The papers of curator and museum director Marcia Tucker measure 2.4 linear feet and date from 1973-1994. The collection documents Tucker's tenure as the Director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York through artists' files, correspondence, project files, printed material, and photographs. The papers also reflect Tucker's activities as an advocate for women in the arts.
Scope and Contents note:
The papers of curator and museum director Marcia Tucker measure 2.4 linear feet and date from 1973-1994. The collection documents Tucker's tenure as the Director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York through artists' files, correspondence, project files, printed material, and photographs. The papers also reflect Tucker's activities as an advocate for women in the arts.
Artists' files include correspondence, artists' statements, exhibition lists, press releases, printed material, and photographs of artwork. There is extensive correspondence with Richard M. Allen, James W. Johnson, Bruce Melamid, and Earl and Suzanne Staley.
Correspondence consists of a mix of professional and personal letters between Tucker and artists, business colleagues, and friends. Correspondence relating to the founding of the New Museum includes draft versions of the mission statement. Among the notable correspondents are: Louise Bourgeois, Joan Brown, Howardena Pindell, Markus Raetz, Joan Snyder, and Idelle Weber. Project files reflect Marcia Tucker's activities as an educator, writer, and advocate for women's role in the arts.
Photographs include an inscribed photograph to Marcia Tucker from Raymond Lark.
Arrangement note:
The collection is organized into 5 series. The papers are arranged by material type and chronologically thereafter.
Missing Title
Series 1: Artists' Files, 1976-1994 (Boxes 1-2; 1.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1976-1994 (Box 2; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Project Files, 1973-1990 (Boxes 2-3; 0.15 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1984-1994 (Box 3; 0.15 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographs, 1985-1994 (Box 3: 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical/Historical note:
Curator and museum director Marcia Tucker (1940-2006) lived and worked in New York.
In 1961, Marcia Tucker received her Bachelor of Arts from Connecticut College. She then went on to earn a Masters of Art from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts in 1965. In 1969, Tucker became curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Influenced by the political ferment of the 1960s, Marcia Tucker directed her curatorial efforts to organizing exhibitions that reflected the political and social currents of the day. An early exhibit that she co-curated with James Monte, "Anti-Illusion: Procedures/Materials," was one of the first major exhibitions dedicated to Process Art or Post Minimalism. She curated major surveys for the work of Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Bruce Nauman, Richard Tuttle, and Jack Tworkov. Some of Marcia Tucker's curatorial choices were critically received by colleagues and others in the artistic community. In 1977, she left the Whitney Museum to take on the role of founding director at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. At the time, the New Museum was one of the few experimental centers for contemporary and emerging artists working in graphic arts, video, and film, serving as a venue for artists outside the mainstream, gay artists, and members of radical Hispanic and feminist groups. During her tenure at the New Museum, Tucker directed a number of major exhibitions, such as "Bad Girls," 1994; "A Labor of Love," 1996; "The Times of Our Lives," 1999, among others.
Marcia Tucker's interests extended to writing and teaching. She was the series editor for the New Museum's Documentary Sources in Contemporary Art. Tucker was also a freelance art critic; her criticism appeared in such publications as Art in America, Artforum, and ArtNews. Tucker also taught and lectured at academic institutions and art schools, including the School of Visual Arts, Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, Cornell University, and Colgate University.
In 1999, Marcia Tucker left her post as Director of the New Museum, though she continued to be engaged in the contemporary art scene. In recognition of her innovative practices as a curator, Tucker received a number of awards, including the Skowhegan Governors Award for Lifetime Services to the Arts, 1988; Bard College Award for Curatorial Achievement and the Art Table Award for Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts, 2000. She was also the recipient of three Yaddo fellowships from 2003-2005.
In 2006, Tucker died in Santa Barbara, California. She is survived by her husband, Dean McNeill, an artist and their daughter, Ruby Tucker.
Related Archival Materials note:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Marcia Tucker conducted by Paul Cummings, August 11-September 8, 1978.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Marcia Tucker to the Archives of American Art in 2000.
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.
Topic:
Museum directors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The Bob Bilyeu Camblin papers measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1951 to 1985. The papers provide a snapshot of Camblin's career as an artist and educator through personal papers, printed material, artwork, photographs, and motion picture film and video recordings.
Scope and Contents:
The Bob Bilyeu Camblin papers measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1951 to 1985. The papers provide a snapshot of Camblin's career as an artist and educator through personal papers, printed material, artwork, photographs, and motion picture film and video recordings.
Personal papers include resumes and printed material such as exhibition catalogs and announcements and clippings. Camblin's artwork includes sketches, expressive writings, drawings, and prints. Photographic material includes images of artwork, friends, family, trips, and miscellany; and moving images include home videos of art, art techniques, leisure activities, and autobiographical films.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 4 series.
Series 1: Personal Papers, 1951-1985 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Artwork, 1951-1985 (8 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Photographs, 1951-1980 (1 linear foot; Box 1, 2)
Series 4: Moving Images, circa 1970-1976 (1.8 linear feet; Box 2; FCs 3-19)
Biographical / Historical:
Bob Bilyeu Camblin (1928-2010) was a modernist painter and educator active in Houston, Texas. Camblin experimented with a wide variety of media and is known for collaborative projects with many artists, including a collective known as The Holding Firm with Earl Staley and Joe Tate in Houston.
Born in Ponca City, Oklahoma, Camblin served in the United State Army (1948-1949) and Air Force (1950-1951) before receiving his bachelor of fine arts in 1954, and his master of fine arts degree in 1955. He worked as a map make from 1955-1958 before holding teaching posts at multiple institutions including the Kansas City Art Institute, the Ringling School of Art, Sarasota Florida, the University of Illinois, the University of Detroit, the University of Utah, and Rice University in Houston.
