The papers of art historian, educator, painter, and printmaker Albert Christ-Janer measure 56.3 linear feet and date from 1915 to circa 1993, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1930 to 1981. The papers include biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, writings, professional files, project files, teaching files, exhibition files, financial and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks and scrapbook material, photographs, artwork, and artifacts.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art historian, educator, painter, and printmaker Albert Christ-Janer measure 56.3 linear feet and date from 1915 to circa 1993, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1930 to 1981. The papers include biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, writings, professional files, project files, teaching files, exhibition files, financial and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks and scrapbook material, photographs, artwork, and artifacts.
Biographical material includes address books; awards, certificates and diplomas; chronologies, biographies, and resumes; material relating to Albert Christ-Janer's death, including memorial services and a sound tape reel memorial; and information and blueprints for residences, among other materials.
Correspondence includes Christmas cards from other artists and professional correspondence, much of it relating to his work at various institutions, including Michigan State University, New York University, Pennsylvania State University, Pratt Institution, and foundations. Also included is Virginia Christ-Janer's correspondence regarding Christ-Janer's artwork and career, his death in Italy, as well as general correspondence and letters between Virginia and Albert. Additional correspondence is found within the Professional Files, Project Files, and Teaching Files.
Writings by Christ-Janer include articles, book reviews, essays, notes, and eleven notebooks. There are also a few miscellaneous articles and writings about Christ-Janer written by others. There are 38 annotated appointment notebooks and five of Virginia Christ-Janer's annotated appointment books. Annotations are about meetings, travel, and general thoughts.
Albert Christ-Janer's book projects are documented in the Project Files series. There are drafts, manuscripts, research, and correspondence relating to the research, writing, and publication of five of his books, including George Caleb Bingham of Missouri (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1940), Boardman Robinson (Unversity of Chicago Press, 1946), Eliel Saarinen (University of Chicago Press, 1948), and Modern Church Architecture, with Mary Mix Foley (McGraw-Hill, 1962), and Modern Hymns (1980). Project files also include files regarding proposed projects.
Professional files document Christ-Janer's work at various institutions, as a consultant, on juried art exhibitions, memberships in arts associations, activities at conferences and committees, and the development of art centers in cities and educational institutions. There is significant documentation of his work planning and developing an arts center in New York City and at New York University, as well as his positions at Pennsylvania State University, Pratt Institute, University of Chicago, and University of Georgia. Also found are materials relating to professional trips taken to El Paso, Italy, Scandinavia, and other parts of Europe.
Teaching files consist of syllabi, lecture notes and course materials, class record books, and other documents for positions at New York University, Pennsylvania State University, Stephens College, University of Georgia, and other institutions. Exhibition files are comprised of lists, prizes and awards, and other scattered documentation of Christ-Janer's solo and group exhibitions.
Financial and estate records include five account books, miscellaneous bills and receipts, a will and estate taxes and financial papers, and files for gallery transactions, lists of galleries representing Christ-Janer, lists of museum and private collectors of Christ-Janer's artwork.
Printed materials include exhibition catalogs and announcements, published versions of Christ-Janer's books, books written by others and annotated by Christ-Janer, clippings, magazines, reviews, and printed material relating to Pratt Institute. There is one bound scrapbook and several files of loose scrapbook materials.
The scrapbooks series consists of one completed scrapbook concerning Christ-Janer's book on George Caleb Bingham, as well as several folders of general scrapbook files.
Photographs and slides depict Albert Christ-Janer, family, friends, artists, colleagues, exhibitions, and also include photographs compiled for published books.
Artwork includes numerous drawings, sketches, one sketchbook, and 111 lithographs by Albert Christ-Janer. There are also sketches and drawings by Charles Massey, John D. Whiting, Edwin Zoller, and others. Miscellaneous artifacts include a business card die, exhibition medals and trophy, handmade paperweight, a block-printed piece of fabric, and three graduation hoods.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 14 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1930-circa 1986 (Boxes 1-2, 51, 53, 67, OV 54, OV 57; 2.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1937-1990 (Boxes 2-16, 51, 67, OV 55; 15.1 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1930s-1972 (Boxes 16-18, 51; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Appointment Books, 1939-1973 (Boxes 18-21; 2.9 linear feet)
Series 5: Professional Files, circa 1933-circa 1986 (Boxes 21-28, 51-52, 67-69; 10 linear feet)
Series 6: Project Files, 1937-circa 1981 (Boxes 28-34, 51, 69; 6.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Teaching Files, circa 1939-circa 1973 (Boxes 34-35; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 8: Exhibition Files, circa 1938-circa 1992 (Boxes 35-38; 2.7 linear feet)
Series 9: Financial and Estate Records, circa 1947-1992 (Boxes 38-40; 2.4 linear feet)
Series 10: Printed Material, 1915-circa 1993 (Boxes 40-49, 51-52, 69; 8.7 linear feet)
Series 11: Scrapbooks, circa 1936-circa 1952 (Boxes 49, 51; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 12: Photographs, circa 1937-circa 1986 (Boxes 49-51, OV 56; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 13: Artwork, circa 1933-circa 1970s (Boxes 50-52, 69, OV 58-66; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 14: Artifacts, 1923-circa 1986 (Boxes 50, 53; 0.9 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Albert Christ-Janer (1910-1973) was a painter, printmaker, art historian, writer, and educator active at colleges and universities across the U.S.
Albert Christ-Janer was born in Appleton, Minnesota in 1910 and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University, and Harvard University. Christ-Janer wrote about American artists Boardman Robinson and John Caleb Bingham, and taught at a variety of institutions, including Stephens College, Cranbrook Academy, Pratt Institute Art School, and the University of Georgia. He was also an artist-in-residence at Tamarind Lithography Workshop in 1972.
