Gross's personal and professional correspondence constitutes a rich and substantive record of all aspects of his career and is with family members; friends and colleagues including many artists, architects, writers, and scholars; galleries, museums and other art institutions; synagogues and multiple Jewish philanthropic organizations; publishers; and educational institutions. The correspondence is primarily incoming with scattered outgoing letters from Gross and occasionally Renee Gross. There is often overlap between professional and personal correspondence as relationships with colleagues span many years and often developed a personal tone. Renee Gross's work with philanthropic organizations is also documented to some extent.
Correspondence with family includes five letters from Renee to Chaim Gross, a folder of letters from daughter Mimi Gross and Red Grooms, including eight illustrated letters written while traveling in Italy, Macedonia, Greece, and Yugoslavia in the 1960s, and letters from extended family members.
The series contains a significant amount of correspondence with artists including: twelve letters and cards from Eliot Elisofon containing accounts of his travels in Africa in 1972-1973; letters from Richard and Laurie Graham, recording their impressions of Italy and discussing Graham's success; and four letters from Milton and Cecille Hebald written from Italy, discussing Milton Hebald's work and Gross's work being cast at the Nicci Foundry. Letters and postcards from filmmaker Lewis Jacobs relate to the printing of Tree Trunk to Head and The Sculptor Speaks. Letters from photographer Arnold Newman include two from Florida in the early 1940s where Newman was establishing a portrait studio. Letters from Elias Newman and Moses Soyer include descriptions of their experiences as young students at the Educational Alliance Art School.
In addition to correspondence from artists in the named files, general correspondence files for each letter also house many social replies, postcards, and scattered business and personal letters from artists including: Philip Evergood, Eugenie Gershoy, Harry Glassgold, Louis Held, Edward and Jo Hopper, Mervin Jules, Maurice Kallis, Jacob Kainen's wife Ruth Kainen, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Robert Laurent, Michael Lawrence, Legh Myers, George Nobe, Elliot Offner, Abraham Rattner and Esther Gentle, Girolamo Piccoli, Charles Salerno, Satyajit Shergil, Mia Solow, May Stevens, Paul Suttman, Hans Va de Bovenkamp, Egon Weiner, Warren Wheelock, Jean Woodham, Hale Woodruff, Herbert and Laura Ziegler, and Marguerite and William Zorach.
Correspondence with architects, writers, and scholars include letters from Chaim Potok in his capacity as editor with the Jewish Publication Society of America, referencing the publication of The Book of Isaiah; letters from Jack C. Rich related to his published writings on sculpture; letters from Yiddish writer and poet Shea Tenenbaum; and a folder of letters from art historian Roberta K. Tarbell, who wrote the essay for Gross's 1977 retrospective at the Jewish Museum.
Correspondence with publishers documents the publication of books about Gross or featuring his work. Letters from Beechurst Press, Inc., include the contract for Fantasy Drawings in 1956; related correspondence with Indiana University includes letters from Alfred Kinsey and the Institute for Sex Research referencing Gross's drawings included in the book and used in research at the institute. Correspondence with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., documents the publication of Chaim Gross by Frank Getlein (1974) and Chaim Gross: Watercolors and Drawings by Alfred Werner (1979).
Correspondence with noted book designer Abe Lerner, relates to design work Lerner did for publications containing artwork by Gross, primarily for the Jewish Publication Society of America, including The Book of Isaiah and a book on Gross's Ten Commandments. Correspondence with printer Marcel Salinas documents Salinas's assistance in the production of Gross's suite of lithographs for The Jewish Holidays in 1969.
Gross's work for the Works Progress Administration is documented through correspondence, contracts, payment vouchers, and related documentation. The Federal Art Project correspondence includes a copy of Gross's Government Services Administration transcript of employment up to September 1940 and letters relating to Gross's winning entry for the competition to execute artwork for the Post Office in Irwin, Pennsylvania. The Treasury Relief Art Project files document Gross's commissions for the Post Office Department building and the Apex Building in Washington, D. C. The files include scattered personal letters from Ed Rowan and Forbes Watson. The New York World's Fair (1939) folder contains a contract for Gross's work for the France Overseas and Finnish Buildings, and related correspondence and financial records. Also documented are Gross's participation in juries for national competitions and his work as a consultant for the selection of sculptors to execute work on federal buildings.
