Timothy Asch was an anthropologist and ethnographic film maker who devoted his professional life to using film as a recording and teaching medium. His papers cover the period from 1966 until his premature death in 1994 and reflect his active career in the field. A large portion of the files relates to his work among the Yanomami people of Venezuela and to his concern with bias in film making.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Timothy Asch document his career as an anthropologist, educator,
photographer and filmmaker through correspondence, photographs, research files
(articles and notes), and teaching materials (course information and lecture notes). The
files relating to Asch's film projects include articles, field notes, and reviews. The major
correspondents in this collection are Patsy Asch, Tom Beidelman, Napoleon Chagnon,
James Fox, Robert Gardner, Douglas Lewis, Peter Loizos, David & Olga Sapir, and
Minor White.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into the following 13 series:
Series 1) Correspondence (1953-1994)
Series 2) College and graduate School (1955-1965)
Series 3) Teaching materials (1964-1993)
Series 4) Film projects (1964-1991)
Series 5) Articles and reviews (1972-1994)
Series 6) Alpha-Subject (1955-1989)
Series 7) Conferences, film festivals, and film organizations (1963-1993)
Series 8) Grants (1962-1993)
Series 9) Other people's work (1952-1995)
Series 10) Personal and family (1951-1994)
Series 11) Photographs (1947-1991)
Series 12) Sound recordings (bulk 1960s-1970s)
Series 13) Note slips, rolodexes, and business cards (1987, undated)
Biographical note:
Asch studied photography at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. While serving in the United States Army in Japan from 1951-55 he spent his off-duty hours photographing rice production and household activities in remote Japanese villages. After his military service, he enrolled in Columbia University graduating in 1959 with an undergraduate degree in Anthropology. After graduation, he went to work at the Peabody Museum at Harvard as an assistant editor to John Marshall on the Kung Bushmen film project. In 1964, he received a Masters Degree in Anthropology from Boston University where he studied in the African Studies Progam and read Anthropology with T.O. Beidelman at Harvard. In 1968, Asch and Marshall founded Documentary Educational Resources, a film distribution company. Anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon approached Asch in 1968 to film among the Yanomammmi people of Venezuela. This collaboration led to a major project resulting in over thirty films.
Chronology
1950-1951 -- California School of Fine Arts and Apprenticeships with photographers Minor White, Edward Weston and Ansel Adams
1953-1954 -- Military Service in Korea
1959 -- B.S. in Anthropology Columbia University
1959-1962 -- Ethnographic film consultant, Harvard University's Peabody Museum
1964 -- M.A. in Anthropology Harvard University
1965-1966 -- Curriculum Consultant, Ethnographic studies and the Bushmen Social Studies Curriculum Project (initially Educational Services, Inc., later called Educational Development Center)
1966-1968 -- Lecturer in Anthropology and Theater Arts, Brandeis University
1966-1968 -- Anthropology Curriculum and Media Consultant to the Newton Public Schools
1967-1994 -- Co-Founder and Director of Documentary Educational Resources, Watertown, Massachusetts, a non-profit curriculum development corporation distributing educational media
1968-1970 -- Visiting Assistant Professor, Anthropology Department, New York University
1969-1973 -- Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University
1973-1979 -- Research Fellow in Ethnographic film, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University
1974-1976 -- Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
1975 -- Research Cinematographer, National Anthropological Film Center, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1976-1981 -- Senior Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Institute of Advanced Studies, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
1982 -- Visiting Research Scholar, Department of Anthropology at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
1983-1994 -- Director, Center for Visual Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Southern California
Related Materials:
The Human Studies Film Archives holds 93,000 feet (43 hours) of original film footage and the accompanying sound as well as the edited films from the 1968 and 1971 film projects by Timothy Asch and Napoleon Chagnon documenting the Yanomamo Indians of southern Venezuela and northern Brazil (between the Negro and Upper Orinoco rivers).
Provenance:
Donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Patsy Asch in 1996.
