From Series 6.1: Biographical Material of Edith Gregor Halpert and Samuel Halpert, 1917-1970, undated
Series 6: Miscellaneous Material, circa 1835, 1883, 1913-1970, undated (Boxes 99-101, 103, OV 102, OV 104; 2.75 linear ft.; Reels 5638-5639)
This series contains biographical material pertaining to Edith Gregor Halpert and her husband, Samuel Halpert, artwork, artifacts, and audiovisual records. The series is organzied into four subseries.
The series is arranged into four subseries:
- 6.1: Biographical Material of Edith Gregor Halpert and Samuel Halpert, 1917-1970, undated
- 6.2: Works of Art, circa 1835, 1913-1968, undated
- 6.3: Artifacts, 1883, 1954-1955, undated
- 6.4: Audiovisual Records, circa 1950-1963
6.1: Biographical Material of Edith Gregor Halpert and Samuel Halpert, 1917-1970, undated
This subseries includes notes on Edith Gregor Halpert's life and career; awards, citations and membership certificates; notes and reports relating to her management career prior to opening the Downtown Gallery; and engagement calendars recording both business and personal appointments. A biographical statement by Samuel Halpert can also be found here.
| Box | Reel (Frames) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Box 99 | 5638 (880-902) | Biographical Notes, Edith Gregor Halpert and Samuel Halpert, undated, 1925-1970 |
| Box | Reel (Frames) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Box 99 Sol 103 | 5639 (6-19) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Awards, Citations, Memberships, undated, 1953-1969 |
| Box | Reel (Frames) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Box 99 | 5639 (20-61) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Reports, Notes, etc., undated, 1917-1925 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (63-126) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Engagement Calendars, 1960 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (127-219) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Engagement Calendars, 1961 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (220-313) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Engagement Calendars, 1962 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (314-402) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Engagement Calendars, 1963 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (403-559) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Engagement Calendars, 1964 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (62) | Samuel Halpert, Biographical Notes, 1923 |
6.2: Works of Art, circa 1835, 1913-1968, undated
The first group of records in this subseries consists of artwork by Edith Gregor Halpert. Items include small oil paintings (four landscapes and one study); watercolors (a figure study and two landscapes); drawings (figure studies in pencil, thirteen undated and two dated 1922); a crayon and pencil drawing entitled "Rosalie" from 1913); and advertising work (six rough layouts in ink and pencil).
The remainder of the subseries contains works by other artists. Among these are calligraphy, drawings, a pastel, paintings, and prints. The calligraphy is found in two 19th century school copybooks containing writing exercises, a folded paper puzzle game with lettering and heart decorations, and a calligraphy sample in an unidentified language, possibly of Middle Eastern origin.
Also included in this subseries are greeting cards with original artwork in various media. Greeting cards produced for Downtown Gallery are by artists Alexander Brook, Stefan Hirsch, Georgia O'Keefe, and Marguerite Zorach. Greeting cards produced by Downtown Gallery are by the following artists: Joel Barber, Adorno Bonciani, Gladys Burrows, Howard Crook, Jean Crotti, Stuart Davis, Hans Foy, Ada V. Gabriel, Gandy, Emil Ganso, A.P. Hankins, Bartlett Hayes, Stefan Hirsch, Victoria Hutson, Jumyer, Johy Kirsch, Don Kruge, Richard Lahey, Linares, Charles Locke, Warren Newcombe, Paul Rohland, Judith Shahn, P. T., Ed Weiss, T. Yamoda, and Marguerite Zorach.
Prints include a hand-colored invitation to an exhibition by Harold Gregor, a poster by Jack Levine for his Januray 17 to February 17 exhibition, and two prints by Rosenhouse.
The subseries also includes two manuscripts with detailed pen-and-ink illustrations, circa 1835.
