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Antares

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
65 3/4 x 56 1/2 in. (167.0 x 143.5 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1972
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
1980.36.13
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, South Wing
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7291dae48-7c77-4962-8fc2-f156a4fbbe72
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.36.13

Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
73 3/4 × 158 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (187.3 × 402.6 × 6.4 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1976
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
1980.36.2A-C
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 3rd Floor, North Wing
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk70f0df2e8-f5de-4276-a969-10b0c670686b
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.36.2A-C

White Roses Sing and Sing

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
72 1/2 x 52 3/8 in. (184.1 x 133.0 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1976
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Object\flower\rose  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
1980.36.3
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, South Wing
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7850e7223-a229-4d0f-935d-49016ae859bf
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.36.3

Delightful Song by Red Dahlia

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
42 x 30 in. (106.7 x 76.3 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1976
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
1980.36.4
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, South Wing
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk768273e35-633c-460c-97a7-82e6cd9eec16
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.36.4

Grassy Melodic Chant

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
46 x 36 in. (116.8 x 91.5 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1976
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
1980.36.5
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, South Wing
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk78e32feb9-50e4-47d1-b2cd-222eedbc564b
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.36.5

Arboretum Presents White Dogwood

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
67 7/8 x 54 7/8 in. (172.5 x 139.5 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1972
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
1980.36.6
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7c77f2208-b5ec-4c7f-91bb-acba9b62291a
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.36.6

Aquatic Gardens

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
72 x 52 in. (182.8 x 132.1 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1973
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
1980.36.7
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, South Wing
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7e3cac820-a7b5-4faf-a334-bf2d51915647
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.36.7

Elysian Fields

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
30 1/8 x 42 1/4 in. (76.5 x 107.2 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1973
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
1980.36.8
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, South Wing
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk785200521-b841-48e8-a647-09913596cb12
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.36.8

Autumn Leaves Fluttering in the Breeze

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
40 x 50 in. (101.5 x 127.0 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1973
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
1980.36.9
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, South Wing
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk73d64a15b-5d48-4993-8e24-849f09cc8495
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.36.9

White Daisies Rhapsody

Artist:
Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-died Washington, DC 1978  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
38 x 50 in. (96.5 x 127.0 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1973
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Loreine Wuorinen and Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson
Object number:
1981.135
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7980e19b8-f928-4152-b32f-e29ee996ce89
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1981.135

Portrait of a Lady

Artist:
Laura Wheeler Waring, born Hartford, CT 1887-died Philadelphia, PA 1948  Search this
Sitter:
Alma Thomas  Search this
Medium:
oil on canvas
Dimensions:
30 x 25 1/8 in. (76.1 x 63.8 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1947
Topic:
African American  Search this
Occupation\art\painter  Search this
Portrait female\waist length  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Vincent Melzac
Object number:
1977.121
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7c1dbb5a4-cd00-43f9-88a5-3148f84c1a5e
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1977.121

Franz Bader Gallery records, 1925-1995

Creator:
Franz Bader Gallery  Search this
Subject:
Bader, Franz  Search this
Thomas, Alma  Search this
Ojeda, Naúl  Search this
Calfee, William H. (William Howard)  Search this
Marx, Robert  Search this
Type:
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Citation:
Franz Bader Gallery records, 1925-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Theme:
Art Market  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6608
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215917
AAA_collcode_franbade
Theme:
Art Market
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_215917
Online Media:

