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Creator:

Hall, William Hammond (Engineer)  Search this

Huntington, Clara (Sculptor)  Search this

San Francisco Park Dept.  Search this

Grossoni, Grazio (Sculptor)  Search this

Tildon, Douglas (Sculptor)  Search this

Landscape architect:

McLaren, John  Search this

Collection Creator:

McFarland, J. Horace (John Horace), 1859-1948  Search this

American Rose Society  Search this

Extent:

1 Photographic print ((mounted on cardboard), black and white, mount 8.5 x 10.5 in.)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographic prints

Place:

California -- San Francisco

United States of America -- California -- San Francisco County -- San Francisco

Date:

05/22/1911

General note:

Pittosporum hedge. Golden Gate Park was built in 1870 on 1,000 acres of reclaimed sand.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

For information or study purposes only. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.

Topic:

Urban parks  Search this

Hedges  Search this

Roads  Search this

Spring  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, J. Horace McFarland Company Collection.

Identifier:

AAG.MCF, Item CA096001

See more items in:

J. Horace McFarland Company collection

J. Horace McFarland Company collection / Series 1: Garden Images / United States / California / CA096: San Francisco -- Golden Gate Park

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-mcf-ref7408

Creator:

Huntington, Clara (Sculptor)  Search this

Hall, William Hammond (Engineer)  Search this

Tildon, Douglas (Sculptor)  Search this

Grossoni, Grazio (Sculptor)  Search this

San Francisco Park Dept.  Search this

Landscape architect:

McLaren, John  Search this

Collection Creator:

McFarland, J. Horace (John Horace), 1859-1948  Search this

American Rose Society  Search this

Extent:

1 Photographic print ((mounted on cardboard), black and white, mount 8.5 x 10.5 in.)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographic prints

Place:

California -- San Francisco

United States of America -- California -- San Francisco County -- San Francisco

Date:

05/05/1911

General note:

Agaves americana Variegata. The Golden Gate Park was built on 1,000 acres of reclaimed soil.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

For information or study purposes only. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.

Topic:

Urban parks  Search this

Spring  Search this

Agaves  Search this

Finials  Search this

Stairs  Search this

Fences  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, J. Horace McFarland Company Collection.

Identifier:

AAG.MCF, Item CA096002

See more items in:

J. Horace McFarland Company collection

J. Horace McFarland Company collection / Series 1: Garden Images / United States / California / CA096: San Francisco -- Golden Gate Park

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-mcf-ref7411

Creator:

Novros, David, 1941-  Search this

Names:

Bui, Phong, 1964-  Search this

Colpitt, Frances  Search this

Graham, Robert, 1938-  Search this

Hope, Charles  Search this

Humblet, Claudine, 1946-  Search this

Judd, Donald, 1928-  Search this

McEwen, Rory, 1932-  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Price, Kenneth, 1935-2012  Search this

Extent:

1 Linear foot

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Poems

Transcripts

Interviews

Illustrated letters

Diaries

Date:

1963-2008

Summary:

The papers of abstract painter David Novros are dated 1963 to 2008, and measure 1.0 linear foot. Correspondence, records relating to the Liaunig Boat House commission (Middleburgh, NY), interview transcripts, printed material, and photographs document the painter's professional career.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of abstract painter David Novros are dated 1963 to 2008, and measure 1.0 linear foot. Correspondence, records relating to the Liaunig Boat House commission (Middleburgh, NY), interview transcripts, printed material, and photographs document the painter's professional career.

The vast majority of correspondence consists of incoming letters. The only reciprocal exchanges preserved are with art historian Charles Hope and the Menil Collection. Letters are from artists Rory McEwen, Paul Mogensen, and Ken Price; writers Frances Colpitt and Claudine Humblet; and from other colleagues and friends. The letters David Novros wrote to his family between 1963 and 1979 recount his travels and describe in some detail - many with accompanying illustrations and diagrams - work in progress, exhibitions, and commissions. Also preserved are copies of his letters to the Trustees of the Donald Judd Estate and Ranier Judd concerning the Marfa, Texas properties and projects, his Spring Street studio in New York City, and the Judd Foundation. Novros's letters to editors concern art-related articles that appeared in The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

Peter Liaunig's commission for a boat house with three fresco paintings in Middleburgh, New York, is documented by correspondence, plans, and designs. The "Boat House Diary, Middleburgh, NY," kept by Novros August 10-15, 2003, describes the process of painting the frescoes with the assistance of Jason, and notes materials and techniques used.

Interview transcripts are of Phong Bui's conversation with David Novros, published June 2008 in The Brooklyn Rail, and an unpublished interview Novros conducted with sculptor Robert Graham in 2008.

Printed material about or mentioning David Novros consists of articles and reviews, exhibition announcements and posters. Items written by Novros are a review of Jackson Pollock and two poems.

Photographs are of David Novros with his family and friends. There are also views of the Novros family's home in Van Nuys, California, and Indian-painted rocks at Sears Point, Arizona that influenced Novros' art.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 5 series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1963-2008 (Boxes 1-2; 0.4 linear ft.)

Series 2: Liaunig Boat House, 1998-2004 (Box 2, OV3; 0.2 linear ft.)

Series 3: Interview Transcripts, 2008 (Box 2; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1966-2008 (Box 2, OV 4; 0.2 linear ft.)

Series 5: Photographs, 1976-1999 (Box 2; 0.1 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

David Novros (1941-) is an abstract painter in New York, NY.

Abstract painter David Novros was born in Los Angeles in 1941 and lived with his family in Van Nuys, California. His father, Lester Novros, was an artist whose interest in movement eventually led him to the Walt Disney Company, where he worked on animation projects. In 1941 he established his own production company, Graphic Films, and began teaching in the Cinema Department of the University of Southern California. Both David and his brother Paul were enamored with film; David turned to painting, but Paul followed in their father's line of work and became an award-winning film producer.

David entered the University of Southern California and studied painting with James Jervaisee. He made a few student films and sometimes worked with his father, but before long he turned to painting. During the summer of 1961, Novros attended courses at Yale and met Chuck Close, Brice Marden, and Vija Celmins.

After earning a B.F.A. in 1963, Novros completed his Army Reserve obligations and travelled in Europe. He moved to New York City in 1964 and met many Minimalist artists. Over the next several years, Novros's rectangular paintings gave way to multi-panel paintings and then to shaped panels. From the late 1960s through the 1970s, Novros developed a reputation as a geometric abstractionist. He showed at Park Place Gallery and had a solo exhibition at Virginia Dwan Gallery (Los Angeles) in 1966; the next year, his work was again presented at Park Place Gallery and at the Virginia Dwan Gallery (New York). Several solo exhibitions followed at Klaus Kertess's influential Bykert Gallery, as well as at other venues.

Novros participated in important exhibitions of abstraction, among them "Systemic Painting" (Guggenheim Museum, 1966), "Color and Structure" (Whitney Museum of American Art, 1971), and "Abstract-Geometry-Painting: Selected Geometric Abstract Painting in America since 1945" (Albright-Knox Gallery, 1989). In 1970, he was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.

In the 1970s, Novros turned to fresco painting, and his eventual decision to focus on murals effectively removed him from the commercial gallery scene. One of his earliest commissions was a fresco painted in 1970 for the second floor of Donald Judd's studio/home. Other commissions include: Solar Triptych, a radial triptych that opens and closes throughout the day, for the lobby of Union Station, Newark, NJ (1984); a fresco in the Old Court House, Miami (1984); a painted-glass and copper fresco in the Gross Building, Winslow, Arizona (1994-1996); and the Liaunig Boat House with fresco paintings, Middleburgh, NY (1996-2003). A number of museums in the United States and Europe include Novros's work in their permanent collections, among them: Menil Collection, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum Liaunig (Austria), and Daimler contemporary (Berlin).

Mr. Novros lives and works in New York City.

Related Material:

An oral history interview with David Novros was conducted by Michael Brennan for the Archives of American Art in 2008.

Provenance:

Gift of David Novros, 2009

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Topic:

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painting -- Technique  Search this

Genre/Form:

Poems

Transcripts

Interviews

Illustrated letters

Diaries

Citation:

David Novros papers, 1963-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.novrdavi

See more items in:

David Novros papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-novrdavi

Creator:

Parsons, Betty  Search this

Names:

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Bess, Forrest, 1911-1977  Search this

Congdon, William, 1912-1998  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Extent:

61.1 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Video recordings

Drawings

Date:

1916-1991

bulk 1946-1983

Summary:

The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection.

Scope and Content Note:

The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection. Personal papers also include personal photographs.

Artists files, the largest and most extensive series, consist of a wide variety of documents, including biographical materials, correspondence with or related to the artist, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales and expense invoices, clippings, price lists, and photographs of the artist, exhibitions, and artwork. The files reflect Parsons's close personal relationships with certain artists, particularly Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnett Newman. Extensive documentation is also found for Forrest Bess, William Congdon, Paul Feeley, Thomas George, Alexander Liberman, Seymour Lipton, Richard Pousette-Dart, Jesse Reichek, and Jack Youngerman. Historians and researchers will find these files to be an invaluable resource both in tracing Betty Parsons's role in promoting Abstract Expressionism and researching individual artists.

Exhibition files primarily document the gallery's infrequent group or themed exhibitions. Of particular note are the files on The Ideographic Picture, which was organized by Barnett Newman and included his work, as well as that of Pietro Lazzari, Boris Margo, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Theodoros Stamos, and Clyfford Still. Price lists, artist biographies and exhibition schedules are housed in the general exhibition files. Loan exhibition files provide documentation of artwork borrowed by other galleries or institutions for exhibitions, as well as shows outside of the gallery that were organized by Betty Parsons. Also found are gallery exhibition guest books, and announcements and catalogs.

Gallery correspondence is primarily with galleries and dealers, museums, arts organizations, and collectors. Scattered letters from artists are also found, although the bulk of the artists' correspondence is filed in the Artists Files. Also found here are memoranda and letters between Betty Parsons and her staff that contain detailed information concerning Parsons's schedule and gallery activities. Similar correspondence is found amongst the correspondence files within the series Betty Parsons papers.

Appraisal and conservation files include correspondence, appraisal invoices, forms, and appraisal requests and other information from the Art Dealers Association of America, and conservation invoices and reports. The majority of the appraisal records contain information about the specific works of art, including artist, title, date, current owner and the estimated value at the time of the request. Conservation records document conservation treatments undertaken by outside conservators to gallery stock.

Sales, purchases, stock and inventory are well documented in the sales and inventory records. The records provide detailed information about individual sales, prices of individual pieces of artwork, consignments, and loans. Most sales records also include detailed information about the buyer and are a valuable resource for provenance research. Files documenting the general administration, routine business operations, and financial transactions (not individual sales) of the gallery are housed in the general business and financial records. These records include ledgers, receipts, tax records, and banking records. There is some limited information about works of art scattered amongst the receipts and in the "in/out slips" files. Legal records house general legal documents and those concerning specific lawsuits. Of particular note is the file detailing the lawsuit between Betty Parsons and Sidney Janis over the fifth floor of 24 West 57th Street.

The remainder of the collection consists of Betty Parsons's personal papers which document her career prior to opening her own gallery, her work as an artist, and her personal art collection.

Some information about Parsons's work prior to opening her own gallery is found in the early curatorial files she retained from her curatorial and administrative work at the Wakefield Gallery and the Mortimer Brandt Gallery. Clippings, correspondence, announcements, exhibition lists and exhibition files are found. For both positions, she kept only the exhibition files for a small group of exhibitions organized around a specific theme, the most notable being the exhibition of Pre-Columbian Sculpture at the Wakefield Gallery.

Biographical materials include copies of her biography, family genealogies, photographs of Parsons, interviews with Colette Roberts and WYNC radio, memberships, photographs, and ephemera, including a collection of programs and invitations from events that she attended. Throughout her life Parsons gave generously of her time to various cultural and charitable institutions and was awarded for her contributions. There are also a number of files that document her speaking engagements, her participation as a juror in numerous juried exhibitions, charitable work, and awards that she received.

Parsons's personal correspondence files reflect how deeply Parsons's life was intertwined with the gallery. There are letters from museum directors, dealers, artists seeking representation, and personal letters from artists with whom she had close personal relationships, most notably Larry Bigelow, Alexander Calder, William Condon, and Ad Reinhardt. There are also letters from the English artist Adge Baker, with whom Parsons was romantically involved. Correspondence also includes several files of postcards and Christmas cards.

Pocket diaries and engagement calendars, spanning from 1933-1981, record social engagements, meetings, vacations, and telephone numbers. Also found are circa two linear feet of notebooks and sketchbooks, many of which are annotated with addresses, poetry, journal entries, and other observations of people, places, and travels. Writings by others include writings about Betty Parsons or the Betty Parsons Gallery, such as Lawrence Alloway's unpublished typescript titled "An American Gallery" and other topics.

Printed material consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs, art magazines, and newspaper and magazine clippings about Betty Parsons, her family and acquaintances, artists, and other art related topics, coupled with a miscellaneous selection of clippings, and a video recording, on topics that presumably captured Parsons's attention.

Personal art work records document Betty Parsons's career as an artist through inventories, group and solo exhibitions files, price lists, appraisals, sales and consignment invoices. Photographs are primarily reproductions of her works of art, although there are scattered photographs of exhibition installations.