Correspondence with museums and galleries provides documentation of commissions and sales of Gross's artwork, many solo and group exhibitions in which he was represented, and multiple loans and gifts to various museums. These include Gross's 1977 retrospective at the Jewish Museum, exhibitions at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Correspondence with Bella Fishko and Forum Gallery documents Forum Gallery's representation of Gross's artwork from 1961 through the early 1980s and indicates the lucrative nature of Gross's exhibitions during that period. Letters include account statements, appraisals, records of sales and gifts of Gross's work, and copies of correspondence relating to loans of work for exhibitions at other galleries and museums.
Correspondence with Warren Robbins documents Robbins's efforts to engage the involvement of artists in establishing the Museum of African Art. Purchases of Gross's work in the early 1940s by museums as prominent as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, are also documented here, as are Gross's gifts and loans to both museums, his involvement with the Museum of Modern Art's education committee, and his loans from his personal collection to the National Gallery of Art's first exhibition of African art in 1970.
References to many commissions and projects appear throughout the series, including Gross's six bronze panels entitled Six Days of Creation for Temple Sharray Tefila in New York City, and his Ten Commandments for the sanctuary of the International Synagogue at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. Correspondence with Harold and Kitty Ruttenberg relates to commissions for Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh and others and is notable also in that it includes relatively frequent replies from Renee and Chaim Gross which provide details about events in their lives and Gross's career. Correspondence with the United Nations documents Gross's commissions for watercolors and serigraph prints reproduced in three first day covers and stamps issued for the United Nations.
Correspondence also documents Gross's work as an educator with the Educational Alliance, and with the New School for Social Research where Gross acted in various capacities, including as a teacher, donor, and jury member, and worked to support the school's plan to establish an expanded art center program with residential facilities to serve as a resource for the whole of New York City.
Gross's involvement in many societies and associations is also documented, including his donations to, and service on the board of trustees of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and the Provincetown Art Association; his election to associate and academician of the National Academy of Design; and his membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Correspondence with the Sculptor's Guild Inc., and with Fimi Samour, documents the guild's activities during the 1950s-early 1980s, including exhibitions, memberships, and financial status. Sculptors Guild correspondence includes letters from artist Renata Schwebel.
Arrangement:
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically. Individuals and organizations represented in five or more items are arranged in named files; others are arranged alphabetically in general files for each letter. Files for correspondents with no given surname, or whose names are illegible or unidentified, are arranged toward the end of the series, followed by condolence letters written to Renee Gross on the death of Chaim Gross.
Collection Restrictions:
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 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:
Chaim Gross papers, 1920-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The Chaim Gross papers were processed with funding from the Shirley Gorelick Foundation.
The papers of Jeanne Kantor Landon measure 0.01 linear feet and date from 1907 to 1971. The papers include correspondence from Arthur Dove (5), Louis Eilshemius (1), and Karl Knaths (1); photographs; and clippings and other printed material, including a small book of poems by Eilshemius.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Jeanne Kantor Landon measure 0.01 linear feet and date from 1907 to 1971. The papers include correspondence from Arthur Dove (5), Louis Eilshemius (1), and Karl Knaths (1); photographs; and clippings and other printed material, including a small book of poems by Eilshemius. Dove's correspondence is addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Landon. Eilshemius's letter is addressed to "Jeanne Landon (Art teacher)." Knath's note thanks Landon for sending him a particular photograph.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of the collection, the papers are arranged as one series.
Series 1: Jeanne Kantor Landon Papers, 1907-1971 (0.01 linear feet; Folder 1)
Biographical / Historical:
Jeanne Kantor Landon was the wife of painter, serigrapher, and lithographer Edward A. Landon.
Provenance:
The Jeanne Kantor Landon papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1974 by Jeanne Kantor Landon.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. 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 rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Citation:
Jeanne Kantor Landon papers, 1907-1971. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Letters, writings, business records, printed matter, photographs and art works.
