The papers of San Francisco based Beat photographer Patricia Jordan measure 2.3 linear feet and date from 1870, 1949-1984. The papers include correspondence, much of it illustrated and with Beat artists and poets, writings, exhibition files, printed materials, photographs, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of San Francisco based Beat photographer Patricia Jordan measure 2.3 linear feet and date from 1870, 1949-1984. The papers include correspondence, much of it illustrated and with Beat artists and poets, writings, exhibition files, printed materials, photographs, and artwork.
About one-half of the collection consists of correspondence; many items of which could be considered works of art or mail art. There are letters, illustrated letters, photographs, collages, postcards, greeting and holiday cards, and exhibition invitations. Letters are addressed to Patricia Jordan, her husband Larry, and/or daughter Lorna and are from family and friends, including many Beat artists and poets such as Kenneth Anger, Steve Arnold, Paul Beattie, Wallace Berman, Stan Brakhage, Jess Collins, Joseph Cornell (with whom Larry Jordan studied in 1965), Robert Duncan, George Herms, and Gary Snyder. Family letters are from Patricia's parents, sisters, daughter, and husband Larry.
The papers contain a large number of photographs and are primarily portraits taken by Patricia Jordan of friends and family including her husband Larry, daughter Lorna, Geroge Herms, and Wallace Berman. Many of the subjects are not identified. Some photographs are candid snapshots, while others are prints and test prints of images featured in the 1975 exhibition, "A Kind of Beatness," at Focus Gallery in San Francisco.
The remainder of the collection is comprised of scattered writings, exhibition files, printed material, and artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1950-1977 (1.1 linear feet; Box 1, OV 4)
Series 2: Writings, circa 1959-1970s (0.1 linear foot; Box 2)
Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1962-1978 (0.1 linear foot; Box 2)
Series 4: Printed Material, circa 1920-1984 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1870-1970s (0.7 linear feet; Box 2-3)
Series 6: Artwork, 1949-circa 1970s (0.2 linear feet; Box 2-3)
Biographical / Historical:
Patricia Jordan (1937-1988) was a photographer and integral part of the Beat circle in San Francisco during the late 1950s and 1960s. Through her photography, she captured intimate portraits of the artists and poets in San Francisco at that time. Patricia Jordan, née Topalian, married Larry Jordan, assemblagist and avant-garde filmmaker, in the late 1950s. They lived in San Francisco, Larkspur, and finally settled in San Anselmo, California. Patricia and Larry Jordan had one daughter, Lorna, born in 1960.
Provenance:
Patricia Jordan donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in 1988.
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:
Photographers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
An interview of Harlan W. Butt conducted 2009 July 27-28, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Butt's studio, in Ptarmigan Meadows, Colorado.
Harlan Butt speaks of the influence of Asian art on his work; the use of text and imagery in his work; the use of pattern in his work; his undergraduate minor in weaving; the influence of Asian religion and mythology; series The Earth Beneath Our Feet , Garden Anagogies, and Snakes in Heaven; his childhood growing up in Hopewell, New Jersey, near Princeton; undergraduate work at Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; discovery of Buddhism and Eastern religions; his mother's death when he was 20; studying with Stanley Lechtzin and Elliot Pujol at Tyler; graduate school at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; interest in Japanese tea ceremony; more exploration of Zen Buddhism; use of color in his work; studying with L. Brent Kington; reliquary series; move to Connecticut in 1974; second trip to Japan in 1984 to co-curate Kyoto Metal: An Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Art Metalwork; introduction to Japanese system of artisan apprenticeship; early efforts as a writer and poet; the influence of poet Gary Snyder; summer teaching position at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; teaching job at San Diego [California] State University in the mid-1970s; rattles and pipes series; exploring the Western landscape; the power of the snake image; taking a teaching position at University of North Texas, Denton (1976- ); first trip to Japan in 1980; differences in artisanal/metalworking practices in Japan and the United States; teaching workshops at various craft schools, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina; Haystack School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine; and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, compared with teaching in a university; the pros and cons of the gallery system; work with the Nancy Yaw Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan; the challenge of commission work; National Parks Project, Denton Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, Texas; the role of haiku and text in his pieces; series 1,001 Views of Mt. Mu; series Snakes in Heaven; the influence of his wife and children; trip to India and organizing Colour & Light: The Art and Craft of Enamel on Metal, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, 2001; trip to Australia; involvement with the Society of North American Goldsmiths, Enamelist Society, and American Craft Council; subtle issues of environmentalism in his work; his affinity for metalsmithing and enameling. He also recalls [Rudolf] Staffel, Robert Winokur, Italo Scanga, Jan Brooks, Mike Riegel, Rachelle Thiewes, Eleanor Moty, Albert Paley, Shumei Tanaka, Ken Glantz (Ken Chowder), Randy Thelma Coles, Sandy Green, Mickey McCarter, Gene Pijanowski, Hiroko Pijanowski, Toshihiro Yamanaka, Helen Shirk, Ana Lopez, and Sarah Perkins.
Biographical / Historical:
Harlan W. Butt (1950- ) is an artist, metalsmith, and educator in Denton, Texas. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a writer and independent scholar in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound mini discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 19 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art 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 administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
He who hunted birds in his father's village : the dimensions of a Haida myth / Gary Snyder ; with a foreword by Robert Bringhurst ; and a new afterword by the author
