The papers of African American painter and illustrator Ellis Wilson measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1922 to 1959, with the bulk of the collection dating from the 1940s. The collection includes certificates, correspondence, printed material, and photographic material. The bulk of this collection is composed of photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American painter and illustrator Ellis Wilson measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1922 to 1959, with the bulk of the collection dating from the 1940s. The collection includes certificates, correspondence, printed material, and photographic material. The bulk of this collection is composed of photographs.
Papers include certificates, professional correspondence, printed material and clippings, and scrapbook pages. The scrapbook pages include clippings of reviews and reproductions of Wilson's work, exhibition invitations and catalogs, and correspondence, including a letter of congratulations from Alain Locke.
Photographic material makes up the bulk of this collection. This series includes three photos of Ellis Wilson taken by Carl Van Vechten.
Ellis Wilson (1899-1977) was an African American painter and illustrator. He was born in Kentucky and studied at the Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute, and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He later worked as a commercial artist in Chicago before moving to New York in 1928. Wilson was employed by the Federal Arts Project, sponsored by the Works Progress Administration, from 1935 to 1940, and was also involved with the Harlem Artists Guild. During World War II he worked in an aircraft engine factory and was commissioned to create triptychs for military chaplains. In 1944 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and traveled throughout the Southern United States. He later traveled to Haiti. He continued to paint until his death in 1977. In 1985, his painting Funeral Procession (circa 1950) was featured on an episode of The Cosby Show.
Separated Materials:
Exhibition catalogs and news clippings were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries after microfilming.
Provenance:
The Ellis Wilson papers were loaned for microfilming in 1970 and subsequently donated by Ellis Wilson.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painting, American -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
White, Walter, 1893-1955 (President, N.A.A.C.P) Search this
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum Search this
Extent:
1 Sound recording (open reel, 1/4 inch)
1 Sound recording (audio cassette)
Type:
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Narration
Place:
Harlem (New York, N.Y.)
Anacostia (Washington, D.C.)
Washington (D.C.)
United States
Date:
circa 1985
Scope and Contents:
During the audio tour of exhibition, The Renaissance: Black Arts of the Twenties, narrator Robert Hall presents the evolution and achievements of black creative expression beginning in Harlem and spreading across the United States during th 1920s. Literary, visual, performance, and cinematic achievements are profiled. Including brief biographical histories and achievements by Marcus Garvey, James Weldon Johnson, Jessie Fauset, A. Philip Randolph, Claude McKay, Nella Larson, Carl Van Vechten, Countee Cullen, Alain Locke, Harry T. Burleigh, Paul Robeson, Roland Hayes, Lois Mailou Jones, Jules Bledsoe, Fletcher Henderson, Bessie Smith, and Mamie Smith.
Self guided audio tour narration. Part of The Renaissance: Black Arts of the Twenties Audiovisual Records. AV001362: master. Undated.
Biographical / Historical:
The exhibition - The Renaissance: Black Arts of the Twenties - showcased the evolution and achievements of the Renaissance, which was the explosion of literary, visual, performance, and cinematic creativity generated by black artists between the end of World War I and the early days of the Great Depression. Represented is the creativity of Marian Anderson, Richard Barthe, Countee Cullen, Aaron Douglas, Duke Ellington, Meta Warrick Fuller, Roland Hayes, Zora Neale Hurston, Malvin Gray Johnson, Alain Locke, "Jelly Roll" Morton, Paul Robeson, George Schuyler, and Wallace Thurman, among others. The exhibition, held at the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, ran from September 1985 - December 1986.
Local Numbers:
ACMA AV001362
General:
Title transcribed from physical asset.
Series Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist at acmarchives@si.edu.
Prentiss Taylor talks about working with Langston Hughes to create The Negro Mother and the Scottsboro Limited. The illustrations created by Taylor, and the texts created by Hughes. Taylor talks about Hughes' personality and their relationship to Carl Van Vechten. Additionally, Taylor speaks of the Ethiopian Art Theatre, Rose McClendon, and the origin of Van Vechten's Nigger Heaven.
Interview. Sound is distorted. Part of ACM Museum Events, PR, and Ceremonies Recordings. Undated.
Local Numbers:
ACMA AV003312-2
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist at acmarchives@si.edu.
