The papers of writer, art critic and collector Bernard Harper Friedman, 1926-2011, bulk 1943-2010, measure 30.6 linear feet. Extensive professional and personal correspondence, 41 diaries, a large number of his published and unpublished writings, and subject files document Friedman's career as a writer, relationships with cultural institutions and art world figures, and his personal life. Also included are biographical materials, interviews, printed material, 5 scrapbooks and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of writer, art critic and collector Bernard Harper Friedman, 1926-2011, bulk 1943-2010, measure 30.6 linear feet. Extensive professional and personal correspondence, 41 diaries, a large number of his published and unpublished writings, and subject files document Friedman's career as a writer, relationships with cultural institutions and art world figures, and his personal life. Also included are biographical materials, interviews, 5 scrapbooks, and photographs.
Biographical materials include educational records, documentation of Friedman's World War II service in the U.S. Navy, and birth, marriage, and death certificates.
Correspondence is with friends, family, artists, art world figures and institutions, writers, publishers, and literary agents. Among the correspondents are: John I. H. Baur, Harry Bertoia, Flora Biddle, Norman Bluhm, James Brooks, Fritz Bultman, Leo Castelli, William N. Copley, Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Brendan Gill, Robert Goodnough, Cleve and Francine Gray, Howard Kanovitz, Grace Knowlton, Stanley Kunitz, Conrad Marca-Relli, Mercedes Matter, Fred W. McDarrah, Rory McEwen, Robert Motherwell, Arnold Newman, Barnett Newman, Dorothy Norman, Alfonso Ossorio, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Robert Richenburg, Barney Rosset, Philip Roth, Judith Rothschild, Irving Sandler, Salvatore Scarpitta, Jon Schueler, Sidney Simon, David Slivka, Clyfford Still, Myron Stout, Calvin Tompkins, and David Windham.
There are transcripts of interviews with B. H. Friedman, his daughter and wife conducted by the Yale University School of Medicine's "Adult Development Study," and 2 recordings of interviews with Friedman for radio broadcast.
Writings by Friedman include manuscripts of novels, short stories, plays, articles, monographs, and art criticism, some published versions of his work, and a variety of notes. Also found are recordings of lectures by B. H. Friedman and panel discussions in which he participated. Other authors represented are John Cage, W. B. Henry, and Jon Schueler. Friedman's diaries, 1948-1993 (41 volumes) record activities, thoughts, and events.
Subject files compiled by Friedman reflect professional and personal interests, activities, and projects. Many concern publicity for published writings or efforts to find publishers. Especially well documented is his interest in Jackson Pollock, Timothy Leary, and Alfonso Ossorio, and his affiliation with the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The majority of printed material is about or mentions Friedman. Five scrapbooks consist mainly of printed material.
Most photographs are of B. H. and Abby Friedman, their family, and friends. Among the individuals pictured are: Elise Asher, Cary and Norman Bluhm, Sandy Friedman, Joellen Hall, Doug Huebler, Howard Kanowitz, Stanley Kunitz, Lee Krasner, Sheridan Lloyd, Barnett and Annalee Newman, Alfonso Ossorio, Magda Salvesen, Salvatore Scarpitta, John Schueler, and Myron Stout. A photograph album records scenes from a 1979 performance of Whispers, a stage adaptation by Alan Wynroth from Friedman's novel of the same title.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 9 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1926-2011 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1946-2011 (Boxes 1-15; 14.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Interviews, 1969-2001 (Box 15; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1940s-2010 (Boxes 16-23; 8 linear feet)
Series 5: Diaries, 1948-1993 (Boxes 24-25; 1.75 linear feet)
Series 6: Subject Files, 1940-2010 (Boxes 25-30; 4.45 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1954-2010 (Box 30-31; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1960-2006 (Boxes 30-32; 0.8 lilnear feet)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1950s-2008 (Box 30; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Bernard Harper Friedman (1926-2011), a writer best known as the author of the first biography of Jackson Pollock, was also an art critic and art collector involved in the cultural life of New York City.
Bernard Harper Friedman, known professionally as B. H. Friedman, was called Bob by family and friends. After interrupting his studies at Cornell University to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he graduated in 1948 with a degree in English. Friedman and his new bride, fellow student Abby G. Noselson (1926-2003), returned home to New York City and he began a real estate career in his uncles' firm, Uris Buildings Corporation. While a businessman, Friedman spent much of his spare time writing. He produced fiction, plays, and criticism; Friedman's articles on art, literature and music appeared in a wide variety of periodicals. During this period, Friedman also pursued his interests in jazz, collecting abstract art, and psychedelic drug experiences with Timothy Leary.
