Photographs made as part of Joseph C. Farber's project to document modern NAtive American everyday life. Represented tribes include the Acoma, Apache, Blackfoot, Chehalis, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chippewa, Cocopa, Dakota, Eskimo, Haida, Kiowa, Kutenai, Lummi, Mohave, Mohawk, Navaho, Northern Athabascan, Onandaga, Pima, Pueblo, Quinalt, Seminole, Taos, Tlingit, and Zuni. Subject coverage is broad and varies from tribe to tribe. Included are portraits, as well as totem poles, carving, weaving, pottery, painitng, landscapes, boats and canoes, ceremonial regalia, camps, classes and vocational training, homes and traditional dwellings, construction projects, rodeos and powwows, dances, industries (including lumber), herding and ranching, agriculture, stores and storefronts, cliff dwellings, parades, crab cleaning, fishing, games, health care, legal processes, music, office work, sewing, vending, and a funeral. There are also photographs of R. C. Gorman (and a letter from Gorman to Farber) and Fritz Shoulder (some in color).
Farber's travels included Alaska (Point Barrow, Dead Horse, Glacier Bay, Haines, Hoona, Hydaberg, Ketchikan, Mount McKinley, Prudhoe Bay, Saxman, and Sitka); Alberta (Blackfeet Reservation); Arizona (Canyon de Chelly, Cocopa Reservation, Flagstaff, Kayenta, Monument Valley, Pima Reservation, Quechan Reservation, Mojave Reservation, and Yuma); California (Alcatraz, Oakland, and San Francisco); Florida (Big Cypress Reservation; Miccosukee Reservation); Minnesota (Minneapolis and Nett Lake); Montana (Northern Cheyenne Reservation); New Mexico (Acoma, Gallup, Navajo Forest, Picuris, Puye, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Santa Fe, Taos, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and Tesuque); New York (New York City and Onandaga Reservation); North Carolina (Cherokee Reservation); Oklahoma (Anadarko, Apache, Lawton, Stilwell, and Tahlequah); South Dakota (Rosebud and Wounded Knee); and Washington (Lummi Reservation, Nisqually River, Puyallup River, and Quinalt Reservation).
Biographical/Historical note:
Joseph C. Farber (1903-1994) was a successful New York businessman and professional photographer. He studied with Edward Steichen at the New York Camera Club in the 1920s. The prints in this collection resulted from a five-year project that involved travelling to Native communities throughout the United States to document modern Native American life. The project resulted in a book, Native Americans: 500 Years After (1975), as well as exhibits, including one in the National Museum of Natural History in 1976-1977.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 78-1, NAA ACC 95-3
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Farber's photographs, previously located in Photo Lot 95-3 have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 78-1. These photographs were also made by Joseph C. Farber and form part of this collection.
The National Museum of American History Archives Center holds the Joseph Farber Papers and Photographs, circa 1962-1990.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Photographs published in Farber's books still under copyright. Reproduction permission from artist's estate.
REEL 323: Photographs of Fechin, his family, his paintings, and of Lillian Gish with Feshin and his portrait of her; exhibition catalogs, clippings and two Russian magazines containing articles about him.
REEL 3254: Magazine articles about Fechin from Persimmon Hill, American West and House Beautiful; two exhibition catalogs, Nicolai Fechin Centennial Exhibition, 1981, and Fechin: The Builder by Eya Fechin, 1982; and a membership brochure and a newsletter from the Fechin Institute.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Taos, N.M. Born in Kazan, Russia. He came to the United States in 1923. He lived in Taos from 1927 to 1938.
Provenance:
Material on reel 323 lent for microfilming, 1972, by Mrs. Alexandra Fechin, who subsequently donated 4 photographs and an exhibition catalog. Material on reel 3254 donated by Eya Fechin, Nikolai's daughter, 1984. This material was transferred to the NMAA/NPG Library.
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.
