workshop  Search this
San Francisco Folk Art Museum  Search this
Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle, Landeskunstmuseum Sachsen-Anhalt  Search this
Guermonprez, Paul.  Search this
Guermonprez, Trude, 1910-1976  Search this
Herr, Gordon.  Search this
Herr, Jane.  Search this
Larson, Jack Lenor.  Search this
Mendelsohn, Erich, 1887-1953  Search this
Oud, J. J. P. (Jacobus Johannes Pieter), 1890-1963  Search this
Wildenhain, Frans, 1905-1980  Search this
Wildenhain, Marguerite  Search this
Extent:
3 Boxes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Posters
Patterns (design elements)
Designs (textile)
Blueprints
Awards
Proposals
Postcards
Announcements
Brochures
Photographs
Exhibition catalogs
Slides (photographs)
Journals (periodicals)
Clippings
Financial records
Lecture notes
Articles
Business cards
Correspondence
Textiles
Sketches
Date:
1950-1976
Summary:
This archive includes interesting documents related to Trude Guermonprez's life and work as a weaver. The archives are especially related to the designer's work for her major clients, like Holland America Line and Owens Corning Fiberglass; other pieces in this archive are related to Guermonprez's work for custom curtains made for major synagogues and her designs, interior fabrics, screens and rugs realized in conjunction with J.P. Oud, Architects Associated, New York; Eric Mendelsohn, Warren Callister, etc. The correspondence and the photographs in this collection provide insight into the designer's private life. Included in this collection are press articles, brochures, correspondence, postcards, photographs, color slides, notebooks, textiles, and textile wood patterns.
Arrangement note:
Unprocessed; Included in this collection are press articles, brochures, correspondence, postcards, photographs, color slides, notebooks, textiles, and textile wood patterns.
Biographical/Historical note:
Trude Guermonprez is an experienced weaver as well as a designer, artist, craftsman and teacher. She has executed architectural commissions and has done interior design for industry. Her work is of great variety in character and form. Guermonprez started weaving in Halle, Germany at the Municipal School of Arts and Crafts. Six years of weaving in a Dutch rug shop preceded her coming to America, at the invitation of Anni Albers, to teach at Black Mountain College, and later to northern California to join her friend Marguerite Wildenhain, at Pond Farm Workshops in a producing-teaching cooperative. She served as Chairman of the Craft Department at The California College of Arts and Crafts. Though she designed fabrics for New York textile manufacturers, her works were mainly custom produced for architects and individuals. In 1970 she was honored the Craftsmanship Medal from the American Institute of Architects.

Guermonprez published works in Art and Architecture, 1949; Shuttlecraft Weaving Magazine, 1957; and Research in Crafts, 1961.

She also participated in the following exhibitions: de Young Museum; American Wallhangings, London; Oakland Art Museum; Pasadena Art Museum; U.S. Information Agency State Department Show, traveling Europe exhibition; "Craftsmen of the West", "Fabrics International" and "10 American Weavers" at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 2000 at Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle Landeskunstmuseum, Halle (Salle), Germany: "From Bauhaus to the Pacific: The Impact of Emigration on Marguerite Wildenhain and Trude Guermonprez".
Location of Other Archival Materials Note:
The North Carolina State Archives web site has material in its collection related to Guermonprez as a teacher and artist-in-residence at Black Mountain College.
The Archives of American Art hasoral history interviews of Merry Renk conducted 2001 Jan. 18-19 by Arline M. Fisch for Nanette L. Laitman's, Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Guermonprez is only mentioned.
Provenance:
All materials were donated to the museum by Mr. Eric and Mrs. Sylvia Elsesser in 1993.
Restrictions:
Unprocessed; access is limited. Permission of Library Director required. Policy.
Occupation:
Textile designers -- United States  Search this
Weavers -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Weaving -- History -- 20th century -- Sources  Search this
Genre/Form:
Posters
Patterns (design elements)
Designs (textile)
Blueprints
Awards
Proposals
Postcards
Announcements
Brochures
Photographs
Exhibition catalogs
Slides (photographs)
Journals (periodicals)
Clippings
Financial records
Lecture notes
Articles
Business cards
Correspondence
Textiles
Sketches
Identifier:
SIL-CH.1993-121-118
Archival Repository:
Smithsonian Libraries
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sc247b57727-0a2f-4aea-bd90-1520aa2ca039
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-sil-ch-1993-121-118

Marguerite Wildenhain and the Bauhaus : an eyewitness anthology / edited by Dean and Geraldine Schwarz

Author:
Schwarz, Dean  Search this
Schwarz, Geraldine  Search this
Subject:
Wildenhain, Marguerite  Search this
Bauhaus  Search this
Physical description:
767 p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm
Type:
Books
Date:
2007
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_907045

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