Fosberg, F. Raymond. 1983. "The Human Factor in the Biogeography of Oceanic Islands." Conpte Rendu des Seances de la Societe de Biogeographie, 59, (2) 147–190.
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Collection Citation:
Charles Lang Freer Papers. FSA A.01. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Collection Citation:
Charles Lang Freer Papers. FSA A.01. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Carol Laderman was a medical anthropologist best known for her research on Malay traditional medicine. Her work focused on beliefs and practices regarding childbirth and nutrition as well as shamanic healing practices in rural Malaysia. This collection consists of the professional papers of Carol Laderman, medical anthropologist and university professor. The bulk of the collection pertains to her research on childbirth, nutrition, and shamanic healing practices in rural Malaysia. These materials include field notes, surveys, transcripts of Main Peteri ceremonies, grant applications, photographs, and sound recordings. Of special interest are her photographs of midwives and shamans treating patients, including Main Peteri ceremonies, as well as traditional Malay weddings and festivals. Also noteworthy are her recordings of Main Peteri ceremonies and her interviews with midwives and shamans. The collection also contains her unpublished and published writings; her dissertation; a report on her undergraduate fieldwork with pregnant Puerto Rican teenagers; her lecture notes and files as a university professor; files documenting her involvement in professional associations; and correspondence with colleagues.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the professional papers of Carol Laderman, medical anthropologist and university professor. The bulk of the collection pertains to her research on childbirth, nutrition, and shamanic healing practices in rural Malaysia. These materials include field notes, surveys, transcripts of Main Peteri ceremonies, grant applications, photographs, and sound recordings. Of special interest are her photographs of midwives and shamans treating patients, including Main Peteri ceremonies, as well as traditional Malay weddings and festivals. Also noteworthy are her recordings of Main Peteri ceremonies and her interviews with midwives and shamans. The collection also contains her unpublished and published writings; her dissertation; a report on her undergraduate fieldwork with pregnant Puerto Rican teenagers; her lecture notes and files as a university professor; files documenting her involvement in professional associations; and correspondence with colleagues.
Arrangement:
This collection is organized in 8 series: Series 1. Research, 1972, 1975-1977, 1981, 1985, 1987, 2000-2003, undated; Series 2. Writings, 1970, 1975, 1978-2001, 2004, undated; Series 3. Student Files, 1972, 1975, 1979, undated; Series 4. Teacher Files, 1977, 1979-1982, 2001-2002, 2007, undated; Series 5. Correspondence, 1974-1981, 1985-2005, 2009, undated; Series 6. Professional Activities, circa 1981, 1989-1990, 1994, 2004, undated; Series 7. Photographs, circa 1975-1977, circa 1982, undated; Series 8. Sound Recordings, 1976-1977, 1982, 2003, undated.
Biographical/Historical note:
Carol Laderman was a medical anthropologist best known for her research on Malay traditional medicine. Her work focused on beliefs and practices regarding childbirth and nutrition as well as shamanic healing practices in rural Malaysia.
Laderman (née Cohen) was born on October 25, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York. When she was 6, her father changed their family's surname to Ciavati due to his difficulty as a Jew finding an engineering job. Laderman grew up with musical aspirations, intending to become a concert pianist. She attended the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan and majored in music at Brooklyn College. In 1953, she married Gabriel Laderman, a painter and later an art professor. She took a leave from college to follow her husband after he was drafted into the U.S. Army five months following their wedding. Her hiatus from college spanned fifteen years, during which time she had two sons (1958, 1965). She also worked as a legal secretary in Ithaca, New York, and as a social secretary and translator for an opera singer when she and her family lived in Italy.
After returning to New York City, she enrolled in evening classes at Hunter College. Although she planned to resume her studies in music, her academic focus changed after taking an anthropology course taught by medical anthropologist Rena Gropper. In 1972, she earned her B.A. in Anthropology, and with the assistance of a Danforth Foundation Fellowship, she attended graduate school at Columbia University, where she earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1979.