Papers relating to work done for the Federal Art Project; business and personal letters; printed material; biographical data; correspondence; and photographs.
REEL 79: Correspondence, memoranda, and other material relating to federal art programs in New Mexico and Arizona. Includes correspondence with Public Works of Art Project administrators about a mural in Taos County Court House done by Bisttram, Bert G. Phillips, and Victor Higgins; memoranda; press releases and reports; catalogs of Treasury Department art projects shown at the Corcoran Gallery; and Federal Art Project dismissals and a proposal for a Bureau of Fine Arts.
REEL 581: Business and personal letters to and from Bisttram, including a letter from Lily and Eero Saarinen, and letters from Raymond Jonson; clippings; 91 catalogs; 22 reproductions of Bisttram's work; newspaper and magazine articles describing the artist colony at Taos and Santa Fe.
REEL 2787: Baptismal and naturalization records; correspondence; a photograph of Bisttram; clippings and printed material.
REELS 2892-2894: Biographical material; one or more letters from Ray Jonson, Stanton Macdonald-Wright; Oscar Berninghaus, Mrs. Walter Ufer, and other artists; correspondence with Olin Dows and others involved in the Treasury Relief Art Project, with galleries, museums, art organizations, and students; writings and notes; the draft for a book about Dynamic Symmetry; drafts for a book The Creative Process in the New Age; sketches and drawings; business, financial, and legal records; exhibition catalogs and announcements; certificates and awards; transcripts of interviews of Bisttram; and photographs of Bisttram and his paintings.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Taos, N.M. Was an exponent of Dynamic Symmetry, a painting technique.
Provenance:
Papers microfilmed on reel 581were lent for microfilming 1973, and some was subsequently donated with a gift in 1983 (and refilmed on reels 2892-2894).
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.
Biographical notes, including a tribute by Carl Schaefer Dentzel of the Southwest Museum, Los Angeles, used in the catalog of a Gaspard retrospective exhibition, 1964-1965; a tape recording of a dinner party at Gaspard's home and a typewritten summary of the recording with some portions transcribed; correspondence; personal documents; photographs of Gaspard, his paintings and his Taos, New Mexico house; exhibition catalogs; and clippings.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Taos, N.M.
Provenance:
Donated 1971 by Dora K.G. Blackman, widow of Leon Gaspard.
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.
An interview of Harold O'Connor conducted 2007 October 11 and 31, by Dinah Zeiger, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at O'Conner's studio, Dunconor Workshops, in Salida, Colorado.
O'Connor speaks of his childhood in New York; his father, who was a doctor, and his mother, who was a craft artist; an early exposure to the craft field; attending Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado and studying psychology for one year before returning to Rochester, N.Y.; working in occupational therapy and making commercial apple-peeling machines; returning to WSU, becoming interested in anthropology and transferring to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque; taking classes in metalwork during his senior year; being inspired by Georg Jensen; attending international schools to learn metalsmithing and goldsmithing, including the National Arts and Crafts School in Copenhagen, Denmark, the National Arts School in Helsinki, Finland, and Kunst und Werkschule in Pforzheim, Germany; the differences between apprenticeship programs and technical schools; working as the first resident metal craftsman at Penland School of Crafts in Penland, N.C.; moving with his wife to Crested Butte, Colorado and setting up a small studio in an alley; returning to UNM to complete his undergraduate degree before attending Instituto Allende in San Miguel Allende, Mexico and receiving his M.F.A.; teaching jewelry for four years at Alberta College of Art and Design at Calgary, Canada and designing workshops; returning to Crested Butte and running his own private school and two-week workshops; identifying as an international artist; his exhibition and show history; his relationship with galleries; self-publishing jewelry and metalsmithing technique books; working in series; finding inspiration through various means and the great diversity in his work over the past 30 years; the materials he has worked in over the years, including labradorite, silver, copper, titanium, and gold; his use of traditional hand tools; his studio space; working intuitively without drawings; the creative stimulation found in Taos, N.M.; his admiration of the work of Eduardo Chillida, Aldo Calò, Constantin Brancusi and Isamu Noguchi; traveling and teaching experiences in the Czech Republic, Austria, the Arctic, South Korea, and other locations; and plans for future travel. O'Connor recalls Klaus Ulrich, Reinhold Reiling, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Harold O'Connor (1941- ) is a goldsmith in Salida, Colorado. Dinah Zeiger (1947- ) is an art historian from Denver, Colorado.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 5 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.
