The papers of painter, printmaker, and educator, Paula Eliasoph measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1917 to 1980. While focusing on Eliasoph's later career in arts education and exhibitions, the papers also include sketches from 1917. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, drawings by Eliasoph and one by Abraham Walkowitz, photographs, printed material, a teaching file, and writings.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, printmaker, and educator, Paula Eliasoph measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1917 to 1980. While focusing on Eliasoph's later career in arts education and exhibitions, the papers also include sketches from 1917. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, drawings by Eliasoph and one by Abraham Walkowitz, photographs, printed material, a teaching file, and writings.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Paula Eliasoph (1895-1983) was a painter, printmaker, and educator in New York City, New York. She studied at the Pratt Institute and had an adjoining studio with Childe Hassam. With Hassam, she edited his catalog raisonne of etchings. She taught courses in art to adults and children and exhibited her artwork around New York City.
Provenance:
Paula Eliasoph donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in multiple accretions between 1971 and 1980.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Walker, Hudson D. (Hudson Dean), 1907-1976 -- Photographs Search this
Walkowitz, Abraham, 1880-1965 -- Photographs Search this
Zorach, William, 1887-1966 -- Photographs Search this
Extent:
68 Items ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1953-1980
Scope and Contents:
REEL 1817: Photographs of: Will Barnet, Jose de Creeft (2), Sonia Delaunay, Walker Evans, Joseph Floch, Suzi Gablik (2), Adolph Gottlieb (also filmed on reel 1886, fr. 33-34), Lorrie Goulet, Minna Harkavy, William Hayter (2), Paul Jenkins, Lee Krasner (2), Lilliane Lijn, Jerry Sheerin (2), and Darthea Speyer (2). Also included is a group photo of Jose de Creeft, Jacques Lipchitz, George Biddle, Thomas Benton, and Ben Shahn at the American Academy of Arts & Letters Ceremonial, May 20, 1964.
REEL 1886: Photographs of: Barbara Adrian, Alexander Archipenko, Milton Avery, Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Louis Bosa, Henry C. Botkin, Byron Browne, John Carroll, George Constant, Julio de Diego, Edwin Dickinson, Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Floch, Lloyd Goodrich, Adolph Gottlieb, Lorrie Goulet, George Grosz, David Hare, Minna Harkavy, Hans Hofmann, Edward Hopper, Josephine Hopper, Morris Kantor, Leon Kroll, Jacob Lawrence, Julian Levi, Jack Levine, Reginald Marsh, A. Hyatt Mayor, Sigmund Menkes, Robert Motherwell, Edwin Root, James Rorimer (a cropped version erroneously microfilmed as Sidney Waintrob appears on reel 1817, fr. 1193), Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, Eugene Speicher, Saul Steinberg, James Johnson Sweeney, Hudson Walker, Abraham Walker, and William Zorach.
UNMICROFILMED Two photographs: Ellen K. Levy and McNeil Lowry.
Arrangement:
REEL 1817: Microfilmed with AAA's Photographs of Artists Collection II, and appear on microfilm in alphabetical order under artist with other unrelated photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
Photographic studio; New York, N.Y. Sidney J. and his brother A. L. (Bud) Waintrob specialized in photographing artists, curators and other art world personalities. They worked under the name Budd [Studio] before using Waintrob-Budd.
Provenance:
Photographs on reel 1817 and unmicrofilmed photos donated 1974-1987 by Sidney J. Waintrob; photographs on reel 1886 donated 1979-1980 by Samuel I. Hoffberg, whose relationship to Waintrob-Budd is unclear.
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.
Rights:
Authorization to publish quote, or reproduce requires written permission from David Stekert. 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.
Topic:
Artists -- United States -- Photographs Search this
The records of the American Federation of Arts (AFA) provide researchers with a complete set of documentation focusing on the founding and history of the organization from its inception through the 1960s. The collection measures 79.8 linear feet, and dates from 1895 through 1993, although the bulk of the material falls between 1909 and 1969. Valuable for its coverage of twentieth-century American art history, the collection also provides researchers with fairly comprehensive documentation of the many exhibitions and programs supported and implemented by the AFA to promote and study contemporary American art, both nationally and abroad.
Scope and Content Note:
The records of the American Federation of Arts (AFA) provide researchers with a complete set of documentation focusing on the founding and history of the organization from its inception through the 1960s. The collection measures 79.8 linear feet, and dates from 1895 through 1993, although the bulk of the material falls between 1909 and 1969. Valuable for its coverage of twentieth-century American art history, the collection also provides researchers with fairly comprehensive documentation of the many exhibitions and programs supported and implemented by the AFA to promote and study contemporary American art, both nationally and abroad.
The earliest documentation from 1895 to 1909 concerns the organization's history and founding and is located in Series 1: Board of Trustees. Also found in this series are meeting minutes, 1909-1963 and 1968. Interfiled with the board meeting minutes are minutes of the executive committee and other special and ad hoc committees, reports to the board, financial statements and reports, and lists of committee appointments and board membership. This series also contains the scattered correspondence and subject files of various officers. Although not a complete set of officers' files, Presidents' Frederick Allen. Whiting (1931-1936), Lawrence M.C. Smith (1948-1952), Thomas Brown Rudd (1952-1954), Daniel Longwell (1954-1956), James S. Schramm (1956-1958), and Roy R. Neuberger (1958-1961) are represented. Leila Mechlin served on AFA's board as secretary from its founding to 1929, and her files are a particularly rich resource for AFA's activities during its early years. Lawrence M.C. Smith's files documenting his years as board treasurer are also arranged in this series. Additional officers' correspondence is interspersed throughout the Alphabetical Files and other series.
General information about the scope of AFA's programs, affiliations, founding, functions, and proceedings are arranged in Series 2: Administrative Records. The first subseries, Alphabetical Files, houses a wide variety of subject files that contain memoranda, correspondence, printed materials, lists, reports, and other papers. These files document the AFA's general history and founding, organizational affiliations, buildings and moves, grants, federal and state government art programs, auctions and other fund-raising efforts, publicity and public relations, publications, and fiftieth anniversary celebration. The subject headings by which these files are arranged are, for the most part, the ones designated by the AFA. The second subseries, Staff Records, houses the scattered files of AFA's director, assistant director, registrar, and special state representative, Robert Luck.