Betty Parsons's private art collection files document her extensive personal collection of art that included works by Jackson Pollock, Agnes Martin, Romare Bearden, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, in addition to Amlash sculpture from ancient Persia and primitive sculpture from New Hebrides. These files include inventories, lists, exhibition records, sales and purchase invoices, and photographs. There are also files for donations and loans from Parsons's personal collection to museums and fund raising auctions for several non-profit institutions.

Finally, the personal financial records provide information about the Parsons's family finances and her personal financial success as an art dealer. In addition to her own investments, Parsons inherited shares in family investments through the estates of her parents, J. Fred Pierson, Jr. and Suzanne Miles Pierson, and younger sister, Emily Rayner. Real estate files include correspondence, utility bills, receipts, area maps, and land plots for houses in Sheepscot, Maine and St. Maartens, Netherlands Antilles. Tax returns, ledger worksheets, receipts, banking statements, deposit slips, and cancelled checks are among the other financial records.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as seven series. Many of the series are further divided into subseries.

Series 1: Artists Files, 1935-1983 (19.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-18, 51, 55-56, OVs 53, 65)

Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1941-1983 (2.9 linear feet; Boxes 18-21, 51, 55, OVs 54, 66)

Series 3: Correspondence Files, 1941-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 21-24, 52, 56)

Series 4: Appraisal Files, 1954-1983 (0.7 linear feet; Box 24)

Series 5: Sales and Inventory Records, 1946-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 25-28, 51)

Series 6: General Business and Financial Records, 1946-1983 (9.3 linear feet; Boxes 28-38, 51, 56)

Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers, 1916-1991 (21 linear feet; Boxes 38-51, 55-64, OVs 65-67)

Historical Note:

Betty Parsons (1900-1982) was one of the leading art dealers in New York City specializing in modern art, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists, and an abstract painter and sculptor in her own right. She opened Betty Parsons Gallery in 1946 at 15 E. 57th St., later moving to 24 W. 57th St.

The history of the Betty Parsons Gallery is inextricably bound to the life and experiences of its founder. Betty Parsons was born Betty Bierne Pierson on January 31, 1900 in New York City. She enjoyed a privileged childhood, which included vacation homes in Newport and Palm Beach. Her only formal education was a five-year stint at the prestigious Chapin School from 1910-1915, where she met many of the women who would become life-long friends and supporters. In the spring of 1920, she married Schuyler Livingston Parsons from one of New York's oldest families. The marriage ended after only three years and the couple traveled to Paris where they could obtain a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. She retained her married surname and purchased a house on the rue Boulard in Paris, where she remained for ten years, pursuing studies in painting and sculpture.

Financial constraints forced Parsons to return to the United States in 1933. She first traveled west to California, but it was her return to New York in 1935 that marked the start of her career as an art dealer. Her first opportunity to connect with the New York art world came after a successful exhibition of her watercolors at the Midtown Galleries where the owner, Alan Gruskin, noted Parson's faithful and wealthy group of supporters and offered her work installing exhibitions and selling paintings on commission. Her work for the Midtown Galleries led to a second position in the Park Avenue gallery of Mary Sullivan, one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art. Here, Parsons learned the business of running a gallery. By 1940 Parsons was ready to take on more independent responsibility and agreed to manage a gallery within the Wakefield Bookshop. In this job, she exercised full curatorial control by selecting artists and organizing exhibitions. She championed then unknown contemporary American artists and the gallery's roster soon included Saul Steinberg, Hedda Sterne, Alfonso Ossorio, Joseph Cornell, Walter Murch, and Theodore Stamos. Although the majority of the exhibitions were solo shows, there were a few group shows and themed exhibitions, such as Love in Art (1941) and Ballet in Art (1942). Under Parson's direction, the gallery hosted an important exhibition of Pre-Columbian sculpture, curated by Barnett Newman.

When the owners of the Wakefield Bookshop decided to close the gallery late in 1944, Mortimer Brandt, a dealer who specialized in Old Master paintings and drawings, offered her a position as head of the newly created contemporary section of his gallery. Many of the artists who had shown with Parsons at the Wakefield Gallery followed her to her new gallery, where they were joined by Ad Reinhardt, Boris Mango, and Hans Hofmann. While the exhibitions garnered attention from the press and the interest of contemporary artists, the contemporary section was not a financial success and Brandt opted to close his gallery in 1946.

Using $1000 of her own money and an additional borrowed $4000, Parsons sublet the space that previously housed Mortimer Brandt's contemporary section, on the fifth floor of 15 East 57th Street, and opened the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In many respects the early years of the Betty Parsons Gallery were the most vital, as it was during the period of 1947-1951 that the gallery became linked with the Abstract Expressionists and the history of post-WWII American Art. In an unpublished history of the gallery, noted art critic Lawrence Alloway stated that the significance of the gallery's early exhibitions ranks with Durand-Ruel's Impressionists exhibitions or Kahnweiler's shows of the Cubists. Betty Parsons Gallery quickly became one of the most prestigious galleries in New York City associated with new American Art of all styles. Her close friend Barnett Newman organized the gallery's inaugural exhibition of Northwest Coast Indian Art and he soon began to exhibit his own work at the gallery. When Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery closed, Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, and Mark Rothko joined Parsons' growing stable of artists. Although Parsons continued to promote and exhibit many of the artists whom she had previously discovered, these four artists dominated this period. Newman, Pollock, Still, and Rothko worked closely together, holding themselves apart from the other artists somewhat. They were actively involved in the curatorial process and often hung their own shows. For these artists, the exhibition itself was an artistic act of creation.

Parsons provided a supportive environment and allowed her artists enormous freedom in planning and designing their exhibitions. She was not, however, an aggressive salesperson. During this early period the gallery ledgers document sales to an impressive array of museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as important collectors such as Edward Root and Duncan Phillips. Nevertheless, the art that the gallery promoted was not yet widely accepted. Sales were few, prices were low and the business would not turn a profit for several years. Meanwhile, there was mounting pressure from Pollock, Newman, Still, and Rothko to drop some of the other artists from Parsons' stable and focus all resources on them. They wanted to be promoted to a larger audience and have their work sold at higher prices, but Parsons enjoyed discovering new artists and did not want to be restricted in this endeavor. The year 1951 marks the last time that Pollock's drip paintings or the monumental works of Newman, Rothko or Still were shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In the following years the Betty Parsons Gallery continued to attract a diverse group of talented artists. Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Tuttle, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jack Youngerman had their first New York exhibitions at the Betty Parsons Gallery. Parsons opened Section Eleven in 1958, a short-lived annex to the main gallery, so that she could promote younger, less well-known artists. It closed in 1960 due to the administrative difficulties in running two essentially separate galleries.

In 1962, Sidney Janis, another prominent art dealer, started proceedings to evict Parsons from the floor that they shared on 15 East 57th Street. The Betty Parsons Gallery moved to 24 West 57th Street in 1963, where it remained until it closed in 1983, following Parsons' death the preceding year. Throughout the gallery's history, Parsons continued to promote faithful artists such as Hedda Sterne and Saul Steinberg, who had been with her from the beginning and to seek out new talent, both for her main gallery and for other venues, such as the short-lived Parsons-Truman Gallery, which she opened in 1974 with former Parsons Gallery director Jock Truman to show works on paper by emerging artists.

In addition to being an art dealer, Betty Parsons was a respected artist and collector. With her connoisseur's eye and connections, Parsons amassed an impressive private collection of art. She bought her first piece while an art student in Paris in the 1920s, a small gouache by Zadkine, but did not begin acquiring works in earnest until she was established as an art dealer. Partial inventories of her personal collection show that the majority of her collection contained works by artists associated with the gallery. Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Ad Reinhardt, Agnes Martin, and Kenzo Okada were among the artists represented. Many were gifts from the artists, such as an ink drawing by Jackson Pollock, inscribed "For Betty." Selections from her collection appeared in small museums across the United States, including a traveling exhibition organized by Fitch College, New York, in 1968. In her role as a promoter of contemporary American art, Parsons lent generously from her collection, particularly to the federal Art in the Embassies Program. Throughout her life she also donated works to a variety of museums, most notably, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark.

Parsons frequently claimed that her desire to pursue a career as an artist stemmed from a visit to the Armory Show when she was thirteen. In her late teens, after pressuring her father for art lessons, she studied with the sculptor Gutzon Burglum of Mount Rushmore fame. In Paris, she continued her studies first with Antoine Bourdelle, whose sculptures she had admired at the Armory Show, and later with Ossip Zadkine. The first exhibition of her work, figurative watercolors and sculptures, took place in Paris in 1927. As she matured as an artist, her art became more abstract. Her late works were painted wood sculptures that she pieced together from wood that she found near her studio in Long Island. Parsons's work was exhibited in more than thirty solo exhibitions, including, Betty Parsons; Paintings, Gouaches and Sculpture, 1955-1968, at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. During her lifetime, she would not allow her works to be shown in her own gallery. Shortly after she died of a stroke in 1982, In Memoriam, Betty Parsons: Late Sculptures, opened at the Betty Parsons Gallery.

Related Material:

Also found in the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews with Betty Parsons, June 4-9, 1969, by Paul Cummings, and June 11, 1981 by Gerald Silk.

Separated Material:

Some of the material originally loaned for microfilming in 1968 and 1969 was not included in later donations and can be viewed on microfilm reels N68/62-N68/74 and N69/105-N69/106. Loaned materials are not described in the container listing in this finding aid.

Provenance:

The gallery donated some records in 1974, many of which had been loaned earlier for microfilming. The bulk of the collection was donated in 1984 and 1986 by William Rayner and Christopher Schwabacher, executors of the Estate of Betty Parsons. Additional material was donated by William Rayner in 1998 and Christopher Schwabacher in 2017. Additional material was donated in 2018 by the Lee Hall estate via Carolyn Crozier and Deborah Jacobson, co-executors. Hall was Parsons's biographer and had the material in her possession at the time of Parsons's death. An additional photograph of Parons and Marie Carr Taylor by Henri Cartier-Bresson was donated in 2021 by Mary Carpenter, who inherited the photograph from her mother, Nan Thorton Jones, who received it as a gift from Taylor.

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:

Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Women art dealers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Abstract expressionist  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Video recordings

Drawings

Citation:

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.parsbett

See more items in:

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-parsbett

Interviewee:

Lewis, Monty, 1907-1997  Search this

Interviewer:

McGlynn, Betty Hoag  Search this

Creator:

New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this

Names:

Coronado School of Fine Arts  Search this

New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this

New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Extent:

1 Sound tape reel (Sound recordings, 5 in.)

15 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound tape reels

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1964 June 25

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Monty Lewis conducted 1964 June 25, by Betty Hoag, for the Archives of American Art.

Interview conducted at Coronado School of Fine Arts in San Diego, Calif. Lewis discusses his art training at the Art Students' League in N.Y., his study of mural and easel painting in Europe, and his freelance mural work before his involvement with the Public Works of Art Project. He describes the developing presence of mural art in New York with Diego Rivera's mural at Rockefeller Center and the 1939 New York World's Fair. Lewis tells of the Artists, Painters, and Sculptors Collaborators, a collaborative group interested in developing community art projects, and discusses the use of murals in the 1939 New York World's Fair and the different techniques used for those and other public projects.

Biographical / Historical:

Monty Lewis (1907-1997) was a painter, designer, muralist in New York and California.

General:

Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav files. Duration is 49 min.

Provenance:

Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Restrictions:

Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

Topic:

Painters -- California -- San Diego -- Interviews  Search this

Muralists -- California -- San Diego -- Interviews  Search this

Federal aid to the arts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Identifier:

AAA.lewis64

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lewis64

Creator:

Loew, Michael, 1907-1985  Search this

Names:

Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors  Search this

Holland-Goldowsky Gallery  Search this

Landmark Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Marilyn Pearl Gallery  Search this

New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.)  Search this

United States. Work Projects Administration  Search this

University of California, Berkeley  Search this

Albers, Josef  Search this

De Kooning, Elaine  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997 -- Photographs  Search this

Dehner, Dorothy, 1901-1994  Search this

Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903-1974  Search this

Hasen, Burt  Search this

Jensen, Alfred, 1903-1981  Search this

Johnson, Philip, 1906-2005  Search this

Kahn, Louis I., 1901-1974  Search this

Kaprow, Allan  Search this

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this

Lahey, Richard, b. 1893  Search this

McDarrah, Fred W., 1926-2007  Search this

McNeil, George, 1908-1995  Search this

McPherson, Sarah Freedman, 1895-1978  Search this

Morris, George L. K., 1905-1975  Search this

Odets, Clifford, 1906-1963  Search this

Schempp, Theodore  Search this

Schnitzler, Max, 1903-  Search this

Siskind, Aaron  Search this

Slivka, Rose  Search this

Extent:

1.8 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1930-1997

Scope and Contents:

Biographical material, correspondence, notes, writings, photographs, business and financial records, works of art, and printed material document the career of painter and educator Michael Loew.

