The papers of New York painter and sculptor Richard Artschwager measure 5.6 linear feet and 9.33 GB and date from 1959-2013. The papers include extensive correspondence, recorded talks and a lecture, exhibition files, printed and digital material, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York painter and sculptor Richard Artschwager measure 5.6 linear feet and 9.33 GB and date from 1959-2013. The papers include extensive correspondence, recorded talks and a lecture, exhibition files, printed and digital material, and photographs.
Artschwager's correspondence is with museums, galleries, artists, art historians, academic institutions, and publishers and concerns exhibitions, speaking engagements, and teaching. Frequent correspondents include Lawrence Alloway, Leo Castelli Gallery, Gagosian Gallery, Galerie Franck + Schulte, Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Ivan Karp, Museum Ludwig, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Ingrid Schaffner, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Also found are letters from fellow artists, including William Copley, Eric Fischl, Ray Johnson, Louise Lawler, Sol Lewitt, Ed Ruscha, John Waters, and Betty Woodman. Some letters are annotated or illustrated with sketches by Artschwager.
The collection includes a lecture and recorded talks by Richard Artschwager held at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, and the Carpenter Center of the Visual Arts, Harvard University, and other venues. One of the recordings is from the "Conversations with Contemporary Artists" series of the Museum of Modern Art. Also included in this series is a recorded discussion with artists Alex Katz and Elizabeth Murray and art critics Michael Kimmelman and Peter Schjeldahl.
Exhibition files are found for exhibitions held at Adair Margo Gallery, Lorence Monk Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Cornell University, and numerous others, including many in Europe. Files typically contain correspondence, price lists, announcements, printed material, photographs, and a few sound and video recordings.
Printed material includes invitations and announcements as well as posters, reproductions, and brochures, mostly related to Richard Artschwager's exhibitions. Newspaper and magazine clippings document exhibition openings and the critical reception of his work.
There are also a few photographs including images of Leo Castelli by Hans Namuth used by Artschwager in preparing for his portrait of Castelli.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1970-2013 (Boxes 1-3; 3.0 linear feet, ER01-ER02; 0.555 GB)
Series 2: Talks and Lecture, 1985-2009 (Box 4; 0.8 linear feet, ER03-ER10; 8.77 GB)
Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1973-2007 (Boxes 4-5; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1959-2012 (Boxes 5-6, OV 7; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1973, 2007 (Box 6, OV 8; 0.1 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Richard Artschwager (1923-2013) lived and worked in New York City and Hudson, New York and was known primarily for his paintings and sculptures. Artschwager was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in New Mexico. As a youth, Artschwager showed a talent for drawing. He studied chemistry and mathematics at Cornell University. In 1944, Artschwager interrupted his studies to enlist in the U.S. Army. After the war, he returned to Cornell to complete his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948. Encouraged by his first wife, Elfriede Wejmelka to develop his interest in art, Artschwager moved to New York to study at the Studio School of Amédée Ozenfant. His paintings and drawings from this period were featured in two group shows at the Terrain Gallery in 1957 and at the Art Directions Gallery on Madison Avenue in 1959, where they were recognized by Donald Judd.
In the 1950s, in order to support his family, Artschwager turned to designing and manufacturing modern furniture. His woodworking skills inspired him to create sculptures from utilitarian objects such as tables, chairs, and mirrors. He is best known for the use of building materials Celotex and Formica in his work and for inventing an abstract form he called "blps" reliefs, stencils or decals that were installed randomly in museum, gallery and public spaces. From the mid-1980s to late 1990s, Artschwager designed large scale projects, though he continued to incorporate everyday domestic objects in his sculptures and paintings.
