The papers of sculptor Beatrice Fenton date from 1836-1984 (bulk 1890-1978) and measure 9.36 linear feet. The collection documents Fenton's career as a sculptor and art instructor, as well as her life-long friendships with artist Emily Clayton and art educator Marjorie Martinet. Found are scattered biographical materials, correspondence primarily with Martinet (approximately 1/2 of the collection), business records, notes and writings, scattered records of arts organizations, transcripts of interviews with Fenton, sketches and sketchbooks, a scrapbook, brochures, clippings, postcards, reproductions of artwork, and photographs of friends and family, travels, and artwork. Writings include several illustrated hand-made books of poetry by Emily Clayton.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of sculptor Beatrice Fenton date from 1836-1984 (bulk 1890-1978) and measure 9.36 linear feet. The collection documents Fenton's career as a sculptor and art instructor, as well as her life-long friendships with artist Emily Clayton and art educator Marjorie Martinet. Found are scattered biographical materials, correspondence primarily between Fenton and Martinet (approximately 1/2 of the collection), business records, notes and writings, scattered records of arts organizations, transcripts of interviews with Fenton, sketches and sketchbooks, a scrapbook, brochures, clippings, postcards, reproductions of artwork, and photographs of friends and family, travels, and artwork.
The collection includes scattered biographical material for Fenton, Emily Clayton Bishop, and Marjorie Martinet, such as biographical accounts, membership cards, and a diploma. The correspondence is primarily between Fenton and Martinet and documents the development of their close friendship and professional concerns. There are also scattered letters from Fenton's instructor, Alexander S. Calder and Emily Clayton Bishop. Personal business records include those of Fenton and Martinet and include wills, estate papers, insurance and banking records, price lists, receipts, and records from the Oldfields School where Marjorie Martinet taught for 36 years. Found within the Notes and Writings series are address books, hand-made illustrated booklets of poems by Emily Clayton Bishop, lecture manuscripts, and notes and typescripts on various topics, including a file Fenton created to promote Bishop's artwork following Bishop's death.
There is a series of scattered records of arts organizations to which Fenton belonged, including the Charcoal Club, the Three Arts Club, Lizette Wood Reese Memorial Association, and the Maryland Institute Alumni Association. Also found in the papers are interview tapes and transcripts of interviews conducted with Fenton by Mary Hamel-Schwulst and Marlene Obarzaneck, artwork consisting primarily of sketchbooks and loose drawings by Fenton and Bishop, a scrapbook concerning Martinet, additional printed material, and photographs and photograph albums depicting Fenton, Martinet, Bishop, other family, colleagues, studios, artwork, and travel destinations.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1897-1967 (Boxes 1, 10; 5 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1857-1980 (Boxes 1-5, 10; 4.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Business Records, 1836, 1907-1978 (Box 5; 39 folders)
Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1866-1971 (Boxes 5-6; 58 folders)
Series 5: Organization Records, 1903-1938 (Box 6; 9 folders)
Series 6: Interviews, 1978 (Box 6; 5 folders)
Series 7: Artwork, 1903-1943 (Boxes 7, 10; 21 folders)
Series 8: Scrapbook, 1905-1925 (Boxes 10; 1 folder)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1865-1984 (Boxes 7-8, 10; 1.7 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, 1890-1978 (Boxes 9-10, MGP 6; 1.0 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Beatrice Fenton was born on July 12, 1887 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to ophthalmologist Thomas H. Fenton and Lizzie Remak Fenton, who was the daughter of prominent lawyer Gustavus Remak.
From 1903-1904 Fenton began to study art at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art under Alexander Stirling Calder. Through her father's aunt, Mary Fenton Holmes, she met Thomas Eakins who advised her to sculpt in clay in order to overcome flatness in drawings. In 1904 Eakins painted a portrait of Fenton as the central figure in The Coral Necklace.
Fenton was attracted to sculpture and continued her studies in this field from 1904-1908 at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, under Charles Grafly. Here she began life-long friendships with fellow students Marjorie Martinet and Emily Clayton Bishop.