The records of the New York City based Valentine Gallery measure 1.8 linear feet and date from circa 1890 to 1960. The bulk of the material documents the gallery's dealings with artists Louis Eilshemius, John Kane, Henri Matisse, and C.S. Price. Additionally, there is one scrapbook which contains printed materials regarding Valentine Gallery exhibitions from 1925-1936.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the New York City based Valentine Gallery measure 1.8 linear feet and date from circa 1890 to 1960. The bulk of the material documents the gallery's dealings with artists Louis Eilshemius, John Kane, Henri Matisse, and C.S. Price. Additionally, there is one scrapbook which contains printed materials regarding Valentine Gallery exhibitions from 1925-1936.
The artist's file for Eilshemius contains biographical information; correspondence between Valentine Dudensing and the artist, as well scattered letters from Carl Van Vecten, Alfred H. Barr, and museums and institutions; writings and notes; price lists and other financial and legal documents; printed material from Eilshemius's varied career and from his affiliation with the Valentine Gallery; photographs including portraits of the artist, and photos of installations and of works of art; and a scrapbook containing clippings and scattered other printed materials covering Eilshemius's shows at the Valentine Gallery.
Artists' files for John Kane, Henri Matisse, and C.S. Price contain scattered documentation. The file for John Kane includes correspondence between Valentine Dudensing and Kane's estate managers as well as museums and institutions, price lists, legal records, and printed materials. There are two letters from Henri Matisse to Valentine Dudensing regarding travel plans and a thank you message. The C.S. Price file consists of letters from Price regarding specific works of art, and scattered financial records.
A scrapbook dates from 1925-1936 and includes newspaper and magazine clippings about exhibitions and artists represented by the Valentine Gallery. Artists and exhibitions mentioned in the clippings include Alexander Brook, Giorgio de Chirico, Stuart Davis, Jean Lucrat, Carlos Merida, and Joseph Stella. Also, there is a poster created by Valentine Dudensing to fundraise for ambulances for France.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 2 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Artists Files, circa 1890-1960 (Box 1, 3; 1.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Scrapbook, 1925-1936 (Box 2, 4; 0.5 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Valentine Gallery was founded by F. Valentine Dudensing in 1926 and operated in New York City until 1947. The gallery hosted many exhibitions of Modern European art and specialized in School of Paris paintings.
F. Valentine Dudensing was born in 1892 in New York City. His father, Richard Dudensing was a well known art publisher and gallerist who owned Dudensing Galleries. Valentine served in World War I in the United States Aviation Corps and in 1920, married Margaret van der Gros. During a trip to Europe in the early 1920s, Dudensing became acquainted with the son of artist Henri Matisse, Pierre. Together, they conceived a gallery managed by Dudensing in New York while Matisse organized and curated art from Europe.
Dudensing opened his gallery in 1926 at 43 East 57th Street as the F. Valentine Dudensing Gallery. At this time, his father's gallery, the Dudensing Galleries, was located at 45 West 44th Street. Valentine Dudensing changed his gallery's name in 1927 to the Valentine Gallery to distinguish it from his father's gallery. The gallery was one of the first to bring Modern European works to New York City and hosted exhibitions of Giorgio de Chirico, Jean Lurçat, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and André Dunoyer de Segonzac. Additionally, Valentine Gallery represented American artists including Louis Eilshemius, John Kane, and C.S. Price. Pierre Matisse left the partnership with Valentine Dudensing to open his own gallery in 1931.
In 1947, Valentine Dudensing closed his gallery and moved to France with his wife. He died in 1967.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel NY59-5) including gallery index cards. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The Valentine Gallery records were donated by gallery founder, Valentine Dudensing in 1958. Dudensing also lent the Archives of American Art gallery index cards for microfilming in 1959. Roy R. Neuberger donated materials regarding Louis Eilshemius in 1959 who received the material from Valentine Dudensing.
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.