During its most active period, the AFA sponsored or participated in several special programs and Series 3: Special Programs houses the files that document many of them. The first subseries consists of the files for the Artists in Residence program that was funded by the Ford Foundation. Awarded in 1963, the grant sponsored short-term teaching residencies for artists in museums throughout the United States. The host museums were encouraged to hold exhibitions of the artists' works. This subseries contains both the general files of the program, as well as individual files on the participating artists. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the AFA and the Ford Foundation also sponsored additional programs for artists, including Grants in Aid, Purchase Awards, and the Retrospective Exhibitions Program. The files documenting these three programs are also arranged in Series 3, under the subseries Ford Foundation Program for Visual Artists. In the late 1950s, the AFA implemented the Museum Donor Program with benefactors and philanthropists Audrey Bruce Currier and Stephen Richard Currier. Through the administration of the AFA, the Curriers donated funds to selected institutions specifically for the purchase of contemporary American art. The Curriers preferred to remain anonymous throughout the program. Files documenting this program include correspondence, applications from the accepted institutions, rejections, a summary report, and clippings about the untimely deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Currier in 1967.
Also found in Series 3 are the files documenting AFAs working relationship with the first state arts council, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). In 1961, AFA and NYSCA implemented a traveling exhibition program in New York State. Found here are files for possible itineraries, proposals, publicity, loans, budgets, and the actual exhibition files. Additional AFA special programs documented in Series 3 include the Picture of the Month program of the mid-1950s and the Jean Tennyson Foundation Color Slide Lecture Program.
AFA Annual Convention files constitute Series 4. Beginning with the Third Annual Convention in 1912 and continuing through the 1963 Annual Convention, the files contain official proceedings, speeches, programs, clippings, correspondence, and press releases. Files are missing for 1913, 1915, 1918, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1931, 1936-1949, 1952, 1956, 1958, 1960, and 1962. There are also audio recordings in the form of reel-to-reel tapes for the 1951 Annual Convention.
Series 5: Exhibition Files forms the bulk of the collection at circa 62 linear feet and is arranged into twenty subseries. The first subseries, Exhibitions, General, houses primarily the records of the Board of Trustees Exhibition Committee and documents the AFA's earliest involvement with traveling exhibitions. These files contain reports, budgets, correspondence, memoranda, scattered exhibition catalogs, and photographs. They are primarily the files of the chair of the Exhibition Committee and include the files of Juliana R. Force, Eloise Spaeth, and Mrs. John Pope. Also found in this series is a subseries of Mrs. John Pope's records documenting circulating exhibitions from 1934 to 1955, arranged by state.
The remaining nineteen subseries of the Exhibition Files reflect either specific exhibition programs, many of which have unique numbers assigned by AFA to individual exhibitions, or other exhibition-related files, such rejected, canceled, and suggested exhibitions and miscellaneous installation photographs. The Annual Exhibitions files constitute the largest of the subseries and are numbered according to the system assigned by AFA, following a typical chronological order. Although the documentation for each exhibition varies widely by both type and amount, most of the files contain contracts and legal agreements, correspondence, memoranda, itinerary information, condition reports, publicity materials, catalogs, announcements, price lists, and other such information arranged into one or more files. The files were labeled "documentation files," "dispersal files," "report form files," "loan agreement files," and "publicity files" according to the filing system devised by AFA. Many of the files also house a significant amount of correspondence with museum officials, lenders, and artists.
Additional subseries document AFA's exhibition venues and partnerships with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the New York State Council on the [UNK] Life magazine, and Addison Gallery. A complete list of all of the subseries, including specific exhibition programs, follows in the Series Outline.
The final three series of the collection are small: Printed Material, Miscellaneous Files, and Oversized Material. The printed material was donated much later to the Archives and dates from 1990 to 1993. Found here are scattered press releases, annual reports, and an exhibition program. Miscellaneous Files contain scattered records, 1926-1962, of the Architectural League of New York relating to national award programs. It is not clear why this small group of Architectural League records was found mixed with the AFA records but perhaps the collaboration between the two organizations on several special projects provides an explanation. Also found in Miscellaneous Files is a group of black and white lantern slides from a lecture series, "New Horizons in America." Oversized Material includes a portfolio, a work of art, and posters.
See Appendix for a list of artists exhibiting with the American Federation of Arts
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight primary series based primarily on administrative units or program areas. Several of the series are further subdivided into subseries. While processing, it became clear that the two filing systems were redundant and overlapped in both subject area and type of material. Most of these files were subsequently merged into the now broader Alphabetical Files or into separate series. Oversized material may be found at the end of the collection arranged in a separate series.
In most cases, files related to one another by subseries or subject areas (in the case of the Alphabetical Files) or by individual name (in the case of officers and staff files) are arranged in chronological order. The entire subseries of Alphabetical Files in Series 2 is arranged by subject heading, as assigned by the AFA, or individual name. The Alphabetical Files originally formed two broad filing systems as established by the AFA: one for general correspondence arranged by subject; and one for director's and other staff correspondence, also arranged by subject.
Series 1: Board of Trustees, circa 1895-1968 (Boxes 1-3)
Series 2: Administrative Records, 1910-1966 (Boxes 4-8)
Series 3: Special Programs, 1950-1967 (Boxes 9-13)
Series 4: Annual Conventions, 1912-1963 (Boxes 14-16)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1934-1969 (Boxes 17-78)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1990-1993 (Box 78)
Series 7: Miscellaneous Files, 1926-1962, undated (Box 79)
Series 8: Oversized Materials, 1890, undated (Boxes 80-85)
Historical Note:
Founded in 1909 by Elihu Root, the American Federation of Arts (AFA) exists today as a national nonprofit museum service organization striving to unite American art institutions, collectors, artists, and museums. Elihu Root, then secretary of state in the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, spoke of his idea at the first meeting of the AFA held in New York at the National Academy of Arts. He envisioned an organization that would promote American art most often seen only by the elite in the major cities of the East and upper Midwest by sending "exhibitions of original works of art on tour through the hinterlands across the United States."