Christ-Janer began his teaching career at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri in 1934, and soon became head of the art department. He moved to Michigan to accept the position of head of the art department and professor of art at Michigan State University in 1942. In 1945, he began working for the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, serving as director of the educational program, director of the museum and library, and professor of art history.
In 1947, Christ-Janer moved to Chicago and worked at the University of Chicago and the Arts Center Association, Inc. In the 1950s, he served as director of Arts Center Development at New York University, director of the School of Arts at Pennsylvania State University, and on the Lake Erie College Board of Trustees. In 1958, he moved to New York and become dean of the School of Art and Design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, later becoming director. He left Pratt in 1970 to accept the position of Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Art at the University of Georgia, where he remained until his tragic death in 1973.
Christ-Janer was the author of several books: Art in Child Life (University of Iowa Press, 1938), George Caleb Bingham of Missouri (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1940), Boardman Robinson (Unversity of Chicago Press, 1946), Eliel Saarinen (University of Chicago Press, 1948), and Modern Church Architecture, with Mary Mix Foley (McGraw-Hill, 1962).
Albert Christ-Janer was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1950, awarded the Rockefeller Award in 1954, and the Guggenheim Award in 1960. He was also awarded multiple grants from the American Philosophical Society and the J. M. Kaplan Fund for research and work in lithography, as well as multiple Arthur Judson grants. In 1972 Christ-Janer was the Tamarind artist-in-residence at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Christ-Janer traveled often. In 1962 he was a guest of the Bonn government for two months to visit museums and schools of design in Germany. And in 1964, he was a guest of the governments of Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden for two months to study schools, museums, and cultural centers. In July of 1973, Christ-Janer was the official NASA artist for the Skylab III launch, and in October of 1973, he was the studio guest of the Norway-America Association and the Norwegian government in Oslo. From November to December of 1973, Christ-Janer was the scholar-in-residence at the Study and Conference Center of the Rockefeller Foundation (Centro Culturale delle Fondazione Rockefeller), at the Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio (Como), Italy.
Albert Christ-Janer was killed in an automobile accident in Bellagio (Como), Italy on December 12, 1973.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Albert Christ-Janer conducted by Dorothy Seckler, March 21, 1964.
Albert Christ-Janer's research materials for his book American Hymns Old and New (1980) are found at the St Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, a center for the study of hymns.
Provenance:
The Albert Christ-Janer papers were donated by Virginia Christ-Janer in 1980-1981 and 1994.
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.
Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The Robert Bechtle papers measure 13.9 linear feet and date from circa 1930s-2020. The collection documents his career as a photorealist painter in the San Francisco Bay area. Series include biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, exhibition and gallery records, writings which include artist statements interviews and texts by others, teaching files, printed material, photographic material and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The Robert Bechtle papers measure 13.9 linear feet and date from circa 1930s-2020. The collection documents his career as a photorealist painter in the San Francisco Bay area. Series include biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, exhibition and gallery records, writings which include artist statements interviews and texts by others, teaching files, printed material, photographic material and artwork.
Biographical material includes military service documents including infantry yearbooks, as well as academic records and degrees for Bechtle and his mother, who continued her education later in life. Also included are highschool yearbooks, the senior year issue featuring art direction from Bechtle, as well as resumes and other supplemental material used by Bechtle's employing institutions to grant sabbaticals and other paid leave. Correspondence is mostly from galleries and museums, in addition to letters from various peers. Also included are letters of recommendation written by Bechtle for faculty or graduate art programs, as well as numerous letters by Bechtle to his mother while he was in the military, including photographs of his travels in Europe, especially Germany. Personal business records include grant applications, applications for sabbatical and other paid leave, as well as studio expenses, planners, and miscellaneous travel documents. Exhibition and gallery records include planning documents for key exhibitions, correspondence, financial documents including sales information, and printed materials from galleries Bechtle worked with over the years, as well as mailing lists, print catalogs, print documentation, and inventory records.
Writings include artist statements and interviews, schoolwork including art history and philosophy papers and notebooks, and academic papers written on Bechtle's work. Teaching materials include lessons, readings, materials lists and syllabi particularly concerning painting, design and printmaking courses at San Francisco State University and other schools.
Printed material includes press clipping and a press scrapbook, as well as invitations and posters, press releases and exhibition catalogs, as well as other types of publications featuring Bechtle's artwork and miscellaneous books and pamphlets from Bachtle's European travel.Photographic material includes photographs of Bechtle and his friends and family, his classmates at CCAC and his military colleagues in Germany. Also included are photographs and slides of artwork by Bechtle and others, as well as photographs and slides used to make Bechtle's photorealistic paintings, drawings, and prints. The artwork series includes childhood and early career drawings including sketchbooks by Bechtle, as well as original materials made by Bechtle for his design work including the Kaiser Company, as well as watercolor and tempera works on paper including demonstration works made in the classroom setting.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nine series:
Series 1: Biographical Material , circa 1940s-1999 (1 Linear foot: Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1950-2017 (1.2 Linear feet: Boxes 2-3)
Series 3: Personal Business Records (1 Linear foot: Boxes 3-4)
Series 4: Exhibition and Gallery Records, circa 1960s-2019 (1.3 Linear feet: Boxes 4-5)
Series 5: Writings, circa 1950-2015 (0.8 Linear feet: Boxes 5-6)
Series 6: Teaching Files, circa 1956-1988 (0.2 Linear feet: Box 6)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1939-2020 (4.6 Linear feet: Boxes 6-10, 13, Oversize 21)
Series 8: Photographic Material , circa 1930s-2010 (2.8 Linear feet: Boxes 10-15)
Series 9: Artwork, circa 1930s-1999 (1 Linear foot: Box 12, Oversize 16-20)
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Bechtle (1932-2020) was a photorealist painter, educator, and printmaker born in Alameda, California, and lived and worked primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area including a long-time residence in Oakland.
