Frans Wildenhain papers, 1890-1986
Wildenhain, Frans,
b. 1905
d. 1980
Educator, Sculptor, Ceramicist
Rochester, N.Y
Collection size:
7.6 linear ft.
Addition: 1.2 linear ft.
Collection Summary: Biographical materials, letters, subject files, diaries/travel journals, art works, notebooks, scrapbooks, printed material, project files,and photographs reflect Wildenhain's career as a ceramist and instructor.
Biographical materials include accounts and curricula vitae, geneologies, 2 passports, 1947 and 1957, a divorce decree, 1955, Marjorie McIlroy Wildenhain's marriage certificate and naturalization certificate, and a certificate from the American Crafts Council, 1975. Letters, 1895-1981, are from friends, colleagues and family members including his sister Hilde Kinne, and his first wife Marguerite. Subject files, 1950-1985, contain letters, notes, printed material, and some photographs concerning various galleries, among them the Shop One Galleries in Rochester, N.Y., Wharton Esherick, the Fairtree Fine Crafts Institute, Walter Herzger, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Guggenheim fellowships, 1953-1966 (including letters from Josef Albers and Gerhard Marcks).
Four diary/travel journals, 1925-1975, written by Wildenhain and his second wife Marjorie, describe activities in Holland, the drive from New York to California, and travel to New York City, New England, Florida, Europe, and Mexico. Also included are 2 p. of calculations concerning living expenses, 1973; an addressbook, 1967-1978; 5 appointment books, 1968-1979; 9 notebooks, 1933-1978, recording some activities and thoughts on art; 2 kiln logs, 1966-1979; posthumous inventory of art work; miscellanous notes, 1946-1980; miscellaneous writings, 1948-1980, including a typescript by Claire Falkenstein and recollections of the Naples Mill School by Barbara Kaufman, 1977; and interview transcripts, undated and 1975, including one with Robert Johnson.
Art work consists of seven drawings; a print; six sketchbooks, 1933-1978, including one of Japan and Korea, and one containing clippings; and a sketchbook by Marguerite Wildenhain, undated.
Project files contain printed material and photographs concerning the Strasenburgh Laboratories mural, 1958-1958, the National Library of Medicine mural, 1961-1975, the Overlook Hospital mural, 1966?, and the Rochester Institute of Technology student union mural, 1972-1978.
Photographs, 1890-1979, are of Wildenhain's family, his wives, friends, and colleagues, including Wendell Castle, Kitty Fischer, Max Krehan, Thomas Mann, Gerhard Marcks, and Peter Voulkos, Wildenhain's houses and studios, of Wildenhain's work, including those taken by Minor White and Nicholas Dean, of works in the Robert Johnson collection, of the work of colleagues, including Josef Albers, Roy Cartwright, Wendell Castle, Claire Falkenstein, Otto Hagel, Stuart Harwood, Robert Johnson, Max Krehan, Gerhard Marcks, Henry Moore, Lili Wildenhain, and Marjorie Wildenhain, and students' cooperative work on a mural at Naples Mill School. There are also 2 albums of photographs of Wildenhain and his work.
Printed material includes scrapbooks, 1934-1965; clippings, 1940- 1986; exhibition announcements and catalogs, 1930-1980, including a few for Marguerite Wildenhain; brochures concerning Wildenhain, 1949-1963; and 3 books: Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar, 1919-1923, Uit de Werkplaatsen der Beeldhouwers, and The Craftsman's World, 1959.
Biographical/Historical Note: Ceramist, sculptor, art instructor; Rochester, N.Y. Born 1905. Died 1980. Born in Leipzig, Germany, Wildenhain studied at the Bauhaus with Josef Albers, Walter Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Max Krehan, Gerhard Marcks, and Moholy-Nagy from 1923-1925. He had workshops in Putten, Holland and Amsterdam before immigrating to the United States in 1947. After spending three years with the Pond Farm Workshops in Guerneville, California, he became an instructor at the School for American Craftsmen, Rochester Institute of Technology, N.Y. After his divorce from Marguerite Friedlaender Wildenhain in 1955, he was married to Marjorie McIlroy until her death in 1967. His third wife was Elisabeth (Lili) Wildenhain.
Donated 1989 and 1998 by Elisabeth Wildenhain, Wildenhain's third wife.
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