The American Academy in Rome, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and Metropolitan Museum of Art were influential organizing member institutions. Individual members included such notables as William Merritt Chase, Charles L. Freer, Daniel C. French, Charles L. Hutchinson, Henry Cabot Lodge, J.P. Morgan, and Henry Walters. The founding of the AFA provided the American art world with a forum for communication and participation among artists, cultural institutions, patrons of the arts, and the public.
To accomplish its mission, the AFA established volunteer committees for membership, exhibitions, and publications. During its first year, the AFA began publishing Art and Progress (later changed to Magazine of Art) and the American Art Annual (now the American Art Directory). In 1909, the AFA also organized its first traveling exhibition, Paintings by Prominent American Artists, which was shown at museums in Fort Worth, New Orleans, Minneapolis, and New Ulm, Minnesota.
By the end of the first year, the headquarters of the organization moved to Washington, D.C., to facilitate lobbying the federal government for favorable art legislation. In 1913, the AFA lobbied successfully for the removal of the tariff on foreign art entering the United States. In 1916, the Federation met with the Interstate Commerce Commission to protest prohibitively high interstate taxes on traveling art exhibitions.
Throughout the next fifteen years, the AFA continued to grow in membership and influence. By 1919, membership included 438 institutions and 2,900 individuals. The AFA's annual conventions were held in major national art centers and were attended by members, chapter delegates, and the public. At the conventions, scholars, patrons, and curators lectured on and discussed subjects of national interest, thereby fostering an exchange of ideas. The AFA also sponsored periodic regional conferences to promote institutional cooperation and to discuss mutual problems and needs. To facilitate exhibition venues west of the Mississippi River, in 1921 the AFA opened regional offices at the University of Nebraska and at Stanford University. The AFA produced and circulated slide programs and lecture series to museums and educational institutions that fostered art education. By 1929, the Federation had developed forty-six slide-lecture programs that covered American mural painting, European and American contemporary art, and textiles.
During the 1930s, the Federation expanded its services by providing schools with teaching guides, student workbooks, slides, and films about art. In 1935, the AFA began publishing Who's Who in American Art, later publishing The Official Directory of Illustrators and Advertising Artists and Films on Art reference guides. To reach an even larger audience, the AFA began collaborating with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to organize national circulating exhibitions to "bring the museum to the people."
One of AFA's priorities was to make American art more visible abroad. The Federation focused on encouraging the representation of American artists in foreign exhibitions, and in 1924 it lobbied successfully for additional American participation in the Venice Biennale. The AFA's focus on exhibiting American art abroad continued to expand, particularly following World War II. In 1950, recognizing that the AFA could assist in promoting American culture, the State Department awarded the AFA a grant for a German "re-orientation program" consisting of educational exhibitions shown in German museums. Additional government funding further enabled the AFA to organize American participation in exhibitions in India, Japan, Paris, Switzerland, and Rotterdam between 1950 and 1970. Later, the AFA collaborated with the United States Information Agency (USIA) to create the Overseas Museum Donor Program which permitted donations of American art to foreign institutions on a restriction-free, tax-deductible basis. During the 1950s, the AFA was a very active member of the Committee on Government and Art, a national committee with members from across the art and museum world concerned with government sponsorship of and legislation affecting art sales, commissions, and trade.
In 1952, the headquarters of the AFA returned to New York, sparking a period of innovation and expanded of programs. Throughout the 1950s, the AFA distributed films about art and co-sponsored the Films on Art Festival in Woodstock, New York. The AFA also introduced its Picture of the Month Program in 1954, renting original works of art to small American art and educational institutions. In 1956, the AFA organized the Art Collectors Club of America to provide fellowship for art collectors through meetings and activities. The club disbanded in the 1970s.
Throughout its history, the American Federation of Arts has concentrated on its founding principle of broadening the audience for contemporary American art. Through its numerous exhibition and film programs, the AFA has succeeded in "breaking down barriers of distance and language to broaden the knowledge and appreciation of art." Annual exhibitions such as New Talent in the USA and Art Schools USA, organized by the AFA, brought before the public the most contemporary American artists and craftspeople, genres, and artistic forms of experimentation, exposing viewers to new ways of thinking and expression. In 1965, AFA produced The Curriculum in Visual Education, a series of films created to heighten the aesthetic awareness of children.
A vital part of American art history, the AFA was one of the first organizations to develop successfully the concept of traveling art exhibitions on a national and international level. The AFA was instrumental in assisting museums with circulating important juried exhibitions of contemporary art, such as the Whitney Annual and Corcoran Biennial. The AFA also recognized the importance of the exchange of cultural ideas, and it brought exhibitions of the European masters to the American public as well as exhibitions focusing on foreign contempoorary art, photography, and architecture. Many organizations and museums have followed the AFA's precedent, and traveling national and international venues are now commonplace.
Since 1909, women have served as officers and members of the Board of Trustees. Leila Mechlin was a founding participant and served as secretary from 1909 to 1933. Juliana R. Force and Eloise Spaeth both chaired the Exhibition Committee in the late 1940s. Women and artists of diverse backgrounds and nationalities were widely represented in the AFA's exhibition programs, most notably during the 1960s. In 1960, the AFA organized, with financial support from the Ford Foundation, a major Jacob Lawrence retrospective. Additional culturally diverse exhibitions included Contemporary Jewish Ceremonial Art (1961), The Heart of India (1962), 1,000 Years of American Indian Art (1963), and Ten Negro Artists from the United States (1966).
The AFA also had an impact on patronage in the arts. AFA exhibitions of contemporary art provided collectors with knowledge of new artists and avant-garde art forms, creating a broader demand and market for this type of work. Museums and collectors began purchasing work by new or obscure American artists whom they learned about through AFA exhibitions and programs.
The historical records of the American Federation of Arts offer the researcher a unique opportunity to study the development of American art and artists in the twentieth century as well as providing insight into trends in American culture.
Missing Title
1909 -- Founded in New York City. Began publishing Art and Progress (later retitled Magazine of Art) and the American Art Annual.
1910 -- Moved headquarters to Washington, D.C.
1913 -- Lobbied successfully for the removal of the tariff on art entering the United States.
1915-1916 -- Lobbied successfully against the Cummins Amendment and the Interstate Commerce Commission's prohibitively high interstate tax on traveling art.
1920 -- Organized a lobbying campaign for the development of a national gallery of art at its national convention.