Files on 141 artists, 1945-1979. The files may contain biographical data, resumes, clippings, announcements, catalogs, price lists of work and notes. Also included are 4 files on exhibitions and organizations.
Biographical / Historical:
Art organization; Taos, New Mexico.
Provenance:
Microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project.
Lent for microfilming 1984 & 1985 by the Harwood Foundation.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview of Edward Landon conducted 1975 Apr. 17-May 28, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Landon speaks of working with the local theater in high school; leaving Hartford at age 17 or 18 for Greenwich Village in New York and the Art Students League; studying figure drawing with George Bridgman; getting married and moving to Springfield, Mass.; exhibiting with the Springfield Art League; the Artist Union and the Artist Congress in the 1930s; spending a summer with Georgia O'Keeffe and Paul Strand in Taos, N.M.; the cooperation amongst artists that lasted into the 1950s to establish serigraphs as an American fine art print medium; when he received the Solomon Guggenheim Scholarship for Non-objective Art in 1939; when he made furniture and picture frames and the publishing of his book on making picture frames in 1946; when he began working as an easel painter in the Massachusetts Federal Art Project of the WPA in 1933; becoming president of the Western Chapter of the Artists Union in 1934; when he corresponded and visited Arthur Dove; his friendship with Elizabeth McCausland; his introduction to Harry Gottlieb and silk screen printing; the love of color and currently trying for emotional effects in his work; initiating silk screen exhibitions in the Springfield Museum; the beginning of the National Serigraph Society and his work as the exhibition secretary; his teaching approach; the first class held in his garage with fellow artists; more on his relationship with Elizabeth McCausland; Arthur Dove's influence on a recent painting Landon finished; his trip to Taos in 1930 and the importance of artist colonies for him early on; the feeling of not having roots, but being comfortable with the idea; the purpose of the National Serigraph Society; his feelings about printmakers moving away from traditional printing; organized exhibitions for the United States Information Service; his enjoyment in organizing things; the commercialization of creating "prints;" how photo-realism does not translate well in the print medium; the importance of trying to convey an idea in his work; his success in covering small boxes, address books and other items, as well as book binding; his preference for printing small editions of 25 to 35 prints; of a description of his method of printing; his Fulbright Fellowship in 1950 to travel to Norway and lecture; an interest in early Scandinavian art; publishing a silkscreen portfolio of pre-Viking art for the American Scandinavian Foundation; traveling through Europe; his influence as an innovator in France and Scandinavia; meeting with silk screen artists in Oslo; art forms in his work at this time; his inclusion in "Who's Who in American Art;" the avoidance of art movements; how by the 1950s the reason for the National Serigraph Society no longer existed because the medium was popular by that time; his move to Vermont in 1957 or 1958; work as a color mixer, book binder, and returning to framing because of health reasons; his second illness changing what he found important in his life; and how the content of his work became more emotional. Landon also recalls Louie Lozowick, Gertrude Stein, Marian Hughes, Elizabeth Olds, John Marin, Alfred Stieglitz, Berenice Abbott, Marvo Perry, Hilla Rebay, Sir William T. Rogers, Max Weber, Dennis Hartley, Alfred Maurer, Bernie Sabbath, and Henry Mark.
Biographical / Historical:
Edward Landon (1911-1984) was a printmaker from Weston, Vt.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 39 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.
