Johnson is a collector of the work of ceramist Frans Wildenhain.
Provenance:
Donated 1983 by Robert B. Johnson.
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.
Sculptor, monumental stone sculptor, bronze, and woodcuts. Born in Berlin, East Germany in 1889. Taught at School of Applied Art, Bauhaus, Halle and Hamburg. Last of Germany's three "Expressionist" sculptors.
Provenance:
Microfilm donated by Ludwig Veit of the Germanisches National Museum, West Germany
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview of Frans Wildenhain conducted 1978 April 10-1979 July 28, by Robert Brown for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Frans Wildenhain (1905-1980) was a potter, painter, sculptor, and art instructor of Pittsford, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 6 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
An interview with Elisabeth (Lili) Wildenhain conducted 1995 August 22, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art, in Wildenhain's home, Pittsford, N.Y.
Wildenhain talks about her childhood in a wealthy, cosmopolitan German-speaking family in Bohemia; her early interests and schooling; her work at the American Fine Arts and Monuments service; designing costumes and clothes in Kansas City following her first marriage; studying with Oskar Kokoschka; meeting Frans Wildenhain (who she subsequently married), travelling with him to Japan, and coming with him to Rochester, N.Y. where he taught at the School for American Craftsmen; and her problematic financial and health situation.
Biographical / Historical:
Elisabeth Wildenhain (1919-2004) is a fiber artist and teacher from Rochester, N.Y. Elizabeth Wildenhain is the third wife of ceramist Frans Wildenhain.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 3 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire audio recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Fiber artists -- New York (State) -- Rochester -- Interviews Search this
The papers of ceramicist, sculptor, and educator Frans Wildenhain measure 8.2 linear feet and date from circa 1890 to 1991. The papers document his career in Europe and the United States through biographical material, correspondence, diaries and notebooks, writings and notes, subject files, project files, printed material, three mixed media scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of ceramicist, sculptor, and educator Frans Wildenhain measure 8.2 linear feet and date from circa 1890 to 1991. The papers document his career in Europe and the United States through biographical material, correspondence, diaries and notebooks, writings and notes, subject files, project files, printed material, three mixed media scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographic materials.
The bulk of Wildenhain's correspondence is from family and friends including Walter Herzger and Marguerite Wildenhain. Twelve diaries and notebooks include general diary entries but may include notes on art, sketches, kiln logs, and designs. Of note is a diary kepy by Wildenhain during his drive from New York City to Guerneville, California upon his arrival in the United States in 1937. Project files contain records relating to four murals completed by Wildenhain on the east coast. Three scrapbooks contain clippings, exhibition materials, and photographs concerning his teaching career at the School for American Craftsmen and exhibitions. Eleven sketchbooks date from the 1930s to 1979 and mostly contain pencil sketches. Photographs depict Wildenhain, family, his wives Marguerite, Marjorie, and Lili, homes, studios, exhibitions, and works of art by Wildenhain and others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1930-circa 1980 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1895-1981 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 3: Diaries and Notebooks, 1930-1978 (Box 1-2; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings and Notes, 1940-1980 (Box 2-3; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Subject Files, 1951-1985 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 6: Project Files, 1950-1975 (Box 3, 10; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1930-1991 (Box 3-4; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1934-1965 (Box 4; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 9: Artwork and Sketchbooks, 1930-1979 (Box 4-5, 11; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, circa 1890-1979 (Box 5-11; 3.1 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Frans Wildenhain (1905-1980) was a German-born ceramicist, sculptor, and educator active in Rochester, New York.
Wildenhain was born in Leipzig, Germany to a family of craftsmen. He began his study of art with drawing and design. For formal training, he enrolled at the Bauhaus where he studied in the pottery studio with Gerhard Marcks, Max Krehan, and his future wife, Marguerite Friedlaender Wildenhain. The Wildenhains moved to Burg Giebichenstein, Halle, Germany to teach at the State School of Applied Art.
In 1933, due to Marguerite's Jewish ancestry, they moved to the Netherlands and set up a studio called Het Kruikje (Little Jug). Marguerite later emigrated to the United States however Frans was unable to follow. He moved to Amsterdam but was drafted into the German Army which he deserted. He followed Marguerite to the United States in 1947 after a seven year separation.
Upon his arrival in the United States, Frans drove from New York City to Geurneville, California where Marguerite had settled at an artist colony, Pond Farm. Their marriage did not last and Frans Wildenhain accepted a position at the School for American Craftsmen at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. He stayed in that position for over twenty years. He co-founded a cooperative gallery called Shop One, in Rochester, New York.
In 1952, he married Marjorie McIlroy and after her death, married Elisabeth (Lili) Brockkardt.