1921 -- Opened two new offices at the University of Nebraska and at Stanford University.
1924 -- Arranged American participation in the Venice Biennale exhibition.
1927 -- Closed office at Stanford University.
1929 -- Organized American participation in exhibitions in France and Germany.
1933 -- Closed office at the University of Nebraska.
1935 -- Began publishing Who's Who in American Art.
1948 -- Published The Official Directory of Illustrators and Advertising Artists.
1949 -- Collaborated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to circulate exhibitions from its collections.
1950 -- Participated in the U.S. government's German re-orientation program.
1951 -- Joined forces with the United States Information Agency (USIA) to create the Overseas Museum Donor Program. Published the reference guide Films on Art. Co-sponsored the Films on Art Festival in Woodstock, New York, through 1957.
1952 -- Moved headquarters to New York City.
1953 -- Magazine of Art liquidated.
1954 -- Introduced the Picture of the Month Program.
1956 -- Founded the Art Collectors Club of America.
1958 -- Received a Ford Foundation grant to finance a series of one-person shows of contemporary American artists.
1960 -- Created the Museum Donor Program.
1961 -- Received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to circulate exhibitions to small New York state communities.
1963 -- Received a grant from the Ford Foundation for the Artists in Residence program.
1964 -- Introduced the List Art Poster Program.
1965 -- Produced The Curriculum in Visual Education, a series of films that attempted to heighten the aesthetic awareness of children.
Appendix: List of Artists Exhibiting with American Federation of Arts:
The following is an alphabetical list of artists who exhibited with the American Federation of Arts; many are obscure. The alpha-numeric codes and numbers appearing with the artist's name represent specific AFA exhibition programs and, most often, AFA's exhibition numbering system. In cases where the AFA did not assign an exhibition number, Archives' staff have done so.
The primary reference source for the names and name variants is the American Federation of Arts Records. The names are documented in handwritten notes and lists, typed lists, and exhibition catalogs and announcements. The Archives of American Art name authority file was also consulted in questionable cases. The majority of names, however, were not found in either the AAA name authority file or standard bibliographic resources, and only in the AFA records.
Examples:
55-1: AFA annual exhibitions program
AD-1: Addison Gallery exhibitions
L-1: Life Magazine Exhibitions
ME-1: Misceallaneous exhibitions (numbers assigned by AAA staff)
NMA-1: Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibitions
NE-96: Contemporary Color Lithography
NY-1: New York State Council on the Arts exhibitions
VA-1: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibitions
Missing Title
A. Quincy Jones, Frederick E. Emmons & Assoc: 62-34
The records of the American Federation of Arts (AFA) were donated to the Archives of American Art (AAA) over a thirteen-year period, with the bulk of the material arriving between 1964 and 1966. In 1979, Preston Bolton donated his letters and those from John de Menil, Ann Drevet, Lee Malone, and others regarding planning for the 1957 AFA annual convention held in Houston, Texas; convention committee minutes from 1956; and AFA newsletters. This material, as well as a 1979 gift from Louise Ferrari of transcripts from a panel discussion from the 1957 AFA convention in Houston, was microfilmed on AAA Reel 1780. All material previously microfilmed on Reel 1780 has been fully integrated into the collection and arranged within proper series and subseries. The provenance of the 1990-1993 printed material is unknown.
Restrictions:
Use 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.
REELS N591-N597: Photographs of the Museum, Juliana Force, Herman Moore; scrapbooks on the Whitney Studio Club, Whitney Studio Galleries and the Museum, 1927-1965.
REELS N599-N604: Notebooks of Edwin W. Dickinson; photographs and provenance information for works by Philip Evergood; a catalog of information and some photographs of Chinese ink drawings and other works by Reginald Marsh; and photographs and information on Bernard Reder, Jack Tworkov, Max Weber (portions also microfilmed on reel NY59-8 (fr. 497-658), reel NY59-9 (fr. 1-51), and William Zorach.
REELS N604-N609: Exhibition catalogs, 1946-1966, for artists and groups shows at the Museum, including Robert Feke, William Rimmer, Ralph Blakelock, Albert Maurer, Albert Pinkham Ryder, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Thomas Cole, Max Weber, Arshile Gorky, Mark Tobey, John Sloan, Loren MacIver, I. Rice Pereira, George Grosz, Reginald Marsh, Charles Burchfield, Morris Graves, Theodore Roszak, John Marin, Hans Hofmann, Bradley Tomlin, Stuart Davis, Milton Avery, Lee Gatch, Jose De Creeft, Maurice Prendergast, Edward Hopper, Hyman Bloom, Robert E. Jones, Balcomb Greene, Karl Zerbe, Arthur G. Dove, William Zorach, Philip Evergood, Bernard Reder, Herbert Feber, Oliver O'Connor Barrett,Arthur B. Davies, Jose De Rivera, Paul Burlin, Joseph Stella, Jack Tworkov, Ivan Albright, Stuart Davis, Edwin Dickinson, John Quidor, and Niles Spencer.
REELS N646-N694: Artists' files on: Oliver O'Connor Barrett,William Baziotes, George Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, Peter Blume, James Brooks, Patrick Henry Bruce, Charles Burchfield, Paul Burlin, David Burliuk, Paul Cadmus, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Cole, Glenn Coleman, Jon Corbino, John Steuart Curry, Jo Davidson, Arthur B. Davies, Jose DeCreeft, Charles Demuth, Jose De Rivera, Arthur Dove, Guy Pène du Bois, Stuart Davis, Frank Duveneck, Ralph Earl, Eastman Johnson, The Eight, Philip Evergood, Robert Feke, Lyonel Feininger, Ernest Fiene, George Fuller, Lee Gatch, William Glackens, Arshile Gorky, Balcomb Greene, Chaim Gross, George Grosz, William Harnett, Marsden Hartley, Childe Hassam, John Heliker, Robert Henri, Hans Hofmann, George Inness, Leon Kelly, Franz Kline, Karl Knaths, Leon Kroll, Walt Kuhn, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Gaston Lachaise, Robert Laurent, Ernest Lawson, Jack Levine, Seymour Lipton, George B. Luks,
Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Loren MacIver, John Marin, Reginald Marsh, Alfred Maurer, K. H. Miller, Robert Motherwell, William Mount, Jerome Myers, Louise Nevelson, Georgia O'Keeffe (portions also microfilmed on reels NY59-13 (fr. 98-115, 406-424, 586-685), reel NY59-14 (entire), and reel NY59-15 (fr. 1-140, 145-153), I. Rice Pereira, Bernard Perlin, Joseph Pollett, Jackson Pollock, Reginald Pollack, Henry V. Poor, Richard Pousette-Dart, Maurice Prendergast, Abraham Rattner, Bernard Reder, Ad Reinhardt, William Rimmer, Larry Rivers, Hugo Robus, Theodore Roszak, Mark Rothko, Concetta Scarvaglione, Henry Schnakenberg, Ben Shahn, John Sloan, David Smith, Eugene Speicher, Theodoros Stamos, Joseph Stella, Maurice Sterne, Mark Tobey, Bradley Tomlin,Trajan, Allen Tucker, John Twachtman, Jack Tworkov, Abraham Walkowitz (also on reel NY/59-15) , Max Weber, James M. Whistler, Gertrude Whitney, Grant Wood, Alexander Wyant, Mahonri Young, and William Zorach.