As an undergraduate student, Laderman conducted fieldwork at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City (1972-1973), assisting in a project on pregnant teenagers and nutritional health. She was assigned to collect data on Puerto Rican adolescent mothers, which exposed her to humoral beliefs in food, medicine, and people. This experience would later inspire her to conduct her graduate fieldwork on nutrition and childbirth in Malaysia, where humoral beliefs were also held but not well-explored by researchers.
From 1975 to 1977, Laderman and her family lived in Merchang, in Trengganu (now Terengganu), Malaysia. Working under the auspices of the Malaysian Ministry of Health of the Institute for Medical Research, Laderman studied both traditional and hospital-based medicine. As part of her fieldwork, she received training from a hospital to collect blood samples to study the effects of birthing and dietary practices on women's health. She also apprenticed herself to a traditional midwife (bidan kampung), whom she assisted in a number of births. By comparing food ideologies and actual food intake of pregnant and postpartum women, Laderman was able to refute the prevailing view of scholars that malnutrition among rural Malays was largely due to dietary restrictions based on the humoral system. In her dissertation, "Conceptions and Preconceptions: Childbirth and Nutrition in Rural Malaysia," Laderman describes how Malay women adapt their diets to their needs and that their customs allow for interpretation and manipulation. In 1983, a revised version of her dissertation was published as Wives and Midwives: Childbirth and Nutrition in Rural Malaysia.
While seeking to gain an understanding of traditional Malay medicine in its entirety, Laderman also became exposed to theatrical spirit séances known as Main Peteri (also Puteri or Teri). At that time Main Peteri was no longer performed in most Malaysian states but was still thriving in Trengganu and nearby Kelantan. Performed primarily as healing ceremonies by shamans (bomoh), Main Peteri was a last resort for the afflicted. These performances were characterized by entranced patients, spirit possessions, singing, music, dancing, and an audience. Laderman attended and participated in a number of these ceremonies and became a student and adopted daughter to a shaman. She recorded and transcribed several Main Peteri performances and received an NEH grant (1981-1985) to translate the texts. She also returned to Merchang in 1982 to conduct further research on traditional healing ceremonies. In her monograph Taming the Wind of Desire (1991), she discusses Main Peteri and its relationship to the Malay concept of Inner Winds (angin), which determine a person's personality, talents, and drives. In 1987 to 1990, she returned to her musical roots to collaborate with ethnomusicologist Marina Roseman to transcribe, analyze, and interpret the music of Main Peteri. Together, she and Roseman also edited The Performance of Healing (1996). In addition, Laderman became interested in the effects of urbanization and globalization on traditional Malay healing practices, a topic which she addressed in a collection of her writings, The Life and Death of Traditional Malay Medicine (in press).
Laderman was a professor at the Department of Anthropology at City University of New York City College (1990-2010). She was also an associate professor at Fordham University (1982-1990) and taught briefly at Hunter College (1978-1980), Brooklyn College (1979-1980), and Yale University (1980-1982).
She died on July 6, 2010 at the age of 77.
Sources Consulted
[Autobiographical statement], Series 2. Writings, Carol Laderman Papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Laderman, Carol. 1983. Wives and Midwives: Childbirth and Nutrition in Rural Malaysia. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
Laderman, Carol. 1991. Taming the Wind of Desire: Psychology, Medicine, and Aesthetics in Malay Shamanistic Performance. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
Maizura, Intan. 2003, September 28. A bidan, a bomoh & a New Yorker. Nuance: 16-18.
Roseman, Marina, Laurel Kendall and Robert Knox Dentan. 2011. Obituaries: Carol Laderman (1932-2010). American Anthropologist 113(2): 375-377.
