Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Seong Moy, 1971 Jan. 18-28. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Washington Workshop Center for the Arts Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Herman Maril, 1965 September 5. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Michael Mazur, 1993 Jan. 12-1995 Feb. 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Prints -- Technique -- Study and teaching Search this
The Lena Gurr (1897-1992) papers date from 1908 to 1979 and measure 7.0 linear feet. Gurr was a painter and printmaker who studied under John sloan and Maurice Sterne at the Art Students League between 1920-1922. She also studied in France and married painter and photographer Joseph Biel in 1931. The papers document both Gurr and Biel's careers through correspondence, notes, art work, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs. The collection offers researchers a valuable resource for studying the New York art community of the pre-war era.
Scope and Content Note:
The Lena Gurr papers date from 1908 to 1979 and measure 7.0 linear feet. The collection presents a good overview of Gurr's career as a painter and printmaker, and her relationship with her husband, painter Joseph Biel. Through biographical material, correspondence, notes, an interview with Lena Gurr, original artwork by Gurr and others, scrapbooks, printed material, photographs of Gurr, family, and friends, and photographs of artwork by Gurr and others, the collection offers researchers a valuable resource for studying the New York art community of the pre-war era.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series. Material within each series is arranged chronologically.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1968, undated (box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1921-1979, undated (boxes 1-4; 3.1 linear ft.)
Series 3: Notes, 1926-1972 (box 4; 4 folders)
Series 4: Interview, 1950 (box 4; 1 folder)
Series 5: Artwork, circa 1908-1951 (box 4; 36 folders)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1912-1948 (boxes 4-5, 8-11; 1.45 linear ft.)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1926-1978 (box 5; 21 folders)
Series 8: Photographs, 1912-1978 (boxes 5-7; 1.05 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Born October 27, 1897, in Brooklyn, New York, Lena Gurr was the daughter of Hyman and Ida (Gorodnick) Gurr. She attended the Maxwell Training School for Teachers from 1915 to 1917, then turned her energies toward art. She studied painting and printmaking at the Educational Alliance Art School in 1919, and at the Art Students League (1920-1922), where she was a student of John Sloan and Maurice Stern. She also studied art in Paris, Nice, and Mentone, France. Her first solo exhibition was in 1932 at the Brooklyn Museum.
On November 24, 1931, Gurr married painter and photographer Joseph Biel. He was born October 27, 1891 in Russia, studied at the Russian Academy in Paris, and at the Workman's College, Melbourne, Australia. He also established the first Jewish Library in Melbourne. Upon his arrival in the United States, he studied under George Grosz at the Art Students League. Biel died in April 1943 of a heart ailment.
Provenance:
The Lena Gurr papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Lena Gurr from 1966 to 1979.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
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:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ferol Sibley Warthen, 1981 September 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The Jacques Joseph Camins films and posters measure 0.5 linear feet and date to circa 1965. The collection is comprised of ten 16 mm motion picture films by Camins, including artists and scenes from Provincetown, Rockport, and Gloucester, Massachusetts, and other unidentified locations. Nine of the reels were compiled into a single reel to transfer to video, including eight color, silent reels containing footage of the Art Students League Summer School in Woodstock, N.Y., Arnold Blanch and his students, Anton Refregier, Marion Greenwood, Howard Mandel, Julio de Diego, N. Dirk, Hans Hofmann, Morris Davidson, George Yeter, Seong Moy, and Karl Knaths. The ninth reel transferred to video contains black and white, silent home movies with family and beach scenes. A tenth reel, not transferred, is an edited film of Provincetown artists with music and narration, with footage of artists Seong Moy, Karl Knaths, Lily Harmon, Anne Brigadier, Sabina Teichman, Umberto Romano, Yeffe Kimball, Bruce McKain, Philip Malcoat, and others. Although it is an edited work, the film lacks a formal title. Also included are two original posters by Seong Moy and Anne Brigadier done for a screening of Camins's film on Provincetown; a sound tape reel (7") of an interview with Henry Botkin, Umberto Romano, Joseph Kaplan, Irving Marantz, Sol Wilson, Anne Brigadier, and Sabina Teichman, and a sound tape reel (7") of an interview of Karl Knaths, both conducted by Camins and untranscribed.