REELS NWH 1-NWH 7: Artist files on Charles Sheeler, Bernard Karfiol, Louis Eilshemius; scatterred records of the Whitney Studio Club and Museum, 1914-1945, including minutes, Oct. 15, 1930, and Whitney Studio ledgers, 1928-1931; catalogs of one-man shows, 1932-1945; catalogs of annual painting exhibitions, 1932-1940, sculpture, watercolor and drawing exhibitions, 1933-1945, and group exhibitions, 1932-1945; and clippings, Oct. 1935-1936.
REELS NY59/8 (fr. 256-end)-NY59/10: Files on Max Weber, including biographical material, lists of work, and miscellany. Also found (NY59/8 frames 354-383) are ca.20 letters from Weber to Abraham Walkowitz, 1907-1924.
Biographical / Historical:
Whitney Museum of American Art is an American art museum in New York, New York. Founded by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and formally opened in 1931. Previous to its opening as a museum it was known as the Whitney Studio Club (1914-28) and Whitney Studio Galleries (1928-30).
Provenance:
The Weber files on reels NY59/8-10 were lent for microfilming 1959 by the Whitney Museum of American Art; the remainder was lent 1964-1967; additional material from the Museum was lent at the same time, and subsequently donated, including the papers of Lloyd Goodrich, Juliana Force, Thomas B. Clarke, the American Art Research Council, and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney; these have each been cataloged separately. Portions of Weber, and O'Keeffe material that was microfilmed in 1959 were refilmed in 1967.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
Artists -- Exhibitions -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
1 Linear foot ((partially microfilmed on 3 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Date:
1941-1978
Scope and Contents:
Photographs of artists; letters; printed material; and a motion picture film.
REEL D284: Exhibition catalogs, 1941-1952, from the Valente Gallery, and clippings; a letter and a sketch from Henry Miller; and a scrapbook containing photographs by Valente of 41 artists, their art work and clippings. Photographs of artists include Boris Aronson, Milton Avery, Arbit Blatas, David Burliuk, Mario Carreño, Joseph DeMartini, Alexander Dobkin, Philip Evergood, Jose Ferrer, Adolph Gottlieb, Marion Greenwood, William Gropper, Chaim Gross, George Grosz, Robert Gwathmey, Lily Harmon, Marsden Hartley, Frederick Haucke, Frank Kleinholz, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Ben Lassen,Sigmund Menkes, Jose Clemente Orozco, Abraham Rattner, Iver Rose, Sally Ryan, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, Margaret Stark, Sabina Teichman, Anthony Toney, Nahum Tschacbasov, Abraham Walkowitz and Ben Wilson.
REEL 2802: A letter from the National Gallery of Art regarding Valente's film "Art Discovers America"; exhibition catalogs on and written by Valente; clippings; and 30 photographs by Valente of 20 artists.
REEL 3480: Two letters from Henry Miller, dated 1943 and 1945. The letters refer to a "watercolor pad and brushes", and Miller also thanks Valente for a portrait of Abe Rattner.
UNMICROFILMED: Photographs by Valente of artists, each accompanied with the artists' self-portrait. Included are Milton Avery, Arbit Blatas, David Burliuk, Mario Carreño, Alexander Dobkin, Philip Evergood, Chaim Gross, Lily Harmon, Frank Kleinholz, Ben Lassen, David Lax, Lawrence H. Lebduska, Jean Liberte, Jose Orozco, Harold Rome, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, Margaret Stark, Sabina Teichman, Anthony Toney, Nahum Tschacbasov, Abraham Walkowitz, and Ben Wilson and 4 photographs of composer Eugene Ormandy which are on the back of the Blatas portraits.
UNMICROFILMED: "Art Discovers America" (MGM shorts), ca. 1945, a 16mm b&w, 400 ft. film regarding the "new public interest" in American art. The film traces the trend back to the exhibition of The Eight, and shows various artists at work, including John Sloan, Thomas Hart Benton, Reginald Marsh, and Abraham Walkowitz. The film was produced by Regency Pictures. Valente was the photographer and co-director along with Hal Frater.
REEL 439-441 AND SCANNED Photos of artists, previously microfilmed under Photos of Artists I, have subsequently been scanned and returned to the Valente papers.
Biographical / Historical:
Photographer; New York City.
Provenance:
Material on reel D284 lent for microfilming by Valente, 1966; Mrs. Valente subsequently donated the scrapbook, 1979. Material on reels 2802, and 3480 donated by Mr. & Mrs. Valente, 1966 through 1979. Unmicrofilmed material donated by Harold Rome, 1988. An additional 35 photos of artists were donated by Valente ca. 1966, and microfilmed on reels 439-441 with AAA's Photographs of Artists Collection I; search under Valente for more information. Many of the photographs are duplicates.
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:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Art and photography -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Artists -- United States -- Photographs Search this
Portrait photography -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Sponsor:
Funding for the preservation of the motion picture film "Art Discovers America" provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
Correspondence, financial papers, and printed materials.