Franz Bader Gallery records

Creator:
Franz Bader Gallery  Search this
Names:
Bader, Franz, 1903-1994  Search this
Calfee, William H. (William Howard), 1909-1995  Search this
Marx, Robert  Search this
Ojeda, Naúl, 1939-2002  Search this
Thomas, Alma  Search this
Extent:
13 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Date:
1925-1995
Summary:
The records of the Washington, D.C. located Franz Bader Gallery measure 13.0 linear feet and date from 1925 to 1995. The materials document the gallery's history and administrative activities, the artists represented by the gallery, the exhibitions held at the space, and the life of Franz Bader. The collection comprises the personal papers of Franz Bader including files regarding his photography career; artist's files for Paul Arlt, David Becker, William Calfee, Un'ichi Hiratsuka, Robert Marx, Wang Ming, Naúl Ojeda, Prentiss Taylor, Alma Thomas, Lee Weiss, and others; and gallery files containing correspondence, exhibition records, client invoices and other administrative records, files on Inuit art and bark paintings, and a file for Whyte Bookshop and Gallery. Also found are inventory and sales records consisting of two card files, ledgers, stock and inventory lists, and a sales binder; printed and broadcast materials relating to exhibitions, Bader and his photography, events, and includes a video recording featuring the gallery on the show Around Town; guestbooks which hold signatures and notes from gallery patrons; scrapbooks that include printed material related to the gallery's exhibitions, D.C.-based artists the gallery represented, and other gallery events; and photographs of Bader and others, the gallery space, works of art, and candid photographs from exhibition openings.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Washington, D.C. located Franz Bader Gallery measure 13.0 linear feet and date from 1925 to 1995. The materials document the gallery's history and administrative activities, the artists represented by the gallery, the exhibitions held at the space, and the life of Franz Bader. The collection comprises the personal papers of Franz Bader including files regarding his photography career; artist's files for Paul Arlt, David Becker, William Calfee, Un'ichi Hiratsuka, Robert Marx, Wang Ming, Naúl Ojeda, Prentiss Taylor, Alma Thomas, Lee Weiss, and others; and gallery files containing correspondence, exhibition records, client invoices and other administrative records, files on Inuit art and bark paintings, and a file for Whyte Bookshop and Gallery. Also found are inventory and sales records consisting of two card files, ledgers, stock and inventory lists, and a sales binder; printed and broadcast materials relating to exhibitions, Bader and his photography, events, and includes a video recording featuring the gallery on the show Around Town; guestbooks which hold signatures and notes from gallery patrons; scrapbooks that include printed material related to the gallery's exhibitions, D.C.-based artists the gallery represented, and other gallery events; and photographs of Bader and others, the gallery space, works of art, and candid photographs from exhibition openings.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as eight series.

Series 1: Franz Bader Papers, 1928-1993, (Boxes 1, 5, OV 17; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Artist's Files, 1938-1995, (Boxes 5-12, OV 17; 7.0 linear feet)

Series 3: Gallery Files, 1953-1993, (Boxes 1, 12-13; 1.6 linear feet)

Series 4: Inventory and Sales Records, 1960-1989, (Boxes 13-14, 16; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed and Broadcast Materials, 1952-1994, (Boxes 1-2, 14-15; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 6: Guestbooks, 1975-1980, (Boxes 1-3; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1950s-1980s, (Boxes 1-2, 4, 15, BV 18; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, 1925-circa 1990, (Boxes 2, 15, OV 17; 0.5 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Franz Bader Gallery was an art gallery and bookshop in Washington D.C. operated by Franz Bader (1903-1994) under various names including Franz Bader Gallery, Franz Bader Inc., and Franz Bader Gallery and Bookshop. In 1953, Bader established the gallery at 1705 G Street Northwest, where he showed local and/or upcoming artists, as well as contemporary prints. The gallery moved in September 1964 to 2124 Pennsylvania Avenue and in October 1979 to 2001 I Street, where Bader remained until his retirement in 1985. The gallery continued on after his retirement, and moved location to 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1987, and to 1500 K Street in 1990. The final show held by the gallery was in 1995. Among the artists represented by the gallery and included in this collection are Alice Acheson, Anita Bucherer, Frank Bunts, Bernice Cross, Harry Irving Gates, Peter Milton, Michael Platt, Alma Thomas, Leonard Maurer, and others.