Bechtle completed both undergraduate and Master of Fine Arts degrees at the California College of Arts and Crafts by 1958, in between which he served a few year in the United States Military, primarily stationed in Germany. Like the other photorealist painters of his era, Bechtle engineered a style of painting which was based more on keen observation and excruciating detail than any visually discernible stylism. His subjects were largely suburban and mundane and often incorporated images of himself and family members. He would project photographs and incorporate those copied images directly into paintings. In addition to paintings, Bechtle eventually translated his practice into both charcoal drawing and printmaking. He taught at the San Francisco State University where he was named Professor Emeritus in 1999, as well as other schools.
One of the milestones of his career was a retrospective exhibition organized in 2005 by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, also traveling to the Corcoran Museum of Art in 2006. Robert Bechtle's work has been exhibited internationally and his paintings and other artworks are held in numerous collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Oakland Museum of California, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art,and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington. Bechtle passed in October 2020 from Lewy Dementia and is survived by his second wife Whitney Chadwick and his two children Max and Anne, who were born from his first marriage to Nancy Dalton.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds a 1978 September 13- 1980 February 1 oral history intereview with Robert A. Bechtle and a 2010 February 8-9 oral history interview with Robert A. Bechtle.
Provenance:
Donated 2022 by the Robert Bechtle and Whitney Chadwick Revocable Trust via Robert Firehock, representative of the Estate of Robert Bechtle.
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.
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own in the following material: 40 demonstration works of art on papers by Robert Bechtle.
Occupation:
Printmakers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Educators -- California -- San Francisco Search this
The papers of painter, printmaker, and photographer Konrad Cramer and his wife, painter and printmaker Florence Ballin Cramer, measure 8.5 linear feet and date from 1897 to 1968. Papers document both artists' personal and professional lives and are especially rich in documentation of the art community of Woodstock, New York, where Florence Ballin first attended art classes in 1906, and where the couple settled in 1911. Records include biographical materials, correspondence, a Christmas card album, diaries, writings, business records, personal financial records, printed materials, photographs, and artwork.
Scope and Contents note:
The papers of painter, printmaker, and photographer Konrad Cramer and his wife, painter and printmaker Florence Ballin Cramer, measure 8.5 linear feet and date from 1897 to 1968. Papers document both artists' personal and professional lives and are especially rich in documentation of the art community of Woodstock, New York, from 1906, when Florence first attended art classes there, and where the couple resided until their deaths in the 1960s. Records include biographical materials, correspondence, a Christmas card album, business records, diaries, writings, personal financial records, printed materials, photographs, and artwork.
Correspondence is between the Cramers and other artists, curators, gallery staff, editors, writers, and personal friends and family. Many drafts and carbons of outgoing letters are also present. The Christmas card album brings together original cards made by their artist friends in the 1920s and early 1930s. Diaries are of both artists, mostly from 1949 onward, with notes and excerpts from earlier diaries present. Writings include technical and biographical essays by Konrad Cramer, and autobiographical and historical essays by Florence Ballin Cramer; notebooks and notes relate to art, travel, photography, and other subjects. Personal Business Records include price lists, receipts, and gallery correspondence with dealers and exhibitors; correspondence, accounting records, and writings related to Florence Ballin Cramer's Florence Gallery in New York City (1919-1920); records related to Woodstock arts and civic organizations in which the Cramers were involved; and personal financial records.
Printed Materials include publicity materials related to the Cramers' various endeavors and the activities of Woodstock arts and civic organizations, as well as dozens of books, little magazines, and journals by and about members of the Woodstock artist's colony. Photographs depict the Cramers and their friends, including early Art Students League Classes and the annual Maverick festival in the 1920s. Also found are a small number of photo-collages and experiments with color photography, and a series of early twentieth century photographs in the pictorialist style. Artwork includes early sketchbooks of both artists; loose sketches, drawings, and designs; textile designs by Konrad Cramer; and prints and printing blocks.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged into 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1898-1955 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1900-1964 (2.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-3, 9)
Series 3: Christmas Card Album, 1921-1961 (0.8 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 4: Diaries, 1906-1962 (1 linear foot; Box 4)
Series 5: Writings, 1897-1962 (0.7 linear feet; Box 5, OV 11)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1918-1962 (0.3 linear feet; Box 5, OV 10)
Series 7: Printed Materials, 1906-1968 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 9, OV 11)
Series 8: Photographs, 1906-1960 (0.5 linear feet; Box 7)
Series 9: Artwork, 1897-1954 (1 linear foot; Boxes 8-9, OV 10-11)
Biographical/Historical note:
Konrad Cramer was born in Wurtzburg, Germany, in 1888, and studied at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts from 1906 to 1908 with Ludwig Schmidt-Reutte and Ernest Schurth. After a year in the German army, he returned to Karlsruhe to set up a studio, making frequent trips to Munich, where he was exposed to the experimental artists of the Blaue Reiter group, including Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc.
Florence Ballin was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1884. She studied at the Woodstock, New York, summer school of the Art Students League beginning in 1906 under Birge Harrison along with fellow students John Carlson, Grace Mott Johnson, and Andrew Dasburg. She served as secretary for the League in 1906, and had a studio on 59th Street in Manhattan, where she held her first exhibition in 1909. In 1911, she traveled to Europe and met Konrad Cramer in Munich and joined him on visits to exhibitions and studios of the vanguard artists. The two married, moved to the United States, and settled permanently in Woodstock, New York.