In 1965, Artschwager was given his first one-man exhibition at the Castelli Gallery and he remained with the Gallery for thirty years. He was also represented by Mary Boone, David Nolan, and the Gagosian Gallery. In the 1980s, Artschwager served on the Visual Arts Policy Committee at the National Endowment of the Arts. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts in 1992. He was a visiting artist at New Mexico State University, Soka University, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the University of Arizona. Artschwager's work was the subject of a major surveys, including the Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Neues Museum, and Serpentine Gallery. He participated in numerous international group shows including the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel, Germany. The Whitney Museum of American Art honored Artschwager with two travelling retrospective exhibitions in 1988 and 2012. In late 2012, Artschwager had one-man shows at the Gagosian Gallery and David Nolan Gallery.
Richard Artschwager died at the age of 89 years in 2013. He is survived by his wife, Ann Sebring Artschwager and three children from previous marriages.
Related Materials:
Also found among the resources at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Artschwager, March 3-28, 1972, conducted by Paul Cummings.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Richard Artschwager and his wife Ann Artschwager in 2013.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. 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.
The papers of ceramicist and sculptor Patti Warashina (b. 1940) date from circa 1900 and 1957 through 1991, bulk 1970-1989. The collection consists of 4.8 linear feet of correspondence and printed material reflecting the many ceramic and craft exhibitions and other projects Warashina participated in throughout the United States, and her associations with other ceramicists. Also included are biographical documents, writings, art works, several photographs, and a video.
Scope and Content Note:
The Patti Warashina papers measure 4.8 linear feet and date from circa 1900 and 1957 through 1991 (bulk 1970-1989). The collection documents the artistic and teaching career of Seattle-based sculptor and ceramicist Patti Warashina predominantly through correspondence and printed material reflecting the many ceramic and craft exhibitions and other projects Warashina participated in throughout the United States, and her associations with other ceramicists. Also included are biographical documents, writings, art works, several photographs, and a video.
Biographical material includes family trees, diplomas, awards, and documents relating to Warashina's family Japanese internment during WWII. Correspondence, 1968-1991, relating to exhibitions and other projects, is with galleries, museums, purchasers, publishers, and others, among them the Lee Nordness Gallery (N.Y.), Morgan Gallery (Kansas City), and Theo Portney Gallery (Seattle). Additional correspondence files contain letters received, 1977-1990, many addressed to Warashina and her husband Bob (Robert Sperry), from friends, colleagues, former students and family members, including Nancy Carmen, Anne Currier, Deborah Horrell, Matthew Kangas, Howard Kottler, Marvin Lipofsky, Michael Lucero, and others.
Ten photographs, circa 1900-1944, are portraits of Warashina's relatives and family, and several snapshots, circa 1970s, are of former students and works of art. Printed material, 1961-1990, includes newspaper and magazine clippings, programs, journals, newsletters, exhibition announcements, exhibition catalogs, and workshop announcements for Warashina's various sculpture and ceramic lectures. Writings include both published and unpublished works by Warashina, including an artist's statement for a possible lecture at the 1986 conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). Also found here are handwritten notes on a panel discussion titled Cultural and Racial Heritage: Sources and Imagery in which Warashina was a participant along with artists Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, María Brito Avellana, and Indira Johnson. Art work consists of blue line drawings for her sculpture "Red Earth," 1986 as well as a pen and ink sketch of Warashina by an unidentified artist. A videocassette, 1987, is of the television program "The Big A: Different Ways of Seeing", in which Warashina appears briefly.