Franz Bader was born in Vienna, Austria in 1903. By 1937, Vienna had succumbed to Nazi occupation, and in 1939 Bader and his wife Virginia fled, moving to America where he found employment at the Whyte Bookshop and Gallery in Washington D.C. He was inspired to create a gallery different than those typically found in the conservative atmosphere of Washington D.C., and he made it his mission to represent contemporary artists living and working in the city. His work with modern art set him apart, eventually earning him the moniker of "Dean of the Washington Gallery Dealers". He passed away in 1994.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Franz Bader conducted by Julie Link Haifley in 1978.
Provenance:
The scrapbooks, guestbooks, a small amount of printed material and correspondence, photographs of the Franz Bader Gallery, and honors for Bader were donated to the Archives of American Art by Virginia F. Bader, Franz Bader's wife, in 1995. The other material was donated by John Benjamin Dunn, lawyer for the gallery, in 2002.
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 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.
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- Washington (D.C.)
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Video recordings
Citation:
Franz Bader Gallery records, 1925-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.franbade
See more items in:
Franz Bader Gallery records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90ba1d0ba-bcb1-40a0-b12f-df2bfa4dc40d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-franbade
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Jacob Kainen, 1982 Aug. 10-Sept. 22

Interviewee:
Kainen, Jacob, 1909-2001  Search this
Interviewer:
Berman, Avis  Search this
Subject:
Davis, Gene  Search this
Davis, Stuart  Search this
De Kooning, Willem  Search this
Gorky, Arshile  Search this
Graham, John  Search this
Hayter, Stanley William  Search this
Lazzari, Pietro  Search this
Margo, Boris  Search this
McNeil, George  Search this
Noland, Kenneth  Search this
Reinhardt, Ad  Search this
Rothko, Mark  Search this
Schnitzler, Max  Search this
Solman, Joseph  Search this
Thomas, Alma  Search this
ACA Galleries  Search this
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Pratt Institute  Search this
Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jacob Kainen, 1982 Aug. 10-Sept. 22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art front  Search this
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Printmakers -- Washington (D.C.) -- Interviews  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12620
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215634
AAA_collcode_kainen82
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_215634
Online Media:

Gene Davis papers, 1920-2000, bulk 1942-1990

Creator:
Davis, Gene, 1920-1985  Search this
Subject:
Baro, Gene  Search this
Wall, Donald  Search this
Greenberg, Clement  Search this
Colby, Carl  Search this
Davis, Douglas  Search this
Davis, Florence  Search this
McGowin, Ed  Search this
Naifeh, Steven  Search this
Nordland, Gerald  Search this
North, Percy  Search this
Seitz, William C. (William Chapin)  Search this
Thomas, Alma  Search this
White House (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Photographs
Interviews
Video recordings
Citation:
Gene Davis papers, 1920-2000, bulk 1942-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Color-field painting  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7153
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209287
AAA_collcode_davigene
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209287
Online Media:

Gene Davis papers

Creator:
Davis, Gene, 1920-1985  Search this
Names:
White House (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Baro, Gene  Search this
Colby, Carl  Search this
Davis, Douglas  Search this
Davis, Florence  Search this
Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994  Search this
McGowin, Ed, 1938-  Search this
Naifeh, Steven, 1952-  Search this
Nordland, Gerald  Search this
North, Percy, 1945-  Search this
Seitz, William C. (William Chapin)  Search this
Thomas, Alma  Search this
Wall, Donald  Search this
Extent:
17.7 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Photographs
Interviews
Video recordings
Date:
1920-2000
bulk 1942-1990
Summary:
The papers of the artist Gene Davis measure 17.7 linear feet and date from 1920-2000, with the bulk of materials dating from 1942-1990. Papers document Davis's personal life and his career as an artist and educator, as well as his career as a journalist in the 1940s and 1950s, through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, business records, estate records, writings by and about Gene Davis, printed materials concerning Davis's art career, personal and art-related photographs, and artwork by Davis and others.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of the artist Gene Davis measure 17.7 linear feet and date from 1920-2000, with the bulk of materials dating from 1942-1990. Papers document Davis's personal life and his career as an artist and educator, and to a lesser degree his early career as a journalist in the 1940s and 1950s, through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, business records, estate records, writings by and about Gene Davis, printed materials concerning Davis's art career, personal and art-related photographs, and artwork by Davis and others.

