An artist's book with a spiral plastic binding, composed of original lithographs, most of them serving as advertisements. Participating artists include Milton Avery, T. Lux Feininger, Chaim Gross, Hans Hofmann, Reginald Marsh, Ben Shahn, Raphael Soyer, and Max Weber. Of special interest are a Maidenform brassiere ad by Harry Sternberg; a nude female figure with a 19th century camera for Pagano photographs and illustrations, and the Danby Furniture Co. by Helen Ratkai; etc.
From the acknowledgment page: "This is Volume II of IMPROVISATIONS. IMPROVISATIONS was first conceived in 1950 from an idea by Julio de Diego as a medium for advertisers in sympathy with the ideals of Artists Equity Association. As in IMPROVISATIONS 1950, the member-artists who illustrated this journal were selected by the advertisers and were given complete freedom of expression. Each page was designed by the artist directly on the litho plate, thus making this a collection of original lithographs."
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Hotels, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