REEL N68-94: Biographical material, 1957-1967, includes 5 biographical sketches, a bibliography of Loew's publications, and an artist's statement. Correspondence, 1935-1968, is with colleagues, galleries, and educational institutions. There are one or two letters each from colleagues Josef Albers, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, Philip Johnson, Richard Lahey, George L.K. Morris, and Clifford Odets. Nine letters relate to Loew's work for the U.S. Works Progress Administration and the New York World's Fair. Writings, 1966, consist of several drafts for essay "Is It the Function of the Artist to Communicate with his Audience." A contract, 1938, is between Loew and Willem de Kooning and the New York World's Fair 1939 Inc. Printed material, 1944-1968, consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs. Photographs, 1960-1964, are of Loew and his art works. Notes consist of 2 undated notebooks and a typescript concerning Josef Albers. A scrapbook, 1938-1965, contains 4 photographs of art works, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs.

REEL 5053: Correspondence, 1944-1990, is with galleries, including the Holland-Goldowsky Gallery, educational institutions, including the University of California at Berkeley, and colleagues including Dorothy Dehner, Burt Hasen, and Aaron Siskind. Correspondence, 1956-1957, with Rockwell Kent concerns the rental of Kent's Monhegan Island cabin. One letter, 1959, includes 3 photographs of Loew, Louis Kahn, Allan Kaprow, and George McNeil. Lecture notes are for an Artists Equity symposium, 1956, and a panel discussion on painting, 1968. Writings, 1968-1979, consist of 3 essays by Loew and tributes written to Sarah Freedman McPherson by Loew and others. Printed material, 1932-1992, consists of clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and a book "The Artist's World" by Fred W. McDarrah. Photographs, 1930-1979, are of Loew, his friends, and his art works. One photograph is of Alfred Jensen, Theodore Schempp, Max Schnitzler, and Loew in Tunis, 1930.

UNMICROFILMED Biographical material incudes curriculum vita, obituaries, and birth announcements of Jonathan Loew, Michael Loew's son. Correspondence is with Willem and Elaine de Kooning. Writings include notes and a transcription of Loew's 1966 MoMA talk Must the Artist Communicate with his Audience, drafts of an article by Loew regarding Joseph Albers NEA and Guggenheim grant applications. Photographs are of Loew, his artwork, and his travels in Mexico as well as a color photograph of Loew and Willem de Kooning in de Kooning's studio taken by Rose Slivka. Artwork includes original off-prints for book covers. Business files relate to the 1939 World's Fair mural commission and include information about gifts of artwork to museums. Financial material includes a sales record book and records of sales with the Marilyn Pearl and Landmark galleries. Also included are literature and directories from the Federation of Modern Painters & Sculptors, exhibition announcements,and newspaper clippings.

Biographical / Historical:

Born in New York City, Michael Loew (1907-1985) studied at the Art Students League from 1926-1929, Academie Scandinave in Paris from 1929-1930, the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Art from 1947-1949, and at the Atelier Fernand Leger from 1949-1950. Loew worked as a stained glass artist from 1926 to 1929, and painted murals with Willem de Kooning for the New York World's Fair of 1939. Between 1956 and 1966, he taught painting at the Portland (Oregon) Art Museum, University of California at Berkeley, and at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Provenance:

Material on reel N68-94 lent for microfilming 1968 by Michael Loew; approximately 50 letters and an artists' statement were later received in subsequent donations. Additional papers were donated in 1981-1982 by Loew, and in 1994 and 2008 by his widow, Mildred C. Loew, a portion of which was microfilmed on reel 5053. The photograph of Loew and de Kooning taken by Rose Slivka was donated by Loew's niece, Jackie Cohen, in 2007.

Restrictions:

Microfilmed portion must be accessed on film. Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Occupation:

Painters  Search this

Art teachers  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.loewmich

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-loewmich

Creator:

Hassinger, Maren  Search this

Names:

Maryland Institute, College of Art  Search this

Nengudi, Senga, 1943-  Search this

Extent:

11.3 Linear feet

4.55 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Sound recordings

Video recordings

Diaries

Date:

1955-2018

Summary:

The papers of African American artist and educator Maren Hassinger measure 11.3 linear feet and 4.55 gigabytes, dating from 1955 to 2018. The collection contains biographical material; personal and professional correspondence; and writings; as well as project and exhibition files; material related to Hassinger's tenure at the Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA); material related to other professional activities, including teaching files; photographic material; and artwork and artifacts.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of African American artist and educator Maren Hassinger measure 11.3 linear feet and 4.55 gigabytes, dating from 1955 to 2018. The collection contains biographical material including appointment and address books, education records, family and other home movie recordings, interview transcripts, and resumes; personal and professional correspondence; and writings including diaries, notebooks, notes, and writings by others. Also included are project and exhibition files, including accompanying audiovisual material and performance recordings; material related to Hassinger's tenure at the Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA); material related to other professional activities, including other teaching files, panels, and grants; printed material; photographic material depicting Maren Hassinger, other individuals, and works of art, including student work; and artwork and artifacts.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged as nine series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1959-2001, 2013-circa 2015 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet, ER01; 0.001 GB)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1961-2018 (Boxes 1-2; 1 linear foot, ER02; 3.01 GB)

Series 3: Writings, 1955-2017 (Boxes 2-3; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 4: Project and Exhibition Files, 1966, 1982-2015 (Boxes 3-4, OV 12; 1.5 linear feet, ER03-ER04; 1.31 GB)

Series 5: Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture/MICA Files, circa 1960s-2018 (Boxes 4-5; 1.4 linear feet)

Series 6: Professional Activities, circa 1969-2017 (Boxes 5-6; 0.8 linear feet, ER05; 0.006 GB)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1960-2018 (Boxes 6-9, OVs 12-15; 2.9 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographic Material, 1969-2010s (Boxes 9-10, OV 12, Box 16; 2.2 linear feet, ER06; 0.224 GB)

Series 9: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1960s-2010s (Box 11; 0.3 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

Maren Hassinger (1947- ) is an African American artist in New York known for sculpture, performance, and public art in which she uses natural and industrial materials. She was also an educator and is the director emeritus of the Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD.

Born Maren Jenkins in Los Angeles, California in 1947, Hassinger studied dance and sculpture at Bennington College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in sculpture in 1969. In 1973 she completed a Master of Fine Arts in fiber structure at UCLA.

During her time in Los Angeles, Hassinger began to collaborate with Senga Nengudi — a collaborative relationship that has continued throughout their careers. She also participated in the Studio Z collective with Nengudi, Ulysses Jenkins, David Hammons, and Houston Conwill.

Hassinger taught at the State University of New York, Stony Brook from 1992 to 1997 and was the director of the Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art from 1997 to 2018. Throughout her career, she has been awarded numerous residencies, awards, and grants. Her work is held in many collections including the Baltimore Museum of Art, the California African American Museum, the Hammer Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Provenance:

The Maren Hassinger papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2018 by Maren Hassinger.

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 born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. 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:

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Educators -- Maryland -- Baltimore  Search this

Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

African American artists  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Video recordings

Diaries

Citation:

Maren Hassinger papers, 1955-2018. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.hassmare

See more items in:

Maren Hassinger papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-hassmare

Creator:

Gage, Merrell, b. 1892  Search this

Names:

Borglum, Gutzon, 1867-1941  Search this

Extent:

0.7 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1911-1982

Summary:

The papers of sculptor and educator Merrell Gage measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1982. The papers document his career in Kansas and California through biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, artwork, and photographs, as well as a scrapbook and a photograph album.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of sculptor and educator Merrell Gage measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1982. The papers document his career in Kansas and California through biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, artwork, and photographs, as well as a scrapbook and a photograph album.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged as one series.

Biographical / Historical:

Sculptor Robert Merrell Gage (1892-1981), known as Merrell Gage, was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1892. He studied at the Art Students League in 1911 and at the Robert Henri School of Art and also served as an apprentice to Gutzon Borglum from 1914 to 1916 and again from 1921 to 1923. Borglum was a tremendous influence on Gage. His wife Marian was a painter.

Gage taught at Washburn College in Kansas, ca. 1915-1916; the Kansas City Art Institute, 1915-1916 and 1919-1921; and the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, ca. 1925-1958. In 1955, Gage's film, "The Face of Lincoln," won an Academy Award in the two-reel short subject category. Merrell Gage died in 1981.

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Merrell Gage conducted by Betty Hoag on May 27, 1964.

Provenance:

The Merrell Gage papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1995 by Jean Gage, daughter of Merrell Gage.

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 rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Sculptors -- California  Search this

Sculptors -- Kansas  Search this

Educators -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Educators -- Kansas  Search this

Topic:

Sculpture, American  Search this

Citation:

Merrell Gage papers, 1911 to 1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.gagemerr

See more items in:

Merrell Gage papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-gagemerr

Creator:

Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this

Names:

Coos Art Museum  Search this

Fresno Art Museum  Search this

Galerie Anderson-Mayer  Search this

Gallery Stadler  Search this

Jack Rutberg Fine Arts (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this

John Bolles Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this

Los Angeles Museum of Art  Search this

Malvina Miller  Search this

Martha Jackson Gallery  Search this

Merging One Gallery  Search this

Mills College -- Faculty  Search this

Pond Farm Workshop  Search this

San Francisco Museum of Art  Search this

University of California, San Francisco. School of Fine Arts -- Faculty  Search this

Green, Ray, 1908-1997  Search this

Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-  Search this

Kuh, Katharine  Search this

O'Donnell, May, 1906-2004  Search this

Sawyer, Kenneth B.  Search this

Still, Clyfford, 1904-  Search this

Still, Patricia  Search this

Tapie, Michel  Search this

Temko, Allan  Search this

Tobey, Mark  Search this

Wildenhain, Frans, 1905-1980  Search this

Extent:

42.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Motion pictures (visual works)

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Diaries

Photographs

Sketches

Date:

circa 1914-1997

bulk 1940-1990

Summary:

The papers of sculptor, painter, jewelry designer, and teacher Claire Falkenstein measure 42.8 linear feet and date from 1917 to her death in 1997. There is extensive correspondence with fellow artists, collectors, critics, friends, museums, and galleries. The collection also contains biographical materials, much of it collected and organized by Falkenstein, personal and business records, writings, diaries, exhibition files, commission files, teaching files, photographs, original artwork, scrapbooks, and printed materials. There is a short motion picture film of an interview with Falkenstein featuring the windows she designed for St. Basil's Church in Los Angeles.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of sculptor, painter, jewelry designer, and teacher Claire Falkenstein measure 42.8 linear feet and date from 1917 to her death in 1997. There is extensive correspondence with fellow artists, collectors, critics, friends, museums, and galleries. The collection also contains biographical materials, much of it collected and organized by Falkenstein, personal and business records, writings, diaries, exhibition files, commission files, teaching files, photographs, original artwork, scrapbooks, and printed materials. There is a short motion picture film of an interview with Falkenstein featuring the windows she designed for St. Basil's Church in Los Angeles.

Biographical material includes appointment calendars, awards and honorary degrees, interview transcripts, passports, resumes, wills, and scrapbooks. Scrapbooks were compiled by Falkenstein and focus primarily on her exhibitions at the Galerie Stadler and Gallery Meyer in 1959 and 1960. Also of interest are the "biography files" created and arranged by Falkenstein. These files contain material that she personally felt was the most important in documenting her activities each year. They include correspondence, exhibition catalogs, printed material, and invitations.

Measuring nine linear feet, correspondence is extensive and comprehensively documents Falkenstein's work, social life, relationships, and other business and personal activities. Correspondence dates from 1941 to 1997 and includes business letters and correspondence with friends and family. Her communications with friends, family, clients, gallery owners, collectors, museums, publishers, foundations, and grant agencies reveal many of her ideas and techniques. Individual correspondents include Ray Green, Peggy Guggenheim, Katharine Kuh, May O'Donnell, Ken Sawyer, Clyfford and Pat Still, Michel Tapie, Allan Temko, Mark Tobey, and Frans Wildenhain. Gallery and museum correspondence is with the San Francisco Museum of Art, Coos Art Museum, Los Angeles Museum of Art, Galerie Stadler (Paris), Gallery Mayer (Paris), Malvina Miller (New York), Martha Jackson Gallery (New York), Jack Rutberg Fine Arts (Los Angeles), Galerie Anderson-Mayer (Paris), and Bolles Gallery. Correspondence is also found in the Commission Files and Exhibition Files.

Personal and business records contain a wide variety of material documenting Falkenstein's business, financial, legal, professional, and personal transactions. Files are found for sales and prices, art inventories, smaller jewelry commissions, her work as a juror, her business with galleries, legal affairs and contracts, expenses, records of arts organizations to which she belonged, conferences, grants and fellowships, studio and house renovations, her Paris studio and Paris expenses, travel, donations, loans and consignments, conservation, art shipping, insurance, and taxes. Oversized visitor's logs contain comments from visitors to Falkenstein's studio in Venice, California.

Falkenstein maintained comprehensive documentation of her exhibitions from her first exhibition in the 1930s to the last one at the Merging One Gallery in 1996. Files include both a chronological record and individual record for nearly all of her exhibitions. Found with the files are correspondence, photographs, loan and shipping records, catalogs, announcements, clippings, articles, and other records. Most of the photographs related to exhibitions are found in the Photographs Series. The files for exhibitions at the Fresno Art Museum, Martha Jackson Gallery and Jack Rutberg Fine Art Gallery are particularly rich.