Franz Wildenhain was a Guggenheim Fellow and exhibited his works around Europe and the United States. His pottery is included in the collections of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Smithsonian Institution, Luther College, and Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview of Frans Wildenhain conducted 1978 April 10-1979 July 28, by Robert Brown for the Archives of American Art; the Marguerite Wildenhain papers, 1930-1982; a Frans Wildenhain grant application, 1974 for the National Endowment for the Arts; Letters from Frans Wildenhain to Virginia Cartwright Katz, 1968-1979; Robert Johnson slides of works by Frans Wildenhain, circa 1978; the Kitty C. L. Fischer papers relating to Frans Wildenhain, 1940-1981; and an interview with Elisabeth (Lili) Wildenhain conducted 1995 August 22, by Robert F. Brown. Also found are the Ron Meyers papers relating to Frans Wildenhain, circa 1967-1979; the Roy Cartwright letters from Frans Wildenhain, 1966-1979; and the Gerhard Marcks letters from Frans Wildenhain, 1950-1979 on reel 2435.
Provenance:
Elisabeth Wildenhain donated her husband's papers in 1989 and 1998.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- Rochester Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- Rochester Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- Rochester Search this
Genre/Form:
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Interviews
Citation:
Frans Wildenhain papers, circa 1890-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview with Hans Joachim Barschel conducted 1994 September 14, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Barschel discusses his childhood during World War I and the 1920s in two Berlin suburbs, Charlottenburg and Pankow, as the son of a civil engineer and his wife, whose father was a factory foreman; the contrast of the ludicrous militarism of the late Wilhelmine Germany with the straightened but liberalized circumstances of life in the Weimar Republic which followed; and his first acquaintance with foreign cultures during a 1929 excursion with his free-spirited aunt and uncle.
He remembers the enlightened teaching and loose curricula he experienced during 1930-35 in advertising design study with George Salter at the Municipal Art School, Berlin, and then in graduate studies in design, painting, printmaking, and photography at the Academy of Fine and Applied Arts, Berlin-Charlottenburg. He talks about his disgust at the onset of Naziism; his brief career (1935-37) in Berlin as a free-lance graphic designer and as head graphic designer for the Reichsbahn; his getting his beloved teacher, George Salter, a Jew, out of Nazi Germany; his emigration in 1937 using forged documents and his rapid establishment as a designer in New York thanks to his friendship with Dr. Robert Leslie of The Composing Room.
He discusses advertisements, posters, and book jackets designed for American publications and companies and (1948) for the United Nations; his move to Rochester, New York, in 1952, as a designer for printing companies and beginning the teaching of design at the Rochester Institute of Technology at the invitation of Stanley Witmeyer, Director of its School of Art and Design; fellow teachers at RIT, including the ceramists, Hobart Cowles and Frans Wildenhain; and the importance of continually refreshing the creative powers by sketching in nature, a principle instilled in him as a student which he carried into his teaching at RIT.
Biographical / Historical:
Hans Joachim Barschel (1912-1998) was a graphic designer and art instructor from Rochester, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 1 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire audio recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- Rochester -- Interviews Search this
Topic:
Design -- Study and teaching -- United States Search this
Design -- Study and teaching -- Germany Search this
28 letters (one written on an exhibition announcement) and 5 postcards to Meyers from Wildenhain, sent from Wildenhain's home in Pittsford, N.Y. and while traveling in Florida, Mexico, and Europe. The letters describe his travels and daily activities.
Also included are an exhibition catalogue dated 1977/1978 and a brief article with photographs of Wildenhain and his mural "Allegory of a Landscape."
Biographical / Historical:
Meyers and Wildenhain were both ceramists, Meyers in Athens, Ga., and Wildenhain in Rochester, N.Y.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1985 by Ron Meyers.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
The papers of California ceramicist and educator Marguerite Wildenhain measure 3.7 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1982. Found within the papers are biographical sketches; correspondence with patrons, students, and colleagues, including Eugene Anderson, T. S. Eliot, and Gerhard Marcks; writings by Wildenhain and others; designs for pottery and other artwork; one scrapbook; news clippings, exhibition catalogs, and scattered printed material. Also found are photographs of Marguerite and Frans Wildenhain, Pond Farm, workshops, exhibitions,and artwork, as well as two film reels depicting Wildenhain lecturing and in her studio. There is a 0.3 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2020 that includes photographs and negatives of Wildenhain's works of art, circa 1960-1970, (many in the collection of Forrest L. Merrill or Luther College) taken by David Stone and photographs at Pond Farm, circa 1980. Additional photographs are of Wildenhain and her works of art, circa 1950 (possibly taken by Otto Hagel).
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of California ceramicist and educator Marguerite Wildenhain measure 3.7 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1982. Found within the papers are biographical sketches; correspondence with patrons, students, and colleagues, including Eugene Anderson, T. S. Eliot, and Gerhard Marcks; writings by Wildenhain and others; designs for pottery and other artwork; one scrapbook; news clippings, exhibition catalogs, and scattered printed material. Also found are photographs of Marguerite and Frans Wildenhain, Pond Farm, workshops, exhibitions,and artwork, as well as two film reels depicting Wildenhain lecturing and in her studio. There is a 0.3 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2020 that includes photographs and negatives of Wildenhain's works of art, circa 1960-1970, (many in the collection of Forrest L. Merrill or Luther College) taken by David Stone and photographs at Pond Farm, circa 1980. Additional photographs are of Wildenhain and her works of art, circa 1950 (possibly taken by Otto Hagel).