Reel NMcB 1 - 13: Correspondence, mostly 1910-1960; manuscript writings; notes; reviews; and articles. Correspondents include the Stettheimer sisters, Charles Aiken, Alexander Archipenko, George Biddle, Edward Bruce, Alexander Calder, Mary Callery, Royal Cortissoz, Chester Dale, Randall Davey, Katherine Dreier, Guy Pène du Bois, Marcel Duchamp, Valentine Dudensing, Albert Duveen, Charles Demuth, Arthur Dove, Thomas Eakins, Louis Eilshemius, Lyonel Feininger, Juliana Force, Edith Halpert, George Hart, Max Kalish, Rockwell Kent, Samuel M. Kootz, Walt Kuhn, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Gaston Lachaise, Jacques Lipchitz, Robert Macbeth, John Marin, Peppino Mangravite, Georgia O'Keeffe, Amédée Ozenfant, Walter Pach, Jules Pascin, John Quinn, Man Ray, Gertrude Stein, Joseph Stella, Maurice Sterne, Albert Sterner, Alfred Stieglitz, Gustave Verbeek, Malcolm Vaughan, Forbes Watson, Max Weber, Guy Wiggins, and William Zorach.
Reel D105: Notes, letters, clippings, photographs and catalogs relating to Thomas Eakins from the collection of Henry McBride.
Reel NMcB 14: Letters, 1946-1962, to Dr. and Mrs. Everett S. Barr, and letters, 1950-1957, to Mr. and Mrs. C. Earle Miller.
Reel 372: Letters and photographs, ca. 1903-1962. McBride writes in journal-like detail from 1947-1962 to his friends, Alice and Everett Barr, West Chester, Pa., commenting on politics during the Truman and Eisenhower years, theatre and opera in New York, and the social and domestic activities of the social group with which he associates, including members of the Delano, Stettheimer and Wetmore families, as well as literary and art figures including Glenway Wescott, Monroe Wheeler, Claude Rains, and others. Photographs, ca. 1903-1947, include McBride with Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Henri Matisse, and others; one postcard from Carl Van Vechten, June 4, 1933, and a photograph of Marianne Moore.
Biographical / Historical:
Art critic and author, New York, N.Y. Wrote for THE NEW YORK SUN (1913-1949) and THE DIAL (1920-1929). Author of MATISSE, SOME FRENCH MODERNS, MARIN, and FLORINE STETTHEIMER. Gave many prominent artists their first critical acclaim, such as Thomas Eakins, Jules Pascin, John Marin, Charles Demuth, Louis Eilshemius.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming by Maximillian Miltzlaff, executor of McBride's estate.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographs taken by Wood including persons prominent in the New York City social, literary, and theatrical fields. Other subjects include architecture, landscapes, still life, dunes, military, and theater in the United States and other countries.
Scope and Contents:
Photographs, in both print and negative form, by Richard Carver Wood, including architectural photographs; art photographs, including landscapes and still life's; portrait and family photographs; photographs of persons prominent in the New York City social, literary, and theatrical fields. Many of these were taken at theater critic Alexander Woollcott's property at Lake Bomoseen in Vermont, and include Dorothy Parker, Vivien Leigh, Ethel Barrymore, and numerous others. Materials were maintained in the three series that Wood created: Series 1, People, Series 2, Places and Series 3, Subjects. The materials in each series are arranged in alphabetical order by Wood's folder titles.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1: People, 1935-1960, undated
Series 2: Places, 1939-1978, undated
Series 3: Subjects, 1941, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Richard Carver Wood was born in 1902 in Binghamton, New York to Frank Hoyt and Eva Wood. He studied at Hamilton College then the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1922-1929 where he graduated with a degree in architecture. In the 1930s, Wood struggled to find work in his field and turned his attention to photography. His adopted father, a professor at Hamilton College, put him in contact with a former student, Alexander Woollcott, by then a theater critic with The New Yorker. It was through Woollcott that Wood met many of the famous people he photographed, many on Woollcott's Lake Bomoseen, Vermont, property, though Wood also photographed places, buildings, and subjects like the Perkins School for the Blind.
When America became involved in World War II, Wood was stationed in Hawaii as part of the Army Signal Corps. It was there that he turned to film, and after the end of World War II he worked first with a small dental company for a few years, and then began freelancing. His film work culminated with the 1954 Academy Award winning documentary The Unconquered, a biography of his one-time photography subject Helen Keller.
It was around the time of the Keller documentary that Wood again found work as an architect with an East Hampton firm. He would remain in architecture from then on, rarely taking photographs. Wood died on November 23, 1989 at the age of eighty-seven years old.
Provenance:
Donated by Wood's daughter, Patsy Asch, to the Archives Center in 2007.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, 1935-1978, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Patsy Asch.