Biographical materials include birth and death certificates, awards, biographical narratives by Gene Davis and others, CVs, résumés, personal documents from Davis's family and childhood, documents related to his work as a White House correspondent, documentation related to his death and memorial service, and papers for the family pets. A video documentary about Davis by Carl Colby is found on one videocassette.

Correspondence is mainly of a professional nature, and correspondents include gallery and museum curators, private art collectors, publishers, fellow artists, art educators, academics, and students. Letters document exhibitions, sales, book projects, teaching jobs, visits to studios, local art community events in the Washington, D.C. area, and other projects. Significant correspondents include Gene Baro, Douglas Davis, Clement Greenberg, Gerald Nordland, William Seitz, Alma Thomas, and Donald Wall. Interviews and lectures include sound recordings and transcripts. Many of the interviews were broadcast or published. Also found is a single lecture by Davis given in 1969 at the National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, entitled "Contemporary Painting." Sound recordings are found for three of the interviews and for the lecture, on 4 sound reels and 1 sound cassette.

Business records include artwork documentation, price lists, sales records, contracts, financial and legal records, gallery and museum files documenting sales and exhibitions, records related to the construction of Davis's home studio in 1970, and a few teaching records. Estate records mainly reflect Florence Davis's efforts to document the works of her husband, and to manage their exhibition, promotion, and sale after his death in April 1985. Estate records include an inventory of artworks, documentation of gifts to museums, correspondence, legal, and financial records. Writings include notes, drafts of essays, artist statements, and articles by Davis, and many articles by others about Davis. Several of Davis's articles reflect specifically on the Washington, D.C. art scene. Also found are drafts of monographs on Davis including one by Donald Wall (1975) and one by Steven Naifeh (1982). Records of Naifeh's book also include photographs of all black and white and color plates from the published book. Among the writings are also notes and research files of Percy North, who worked on an update to Naifeh's 1982 bibliography after Davis's death.

Printed materials include annual reports of museums, published arts-related calendars, auction catalogs, brochures from organizations with which Davis had some affiliation, exhibition announcements and invitations, exhibition catalogs, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, newsletters, posters, press releases, and other published material. Photographs include personal photographs of Gene and Florence Davis and their families, portraits of Gene Davis, photographs of Gene Davis with artworks and working in the studio, Davis' art classes and students, installations of site-specific works, conceptual and video works, exhibition openings, and photographs of artwork, both installed in exhibitions and individually photographed. Found among the photographs are also four videocassettes documenting the Gene Davis retrospective as installed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art in 1987.

Artwork includes photographs, drawings, moving images, and documentation of conceptual art. Works by Davis include documentation of the 1969 "Giveaway" with Douglas Davis and Ed McGowin, "The Artist's Fingerprints Except for One which belongs to someone else," documentation of his "Air Displacement" happening, a short film entitled "Patricia," and a video entitled "Video Puzzle." Other moving images include four reels of film of Davis's stripe paintings, and other experiments with motion picture film and photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1930-1987 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1, 17)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1943-1990 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)

Series 3: Interviews and Lectures, 1964-1983 (0.3 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 4: Business and Estate Records, 1942-1990 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 3-5, 17, OV 20)

Series 5: Writings, 1944-1990 (2 linear feet; Boxes 5-6, 17, OV 19)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1942-1990 (5.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-11, 17-18, OV 20, FC 35-37)

Series 7: Photographs, 1920-2000 (3.8 linear feet; Boxes 11-15, 17, OV 19)

Series 8: Artwork, 1930-1985 (2.2 linear feet; Boxes 15-16, 18, FC 21-34)
Biographical / Historical:
Gene Davis (1920-1985) was a Washington, D.C.-based artist and educator who worked in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, collage, video, light sculpture, and conceptual art. Davis is best known for his vertical stripe paintings and his association with the Washington Color School.