Greeting cards are arranged alphabetically according to artist name.
| Box | Reel (Frames) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Box 99 | 5639 (561-568) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Oil Paintings, undated, 1915 |
| Box | Reel (Frames) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Box 99 Sol 103 | 5639 (569-596) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Drawings, undated, 1913, 1922 |
| Box | Reel (Frames) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Box 99 | 5639 (597-602) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Watercolors, undated, 1920, 1925 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (603-612) | Edith Gregor Halpert, Exhibition Announcement Mock-Ups, n.d, 1963 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (613-681) | Calligraphy, undated |
| Box 99 | 5639 (682-690) | Drawings, undated, 1964, 1967 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (691-693) | Pastel, undated |
| Box 99 | 5639 (694-696) |
Paintings, undated
(includes figure by Gordon Gry, oil on board; abstract watercolor, unsigned) |
| Box | Reel (Frames) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Box 99, OV 104 | 5639 (697-903) | Prints, Various Media, undated |
| Reel | Frames |
(digitized from microfilm)
|
|---|---|---|
| unfilmed (OV 104) | Prints, Lithograph by Unidentified Artist of Woman Rowing, 19th century (too fragile to microfilm) |
| Box | Reel (Frames) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Box 99 | 5639 (704-714) | Greeting Cards Produced for Downtown Gallery/Edith G. Halpert, 1933, undated |
| Box 99 | 5639 (715-808) | Greeting Cards Received by Downtown Gallery/Edith G. Halpert, undated, 1929-1968 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (809-827) | Illustrated Manuscripts, The Adventures of Uptersnuff, vols. 1-2, circa 1835 |
| Box 99 | 5639 (828-835) | Illustrated Manuscripts, Seth Beans, circa 1835 |
6.3: Artifacts, 1883, 1954-1955, undated
This subseries contains weather vane artifacts and related material, in addition to two awards. Only the supporting documentation for weather vanes is microfilmed.
Weather vane artifacts include several hand-carved wooden weather vane molds of L. W. Cushing & Sons, a prominent nineteenth-century manufacturer, along with a copy of the firm's catalog. During the 1940s, Mrs. Halpert noticed an influx of weather vanes on the market, purported to be nineteenth century and priced accordingly; she doubted their authenticity and searched for the source of the questionable antiques. Molds for those weather vanes and others were discovered in 1953 in the yard of a Chelsea, Massachusetts, scrap metal dealer. Mrs. Halpert learned the dealer, who had acquired them from the last surviving owner of L. W. Cushing & Sons, was the innocent source of the "authentic" weather vanes sold in Boston, Maine, and New York. Mrs. Halpert collected the wood and iron molds, wooden models, and tools, and after a year of organizing and assembling the weather vane components, the American Folk Art Gallery arranged for authorized reproductions of the six most aesthetically important models, each in a limited edition of fifty.
The wooden weather vane molds found here are rare. While copper weather vanes were created by pressing sheet copper directly onto the molds or hollowed-out forms, wood was not durable enough for repeated use and popular demand soon required mass-production. These highly detailed molds are in fragile condition. Most are incomplete forms such as the heads, legs or torso of various animals; there are also parts of jockeys, wheels, and Columbia (Lady Liberty). Most were identified and numbered by the American Folk Art Gallery.
Supporting documentation consists of L. W. Cushing & Sons Catalogue No. 9, circa 1883; a nineteenth-century printed sheet of weather vane designs; and three display boards containing photographs and printed matter regarding weather vane exhibitions and reproductions.
The trophy found in this subseries is the First Annual International Silver Prize Medal trophy awarded by the University of Connecticut to Edith Halpert for distinguished contribution to the arts. Established with a grant from the International Silver Company of Connecticut, the award coincided with an exhibit of works from the Downtown Gallery held at the university in 1968. The medal found here is undidentified.
