The papers of painter, printmaker, and illustrator Bernarda Bryson Shahn measure 14.6 linear feet and 5.88 GB and date from 1872 to 2004, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1904-2004. Found within the papers are family and biographical materials, correspondence, writings including sound recordings of lectures by the Shahns, some in digital format, voluminous notebooks, five diaries, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, seven scrapbooks, one sketchbook and other art work, and photographs. Although the bulk of the collection documents Bernarda's work, there are materials about or created by Ben Shahn scattered throughout the collection.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter, printmaker, and illustrator Bernarda Bryson Shahn measure 11.9 linear feet and 5.88 GB and date from 1872 to 2004, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1904-2004. Found within the papers are family and biographical materials, correspondence, writings including sound recordings of lectures by the Shahns, voluminous notebooks, five diaries, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, seven scrapbooks, one sketchbook and other art work, and photographs. Although the bulk of the collection documents Bernarda's work, there are materials about or created by Ben Shahn scattered throughout the collection.
There is a 2.7 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2011 that includes administrative files regarding Bernarda Shahn's work on the board of Skowhegan correspondence of both Bernarda and Ben Shahn; an inventory ledger with names of works of art by Ben Shahn; a scrapbook regarding Ben Shan's work in Japan; photographs of Ben and Bernarda Shahn and images of works of art by Ben Shahn; sketchbooks and notebooks by Ben and Bernarda Shahn; and printed material. One additional letter donated in 2022 is from Deborah Martin Kao, Harvard University Art Museums, to Bernarda B. Shahn, 1996.
Biographical material includes biographical accounts for Bernarda and Ben Shahn, identification cards, membership cards, awards, appointment books and calendars, address books, and a video recording.
Correspondence is primarily between Bernarda Bryson Shahn and publishers, educational institutions, and colleagues and friends including Leo Lionni, Russell Lynes, Robert Osborn, and Warren Robbins.
There are four linear feet of notes, notebooks, typescripts, and other writings by Bernarda Bryson Shahn and others, many of which concern Ben Shahn. Included are numerous files of research notes for published and planned books about Ben Shahn, notebooks concerning art-related topics, card files of art work, lists, sound recordings of lectures by the Shahns and Gwen Knight, some in digital format, and many typescripts of writings about art and Ben Shahn, among other topics. There is also a folder of notes by Ben Shahn for the Mural for the Rural Rehabilitation Program. Five of Bernarda Shahn's diaries contain very brief daily entries and some illustrations. The 1972 diary contains much more elaborate illustrations.
The exhibition files contain letters, notes, and printed material concerning exhibitions of art work by Ben Shahn.
Personal business records include files concerning property, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, miscellaneous contracts, files concerning publishing, art price lists, and other scattered legal and/or financial records.
Printed material includes clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, press releases for Bernarda Bryson Shahn, Ben Shahn, and others, books including A Partridge in a Pear Tree, illustrated by Ben Shahn, and printed reproductions of art work. Seven scrapbooks also contain printed materials, notes, and photographs. Scrapbooks 1-4 document the creation of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial for which Jonathan Shahn created the large portrait bust. Scrapbooks 5-7 concern a book by Bernarda Bryson Shahn, and scrapbook 8 contains obituaries for Ben Shahn.
Art work includes a sketchbook with annotations, drawings, a portfolio of drawings, lettering designs, watercolor sketches, and layouts for publications.
Photographs are of unidentified and identified Shahn family members, Ben Shahn, Ben Shahn with friends and colleagues including Alexander Calder, Helen Hayes, Senator Jacob Javitz, and Nelson Rockefeller, Ben Shahn's studio, exhibition installations, and art work by Bernarda Bryson Shahn, Ben Shahn, and others. There are also travel photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1937-1999 (Box 1, 13; 35 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1934-2004 (Box 1-5, 13, OV 14; 3.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Notes and Writings, 1946-2001 (Box 5-9; 4.0 linear feet, ER01-ER09; 5.88 GB)
Series 4: Diaries, 1965-1985 (Box 9; 5 folders)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1955-2000 (Box 9; 5 folders)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1932-2001 (Box 9, 10; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1904-2004 (Box 10-11, 13, OV 14-15; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1945-1978 (Box 11, 13, OV 15; 30 folders)
Series 9: Art Work, 1970-2002 (Box 11-13, OV 14; 70 folders)
Series 10: Photographs, 1872-1985 (Box 12; 34 folders)
Series 11: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1904-2004 (Box 16-19, OV 20; 2.7 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Bernarda Bryson Shahn (1903-2004) worked primarily in New Jersey as a painter, printmaker, and illustrator. She was married to Ben Shahn and often collaborated with him.