Davis was born in 1920 in Washington, D.C. and began his career as a writer. In his twenties he wrote pulp stories and worked as a journalist, reporting for United Press International and serving as a White House correspondent for Transradio Press Service during the Truman administration. Later, he worked in public relations for the Automobile Association of America. A self-taught artist, Davis began painting while still working full-time as a writer, influenced by the prevailing abstract expressionist artists of the time, his frequent visits to the Corcoran Gallery and Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and by his friend and mentor, Jacob Kainen. His first one-man show was held in the lobby of the Dupont Theater in Washington in 1952. He had a drawing accepted in the Corcoran Area Show in 1953, and won several local art prizes in the 1950s. He began showing work regularly in galleries around Washington, such as the Watkins Gallery at American University, the Gres Gallery, and the Henri Gallery, and had solo exhibitions at Jefferson Place Gallery in 1959 and 1961. Many of the painters who made up what became known as the Washington Color School also showed there, including Kenneth Noland, Howard Mehring, and Sam Gilliam. In 1965, the Washington Gallery of Modern Art held a seminal exhibition entitled Washington Color Painters, which included Davis, Noland, Mehring, Morris Louis, Thomas Downing, and Paul Reed.

Davis began showing outside of Washington regularly in the 1960s, including the Poindexter and Fischbach galleries in New York City, and in several important group shows at museums such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He had three works shown in the 1964 exhibition Post-Painterly Abstraction, organized by the influential art critic Clement Greenberg at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In the late 1960s, he began teaching art classes at the Corcoran School, and spent the summer of 1969 as artist in residence at Skidmore College's "Summer in Experiment" program.

Davis experimented with form continuously throughout his career, including a period of conceptual work in the late 1960s. In 1969 he participated in the "Giveaway," organized by Douglas Davis and Ed McGowin, in which multiple copies of a Davis painting were given away to invited guests in a gesture intended to subvert the art market. Davis also began experimenting with scale, creating a series of tiny paintings he called "Micro-paintings," which were exhibited at Fischbach Gallery in 1968. Around this time he also began working with film and video, recruiting models from his art classes to enact tightly choreographed movement pieces that played with rhythm and interval. Convinced by a lawyer that his videos were a liability without having obtained releases from the models, Davis destroyed all but one of his video works. The surviving video, "Video Puzzle," shows a foreshortened view of a model on the floor of a gallery spelling out a statement by Clement Greenberg at predetermined intervals.

Davis made several large-scale site-specific works using the stripe motif in public places. The first of these was created in the Bal Harbour, Florida, Neiman Marcus department store in 1970. Later works included Franklin's Footpath, executed in the road leading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1972, and Niagara (1979) at ArtPark in Lewistown, NY, promoted at the time as the largest painting in the world. Interior large-scale works were created twice at the Corcoran Gallery, with Magic Circle (1975) and Ferris Wheel (1982), both executed in the museum's rotunda. Black Yo-Yo was created for the Cranbrook Academy in 1980, and Sun Sonata (1983), an illuminated wall of colored liquid-filled tubes, was created as an architectural feature of the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, Virginia. Plans for an unexecuted work called "Grass Painting," for a site near the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., were exhibited in the 1974 "Art Now" festival.