Weather vane molds are followed by supporting documentation, then awards.
| Box |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #1, Eagle Head | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #2, Eagle Head and Parts | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #3, Tails | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #4, Cow Legs | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #5, Letters for East, North, and West | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #6, Horse Head (half) | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #7, Wheel | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #9, Columbia Head, Arm | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #10, Pig Tail (complete) | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #11, Horns (pair) | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #12, Railroad Wheel | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #15, Rider's Boots (pair) | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #16, Rider's Body and Parts | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #17, Rider's Body (bas relief) | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #18, Rider's Body (half) | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #19, Fox Head | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #20, Rider's Head (back) and Hand | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #21, Rider's Head and Torso Relief | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #120, Horse Head | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold #126, Star | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold [unnumbered], Printing Blocks | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold [unnumbered], Cow Head | |
| Box 99-100 | Weather Vane Mold [unnumbered], Animal Ears (iron) | |
| Box 99-100 | Supporting Documentation, Catalogue of Weather Vanes Manufactured by L. W. Cushing & Sons, Manufacturers of the Celebrated Waltham Copper Weather Vanes, Emblematic Signs, and Finials for Gables, Cupolas, and Towers. Waltham, Mass., Catalog No. 9, 1883 | |
| Box 99-100 | Supporting Documentation, Weather Vane Designs, Printed Sheet, 19th century (4 copies) |
| Reel | Frames |
(digitized from microfilm)
|
|---|---|---|
| 5639 (OV 102) | 869-875 | Supporting Documentation, Weather Vane Designs, Weather Vane Exhibition and Reproductions, 1954-1955 (3 display boards containing photographs and printed matter) |
| Reel | Frames |
(digitized from microfilm)
|
|---|---|---|
| unfilmed (Hol 101) | Awards, Trophy | |
| unfilmed (Hol 101) | Awards, Metal Medallion |
6.4: Audiovisual Records, circa 1950-1963
This subseries contains a sound recording, a video cassette, three motion picture films, and a DVD.
The sound recording is a 33-1/3 rpm LP record album of a speech inscribed "To Edith Halpert, who knows the Answer--Maxim Karolik." A note on the jacket indicates the speech was transcribed, but a transcript was not found with the gallery records.
The videocassette and three films are of a television series produced by Westinghouse Broadcasting Corporation in association with Jensen Productions, America: The Artist's Eye. The videocassette is approximately 20 minutes, in black and white, of an edition of the series about Charles Sheeler. It includes discussion of Sheeler's barn paintings, how handmade items influenced him, and the appeal of machines and locomotives. There are also brief segments (circa 1950) showing views of Sheeler, his wife, and other people and animals in various work and leisure activities.
The first motion picture film is a 16-mm film, in color and black and white (13 inch reel), of brief, approximately 5 minute, programs from the series America: The Artist's Eye. Programs are on: American Primitives, Albert Ryder, Charles Willson Peale, John James Audubon, Winslow Homer, Paintings in the White House, George Catlin, John Marin, George Bellows, Edward Forbes, John Trumbull, and Currier and Ives. There is also a copy of the film on DVD.
The second film is a 16-mm film, in black and white (2 5 inch reels, duplicates) of the program on Charles Sheeler described above (the full copy is on videocassette).
The third film is a 16-mm film, in black and white (2 7 inch reels, camera original and duplicate) labeled: "Charles Sheeler film (Tails out): Excerpts in and around his home; some footage of him at work, wife, dog, corn and grain fields (much of the stock is sticky or brittle [incorrect: there is some shrinkage, but, overall, the film is not in bad condition] with bad splice [now repaired], repeat footage [actually 3 takes of certain segments] and some overexposed, possible excess footage from TV film)." Again, the full copy is on videocassette.
| Reel | Frames |
(digitized from microfilm)
|
|---|---|---|
| unfilmed (Sol 103) | Sound Recording, "Collecting with a Purpose--For What?," Talk at Bowdoin College by Maxim Karolik, February 20, 1962 | |
| unfilmed (Sol 103) | Videocassette, America: The Artist's Eye, 1963 | |
| unfilmed (Sol 103) | Motion Picture Film, America: The Artist's Eye, 1961-1963 | |
| unfilmed (Sol 103) | Motion Picture Film Transfered to DVD, America: The Artist's Eye, 1961-1963 | |
| unfilmed (Sol 103) | Motion Picture Film, America: The Artist's Eye, Program on Charles Sheeler, circa 1961-1963 | |
| unfilmed (Sol 103) | Motion Picture Film, Charles Sheeler Film, circa 1950 |