Correspondence is primarily professional and is with art galleries, museums, professional organizations, cultural and educational institutions, fabricators, publishers, and private and corporate clients and municipal agencies for whom Antonakos proposed or executed commissions. Also found is scattered correspondence with friends and colleagues including artists Daniel Buren and Jim Melchert, architect Brent Saville, and filmmaker Darrell Forney. Later correspondence is primarily in the form of printouts of email messages.
Correspondence with individuals and art galleries in the United States and abroad relates to consignments, sales, loans, and exhibitions of Antonakos's work. Correspondents include Marilene Bonomo of Galleria Bonomo, Bari, The Drawing Room in East Hampton, Fischbach Gallery, Kalfayan Galleries, Konrad Fischer Gallery, Florica Kyriakopoulos, consultant Connie Lembark, art collector Egidio Marzona, curator and art editor Christos M. Joachimides, Jean-Tristan Mottier who sold small edition prints for Antonakos, and Jan Runnqvist of Galerie Bonnier, Stockholm. Also documented is Antonakos's relationships with major museums in which his artwork is represented, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, the Stedelijk Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art,
Some of the logistical and technical aspects of the execution of Antonakos's sculpture are documented in correspondence with Nikos Trifillis of Neon Tryk, engineer Panos I. Zouganelis, marble fabricators Smili Marble Art, United States construction company, Spectrum Signs, and others.
Several visiting artist teaching positions held by Antonakos are documented here in correspondence with the Atlanta College of Art, Bennington College, Brooklyn Museum, Fresno State College, Smith College, and the University of Delaware. Correspondence concerning the International Symposium on Contemporary Art and Public Space in Athens, the Sculpture in the City Conference at the European Cultural Centre of Delphi, and other events, documents Antonakos's presentations at various conferences.
Correspondence also relates to Antonakos's involvement in professional organizations including his election to and gifts to the National Academy of Design, and his receipt of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Academy and the Greek American Foundation in 2011.
Correspondence with publishers documents the publication of several books and catalogs about Antonakos, including Irving Sandler's Antonakos published in 1999.
The bulk of the correspondence relating to projects and exhibitions can be found in Series 4 and Series 5.
Arrangement:
Correspondence was originally arranged chronologically and grouped with project and exhibition files from the same year(s). It was re-arranged alphabetically in order to enhance access to the material.
Collection 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.
Use of archival born-digital records with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Stephen Antonakos papers, 1932-2014, bulk 1960-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Transportation Search this
Extent:
4.6 Cubic feet (13 oversized folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Tracings
Drawings
Blueprints
Place:
Chicago (Ill.)
Date:
1880-1948
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of blueprints, working drawings, line drawings, tracings, and plans of the Chicago Surface Railway system from 1896-1926; 1948. The majority of the drawings are on linen and are 24" x 36" or larger. Some of the drawings are annotated. The drawing number, title of drawing and the date are provided for each sheet.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into seven series:
Series 1: West Chicago Street Railroad Company
Series 2: Chicago Board of Traction Supervising Engineers/Chicago Railway Company
Series 3: Chicago Traction System (Car Drawings)
Series 4: Chicago Cable Blueprints
Series 5: Chicago Union Traction Company
Series 6: Pennsylvania & West Virginia Railway
Series 7: Miscellaneous
Biographical / Historical:
The first street cars in Chicago were horse cars run by the Chicago City railway Company and the North Chicago City railway Company around 1858-1861. This method, however, was slow and expensive, and the companies began substituting cable cars in the 1880s. Chicago City was the first railway company in 1881, with the addition of the Chicago Passenger Railway in 1883, and the West Chicago Street Railroad Company in 1887. Chicago had the largest cable railway system in the world.
In the 1880s, electric powered trolleys first became practical. The Chicago companies hesitated at first to install these faster and more efficient systems because of their heavy investment in cable cars. Smaller Illinois cities and the Calumet Electric Street Railway of the South Side of the city built successful systems, causing the Chicago companies to feel themselves dropping behind. By the mid 1890s most companies began the conversion to electricity.
The 1890s saw the consolidation of many of the Chicago companies and through this reorganization continued into the next century. In 1905 the city voted that the surface railways should come under municipal ownership but not operation, provided the companies rehabilitate their systems, and give the city the right to buy the property at a fixed value. In addition, new construction was to be approved by a new bureau, the Board of Traction Supervising Engineers.
The continuous reorganization was finally completed by the Unification Ordinance of 1913 which stipulated that all lines would come under the management of a single operating company called the Chicago Surface Lines (CSL). Four companies made up the CSL-the Chicago Railways Company, Chicago City Railway, Calumet and South Chicago Railway, and Southern Street Railway. At this time Chicago had the largest street railway system, the longest one-fare ride, the longest average ride, and the most liberal transfer privileges in the world.
The 1920s saw continued growth despite the increasing competition from the automobile, but the Depression dealt a heavy blow to traffic. By 1948 the Chicago Transit Authority, which took over the Chicago Surface Lines in 1927, had abandoned all but four lines in favor of buses. By 1958 the remaining lines were "bustituted."
Related Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations
The Chicago Historical Society
Holds approximately 13 cubic feet of materials documenting the Chicago Surface Lines, 1857-1951. The materials include minute books, corporate records, account books, agreements, correspondence, contracts, ordinances, patents, memoranda, stock certificates, bank statements, and blueprints.
Provenance:
Gift of the Chicago Transit Authority.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