1932 -- Born October 25 in Brooklyn, New York
1953 -- Marries Gabriel Laderman and takes a leave from Brooklyn College
1972 -- Earns B.A. in Anthropology from Hunter College
1972-1973 -- Conducts research at Mt. Sinai Hospital on ethnic eating patterns, food beliefs, and anemia in adolescent Puerto Rican mothers
1975-1977 -- Conducts fieldwork in Merchang in Trengganu, Malaysia
1979 -- Earns Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University
1982 -- Returns to Malaysia to conduct fieldwork on shamanism and trance healing
1982-1988 -- Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Fordham University
1988-1990 -- Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Fordham University
1990-2010 -- Professor, Department of Anthropology, City University of New York City College
2010 -- Dies on July 6
Related Materials:
Two videotapes were received with the Carol Laderman papers and transferred to the Human Studies Film Archives.
Some of Laderman's original field recordings are at Columbia University's Center for Ethnomusicology. Copies of those recording are in this collection and are so noted.
Provenance:
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Carol Laderman's sons, Raphael and Michael Laderman in 2012.
Restrictions:
The Carol Laderman Papers are open for research. Access to the Carol Laderman Papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use. Permission to use sound recordings of Main Peteri ceremonies transcribed and published in Taming the Wind of Desire must be obtained from Columbia University's Center for Ethnomusicology.
The papers of Cambridge sculptor and illustrator, Lilian Swann Saarinen, measure nine linear feet and date from circa 1909 to 1977. The collection documents Saarinen's career through correspondence with artists, architects, publishers, and gallery owners; writings and notes, including manuscripts and illustrations for children's books and publications; project and teaching files; financial records; artwork, including numerous project sketches; and photos of Saarinen and her artwork. Saarinen's personal life is also documented through diaries and correspondence with friends and family members, including Eero Saarinen, to whom she was married from 1939-1953.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Cambridge sculptor and illustrator, Lilian Swann Saarinen, measure nine linear feet and date from circa 1909 to 1977. The collection documents Saarinen's career through correspondence with artists, architects, publishers, and gallery owners; writings and notes, including manuscripts and illustrations for children's books and publications; project and teaching files; financial records; artwork, including numerous project sketches; and photos of Saarinen and her artwork. Saarinen's personal life is also documented through diaries and correspondence with friends and family members, including Eero Saarinen, to whom she was married from 1939-1953.
Biographical material consists of resumes and biographical sketches, as well as a 1951 blueprint for the Eero Saarinen and Associates Office Building in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Correspondence documents Saarinen's personal and professional life through letters to and from Eero Saarinen and other family members, including six letters from Loja Saarinen; correspondence with artists and architects, including Merle Armitage, Charles and Ray Eames, Carl Koch, Henry Kreis, Carl Milles, Laszlo and Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Robert Venturi, and Harry Weese; and friends and colleagues at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Knoll Associates. Also documented is Saarinen's business relationship with Midtown Galleries and Caresse Crosby, and publishers and publications including Child Life, Interiors, Otava Publishing Company, and Reynal & Hitchcock, Inc.
Writings and Notes document Saarinen's work on several children's publications, including Picture Book Zoo (1935) and Who Am I? (1946), through correspondence, notes, manuscript drafts, and extensive sketches. This series also includes Saarinen's ideas for other publications and incorporates some early writings and notes, as well as typescripts of her reminiscences about Eliel Saarinen, the Saarinen family, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Diaries consist of bound diary volumes, loose-leaf journal entries, and heavily annotated engagement calendars, documenting Saarinen's personal life, artistic aspirations, and career development from the 1930s-1970s. This material provides a deeply personal view of the emotional landscape of Saarinen's life, her struggles to balance her identity as a working artist with the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker, and the complex, and often competing, relationships within the renowned architectural family into which she married.
Project files document Saarinen's work on book cover designs, federal and post office commissions in Bloomfield, Indiana, Carlisle, Kentucky, and Evanston, Illinois, reliefs for the Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois, and other important commissions including the Harbor National Bank Clock in Boston, Massachusetts, the KLM Airlines installation at JFK Airport, the Fountain of Noah sculpture at the Northland Center in Detroit, Michigan, and the interior of Toffenetti's restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. Also documented is her role in designs for the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, with Eero Saarinen.