Scope and Contents:
The Jacques Joseph Camins films and posters measure 0.5 linear feet and date to circa 1965. The collection is comprised of ten 16 mm motion picture films by Camins, including artists and scenes from Provincetown, Rockport, Gloucester, Mass, and other unidentified locations. Nine of the reels were compiled into a single reel to transfer to video, including eight color, silent reels containing footage of the Art Students League Summer School in Woodstock, N.Y., Arnold Blanch and his students, Anton Refregier, Marion Greenwood, Howard Mandel, Julio de Diego, N. Dirk, Hans Hofmann, Morris Davidson, George Yeter, Seong Moy, and Karl Knaths. The ninth reel transferred to video contains black and white, silent home movies with family and beach scenes. A tenth reel, not transferred, is an edited film of Provincetown artists with music and narration, with footage of artists Seong Moy, Karl Knaths, Lily Harmon, Anne Brigadier, Sabina Teichman, Umberto Romano, Yeffe Kimball, Bruce McKain, Philip Malcoat, and others. Although it is an edited work, the film lacks a formal title. Also included are two original posters by Seong Moy and Anne Brigadier done for a screening of Camins's film on Provincetown, Mass; a sound tape reel (7") of an interview with Henry Botkin, Umberto Romano, Joseph Kaplan, Irving Marantz, Sol Wilson, Anne Brigadier, and Sabina Teichman, and a sound tape reel (7") of an interview of Karl Knaths, both conducted by Camins and untranscribed.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Jacques Joseph Camins (1904-1988) was a Russian-born american painter and printmaker who primarily lived and worked in the New York, New York area. He studied art in Paris and at the Art Students League.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the archives in installments between 1975 and 1980 by Joseph Camins.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- History -- United States Search this
Art, American -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Motion pictures
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Jacques Joseph Camins films and posters, circa 1965. 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.
An interview with Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett conducted 1972 Sept. 22, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett (1893-1975) was a painter, printmaker, and educator from Provincetown, Mass. Moffet was married to Ross Moffett.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 18 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Educators -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Printmakers -- Massachusettes -- Provincetown Search this
This collection measures 7.7 linear feet, dates from circa 1870 to 1992, and documents the life and career of painter Ross Moffett and, to a lesser extent, the life and career of his wife, painter, lithographer, etcher, and illustrator, Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, artwork including sketchbooks, and printed material including published writings, newspaper clippings, press releases, and exhibition catalogs.
Scope and Content Note:
The Ross and Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett papers measure 7.7 linear feet and date from circa 1870 to 1992. Because Dorothy Moffett's papers were received separately they are filed together in Series 13. Series 1-12 deal primarily with the life and career of Ross Moffett. The collection documents Ross Moffett's participation in the Provincetown community as an artist and resident through correspondence, photographs, sketchbooks and printed material, including published writings, news clippings, press releases, and exhibition catalogs. The papers of Dorothy Moffett include family letters, photographs, a journal and original artwork providing scattered documentation of her life and career as an a printmaker and illustrator.
General correspondence primarily focuses on news and financial affairs of the Moffett family farm in Iowa. Also included are letters from Provincetown artist, Edwin Dickinson, and a small amount of correspondence with other artists, collectors and dealers.
Files documenting specific projects that Ross Moffett was involved with are arranged separately and include correspondence, printed material and photographs. Project files have been established for the following projects: the publication of Art in Narrow Streets, the Eisenhower mural, the Cape Cod National Seashore Park and the renovation of the Center Methodist Church.
The series of printed material, 1918-1992, relates to Ross Moffett's career as an artist and his general interest in art. Photographs primarily focus on scenes of Provincetown and include photographs of works of art by Provincetown artists. Also included are photographs of artwork by Moffett arranged chronologically, Moffett's studio in Provincetown, and installations at the Provincetown Art Association Galleries.
Artwork found in Series 10 and 11 includes drawings by Ross Moffett and 85 annotated sketchbooks, including four by Dorothy Moffett.
The collection also houses research notes and files written by Josephine Couch Del Deo in preparation of a biography of Ross Moffett. These annotations provide useful additional information about Moffett's life.
Papers of Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett include Gregory family letters, Dorothy's correspondence with her father, and letters from other family and friends. Also found are drawings, lithographs and etchings by Dorothy and photographs of her family and friends.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into thirteen series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1888-1965 (box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1915-1972 (box 1; 0.6 linear ft)
Series 3: Financial Material, 1933-1971 (box 1; 2 folders)
Series 4: Notebook/Notes, undated (box 1; 2 folders)
Series 5: Projects, 1880-1969, undated (boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear ft.)