His first published novel, Circles, about the Abstract Expressionist milieu, appeared in 1962. A year later, B. H. Friedman became a full-time writer. For nearly 20 years, he divided his time between New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he was affiliated with the Fine Arts Work Center as a director and consultant. During this period, he published several novels and two biographies: Jackson Pollock: Energy Made Visible and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, written with Flora Biddle. More novels and short story collections were published, and staged readings of seven plays were presented between 1987 and 2007. Tripping, a memoir of using psychedlics with Timothy Leary, appeared in 2006.
A founding member of Fiction Collective, a nonprofit publishing group run by and for writers, Friedman was also a member of several national writers' organizations. He served as a trustee of the Whitney Musuem of American Art, 1961-1968, and then as honorary trustee. B. H. Friedman died from complications of pneumonia on January 4, 2011 in New York City.
Related Materials:
Also available is an oral history interview with Bernard Harper Friedman, 1972 November 10, conducted by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
The Bernard Harper Friedman papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2012 by his daughter, Daisy Friedman.
Restrictions:
The collection is ACCESS RESTRICTED; written permission is required. Use of original materials 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.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Biographical material, photographs, project files, subject files, correspondence, printed material and audio visual material concerning Gerome Kamrowski's career as a Surrealist painter.
Biographical material includes curriculum vitae and an interrview transcript with Kamrowski by Michael Sherker. Photographs, slides and negatives are of Kamrowski, his family, studio, artwork, exhibition installations and exhibitions. The bulk of the project files concern individual works of art and include correspondence, reviews, photographs and miscellany. Subject files pertain to the University of Michigan, exhibitions that involved Kamrowski, organizations and people who worked with Kamrowski, and include correspondence and printed material.
Correspondence includes letters from Andre Breton, Monique Lange, Hilla von Rebay, Mercedes Matter, Irving Sandler, and numerous dealers and institutions including the Guggenheim Foundation, The Whitney Museum of Art, the Andre Emmerich Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Art Students League.
Audio visual material includes an interview on three cassettes of Kamrowski conducted by Martica Sawin, 1986, and three reels of motion picture film footage of sculptures, one labeled "Celestial Rhythms" and the others untitled, 1971. Printed material includes Kamrowski's portfolios, exhibition reviews, catalogs, and announcements, press releases, and newspaper clippings.
Biographical / Historical:
Gerome Kamrowski (1914-2004) was a Surrealist painter in New York, N.Y. and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Provenance:
Donated 2008 by Mary Jane Kamrowski, Kamrowski's widow.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Interview of Esteban Vicente conducted 1968 August 26, by Irving Sandler, for the Archives of American Art. Vicente speaks of the gallery activity of the 1940s and 1950s; The Club and the exhibition on 9th Street arranged by many of those artists; remembering Mark Rothko as a casual acquaintance and the society of artists living in the Hamptons; coming to the United States, acting as vice-consul in Philadelphia for the Loyalist camp during the Spanish Civil War; and his own work and his feelings about the work of his contemporaries. He recalls Bill de Kooning, Franz Kline, John Ferrin, Marca-Relli, Milton Resnick, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Walter Pach, Elaine de Kooning, Milton Avery, Jackson Pollock, Salvador Dali, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Esteban Vicente (1903-2001) was a painter in New York, New York. and Bridgehampton, New York.
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.
Untranscribed interviews and recordings; four albums of photographs of Rosenborg's paintings, 1938-1980; and 9 scrapbooks, 1935-1991, containing clippings, letters, publicity, and photographs of Rosenborg.
The interviews of Rosenborg include: one conducted by Colette Roberts in 1968 for her "Meet the Artist" class taught a NYU (1 tape); one conducted by Irving Sandler in 1968 (3 tapes); and one conducted by Sam Roberts in 1967 concerning Rosenborg's European travels during 1966 (7 tapes and 3 duplicates). Also included are two tapes recorded in 1968 of Rosenborg reading a letter he wrote to his dealer Marian Willard; two tapes recorded in 1968 of Rosenborg reading letters that he wrote in 1966 to William Nyland from Europe; and two tapes of artist and poet Irene Rice Pereira reading her poetry.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; New York, N.Y. Birthdate also cited as 1910.
