About the Antonio Sotomayor papers
A Finding Aid to the Antonio Sotomayor Papers, circa 1920-1988, in the Archives of American Art, by Stephanie Ashley
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Biographical Information | Description of the Collection | How to Use the Collection | Series Descriptions
Biographical Information
Antonio Sotomayor was born in Bolvia and came to San Francisco in 1923. He was educated at the Escuela de Belleas Arts in La Paz and the Hopkins Institute of Art in San Francisco. Primarily known for his murals and paintings, Sotomayor was also an illustrator, caricaturist, designer, ceramicist, and educator. Over the course of his career his work was exhibited in the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and South America and he became known as the popular "artist laureate" of San Francisco where he lived with his wife, Grace. He died of cancer in 1985 at the age of 82.
Description of the Collection
Overview - Scope and Contents
The collection consists primarily of correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material, and photographs documenting Sotomayor's career, his interest in Latin American art and artists, and his association with the San Francisco arts community.
Arrangement and Series Description
The collection is arranged as six series:
- Series 1: Correspondence, 1931-1988, undated (box 1, 21 folders)
- Series 2: Writings, 1932-1946, undated (box 1, 11 folders)
- Series 3: Artwork, 1935, undated (box 1, 23 folders)
- Series 4: Printed Material, 1935-1987 (boxes 1-2, 12 folders)
- Series 5: Photographs, circa 1920-1984, undated (box 2, 13 folders)
- Series 6: Oversized Material, 1941, 1958, undated (2 OV folders)
Subjects
This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Archives of American Art under the following terms.
- Subjects:
- Farr, Fred, 1914-1973
- Fried, Alexander, 1902-1988
- Gerstle, William Lewis, b. 1868
- Labaudt, Lucien, 1880-1943
- Little, Philip, 1857-1942
- Moya del Pino, J.
- Oldfield, Otis, 1890-1969
- Pflueger, Timothy Ludwig, 1892-1946
- Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957
- Salinger, Pierre
- Subjects-Topical:
- Mural painting and decoration -- 20th century
- Illustration
- Caricatures and cartoons
- Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco
- Hispanic American artists
- Cartoonists -- California -- San Francisco
- Illustrators -- California -- San Francisco
- Muralists -- California -- San Francisco
- Painters -- California -- San Francisco
- Types of Materials:
- Sketchbooks
- Photographs
- Works of art
- Sketches
- Names:
- Entenza, John, 1903-
- Franco, Johan, 1908-
- Morley, Grace, 1900-
- Moya del Pino, J.
- Long, Emilie
- Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949
- Reed, Alma M.
- Robinson, Elmer E. (Elmer Edwin), b. 1894
- Salinger, Jehanne Bietry
- Sauer, Carl Ortwin, 1889-
- Sotomayor, Grace
- Von Hagen, Victor Wolfgang, 1908-
- Pan American Union
- Delphic Studios
Provenance
The Antonio Sotomayor papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Grace Sotomayor in 1998.
How the Collection was Processed
The collection was processed by Kim Wheeler in 1993.
How to Use the Collection
Restrictions on Use
The Antonio Sotomayor papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Available Formats
The collection is available on microfilm reels 4792-4793. The microfilm is available for interlibrary loan.
How to Cite this Collection
Antonio Sotomayor papers, circa 1920-1988. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Series Descriptions
Series 1: Correspondence and Biographical Material, 1931-1988, undated (box 1, 21 folders)
This series contains correspondence relating to Sotomayor's mural commissions, paintings and caricatures, illustrations for various publications, exhibitions at museums and galleries, and lectures. Correspondents include John Entenza, Johan Franco, Emilie Long, Grace L. McCann Morely of the San Francisco Museum of Art, José Moya del Pino, José Clemente Orozco, the Pan American Union, Alma Reed of the Delphic Studios, San Francisco mayor Elmer Robinson, Carl Sauer, Grace Sotomayor, and ethnologist Wolfgang von Hagen. There is also a folder of biographical material containing lists of some of Sotomayor's work and exhibitions from the 1920s to circa 1963.
| Box | Reel |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4792 | Correspondence, 1931-1973, 1988, undated (9 folders) |
| 1 | 4792 | Correspondence Re: Exhibitions and Lectures, 1938-1947 (5 folders) |
| 1 | 4792 | Correspondence Re: Book Illustrations, Magazines and Newspapers, 1938-1948 (6 folders) |
| 1 | 4792 | Biographical Material, circa 1963 |
Series 2: Writings, 1932-1946, undated (box 1, 11 folders)
This series contains two notebooks of biographical notes on Latin American artists, manuscripts and copies of manuscripts on Hispanic American artists and caricature, and articles and lectures by Sotomayor. There are also writings by others on Sotomayor, and the transcript of an interview of Sotomayor conducted by Grace Moreley regarding Latin American Art.