A biography of Dunton written by his son, Ivan; a copy of a letter from Dunton describing his painting, "Mountain Pool," 1926; biographical sketches of Dunton's models; typescripts of studies by Dunton; printed stories and magazine covers illustrated by Dunton from COLLIER'S, McCLURE'S, HARPER'S WEEKLY, and other magazines, 1906-1926; a scrapbook of illustrations and articles by Dunton, 1896-1904; exhibition catalogues; clippings and articles on Dunton; photographs of Dunton, his family, and his birthplace; and album of photographs, 1914-1916, of Dunton, his children, Oscar E. Berninghaus, Ernest Leonard Blumenshein, Eange Irving Couse, Joseph Henry Sharp, and others, and New Mexico scenery; and two photograph albums of paintings by Dunton.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter (Taos, N.M.)
Provenance:
The lendor, Ivan H. Dunton, is William Herbert Dunton's son. He plans to give the original material to the Santa Fe Historical Library, Santa Fe, N.M.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Photographs of the paintings, sketches and murals Egri did for Brooklyn College, a project of the FAP.
Biographical / Historical:
Ted Egri (1913-2010) was a mural painter and sculptor from New York, N.Y. and Taos, N.M. Taught at Kansas City Art Institute and the University of Wyoming. Preferred media: metal, wood, and mixed media.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by Ted Egri.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Federal aid to the arts -- New York N.Y. -- Photographs Search this
Federal aid to the public welfare -- New York N.Y. -- Photographs Search this
Art and state -- New York (State) -- New York -- Photographs Search this
Mural painting and decoration, American -- Photographs Search this
5.6 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 partial reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Date:
1950-1991
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, journals, a scrapbook, sound recordings, printed material, and photographs.
REEL 4306: Forty-six letters and three cards from Andrew Dasburg to Hollander, undated and 1959-1969; a card from Andrew Dasburg's son, Alfred Dasburg, 1979, two clippings, one a review of a Dasburg exhibition at the Dorry [Dorothy] Gates Gallery, Kansas City, Mo.; and two snapshots of Dasburg and Hollander's wife Gertrude in front of Dasburg's Taos, N.M. home, April 1970. Dasburg, writing to Hollander in Kansas City, Mo. from Taos, discusses art and aesthetics, his work, weakening health and need for medication, the sale of his work to the Hollanders and to others, and comments on Hollander's work. Included is a card from Alfred Dasburg, September 1, 1979, thanking Hollander for his "tribute to Andrew."
REEL 4885: A scrapbook/binder containing photographs of sculpture and drawings by Hollander. Included with the photos of the sculptures "Family Life-The Picnic," and "Interstate I-70," are clippings and notes by Hollander. Also included are several photographs of Hollander at work in his studio.
UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence with Elizabeth Broun, Nancy Corwin, Barbara DeZonia, Charles C. Eldredge, Keith Jacobshagen, Joe Kelleher, Andrew Morgan, Gabor Peterdi, Harriet G. Vicente (Mrs. Esteban Vicente), Nan and David Ray, David Reed, Mark Roeyer, David Strout, Alan Tollakson, Natalie Wilvers, and others; drafts of exhibition reviews by Hollander; cassette tape recordings of Hollander; an address book; exhibition reviews, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and other printed material; photographs of Hollander, works of art and slides. Also included are journals, 17 v., June 1980-June 1991, kept by Hollander, revealing facets of Hollander's thinking about his relationships and his art.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor, art collector; Kansas City, Mo.
Provenance:
Dasburg material on reel 4306 was donated 1985 by Hollander, Dasburg's close friend and patron. The scrapbook on reel 4885 was lent for microfilming and an additional four feet of material was donated by Hollander's son Richard, 1994. The journals were received by Richard Nadeau, Hollander's psychiatrist, 1994.
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.
11 letters from Blumenschein to Thomas Gilcrease, 1945-1953; a letter from Helen Blumenschein to Gilcrease, 1973; and a transcript of a radio interview of Blumenschein, 1958.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, illustator; Taos, N.M.
