File for The Club (The Artists' Club) includes two postcards announcing panel discussions (Robert Richenburg on the panel), 1951 and 1957, along with correspondence and e-mail regarding a documentary film about the Club. The Tina Dickey and Madeline Amgott file concerns their interview and videotape of Robert Richenburg, one of many former Hans Hofmann students contacted when the Metropolitan Museum of Art was organizing a Hans Hofmann exhibition; a transcript of their interview with Richenburg is included. Bonnie L. Grad and Lynne Moulton's research was conducted for the exhibition "Robert Richenburg: Abstract Expressionist" at Brandeis University's Rose Art Museum. Records preserved in this file include the transcript of a detailed interview with Richenburg about his early life, art training, and career; the transcript of a "slide discussion" in which the artist provided background information about each of the works being considered for inclusion in the exhibition. The file titled Former Students includes letters and printed material about the early career and personal life of Raphael Montanez Ortiz ("Bob's favorite student," according to Marggy). Hans Hofmann's file consists of letters of recommendation, brief letters and notes addressed to Bob and Chick (sic) from Miz and Hans Hofmann, a short statement by Richenburg about Hofmann as a teacher, and miscellaneous printed material. The subject file titled Ibram Lassaw contains "Artists of the New York School and Friends Celebrate the Eighty-first Birthday of Ibram Lassaw at an Informal Gathering and Discussion," a souvenir booklet of images by Cynthia Dantzic, 1994; also included are pages composed by Richenburg and Kerr for Lassaw's memorial book. Philip Pavia's file concerns the founding of It Is magazine. The Pratt Institute file includes correspondence and printed documentation concerning Richenburg's 1964 resignation from the faculty sparked by a dispute over his teaching methods. Hilla Rebay and the Museum of Non-Objective Painting file contains letters inviting Richenburg to participate in three exhibitions with an installation photograph showing Richenburg's three entries in the 1949 exhibition; other letters offer career advice, critiques, and modest grants for the purchase of art supplies. The Tibor De Nagy Gallery file includes a letter of advice from John Bernard Myers regarding "rhetoric surrounding the question of pricing," observations on how the size of a painting may affect its desirability and price, and the inadvisability of artists creating myths about themselves. The Veterans Administration subject file documents Richenburg's subsistence allowance and training benefits under the G.I. Bill, and a contract for Richenburg to study at the Ozenfant School, 1948-1949.
Arrangement note:
Subject files for individuals are alphabetized by last name, all others are alphabetized by title.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual material with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
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Collection Citation:
Robert Richenburg papers, circa 1910s-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