Series 6: Subject File, 1960-1968 (box 2; 1 folder)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1916-1992, undated (boxes 2-4, 7; 1.5 linear ft.)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1900-1975, undated (box 4; 15 folders)
Series 9: Slides of Art Association, Iowa Farmland and the Chrysler Museum, circa 1960, undated (box 4; 1 folder)
Series 10: Drawings, circa 1929-1934 (box 5; 1 folder)
Series 11: Sketchbooks, 1913-1969 (boxes 5-8; 2.5 linear ft.)
Series 12: Annotations/Item Descriptions by Josephine Couch Del Deo, undated (box 6; 2 folders)
Series 13: Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett Papers, circa 1870-1975 (boxes 9-11; 0.7 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Ross Moffett (1888-1971) was an important figure in the development of modernism in American Art after World War I. His paintings primarily depict the life and landscapes of the Provincetown, Massachusetts area. Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett is perhaps best known as a printmaker and illustrator of children's books and magazines.
Born in Iowa in 1888, Moffett trained at the Art Institute in Chicago and studied with Charles Hawthorne during the summer of 1913, in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Moffett then studied at the Art Students League and returned to Provincetown in 1915, to establish himself as an artist. He was one of the founders of the Provincetown Art Association and a leading figure in the art colony for many years. In 1920, Moffett married artist Dorothy Lake Gregory in Brooklyn, New York. Dorothy studied at the Pratt Institute and with Robert Henri and George Bellows in New York, and then went to Provincetown to study with Hawthorne as well.
During the 1920's and 1930's, Ross Moffett's success increased steadily and he had his first one-man show at the Frank Rehn Gallery in New York and also at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1928. He served on several exhibition juries around the country during this time. Between 1936 and 1938, Moffett painted four murals in two Massachusetts post offices for the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Moffett received full membership to the National Academy of Design in 1942.
While Moffett's painting slowed somewhat during World War II he continued his involvement in the arts by maintaining the Provincetown Art Association. He taught briefly at the University of Miami in Ohio from 1932 to 1933, and returned to Provincetown to pursue painting full-time. In the 1950's, Moffett became interested in archaeology and even delivered a few lectures on the subject. During this time he continued to paint and his art reflected his preoccupation with the science of archaeology. In 1954, Moffett was one of two artists selected by the National Academy of Design to paint murals depicting President Dwight D. Eisenhower's life for the Eisenhower Memorial Museum in Abilene, Kansas. Moffett was chosen to portray Eisenhower's civilian life.
In 1960, Moffett became active in the movement to establish the 1400 acres known as the Province Lands as part of the Cape Cod National Seashore Park. After the park was established Moffett wrote and published a history of the first thirty-three years of the Provincetown Art Association in a book titled Art in Narrow Streets, 1964. He continued to serve as a juror for the Provincetown Art Association and was artist-in-residence for the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center in 1970.
Dorothy Moffett also pursued a successful career in art, and publishers such as Rand McNally used her illustrations for youth magazines and childrens books, such as the classic Green Fairy Book. Her work was exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum, the National Academy, and the Brooklyn Museum, and her Alice in Wonderland series of lithographs was purchased for the permanent collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Though best known as a printmaker, Moffett also worked in oil.
Ross Moffett died of cancer on March 13, 1971.
Related Material:
Related resources in the Archives of American Art include a sound recording of a transcribed interview with Ross Moffett by Dorothy Seckler, August 27, 1962; and a sound recording of an untranscribed interview with Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett by Robert F. Brown, September 22, 1972.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel D80) including 150 letters relating to art organizations, museums, and government art projects, news clippings, records of the Provincetown Art Association, and the Emergency Committee for the Protection of Province Lands, and miscellaneous publications. Lent materials were returned to Ross Moffett and are now housed at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. This material is not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Ross Moffett initally lent the Archives of American Art material for microfilming in 1962. The remainder of the collection was donated in 1974 by his widow, Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett (died 1975), via Ross Moffett's biographer, Josephine Del Deo, who turned the papers over in installments. Archaeological material and artifacts received with the papers were donated to the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
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 -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