Included are: biographical information; ca. 50 letters received, and copies of letters sent, including a 4 p. letter from Ezra Pound in which he writes about the work and temperment of Constantin Brancusi and Fernand Leger, and recommends that Olds talk to Ernest Hemingway about Joan Miro. Pound also writes about the work of European old master painters and the art museums of Italy, France and England; typescripts of an undated manuscript, "What is a Silk Screen Print," and of a lecture, "Mass Production of Prints"; ca. 200 clippings; 47 exhibition catalogs and announcements including several for exhibitions of color silk screen prints; photographs, including 14 of Olds and her family, 2 of Olds by Berenice Abbott, and one of Olds and her teacher George Luks, and 62 of her art work; priced lists of work sold; printed miscellany, mostly concerning her work as a writer and illustrator of children's books; 110 drawings and paintings; and 46 prints. Ca. 100 slides of her work were not microfilmed.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printmaker and illustrator; New York City and Sarasota, Florida. Died 1991.
Provenance:
All material donated to Archives by Elizabeth Olds, January 6, 1978. 46 prints were transferred by the Archives to the National Museum of American Art January 1984.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of California painter, printmaker, and art instructor Dorr Bothwell date from 1900-2006, and measure 10.6 linear feet and 1.72 GB. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, notes and writings, five diaries, art work and 19 sketchbooks, three scrapbooks, printed material, and print and digital photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of California painter, printmaker, and art instructor Dorr Bothwell date from 1900-2006, and measure 10.6 linear feet and 1.72 GB. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, notes and writings, five diaries, art work and 19 sketchbooks, three scrapbooks, printed material, and print and digital photographs.
Biographical material consists of biographical sketches, resumés, identity cards, award certificates, typescripts of autobiographical interviews, address books, and a file concerning UFOs, spirituality, and philosophy.
Correspondence consists of letters exchanged between Bothwell and her colleagues and friends discussing their art-related activities, travel, and birthday greetings. There are scattered letters from Ansel and Virginia Adams, Etel Adnan, Benjamin Chinn, Claire Falkenstein, and Emmy Lou Packard.
Personal business records include teaching contracts, contracts and royalty statements for the publication of Bothwell's book Notan, insurance records, income tax records, records concerning a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, estate records, card files, lists of art work, price lists, exhibition entry cards, receipts for the sale of art work, travel receipts, medical receipts, and consignment/sales records.
Notes and writings include three diaries, two travel journals, guest books, miscellaneous lists, schedules of classes for various organizations and art schools including the Ansel Adams Yosemite Workshop, typescripts of lecture notes, and miscellaneous notes. There are also scattered writings by Bothwell and others.
Seventeen sketchbooks, including several completed during Bothwell's travels, and one dated 1942 illustrated with daily drawings of her activities while preparing for World War II, are found within the papers. There are also miscellaneous drawings, collages, a serigraph It's Time for a Change, an etching by Martha Jackson, and a drawing by Charles Howard.
Three scrapbooks contain clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, programs, and photographs of art work. Scrapbook 3 contains materials concerning spiritualism and mysticism. Additional printed material consists of clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, press releases, brochures for art classes, the sale of art work, travel, and camera equipment, reproductions of art work, picture postcards, programs, books, and miscellaneous commercial business cards.
Photographs are of Bothwell, her mother and brother, her studio/residences, miscellaneous friends and colleagues including her former husband, sculptor Donal Hord, miscellaneous events, and art classes conducted by Bothwell. There are also photographs of art work by Bothwell and others, as well as numerous photographs and slides of travel various forms in nature that Bothwell would incorporate into her art work.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1939-2001 (Box 1, 11, 13, 15; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1942-2002 (Box 1-3, 13; 2.3 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1925-2006 (Box 3-4; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1949-1998 (Box 4, 11, 14, 15; 0.8 linear feet.)
Series 5: Art Work, 1920-1994 (Box 4-5, 11, 13, 16, 17; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1926-1979 (Box 5, 11, 12; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1923-2000 (Box 5-7, 12, 13; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1900-2001 (Box 7-9, 10; 2.4 linear feet, ER01-ER04; 1.72 GB)
Biographical Note:
Dorr Bothwell (1902-2000) worked primarily in California as a painter, printmaker, and art instructor.
Doris Bothwell was born on May 3, 1902 in San Francisco, and later changed her first name to Dorr in order to more easily enter the art business. Bothwell began her art studies in 1916 with her parents' friend Anna Valentien, a student of Rodin. Between 1921 and 1922, she studied at the California School of Fine Art, and continued her studies at the University of Oregon at Eugene. After attending the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in 1924, she established her own studio in San Francisco from 1924 to 1927. Also during this time Bothwell, with eight other artists opened the Modern Gallery on Montgomery Street, mounting her first solo exhibition there in 1927.