A Cresson European Traveling Scholarship enabled Fenton to visit Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, France, and England during the summer of 1909. She returned to the Pennsylvania Academy and won a second scholarship that financed further travel to Spain, France, Holland, Belgium, and England in 1910 with Marjorie Martinet. On her return from Europe Fenton began working as an artist in Philadelphia.
Both Fenton and Martinet were deeply affected by the sudden death of Emily Clayton Bishop in 1912, and spent several years promoting Bishop's sculpture. Martinet, who changed the spelling of her surname from Martenet to Martinet in June 1918, established her own art school in Baltimore, Maryland, and later taught painting at the Maryland Institute of Art. Fenton and Martinet maintained a close relationship for fifty years, primarily through correspondence.
Fenton's first success came with a portrait bust of her father's friend, painter and etcher Peter Moran, brother of Thomas Moran. The bust was purchased by the painter's friends for the Art Club and in 1915 won Honorable Mention in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. The success of Fenton's Seaweed Fountain in 1922 generated many commissions, primarily for fountains.
Martinet taught at Oldfields School from 1925 to 1961. From 1942 to 1953, Fenton taught at the Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, and later joined the faculty of St. John's Night School for Adults.
Beatrice Fenton died February 11, 1983 in Germantown, Pennsylvania.
Provenance:
The Beatrice Fenton papers were donated from 1987-1991 by Joan Martin, a sculptor and former Fenton student, who inherited Fenton's studio and its contents.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use 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:
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Nelli Bar Wieghardt, 1987 July 9-1989 April 29. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Interviews Search this
Theme:
Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource Search this
The papers of sculptor and environmental artist Aleksandra Kasuba measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2019, with the bulk of the material from 1960-2010. The collection documents Kasuba's career through biographical material, correspondence, interviews, lectures and writings, extensive project files, printed material, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor and environmental artist Aleksandra Kasuba measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1900-2019, with the bulk of the material from 1960-2010. The collection documents Kasuba's career through biographical material, correspondence, interviews, lectures and writings, extensive project files, printed material, a scrapbook, artwork, and photographs.
Biographical material includes artist's statements and letters of recommendation. Biographical data consists of curriculum vitae, bibliographies, checklists of commissioned work and biographical entries; also found are drafts of biographical accounts used for press releases. Included is a citation to Kasuba from the Women's Architectural Auxiliary, New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in honor of her participation in a West Side urban renewal project. Digital biographical materials include a CV and preserved copies of Kasuba's various websites.
General correspondence mostly consists of invitations to lecture at academic institutions and professional associations. There are letters between Kasuba and interior design firms, publishers, museums, and academic institutions. Included are letters from Columbia University, Museum of Modern Art, and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. Correpondence relates to commissioned projects, proposed exhibitions, and the scheduling of workshops and speaking engagements. Also found is correspondence with Thomas Whitridge about the publication of a monograph by Kasuba, extenisve family correspondence in Lithuanian, and correspondence with Algirdas Julien Greimas later organized for a publication.
Writings include various manuscripts and complementary visual schematics that Kasuba worked on throughout her career. Also included are Aleksandra Kasuba's lectures on the effects of alternative living environments on human behavior presented at academic forums and corporations. Writings include an essay by Kasuba and a typescript of an article on Kasuba that was published in Woman's Art Journal (Fall 1988/Winter 1984). Also included is a subseries of journals kept by Kasuba since the 1940s, before her successful emigration to the United States. Many of the earlier journals throughout the 1960s are of mixed Language content, much of them being written in Lithuanian.
Project Files document Kasuba's installations, exhibitions, tensile-fabric dwellings, shell dwellings, and live-in environments. Included are correspondence, artist's statements, project notes, plans, sketches and diagrams, business-related materials including agreements and cost estimates, printed material, clippings, and exhibition installation photographs and slides of artwork. There are files on Aleksandra Kasuba's professional activities, including teaching positions, speaking engagements, and publishing projects. Digital Project Records related to many of Kasuba's projects including digital video recordings are found in this series, as well as one super 8 mm film reel and two 8 mm motion picture film reels.
Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, and brochures; news and magazine clippings document various projects, including Kasuba's wall mosaics, shell dwellings, and alternative living environments. Many of the later tiles in this series are self-published. A scrapbook consists mainly of news clippings and reviews on Kasuba's work.
