National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and the Regents' Major Acquisitions Fund, Smithsonian Institution
Personal and professional records including correspondence, writings, notes, printed material, subject files, photograph album, and diaries relating to Zigrosser's work as an authority on prints and printmaking and his personal relationships with artists.
Included are: correspondence with family and with over 900 printmakers, painters, sculptors, acquaintances, friends, associates, organizations, museums, publishers, and magazines; general correspondence, notes, clippings, and manuscripts pertaining to The Modern School Magazine; files of correspondence from Zigrosser's work at: the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1932-1971; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, 1946-1971, including correspondence with Frank Lloyd Wright concerning the Guggenheim Memorial Museum; Print Council of America, 1954-1971, regarding exhibitions, council meetings and other matters; and the Tamarind Workshop, 1960-1971.
Of particular interest is material relating to the 1913 Armory Show, including Zigrosser's annotated catalog, notes and sketches. Also included are speeches and notes, 1930-1968; manuscripts for lectures and unpublished materials; memorabilia; a photo album of sculpture by John B. Flannagan; art work, including prints and drawings by Karig Nalbandian, prints by Rockwell Kent, and oversized works of art on paper by Mabel Dwight, Wanda Gag and Kent; family photograph album; journals and pamphlets (covers only); and diaries, 1916-1971, discussing personal and professional events such as art openings, conversations and activities with Rockwell Kent, Alfred Stieglitz, and Georgia O'Keeffe, among others.
Among the correspondents are: the American Artists Group, John Taylor Arms, Art in America magazine, Art Institute of Chicago, Alfred Barr, E. Boyd, Charles Burchfield, Alexander Calder, Fitz Roy Carrington, Federico Castellon, Ed Colker, Howard N. Cook, Crown Publishers, Adolf Dehn, Caroline Durieux, John Bernard Flannagan, Andre Girard, Stanley William Hayter, Edward Hopper, Victoria Hutson Huntley, Independent Citizens Committee for the Arts, Sciences and Professions, R. Sturgis Ingersoll, Frederick Keppel, Rockwell Kent, Fiske Kimball, Misch Kohn, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Julius Lankes, Mauricico Lasansky, Merritt Mauzey, Kneeland McNulty, James A. Michener, Marian Mitchell,
Museum of Non-Objective Painting (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), Karnig Nalbandian, Dorothy Norman, Georgia O'Keeffe, Walter Pach, Harold Paris, Print Club (Philadelphia), Diego Rivera, Ruth Starr Rose, Arnold Ronnebeck, Lessing J. Rosenwald, Andre Ruellan, Carl Oscar Schniewind, Roderick Seidenberg, William Spratling, Benton Spruance, Alfred Stieglitz, Harry Sternberg, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Kuei Teng, U.S. Office of War Information, Curt Valentin, Heinz Warneke, Edward Weston, Weyhe Gallery, Whitney Museum of American Art, Harry Wickey, and Adja Yunkers.
Biographical / Historical:
Print curator; Philadelphia, Pa.; d. 1975. Graduated Columbia University in literature. Worked with prints in New York City at Keppel and Co. and Weyhe Gallery; print curator at Philadelphia Museum of Art 1940-1963; author of books on prints and art works.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming, 1991, by the University of Pennsylvania Special Collections Department, Van Pelt Library. Zigrosser donated the papers to the University in 1972. Portions of the papers not microfilmed include research files, manuscript materials for published work, family records, and journals.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from the Curator of Manuscripts, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
An interview of Will Stokes conducted 1990 June 20, by Jack Lindsey, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.
Stokes speaks of his training in printmaking at the Brandywine Workshop and with Prints in Progress before joining the Fabric Workshop; the transition from working on paper to working on fabric; the development of his work; and some of the projects completed at the Fabric Workshop.
Biographical / Historical:
Will Stokes is a textile designer and printmaker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 4 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Textile designers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
1 Microfilm reel (2 pages on partial microfilm reel)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
circa 1960
Scope and Contents:
This microfilm collection contains 2 photocopy typescript pages of African American printer Dox Thrash's autobiography discussing his travels, education, and exhibition history.
Biographical / Historical:
Dox Thrash (1892-1965) was an African American printer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thrash joined the Works Progress Administration Federal Arts Project in 1937 and began working at the Fine Print Workshop of Philadelphia. While there he co-created the carborundum printmaking process.