Konrad Cramer is often credited as being an important link between German and American modernism in art, and his experimentations with abstraction and expressionism during his first years in Woodstock would seem to bear this out. In 1912 and 1913, he painted a series he called "Improvisations" (after Kandinsky) which was shown in a group exhibition at the MacDowell Club in 1913 along with Andrew Dasburg, Oliver Chaffee, and Paul Rohland. Cramer was photographed by Alfred Stieglitz and wrote an essay about the 291 Gallery for Stieglitz's magazine, Camera Work, in 1914.
The Cramers had two daughters, in 1914 and 1917, and Konrad Cramer became an American citizen in 1917. For income, he began designing textiles for department stores using stencils and batiks around 1918. In his painting, he turned from abstract experiments to the traditional subjects of landscape, still life, and figure in a more representational style that blended modern and regional influences. Florence Ballin Cramer opened a gallery on 57th Street in 1919, encouraged by the sculptor Elie Nadelman. The mission of the Florence Gallery, as it was called, was to exhibit and sell the work of living artists. Although it only survived the season, it was the first gallery to show work by Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Alexander Brook, Ernest Fiene, and Stefan Hirsch, and generated important sales for several young artists in her circle.
Konrad Cramer returned to Europe in 1920 on a Rockefeller grant to study educational methods for craftsmen in Germany and France, and on his return he taught at the Woodstock School of Painting and Allied Arts. Cramer also studied lithography with Bolton Brown in Woodstock around this time, and both Cramers took up printmaking and began publishing prints in local arts magazines. The Cramers were deeply immersed in Woodstock life, participating in the annual Maverick festivals, the Woodstock Artists Association, the Historical Society, and other organizations, hosting meetings and serving as officers of many committees and organizations that presented and supported artwork in their community. They enjoyed a rich social life there among fellow artists at frequent parties and festivals, where Konrad provided entertainment with his fiddle and both Cramers memorialized events in countless photographs.
Konrad Cramer exhibited at the Whitney Studio Club in 1924, and taught at the Children's University School (now the Dalton School), where he painted a mural in 1929. The 1930s were busy years in both Cramers' professional lives. Konrad's exhibitions included the Carnegie International (1929 and 1933), and a two-man show at the Dudensing Gallery (1930), where Cramer and Adolph Gottlieb had been selected the most deserving unknown American painters of the year. He was also included in the exhibit Abstract Painting in America at the Whitney Museum (1935). Florence Ballin Cramer exhibited at Marie Harriman Gallery (1931 and 1933), Macy Galleries (1933), the Pennsylvania Academy (1934 and 1936), and the Corcoran (1935 and 1937). Both Konrad and Florence Ballin Cramer were included in a traveling exhibition of Woodstock artists organized by the College Art Association (1931), the first and second Whitney Biennials (1933 and 1935), and the Wanamaker Regional Art Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting (1934).
In 1934, the Cramers traveled to Mexico, where they produced many paintings and drawings. Konrad Cramer joined the Federal Art Project briefly in 1935, administering the regional program in Woodstock with Judson Smith. It was around this time that he began to learn photography. He became a sort of community photographer, taking photographs of friends' artwork and commissioned portraits, as well as informal photographs of friends. Cramer experimented with photographic techniques such as solarization and collage, using prisms, panes of glass, or composite printing. He first exhibited photographs in 1936 at the Albany Institute, and established the Woodstock School of Miniature Photography (the "miniature" referring to the then-new format of 35mm film) in 1937. He also taught courses in photography at Bard College in the 1940s, and his photographs and articles about photography were published in national magazines.
For the remainder of his life, Cramer continued to teach, write, and produce photographs, occasionally returning to painting, drawing, and printmaking, creating gouaches, wax resist drawings, and stencils of landscapes and figures, with an increasing interest in abstract styles and automatic techniques. Three of his early paintings were included in the 1946 Whitney Museum exhibition Pioneers of Modern Art in America, and the same year, he exhibited abstract photographs at the Woodstock Artists Association. In the late 1940s, he built an automatic drawing machine which he called the sympalmagraph, which rendered precise, geometric forms. In the late 1950s, he collaborated on a traveling exhibition and book of abstract photographs with Manuel Komroff and Nathan Resnik called The Third Eye.
Florence Ballin Cramer held her last exhibitions at the Woodstock Town House gallery (1953) and at Long Island University (1957). She died in 1962. Konrad Cramer died the following year. Both were memorialized in an exhibition at the Woodstock Artists Association Gallery in 1968.
Separated Materials note:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 1027, D170, and D171) including photographs, diaries, and sketches. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
A portion of the papers in this collection were loaned to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1964 by Aileen Cramer and Margot Cramer Taylor, daughters of Florence and Konrad Cramer. While selected diaries, sketches, and photographs were returned to the donors, some, but not all, of the original loan was subsequently donated with additional materials, in 1975.
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.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Woodstock Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- Woodstock Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- Woodstock Search this
The papers of Los Angeles painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White, measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. The collection contains biographical material, including a sound recording of an interview with White; personal and professional correspondence; writings by White and others about his philosophy of art, his life, and career; professional files documenting White's participation in a variety of boards, committees, juries, symposiums, professional projects, and commissions; teaching files documenting White's tenure at Otis Art Institute; extensive printed material charting White's career from the 1930s until his death; scrapbooks primarily documenting his early career; and a small series of photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Los Angeles painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White, measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. The collection contains biographical material including a sound recording of an interview with White; personal and professional correspondence; writings by White and others about his philosophy of art, his life, and career; professional files documenting White's participation in a variety of boards, committees, juries, symposiums, professional projects, and commissions; teaching files documenting White's tenure at Otis Art Institute; extensive printed material charting White's career from the 1930s until his death; scrapbooks primarily documenting his early career; and a small series of photographs.