Artwork consists of sketches and drawings used as preliminary designs for Kasuba's projects. Also included are prints and elements used in the creation of the Jetty print series. Photographs are of Kasuba's wall mosaics, reliefs, space shelters, and live-in environments. Also found are slides and three slide binders of wall installations, shell dwellings, and environments made of tensile fabrics; included are slides used for lectures. Also included are photographs of Kasuba's New York City and New Mexico homes and studios, many in digital format.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 9 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1900-2017 (Boxes 1, 11: 0.5 linear ft.; 0.037 Gigabytes: ER001-ER005)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1941-2015 (Boxes 1, 11: 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 3: Interviews, 1976-1983 (Box 1: 0.2 linear ft.)
Series 4: Lectures and Writings, circa 1938-2019 (Boxes 1, 11-14, 16 3.8 linear ft.; 5.81 Gigabytes: ER006-ER0024)
Series 5: Project Files, 1960-2018 (Boxes 1-4, 15, Film cans FC 8-10: 4.6 linear ft.; 33.44 Gigabytes: ER025-ER057)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1950-2016 (0.5 Linear feet: Boxes 5, 15)
Series 7: Scrapbook, 1971-2010 (Box 6; 1 folder)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1938-2017 (0.8 Linear feet: Boxes 5-6, 15, 17)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1920-2017 (0.9 Linear feet: Boxes 5,7, 16-17; 3.35 Gigabytes: ER058-ER072)
Biographical / Historical:
Aleksandra Kasuba (1923-2019) was a Lithuanian-born sculptor, best known for her innovative architectural environments, who lived in New York and New Mexico. She attended the Kaunas Art Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania from 1941-1943. She studied with the sculptor, Vytautus Kasuba, whom she married in 1944. In response to the Soviet Army's occupation of their country, Aleksandra Kasuba and her husband emigrated to the United States in 1947. By 1963, Aleksandra Kasuba, her husband, and two children had moved to the Upper West Side in New York City. At the start of her career, Kasuba received commissions to make ceramic tiles for use in furniture. About the same time, she was also collaborating with architects in designing mosaic wall installations for public works. Aleksandra Kasuba's commissioned projects have included a plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., and wall mosaics for the Container Corporation in Chicago, and 560 Lexington Avenue in New York City. Some of Kasuba's mosaic compositions were made as individual pieces to be included in museum and gallery exhibitions.
Aleksandra Kasuba has also devoted her career to designing alternative living environments. In the late 1960s, Kasuba built dwellings that she referred to as Space Shelters, which were made from a fabric of her own design. In 1970, the American Craft Museum featured Kasuba's tensile-fabric structure in an exhibition "Contemplative Environments." She has also used nylon fabric to build her alternative or live-in environments. In addition, Kasuba has held several faculty positions. She taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City from 1971-1972 and was an artist-in-residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1976 and the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science in 1977. Kasuba has received awards from the American Institute of Architects in 1971 and 1972; in 1983, she was granted a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Aleksandra Kasuba has written several books, including a memoir published in 2001. Kasuba's husband, Vytautus died in 1997. From 2001 on, Aleksandra Kasuba had been living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she purchased a tract of land in the desert to continue her work on experimental housing. She died in 2019.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2013 by Aleksandra Kasuba. Additions were donated in 2018 by Aleksandra Kasuba and in 2019 by Guoda M. Burr, Kasuba's daughter.
Restrictions:
Subseries 4.2 (Journals) is access restricted; written permission is required.
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 References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The papers of sculptor and site-specific installation artist Elyn Zimmerman measure 37.8 linear feet and 1710.223 gigabytes, and date from 1967-2022. The collection documents the artist's life and work through correspondence, interviews, writings, project and commission files, exhibition files, teaching files, printed material, and photographic material. Project and commission files comprise the majority of the collection at 19.40 linear feet and comprehensively document dozens of Zimmerman's site-specific sculptural projects and proposals for public and private sites across the United States and internationally. Items include correspondence, contracts, photographs, models, blueprints, and original sketches and drawings. Photographic material documents Zimmerman's work through color and black and white slides, transparencies, contact sheets, negatives, and prints. The papers include a small number of born digital records, including interviews, digital images of projects, construction sites, and floorplans, as well as PowerPoint presentations.