Between 1928 and 1929, Bothwell traveled to American Samoa, where she created paintings and drawings, and documented tapa (barkcloth) drawings for the Bishop Museum of Honolulu. She then spent a year of study in Europe, returning to San Diego, California in 1931 and marrying sculptor Donal Hord. Four years later, they divorced and she moved to Los Angeles where she worked for the pottery manufacturer Gladding McBean, joined the post-surrealist group around Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg and opened the Bothwell-Cooke Gallery.
Between 1936 and 1939, Bothwell worked in the mural division of the Federal Arts Project of Los Angeles, and learned the art of serigraph printing. She designed dioramas and mechanized exhibitions for the Los Angeles County Museum. In 1940 she also created murals in the Manning Coffee Restaurant in San Francisco.
After teaching color and design at the California School of Fine Art in San Francisco from 1944 to 1948, Bothwell was awarded the Abraham Rosenberg Traveling Scholarship that financed study in Paris from 1949 to the fall of 1951. In 1952 she taught textile design for mass production at the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
Returning to San Francisco, Bothwell taught again at the California School of Fine Art from 1953 to 1958, and at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1959 to 1960. From 1960 to 1961 she took a sabbatical in England and France, creating paintings for an exhibition. In 1962 she was asked to teach at the new Mendocino Art Center and she taught there until 1983. She was also asked by Ansel Adams to teach design and composition for photographers at his Yosemite Workshop summer sessions, which she did from 1964 to 1977.
From 1966 to 1967, Bothwell documented indigo dying techniques, strip weaving, and pottery in Western Nigeria and Tunisia. In 1968, she published her book, co-authored with Marlys Frey, NOTAN The Principle of Dark-Light Design. The book was reissued in 1991. Bothwell continued her travels from 1970 to 1971, when she studied 12th century enamels in England, France, and Holland, and conducted a symposium, "Notan Design," for the London Educational Authority. In 1974, she traveled to Bali, Java, and Sumatra, making a slide documentary on batik, woodcarving, and folk design.
In 1977 Bothwell moved to Joshua Tree, California, from Mendocino in Northern California, but moved back and forth between the two studio/residences until 1992 when she moved to her last residence on the desert at Apache Junction, Arizona. From 1979 to 1980, she taught composition at the Victor School of Photography in Colorado and a design course at the Women's Art Guild in Kauai, Hawaii. Following a tour of China with a watercolor artists' group in 1982, Bothwell conducted workshops at the Mendocino Art Center. In 1985, she traveled to Japan.
Dorr Bothwell died on September 24, 2000 in Fort Bragg, California.
Provenance:
The Dorr Bothwell papers were donated in 1978 by the artist, and in 2002, 2009, and 2012 by the Dorr Bothwell Trust.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copy requires advance notice. One box of letters from Jim Nutt are ACCESS RESTRICTED; use requires written permission.
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:
Ray Yoshida papers, circa 1895-2010, bulk 1950-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of the Ray Yoshida papers received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copy requires advance notice. One box of letters from Jim Nutt are ACCESS RESTRICTED; use requires written permission.
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:
Ray Yoshida papers, circa 1895-2010, bulk 1950-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of the Ray Yoshida papers received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
The papers of New York City and California painter, printmaker, and teacher Harry Sternberg date from 1927 to 2000 and measure 3.4 linear feet and 0.553 GB. The collection documents Sternberg's career as an artist and art instructor through scattered biographical material, correspondence with friends, artists, collectors, curators, art organizations, universities, and galleries, writings by Sternberg and others, exhibition catalogs and announcements, news clippings, and other printed and digital material. Also found are photographs of Sternberg and his artwork, two sketchbooks and three loose drawings by Sternberg, audio visual recordings, and one scrapbook.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York City and California painter, printmaker, and teacher Harry Sternberg date from 1927 to 2000 and measure 3.4 linear feet and 0.553 GB. The collection documents Sternberg's career as an artist and art instructor through scattered biographical material, correspondence with friends, artists, collectors, curators, art organizations, universities, and galleries, writings by Sternberg and others, exhibition catalogs and announcements, news clippings, and other printed and digital material. Also found are photographs of Sternberg and his artwork, two sketchbooks and three loose drawings by Sternberg, audio visual recordings, and one scrapbook.