Biographical material includes documentation of awards received by White, biographical notes, resumes, White's high school report cards, interview transcripts and a sound recording of an interview, and records related to Elizabeth Catlett from the 1940s.
Writings by White include two addresses made to the Annual Conference of Negro Artists, statements on his philosophy of art, and an autobiographical essay. Writings by others include drafts of Benjamin Horowitz's book Images of Dignity:The Drawings of Charles White.
White's professional activities are further documented through records related to the many boards, committees, and exhibition and art contest juries he served on, as well as lectures he delivered, and panels and symposiums he participated in. White's professional files also contain records relating to fellowships he received and document projects such as designs for books, films, and magazines.
White's teaching files primarily relate to Otis Art Institute and contain some records related directly to his work there as well as general faculty and board material. The records document, to some extent, White's role as spokesperson for the faculty and students during the transfer of the Otis charter to Parsons School of Design in 1979. Documentation of White's association with Howard University is minimal and includes letters related to his appointment and resignation in 1978-1979.
Gallery and exhibition files document specific solo and group exhibitions and include records on two visits White made to Germany in 1974 and 1978.
Printed material includes announcements, exhibition catalogs, articles in journals, magazines, and news clippings, and publications with artwork by White that provide extensive coverage of White's career from the 1930s to his death. Also found is printed material collected by White on other artists, and on subjects of interest to him.
Three disbound scrapbooks provide compilations of printed material and occasional letters further documenting White's career. A small series of photographs includes holiday card photos of White, Frances White, and their two children, and photos of White and others taken at a workshop in 1969.
Throughout the collection there are folders containing notes written by Frances White, circa 1980-1981, which provide important contextual information about people, organizations and subjects in the collection, and sometimes highlight the racism White encountered, particularly during his early career. The dates of these notes are not included in folder dates.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nine series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1934-1979 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1937-1984 (Boxes 1-4, 13; 3.64 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1936-circa 1981 (Boxes 4-5; 0.45 linear feet)
Series 4: Professional Activities, circa 1942-1982 (Boxes 5-6, 13, OV 15; 1.81 linear feet)
Series 5: Teaching Files, 1950-1979 (Boxes 6, 13; 0.72 linear feet)
Series 6: Gallery and Exhibition Files, 1946-1980 (Box 7, Box 14; 0.98 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1933-1987 (Boxes 8-14, OVs 15-17; 4.8 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1936-1970s (Box 12; 0.15 linear feet)
Series 9: Photographic Material, 1940-1976 (Box 12; 0.15 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White (1918-1979), was a prominent figure in the Chicago Black Renaissance and became one of the most celebrated and influential African American artists of the twentieth century. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, White lived and worked in California beginning in 1956, and taught at the Otis Art Institute from 1965 until his death.
White began painting at a young age, earning first prize in a nationwide high school art contest. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was awarded a full scholarship, from 1937-1938. After graduating from the school, White worked as a muralist for the Illinois Federal Arts Project sponsored by the Works Progress Administration from 1939 to 1940. He then received two fellowships from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation in 1942 and 1943 and created the mural The Contribution of the Negro to American Democracy at the Hampton Institute. From 1943-1945 he taught at the George Washington Carver School in New York City, and was artist-in-residence at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1945.
White's first marriage to Elizabeth Catlett ended in divorce and he married Frances Barrett in 1950. The couple relocated to Los Angeles where White was represented by Benjamin Horowitz's Heritage Gallery. White was widely exhibited in Los Angeles, and at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Newark Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and elsewhere. Working primarily in black and white or sepia and white drawings, paintings, and lithographs, White's artwork was primarily figurative and depicted African American history, socio-economic struggles, and human relationships.
Charles White received a number of awards and honors and in 1972 he was the third African American artist to be elected a full member of the National Academy of Design.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Charles W. and Frances White letters and photographs to Melvin and Lorraine Williamson, the Lucinda H. Gedeon research material on Charles W. White, and an oral history interview with Charles W. White conducted by Betty Hoag, March 9, 1965.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of loaned materials (reels LA7 and 3099). Reel LA7 includes photographs of White, his work, and a career resume. Reel 3099 contains 31 items consisting of three travel diaries kept by Frances White, photographs and a recording of their trip to Russia in 1950, and 11 record album covers designed by Charles White. Loaned materials were returned to the lenders after microfilming and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Charles White's "Black Experience Archive," originally received with the papers, was donated to Howard University's Moorland-Springarn Research Center in 1985 at the request of Frances White.
Provenance:
Photographs on reel LA7 and material on reel 3099 were lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1965 and 1982, by Benjamin Horowitz, White's dealer, and by Frances White. Material on reel 2041 was donated by the George Arents Research Library, Syracuse University, 1976, who had originally received it from Horowitz. The remainder of the papers were donated by Charles White, 1975-1978, and after his death by Frances White and Benjamin Horowitz, 1981-1989.
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.