Related Materials:
The Emory University Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library holds the Dox Thrash collection, 1920-1966
Provenance:
Microfilmed in 1990 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. Photocopies donated to the Free Library of Philadelphia by Ruth Fine, who obtained them from Samuel Nowak for her entry on Thrash for "Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art," Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
The papers of African American painter, printmaker, and educator Reginald Gammon measure 2.4 linear feet and 5.30 GB and date from 1927 to 2007, with bulk of the materials dating from 1960-2005. The collection consists of scattered biographical materials, including video and sound recordings of interviews; correspondence with artists, galleries, organizations, and museums; writings and notebooks; teaching files; printed materials; photographic material; and artwork in the form of sketches, drawings, and paint sketches.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American painter, printmaker, and educator Reginald Gammon measure 2.4 linear feet and 5.30 GB and date from 1927 to 2007, with bulk of the materials dating from 1960-2005. The collection consists of scattered biographical materials, including video and sound recordings of interviews; correspondence with artists, galleries, organizations, and museums; writings and notebooks; teaching files; printed materials; photographic material; and artwork in the form of sketches, drawings, and paint sketches.
Biographical materials include Gammon's academic records and diplomas, certificates, military records, an address book, and information about his memorial service. There is a folder on The Spiral Group which includes an exhibition catalog and photographs. There are video interviews, a conversation video, and two TV advertisements, all digital; one analog and one digital audio interview.
Approximately one-half of the collection consists of correspondence with other artists, museums, galleries and arts organizations. Correspondents include Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Vivian Browne, Thomas Frey, Joseph Greenberg, Harwood Art Center, Patrick King, Hughie Lee-Smith, Midtown Galleries, National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, New Mexico African American Artists Guild, Harvey Overton, Schomberg Center, Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Museum, Western Michigan University, and Jonathan Wynberg, among many others.
Writings by Gammon consists of essays, a research proposal, notes, grant applications, and notebooks wherein Gammon jotted down thoughts and drafted letters.
Teaching files are related to Reginald Gammon's tenure at Western Michigan University. There are teaching certifications, lecture notes, one sound recording (sound cassette) of a lecture, student recommendations, and grade books, among other items.
Printed materials primarily consist of exhibition catalogs and announcements, including the catalog Ida Y Vuelta on Gammon's 1998 exhibition in Rodez, France. Other materials found in this series are clippings that feature Gammon and his work, periodicals, posters designed by Gammon, and source materials related to jazz. and limited subject files.
Photographic materials include prints, slides, digital photographs, and negatives depicting Reginald Gammon and his artwork, friends and family, and various studios and events.
Artwork includes pencil and ink sketches, drawings, and paint sketches. The series also contains storyboards for children's books as well as mockups for advertisements.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1936-2006 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, 3, 5.29 GB; ER01-ER03)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1964-2005 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1-3)
Series 3: Writings and Notebooks, 1948-circa 2000 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 4: Teaching Files, 1969-1991 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1955-2005 (0.4 linear feet; Box 2, OV 4)
Series 6: Photographic Material, 1927-2007 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2-3, 0.010 GB; ER04)
Series 7: Artwork, 1937-circa 1999 (0.5 linear feet; Box 2-3)
Biographical / Historical:
Reginald A. Gammon (1921-2005) was a painter and art educator who worked in New York City, Michigan, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was a member of Spiral, an African American artist's collective based in New York City, as well as a member of the New Mexico Afro-American Artist Guild. He taught in the New York public schools and at Western Michigan University.
Gammon was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1941, he received a scholarship to study art at the Philadelphia Museum College of Arts (then the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts) and the following summer worked in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard refurbishing battleships for the war effort. While working, he also attended school at night. He was drafted and served in the Navy from 1944-1946 with an African-American unit stationed in Guam. He lived in Philadelphia briefly after the war and moved to New York City in 1948. During his early years in New York City, Gammon worked at various jobs such as sorting mail for the post office and designing advertising copy. Around this time, he first met his future wife Janice Goldberger whom he married in 1972.
