Dempsey, Richard W., b. 1909 d. 1987

Richard Dempsey papers,1930-1989

3.1 linear ft. (on 5 microfilm reels)
Reel(s): 4366-4370

Letters, photographs, notebooks, scrapbooks, sketches, and writings documenting the career of Richard Dempsey and the Washington, D.C. art scene. The letters (1938-1985) primarily concern the exhibition of Dempsey's paintings at the Franz Bader Gallery, the Atlanta University Gallery, Howard University, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the U.S. Embassies in Columbia and Jamaica, and with the Art in Embassies Program. Correspondents include Jack Perlmutter, Ethel Waters, and Jacob Lawrence. Photographs depict Dempsey and his work, from early portraits to later abstract work, including the Rosenwald Fellowship photographs of Duke Ellington, Mary McLeod Bethune, Jacob Lawrence and Ethel Waters. Five photograph albums include Dempsey's 1951 trip to Haiti.

Fourteen notebooks and 9 scrapbooks (1930-1987) cover Dempsey's career with the General Services Administration, early paintings and sculpture, exhibitions from the 1960's to the 1980's, paintings inspired by trips to Columbia, Haiti, Africa, and Jamaica, sketches and notes for new paintings, and lecture notes from the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Clippings (1943-1989) review Dempsey's shows and include articles on Franz Bader and Jack Perlmutter. Other materials include exhibition announcements, Dempsey's resume, medical records, and poems.

Location of Originals: 2 photograph albums returned to the lender, Mrs. Vonja Kirkland Dempsey, after microfilming.

The donor, Vonya Kirkland Dempsey, is Richard Dempsey's wife.

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• Microfilm reels 4366-4370 available for use at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
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