Charles W. White papers, 1933-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Funding for the digitization was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
The papers of Timothy Casper measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1943-1981, with bulk dates from 1950-1969. The papers document Casper's career and life which was cut short when he died from a car crash at age twenty-one. Included are biographical material; correspondence between Casper and his mother Elise Casper Ott, and from Elise to others regarding Timothy's artistsic legacy; writings; exhibition files; personal business records; printed material; photographic material and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Timothy Casper measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1943-1981, with bulk dates from 1950-1969. The papers document Casper's career and life which was cut short when he died from a car crash at age twenty-one. Included are biographical material; correspondence; writings; exhibition files; personal business records; printed material; photographic material and artwork. Biographical material includes Casper's birth and baptism certificates, his social security card, materials related to Casper's education and resumes and biographic summaries. Correspondence contains letters from Timothy Casper to his mother Elise Ott Casper, and from Elise to others regarding Timothy's artistsic legacy. Writing by Timothy Casper include a diary, an eight grade essay on monoprinting, travel notes and a draft of an New York University course schedule. Writings by others include teacher feedback notes, an annotated list of Casper's artwork, writings related to the planning and publishing of a book on Timothy Casper including a introduction outline, lists of artworks to be featured and correspondence. Exhibition files document six memorial exhibitions of Casper's work. Items include guest and address lists, agendas, writings, invoices, artwork insurance policies, correspondence and printed material. Personal business records include Timothy Casper's estate papers and life insurance documentation, alphabetized artwork title cards with corresponding loan and sale information and an invoice for napkins from Casper's printing business "Casper Studios". Printed Material includes exhibition flyers and newspaper clippings, primarily related to Casper's memorial exhibitions; a copy of Timothy F. Casper 1943-1964 a retrospective book on the life and career of Casper; a program for an elementary school play Casper participated in; brochures for different museums; New York University Graduate School bulletin publications; postcards from different locations in Washington D.C and miscellanea. Photographic material contains portraits of Timothy Casper as a child as well as photographs of his artwork. Also found are three family photo albums of the Caspers, their family and various places they visited, along with a photo album of Casper attending Woodcraft summer camp. Artwork consists of seven sketchbooks, loose and matted sketches, paintings, etching and linocut prints, a woven basket and bracelets. Also found is an extensive amount of Timothy Casper's childhood artwork including drawings, paintings, a molded plaster sculpture and a ceramic monogram.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as eight series
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1943-1966 (0.3 Linear feet Box 1, OV 5)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1943-1981 (1 Linear foot Box 1-2)
Series 3: Writings, 1953-1969 (0.2 Linear feet Box 2)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1965-1967 (0.2 Linear feet Box 2)
Series 5: Personal Business, 1956-1967 (0.4 Linear feet Box 2-3)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1956-1960 (0.1 Linear feet Box 3)
Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1943-1965 (0.4 Linear feet Box 3)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1945-1964 (0.9 Linear feet Box 3- 4, OV 6)
Biographical / Historical:
Timothy Casper (1943-1964) was a printmaker and draftsman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin whose artistic ability was recognized at a young age by artist and professor Gerald Landt, leading to Casper enrolling in special art classes at the Milwaukee Art Institute in 1953. From there Casper continued studying art throughout high school at the Putney School in Vermont, going on to start his bachelor's degree in art history at New York University in 1962. During his short life Casper managed to travel across Europe and the East Coast of the United States, visiting art museums and historical landmarks, including a fateful trip to Paris in 1964 where Casper died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. After his death, his mother Elise Ott Casper organized a series of memorial exhibitions across the United States as well as at the Galerie Wolfgang Gurlitt in Munich, Germany.
Provenance:
Bequest of Elise Ott Casper, mother of Tim Casper, in 1998.
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.
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:
Draftsmen (artists) -- Wisconsin -- Milwaukee Search this
Timothy Casper papers, 1943-1981. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
1 Microfilm reel (41 items on partial microfilm reel)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1934-1947
Scope and Contents:
The microfilm collection of the Josef Albers letters to J. B. Neumann contains 40 letters, primarily in German, written to J. B. Neumann by Josef Albers. Also included is an article on Albers written by Alexander Dorner.
Biographical / Historical:
Josef Albers (1888-1976) was a German-born painter, printmaker, and educator who advocated a disciplined approach to composition, form, and color. He immigrated to the United States in 1933 and taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. In 1949 he moved to New Haven, Connecticut to teach at Yale University and serve as Chairman of the art department.
J. B. (Jsrael Ber) Neumann (1887-1961) was an Austrian-born gallery director, art dealer, and publisher. Neumann had art galleries in Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf, and Bremen, Germany. In 1923 he immigrated to the United States and founded the New Art Circle Gallery in New York.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Josef Albers papers, 1929-1970; the oral history interview with Josef Albers, 1968 June 22-July 5; and the J. B. Neumann papers, 1905-1967. Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives holds the Josef Albers Papers (MS 32). The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library holds the Josef Albers Papers, 1933-1961.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1966 by the Brooklyn Museum, Department of Prints.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Personal papers of Robert O. Muller, a Connecticut-based art dealer and collector who, over the course of seventy years, assembled one of the world's finest collections of Japanese prints from the late 1860s through the 1940s. The papers include Muller's correspondence relating to Japanese art, files relating to his and his wife's 1940 honeymoon in Japan during which he forged many contacts with Japanese artists and art dealers and purchased thousands of prints, subject files, catalogs, business transactions, magazine and newspaper clippings, photographs, and notes and drafts for a planned book.
Scope and Contents:
The Robert O. Muller Papers consist of Mr. Muller's correspondence; research and subject files; indexes to his art collection; printed matter; photographs; and a draft manuscript and notes for a planned book. The papers document his art collecting and dealing, his relationships with a wide variety of art shops and other art dealers, his 1940 honeymoon to Japan, and the dealings of his various businesses from the 1940s through to the 1990s.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into five series:
Series 1: Correspondence and subject files
Series 2: Catalogs and indexes to Robert-Lee Gallery and Robert O. Muller's Art Collection
Series 3: Draft Manuscript
Series 4: Printed Matter
Series 5: Photographs and slides
Biographical / Historical:
Born in 1911 in Pelham, New York, art collector, dealer, and connoisseur Robert O. Muller assembled a collection of nearly 4,500 late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Japanese prints throughout his life. As a history student at Harvard University, Mr. Muller's world renowned print collection began to take shape with the purchase of the print 'Kiyosu Bridge" by Kawase Hasui for $5.00 from the Shima Art Company in 1931.