There is a 2.2 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2023 that includes project files, photographs, works of art on paper, journals, a scrapbook and printed material regarding Elyn Zimmerman. Materials date from circa 1967-2022.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor and site-specific installation artist Elyn Zimmerman measure 37.8 linear feet and 1710.223 gigabytes, and date from 1967-2022. The collection documents the artist's life and work through correspondence, interviews, writings, project and commission files, exhibition files, teaching files, printed material, and photographic material. Project and commission files comprise the majority of the collection at 19.40 linear feet and comprehensively document dozens of Zimmerman's site-specific sculptural projects and proposals for public and private sites across the United States and internationally. Items include correspondence, contracts, photographs, models, blueprints, and original sketches and drawings. Photographic material documents Zimmerman's work through color and black and white slides, transparencies, contact sheets, negatives, and prints. The papers include a small number of born digital records, including interviews, digital images of projects, construction sites, and floorplans, as well as PowerPoint presentations.
Correspondence is comprised predominately of received letters and fewer drafts and copies of outgoing letters. Notable correspondents include Zimmerman's late husband, curator Kirk Varnedoe, arts advocate Agnes Gund, and artists Ruth Dicker, Richard Diebenkorn, Kady Hoffman, and Masami Teraoka. Interviews include digital video recordings of Elyn Zimmerman discussing various public projects between circa 1991 and 2005. Writings include drafts of journal articles, a book mock-up, project notes, and statements. Agendas and address books are filed with writings. Project and commission files comprise the bulk of the collection and comprehensively document dozens of Zimmerman's site-specific sculptural projects and proposals for public and private sites across the United States and internationally. Items include correspondence, contracts, photographs, models, blueprints, and original sketches and drawings. The files include a small number of born digital records, including digital images of projects, construction sites, and floorplans, as well as PowerPoint presentations. Exhibition files document Zimmerman's site-specific installations and exhibitions in a gallery and museum context. Files include correspondence, photographs, slides, statements, press releases, shipping information, and price lists. Teaching files document the many courses Zimmerman taught in painting, drawing, design, architecture, and landscape architecture. Items include syllabi, assignments, lecture notes, reading lists, and articles. Printed material primarily consists of items cataloging Zimmerman's career including exhibition announcements, catalogs, and press clippings. Subject files were saved and collected by Zimmerman and are arranged at the end of the series. Photographic material document Zimmerman's installations of commissioned works, exhibitions, and other installations through color and black and white slides, negatives, contact sheets, prints, and digital photographs.
There is a 2.2 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2023 that includes project files, photographs, works of art on paper, journals, a scrapbook and printed material regarding Elyn Zimmerman. Materials date from circa 1967-2022.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nine series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1978-2011 (3.7 linear feet; Box 1-4)
Series 2: Interviews, circa 1991-2005 (0.2 linear feet; Box 100)
Series 3: Writings, Agendas, and Address Books, 1970-2003 (0.5 linear feet; Box 4-5)
Series 4: Project and Commission Files, 1970-2022 (20.4 linear feet, Box 5-15, 21-22, 100, 123-125 OV 23-85, 109-116, 120-122, 126-127 RD 97-98; 0.223 gigabytes, ER01-04)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1969-2018 (4.6 linear feet; Box 15-16, 20-21, 100, 103, 123, OV 86-96,105-108, 120, RD 99)
Series 6: Teaching Files, 1970-1994 (0.4 linear feet; Box 16)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1970-2018 (2.2 linear feet; Box 16-19, 100, 123)
Series 8: Photographic Material, 1967-2018 (3.6 linear feet; Box 100-102, 123-125, OV 117-119)
Series 9: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1967-2022 (2.2 linear feet; Box 128-130, OV 131-135)
Biographical / Historical:
Elyn Zimmerman (1945-) is a New York City and Los Angeles based sculptor best known for her large scale site-specific outdoor installations incorporating granite, water features, and landscape architecture.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Zimmerman moved to California for college, earning both her BFA and MFA from University of California, Los Angeles. While at UCLA, she studied with Richard Diebenkorn and Robert Irwin, and worked in photography, drawing, and site-specific installation. In 1978 she created Monarch's Trough for Artpark in Lewiston, New York, her first site-specific work using granite. For the next several decades Zimmerman would complete dozens of site-specific installations in public and private spaces across the United States, and submit proposals for dozens more. Working frequently with stone and granite, she developed a decades long relationship with a granite quarry in Cold Spring, Minnesota, which fabricated many of her designs. Zimmerman's clients have included the National Geographic Society, the Birmingham Art Museum, and the New York City Parks Department.