REEL 1119: Correspondence; financial papers relating to house repairs; exhibition announcements, invitations, and other printed material relating to Fernand Leger, Walter Pach, Milton Avery, David Burliuk, and Abraham Walkowitz; and three photographs of Paul Rosenberg, Milton and Sally Avery, Louis and Annette Kaufman at the Rosenberg Gallery during a 1945 Avery exhibition.
REEL 1189: Letters to the Kaufmans from Sally, Milton, and March Avery, David Burliuk, Oskar Kokoschka, Lawrence Lebduska, Jack Levine, and Walter Pach. Also included is a clipping concerning Louis Kaufman's career as a concert violinist, 1976.
ADDITION: Research material on Milton Avery, David Burliuk, and Louis Eilshemius (photocopies of newspaper and magazine articles); Avery exhibition catalogs (1961-2000), including Milton Avery Revisited: Works from the Louis and Annette Kaufman Collection, Syracuse University Art Collection (1999-2000); two magazines, Art Bulletin (1932) and Color and Rhyme (1940); and book, Milton Avery: Prints and Drawings, 1930-1964, Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1966.
Material on reels 1119 and 1189 was lent for microfilming 1976-1977 by the Kaufmans. In 2002, an additional 0.4 ft. was donated by Annette Kaufman; the donation does not include material previously lent.
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.
Addition: Unmicrofilmed; use requires an appointment and is limited to AAA's Washington, D.C. office.
Occupation:
Collectors -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Musicians -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Letters from artist friends, including three letters and a postcard from David Burliuk; 17 from Philip Evergood about visiting Popper, teaching and painting; and one letter from Abraham Walkowitz; and a rough draft and a final copy of I PAINT PEOPLE AND THINGS, a lecture given by Evergood at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, educator; Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1978 by Samuel Popper.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Files on ca. 150 American artists and art subjects, selected from Duveen's art reference files. Included are photographs of paintings in other collections, auction and exhibition catalogs, miscellaneous publications.
Files include: Francis Alexander, Washington Allston, William H. Bartlett, Ben-Zion, Thomas Birch, Joseph Blackburn, Ralph A. Blakelock, Charles F. Blauvelt, Peter Blume, Emile Branchard, Albertis D. O. Browere, John G. Brown, Jonathan Buddington, James E. Buttersworth, Carra, Dennis M. Carter, Mary Cassatt, George Catlin, Centurion, Paul Cezanne, Moura Chabor, Marc Chagall, T. Chambers, Jean Charlot, Thomas Cole, John Constable, George Cope, John S. Copley, Ralston Crawford, Jasper F. Cropsey, Arthur B. Davies, Charles Despiau, Roland Detre, Thomas R. Dibble, Enrico Donati, William Doriani, Thomas Doughty, Jessie Drew-Bear, Robert S. Duncanson, Dunlap, Asher B. Durand, George H. Durrie, Frank Duveneck, Evert Duyckinck, Thomas Eakins, Jacob Eichholtz, Louis M. Eilshemius, Charles L. Elliott, Robert Field, Emil Ganso, Pablo Gargallo, Jan Gelb, Paul Gillman, Christian Gullager, George H. Hall, Chester Harding, William M. Harnett, George Harvey, William J. Hays, George P. A. Healy, Edward L. Henry, John Hesselius, Edward Hicks, Thomas Hicks, Holland House, Charles Fevret de Saint-Memin, Winslow Homer, S. A. Hudson, Daniel Huntington, Henry Inman, George Inness, John W, Jarvis, Eastman Johnson, Henrietta Johnston, John Johnston, Hilde B. Kayn, Dikran K. Kelekian, Fitz Hugh Lane, Ernest Lawson, M. F. Lefferts, William R. Leigh, Abraham Lincoln, George B. Luks, Edward G. Malbone, Alfred H. Maurer, Louis Maurer, McKay, Alfred J. Miller, Louis C. Moeller, Samuel F. B. Morse, John Neagle, Donald Organ, Bass Otis, Walter Pach, Charles W. Peale, James Peale, Rembrandt Peale, William Penn, Enoch W. Perry, F. E. H. Philippoteaux, Charles P. Polk, T. B. Pope, Rufus Porter, William M. Prior, Walter Quirt, William T. Ranney, Reinhardt, Frederic Remington, Louisa Robins, Severin Roesen, Thomas P. Rossiter, Peter F. Rothermel, Charles M. Russell, Edward Savage, William Sawitzky, Nikol Schattenstein, Christian Schussele, D. Serres, James Sharples, Morris Shulman, John Smibert, Sergei Soudeikin, Haim Soutine, Frederick R. Spencer, Albert Stewart, Robert Street, William J. Strong, Gilbert Stuart, C. (Charles ?) Sullivan, Thomas Sully, Arthur F. Tait, G. Tirrell, John Trumbull, John Vanderlyn, Pieter Vanderlyn, William Von Schlegell, Samuel L. Waldo, Abraham Walkowitz, George Washington, Elbert Weinberg, Julian A. Weir, Thomas B. Welch, Adolph U. Wertmuller, Benjamin West, Anne Whitney, Arnold Wiltz, William E. Winner, S. Wood, and Thomas W. Wood.
The Saint-Memin, Stuart, B. West and Wertmuller files contain material from Albert Rosenthal relating to the above artists.
Arrangement:
Files are arranged alphabetically by artist and subject, rolls NDU1-NDU3; publications and other miscellany were filmed on rolls NDU4-NDU5.
Biographical / Historical:
Albert Duveen was an art dealer and collector with offices in New York, N.Y., specializing in early American art. He was a cousin to Joseph Duveen (1869-1939), 1st Baron Duveen, president of Duveen Brothers art dealers.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1958 by Duveen.
Restrictions:
The Archives does not own the original papers. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm.
Correpsondence, writings, photographs, artwork and printed material relating to painter and tapissere Sylvia Carewe.
Correspondence includes an undated card from Milton and Sally Avery and a letter from Susan Page Tillett of the National Portrait Gallery, 1979. Writings include photocopies of poems and writings by Carewe, undated and 1943-1972 and 7 books with inscriptions by David Davidovich Burliuk, Chaim Gross, and Abraham Walkowitz. Two of the books contain a gouache and ink drawings by Burliuk and Gross with their inscriptions to Carewe. Photographs are of Carewe, her son, friends and her studio. Also included is a photograph of Carewe and husband, art collector Marvin Small, ca. 1955, signed by Arnold Newman.