Commission files document nearly all of Falkenstein's public and private large-scale projects and often contain a visual record of the work, as well as correspondence, design notes, contracts, and expense reports. There is documentation of the St. Basils Church windows in Los Angeles; the Peggy Guggenheim gate in Venice, Italy; and the fountain at the California Savings and Loan, in Los Angeles; and many others. There is also a chronological record of her commissions. The bulk of the photographs of commissions are found in the Photograph series. Also, most of Falkenstein's jewelry design commissions are found in the Personal and Business Records series.

Falkenstein's work as a prolific writer, particularly in the 1940s and 1950s, is well-documented here through her numerous published articles in Arts and Architecture magazine, and the New York Herald-Tribune. Her work for Arts and Architecture was primarily written for the "Art Comments from San Francisco" section. She was living in Paris when she contributed an art news column to the New York Herald-Tribune. Also found here are five diaries and one journal dating from circa 1929-1978. The entries are inconsistent and concern mostly travel. The diaries from 1929 and 1934 are more personal. Falkenstein also maintained extensive notes and notebooks about artwork ideas, observations about art, research, and even drafts of letters. There are also many notes about various topics, including art and class notes. Additional writings are eclectic and cover a wide range of topics, including music, poetry, the script for Falkestein's film entitled Touching the Quick, and drafts of her unpublished book on murals. A handful of writings by others are found, most with annotations by Falkenstein.

Teaching files include Falkenstein's numerous lectures given while teaching at Mills College, Pond Farm Workshops, and California School of Fine Arts, and various symposiums and conferences. Also found are lesson plans, contracts, scattered correspondence, and notes. The files on her tenure at the Pond Farm Workshops are particularly interesting, with notes about her fellow teacher Frans Wildenhain and correspondence with workshop owners, Jane and Gordon Herr.

There are extensive photographs of Falkenstein, her family and friends, colleagues, commissions, exhibitions, and works of art. Included are many images of Falkenstein, of Falkenstien with her art, of Falkentstien working, and of Falkenstein's studio. There are numerous photographs of Falkenstein with friends, family, and colleagues in social or work settings. Also found are photographs of exhibition openings, installation views, and works of art exhibited. Additional photographs document Falkenstein's commissions, including images of her at work. Additional images of commissions may also be found in the Commission Series, but the bulk are filed here. There are numerous photographs of Falkenstein's works of art, including drawings, sculpture, jewelry, murals, lamps, and ceramics.

Falkenstein's papers include a large amount of sketches, sketchbooks, and drawings. Many of the sketches and drawings relate to her ideas about commissions and large sculpture, jewelry designs, and general sketches. Sketches are also found in the Commission Files. Also included are drawings by Mark Tobey and Michel Tapie, and others.

Finally, printed materials include general exhibition catalogs, newspapers clippings, and clippings of articles by and about Falkenstein. Also included are books that have been inscribed and signed by the author.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 9 series:

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1934-1997 (Box 1-4, 41; 4.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1931-1997 (Box 5-13; 9 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal and Business Records, 1936-1997 (Box 14-17, 41, 46-49; 4.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Exhibitions, 1930-1996 (Box 18-21, 42, OV 50; 3.3 linear feet)

Series 5. Commissions, 1930-1992 (Box 21-22, OV 50-54 ; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 6: Writings, circa 1929-1993 (Box 22-26, 42, 55; 4.6 linear feet)

Series 7: Teaching Files, 1929-1995 (Box 26; .8 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1917-1997 (Box 27-35, 43, 55-56; 9.5 linear feet)

Series 9: Artwork, circa 1937-1995 (Box 36-37, 44, 57; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 10: Printed Materials, circa 1914-1990 (Box 37-40, 45, 58; 3.9 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Claire Falkenstein (1908-1997) spent the majority of her life working as an artist, sculptor, jewelry designer, teacher, and writer in California.

Claire Falkenstein was born in 1908 and grew up in Coos Bay, Oregon. In 1920, Falkenstein and her family moved to Berkeley, California, where she attended high school and then college at the University of California at Berkeley, studying philosophy, anthropology, and art. She graduated in 1930. Falkenstein had her first solo show at the East-West Gallery in San Francisco in 1930, the only member of her class to have an exhibition before graduation.

During the early 1930s, Falkenstein studied at Mills College with modernist sculptor Alexander Archipenko. There she also met Bauhaus artists Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Gyorgy Kepes. Falkenstein married her high school sweetheart, Richard McCarthy in 1936.

In 1944, Falkenstein had her first New York exhibition at the Bonestall Gallery. At that time, Falkenstein's primary mediums were stone and wood. However, she became increasingly experimental with new materials that included sheet aluminum, Cor-Ten steel, glass, plastics, and welded wire rods while maintaining a connection to organic and natural forms. Her work in jewelry design was an outlet for exploring these new materials, forms, and techniques on a small scale. As her work grew physically larger, so did her recognition and it was her work in sculpture that won her a faculty appointment at the California School of Fine Arts from 1947-1949. It was here that she met Patricia and Clyfford Still, Hassel Smith, and Richard Diebenkorn.

In 1948, Falkenstein was invited to exhibit at the Salon des Realites Nouvelle in Paris, her first European show. She eventually moved to Europe in 1950 and had studios in Paris, Venice, and Rome. While in Europe, Falkenstein executed a number of large scale commissions, including the stair screen for Galerie Stadler (1955), grotto gates for Princess Pignatelli's villa in Rome (1957), and the bronze, steel, and the glass gate at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice (1961). While in Paris, she became acquainted with noted art critic Michel Tapie, with whom she maintained a life-long friendship.

During the 1940s and 1950s Falkenstein was a regular contributor to Arts and Architecture magazine, most often writing the "Art Comments from San Francisco" section. While in Paris, she also wrote a column on art news for the New York Herald Tribune.

Falkenstein returned to the United States in 1962, eventually renovating a studio space in Venice, California. It was here that she conceived her largest commissions. In 1965, Falkenstein received a commission from the California Savings and Loan to create a sculpture for a large fountain at the front of the bank in downtown Los Angeles. The copper tube fountain, entitled "Structure and Flow #2," was the first of many large scale public art commissions that Falkenstein completed during her years in California. Her most important commission in the United States, completed in 1969, was for the doors, rectory gates and grills and stained-glass windows for St. Basil's Church on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The eight doors and fifteen rectory screens, including 80 foot high windows in the nave, were an expansion of the "never ending screen" concept that Falkenstein executed with the Pignatelli commission in Rome. She continued to use this motif in her work throughout her career.

Claire Falkenstein worked as an arts instructor, visiting artist, and guest lecturer at many colleges, workshops, and schools in California. Her first position was at Mills College from 1946-1947. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed to the faculty at the California School of Fine Arts and later taught in the Extension Divisions of the University of California, Berkeley. She taught classes at California State Polytechnic University, California State University at Davis, and the Anna Head School. Falkenstein also taught art at the Pond Farm Workshops in California, and lectured at numerous colleges and museums. She served on many juried art shows in Southern California.

Falkenstein was acquainted with many artists, writers, instructors, collectors, gallery owners, and critics. Close friends included Esther and Bob Robles, Clyfford and Patricia Still, Michel Tapie, Allan Temko, Mark Tobey, Frans Wildenhain, and other notable figures in the art world.

Falkenstein continued to complete large scale private and public commissioned sculptures during the 1960s through the 1980s, including work for the University of Southern California, Hyland Biological Laboratory, California State University at Dominquez Hills and the California State Department of Motor Vehicles. Throughout her career, Falkenstein's work was featured in numerous exhibitions across the country. Her sculpture and other artwork can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Coos Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museum, University of Southern California Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Tate Gallery.

Falkenstein died in 1997 at the age of 89.

Related Material:

The Archives of American Art also holds two oral history interviews with Claire Falkenstein. The interview on April 13, 1965 was conducted by Betty Hoag and the one on March 2 and 21, 1995 was conducted by Paul Karlstrom.

Provenance:

The Claire Falkenstein papers were donated in 1997 by Steffan Wacholtz and Nancy Kendall, trustees for the Claire Falkenstein Trust.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Painters -- California  Search this

Topic:

Women artists -- California  Search this

Women artists -- France -- Paris  Search this

Sculptors -- California  Search this

Interviews  Search this

Awards  Search this

Transcripts  Search this

Articles  Search this

Designers -- California  Search this

Drafts (documents)  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Poetry  Search this

Scripts  Search this

Notebooks  Search this

Artists' studios  Search this

Art -- Economic aspects  Search this

Art patronage  Search this

Educators -- California  Search this

Jewelry -- Design  Search this

Sculptors -- France -- Paris  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Motion pictures (visual works)

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Diaries

Photographs

Sketches

Citation:

Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.falkclai

See more items in:

Claire Falkenstein papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-falkclai

Collection Creator:

Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this

Container:

Box 40

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1981

Collection Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

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The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Collection Citation:

Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation.

See more items in:

Claire Falkenstein papers

Claire Falkenstein papers / Series 10: Printed Materials

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-falkclai-ref1426

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Introduction:

The continuing traditions of the original inhabitants of this nation were presented in the Native Americans area by representatives of the more than 200 Native American communities throughout the United States. Working with the Smithsonian, they had examined their traditions and created the programs, speaking to their way of life today and their hopes for the future.

The Native Americans area was designed with Native traditions in mind. The entire area lay within a circle that represented the wholeness of life, emphasizing that, in Native philosophy, everything is interrelated. A corn field formed the outlying circle; corn, the contribution of Native Americans to the peoples of the world, is regarded as the gift of Mother Earth. With squash and beans sharing the field, the entire area was thus surrounded by the three staple foods of the Southwest, the "three sisters" of the Iroquois. The Learning Center, designed by architect Dennis Sun Rhodes, Arapaho, faces East, the direction of sunrise and of life, and visitors were intended to proceed inside sunwise, in a circle. In its design and in its presentations of music, crafts, dance, and discussion, the Native Americans area honored the first Americans.

Building upon six years of programming during preceding Festivals, the Bicentennial presentations presented a region-by-region overview of American Indian folklife:

June 16-20, Northeast (Six Nations, Iroquois, Mohawk, Seneca, Onandaga, Tuscarora, Algonkian, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Shinnecock, Hassanamisco, Nanticoke, Susquehanna, Wampanoag, Narragansett, Gay Head, Mohegan, Schaghticoke)

June 23-27, Great Lakes (Oneida, Ojibwa)

July 1-5, Southeast (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Tuscarora, Muskogee, Tunica-Biloxi of Louisiana, Mattaponi, Houma Tribe of Louisiana, Alabama Creek, Lumbee)

July 7-11, Southern Plains (Comanche, Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Omaha, Pawnee, Ponca, Southern Cheyenne)

July 14-18, Prairie (Sac and Fox)

July 21-25, Northern Plains (Northern Cheyenne)

July 28-August 1, Northwest Coast (Alaska Federation of Natives, Confederated Tribes of Siletz, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation)

August 4-8, Southwest (San Juan Pueblo, Navaho, White Mountain Apache, Comanche)

August 11-15, Plateau (Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation, Ute, Klamath)

August 18-22, Basin (Northern Paiute, Southern Paiute, Washo, Western Shoshone, Walker River Paiute)

August 25-29, Northern California (Miwok, Wintun, Pomo, Yurok, Karok, Tolowa, Hupa, Klamath, Tchinook, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, Quileute)

September 2-6, Arctic (Alaska Federation of Natives)

Lucille Dawson served as program coordinator, assisted by Thomas Kavanagh. The multi-year program was shaped by the Native Americans Advisory Group, including Louis Bruce, Rayna Green, Dell Hymes, Clydia Nahwooksy, Alfonso Ortiz, and William Sturtevant.