In addition to her site-specific work, Zimmerman has had an extensive exhibition history, and has shown for many years with Gagosian Gallery. In 2016, Zimmerman was the recipient of the Isamu Noguchi Award. She has taught at Mills College, California Institute of the Arts, Harvard University, New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Zimmerman was married to the late curator Kirk Varnedoe from 1978-2002.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2015-2023 by Elyn Zimmerman.
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 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:
Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Installation artists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Installation artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Thomas Chimes conducted 1990 June 14, by Cynthia Veloric, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project. Chimes speaks about his Greek background, his childhood in Philadelphia and in several southern states, studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Art Students League, New York in the 1940's including a comparison of the two institutions and a discussion of the New York City art scene; teaching at Drexel Institute, Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts), and Moore College of Art in Philadelphia; the development of his painting and sculpture including the religious paintings of the 1960's, the metal boxes, and the transition to the portraits of the 1970's and 1980's based on his readings and interest in Alfred Jarry and Marcel Duchamp; and "Sleeping Woman" commissioned by the Fairmount Park Art Association.
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Chimes (1921-2009) was a painter, sculptor, and educator from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 27 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Topic:
Painting, Abstract -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Portrait painting -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Walter Clemmons, 1990 July 26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Mansfield Bascom and Ruth Esherick Bascom about Wharton Esherick, 1990 July 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Walter Erlebacher, 1991 Jan. 19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Sidney Goodman, 1990 November 1. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ruth Esherick and Mansfield Bascom on Wharton Esherick, 1991 March 26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Thomas Chimes, 1990 June 14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painting, Abstract -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Portrait painting -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Joseph J. Greenberg, 1991 Mar. 19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Charles Searles, 1991 June 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
African American art -- African influences Search this
The Peppino Mangravite papers measure 6.2 linear feet and are dated 1918-1982. They consist of correspondence, subject files, recorded interviews with significant artists and transcripts, writings and notes, miscellaneous records, printed matter, and photographs documenting Mangravite's career as a painter and educator.
Scope and Content Note:
The Peppino Mangravite papers measure 6.2 linear feet and are dated 1918-1982. They consist of correspondence, subject files, interviews with artists, writings and notes, miscellaneous records, printed matter, and photographs documenting Mangravite's career as a painter and educator.
Series 1: Correspondence includes chronological correspondence documenting Mangravite's career as a painter and educator. Correspondence is with employers, dealers, museums, galleries, collectors, clients, arts and educational organizations, publishers, and other artists. Much of the correspondence is between Mangravite and his dealers, the Dudensing Gallery and the Rehn Galleries, and with other galleries and museums where his paintings were exhibited. Mangravite's mural commissions are also discussed. Additional events documented include Mangravite's two Guggenheim Fellowships and his trip to Europe in 1955 to interview famous artists.
Mangravite's long teaching career is also documented in correspondence with Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, Avon School, Fieldston School of the Ethical Culture Schools, Potomac School, Dana Hall School, and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. Other topics covered in the correspondence concern Mangravite's published or proposed writings, particularly articles and books reviews, most notably for the Saturday Review of Literature and American Magazine of Art. Mangravite's membership activities in a variety of artists' organizations, such as the College Art Association, the American Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers; the American Artists' Congress, and the American Federation of Arts is well-represented in the correspondence.
A list of major correspondents can be found in the series description for Series 1: Correspondence.
Series 3: Interviews with Artists includes audio recordings, transcripts, photographs, notes and reports. During the summer of 1955, Mangravite traveled to England, France, and Italy where he conducted interviews with eight artists - Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Giorgio De Chirico, Marino Marini, Henry Moore, Giorgio Morandi, Georges Rouault, and Graham Southerland - recording their ideas about art, life, and education. In 1972, Mangravite recorded an interview with Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City, and the two artists were photographed together on that occasion.
