New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Beatrice Mandelman, 1964 July 20. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Andrew M. Dasburg, 1964 July 2. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Emil Bisttram, 1963 October 17. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Louis Ribak, 1964 July 20. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of southwest painter and illustrator Ernest Blumenschein measure 2.1 linear feet and date from 1873-1964. The collection documents Blumenschein's artistic career, his relationship with his wife and daughter, his love of the American southwest, and his involvement in the art community of Taos, New Mexico. Found are biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, scattered personal business records, writings, a large amount of juvenilia artwork, and photographs of artwork.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of southwest painter and illustrator Ernest Blumenschein measure 2.1 linear feet and date from 1873-1964. The collection documents Blumenschein's artistic career, his relationship with his wife and daughter, his love of the American southwest, and his involvement in the art community of Taos, New Mexico. Found are biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, scattered personal business records, writings, a large amount of juvenilia artwork, and photographs of artwork.
Biographical materials include biographical sketches, school notebooks and curriculum vita, family genealogical materials and other family records, certificates, diplomas, and materials commemorating Blumenschein's election to the National Academy of Design. Also found are scattered ephemera items, such as membership cards, tickets, and travel materials.
Correspondence consists primarily of letters between Blumenschein, his wife Mary, and his daughter Helen. These discuss Blumeschein's career, domestic life, financial matters, Helen's schooling, and travel. Blumenschein's activities during World War I are documented by correspondence with the Committee of Public Information, the Salmagundi Club, and with Aide de Camps of army bases. There are a few letters from other artists and writers including William Glackens, Walt Kuhn, Ward Lockwood, Booth Tarkington, and a long letter from Cass Gilbert.
Scattered personal business records consist of a guest list, a list of Blumenschein works in a private collection, a jury duty certificate, and a car payment record.
Writings include personal, critical, and creative writings. There are writings by Blumenschein about the founding of the Taos Society of Artists and the artistic community of Taos and his memoirs about his first trip to Taos. Additional writings include a satirical discussion of modern art, and essays about artists John Gaw Meem, Joseph Henry Sharp, and Walter Ufer, and discussions of select paintings. Blumenschein also wrote of his travels in Paris, Switzerland, and Pittsburgh, as well as about French churches and cemeteries. Creative writings explore the landscape, life and culture of the American southwest.
Artwork consists primarily of fourteen folders of Blumenschein's illustrations for "Tomfoolery," a handwritten and hand drawn magazine that Blumenschein contributed to in high school. His illustrations for "Tomfoolery" include portraits, caricatures, and sequential art. Also found is one folder of small sketches.
Printed materials about Blumenschein include clippings, exhibition announcements, and exhibition catalogs. There are also brochures related to the Taos Art Colony and a 1902 menu for a Salmagundi Club program/dinner Also found here is a 1915 signed menu from a National Academy of Design event signed by Gifford Beal, George Bellows, and Eugene Spiecher among others.
Photographs include two portraits of Blumenschein and a group portrait of National Academy of Design members that includes Blumenschein. There are also photographs of Blumeschein's artwork and installation views of Blumenschein exhibitions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1873-1971 (Boxes 1, OV1; 17 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1891-1970 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1918-1950s (Box 1; 4 folders)
Series 4: Writings, 1880s-1959 (Box 1-2; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 5: Artwork, 1888-1925 (Box 2; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Materials, 1891-1964 (Box 2, OV1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1880s-1955 (Box 2, OV1; 0.25 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Ernest Blumenschein was born on May 26th, 1874 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He moved to Dayton, Ohio at the age of four, the same year his mother died. His father was a professional musician and composer, who chiefly made his living as a conductor of large choruses. During high school he contributed illustrations to "Tomfoolery," a handwritten and hand drawn weekly humor magazine. Besides his artistic talents, Ernest Blumenschein was a skilled violin player, and was awarded a scholarship to the Cincinnati College of Music. In 1892, Blumenschein auditioned for the New York National Conservatory, and was chosen by Anton Dvorak for the role of first violin. With the income from playing violin, Blumenschein attended classes at the Art Students League.
In 1892, Ernest Blumenschein first traveled to Paris to study at the Académie Julian. While in Paris, he met Joseph Henry Sharp who inspired Blumenschein with his stories and sketches of the American southwest, particularly the Taos area. He returned to American in 1896, rented a studio with another Académie Julian student Bert Phillips, and began a successful career as a commercial illustrator working for magazines such as Century, Harper's, Scribner's, and McClure's.
Blumenschein first visited Taos in the fall of 1898 while traveling en route to Mexico on a sketching trip with Phillips. A wheel on the wagon carrying their belongings broke and they took it to the nearest blacksmith in the area, which was in Taos. Upon arriving at Taos, Blumenschein was struck by the "the superb beauty and serenity" of the landscape and was "stirred deeply." The town made a strong impact on both Blumenschein and Phillips, but while Phillips decided to stay, Blumenschein returned to New York for a short while and continued working as an illustrator. The following year Blumenschein decided to concentrate on painting, and re-enrolled at the Académie Julian while supporting himself with his commercial work. In 1903, he met Mary Greene, an American painter living in Paris and they married in 1905, and began sharing a Paris studio. Their daughter and only child, Helen, was born in November of 1909.
While Ernest Blumenschein continued to study in Paris, he also kept working as an illustrator, supporting himself easily. His illustration work was much in demand by American magazines and book publishers. Blumenschein was commissioned to illustrate Jack London's first book, Love of Life, in 1904. He also worked with other famous writers such as Stephen Crane, Willa Cather, and Joseph Conrad.
Upon returning to New York after the birth of their daughter, Ernest and Mary taught at the Pratt Institute. Ernest spent every summer in Taos. In 1919, the family moved permanently to Taos, with Helen returning to New York for school. It was during this time that Blumenschein co-founded the Taos Society of Artists and became part of the Taos art colony. For four decades, Blumenschein created paintings of the landscape, local inhabitants, the Taos Pueblo culture, and city skylines. He won numerous awards for his work and exhibited widely. His work was responsible for changing perceptions about the native culture and peoples of the area - the Navajo and Pueblo Indians. Blumenschein also indulged his love of the outdoors and sports. He avidly camped, played tennis, and was part of the Taos amateur baseball team. His artistic output in the 1950s was hampered by his declining health, and the death of Mary in 1958. Blumenschein died in June of 1960, and his ashes are repositioned at the Taos Pueblo Reservation.
Related Material:
Found in the Archives of American Art is a small collection of "Ernest Blumenschein letters and transcripts", available on microfilm reel 3281, and consisting of eleven letters between Blumenschein and Thomas Gilcrease, a letter between Helen Blumenschein and Gilcrease, and the transcript of a 1958 radio interview with Blumenschein.
Additionally, the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library in Santa Fe, New Mexico holds papers related to Ernest Blumenschein, Mary Greene Blumenschein, and Helen Greene Blumenschein.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Helen Greene Blumenschein, Ernest Blumenschein's daughter, in 1971.
Restrictions:
Use of the 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.
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.
My time there : the art colonies of Santa Fe & Taos, New Mexico 1956-2006 : a memoir of art, essays, letters, and rare photos, about two of America's most important art colonies / by R.H. Dick ; with an introduction by Bambi Ellis
Title:
Art colonies of Santa Fe & Taos, New Mexico 1956-2006