Provenance:
Donated by Ralph and Margaret Rosenborg, 1992.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of George McNeil conducted 1968 Jan. 9-May 21, by Irving Sandler, for the Archives of American Art. McNeil speaks of why he became interested in art; his early influences; becoming interested in modern art after attending lectures by Vaclav Vytlacil; meeting Arshile Gorky; the leading figures in modern art during the 1930s; his interest in Cézanne; studying with Jan Matulka and Hans Hofmann; his experiences with the WPA; the modern artists within the WPA; the American Abstract Artists (A.A.A.); a group of painters oriented to Paris called The Ten; how there was an anti-surrealism attitude, and a surrealist would not have been permitted in A.A.A; what the A.A.A. constituted as abstract art; a grouping within the A.A.A. called the Concretionists; his memories of Léger; how he assesses the period of the 1930s; the importance of Cubism; what he thinks caused the decline of A.A.A.; how he assesses the period of the 1940s; his stance on form and the plastic values in art; his thoughts on various artists; the importance of The Club; the antipathy to the School of Paris after the war; how Impressionism was considered in the 40s and 50s; slides of his paintings from 1937 to 1962, and shows how he developed as an artist; the problems of abstract expressionism; organic and geometric form; the schisms in different art groups due to politics; his teaching techniques; why he feels modern painting declined after 1912; the quality of A.A.A. works; stretching his canvases, and the sizes he uses; his recent works, and his approaches to painting. He recalls Vaclav Vytlacil, Hans Hofmann; Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Jan Matulka, John Marin, Wassily Kandinsky, Mercedes Carles Matter, Albert Swinden, Fernand Léger, Stuart Davis, Burgoyne Diller, David Smith, Edgar Levy, Leo Manso, Irene Rice Pereira, Willem de Kooning, Ilya Bolotowsky, Mark Rothko, Adolph Gottlieb, Joan Miró, Robert Motherwell, George L.K. Morris, Albert Gallatin, Charles Shaw, John Ferrin, Ralph Rosenborg, Hananiah Harari, Agnes Lyall, Jean Helion, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
George McNeil (1908-1995) was a painter and printmaker from New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hrs., 14 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
An interview of Fritz Bultman conducted 1968 January 6, by Irving Sandler, for the Archives of American Art.
Bultman speaks of the development of his interest in art; meeting Morris Graves; the influence of the New Orleans environment; meeting Hans Hofmann; Hofmann's approach to teaching; and the Bauhaus and refugee artists of the 1930s. He recalls Willem de Kooning and Lee Krasner.
Biographical / Historical:
Fritz Bultman (1919-1985) was a painter in New York, New York.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Herbert Ferber, 1968 Apr. 22-1969 Jan. 6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Herbert Ferber conducted 1968 Apr. 22-1969 Jan. 6, by Irving Sandler, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Herbert Ferber (1906-1991) was a sculptor and painter in New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Tom Wesselmann, 1984 January 3-February 8. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Opper, 1968 Sept. 9-1969 Jan 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Tom Wesselmann conducted 1984 January 3-1984 February 8, by Irving Sandler, for the Archives of American Art.
Wesselmann speaks of his family, childhood and education; his U.S. Army service; his early interest in art and drawing; the influence of humor; going to the Cooper Union School on the GI bill; artists who influenced him in his early career; experiences which changed him; early experiments with collage; his first awareness of pop art; collage technique; his affiliation with the Tanager Gallery; his early nudes; eroticism in his paintings; politics and art. He recalls Alex Katz and Jim Dine.
Biographical / Historical:
Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) was a painter from New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 37 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of John Opper conducted 1968 Sept. 9-1969 Jan 3, by Irving Sandler, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
John Opper (1908-1994) was a painter from Amagansett, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 17 min.
Location of the first of the three tapes is unknown.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with George McNeil, 1968 Jan. 9-May 21. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Irving Sandler and Carl Holty. Carl Holty and Harry Holtzman appearance on Caspar Citron radio program with Irving Sandler, 1962 March 2. Irving Sandler interviews and papers, 1944-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Adolph Gottlieb and Irving Sandler. Adolph Gottlieb on Caspar Citron radio program with Irving Sandler, 1962 October 8. Irving Sandler interviews and papers, 1944-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Alfred Jensen and Irving Sandler. Interview with Alfred Jensen conducted by Irving Sandler and Michael Torlen, 1975 May 15. Irving Sandler interviews and papers, 1944-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Irving Sandler. Interview with Ida Applebroog, 1982 March 18. Irving Sandler interviews and papers, 1944-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Irving Sandler. Interview with Elise Asher, 1982 March 21. Irving Sandler interviews and papers, 1944-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Irving Sandler. Interview with Alice Baber, circa 1982. Irving Sandler interviews and papers, 1944-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