In the late 1970s and 1980s Davis consistently exhibited his work in several solo gallery shows a year, and also had numerous solo exhibitions in major museums. A major exhibition, Recent Paintings, was organized by the Walker Art Center in 1978, and traveled to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1979. A drawing retrospective was held at the Brooklyn Museum of art in 1983, and the same year the Washington Project for the Arts organized an exhibition entitled Child and Man: A Collaboration, featuring drawings Davis made in response to childrens' drawings. Davis died suddenly in April 1985 at the age of 65, and a major retrospective of his work was held at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art in 1987.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Gene Davis conducted by Estill Curtis Pennington on April 23, 1981. A transcript is available on the Archives of American Art website.
Provenance:
Donated 1981 by Gene Davis and 1986 by his wife, Florence. Additional material donated 1991 and 1993 from Smithsonian American Art Museum via a bequest to them from the Gene and Florence Davis estate. Much of the 1993 addition was assembled by art historian Percy North at the request of Florence Davis. An additional folder of photographs of Davis taken in 1969 but printed in 2000 was later added to the 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.
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:
Reporters and reporting -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this
Video artists -- Washington, D.C.  Search this
Conceptual artists -- Washington, D.C  Search this
Painters -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this
Collagists -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this
Topic:
Color-field painting  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Photographs
Interviews
Video recordings
Citation:
Gene Davis papers, 1920-2000, bulk 1942-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.davigene
See more items in:
Gene Davis papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90a230f67-650f-483a-acdf-50b6ca91fe59
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-davigene
Online Media:

Eleanor Munro papers, circa 1880-2011, bulk 1950-2011

Creator:
Munro, Eleanor, 1928-  Search this
Subject:
Blaine, Nell  Search this
Bontecou, Lee  Search this
Antin, Eleanor  Search this
Frank, Mary  Search this
Chase-Riboud, Barbara  Search this
Mitchell, Joan  Search this
Lin, Maya Ying  Search this
Stone, Sylvia  Search this
Pepper, Beverly  Search this
Thomas, Alma  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Diaries
Sound recordings
Photographs
Transcripts
Citation:
Eleanor Munro papers, circa 1880-2011, bulk 1950-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Dreams  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Theme:
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)16216
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)368453
AAA_collcode_munrelea
Theme:
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_368453
Online Media:

Eleanor Munro papers

Creator:
Munro, Eleanor, 1928-  Search this
Names:
Antin, Eleanor  Search this
Blaine, Nell, 1922-1996  Search this
Bontecou, Lee, 1931-  Search this
Chase-Riboud, Barbara  Search this
Frank, Mary, 1933-  Search this
Lin, Maya Ying  Search this
Mitchell, Joan, 1926-1992  Search this
Pepper, Beverly  Search this
Stone, Sylvia, 1928-  Search this
Thomas, Alma  Search this
Extent:
36.7 Linear feet
0.001 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Interviews
Diaries
Sound recordings
Photographs
Transcripts
Date:
circa 1880-2011
bulk 1950-2011
Summary:
The papers of writer and art critic Eleanor Munro measure 36.7 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from circa 1880-2011, bulk 1950-2011. The collection documents Munro's life, career, and research on women artists, through biographical and family material, correspondence, writing projects, diaries, dream journals and notebooks, subject and research files, printed and digital material, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of writer and art critic Eleanor Munro measure 36.7 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from circa 1880-2011, bulk 1950-2011. The collection documents Munro's life, career, and research on women artists, through biographical and family material, correspondence, writing projects, diaries, dream journals and notebooks, subject and research files, printed and digital material, and photographic material.

Correspondence is both personal and professional in nature and is with family, friends, colleagues, agents, editors, and others regarding speaking engagements, writings, and other professional projects.

Writing projects make up a significant portion of the collection (10 linear feet) and include non-fiction works as well as fiction and poetry. Files contain drafts, notes, manuscripts, research, correspondence, contracts and agreements, royalty statements, and other business records for articles, books, reviews, talks, lectures, and other writing projects.

Diaries comprise twenty-six volumes of frequent entries that chronicle thoughts and feelings relating to Munro's personal and professional life. Dream journals and notebooks total 210 volumes plus additional loose pages and capture thoughts, reflections, and fragments of remembered dreams.

Subject and research files compiled and organized by Eleanor Munro make up the most substantial portion of the collection (20.6 linear feet) and reflect a wide variety of research interests, work projects, activities, and topics of interest. Types of material in this series are varied and include notes, drafts, printed and digital material, correspondence, proposals, interview transcripts, bibliographies, annotated articles, slides, photographs, original artworks, manuscripts by others, and four sound recordings. Many files relate to Munro's interest in women artists and serve as research for Originals: American Women Artists (1979). Interview transcripts are with women artists Eleanor Antin, Nell Blaine, Lee Bontecou, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Mary Frank, Maya Lin, Joan Mitchell, Beverly Pepper, Sylvia Stone, Alma Thomas, and others.