Participants:

Northeast

Six Nations, Iroquois

Mohawk

Mary Adams, basket maker

Mike Adams, basket maker

Sally Ann Adams, basket maker

Richard Hill, headdress maker

Stan Hill, bone carver

Tammy Hill, craft sales

Mary Longboat, cornhusk worker

Margaret Torrence, basket maker

Cam Wilson, silversmith

Mark Wilson, craft sales

Wanda Wilson, dancer

Oneida

Eula Chrisjohn, cornhusk worker

Irving Chrisjohn, cornhusk worker

Richard Chrisjohn, Sr., wood carver

Richard Chrisjohn, Jr., wood carver

Onondaga

Andrea Jimerson, dancer

Marty Jimerson, dancer

Huron Miller, project coordinator

James Skye, wood carver

Guy Williams, dancer

Ruby Williams, dancer

Tim Williams, dancer

Seneca

Helen Harris, dancer

Linda Harris, dancer

Philman Harris, drum and rattle maker

Steve Harris, dancer

Hazel Jimerson, dancer

Lester Jimerson, dancer

Mamie Jones, dancer

Paul Jones, dancer

Kevin Johnny John, dancer

Mike Johnny John, dancer

Vera Miller, beadworker

Rodney Pierce, dancer

Marlene Thomas, dancer

Hazel Thompson, gancer

Phillip Thompson, dancer

Natie Watt, basket maker

Ruth Watt, basket maker

Tuscarora

Louise Henry, beadworker

Oscar Moses, Lacrosse stick maker

Kevin Patterson, Lacrosse stick maker

Wes Patterson, Lacrosse stick maker

Edward Sayer, finger weaving

Wilmer Wilson, 1925-2002, craft sales manager

Algonkian

Chuck Comanda, canoe maker

Mary Comanda, canoe maker

William Comanda, canoe maker

Ojibwa

Audrey Pawis, quill worker

Discussants

Asenith D. Vogt, coordinator

Joseph A. Nicholas, discussant, Passamaquoddy

Andy Akins, discussant, Penobscot

Charles Jennings, discussant, Penobscot

Brian Miles, discussant, Pequot

Eva Smith, discussant, Shinnecock

Diane Bess, discussant, Shinnecock

Lois Wilcox, discussant, Hassanamisco

Kenneth Clark, discussant, Nanticoke

Kathy Clark, discussant, Nanticoke

Jody Hale, discussant, Susquehanna

Lydia Hale, discussant, Susquehanna

Edith Andrews, discussant, Wampanoag

Naomi Andrews, discussant, Wampanoag

Alberta Wilcox, discussant, Narragansett

Lloyd Wilcox, discussant, Narragansett

Helen Attaquin, discussant, Gay Head

Mother Helen Attaquin, discussant, Gay Head

Stilson Fands, discussant, Mohegan

Trudy Lamb, discussant, Schaghticoke

George Mitchell, Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the State of Maine

Southeast

Cherokee

Wanda Barr, dance leader

Mike Daniels, pottery

Cecil Hall, discussant

Don Mabray, discussant

Frank Mclemore, discussant

Eva Nordwell, discussant

Eunice Old Field, weaver

Knohovtee Scott, jewelry, silversmith

Ross Swimmer, discussant

Dick Spahr, head cook

Mary Lou Spahr, cook

Mrs. Ross Swimmer, discussant

Anicl Barr, dancer

Sheila Barr, dancer

Brenda Johnson, dancer

Jeanette Reese, dancer

Gina Pritchett, dancer

Michelle Ummtukee, dancer

Chickasaw

Aaron Christy, guide

Hazel Christy, dancer, beadwork

Overton James, discussant

Emma Mose, dancer

Buster Ned, dancer

Calvin Ned, dancer

Rhonda Ned, dancer

Wanda Ned, dancer, beadwork

Bienum Pickens, dancer, stickball, drummer

Adam Sampson, singer, dancer, stickball

Richard Sampson, dancer, stickball

Junior Thomas, dancer

Mary Wallace, dancer

Mrs. Overton James

Choctaw

Clelland Billy, stickball

Glendale Billy, food, cook

David Gardner, discussant

Lucinda Gibson, arts and crafts

Eula Goings, cook

Hugh Jefferson, stickball, discussant

Ray Jefferson, stickball

Louise Isscomer, beading

Myrtle Lowman, basket weaving

Sherrin Matlock, discussant

Mrs. David Gardner, discussant

Creek

Claude Cox, discussant

Paul Culley, 1925-, dancer

Wynena Evans, beadwork, singer

Brian Fife, dancer, discussant

Margaret Freeman, cook

Hepsey Gilroy, looming, dancer

Solomon McCombs, artist

Buddy Scott, silversmith, dancer

Genda Scott, basket weaving, dancer

Gene Timothy, discussant, food, Lacrosse

Mrs. Claude Cox, discussant

Seminole

Beulah Bemo, arts and crafts

Mallene Davis, singer, dancer; Miss Indian Oklahoma

Kelly Haney, artist, dancer, stickball

Samantha Hooper, education guide, dancer

Ida Little, food, shell shaker, dancer

Terry Little, cook

H. T. Miller, stomp dancer, stickball

Tom Palmer, stomp dancer, stickball

Ida Lee Redbird, shell shaker, dancer

Jennie Lee Rice, shell shaker, dancer

Ed Tanyan, discussant

Mrs. Ed Tonyan, discussant

Cherokee

William Crow, wood carver

Betty Crow, bead worker

Tuscarora

Ernest Carter, discussant

Benjamin Maynor, discussant

Muskogee

Angela Lyles, discussant

Ann Taylor Tate, discussant

Tunica-Biloxi of Louisiana

Rose Marie Gallardo, discussant

Mary Vercher, discussant

Mattaponi

Chief Curtis Custalow, discussant

Gertrude Custalow, discussant

Houma Tribe of Louisiana

Steve Cheramie, discussant

Randolph Francis, discussant

Alabama Creek

Connie S. Tullis, discussant

Buford L. Rolin, discussant

Lumbee

Donna Chavis

Sonya Allen

Southern Plains

Carla Allrunner, dancer

Richard Asenap, program coordinator

Joe Attocknie, 1911-1984, singer, flute player

Rosalie Attocknie, 1926-2011, artist

Bobbi Bradley, artist

Hawana Bradley, artist

Ronald Burless, artist

Ed Chappabitty, singer

Evelyn Chappabitty, singer

Florence Chasenah, beadworker

Gerald Chasenah, dancer

James Chasenah, singer

Kim Chasenah, dancer

Wallace Coffey, narrator, dancer

James Cox, narrator, tribal chairman

Marie Cox, craftsperson

Sam Devenney, historian, photographer

Jamie Franklin, dancer

Rita Franklin, dancer

Patty Hall

Carol Hall

Melvin Kerchee, singer, dancer

Melvin Kerchee, Jr., dancer

Nettie Kerchee, 1921-2003, dress maker, bead worker

Diane Motah, craftsperson

Lee Motah, historian, narrator

Haddan Nauni, singer

Rose Nauni, craftsperson

Leslie Niedo, bead worker

Frank Oberly, narrator

Mary Oberly, craftsperson

Sam "Doc" Peweardy, singer

Bill Poafpybitty, graphics, sculptor

Richard Ralph Poafpybitty, 1963-1996, actor

Sarah Pohosucut, historian

Henry Pratt, flute player, dancer, singer

Leonard Riddles, artist

Kenneth Saupitty, narrator

Gene Sovo, war dancer

Junior Sovo, war dancer

Margie Sovo, moccasin maker

Jerome Tahawah, singer

Edmond Tate, dancer

Joyce "Doc" Tate Nevaquaya, 1932-1996, flute player, dancer, artist

Jermone Tahawah, singer

May Tonips, beadworker, graphics, sculptor

Rick Tosee, dancer

George Wallace, singer

Juanita Wallace, singer

Eva Watchataker, beadworker

George "Woogee" Watchataker, dancer, flute player

Junior Weryackwe

Eva Weryackwe

Patricia Whitewolf, shawl maker

Sheryle Whitewolf, dancer

Elmer Winnerchy, 1917-1986, singer

Evelyn Winnerchy, 1917-1996, dancer

Prairie

Sac & Fox Tribe

Bill Grass

John Gakey

Shannon Franklin

Omer Jefferson, Jr.

Kate Walker

Winnie Gibson

Delphine Foreman

Sarah Riley

Sharon Byers

Bill Foreman

Jerry Nanaeto

Kimberly Nanaeto

Harriet Nanaeto

Barbara Hawkins

Kartherine Franklin

Ronnie Harris

Sandy Harris

R.J. Harris

Merle Boyd

Tammy Boyd

Pamela Boyd

Mabel Harris

George Harris

Leona Starr

Jimmy Starr

James L. Starr

Leota Black

Carl Butler

Cecil Littlehead

Clarissa Littlehead

Oma Patrick

Irene Harris

Georgianna LeClair

Teresa LeClair

Larry Blanchard

Linda Standing

Karen "Candy" Hunter

Henry O. Hunter

Douglas Franklin

Dino Riley

George Switch

Jessica Patterson

Muriel Patterson

Valerie Patterson

Carol Patterson

Frances Coker

Richard Mullake

Kay Kay Goodeagle

Mary Clark

Donald Marland

Mary Mack

Guy Wakalee

Huge Wakalee

Marilyn Thurman

Herschel Tiger

Jack Thorpe

Lee Bass, Jr.

Elmer Manatowa, Jr.

Northern Plains

Northern Cheyenne

Harry Littlebird, Sr., gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Annie Joyce Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

Richard Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game

Serena Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts

Limona Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts

Rose Ann Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts

Ginger Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts

Theresa Brady, dancer, gourd dance, arts & crafts, cook

Curtis Brady, dancer, gourd dance, hand game

Steve Brady, dancer, gourd dance, hand game

Eggonn Brady, dancer, gourd dance, hand game

Elsie Wick, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

Donna Wick, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

Christine Wick, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts

James Wick, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts

Dennis Wick, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts

Ernest King, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Grover Wolfvoice, 1890-1978, hand game, arts & crafts

Dale Brady, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts

Joe Lonewolf, dancer, gourd dance, arts & crafts, singer

Crawford Lonewolf, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, singer

Charles Brady, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Arnie Brady, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

Hilda Manley, dance, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

James Littlebird, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Harriet Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

Geofredo Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, singer

Clinton Birdhat, dancer, hand game, singer

Marlene Belly Mule, dancer, gourd dance, arts & crafts, cook

Ruth Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

Stacey Gwen Littlebird, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts

Rose Medicine Elk, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

John Medicine Elk, Sr., gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

John Killsontop, Sr., gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Rose Killsontop, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

Mike Bearcamesout, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Robert Bearchum, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Robert Redwoman, hand game, arts -- & -- crafts, singer

Mary Redwoman, hand game, arts & crafts, cook

Elmer Fightingbear, dancer, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Tommy Rockroads, dancer, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Dave Glenmora, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Wilson Brady, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Tim Littleboy, dancer, hand game, arts & crafts

Webby Runsabove, dancer, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Billy Runsabove, dancer, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Fernando Littlebird, dancer, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer

Steve Littlebird, gourd dance, hand game, arts & crafts, singer, coordinator

Northwest Coast

Les Houck

Merle Holmes

Charles Rick

Charles McKnight

Edmund Ben

Delores Pigsley

Archie Ben

Paul Jackson

Shirley Walker

Raymond Ben

Judy McKnight

Melvin McKnight

Bunni Houck

Jerry Running Foxe

Paulene Rick

Joe McKnight

Randy Rick

Boby Dumont

Victoria Ben

Dave Harley

Carlene Easter

Delbert Bell

Caroline Easter

Alaska Federation of Natives

Judy Brady

Herman Davis

Ruth Farquhar

Sharon Frank

Larry Garrity

Laura Eliz Joseph

Larry Judy

Alice Kitka

Marla Kitka

Donna Lang

Dorothy Lord

Tim McGraw

Lillian Nielsen

Mike Spoon

Martin Strand, Jr.

Martina Strand

Marlene Thomas

Cynthia Williams

Ethel Williams

Karin Williams

Janice Williams

Isabella Brady

Ethel Makinen

George Ramos

Marie Thiemeyer

Margy Johnson

Southwest

Amos Beatty

Jimmy Thompson

Charles Henry

Ron Quay

Wilkie Dazen

John Chissay

Mike Cooley

Pat Cooley

Bruce Cooley

Theresa Truesdell

Myrna Tessay

Wilfred Peaches

Manuelita Early

Jerry Lupe

Mike Truesdell

Bernice Endfield

Lula Machuse

Azlie Lupe

Pheobe Gooday

Nelson Lupe, Sr.

Shirleen Bullock

Beverly Machuse

June Marie Dale

Ophelia Peaches

Maria Endfield

Umatilla

Traditional Long House Group from Pendleton, Oregon

Edith K. McCloud, narrator, bead worker

Lillian E. Hoptowit, craftsperson, bead worker

Terry L. Hoptowit, dancer

Rosie McCloud, dancer

Eliza B. Nez, dancer

Joseph P. Tias, dancer

Bernadette B. Nez, dancer

Anthony G. Hoptowit Sr., crafts

Anna Marie Brown, buckskin worker

James Hoptowit, dancer

Donna B. Nikolaide, dancer, assist.

Willard D. Showay, singer

Arthur Williams, singer, crafts-beadwork

Lonnie R. Selam Sr., singer

William A. Johnson Sr., feather worker

Mrs. Arthur Williams, bead worker

Phillip Jackson, dancer, assist.

Eliza Bill, coordinator

Norma June Mosquito, dancer

Beksee Mosquito, singer, drummer

John Willard Hoptowit, dancer

Maisie McCloud, dancer

David Dean McKay, dancer

Babette Cowapoo, dancer

Ellen Taylor, dancer

Julie Taylor, dancer

Alberta Taylor, dancer

Ellen Johnson, bead worker

Cidric Bill, dancer

Anthony G. Hoptowit Jr., dancer

Emile Bill, dancer

Robert Bill, dancer

Sheila Bill, dancer

Sonny Gail McCloud, dancer

Angie McCloud, dancer

Raphael Bill, dancer, assist.

Veva E. Bill, storyteller

Sylvester Selam, dancer

Gabriel Selam, singer

Sandy Sampson, dancer, narrator, sign language

The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation of Toppenash, Washington will also be featured. Simon Sampson is the coordinator.

We will feature the Ute Reservation led by Gwen Mojado, the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada led by Harold Wyatt, and the Klamath Tribe of Oregon led by Leonard Norris.

