Dahl, Arthur L., b. 1942

Arthur L. and Joyce Lyon Dahl papers, 1926-1988

3.6 linear ft. (microfilmed on 7 reels)
Reel(s): 1785-1788, 3829, 1819 & 4909

Letters; photographs; writings; sketches; financial records; a scrapbook; a phonograph album; exhibition announcements and clippings mainly relating to Mark Tobey.

REEL 3829: Six letters to Dahl from Mark Tobey; a letter from Jermayne MacAgy requesting Tobey's painting "Autobiography" for an exhibit and Dahl's response; a letter from the Whitney Museum of Art regarding a Tobey painting; and a letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahai's of the U.S. regarding a Tobey exhibit. Also included is a phonograph album, 1959, of a Tobey musical composition "Suite for Flute," performed by John Wummer, inscribed on the jacket "To Mark Tobey, composer - Marion - 12/59."

REELS 1785-1788: Correspondence; writings on Tobey; three sketches by Tobey; financial records relating to the sale of art works; organizational records of the Pacific Northwest Arts Center; exhibition announcements and catalogs; clippings; a scrapbook; and 13 photographs. Among the correspondents are Tobey, Pehr Hallsten, art dealers Otto D. Seligman, Dan Rhodes Johnson, and Marian Willard Johnson, museum curator William C. Seitz, and Tobey's attorney Arthur Barnett.

REEL 1819: Photographs of two retrospective exhibitions of Mark Tobey's paintings at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Louvre, Paris, 1961, and at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1962. Included are installation shots and photographs of Tobey, Pehr Hallsten, William C. Seitz, Joyce Lyon Dahl, Andre Malraux, Georges Mathieu, Otto Seligman, Darthea Speyer, Arthur Barnett, Marian Willard Johnson, and Jacques Guerin.

REEL 4909(fr. 972-980): Two letters 1971 & 1975, from Arthur Barnett to Arthur Dahl regarding Tobey; a black and white photograph taken by Arthur Dahl of Mark Tobey having tea with friends, including Joyce Dahl, on the occassion of his retrospective at the Louvre, 1961; and a snapshot of Dahl, his wife, Tobey, Pehr, and others taken at the home of George and Lucile Herbert.

Donated 1977-1986 by Arthur and Joyce Lyon Dahl.
The second movement of Mark Tobey's composition, "Suite for Flute," was used on the sound track of "Mark Tobey," a 20-minute experimental film made in Seattle in 1952 by Robert Gardner. In 1959, Marian Willard Johnson, on the occasion of Tobey's birthday, engaged John Wummer to record this work privately. The record contained within this set of papers is the one she gave to Mark Tobey. Tobey gave the record to Dahl sometime before moving to Switzerland in 1960.

How to Use this Collection

• Patrons must use microfilm copy.
• Microfilm reels 1785-1788, 3829, 1819 & 4909 available for use at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
• Selected images of documents in this collection are online.
• For more information on using resources at the Archives of American Art, please visit our Ask Us page