Teaching files document Saarinen's "Language of Clay Course" which she taught at Cambridge Art Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Financial records document exhibition and sales expenses for two exhibitions, including her show at G Place Gallery in 1944.
Printed material consists of clippings about Saarinen and her family, exhibition announcements and catalogs for herself and others, and reference files from the 1930s-1940s, primarily comprising clippings of animals.
Additional printed material documenting Saarinen's career can be found in one of two scrapbooks found in the collection. An additional scrapbook consists of clippings relating primarily to Saarinen's parents.
Artwork comprises extensive sketches, particularly animal and figure sketches, in graphite, crayon, ink, pastel, and watercolor. The sketches demonstrate in particular Saarinen's developing interest in and skill with animal portraiture from her childhood to the 1960s.
Photographs are primarily of artwork and Saarinen's 1944 exhibition at G Place Gallery. Also found are one negative of Saarinen, probably with Eero Saarinen, and a group photo including Lilian, Eero, and Eliel Saarinen with the model for the Detroit Civic Center, circa 1940s.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1930s-1960s (3 folders; Box 1, OV 12)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1920-1974 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 8, OV 12)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1920s-1973 (1.3 linear feet, Boxes 2-3, 8, OVs 13-16)
Series 4: Diaries, 1930-1973 (1.4 linear feet, Boxes 3-5, 8)
Series 5: Project Files, 1931-1966 (1.7 linear feet, Boxes 5-6, 8, OVs 17-19)
Series 6: Teaching Files, 1966-1970 (3 folders, Box 6)
Series 7: Financial Records, 1940s-1970s (2 folders, Box 6)
Series 8: Printed Material, circa 1930s-1970s (0.2 linear feet, Box 6)
Series 9: Scrapbooks, circa 1909-1974 (2 folders; Boxes 6, 9)
Series 10: Artwork, circa 1920s-circa 1960s (1.7 linear feet, Boxes 6-7, 9-10, OVs 20-27)
Series 11: Photographs, circa 1940s, 1977 (0.5 linear feet, Boxes 7, 11, OV 27)
Biographical / Historical:
Cambridge artist and sculptor, Lilian Swann Saarinen (1912-1995), studied at the Art Students League with Alexander Archipenko in 1928, and later with Albert Stewart and Heninz Warneke from 1934-1936, before moving to Michigan where she studied with Carl Milles at the Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1936-1940. Saarinen was an accomplished skier and a member of the 1936 US Olympic ski team.
At Cranbrook, Swann met architect Eero Saarinen, whom she married in 1939. She subsequently worked with Saarinen's design group on a variety of projects, including the Westward Expansion Memorial, which later became known as the "Gateway Arch" in St. Louis. Lilian and Eero had a son, Eric, and a daughter, Susie, before divorcing in 1953.
Saarinen, who had developed an affinity for drawing animals in childhood, specialized in animal portraits in a variety of sculptural media. In 1939, she exhibited her sculpture Night, which depicted Bagheera the panther from Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, at the World's Fair. The sculpture was placed in the Boston Public Garden in 1986. In the 1930s and 1940s Saarinen was commissioned to work on a variety of architectural projects, including reliefs for post offices in Bloomfield, Indiana, Carlisle, Kentucky, and Evanston, Illinois, and the Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois. She also executed commissions for the Harbor National Bank in Boston, KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) at JFK Airport, the Northland shopping Center in Detroit Michigan, and Toffenetti's Restaurant in Chicago.
Saarinen was a contributing author and illustrator for a variety of publications, including Child Life, Interiors and Portfolio: An Intercontinental Quarterly. In 1935 she illustrated Picture Book Zoo for the Bronx Zoo and in 1946 Reynal & Hitchcock, Inc. published Who Am I?, a children's book which Saarinen wrote and illustrated.