Mr. Muller married Ingeborg Lee in 1940 and their honeymoon in Japan played a critical role in Mr. Muller's development as an art dealer and collector. They spent five months there and met with many important artists and dealers and purchased thousands of prints for both their personal art collection and for commerce.
Upon their return to the States, Mr. Muller purchased the Shima Art Company's assets and started the Robert Lee Gallery with his partner William Lee Comerford in 1940. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, Muller and Comerford closed the Robert Lee Gallery and later reopened it in a different Manhattan location. The Mullers moved to Newton, Connecticut, in 1946 and reestablished the Robert Lee Gallery there. In 1962, Muller purchased a frame shop, Merwin's Art Shop, in New Haven, Connecticut. Although primarily a framing shop, Muller not only befriended many scholars and academics from nearby Yale University but sold Japanese prints from the back room.
From that initial purchase of 'Kiyosu Bridge' in 1931 up until his death in 2003, Robert Muller amassed what many art historians, collectors, and curators regarded as the finest collection of its type in the world. Muller bequeathed his Japanese print collection, archival materials, and library to the Sackler Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Much of the biographical information comes from, Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection. (Washington, D.C. : Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in association with Hotei Publishing, c2004)
Further information and clarification from conversations with Dr. James T. Ulak, Deputy Director of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery .
1911 October 5 -- Born in Pelham, New York. Great-grandson of Charles Erhart, cofounder of Charles Pfizer & Company, now Pfizer Inc.
1931 -- Purchased first modern Japanese print, "Kiyosu Bridge", from the Shima Art Company in New York City.
1934 -- Earned Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Harvard University.
1936 -- Traveled to Germany aboard the Hindenberg. During return to United States, visited with and bought many prints from Japanese print collector Thomas Bates Blow in London.
1940 February 3 -- Married Ingeborg Lee and honeymooned in Japan.
1940 September -- Purchased the assets of the Shima Art Co. for $7,000. Remained friends with the former owners, Kazue Sumii and Hango Sumii and their daughter Noriko.
1940 October 21 -- Opened the Robert-Lee Gallery on 69 East 57th Street in Manhattan.
1941 December -- After attack on Pearl Harbor, closed Robert-Lee Gallery. Later reopened at new location at 32 West 57th Street
1941 - 1952 -- Mrs. Muller gave birth to four daughters and one son.
1942-1945 -- Worked for Pfizer Inc.
1946 -- Moved to farmhouse in Newtown, Connecticut and re-established Robert Lee Gallery there one year later.
1962 -- Purchased and ran Merwin's Art Shop in New Haven, Connecticut
1985 -- Handed over management of Merwin's Art Shop to his son Robert L. Muller
2003 April 10 -- Died as a result of Parkinson's Disease.
2003 May -- Bequeathed his collection of Japanese prints, cataloging records, papers, and library to the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery of Art.
Related Materials:
The Sackler Gallery of Art owns the Robert O. Muller Collection of Japanese prints.
Provenance:
Robert O. Muller bequeathed his Japanese print collection as well as his archival records to the Sackler Gallery in 2003.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
Robert O. Muller Papers. FSA.A2003.14. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Bequest of Robert O. Muller, 2003
The papers of Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman measure 4.0 linear feet and date from circa 1930s-2006, bulk 1942-2005. The collection documents the activities of Chaim Koppelman and his wife, Dorothy Koppelman, as artists and educators, and their affiliation with the Terrain Gallery and the Aesthetic Realism Foundation. Materials include biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, subject files, teaching files, exhibition files, personal business records, scrapbooks, printed material, sketches, sketchbooks, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman measure 4.0 linear feet and date from circa 1930s-2006, bulk 1942-2005. The collection documents the activities of Chaim Koppelman and his wife, Dorothy Koppelman, as artists and educators, and their affiliation with the Terrain Gallery and the Aesthetic Realism Foundation. Materials include biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, subject files, teaching files, exhibition files, personal business records, scrapbooks, printed material, sketches, sketchbooks, and photographs.
Scattered biographical material includes resumes, artist's statements, copies of entries in Who's Who directories, and miscellaneous items.
Writings and notes contain annotated typescripts and handwritten drafts by Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman. Chaim Koppelman's writings include essays and talks on art, artists, and printmaking based on Aesthetic Realism; also found are some poems. Dorothy Koppelman's writings consist of artist's statements and essay-length pieces that were prepared for Aesthetic Realism talks on the work and lives of artists, held at the Terrain Gallery of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation and other venues. Also found is a sound recording of Chaim Koppelman's 1968 conversation with Richard Anuszkiewicz, Roy Lichtenstein, and Clayton Pond; the artists discuss the influence of the Siegel Theory of Opposites on their work.
Subject files document the activities, projects, and professional affiliations of Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman. Included are materials on exhibitions, applications for fellowships and grants, awards, drafts of writings, donations and acquisitions of artwork by museums. Teaching files provide an overview of the faculty positions held by Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman over the course of their careers. Found are extensive files on Chaim Koppelman's tenure at the School of Visual Arts. Exhibition files chronicle the Koppelmans' solo and group shows at the Terrain and other venues; substantive files contain Chaim Koppelman's correspondence with museums and arts institutions and sales information.