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1984 along with other selected art related papers from the Gilcrease Institute.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Correspondence, 1913-1963, regarding Lockwood's work on murals for government buildings, and letters from Andrew Dasburg, Mabel Dodge Luhan, and Abraham Rattner; a 23 page diary, 1931-1933; an anecdotal reminiscence of John Marin; career resumes; 6 sketchbooks; 6 speech texts; material relating to mural projects in Washington, D.C., in Lexington, Kentucky, and in Wichita, Kansas; photographs of Lockwood, his works, and of mural classes; exhibition catalogs; clippings; and miscellany.
Biographical / Historical:
Mural painter, painter and educator; born in Kansas; attended University of Kansas, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Ransom Academy in Paris. Worked on various government buildings painting murals for the WPA. Taught in the art departments at University of Texas, University of California at Berkeley and elsewhere. Lived in Taos, N.M. for many years.
Provenance:
Donated 1964 by Mrs. Ward Lockwood, widow of Lockwood.
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.
An interview of Mary Shaffer conducted 2008 April 13-14, by Jospehine Shea, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Shaffer's home and studio, in Taos, N.M.
Born in Walterboro, SC, Shaffer speaks of her early childhood living in South America; her formative years being raised in Europe; her early artistic training in a European tradition; then studying art at the Rhode Island School of Design where she met her husband, artist Hardu Keck. She discusses her transition from working as a painter to experimental work in glass and conceptual art; being part of a community of artists that included Dale Chihuly and Fritz Dreisbach; and teaching as a means of support during the early years of her career. She discusses the importance of galleries in promoting her work, and how commissions enabled her to stretch and grow as an artist.
Biographical / Historical:
Mary Shaffer (1947- ) is a glass artist in Taos, N.M. Josephine Shea (1958- ) is curator in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 54 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:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview of Gene Kloss conducted 1964 June 11, by Sylvia Loomis for the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Printmaker, painter; Taos, N.M.
General:
Interview of Boris Gilbertson conducted by Sylvia Loomis is also on the tape.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Research material on Walter Ufer, including an exhibition catalog from his 1970 retrospective; notes and writings; correspondence about Egri's article on Ufer for American Artist (1978); transcripts and notes from telephone conversations and interviews with friends and associates about their recollections of Ufer; photographs of his paintings; photocopies of 3 letters from Ufer to Frank and Hazel Hoffman and Carl Runguis; and 4 taped interviews with Regina Ufer, Christine Self, Hazel Hoffman and Dixie Yaple.
Biographical / Historical:
The Egri's researched Walter Ufer, a painter; Taos, New Mexico. Ted Egri, b. 1913, sculptor, painter, art instructor, FAP artist, Taos, N.M., brother of painter Ruth Egri
Other Title:
Walter Ufer papers (microfilm title)
Provenance:
Material on reel 3125 was lent for microfilming by Ted and Katherine Egri, 1984, as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project. The tapes were lent for duplicating at the same time.
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.
An interview of Louis Ribak conducted by Sylvia Loomis on 1964 July 20 for the Archives of American Art.
Needs summary
Biographical / Historical:
Louis Ribak (1902-1979) was a painter in Taos, N.M.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 55 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
24 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 July 20
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Beatrice Mandelman conducted by Sylvia Loomis on 1964 July 20, for the Archives of American Art.
Mandelman speaks of her background and education; getting started on the Federal Art Project mural project; later going on the graphic arts project; how the project worked; the effect of the project on the artists; her post-Federal Art Project career; government support for the arts; the current art scene; and Taos as an art center.
Biographical / Historical:
Beatrice Mandelman (1912-1998) was a painter in Taos, N.M.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav files. Duration is 51 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
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:
Yasuo Kuniyoshi papers, 1906-2016, bulk 1920-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by Stephen Diamond, the Roy Lichtenstein 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.