Bernarda Bryson was born on March 7, 1903 in Athens, Ohio, the daughter of the owner-editor of newspaper The Athens Morning Journal. After receiving early drawing and painting lessons from her mother, Bryson attended a private girls' school where she continued her studies in art and art history.
At Ohio University, Bryson majored in philosophy and attended art classes in which David Smith was a classmate. She later attended the Cleveland Art School where she studied printmaking.
Following graduation, Bryson taught etching and lithography at the art school of the Columbus Gallery of Fine Art. She also wrote for The Ohio State Journal and became editor of community paper The South Side Advocate. While in New York City to interview Diego Rivera, she met Ben Shahn who was assisting Rivera in painting the mural at Rockefeller Center. Bernarda Bryson and Ben Shahn were married in 1935.
Bernarda Bryson Shahn moved to New York and helped organize the Artists' Union and exhibited at the Whitney Gallery on Eighth Street. She then went to Woodstock to study lithography with Bolton Brown and was invited to set up a lithographic shop for the Resettlement Administration in Washington, D.C.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Bernarda Bryson Shahn executed illustrations for Harper's Magazine, Scientific American and Fortune in addition to random assignments from Life, Sports Illustrated and other publications. She illustrated many books including Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice as well as writing and illustrating her own books Gilgamesh, The Twenty Miracles of Saint Nicolas, and The Zoo of Zeus. Following the death of her husband in 1969, she wrote and designed a large monograph Ben Shahn, published by Abrams.
In the mid-1970s, Bernarda Bryson Shahn won further recognition when she returned to painting.
Bernarda Bryson Shahn died on December 12, 2004 in Roosevelt, New Jersey.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are two oral histories with Bernarda Bryson Shahn, one completed in 1983 by Liza Kirwin and another in 1995 by Pamela Meecham. The Archives also holds the Ben Shahn papers.
Provenance:
Donated 1983 by Bernarda Bryson Shahn and in 2005 and 2011 by Bernarda Brsyon Shahn estate via Jonathan Shahn and Abigail Shahn, co-executors. An additional letter donated in 2022 by Newton Paul, Armand-Paul Family Collection.
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.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References 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.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Stereographs
Photographs
Date:
late 19th century-early 20th century
Scope and Contents note:
Stereographs documenting Native North Americans, including studio portraits, camps and dwellings, graves, infants in cradleboards, and pottery. Specific images portray Sitting Bull's camp at Fort Randall, Curly at the Custer monument, and a Southern Plains delegation at the White House Conservatory. Tribes represented include Winnebago, Tuscarora, Tesuque, Seneca, San Juan, Pecos, Ojibwa, Oglala, Ute, Kaibab, Sisseton, Arikara, Mandan, Hopi, Shoshoni, Isleta, and Laguna, as well as Native peoples of Alaska and Labrador.
The photographs were published by a variety of firms including E. & H. T. Anthony & Company, George Barker, H. H. Bennett, Bennett & Brown, W. Henry Brown, Caswell & Davy, Childs Art Gallery, B. B. Brubaker, Continent Stereo Company, W. R. Cross, H. A. Doerr, J. Gurney & Son, Haynes, H. T. Hiester, John K. Hillers, William H. Jackson, J. F. Jarvis, Keystone View Company, B. L. Singley, S. J. Morrow, H. T. Payne, H. N. Robinson, C. R. Savage, John P. Soule, Underwood & Underwood, Whitney's Gallery, Whitney & Zimmerman, and Ben Wittick.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 140
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs by these photographers can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in additional collections of stereographs relating to Native Americans (MS 4551 and Photo Lot 90-1)
Photo lot 140, Bureau of American Ethnology collection of stereographs relating to Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Microfilm of the Benjamin Stone collection of photographs relating to Britain and Europe, North America, South America, Africa, India, and Australasia. Prints made from the microfilm are mostly of portraits of American Indians and some field images relating to delegations, expeditions, dwellings, and the 1862 Sioux uprising in Minnesota. They include depictions of Arikara, Ojibwa, Miniconjou, Dakota, Pawnee, Winnebago, Iroquois, Ute, Blackfoot, Cree, Crow, Salish, and Kootenai Indians. There are also images of buildings, boats, railroads, and scenic views from around America, as well as the Smithsonian Castle in 1871 and Chicago after the Great Fire. Photographers represented include B. H. Gurnsey, Joel Emmons Whitney, and Adrian J. Ebell.