Saarinen taught ceramic sculpture to soldiers for the Red Cross Arts and Skills Unit rehabilitation program in 1945, served on the Visiting Committee to the Museum School at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from 1959-1964, where she taught ceramics, and later taught a course entitled "The Language of Clay" at the Cambridge Art Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of Saarinen's private students at Cambridge was her cousin, Edie Sedgwick.
Saarinen died in Cohasset, Massachusetts, in 1995 at the age of 83.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reels 1152 and 1192) including a scrapbook containing clippings, copies of letters and telegrams received, and reproductions of Saarinen's work. There is a copy of Saarinen's book, "Who Am I?", and three albums containing photographs of Saarinen, photographs and reproductions of her work, a list of exhibitions, quotes about her, and writings by her about sculpture. Lent material was returned to the lender and is not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Lilian Swann Saarinen donated the collection in 1975. She lent additional materials for microfilming in 1976.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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 -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge Search this
Lilian Swann Saarinen papers, circa 1909-1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation; and John R. & Barbara Robinson and Deborah Schmidt Robinson & Dr. R. Perry Robinson, The Widgeon Point Charitable Foundation.
Printed caption on verso reads: "L'Afrique en Couleurs; Séance de coiffure; Africa in pictures; Hair-dressing."
Additional printed text on verso reads: "5 006 / Mexichrome / Editions HOA-QUI." Logo on verso: "HOA-QUI." Stamp on verso reads: "Arts de la Côte D'Ivoire / Vevey / 1969."
Local Numbers:
EEPA IV-12-05
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
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:
Romaine Brooks papers, 1910-1973. 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
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:
Mary Cassatt letters, 1882-1926. 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.
The papers of the sculptor Michael Brenner measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1888 to 1976. The collection includes letters, scrapbooks, drawings, photographs and other materials documenting Michael Brenner's career, the activities of members of the Brenner family, and the colony of expatriate American artists flourishing in Paris in the early twentieth century.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of the sculptor Michael Brenner measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1888 to 1976. The collection includes letters, scrapbooks, drawings, photographs and other materials documenting Michael Brenner's career, the activities of members of the Brenner family and the colony of expatriate American artists flourishing in Paris in the early twentieth century.
Letters are written to family members and associates and include exchanges between Brenner's sister Miriam (Fanny) and her brothers Michael, Morris, Samuel, and Victor (Dave) Brenner concerning their health, family business, work, and other art-related activities. Several of Michael Brenner's letters mention his dissatisfaction with Robert Coady's handling of consignments, dealings with Mr. Kahnweiler, and exhibitions of colleagues Michel Kikoine and Pinchus Kremegne. Other correspondents include Alexandre Charpentier and (Louis) Oscar Roty.
Scrapbooks are comprised of material related to the life and career of Michael Brenner. The first scrapbook contains a photocopy of a letter written to Michael Brenner from Gertrude Stein where she describes her travels with Alice B. Toklas and mentions the bust Brenner made of her likeness. Other materials include a 1953 exhibition catalog for Chaim Soutine at Perls Galleries, letters written to Mrs. Michael Brenner concerning the sale of her husband's artwork, and photographs of Michael Brenner, Miriam Brenner, other family members, and works of art.
Photographs are of artwork and show Brenner family members, Victor Brenner and his studio, Michael Brenner with Chaim Soutine and pictures of Brenner's close friend, I. C. Rubin and Albert Einstein.
Art work is comprised of twenty-seven figure drawings.
Printed materials consists of clippings about Abraham Lincoln, reproductions of works of art, a bookplate for Marion Kean Lopez, and an essay entitled "Instead of an Introduction" by Sadakichi Hartmann praising the American landscape artist, Leon Dabo. Also found is an 1899 announcement for a "Seance Publique Annuelle," a photocopy of an article about Brenner by Cathy Turrill, a list of objects borrowed and photographed by Turrill in 1974, a photocopy of a photograph of Robert Coady, and the cover of an Avant-Garde catalog.