Two scrapbooks contain exhibition-related materials, such as artists' statements, press releases, awards, printed material, and photographs of artwork. Artwork includes sketches and illustrated letters by Chaim Koppelman. There are twenty annotated sketchbooks by Chaim Koppelman and a sketchbook by Dorothy Koppelman.
Photographs and snapshots are of Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman; many of the snapshots of Chaim Koppelman and others document his army service while stationed in the United States and Europe. Four photograph albums include black and white photographs of Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman in their studio; included are snapshots of the Koppelmans with family and friends at exhibition openings, gatherings, and on their travels. There are photographs of Regina Dienes, Gerson Lieber, Bernard Olshan, Joseph Solman, and Theodoros Stamos.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 12 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1940-2001 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1942-2003 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1930s-1989, 2005 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Subject Files, 1942-2004 (Boxes 1-2; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Teaching Files, 1940s-2006 (Box 2; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1940s-2005 (Boxes 2-3; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1944-1969 (Box 3; 3 folders)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1942-2003 (Box 3; 2 folders)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1937-1971, 2004 (Box 3; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 10: Artwork, 1933-1949, 1980-2000 (Box 3; 3 folders)
Series 11: Sketchbooks, 1944-2005 (Boxes 3-4; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 12: Photographs, 1930-circa 2004 (Box 4; 0.25 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Chaim Koppelman (1920-2009) lived and worked in New York as a printmaker, educator, and Aesthetic Realism consultant. Painter, gallery director, Aesthetic Realism consultant, and educator Dorothy Koppelman (1920-) resides and works in New York City.
Chaim Koppelman was born in Brooklyn in 1920. Koppelman studied at the American Artists School with Carl Holty and at the Art Students League with Jose De Creeft and Will Barnet. Simultaneously, he began to study in classes taught by Eli Siegel, critic, poet, and founder of the philosophy Aesthetic Realism. In 1942, Koppelman was drafted in the U.S. Army. Before going overseas in 1943, he married Dorothy Myers. In the army, Koppelman continued his studies in painting and sculpture, where he attended the Art College in Western England, Bristol, and the Beaux Arts School in Reims, France. Chaim Koppelman took part in the Normandy invasion and was awarded the Bronze Star for his service.
Chaim Koppelman held a number of teaching positions in universities and arts institutions. He lectured at Brooklyn College, the Art Education Department from 1950-1960. In 1959, Koppelman founded the Printmaking Division at the School of Visual Arts, where he served on the school's faculty until 2007. At the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, he taught artists how to relate their artwork and their everyday lives. He wrote: "After having tested his aesthetic concepts in literally thousands of works of different periods, in different styles, in different media, I say that Eli Siegel's Theory of Opposites is the key to what is good or beautiful in art….When Eli Siegel showed that what makes a work of art beautiful—the oneness of opposites—is the same as what every individual wants, it was one of the mightiest and kindest achievements of man's mind."
Among the awards Chaim Koppelman received were: two Tiffany Grants, 1956, 1959; New York Artists Equity Annual Awards Honoring Will Barnet, Robert Blackburn, Chaim Koppelman, 1992; and the Purchase Prize, Art Students League in 2005. Koppelman was a member of the National Academy and a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA). In 2004, SAGA presented him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
In addition to his solo and group exhibitions at the Terrain Gallery, Chaim Koppelman's work was featured at the Beatrice Conde Gallery, International Print Center (New York), Library of Congress, and Minneapolis Institute of Arts. His prints are in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the National Gallery.
In December 2009, Koppelman died at age 89 in New York City.
Born in 1920, Dorothy Koppelman attended Brooklyn College, the Art Students League, and American Artists School where she trained under Joseph Solman. During this time, she began to study poetry, and the relation of art and the self in classes with Eli Siegel, the founder of Aesthetic Realism.
Dorothy Koppelman has had a number of solo and group exhibitions at the Terrain Gallery. She has also shown her paintings at the Atlantic Gallery, Art Gallery of Binghamton, New York, Beatrice Conde Gallery, the Broome Street Gallery, and at MoMA, Brooklyn Museum, Newark Museum, the Whitney Biennial 2006 Peace Tower, the National Academy, and the Butler Art Institute.
Dorothy Koppelman has served on the faculty at several arts institutions: the National Academy, Brooklyn College School of Education, and the School of Visual Arts. She has given presentations on Aesthetic Realism at the Fondazione Piero della Francesa in Italy, and with Carrie Wilson at the 31st World Congress of the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA). On August 16, 2002, in a talk given on Eli Siegel Day in Baltimore, she said, "Eli Siegel explained the true meaning of art for our lives. No one—no scholar, no artist, no person—in all the centuries ever saw this before: that we can learn about ourselves from the very technique of art!...He showed that far from being in a separate world, art has the answer to the trouble in this one."
She is a member of several professional organizations including the American Society of Contemporary Artists and New York Artists Equity. She has received an Honorable Mention from the Brooklyn Society of Artists, 1957; a Tiffany Grant for painting, 1965; and awards from the American Society of Contemporary Artists, 1996, 1999. Dorothy Koppelman's work has been included in the collections of Hampton University, Virginia; Rosenzweig Museum, Durham, North Carolina; New-York Historical Society; Yale University; the National Museum of Women in the Arts, as well as other institutions.
Dorothy Koppelman lives in New York City. She is a consultant on the faculty of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, where she also teaches the Critical Inquiry, a workshop for artists. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, and is President of the Eli Siegel/Martha Baird Foundation. She continues her study in classes with Ellen Reiss, Aesthetic Realism Chairman of Education.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Terrain Gallery records of which Dorothy Koppelman is the director.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman in 2006.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
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.
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:
Charles W. White papers, 1933-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Funding for the digitization was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