Biographical note:
Sir John Benjamin Stone (1838-1914) was born in Birmingham, England, to a glass-making family, a profession he briefly joined before starting a career in politics. He was elected representative of the Duddlestone Ward on the Birmingham Town Coucil in 1869, later becoming Mayor Cutton (1886-1891) and Member of Parliament for East Birmingham (1895-1910). Inspired by a love of antiquities, Stone began to collect and then make photographs during his international travels to East Asia, the West Indies, Africa, and North and South America. As the first president of the Birmingham Photographic Society, he encouraged the development of the Warwickshire Photographic Survey. Additionally, he helped found the National Photographic Record Association, and served as President of the organization. During his time in Parliament, Stone made a photographic survey of the Palace of Westminster and was official photographer for the Coronation of King Geroge V in 1910. His photographs were published in the two-volume Sir Benjamin Stone's Pictures (1905).
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot R4859
Reproduction Note:
Prints made by the Smithsonian Institution, 1969.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Some photographs have been separated into Photo Lot 24. These photographs are represented by item-level descriptions linked to this record.
Contained in:
Numbered manuscripts 1850s-1980s (some earlier)
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Copy prints of photographs in the Birmingham Public Library in Birmngham, England. Reference copies can be made for Smithsonian Institution staff only. Permission to publish and other prints can be obtained from the Birmingham Public Library.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Mdewakantonwan Dakota (Mdewakanton Sioux) Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Albumen prints
Photographs
Date:
circa 1862
Scope and Contents note:
Carte-de-visite portrait of Little Crow, a chief of the Mdewakanton Dakota Tribe and leader of the Sioux Uprising in 1862.
Biographical/Historical note:
Little Crow (circa 1810-1863), also known as Taoyatiduta, was a Mdewakanton Dakota chief known for his participation in the Treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota of 1851 and his leadership during the Sioux uprising in 1862. After a loss at the Battle of Wood Lake in September 1862, Little Crow fled to Canada but soon returned to Minnesota. He was killed on July 3, 1863, by Nathan Lamson.
Joel Emmons Whitney (1822-1886) moved in 1850 to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he would remain for most of his professional photography career. Almost immediately, he began to photograph under the name Whitney's Gallery (1851-1871). In early 1851 he partnered with George C. Nichols to open the daguerreotype gallery Whitney & Nichols and Whitney opened an independent studio later that year. Under the tutelage of Alexander Hesler, he continued making daguerreotypes, which he marketed as "Pocket Editions of Nature" and exhibited at fairs in New York and Minnesota. Whitney partnered with William S. Combs (1867-1869) and then purchased Martin's Art Gallery from James Edgar Martin. In 1870, he employed and then partnered with Charles A. Zimmerman, to whom he sold his business in 1871.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 2000-25
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional Joel Emmons Whitney and Whitney & Zimmerman photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 140, Photo Lot 80-18, Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 99-4, Photo Lot 4605, and the BAE historical negatives.
Additional images of Little Crow held in National Anthropological Archives MS 4659, Photo Lot 4286, and the BAE historical negatives.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 2000-25, Joel Emmons Whitney photograph of Little Crow, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Carte-de-visite printed description reads as follows: Sha-kpe. (Little Six). Executed at Fort Snelling, Nov. 11, 1865, for participation in the Massacre of 1862. Whitney's Gallery, St. Paul, Minn
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Dakota War cartes-de-visite, Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt, 1875-1942 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1917-1947
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Whitney Museum of American Art, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Papers, 1851-1975 (bulk 1888-1942). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
The papers of painter Dorothy Varian date from circa 1902 to 1984 and measure 2.3 linear feet. This collection documents Varian's life primarily through scattered biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, artists and art galleries; personal business records; a few writings; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, and other printed material; photographs of Varian, her friends, and artwork; and original sketches by Varian and fellow artist Peggy Bacon.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Dorothy Varian date from circa 1902 to 1984 and measure 2.3 linear feet. This collection documents Varian's life primarily through scattered biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, artists and art galleries; personal business records; a few writings; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, and other printed material; photographs of Varian, her friends, including Peggy Bacon, Alex Brook, Bernard Karfiol, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and artwork; and original sketches by Varian and fellow artist Peggy Bacon.