Series 4: Writings, Notes, and Lectures consists of articles, papers, talks, lectures, miscellaneous writings, and notes by Mangravite, and a small number of items by other writers. Series 5: Miscellaneous Records includes art work by Mangravite and others, audiovisual records, biographical information, and financial records. Among the printed matter in Series 6 are articles, exhibition announcements, invitations, catalogs, and miscellaneous printed items by and about Mangravite, art-related topics, and other subjects. In Series 7: Photographs, photos of people include Mangravite, students, and other artists. Photos of works of art are of murals and paintings by Mangravite and sculpture by Edgar Britton.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1918-1977 (Boxes 1-2; 1.75 linear ft.; Reels 5878-5880)
Series 2: Subject Files, 1940-1960 (Box 2; 0.25 linear ft.; Reel 5880-5881)
Series 3: Interviews with Artists, 1955, 1972 (Boxes 3, 8; 0.65 linear ft.; Reel 5881)
Series 4: Writings, Notes and Lectures, 1928-1965 (Box 3; 0.35 linear ft.; Reel 5881)
Series 6: Printed Matter, 1918-1982 (Boxes 4-6; 2.65 linear ft.; Reels 5881-5882)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1926-circa 1970 (Boxes 7-8; 0.4 linear ft.; Reel 5882)
Biographical Note:
In 1914, at the age of eighteen, Peppino Gino Mangravite (1896-1978) settled in New York City with his father. The young man had already completed six years of study at the Scuole Techiniche Belle Arti in his native Italy, where coursework included the study of anatomy and Renaissance fresco techniques. Upon arrival in New York, he enrolled at Cooper Union, and by 1917 was studying under Robert Henri at the Art Students League.
Mangravite began his teaching career - one that lasted half a century - as assistant to Hans Peter Hansen at the Hansen School of Fine Arts in New York during the academic year 1918/19. He was an involved and committed teacher who worked equally well with young children and college students. For several summers in the 1920s, he ran summer art camps in the Adirondacks for children and adults. From 1926-1928 Mangravite lived in Washington D.C., where he taught at the Potomac School. The majority of his life was spent in New York where he served on the faculties of Sarah Lawrence College, Cooper Union, the Art Students League, and, most notably, Columbia University. In addition, he spent 1937-38 as head of the art department of Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and from 1940-1942 taught at the Art Institute of Chicago. Mangravite was active in professional arts and education organizations. He wrote a number of articles about art education and served as chairman of the College Art Association's Committee for the Study of the Practice of Art Courses, 1943-1944.
In addition to teaching studio courses, Mangravite was a working artist. Represented by Dudensing Gallery, and later Rehn Galleries, he exhibited widely throughout the United States, and, occasionally, abroad. He won a number of awards, including a gold medal for mural painting at the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exhibition, 1926; the American Gold Medal Purchase Prize, Golden Gate Exposition, San Francisco, 1939; Alice McFadden Eyre Medal for best print, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1946; and a silver medal for mosaic design, Architectural League of New York, 1955. Mangravite was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships in 1932 and 1935, and during that same period was commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department to paint murals for post offices in Hempstead, N.Y. and Atlantic City, N.J. Other commissions of note include a mural for the Governor's Mansion in the Virgin Islands, and a mosaic mural for the main altar of the Workers' Chapel, St. Anthony's Shrine, Boston, Mass.
Sponsored by Columbia University and with the assistance of the United States Information Agency, Mangravite met with art department heads of several European universities in 1955 to discuss Columbia University's plans for a new arts center. He also interviewed eight artists - Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Giorgio De Chirico, Marino Marini, Henry Moore, Giorgio Morandi, Georges Rouault, and Graham Southerland -recording their ideas about art, life, and education.
Peppino Mangravite died in 1978.
Provenance:
Most of the collection was donated by Peppino Mangravite in 1977. Additional papers were donated in 2003 by his daughter Denise Mangravite Scheinberg that include records documenting Mangravite's 1955 interviews with European artists, a sound recording and photographs of his meeting with Rufino Tamayo in 1972, a motion picture film of Mangravite's painting class at the Potomac School, and a small number of printed items.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