Artwork includes 2 sketchbooks, ca. 1942, containing watercolor studies and sketches; a gouache, 1956, by Chaim Gross; a sketchbook of ink and pencil drawings; and a sketchbook containing the signatures of founding members of The American Society of Tapestry Designers, March 30, 1960. Printed material consists of an undated price list and description of tapestries in the exhibition CONTEMPORARY FRENCH TAPESTRIES, sponsored by Association Francaise D'Action Artistique, French & Company, New York City, and a news release about the exhibition; exhibition posters, ca. 1958-1971; 2 postcards of works by Carewe; magazine and newspaper clippings, 1960 and 1963; and other publications about Carewe's tapestries.
Biographical / Historical:
Sylvia Carewe (1906-1981) was a painter and tapissere in New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated 1971 and 1979 by Sylvia Carewe and in 1983 by John Small, Carewe's son.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Textile designers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of New York painters and teachers Josef Presser and Presser's wife Agnes Hart measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1980, with the bulk of the material from 1940 to 1980. The collection documents their personal and professional lives as artists and educators and consists of biographical material, business and personal correspondence, teaching files, printed material, and scattered photographs. The collection also includes writings, personal business records, and artwork by Presser.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York painters and teachers Josef Presser and Agnes Hart measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1913 to 1980, with the bulk of the material from 1940 to 1980. The collection documents their personal and professional lives as partners, artists, and educators and consists of biographical material, business and personal correspondence, teaching files, printed material, and scattered photographs. The collection also includes writings, personal business records, and artwork by Presser.
The collection is divided into two series. Series 1 consists primarily of Presser's papers from 1913 to his death in 1967, and Hart's correspondence dating from 1967 to 1977 regarding the management of his estate. Biographical material includes an address book, curriculum vitae, family history, and personal identification records. Presser's personal correspondence is with family and friends, including the artists Charles Hopkinson and Vera Fraser. Business related correspondence is with various collectors, galleries, museums, art associations, and art schools. There is also correspondence related to Presser's law suit against the New York Port Authority, and Presser and Hart's real estate purchases in Hurley and Woodstock, New York. Hart's correspondence concerns Presser's estate and artwork after his death, including letters related to the organization of Presser's memorial exhibition in 1968.
Writings by Presser include essay fragments, 4 notebooks, and numerous note fragments. His teaching files include memoranda, syllabi, and class assignments from his tenure at New York University from 1947 to 1952. There are also memoranda from the New York School of Visual Arts and the Prospect Hill School. Personal business records include bank registers, artwork sales records, and receipts from his residency in Paris in the 1960s.
Printed material consists of bulletins, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs related to Presser's career. There are also draft and final versions of Presser's memorial exhibition catalog, and a copy of the 1951 conference Artist and the Museum sponsored by the Artists Equity Association and the Woodstock Artists Association.
Artwork consists of loose sketches, artwork on postcards and printed material, and 9 sketchbooks dating from the 1950s to 1960s. Photographic material includes photographs of Presser with friends and family, and photographs of his studio and artwork. There are also 4 photographs of the artist Abraham Walkowitz dating from the 1940s.
Agnes Hart's papers documenting her own career are arranged in Series 2 and date from 1930 to 1980. Biographical materials include two engagement calendars, curriculum vitae, consignment lists, and critiques. Her correspondence with family and friends includes letters from artist Lucile Blanch, journalist Agnes Smedley, and Yaddo director Elizabeth Ames. Business correspondence is with galleries, collectors, art associations, and art schools.
Teaching files include employment contracts, class catalogs, newsletters, and photographs from Hart's tenure at the Art Students League (1965-1975), and class catalogs and memoranda from Dalton Schools and Parnassus Square. Printed material includes bulletins, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs related to Hart's career. There are also draft and final versions of the 1956 Yasuo Kuniyoshi memorial exhibition catalog. Additional photographic material consists of a photograph of the Central Cown Art Center, a gallery Hart managed in 1937.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 2 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Josef Presser, 1913-1977 (3 linear feet; Boxes 1-3, Box 5)
Series 2: Agnes Hart, 1930-1980 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Biographical Note:
Josef Presser (1909-1967) lived and worked primarily in New York City as a painter, educator, and lecturer.
Presser was born in Lublin, Poland and immigrated with his family to Boston, Massachusetts in 1913. He showed an early affinity for art and, at the age of 12, was accepted to the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts on a four year scholarship. After completing his education, he spent several years traveling in Europe and visited the major museums of France, Italy, and Belgium before returning to America in 1931. Upon his return, Presser opened his first solo New York show at the Montross Gallery in 1931, moved to Philadelphia, painted murals as part of the Works Progress Administration program, and began receiving private commissions. By the mid-1930s, Presser was exhibiting regularly in solo shows in Philadelphia and had began accepting teaching positions. While lecturing at Iowa State University, Presser met his future wife and artist, Agnes Hart, who he married in 1941.
After moving to New York City in 1940, Presser continued to exhibit in New York galleries throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and eventually accepted teaching positions at New York University, Queens College, Cooper Union, and the Brooklyn Museum Art School, among others. Though he was familiar with the work of the abstract expressionists, Presser is known primarily for his figurative paintings featuring women, children, clowns, and horses, with the latter two subjects inspired by circuses he had traveled with in Europe. In 1940, Presser and Hart purchased studio space in Woodstock, New York where they exhibited as members of the Woodstock Artists Association. Presser's solo shows include exhibitions at Contemporary Arts Gallery, Associated American Artists Galleries, and the Vera Lazuk Gallery.
In 1965, Presser went on an extended trip abroad to Paris, and continued working until his death in 1967.
Agnes Hart (1912-1979) was born in Meridan, Connecticut and studied art at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida and at Iowa State University. Hart was a prolific painter and printmaker of abstract forms and urban landscapes. In 1948 and 1949, she received fellowships as a guest painter at the Yaddo Foundation and exhibited her first solo show in New York City at the RoKo Gallery in 1948. She continued to exhibit regularly at New York City galleries into the 1970s, and also accepted several teaching positions, including a ten year tenure with the Art Students League of New York. She continued to paint and teach until her death in 1979.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel N69-1) including original clippings and exhibition announcements. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The papers of Josef Presser were lent for microfilming by Agnes Hart in 1968. Excluding certain printed material, Hart later donated the bulk of these papers and additional Presser materials in 1977 and 1979. Hart donated her papers in 1978. Frances Hitchcock, Hart's sister, gave additional material in 1981.