Arrangement:
The Patti Warashina papers are arranged as seven series based primarily on type of material. The correspondence in Series 2 is arranged chronologically for exhibitions and projects and general letters received. Additional letters received are arranged by name of author.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1974-1991, undated (Box 1; 3 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1957, 1967-1991, undated (Boxes 1-3; 2.0 linear feet)
Series 3: Photographs, circa 1900- circa 1959, 1971, undated (Box 3; 3 folders)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1961-1990, undated (Boxes 3-6, OV 7; 2.0 linear feet)
Series 5: Writings and Notes, 1984, 1986, 1989, undated (Box 6; 4 folders)
Series 6: Artwork, 1986, undated (Box 6; 2 folders)
Series 7: Miscellany, 1987, undated (Box 6; 2 folders)
Biographical Note:
Patti Warashina is a Japanese American ceramicist and sculptor. She was born in 1940 as Masae Patricia Warashina in Spokane, Washington to third generation Japanese emigrants. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, Seattle, where she studied with sculptors Robert Sperry, Harold Myers, Rudy Autio, Shoji Hamada, Shinsaku Hamada, and Ruth Penington. She received her first solo exhibition in 1962 at the Phoenix Art Gallery in Seattle the same year she graduated with an M.F.A. from the University of Washington. Warashina later married fellow student Fred Bauer and from 1964 to 1970 exhibited as Patti Bauer.
Influences in Warashina's art include California funk and sculptural ceramics. Her work is best known for its whimsical themes expressed through low-fire highly colored figurative images. Together with fellow artists Robert Sperry, Howard Kottler and Fred Bauer, she brought national recognition to the department of ceramics at the University of Washington's School of Art beginning in the 1980s.
Patti Warashina is a recipient of several awards for achievements in the field of crafts, most recently the Twining Humber Award granted by Seattle's Artists Trust in 2002. She received the Governor's Award of Special Commendation for the Arts in 1980 in addition to grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in both 1975 and 1986. In 1978, Warashina was awarded a World Craft Council Travel Grant which allowed her to conduct research on the ceramic arts process in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Bali and the Philippines. Warashina's teaching career spans over 30 years and includes positions at the University of Wisconsin, Eastern Michigan University, and at her alma mater where she has taught for over 25 years. Her work is featured in several museum collections in both the U.S. and abroad including the American Craft Museum in New York, the Seattle Art Museum and Henry Art Gallery, the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery (Washington, DC), the Art Gallery of Western Australia, and the Ichon World Ceramic Center in Korea. Since her marriage to ceramicist Robert Sperry in 1976, she has used Patti Warashina as her professional name. Patti Warashina is a resident of Seattle, Washington.
Provenance:
The Patti Warashina papers were donated by the artist to the Archives of American Art in 1991.
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:
Ceramicists -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
Sculptors -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
Topic:
Japanese American families -- Photographs Search this
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Cinque Gallery records, 1959-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
The Willem Voklersz interviews measure 2.6 linear feet and date from 1975-1985. The collection consists of twenty-nine sound cassettes containing thirty-one interviews of folk artists conducted by Volkersz for a personal research project, a monologue, and readings by Volkersz of notes on individual artists. Subjects include folk artists such as Howard Finster, Jesse Howard, and St. EOM (Eddie Owens Martin). Also found are thirty-seven transcripts of the recordings.
Scope and Contents:
The Willem Voklersz interviews measure 2.6 linear feet and date from 1975-1985. The collection consists of twenty-nine sound cassettes containing thirty-one interviews of folk artists conducted by Volkersz for a personal research project, a monologue, and readings by Volkersz of notes on individual artists. Subjects include folk artists such as Howard Finster, Jesse Howard, and St. EOM (Eddie Owens Martin). Also found are thirty-seven transcripts of the recordings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Willem Volkersz is a teacher, collector, and sculptor of Bozeman, Montana, who was born in Holland and came to the United States following World War II. He completed his education at the University of Washington in 1965, and completed a Masters of Fine Art at Mills College in 1967.
Volkersz began researching and collecting work by visionary and naive artists while a professor at the Kansas City Art Institute. His collection is now at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and the Missoula Art Museum, in Missoula, Montana.
Provenance:
Sound recordings of the Willem Volkersz interviews were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1986 by Willem Volkersz, who made them primarily for his own use as a researcher, collector and teacher of folk art. They were transcribed in 1989 for the Archives of American Art by Toni Reineke.
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.
Willem Volkersz interviews, 1975-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institute.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