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1943 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-1981 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1940-1980 (Box 1-2; 1.0 linear foot)
Series 4: Artwork, circa 1961-1969, 1975 (Box 2, OV 5; 4 folders)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1934-1963 (Box 2; 3 folders)
Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1932-1982 (Box 2, OV 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1930-1976 (Box 2-3, OV 4; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Audio-Visual Recordings, 1954, circa 1965 (Box 3, FC 6-7; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 9: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1950-1980 (Box 8, OV 9; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Marguerite Wildenhain (1896-1985) was a ceramicist and educator in Guerneville, California. Born Marguerite Friedlaender in Lyon, France, Wildenhain received training in sculpture at the Berlin School of Applied Arts. She later worked as a designer for the Royal Berlin Porcelain Factory, leaving in 1919 to apprentice in pottery at the Bauhaus, under Max Krehan and Gerhard Marcks. After receiving her degree as master-potter, she was employed at the Municipal School for Arts and Crafts in Halle Saale, Germany. Fleeing the Nazis in 1933, she and her husband, potter Frans Wildenhain, operated a workshop in Holland before immigrating to the United States in 1940. In 1942 she settled near Guerneville, California, and established an artist colony known as Pond Farm. Following her divorce, she remained at Pond Farm and operated a summer school which lasted until 1980, training approximately 25 students each summer.
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art are the Marguerite Wildenhain exhibition records, 1977-1981, donated by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art; an oral history interview of Marguerite Wildenhain conducted 1982 Mar. 14, by Hazel Bray; and the Frans Wildenhain papers, 1890-1986. Additional Marguerite Wildenhain letters to Gerhard Marcks are located at the Archiv fur Buldende Kunst of the Germanisches Museum, Nurnberg, Germany.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Marguerite Wildenhain in 1973-1981. Additional material was donated in 2020 by David Stone, a student of Wildenhain.
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.
Wildenhain's application for a National Endowment for the Arts grant, 1974, in which he asks for support to work in a new medium, porcelain. A 12-page resume which lists training, exhibitions, prizes and awards, and other activities is included.
Biographical / Historical:
Ceramist, sculptor; Rochester, N.Y. Died 1985.
Provenance:
Donated 1981 by Mrs. Hobart Cowles.
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:
Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- Rochester Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- Rochester Search this
Topic:
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- History -- United States Search this
Letters, 1968-69 and 1975-79, from Wildenhain to his former student Virginia Cartwright Katz. Wildenhain discusses his pottery, classes and personal matters.
Biographical / Historical:
Franz Wildenhain (1905-1980) was a sculptor, painter, ceramic craftsman, and teacher from Rochester, N.Y. Wildenhain was born in Leipzig, Germany and studied at the Bauhaus, with Walter Gropius, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Josef Albers and others.
Other Title:
This collection is identified as the Frans Wildenhaim Papers on the microfilm.
Provenance:
Katz was a former student of Wildenhain.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Letters, 1940-1981, are primarily from ceramist Frans Wildenhain to Kitty and Hermann Fischer. Thirteen of the letters are illustrated. Also included are a watercolor sketch, undated; 3 clippings and an announcement for Wildenhain's pottery in Putten, Holland; and photographs, 1944-1975, of Wildenhain with his third wife Lili and Fischer's friend Helen Weynerowsky, and of 3 pots by Wildenhain.
Biographical / Historical:
Kitty, a weaver, and Hermann Fischer, an architect, both of Holland, became acquainted with ceramist Frans Wildenhain as fellow students at the Bauhaus. They maintained their friendship throughout World War II via correspondence. Wildenhain established pottery workshops in Putten and Amsterdam, Holland before immigrating to the United States in 1947. After spending three years with the Pond Farm Workshops in Guerneville, California, he became an instructor at the School for American Craftsmen, Rochester Institute of Technology, N.Y. After his divorce from Marguerite Friedlaender Wildenhain in 1955, he was married to Marjorie McIlroy until her death in 1967. His third wife was Elisabeth (Lili) Wildenhain.
Provenance:
Donated 1981 by Kitty C. L. Fischer.
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.
18 letters, undated, 1966-1967 and 1976-1979, from Frans Rudolf Wildenhain to Cartwright. Wildenhain discusses his teaching, his pottery, and personal matters.
Biographical / Historical:
Ceramicist; Cincinnati, Ohio.
Other Title:
Fran Wildenhain papers (microfilm title).
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1982 by Roy Cartwright.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Found are address and appointment books, awards and certificates for Frans and Marjorie Wildenhain, biographical sketches, a marriage record for Frans and Marjorie, and a divorce certificate for Frans and Marguerite Wildenhain. Also found is an interview with Wildenhain conducted by Robert H. Johnson. Estate records include a posthumous inventory of works of art, and donation records to Luther College and to other institutions.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Collection Citation:
Frans Wildenhain papers, circa 1890-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