Northern California

Miwok Tribe

William Franklin, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

Cora Franklin, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

Margaret Villa, dancer, lecturer, jewelry maker

Theresa Coy, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

Carl Mathiesen, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

Inez Mathiesen, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

David Franklin, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

Ronnie Franklin, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

James Franklin, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

Norman Franklin, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

Robert Coy, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

Elaine Barber, dancer, lecturer, hand game player

Dorothy Stanley, food demonstration, lecturer

Dwight Zutchke, dancer, lecturer

Wintun Tribe

Mary Norton, food sales

Frances McDaniel, basket maker

Pomo Tribe

Elsie Allen, 1899-1990, basket maker, Ukiah, California

Yurok Tribe

Elaine Glairy, jewelry maker

Mary Birchfield, food sales

Ollie Foseide, 1921-, basket maker, Hoopa, California

Warren Abbott, food sales, dancer

Lareta James, dancer, singer

Dewey George, 1899-1985, boat maker, dance leader, McKinleyville, California

Rosie Silva, dancer, singer

Julius Aubrey, boat making assistant, dancer

Oscar Taylor, net maker, singer, dancer

Eileen Figueroa, basket maker, singer

Sam Jones, 1913-1996, stick game player

Mark Sundberg, stick game player, dancer, canoe assistant

Lisa Sundberg, dancer, jewelry maker

Joy Sundberg, Northern California coordinator, lecturer

Karok Tribe

Charlie Tom, singer, drummer, dancer

Jo Peters, 1923-, jewelry maker, basket maker, lecturer, Hoopa, California

Tammy Peters, dancer, jewelry maker

Laura George, guide, assistant

Lorna Dodge, lecturer, guide, assistant

Tolowa Tribe

Billy Richards, dancer

Mark Richards, dancer

Nicole Richards, dancer

Loren Bommelyn, 1956-, lead singer, Fort Dick, California

Fred Moorehead, lead singer

Betty Green, dance assistant

Kim Richards, dancer

Tanya Richards, dancer

Ronnie Richards, dancer

Marvin Richards, dancer

Denise Lopez, dancer, guide

Denise Richards, dancer, guide

Pam Mattz, dancer

Joan Richards, food sales

Darlene Richards, food sales

Lorene Richards, dancer

William Richards, food sales

Viola Richards, food sales

Bill Bommelyn, dancer

Walter Richards, singer

Lila Moorehead, sand bread maker, cook

Hupa Tribe

Merve George, band leader, dancer

Eleanor Abbott, language class leader

Andy Andrioli, lecturer, guitar player, dancer

Kim Yerton, dancer, learning center assistant

Janice Yerton, learning center assistant

Endora Saxson, dancer

Mike Waterman, drummer

Doug Duncan, lead guitar player

George Disdy, guitar player

Ann Taylor, assistant

Pat Andrioli, assistant

Paiute Tribe

Joseph Saulque, lecturer, historian

Film and Video Presentation

Vern Korbe

Carol Korbe

Dick O'Rourke

Lorraine O'Rourke

Brian Tripp

Dolly Tripp

Daniel O'Rourke

Klamath Tribe

Leonard Norris, Jr., Coordinator

Cecil L. Gallagher

Nick Kimbal

Charlie Bates

Rhonda Jimenez

LaNell L. Jackson

Rose Mary Tree Top

Jean Tina Bates

Bill L. Jackson

Anna Marie Jackson

Valgene Teeman

Marc McNair

Tchinook Tribe of Oregon

Karleen F. McKenzie

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla

Leslie Minthorn, Coordinator

Quileute Tribe

Robert Bojorcas, 1943-, Coordinator, Eugene, Oregon

Collection Restrictions:

Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.

Collection Rights:

Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1976 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1976, Series 6

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1976 Festival of American Folklife

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-cfch-sff-1976-ref44

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Introduction:

The African Diaspora program was developed in 1973-74 to make a comprehensive statement about the dispersal of black culture. The area paid tribute to the varied cultural contributions of black American communities and documented how black peoples and cultures flourish throughout the world. Exploring those aspects of culture that link black Americans to Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, presentations centered on three activities common to all : home life, worship, and trade. Each was represented on the Mall by an appropriate physical structure: a house, an altar setting, and a marketplace. In each structure, the various artistic forms - music, crafts, material culture, dance, and the spoken word - depicted black culture as a dynamic, living force. The evolution of the culture was shown as black artists of all ages carried out their skills, be they traditional, evolved, or revival.

Different countries of Africa or the New World were featured each two weeks, with U.S. participants also rotating biweekly:

June 16-27, Ghana, Jamaica

July 1-11, Haiti

July 14-25, Liberia, Trinidad and Tobago

July 28-August 8, Nigeria, Brazil, Puerto Rico

August 11-22, Zaire, Surinam

August 25-September 6, Senegal

The African Diaspora program was led by Rosie Lee H. Hooks (Program Coordinator) and Bernice Johnson Reagon (Folklorist). It was organized with guidance from the African Diaspora Advisory Group, whose members included Roy Bryce-Laporte, James Early, Halim El-Dabh, Leonard Goines, Pearl Williams Jones, René López, Jane Sapp, Fela Sowande, A. B. Spellman, and William Wiggins, Jr. Fieldwork was conducted by members of the ADAG as well as Jason Dotson, Worth Long, Carol Maillard, and Adetokunbo Olatunde.

Participants:

Participants

Juliet Amoah, Ghanaian cook, hairdresser

Betty Jean Archibald, 1933-2002, cook, Northport, Alabama

George Archibald, 1934-, cook, Northport, Alabama

Alphonse Ardoin, 1915-2007, & Canray Fontenot, 1922-1995, Cajun musicians

Carmen Austin, cook

Bible Way Church World Wide Congregation, gospel singers

The Brothers, gospel group

Derrick Bunch, musician

Charles Calendar, 1922-1995, storyteller

Calvary Crusaders, gospel singers

Sam Chatmon, 1899-1983, blues musician, El Cajon, California, ex-Mississippi

Church of God, choir

Althea Coakley, basket weaver

Beatrice Coakley, basket weaver

Julito Collazo y su Grupo Folklorico Cubano, religious

Emory Davis, jeweler and potter

Harold O. Davis Memorial Choir and Congregation of the Cornerstone Baptist Church

D.C. Black Repertory Vocal Workshop

Mu-tem-uwa Dejfu, herbalist

Sonny Diggs, arabber (fruit vendor)

Jason Dotson, storyteller

Thomas "Popcorn" Doyle, contemporary Black social dance

The Drake Brothers & Family, singers

James Dunn, leather craftsperson

Rockin' Dupsie, 1932-, Creole band

Frank Edwards, 1909-2002, musician

Farrow Choir

Amoyewa Ferrell, designer, seamstress

George Ferrell, Sr., woodcarver

JuJu Ferrell, metal sculptor, woodcarver

Free Evangelist Church, choir

Freelo Express, dancers

Charles Freeney, cook

French Lala (Cajun dance troupe)

Anna Fuller, hair braider

Minnie Lee Gardner, storyteller

Linda Goss, storyteller

U'gene Greene, jeweler

Grupo Folklorico y Experimental Nueva Yorquina, religious, musician

Bill Hines, musician

Holyland Gospel Singers

Young Hughley, storyteller

Hurricane Brass Band -- Hurricane Brass Band Leroy Jones, Jr.Greg DavisKevin HarrisCurtis JosephDarryl AdamsGregory StaffordRaymond Johnson, Jr.Al CarsonCharles L. Joseph

"In the Rapture" Cast, dramatic production

Jackson Singers, gospel singers

Arbrey L. Jones, storyteller

Walter Kelley, arabber (fruit vendor)

Kings Choral Ensemble

Kings of Harmony Spiritual Band of the United House of Prayer

Eddie Knight, 1909-, musician

Eugene Lee, storyteller

Henry Lenard, storyteller

Lighthouse Church, gospel choir

Little Wonders, gospel singers

Bob Lowery, 1931-, blues singer

Deloris Luster, storyteller

Martin, Bogan & the Armstrongs, string band

Henry Martin, storyteller

Fidel & Iris Martinez, dancers

Valerie Maynard, 1937-, sculptor

Barbara McCloud, gospel singer and pianist

Winifred McQueen, tie dyer

Members of the Cape Verdean Community (Florench Almeida, Joaquin Almeida, Theresa Almeida, Valentina Almeida, Joanna Andrade, Mary Andrade, Stephanie Correia, Walter Correia, Benjamin Duarte, George Duarte, John Durate, Rita Duarte, John "Joli" Gonsalves, Virginia Gonsalves, Jack Livramento, Manuel "Lela" Lopes, Corrine Monteiro, Antone Monteiro, Lillian Ramos, Dennis Silva, Shirley Silva, Sophie Silva, Yvonne Smart, Eduardo A. Sousa)

M. Cecil Mills Ensemble from Canaan Baptist Church, gospel singers

Mississippi Delta Blues Band, blues band

Rev. Flora Molton, 1908-1990, street singer

Avery "Slim" Montgomery, 1909-1996, blues singer

James Moody, Jr., storyteller

Moving Star Hall Singers, gospel singers

Lee Willie Nabors, 1916-1997, craftsperson

New Bethel Church of God in Christ, gospel choir

Kenneth Palm, herbalist

Ojeda Penn & the LifeForce, jazz musicians

James Peterson of the Baltimore Fellowship, gospel singer

Rufus Pinckney, craftsperson

Rev. Leon Pinson, 1919-1998, gospel singer, guitarist

L. C. Bunk Pippens, blues singer

Pleneros Ponceflos, Puerto Rican blues band

Shannon Powell, drummer

Lee Poydras, cook

Rising Star Fife & Drum Band -- Rising Star Fife & Drum Band Napoleon Strickland, 1919-2001, fife playerBernice Turner, drummerOtha Turner, drummerG.D. Young, drummer

The Robertson Family, basket weavers -- The Robertson Family, basket weaversThonis Robertson, 1910-1981Geraldine RobertsonFelicia RobertsonJacqueline RobertsonDaphne RobertsonPatricia Ann Robertson

Efrain Ronda, string instrument craftsperson

Caridad Salome, cook

Luis Salome and Band, jazz musicians

Charlie Sayles, 1948-, harmonica player, Washington, D.C.

Scene Boosters Marching Club 3rd Division

Shabu, hairdresser

Herman Sherman's Young Tuxedo Brass Band

Johnny Shines, 1915-1992, musician

Phillip Simmons, 1912-2009, blacksmith

Mary Carter Smith, 1919-2007, storyteller

Smith Brothers, gospel singers

Sons of Grace, gospel group

Souls of Unity, gospel group

Speight Sisters, gospel vocal group

Sweet Honey in the Rock, a cappella vocal group

Temple Choir, Bibleway Church

Mor Thiam and His Ensemble -- Mor Thiam and His EnsembleGregory GloderH. James LastarriaFrank WilliamsAnthony PruittFreddie WashingtonBruce PurseLeRoy Thigpen

Son Thomas, 1926-1993, potter, blues guitarist

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Thompson, basket makers

Natalia Tirado Jr., master drum-maker

The Trinidad Steel Band

Union Temple, choir

Union Temple Baptist Church Congregation

United House of Prayer for All People: band, junior choir, congregation

Wesley Methodist Church Congregation

W. J. Ensemble, vocal group

Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers

Yoruba Village, priests, singers, drummers, dancers and craftspeople

Jamaica

Ettu Performers, singers, dancers

Basil Reid, broom maker

Samuel Hylton, potter

Roy Nelson, potter

Una Griffith, cook

Celeste Robinson, cook

Ashton "Desmond" Douglas, basket weaver

Nelson Chambers, instrument maker

Ghana

Salisu Mahama & Group -- Salisu Mahama & GroupSalisu Mahama, leader, gonje player, singer, craftspersonAshumann Iddrisu, gonje playerIddrisu Salisu, rattle playerAmadu Iddrisu, rattle playerM. D. Sulley, dancer, interpreter

Gonje Dancers -- Gonje DancersMohamed AbubariMohamadu ZibilimSeidu MbalibaYakubu Musah

Abdulai Seidu & Group -- Abdulai Seidu & GroupAbdulai Seidu, brekete drummer, donno drum makerAdam Iddi, donno drummerIdnisu Salifu; flute player

Ko Nimo & Group -- Ko Nimo & GroupDanile Ampousah (Ko Nimo), leader, guitarist, drummer, singerJ. K. Bawnah, singerKwadwo Dummaa, rhythmAugustine Nyame, drummerR. P. Twunasi, anitar, singerKwadwo (Little Noah), drummerDancersKwaku DuahAdwoa OlyankuAkua Afrizie

Nana Kwadwo Nketial, fetish dancer, kente weaver, adinkra printer & embroiderer

Craftspeople

Opoku-Worae, kente weaver, adinkra printer & embroiderer

Nana Osei Bonsu, Ashanti stool carver, adinkra stamp designer

Akwasi Attah, fetish house decorator

Haiti

Pierre Blain, leader

Andre Dimanche, sculptor

Henry Chery, cook-master

Fresnel Magloire, basketmaker

Alexandre Abraham, houngan

Alourdes Murat, mambo

Andre Jeanty, hounsie

Andre Duplan, drummer

Jean Alphonse, drummer

Julien Memorin, drummer

Altena Ulysse, flutist

Dieu-Juste Dorlette, musician

Michaud Jerome, musician

Eddy Dorlette, musician

Roland Montrevil, musician

Adonis Piton, musician

Antalcidas Murat, musician

Fritz Jolicoeur, laplace

Edner Guerrier, hounsie

Maxi Herve, hounsie

Yvonne Dorlette, hounsie

Marie-Helene Gervier, hounsie

Mireille Rodnez, hounsie

Lucienne Pierre, houngenicon

Claudette Pierre-Louis, meringue singer

Pierre-Louis Rameau, rara dancer

Liberia

Bai T. Moore, Minister

Peter Ballah, government official

Madam Gbese Kiazolu, matron

Salia Dukuly, weaver

Alfred Yegon, carver

Boima N'gebla, chief musician

Maka Blimi, drummer

Veyuga Puu, drummer

Bendu Kroma, singer

Yata Kroma, singer

Mesuah Slewah, dancer

Tene Kiazolu

Tarlo Muna

Yombo Ndoma

Lorpu Togba

Burr Suma (Nimba Bird)

Zerah Kiabolu

Hawa Morley

Jorngo Kiazolu

Beku Karmar

Sando Holta

Karko Morris

Tarkpo Bastua

Zumana Fotana

Zaid Kroma

Senegal

Maurice Sonar Senghor, Director of the National Theater

Babacar Diom, translator

Dancers

Bouly Sonko

Malang Dabo

Cheikh Dioh

Ibranhima Faye

Ousmane Dione

Marie Basse

Sona Ndiaye

Mariama Ngom

Nabou Ciss

Awa Diallo

Drummers

Abdou Dounta

Fotiguy Toure

Moussa Camara

Sadia Badian

Bakary Goubiaby

Vieux Sing Faye

Pape Gueye

Mamadou Ndiaye

Craftspeople

El Hadji Ibou Niang, jeweler

Aminata Kebe, hairdresser

Instrumentalists:

Sanna Sissoko

Soundioulou Sissoko

Singers

Mahawa Douyate

Fatou Ihiam Samb

Senegalese from Washington, D.C.