Varian's earliest correspondence is with her mother and her cousin Jessie, detailing her life as an artist in Paris. Also found is extensive correspondence with with Peggy Bacon, Hermine Kleinert, Lenore G. Marshall, Waldo Pierce, Katherine Schmidt, Antoinette Schulte, and the Renoir family.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1920-1980 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1917-1981 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, 1940s-1960s (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1931-1984 (9 folders; Box 1)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1916-1981 (0.5 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1902-1961 (13 folders; Boxes 2-3)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1912-1924 (11 folders; Boxes 2-3)
Biographical / Historical:
Dorothy Varian (1895-1985) was a painter in New York City, and Woodstock, NY. Varian was born in New York City on April 26, 1895; daughter of Eugene W. and Helen Estelle Varian. She dropped out of high school at 15 and entered Cooper Union where she graduated with honors. After Cooper Union she attended the Art Students League. While a student she inadvertently won first and second prize in a local art contest sponsored by movie producer, William Fox. She used the prize money to rent her first studio in Woodstock.
In 1920, her cousins Jessie and C. Vanderbilt Barton provided her the means to study in Paris.
Varian's first one-man show was held in 1922 at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in Paris. A close friend of Varian's during this time was Jean Renior, son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Within the first year after she returned permanently to the United States, Varian had exhibitions at the Whitney Club, Whitney Galleries, and the Downtown Galleries. Edith Halpert, director of the Downtown Galleries became Varian's art dealer. Varian used the money from her work to buy a home in Woodstock which became her primary painting studio. The majority of her circle was formed during her time at the Art Students League and during her years in Paris. Varian also met many artists who were living and working alongside her in Woodstock. Throughout her life, she stayed in contact with many of these friends including Peggy Bacon, Alex Brook, Georgina Klitgaard, Frederick Dana Marsh, Lenore G. Marshall, and Waldo Pierce.
Varian worked primarily with watercolor and oil painting. Varian's work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Galleries, Carnegie International, Whitney Museum of American Art, Association of American Artists Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, and several universities across the country. Over the course of her career, Varian held fifteen solo exhibitions and received many awards including the Kuniyoshi Award in 1975. Varian died in 1985 at the age of 90.
Related Materials:
Also found in this repository is an interview of Dorothy Varian conducted 1980 Dec. 6-7, by Avis Berman, for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in installments by Dorothy Varian in 1972, 1978, and 1981. An additonal installment was donated in 1986 by the Dorothy Varian estate, via Robert Plate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Ten letters (1915) from Teichert to her parents describe her life as a student at the Art Students League in New York. She discusses her finances, clothing, classes and instructors. She also mentions her employment as a painter of animals, the exhibition of her work at Newport and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's gallery, and lectures on women's suffrage by orators including "Katherine" [Carrie] Chapman Catt. Three letters (1916-1926) from Robert Henri describe his work in Santa Fe, discuss the mixing of paint, advise Teichert on the sale of her Murillo paintings, and critique her work.
Provenance:
The lenders, Laurie Eastwood and Robert Henri Teichert, are the children of Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Art students -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is available in the Archives' Washington, D.C. research facility. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jamison Thomas Gallery records, 1940-1996, bulk 1980-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Esther Baldwin Williams and Esther Williams papers, 1887-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
Reels 3936-3940: Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from an officer of the Vose Galleries. 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.
Collection Citation:
Vose Galleries of Boston records, circa 1876-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collection Care Preservation Fund
Photo lot 140, Bureau of American Ethnology collection of stereographs relating to Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Blackmore Collection #: carte A9/1148. Blackmore collection (British Museum) carte A9/1148 is on Whitney Gallery mount (same as one shown in this photo except not cropped below "...The Celebrated Chippewa Chief.")