Other materials includes notes and a subject file on a life-long friend and physician, I. C. Rubin (1922-1975). There are letters from Rubin about his travels and photographs of Brenner and Rubin as young men, Brenner with his son, and Brenner with painter Isaac Pailes.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Michael Brenner (1885-1969) was a sculptor who emigrated from Lithuania to New York with his family in 1890. In 1900, Brenner moved to Paris, France, entering the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Academie Julian. He studied under his brother, Victor Brenner, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Brenner established a studio in Paris and was included in Gertrude Stein's circle of friends. He was associated with a small artist colony of Russian Jews which included Chaim Soutine, Michel Kikoine, Pinchus Kremegne, and Isaac Pailes. In 1914, with his American friend, Robert Coady, Brenner established the Washington Square Gallery in New York for which he acted as European agent.
Provenance:
The papers of Michael Brenner were donated by his widow in 1976.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Expatriate painters -- France -- Paris Search this
Citation:
Michael Brenner papers, 1888-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Letters are written to family members and associates and include exchanges between Brenner's sister Miriam (Fanny) and her brothers Michael, Morris, Samuel, and Victor (Dave) Brenner concerning their health, family business, work, and other art-related activities. Several of Michael Brenner's letters mention his dissatisfaction with Robert Coady's handling of consignments, dealings with Mr. Kahnweiler, and exhibitions of colleagues Michel Kikoine and Pinchus Kremegne. Other correspondents include Alexandre Charpentier and (Louis) Oscar Roty.
Scrapbooks are comprised of material related to the life and career of Michael Brenner. The first scrapbook contains a photocopy of a letter written to Michael Brenner from Gertrude Stein where she describes her travels with Alice B. Toklas and mentions the bust Brenner made of her likeness. Other materials include a 1953 exhibition catalog for Chaim Soutine at Perls Galleries, letters written to Mrs. Michael Brenner concerning the sale of her husband's artwork, and photographs of Michael Brenner, Miriam Brenner, other family members, and works of art.
Photographs are of artwork and show Brenner family members, Victor Brenner and his studio, Michael Brenner with Chaim Soutine and pictures of Brenner's close friend, I. C. Rubin and Albert Einstein.
Art work is comprised of twenty-seven figure drawings.
Printed materials consists of clippings about Abraham Lincoln, reproductions of works of art, a bookplate for Marion Kean Lopez, and an essay entitled "Instead of an Introduction" by Sadakichi Hartmann praising the American landscape artist, Leon Dabo. Also found is an 1899 announcement for a "Seance Publique Annuelle," a photocopy of an article about Brenner by Cathy Turrill, a list of objects borrowed and photographed by Turrill in 1974, a photocopy of a photograph of Robert Coady, and the cover of an Avant-Garde catalog.
Other materials includes notes and a subject file on a life-long friend and physician, I. C. Rubin (1922-1975). There are letters from Rubin about his travels and photographs of Brenner and Rubin as young men, Brenner with his son, and Brenner with painter Isaac Pailes.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Collection Citation:
Michael Brenner papers, 1888-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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.
Collection Citation:
Forman H. Craton Collection, 1902-1983, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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:
Cecilia Beaux papers, 1863-1968. 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
Use of original papers requires and 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:
Jervis McEntee papers, 1796, 1848-1905. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Use of original papers requires and 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:
Jervis McEntee papers, 1796, 1848-1905. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
7621 - AFRIQUE EN COULEURS[,] Séance de coiffure au village[,] AFRICA IN COLORS[,] Hair-dressing at the village; Printed in France. Photographed by Chareton, P.. Published by IRIS
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Item Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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:
Dennis Miller Bunker collection, 1882-1943. 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.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. 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.
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:
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of the collection was funded by the Getty Grant Program; digitization of the collection was funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and 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.
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:
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of the collection was funded by the Getty Grant Program; digitization of the collection was funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and 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.