Oumou Gueye, cook

Yama Diane, cook

Brazil

Nigeria

Puerto Rico

Surinam

Trinidad & Tobago

Zaire

Collection Restrictions:

Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.

Collection Rights:

Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1976 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1976, Series 2

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1976 Festival of American Folklife

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-cfch-sff-1976-ref18

Creator:

Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964  Search this

Names:

Archipenko Art School (Woodstock, N.Y.)  Search this

Archipenko, Angelica  Search this

Archipenko, Frances  Search this

Spies, Walter  Search this

Extent:

19.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Transcripts

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Photographs

Date:

1904-1986

bulk 1930-1964

Summary:

The Alexander Archipenko papers measure 19.5 linear feet and date from 1904 to 1986, with the bulk of materials dating from 1930 to 1964. The sculptor's personal and professional life is documented by correspondence, financial records, scrapbooks, printed matter, and photographs documenting his art, exhibitions, travel, teaching activities, and the Archipenko Art School. Archipenko wrote and lectured extensively about his philosophies of art and the relationship between art and nature. The papers include drafts, notes, and final manuscripts of published and unpublished writings, and notes, outlines, transcripts, and audio recordings of some of his lectures.

Scope and Content Note:

The Alexander Archipenko papers measure 19.5 linear feet and date from 1904 to 1986, with the bulk of materials dating from 1930 to 1964. The sculptor's personal and professional life is documented by correspondence, financial records, scrapbooks, printed matter, and photographs documenting his art, exhibitions, travel, teaching activities, and the Archipenko Art School. Archipenko wrote and lectured extensively about his philosophies of art and the relationship between art and nature. The papers include drafts, notes, and final manuscripts of published and unpublished writings, and notes, outlines, transcripts, and audio recordings of some of his lectures.

Correspondence concerns both personal and professional matters. Among Archipenko's personal correspondents are relatives and friends in the Ukraine, his wife Angelica during her extended stays in Mexico and California, and other women. Professional correspondence is with dealers, curators, scholars, collectors, colleges and universities concerning exhibitions, sales and commissions, loans, and teaching and lecture engagements.

Archipenko wrote and lectured extensively about his philosophy of art, art in nature, and theories concerning creativity and the universe. His papers include manuscripts, drafts, notes and supporting materials for his book published in 1960, Archipenko: Fifty Creative Years, 1908-1958. Similar documentation of unpublished writings, as well as notes, outlines, and some transcripts of lectures and talks are also in the series.

Records concerning the Archipenko Art School are sparse, with only one photograph of students in Berlin, 1921. Surviving records include printed matter, a cashbook, student roster, and scrapbook containing photographs, printed matter, and a typescript copy of a statement by Archipenko, "How I Teach." Most of this material focuses on the New York and Woodstock schools, with only a few items concerning Chicago. In addition, files regarding Archipenko's teaching activities at schools other than his own include course descriptions, student rosters, grades, and printed matter.

Financial records consist of banking records, paid bills, and miscellaneous items. Paid bills include invoices and receipts for art supplies, shipping, and storage. Among the miscellaneous items are price lists, royalties paid by the Museum of Modern Art for Woman Combing Her Hair, and sales records.

Nine scrapbooks contain clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, lecture notices, advertisements and brochures of the Archipenko Art School, and a small number of photographs. Printed matter consists primarily of clippings about Archipenko and exhibition catalogs with related announcements and invitations. Miscellaneous items include books about Archipenko, catalogs of museum collections containing works by Archipenko, and reproductions. Of special interest is a brochure about the Multiplex Advertising Machine that bears a similarity to the Archipentura, an "apparatus for displaying Changeable Pictures" Archipenko invented circa 1924 and patented in 1927.

Photographs are of people, Archipenko's travels and miscellaneous places, exhibitions, works of art, events, and miscellaneous subjects. Five photograph albums mainly document travels. Slides and transparencies include black and white lantern slides probably used to illustrate lectures.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 10 series. Lantern slides and glass plates are housed separately and closed to researchers, but listed where they fall intellectually within the collection.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1908-1964 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, OV 28)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1922-1970 (4.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-5)

Series 3: Subject Files, 1940-1958 (6 folders; Box 5)

Series 4: Writings, 1923-1971 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 5-8, Film can FC 30)

Series 5: Teaching, 1921-1952 (0.8 linear feet; Box 9, Film cans FC 31-33)

Series 6: Financial Records, 1923-1971 (1.5 linear feet; Box 9-10)

Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1910-1961 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 22-25)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1913-1987 (3.7 linear feet; Boxes 11-14, 26, OV 29)

Series 9: Miscellaneous, 1916-1966 (0.5 linear feet; Box 14, 16, Film can FC 34)

Series 10: Photographic Material, 1904-1964 (3.6 linear feet; Boxes 14-15, 17-21, 26-27)

Biographical Note:

Alexander Archipenko (1887-1964) was the son of an engineer/inventor and grandson of an icon painter. Among the first modern sculptors of the 20th century to be associated with the Cubist movement, Archipenko was known for his innovative use of concave space. His major contribution was the realization of negative form through use of a hole to create a contrast of solid and void. His sculpto-paintings united form and color; begun in 1912, these polychromed constructions are among the earliest mixed-media works known, and sometimes incorporated objects. Eventually, his Cubist-inspired work evolved into the simplified, abstract shapes for which he is best known. Although known primarily as a sculptor, Archipenko produced paintings, drawings, and prints as well.

At age 15, Archipenko began studying art at the University of Kiev in his native city; he was expelled three years later for criticizing the teachers. He then went to Moscow where he worked on his own and exhibited in several group shows; his first solo exhibition was held in the Ukraine in 1906.

Archipenko made Paris his home from 1908 until the outbreak of World War I. Soon after his arrival, he enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts; this association lasted but two weeks, and marked the end of Archipenko's formal training. He continued to study art by spending large amounts of time visiting art museums and painting on his own. During this period, he began exhibiting in the Salon des Independents with the Cubists, and as a member of the "Section d'Or" participated in that group's exhibitions. His first one-man exhibition in Germany was held at the Folkwant Museum (1912) and his work was featured in the Armory Show (1913).

In 1912, at the age of 25, Archipenko established his first art school in Paris. He spent the war years working quietly outside of Nice, and soon afterwards circulated an extensive exhibition of his works throughout Europe. In 1921, Archipenko settled in Berlin, opened an art school there, and married sculptor Angelica Bruno-Schmitz, who was known professionally as Gela Forster.

Archipenko's reputation was solidly established and the majority of his ground-breaking work - adaptation of Cubist ideas to sculpture, sculpto-paintings and incorporation of negative space in sculpture - was accomplished prior to his 1923 arrival in the United States. One of his most innovative works executed in America was the Archipentura, invented circa 1924 and patented in 1927, a machine with rolling cylinders that displayed "animated paintings" using motion and light. Other creations of note are carved Lucite sculptures, illuminated from within, that were executed in the mid-1940s.

Upon settling in the United States in 1923, Archipenko opened his art school in New York City; a summer school was established in Woodstock, New York the following year. Within a few years, Archipenko purchased land near Woodstock and began construction of a home, personal studio, and buildings for the school. At various times during the 1930s, Archipenko resided in Chicago and Los Angeles, and operated schools while living in those cities. For many years during the 1940s, Angelica served on the sculpture faculty at the Escuela de Belles Artes in San Miguel Allende, Mexico.

In addition to running his own schools, Archipenko taught at a number of colleges and universities, where he ran workshops, and served as a visiting professor. He wrote and lectured extensively about his philosophy of art and theories of creativity, publishing several articles and a book, Archipenko: Fifty Creative Years, 1908-1958 (1960).

Angelica Archipenko died in 1957. Three years later Archipenko married sculptor Frances Gray, a former student. During the early 1960s, the couple traveled extensively on a lecture tour that accompanied a solo exhibition to several German cities. Archipenko died in New York City, February 25, 1964.

The following chronology is excerpted from Alexander Archipenko: A Centennial Tribute by Katherine Janszky Michaelsen and Nehama Guralnik (National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1986) and Archipenko: The Sculpture and Graphic art, Including a Print Catalogue Raisonne by Donald Karshan, Ernst Wasmuth Verlag (Tubingen, Germany, 1974).

1887 -- Born to Porfiry Antonovich and Poroskovia Wassilievna Machova Archipenko in Kiev, Ukraine, Russia. Father a mechanical engineer, professor of engineering, and inventor; grandfather an icon painter.

1900 -- Studied and copied Michelangelo drawings from a book given him by his grandfather during a long confinement following a leg injury.

1902-1905 -- Painting and sculpture student in Kiev art school; expelled for criticizing his teachers.

1906 -- First one-man show in the Ukraine. Worked in Moscow and exhibited in several group shows.

1908 -- Moved to Paris and enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Quit formal art instruction after two weeks, continued to study art on his own by visiting museums.

1910 -- Exhibited in the Salon des Independants with the cubists (also in 1911-1914 and 1919).

1912 -- Opened art school in Paris. "Section d'Or" formed in Paris with Archipenko among its members. The group exhibited until 1914, and briefly after World War I. First solo exhibition in Germany, Folkwant Museum, Hagen.

1913 -- Represented in the Armory Show. Executed first prints (lithographs).

1914 -- Began making sculpto-paintings.

1914-1918 -- Spent the war years working near Nice.

1919-1920 -- Began extensive tour exhibiting his works in various European cities (Geneva, Zurich, Paris, London, Brussels, Athens, Berlin, Munich, etc.).

1920 -- One-man exhibition in the Venice Biennale.

1921 -- First solo exhibition in the United States at the Societe Anonyme, Inc., New York; a symposium, Psychology of Modern Art and Archipenko, was held during the course of the show. Moved to Berlin and opened art school. Married sculptor Angelica Bruno-Schmitz [known professionally as Gela Forster]. First print commission.

1923 -- Moved to the United States and opened art school in New York City.

1924 -- Established a summer school at Woodstock, New York.

1927 -- "Archipentura" patented ("Apparatus for displaying Changeable Pictures and methods for Decorating Changeable Display Apparatus," nos. 1,626, 946 and 1,626,497).

1928 -- Became an American citizen.

1929 -- Bought land near Woodstock, New York, and began construction of school and studio buildings.

1932 -- Lectured on his theories of creativeness at colleges and universities throughout the United States.

1933 -- Taught summer session at Mills College, Oakland, California, and Chouinard School, Los Angeles.

1935 -- Moved to Los Angeles and opened art school.

1935-1936 -- Taught summer sessions at the University of Washington, Seattle.

1936 -- Moved to Chicago and opened art school. Associate instructor at New Bauhaus School, Chicago.

1938 -- Returned to New York; reopened art school and Woodstock summer school.

1944 -- Taught at the Dalton School, New York City.

1946-1947 -- Returned to Chicago; taught at the Institute of Design.

1947 -- Began making carved plastic sculptures with internal illumination.

1950 -- Taught at University of Kansas City, Missouri.

1950-1951 -- Lecture tour of the southern cities of the United States.

1951 -- Taught at Carmel Institute of Art, California, University of Oregon, and University of Washington, Seattle.

1952 -- Taught at University of Delaware, Newark.

1953 -- Elected Associate Member of International Institute of Arts and Letters.

1955-1956 -- One-man exhibition tours in Germany (Dusseldorf, Darmstadt, Mannheim, and Recklinghausen).

1956 -- Taught at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

1957 -- Death of Angelica.

1959 -- Awarded gold medal, XIII Biennale de'Arte Triveneta, III Concorso Internationale del Bronzetto, Padua, Italy.

1960 -- Archipenko: Fifty Creative Years, 1908-1958 by Alexander Archipenko and Fifty Art Historians published by Tekhne (a company established by Archipenko for the purpose). Married Frances Gray, a sculptor and former student. Recovered plasters of early work stored by French friends since the end of World War I. Traveling exhibition in Germany (Hagen, Münster, and Dusseldorf).

1962 -- Elected to the Department of Art, National Institute of Arts and Letters.