Biographical material includes an interview of Sternberg conducted by art curator Malcolm Warner, two ledgers documenting business activities, scattered financial and legal documents, and files regarding a few of his projects, including the film "Many Worlds of Art". Sternberg's personal and professional correspondence is with friends, artists, including Harry Wickey, Rockwell Kent, Philip Evergood, and Peter Blume, collectors and curators such as Hudson Walker and Carl Zigrosser, and art organizations, universities, and galleries.
The small number of writings by Sternberg in this collection includes drafts of articles and lectures, a manuscript for a book on etching, and notes. Writings by others consists of draft writings about Sternberg, draft exhibition catalogs, and writings by the artists Arthur Secunda and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Over one-third of this collection is printed material, including exhibition catalogs and announcements, news clippings, books written by Sternberg, school publications, and material regarding art events.
Also found are photographs of Sternberg in his studio, with students, with his wife Mary, and at the Idyllwild School. Other photographs include group photographs of Art Students League faculty as well as photographs of exhibitions, murals, and artwork. The collection also contains original artwork including two sketchbooks and three loose drawings by Sternberg and one scrapbook of news clippings and exhibition materials. Audio and video materials include several interviews of Sternberg and a video copy of his film "Many Worlds of Art".
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1927-2000 (Box 1, OV 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1928-2000 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1940s-2000 (Box 1, 4; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1933-2000 (Box 1-3; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1930s-1998 (Box 3, 4; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 6: Artwork, circa 1928-1980s (Box 3, OV 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Audio Visual Material, circa 1980s-2000 (Box 3; 0.5 linear feet, ER01; 0.553 GB)
Series 8: Scrapbook, 1929-1958 (Box 4; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Harry Sternberg (1904-2001) was a New York painter, muralist, printmaker, etcher, teacher, and political activist who relocated to California in 1957.
Harry Sternberg was born in 1904 in the Lower East Side of New York City and grew up in Brooklyn. As a child he attended his school art club where he met and became lifelong friends with artists Peter Blume and Philip Reisman. He took free Saturday art classes at the Brooklyn Museum of Art for two years and attended the Art Students League part time from 1922 to 1927 where he studied with George Bridgman. In 1926 he shared a studio with Philip Reisman where they received private instruction in etching from Harry Wickey. Sternberg began exhibiting his etchings and intermittently had drawings published in New Masses, a prominent American Marxist publication. In the late 1920s he became friends with Hudson Walker who also became a major collector of his work. In 1933 Sternberg was hired as instructor of etching, lithography, and composition at the Art Students League and continued teaching there for the next 33 years. Also around this time he became politically active in artist rights organizations, serving on the planning committee to create the American Artists' Congress and later serving as an active member of the Artists Equity Association. In 1935 he became the technical advisor of the Graphic Art Division of the Federal Art Project. From 1937 to 1939 he completed three federal mural commissions. His first mural Carrying the Mail was created for the Sellersville, Pennsylvania post office in 1937. His most famous mural Chicago: Epoch of a Great City was painted for the Lakeview post office in Chicago. It depicts the history of the city and its workers, particularly life for the workers in Chicago's stockyards and steel mills.
During the 1940s Sternberg remained very active in arts organizations, as one of the founders of the National Serigraph Society and a member of the Committee on Art and Education in Society. In 1942 he published the first of five books on printing. Sternberg had his first retrospective in 1953 at ACA Galleries, and in 1957 he taught summer painting courses at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in California. He continued teaching in the summers there from 1960 to 1967 and 1981 to 1989. Suffering from lung disease, Sternberg moved with his wife, Mary, to Escondido, California in 1966 in hopes that the climate would improve his health. In 1972 he was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. During the 1970s and 1980s Sternberg traveled extensively throughout the US and Mexico where he found new inspiration for his artwork. He continued teaching, exhibiting, and creating new work until his death in 2001.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the May Konheim papers concerning Harry Sternberg, 1934-1981, and an oral history interview of Harry Sternberg, conducted March 19, 1999, October 8, 1999, and January 7, 2000, by Sally Yard for the Archives of American Art
Provenance:
The Harry Sternberg papers were donated by Sternberg in several installments from 1967 to 2001.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