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.
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.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
0.2 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1934-1983
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, biographical information, exhibition catalogs, photographs, and printed material.
UNMICROFILMED: Resume and biographical notes by Sievan's widow, Lee Sievan; correspondence between Sievan and Raymond Piper concerning Sievan's thoughts on art, especially in regard to his painting "Whither O Lord"; a letter from Sievan to art critic Sam Feinstein, 1955; exhibition catalogs, 1939-1983; photocopies of reviews; 14 photographs of Sievan in his studio in Provincetown, Massachusetts and with other artists, including Milton Avery, Sydney Gross, J. Patrick Lannon, Waldemere Raemisch, Max Schnitzler, T. Trajan, and Abraham Walkowitz; and 11 photographs of Andrew Winter in his studio in Maine, 1949. Photographs were taken by Lee Sievan.
REEL D234: Correspondence; biographical information; lectures and other writings; photographs of Sievan and his works; and clippings.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; New York, N.Y. Born 1898 in the Ukraine and emmigrated with his family to the United States in 1907. Studied at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, and with Andre L'hote in Paris. Exhibited in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Museum of Modern Art, the Mortimer Brandt Gallery, and many others. Died 1981.
Provenance:
Material on reel D234 lent for microfilming 1965 by Sievan. Unmicrofilmed material donated 1973-1986 by Maurice and Lee Sievan.
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:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of painter Abraham Walkowitz date from 1904-1969, and measure 2.9 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material; letters from artists, friends, and art collectors; business records; four interview transcripts; notes and writings; exhibition announcements, cataloges, and other printed material; and photographs of Walkowitz, friends, colleagues, and artworks.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter Abraham Walkowitz date from 1904-1969, and measure 2.9 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material; letters from artists, friends, and art collectors; business records; four interview transcripts; notes and writings; exhibition announcements, catalogs, and other printed material; and photographs of Walkowitz, friends, colleagues, and artworks.
Biographical material consists of autobiographical notes, a citizenship certificate, membership and registration cards, medical records, and address books.
Letters, with scattered responses from Walkowitz, are primarily from colleagues including artists John Taylor Arms, George Biddle, Paula Eliasoph, Ivan G. Olinsky, Walter Pach, Alfred Stieglitz, Carl Van Vechten, and Max Weber, Boston art collector Louis Schapiro, publisher E. Haldeman-Julius, writer Horace Traubel, and dancers Elizabeth Duncan and Maria-Theresa Duncan, the sister and adopted daughter of Isadora Duncan respectively. Individual letters are primarily from the diverse group of notable people to whom Walkowitz had sent copies of his books. Also found are letters from art organizations and museums.
Business records consist of documents concerning the will of art collector George M. Dunaif, letters of acknowledgement of gifts of art work donated by Walkowitz to various museums, and miscellaneous financial material. Transcripts are of three interviews with Walkowitz and an interview with Walkowitz and Frank Kleinholz. Notes and writings include lists of names, addresses, and art work, miscellaneous lecture notes, and writings by Walkowitz and by others. Printed material consists of clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, reproductions of art work, and books by Walkowitz, and by Walkowitz and E. Haldeman-Julius.
The photographs series contains the most significant material in the collection. The majority of photographs are of Abraham Walkowitz, taken by many notable photographers including Arnold Genthe, Lotte Jacobi, Arnold Newman, Alfredo Valente, Carl Van Vechten, and Clarence White. Also found are photographs of friends and colleagues, as well as photographs of art work by Walkowitz and others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material 1906-1944 (Box 1, 5; 8 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1906-1966 (Box 1; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 3: Business Records, 1930-1956 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 4: Interview Transcripts, 1944-1958 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1904-1949 (Box 1-2; 26 folders)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1910-1969 (Box 2, 5; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1904-1958 (Box 2-5; 0.9 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Abraham Walkowitz (1878-1965) was a painter in Brooklyn, New York. Walkowitz was born in Tumen in Siberian Russia, the son of Jacob and Rita Schulman Walkowitz. Following the death of his father, a lay rabbi and cantor, in the late 1880s, Walkowitz immigrated to the United States with his mother and siblings and settled in the Lower East Side of New York City.
When interest in the Modernist movement diminished during the 1930s, Walkowitz's career also diminished, but he continued as an avid member and officer in the Society of Independent Artists. In the mid-1940s, he explored the varieties of the modernist vision in the form of an exhibition of 100 portraits of Walkowitz by 100 artist colleagues. The result was widely discussed and was featured in Life magazine in 1944. In 1945, Walkowitz travelled to Kansas to reunite with his colleague, E. Haldeman-Julius, to publish in a series of books concerning Walkowitz's art work. He also executed a series of drawings of the barns and strip mines in the area. But by 1946, glaucoma had begun to impair Walkowitz's vision, leading to his eventual blindness. Also in the mid-1940s, Walkowitz lost the contents of his studio to fire.
In 1963, Walkowitz received the Marjory Peabody Award of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. His work is represented in the collections of the Newark Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Abraham Walkowitz died on January 26, 1965 in Brooklyn, New York.
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview of Abraham Walkowitz conducted by Abram Lerner and Mary Bartlett Cowdrey, December 8 and 22, 1958.
Provenance:
Portions of the papers were donated in 1959 by Abraham Walkowitz; in 1966 by Dr. Rosa E. Prigosen, the artist's niece; in 1981 through a transfer of material from the National Museum of American Art/National Portrait Gallery Library; and in 1996 by Howard and Lila Schulman.
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.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
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:
Abraham Walkowitz papers, 1904-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation of American Art
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:
Abraham Walkowitz papers, 1904-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation of American Art
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:
Abraham Walkowitz papers, 1904-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation of American Art
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:
Abraham Walkowitz papers, 1904-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation of American Art
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:
Abraham Walkowitz papers, 1904-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation of American Art
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:
Abraham Walkowitz papers, 1904-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation of American Art