While living in Houston Camblin collaborated with artists Earl Staley and Joe Tate, as the B. E. and J. Holding Firm, or The Holding Firm. The collective worked on multiple projects including paintings, drawings, art excursions, and exhibitions.
Camblin's first one-man show was held in 1955 at the Kansas City Art Institute and his work has been exhibited in other solo exhibitions including at Oklahoma State University (1961), Plumtree Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah (1965-1966), Windsor College, Canada (1965), David Gallery, Houston (1969-1970), and the Graham Gallery in Houston (1989). Camblin participated in many group exhibitions including ART:USA 58 (1958), Fulbright Artists Exhibition, Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City (1958), Childe Hassam Purchase Fund Show, American Academy of Arts and Letters (1958), and Printmaking in Texas: The 1980s Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth (1990).
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming by Mrs. Eldon Jensen on Reel 2248, including six sketchbooks, 1979-1980, containing sketches, writings, and a few letters. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Some of the material from reels 3461 and 3462 including correspondence, clippings, files on the Document Show, the Barter Show, B. E. and J. Holding Firm and the Venice Venture are available for use only at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and through interlibrary loan, and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Sandra Curtis Levy in a series of accessions between 1979-1986.
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.
Bob Bilyeu Camblin papers, 1951-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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.
1.7 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 4 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Date:
1960-1981
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, photographs, slides, sketches and sketchbooks, printed material, journals, and motion picture films.
REEL 2879: Two journals containing daily entries concerning Staley's work and family; ink sketches; photographs of his family, friends, and art work; clippings; and exhibition announcements.
REELS 2880-2882: Correspondence with Jack Boynton, Bob Camblin, and Dick Wray; exhibitions list, announcements, invitations, catalogs, and clippings; lecture notes; "B & E Productions" file; sketches and 9 sketchbooks; and ca. 75 photographs.
UNMICROFILMED: Ca. 300 slides of drawings, prints, paintings, ceramics, belts, planters, and weather vanes by Staley, Bob Camblin, and Joe Tate; films by Staley, "Smoked Links," "All the Signs from Houston to Galveston and Back," and "Staley Draws"; films by Roy Fridge, "Student Film," and "Cube Art"; films by Staley, Camblin and Tate, "BEJ I" and "Holding Firm II"; and unidentified film and tapes.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, craftsman, and filmmaker; Houston, Tex.
Provenance:
Material on reels 2879-2882 lent for microfilming by Staley, 1981, as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project. Unmicrofilmed material donated by Staley, 1981.
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.
Correspondence; business records; photographs; and gallery files.
REELS 1437-1442: Correspondence and business records include priced lists for works of art, and tax records, 1972-1979. Correspondents include: Ken Greenleaf, Walter Darby, Robert Goodnough, Anthony Caro, and Forrest Moses.
REELS 1484-1488: Artists' files, 1972-1979, containing biographical information; business correspondence; priced lists of works of art; and printed matter.
Artists include Jane Allensworth, John Altoon, Walter Bannard, Nell Blaine, David Bolduc, Frank Bowling, Ken Bowman, Stanley Boxer, Lawrence Brown, Anthony Caro, Dan Christensen, Robert Cole, Stephanie K. Cole, Pat Colville, Rochella Cooper, E. E. Cummings,Bruce Cunningham, Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Friedel Dzubas, Frank Faulkner, Chuck Forsman, Paul Fournier, Sherron L. Francis, Jane Freilicher, Erik Gamble, Maurice Golubov, Robert Goodnough, K. M. Graham, Ken Greenleaf, Red Grooms, David Hare, Tom Holland, Sandria Hu, Andrew Hudson, Darryl Hughto, Richard Johnson, Otis Jones, Wayne Kimball, Joyce Kozloff, Leonard Lehrer, Robert Levers, Mary McLeary, Vincent Mariani, Forrest Moses, Robert Motherwell, Stephen Mueller, Lowell Nesbitt, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Basilios Poulos, Janis Provisor, Archie Rand, Harold Reddicliffe, Peter Reginato, Dan Rizzie, Tony Robbin, Reginald Rowe, Laura Russell, Tom Sayre, Sam Scott, Paul Sloggett, Daniel Solomon, Michael Steiner, Robert Tiemann, Sidney Tillum, Horatio Torres, Robert Utterback, Neil Welliver, Mark Williams, Dadi Wirz, and Ben Woitena. Also included are ex-artists Wayne Amedee,David Budd, Rosemarie Castoro, Robert Dash, Carl Gliko, Jacqueline Gourevitch, Gilah Hirsch, Ian Hornak, Rafael Mahdavi, and Larry Poons.
REEL 1489: Photographs of artists and art work from the artists' files, 1972-1979.
REELS 3366-3367: Gallery files on artist Earl Staley containing correspondence, 1980-1984, of Marvin Watson and Clint Willour of Watson/de Nagy & Company with Staley, the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Western States Arts Foundation, Santa Fe, and others; illustrated postcards, 1981-1983, from Staley to Watson; a checklist of Staley's exhibition FIVE TEXANS IN VENICE, 1984; lists of Staley's paintings; clippings and magazine articles; exhibition announcements and photocopies of catalogs; and newsletters and press releases. [Microfilm label: Earl Staley papers.]
Biographical / Historical:
Art gallery; Houston, Tex. Prior to ca. 1976, Watson/de Nagy & Company was known as Tibor de Nagy Gallery Texas, Inc. - a branch of Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York. After 1985 it was known as the Watson Gallery.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1979 & 1984 by Marvin Watson, owner of the gallery. Microfilmed as part of Archives of American Art's Texas project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
