An interview of Frederick A. Sweet conducted 1976 February 13-14, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art, in Sargentville, Maine.
Biographical / Historical:
Frederick A. Sweet (1903-1984) was a museum curator from Sargentville, Maine.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 5 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Research material compiled by Art Institute of Chicago curator and art historian Frederick A. Sweet in preparation for exhibitions and a biography of Mary Cassatt. Included are research notes and manuscripts; Cassatt family biography and tree; Sweet's correspondence and copies and transcripts of letters written by Cassatt; drafts of "Miss Mary Cassatt--Impressionist from Pennsylvania" (Chapters I-XII) and other drafts; exhibition catalogs; clippings and copies of clippings; announcements; and photographic prints of Cassatt, her family, and home (location of originals unknown) and of works of art by Cassatt and Whistler.
Biographical / Historical:
Frederick A. Sweet (b. 1903) was an art historian and museum administrator; Chicago, Illinois. Sweet curated the exhibition and wrote the catalog Sargent, Whistler and Mary Cassatt, held at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1954; James McNeill Whistler : paintings, pastels, watercolors, drawings, etchings, lithographs held at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1968; and wrote the Cassatt biography, Miss Mary Cassatt, impressionist from Pennsylvania (1966).
Related Materials:
Microfilm of additional Mary Cassatt letters (originals), compiled by Frederick A. Sweet in the course of his research, some in his temporary custody, is available at the Archives of American Art (reel C1); originals of some of those letters were subsequently donated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and to the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
Donated 1975 by Frederick Sweet.
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.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this
Sweet, Frederick A. (Frederick Arnold), 1903-1984 Search this
Extent:
2 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 6 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Date:
1928-1981
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, printed material, photographs, sketches, writings, financial material and interviews.
REEL N69-54: Scrapbooks; exhibition catalogs, articles and clippings from the London Eagle; biographical data; and writings, including THE ARTS AND THE UNIVERSITY: A SYMPOSIUM.
REEL N69-66: Correspondence, Christmas cards and telegrams; exhibition catalogs and publications; photographs of art work and projects; and references to Roszak in Whitney Museum publications.
REEL N69-81: Correspondence; talks and taped interviews; notes; press releases and statements.
REEL 2134-2136: Correspondence with museums, art organizations and Alfred Barr, Lloyd Goodrich, Pierre Matisse, Eero and Aline Saarinen, David Smith and Frederick Sweet; subject files containing correspondence, printed material, sketches, blueprints (not microfilmed) and financial material for the U.S. Embassy in London and the J. F. Kennedy memorial grave; biographical material; writings, speeches and interviews; exhibition catalogs, announcements and clippings; and photographs of Roszak and his sculpture.
UNMICROFILMED: An exhibition catalog of Roszak's drawings, 1981; 16 photographs and negatives of works by Alexander Calder, Julio Gonzalez, Richard Lippold, Ezio Martinelli, and David Smith; and a negative of David Smith's studio.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor, painter, designer, decorator, lithographer, teacher, craftsperson; New York City. Born in Poland. Died in 1981. Studied at the National Academy of Design. Member of American Artists Congress. Teacher at Laboratory School of Industrial Design, N.Y.
Provenance:
Material on reels N69-54, N69-66 & N69-81 lent for microfilming by Theodore Roszak, 1969. Material on reels 2134-2136 donated by Roszak, 1980. Unmicrofilmed material donated by Sara Jane Roszak, Theodore's daughter, 1983.
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.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Letters to Cassatt, from Cassatt, and from and to Cassatt's family and others; a typescript of a family history written by Cassatt's father, and other genealogical and biographical material; and pages from Paris Salon exhibition catalogs of 1872-1876 referencing Cassatt. The materials were primarily in the possession of Art Institute of Chicago curator Frederick Sweet at the time of microfilming; Sweet coordinated the microfilm project with the then newly formed Archives of American Art. The microfilm also identifies the owner at the time of microfilming (1955) and some of Sweet's correspondence concerning permission to microfilm from the various owners.
Among the recipients of letters from Cassatt are Cecilia Beaux, Electra Havemeyer Webb, Mrs. Potter Palmer, Theodate Pope, Mary Gardner Smith, Carroll S. Tyson, Ambroise Vollard, Harris Whittemore, her nephew Robert Kelso Cassatt and his wife Minnie Drexel Fell Cassatt; her sister-in-law Jennie (Mrs. J. Gardner Cassatt); and others. [Microfilm label: Frederick A. Sweet papers]
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming in 1955 by Frederick Sweet, author of the exhibition catalog Sargent, Whistler, and Mary Cassatt (1954) and Miss Mary Cassatt, Impressionist From Pennsylvania (1966). The owners of the letters at the time of microfilming are listed on the microfilm and the inventory. Letters and the typescript family history filmed on CI frames 1-869 were subsequently donated by their owner Mrs. John B. Thayer of Rosemont, Pa. to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1967, and letters from Cassatt to her nephew Robert Kelso Cassatt that were lent by Mr. Alexander Cassatt, Robert's brother in 1955, were subsequently donated to the Archives of American Art in 1986 by Alexander's son, also named Alexander Cassatt (microfilm reel 3684).
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from the owners of the letters. [Frames 1-869 owned by Philadelphia Museum of Art] Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