1964 -- Dies in New York City.

Related Material:

Among the holdings of the Archives are the Donald H. Karshan papers relating to Alexander Archipenko, originally accessioned as part of the Alexander Archipenko papers, but later separated to form a distinct collection.

The Archives also has the National Collection of Fine Arts records relating to Alexander Archipenko.

Separated Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels NA11-NA12, NA16-NA18, and NA 20-NA22) including biographical material, correspondence, exhibition records, writings, printed material and photographs. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

In 1967, the Alexander Archipenko papers, previously on deposit at Syracuse University, were loaned to the Archives of American Art for microfilming by his widow Frances Archipenko Gray. In 1982, Ms. Gray donated most of the material previously loaned and microfilmed to the Archives of American Art, along with additional items.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. research facility. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Lantern slides and glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

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.

Topic:

Art -- Philosophy  Search this

Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Sculpture -- Technique  Search this

Sculptors  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Cubism  Search this

Genre/Form:

Transcripts

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Photographs

Citation:

Alexander Archipenko papers, 1904-1986, bulk 1930-1964. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.archalex

See more items in:

Alexander Archipenko papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-archalex

Creator:

Aitken, Robert, 1878-1949  Search this

Names:

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919  Search this

Ward, De Witt  Search this

Wheeler, Benjamin  Search this

Extent:

0.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

circa 1900-1960

Summary:

The papers of California-born sculptor Robert Aitken measure 0.5 linear feet and date from circa 1900-1960. The collection primarily consists of photographs of Aitken in his studio and photographs of his sculpture including fountain figures, mausouleum doors, medallions, refliefs, and portrait busts. Also found is a photograph of Theodore Roosevelt at the dedication of the Navy Monument in Union Square, San Francisco, in 1902. The collection also includes one 1904 letter from Benjamin Wheeler to Robert Aitken thanking Aitken for a bust of George Washington, and scattered clippings and postcards reproducing works of art by Aitken.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of California-born sculptor Robert Aitken measure 0.5 linear feet and date from circa 1900-1960. The collection primarily consists of photographs of Aitken in his studio and photographs of his sculpture including fountain figures, mausoleum doors, medallions, reliefs, and portrait busts. Also found is a photograph of Theodore Roosevelt at the dedication of the Navy Monument in Union Square, San Francisco, in 1902. The collection also includes one 1904 letter from Benjamin Wheeler to Robert Aitken thanking Aitken for a bust of George Washington, and scattered clippings and postcards reproducing works of art by Aitken.

Some of the photographs are silver gelatin and gold toned silver gelatin prints, and some were taken by noted photographer De Witt Ward.

Arrangement:

Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.

Series 1: Robert Aitken Papers, circa 1900-1960

Biographical / Historical:

Noted sculptor Robert Aitken (1878-1949) was born in San Francisco, California, and taught at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art from 1901-1904. He studied in Paris in 1897 and from 1904-1907, and then settled in New York City where he spent most of his career teaching at the National Academy of Design.

He completed numerous sculpture commissions including portrait busts, medallions and coins, reliefs, and fountain figures. His works include the "Fountain of Earth" for San Francisco's Panama Pacific Exposition, the Navy Monument in San Francisco's Union Square, doors for the Greenhut and John W. Gates Mausoleums in New York, several military sculptures at West Point, and Guardian Figures at the National Archives building and the West Pediment of the United States Supreme Court building, both in Washington D. C.

Aitken was a member of the National Academy of Design, the National Arts Club, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the National Sculpture Society and the New York Architectural League.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in November 1973.

Restrictions:

Use of original materials 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.

Topic:

Monuments -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Monuments -- California -- San Francisco  Search this

Sculptors  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

Robert Aitken papers, circa 1900-1960. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Identifier:

AAA.aitkrobe

See more items in:

Robert Aitken papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-aitkrobe

Creator:

National Portrait Gallery  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2014-12-18T15:29:27.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Portraits  Search this

See more by:

NatlPortraitGallery

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

YouTube Channel:

NatlPortraitGallery

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_7tZah-bIxpk

Interviewee:

Rodriguez, Peter, 1926-  Search this

Rodriguez, Peter, 1926-  Search this

Interviewer:

Wagner, Nora  Search this

Subject:

Garcia, Rupert  Search this

Hernandez, Ester  Search this

Williams, Adriana  Search this

Reyes Ferreira, Jesus  Search this

Tamayo, Rufino  Search this

Ybarra-Frausto, Tomás  Search this

Dickey, Terry P.  Search this

Galería de la Raza (San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this

Mexican Museum  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Topic:

Painters -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this

Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this

Art -- Philosophy  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)13148

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)249267

AAA_collcode_rodrig04

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_249267

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2014-04-26T16:50:52.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianArt

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianArt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_t9O9Iu9rh4o

Collection Creator:

Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943  Search this

Extent:

2.08 Linear feet

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1912-1914

Scope and Contents:

This series includes photographs (many portraits), correspondence, anthropometric measurements, notes, and adding machine tapes associated with the physical anthropology exhibit at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition at San Diego, California, which Hrdlička was asked to prepare in 1912. Hrdlička envisioned a three-pronged approach: a comparative study of the native child; photographs, casts, and measurements of the races of man; and skeletal remains of man. With a $30,000 grant, he hired two sculptors to make busts and arranged for expeditions to obtain desired information and materials. Hrdlička went on two: to Siberia and Mongolia in 1912 and to Peru in 1913 to study American Indian pathology. Other trips were made by Riley D. Moore to St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, to study the Eskimo; Philip Newton to the Philippine Islands to study the Negrito; Vojtech Suk (also known as A. Schück) to Africa; Jindřich Matiegka to Bohemia to search for Neolithic crania; Kazimir Stolyhwo to the Birusa caves in Siberia and to the Ukraine to search for early man; and Stanislaw Poniatowski to eastern Siberia. Suk worked in South Africa and then moved to East Africa (Kenya). Before he completed his work there, the British interned him as an enemy alien. This series contains materials from both of Hrdlička's expeditions, Newton's expedition, and Suk's expedition, but contains no materials from Moore's, Matiegka's, Stolyhwo's, or Poniatowski's expeditions.

Additional papers on this series can be found in Series 3: Correspondence, "Panama-California Expositon, San Diego" (including details of Hrdlička's plans for the exhibits), and under the names of the people who did research for the exposition. There are also letters from one of the sculptors in "Mička, Frank". The materials from Riley D. Moore's expedition to Alaska can be found in Series 9: Alaska Archeological Expeditions.

Collection Restrictions:

The Aleš Hrdlička papers are open for research.

Access to the Aleš Hrdlička papers requires an appointment.

Collection Rights:

Contact the repository for terms of use.

Collection Citation:

Aleš Hrdlička papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

The Repatriation Office, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, provided funds for the arrangement and description of the Aleš Hrdlička papers

Identifier:

NAA.1974-31, Series 10

See more items in:

Aleš Hrdlička papers

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-naa-1974-31-ref2286

Collector:

Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive  Search this

Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive  Search this

Creator:

Nesbitt, Saul, 1920-1993  Search this

Names:

Archway Cookies, Inc.  Search this

Borden's Farm Products Co. of Illinois  Search this

Campbell Soup Company  Search this

Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive  Search this

Eastman Kodak Company  Search this

Florists' Telegraph Delivery Association  Search this

Franco American Food Co.  Search this

Lever Brothers and Unilever, ltd.  Search this

National Distillers and Chemical Corporation  Search this

Nesbitt Associates, Ltd.  Search this

P. Ballantine & Sons  Search this

Philip Morris Incorporated  Search this

Revlon, Inc.  Search this

Schick (Firm)  Search this

Scott Paper Company  Search this

Seagram Company  Search this

Extent:

3.5 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Slides

Sketches

Transparencies

Press releases

Correspondence

Photographs

Media lists

Blueprints

Drawings

Clippings

Client lists

Date:

1951-1984

Scope and Contents:

Background and biographical information consists of Nesbitt's resume, an artist/designer statement, list of clients and accomplishments of Nesbitt Associates, Ltd., press releases, articles, and photographs of the designer.,The materials in this collection document Nesbitt's work from 1951 through 1984.

The records of the office of public relations cover the years 1955-1963 and include press releases and clippings describing some Nesbitt's products, his theories on consumer motivation, and the results of his surveys, as well as correspondence with members of the press. General office correspondence is boxed separately.

Color slides, color and black & white transparencies, and black & white photographs of most of Nesbitt's designs for packaging from 1951-1981 are included. Oversized materials include books jackets and booklets designed by Nesbitt, as well as some renderings for packaging designs done in color.

Three samples of fitted presentation boxes designed by Nesbitt are included, as well as a prototype for a design award for Parsons School of Design in New York, and two "Multiplication" cubes commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Arrangement:

This collection has been reboxed in archivally-sound containers, but the materials have only been partially processed and arranged. Record groups include: 1) Backgound and Biographical Information; 2) Records of the Public Relations Office, 1955-1963; 3) Correspondence; 4) Slides, Transparencies, and Photographs; 5) Oversized Materials; and 6) Samples.

Biographical / Historical:

Packaging, industrial, and graphic designer. Born in New York City, August 10, 1920. Nesbitt was a student of sculptor Chaim Gross and studied art at many New York institutions including: Art Students League; New York University; Columbia University; Pratt Institute of Art; and the New School.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945 where he worked as a cartographer and as the head of the visual aid section in a military intelligence training center. In 1945, he joined the staff of Harper's Bazaar magazine where he was an illustrator assisting art director Alexey Brodovich. In 1946, Nesbitt was hired by the industrial design studio of Raymond Loewy as a handletterer and packaging designer.

He worked with Lippincott Industrial Design from 1948 to 1951. Nesbitt opened his own design studio, Nesbitt Associates, Ltd. in 1951. The firm specialized in package design, trademarks, and corporate identities. Some of his most recognizable designs were for the label for Campbell's Soup and the Florists' Telegraph Delivery (F.T.D.) Winged Mercury 'Interflora' figure, still used today. Nesbitt's other clients included: Franco American; Revlon; Ballantine Beer; Borden; Champion spark plugs; Kodak; Philip Morris cigarettes; Schick razors; and Archway cookies. In addition, Nesbitt developed the "Karry Kit" for Ballantine Beer which came to be widely used and known as the six pack.

Nesbitt was known for his revealing studies and surveys of the buying needs and preferences of the "average American housewife" and consumers in general. His opinions on what he referred to as "underpackaging" were widely publicized in professional magazines and journals. In 1984, Nesbitt retired from the design field and went to California to resume his career as a sculptor until his death in 1993.

Provenance:

Collection donated by the designer's wife, Mrs. Saul Nesbitt, in 1994.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Occupation:

Industrial designers  Search this

Packaging designers  Search this

Graphic designers  Search this

Topic:

Consumers -- Research  Search this

Consumers' preferences -- United States  Search this

Housewives as consumers  Search this

Labels -- Design  Search this

Corporate image -- Design  Search this

Logos (Symbols) -- Design  Search this

Graphic arts -- United States  Search this

Design, Industrial -- United States  Search this

Packaging -- Design  Search this

Genre/Form:

Slides

Sketches

Transparencies

Press releases

Correspondence

Photographs -- 20th century

Media lists

Blueprints

Drawings

Clippings

Client lists

Citation:

Saul Nesbitt Papers, 1951-1984, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1275

See more items in:

Saul Nesbitt Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1275

Creator:

Ramsburg, Charles  Search this

Extent:

0.8 Linear feet

6.04 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Video recordings

Date:

1959-2020

Summary:

The papers of artist Charles Ramsburg (1942- ) measure 0.8 linear feet and 6.04 GB, and date from 1959-2020. The collection documents Ramsburg's career and art practice through biographical material, correspondence, exhibition files, printed material, and photographic material. Some email correspondence, three video recordings and the bulk of the photographs are in digital form.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of artist Charles Ramsburg (1942- ) measure 0.8 linear feet and 6.04 GB, and date from 1959-2020. The collection documents Ramsburg's career and art practice through biographical material, correspondence, exhibition files, printed material, and photographic material. Some email correspondence, three video recordings and the bulk of the photographs are in digital form.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as five series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1959-circa 1993 (Box 1, 1 folder; ER06, ER09, 0.162 GB)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1961-2019 (Box 1, 2 folders; ER07-ER08, 0.054 GB)

Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1989-2005 (Box 1, 0.3 linear feet; ER01, 3.86 GB)

Series 4: Printed Material, circa 1980-2018 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Photographic Material, 1990-2017 (Box 2, 0.2 linear feet; ER02-ER05, 1.94 GB)

Biographical / Historical:

Charles Ramsburg (1942- ) is an artist in New York City who creates sculptures and drawings related to the minutiae of nature. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ramsburg studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, University of Arizona, and University of California at Santa Barbara. He moved to New Mexico in 1970, and after several decades returned to the east coast. Ramsburg's work has been featured in exhibitions internationally, and he has been represented by Carter Burden Gallery in New York and Horwitch LewAllen Gallery in New Mexico.

Provenance:

Donated to the Archives of American Art by Charles Ramsburg in 2017, 2019 and 2020.

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 born-digital records 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:

Artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Video recordings

Citation:

Charles Ramsburg papers, 1959-2020. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.ramschar

See more items in:

Charles Ramsburg papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-ramschar