In 1963, Gammon was invited to join Spiral, a group of African American artists which included Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Alvin Hollingsworth, Norman Lewis, Richard Mayhew, and Hale Woodruff. As a member of this group, Gammon participated in the 1965 exhibition First Group Showing: Works in Black and White. Spiral disbanded later that same year. In 1969, Gammon and Benny Andrews formed the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition. This politically active group of artists picketed the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of Modern Art to protest the exclusion of black artists and curators.
Gammon also taught at the Saturday Academy Program for New York public schools. He set up an informal studio so that children from Harlem could work with resident artists. This position and a recommendation from Hughie Lee-Smith led to an offer from Western Michigan University for a visiting lectureship that turned into a full-time teaching position in which Gammon served until 1991, when he retired as Full Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts and Humanities.
After his retirement from Western Michigan University, Gammon and his wife moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and he became involved in the New Mexico Afro-American Artist Guild and the Albuquerque United Artists, among other civic organizations. He regularly participated in exhibitions and art fairs sponsored by the Guild and served as their treasurer from 1999 until his death. He was artist-in-residence from 1992-2005 at the Harwood Art Center where he also maintained a studio.
Gammon was also one of the founding members of the New Grounds Print Workshop, where he completed his final collection of artworks - a collection of over 100 prints of historically significant gospel singers and jazz musicians. Gammon died on November 4, 2005.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2007 and 2008 by Reginald Gammon's widow Janice Gammon.
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 and electronic records 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 microfilm collection of the papers of African American printmaker Raymond Steth contains corrrespondence; business records; photographs; printed material; and records of the Philographic School of Art including correspondence, financial records, course materials, student records, printed material, and photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
Raymond Steth (1917-1997) was an African American printmaker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked for the WPA's Federal Art Project graphics division and collaborated with Dox Thrash, an artist known for developing new methods of Carborundum printing. After the WPA, Steth founded and directed the Philographic School of Art, an independent printmaking and graphics workshop teaching commercial, fine, and graphic art.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Oral history interview with Raymond Steth, 1990 April 28 conducted by Marge Kline.
Provenance:
Microfilmed in 1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Educators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
An interview of Raymond Steth conducted 1990 April 28, by Marge Kline, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.
Steth discusses his early life and education in the South and in Philadelphia; his experiences in the Graphic Arts Division of the Federal Art Project (FAP); his fellow printmaker Dox Thrash and the development of the carborundum print; working in shipyards during World War II; opening up the Philographic Workshop in 1948; the instructors there; its eventual closing in 1953; and his career outside of the arts.
Biographical / Historical:
Raymond Steth (1917-1997) was a printmaker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 17 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
For information on how to access this interview contact Reference Services.
Occupation:
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
This microfilm collection of the papers of African American painter, printmaker, and instructor John T. Harris date from 1943 to 1988. The collection contains biographical information; correspondence (1965-1979) regarding paintings, as well as a draft of a letter detailing Harris' family history; and financial information (1960-1977). Also included are teaching records (1958-1979) from State Teachers College at Cheyney, including class notes, exhibition checklists, an annual report, and a scrapbook containing photographs of Harris' students in class; lists of paintings; exhibition guest lists; printed material (1943-1988), including exhibition catalogs and announcements; and 13 works of art, including prints and drawings. Photographs of Harris, works of art, and works by Lavinia Harris Hardy, Harris' sister, are also included in the collection.
Biographical / Historical:
John T. Harris (1908-1972) was an African American painter, printmaker, and instructor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1991 by Earl Harris, John Harris' nephew. Microfilmed in 1991 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
An interview with painter Samuel Brown conducted by Shawn Aubitz of the National Archives, for an exhibition on the Work Projects Administration in Philadelphia. Brown discusses his work on the WPA; materials and techniques; some of his paintings, including "The Scrubwoman," and "The Lynching"; sharing a studio with Dox Thrash; and a visit from Eleanor Roosevelt.
Biographical / Historical:
Samuel Joseph Brown (1907-1994) was an African American painter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is thought to be the first African American artist hired by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and later worked for the Works Projects Administration (WPA) in Philadelphia as both a painter and a printmaker.
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
Philadelphia, Pa. : National Archives - Philadelphia Branch, 1985.
Provenance:
Donated 1990 by Samuel J. Brown, through the National Archives, as part of AAA's Philadelphia Art Documentation Project.
Occupation:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