The remainder of the collection is comprised of biographical and family material, printed material, and photographic material.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical and Family Material, circa 1880s-2008 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1959-circa 2000s (0.7 linear feet; Box 1-2)

Series 3: Writings Projects, 1921-circa 2000s (10 linear feet; Box 2-12)

Series 4: Diaries, Dream Journals, and Notebooks, circa 1939-2011 (3.8 linear feet; Box 12-15)

Series 5: Subject and Research Files, circa 1950s-2000s (20.6 linear feet; Box 15-36, OV 38-40, 0.001 GB; ER01)

Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1959-circa 2000s (0.6 linear feet; Box 36)

Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1980s-1990s (0.6 linear feet; Box 36-37)
Biographical / Historical:
Eleanor Munro (1928- ) is a writer and art critic working in New York City and Truro, Massachusetts. She is best known for her groundbreaking work Originals: American Women Artists (1979), one of the first books to argue for the importance of women artists who were generally ignored by the art world. Munro was active in feminist art circles in New York.

Munro's father, Thomas Munro, was an art educator and modernist intellectual. Her mother, Lucile Nadler, was a pianist. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, after her father accepted a joint appointment at the Cleveland Museum of Art and Western Reserve University. Munro graduated from Smith College majoring in art history and earned a master's degree in comparative literature from Columbia. She was married to Alfred Frankfurter, editor of ArtNews, from 1955 until his death in 1965. Munro remarried to the writer E. J. Kahn until his death in 1994.

While working on Originals, Munro interviewed forty women artists including Georgia O'Keeffe, Louise Bourgeois, Jennifer Bartlett, Helen Frankenthaler, and Louise Nevelson. Her thesis sought to highlight the relationship between biography and the content of an artist's work. The book serves as an illustration of Munro's idea that the "narrative memory" these artists had constructed for themselves was an important "generative source" of their creativity. Women artists continued to be a prominent interest of Munro's throughout her life.

Munro is also the author of On Glory Roads: a Pilgrim's Book about Pilgrimage (1987), Memoir of a Modernist's Daughter (1988), and other books. In 1988, Munro received the Cleveland Arts Prize for Literature.
Provenance:
Donated by Eleanor Munro's son, David T. M. Frankfurter, in 2015.
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.

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.
Occupation:
Art critics -- Ohio  Search this
Authors -- Ohio  Search this
Topic:
Dreams  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Diaries
Sound recordings
Photographs
Transcripts
Citation:
Eleanor Munro papers, circa 1880-2011, bulk 1950-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.munrelea
See more items in:
Eleanor Munro papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a4625a86-8f36-41fa-844c-c186f93ab239
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-munrelea
Online Media:

Hydrangeas Spring Song, (painting)

Painter:
Thomas, Alma 1891-1978  Search this
Medium:
Acrylic on canvas
Type:
Paintings
Owner/Location:
Philadelphia Museum of Art 26th Street & Benjamin Franklin Parkway Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19130 Accession Number: 2001-20-1
Date:
1976
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Object--Flower--Hydrangea  Search this
Control number:
IAP 46170619
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_480289

Joshua Taylor letter to Alma Thomas

Creator:
Taylor, Joshua C. (Joshua Charles), 1917-1981  Search this
Thomas, Alma, 1891-1978  Search this
Type:
Correspondence
Date:
1975 March 3
Citation:
Joshua C. (Joshua Charles) Taylor. Joshua Taylor letter to Alma Thomas, 1975 March 3. Alma Thomas papers, circa 1894-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art--Collectors and collecting  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA)18478
See more items in:
Alma Thomas papers, circa 1894-2001
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_item_18478

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