| Box | Reel |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4792 |
Writings by Sotomayor |
| 1 | 4792 | Notebooks (in Spanish), undated (1 folder, 2 notebooks) |
| 1 | 4792 | "Hispanic American Art," undated |
| 1 | 4792 | Lecture to the Sigma Delta Pi, undated |
| 1 | 4792 | "Caricature and American Caricaturists," 1941 |
| 1 | 4792 |
Newspaper Articles, 1932-1933, undated |
| 1 | 4792 | Radio Interview Transcript (in Spanish and English), circa 1939 |
| 1 | 4792 |
Writings by Others |
| 1 | 4792 | "Sotomayor" by Joe Danysh, undated |
| 1 | 4792 | Press Release by Edward Perkins, undated |
| 1 | 4792 | "Bolivia Speaks in the Art of Antonio Sotomayor," by Jehane Biétry Salinger, undated |
| 1 | 4792 | "Antonio Sotomayor" for Bulletin of the Pan American Union, by Jehane Biétry Salinger, 1933 |
| 1 | 4792 | "Sotomayor, Pintor de Bolivia" for Bulletin of the Pan American Union, by José Goméz Sicre, 1946 |
Series 3: Artwork, 1935, undated (box 1, 23 folders)
This series contains 130 sketches and 35 sketchbooks, mostly containing travel sketches done in South America, the Middle East, and Europe, particularly Italy. One volume contains caricatures of prominent architects. Sotomayor's mock up for the unpublished Where San Francisco Dines by Collier Connell can also be found here. See also Series 6: Oversized Material.
| Box | Reel |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4792 | Loose Sketches, undated |
| 1 | 4792 | Loose Travel Sketches, Europe, undated |
| 1 | 4792 | Sketchbook of Travel Sketches, Europe, undated (1 folder, 2 sketchbooks) |
| 1 | 4792 | Sketchbook of Travel Sketches, Italy, undated (4 folders, 7 sketchbooks) |
| 1 | 4792 | Sketchbook of Travel Sketches, Middle East, undated |
| 1 | 4792 | Sketchbook of Travel Sketches, South America, undated (5 folders, 8 sketchbooks) |
| 1 | 4792 | Sketchbook of Travel Sketches, California, undated (1 folder, 2 sketchbooks) |
| 1 | 4792 | Sketchbook, "AIA Building Production Exhibition," undated |
| 1 | 4793 | Sketchbooks, Miscellaneous, undated (5 folders, 11 sketchbooks) |
| 1 | 4793 | Book of Ink Drawings/Illustrations, undated |
| 1 | 4793 | Mock Up of Illustrations for Book Where San Francisco Dines by Collier Connell, 1935 |
| 1 | 4793 | Artwork by Others, undated |
Series 4: Printed Material, 1935-1987 (boxes 1-2, 12 folders)
This series contains clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and several publications containing illustrations by Sotomayor.
| Box | Reel |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4793 | Clippings, circa 1942-1987 (2 folders) |
| Box | Reel |
|
|---|---|---|
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Exhibition Catalog, San Francisco Museum of Art, 1935 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Exhibition Catalog, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, 1943 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Exhibition Catalog, Cincinnati Art Museum, 1945 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Exhibition Catalogs and Announcements, 1946-1978, undated |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 |
Publication Illustrations |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | The Coast, Sept., Oct., 1938 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | The Coast, Feb., Oct., Dec., 1939 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Modern Music, 1945 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | La Revue Moderne, 1955 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Publications, The Coast and Saturday Review, 1939, 1953 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Publications, The Kerlan Collection, Walter Library, University of Minnestota, 1971 |
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1920-1984, undated (box 2, 13 folders)
Photographs found here include portraits of Sotomayor, and photographs of the artist with family and friends, including Grace Sotomayor, Fred Farr, Al Fried, William Gerstle, Lucien Labaudt, Philip Little, José Moya Del Pino, Otis Odfield, Timothy Pflueger, Diego Rivera, Pierre Salinger. There are also photographs of Sotomayor with members of the Pan American Union and the Bohemian Club, and of artwork, including some in the Sotomayor residence. See also Series 6: Oversized Material.
| Box | Reel |
|
|---|---|---|
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Portraits of Sotomayor, 1924-1984, undated (2 folders) |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Family and Friends, circa 1920-1983, undated (3 folders) |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Scrapbook of Family and Friends (loose pages), circa 1947 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Group Photographs, 1974-1983, undated |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Photographs of Artwork, 1952-1983, undated (4 folders) |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Photographs of Artwork in Sotomoyor Residence, circa 1952 |
| 2 (hol) | 4793 | Photograph of Bathroom Rug by Grace Sotomayor, undated |
Series 6: Oversized Material, 1941, 1958, undated (2 OV folders)
This series contains sketches, an exhibition poster, and several oversized photographs of artwork by Sotomayor and of Sotomayor with friends (duplicate of photograph in Series 5: Photographs).
| Box | Reel |
|
|---|---|---|
| 3 (ov) | 4792 | Ink Drawing, "Peace is Sharing," undated |
| 3 (ov) | 4792 | Sketch of Union Square Office Mural and Related Letter, 1958 |
| Box | Reel |
|
|---|---|---|
| 4 (ov) | 4793 | Exhibition Poster for Illinois Art Gallery, undated |
| 4 (ov) | 4793 | Oversized Photographs, 1941, undated |