Martyl Langsdorf papers, 1918-1977

Martyl, b. 1918
Painter
Chicago, Ill.

Collection size: 2.6 linear ft.

Collection Summary: The papers of Martyl Langsdorf, professionally known by just her first name, Martyl, date from 1918 to 1977 and measure 2.6 linear feet. Included within the collection is correspondence; subject files; biographical data; writings and notes; sketches; photographs; exhibition catalogs and announcements; guest books; price lists; receipts; reproductions; clippings; and printed materials.

REEL 1364: Sketches, 1936-1975, made in the United States, Mexico, Europe, and Japan. In addition there is a 1929 newspaper clipping.

REELS 2992-2994: Biographical data; letters, 1936-1937, to her mother Aimee Schweig from Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, Joe Jones and Grant Wood; files of letters from Carl Holty, Horst W. Janson and Lancelot Law Whyte; a file on Charles Hawthorne containing his painting notes and a photo; subject files on the ACA Gallery, BULLETIN OF ATOMIC SCIENTISTS, Art Institute of Chicago, Feingarten Gallery, Kovlar Gallery, Oriental Institute, the Renaissance Society, and the Unitarian Church of Evanston, Illinois, containing correspondence and financial material; writings and notes; sketches of Langsdorf by friends; exhibition catalogs and announcements; guest books; price lists; receipts for sales and rentals of her paintings;

printed material on the St. Genevieve School of art; and photographs, ca. 1935-1970, of Langsdorf, her family, her paintings, exhibition installations, Langsdorf at work on a mural for the Unitarian Church of Evanston, Illinois, and artists Thomas Hart Benton, Arnold Blanch, Adolf Dehn, Doris Lee, Boardman Robinson, Sequieros, and others, and a photograph by Fritz Henle, 1940, of a picnic at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.

UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence with Edward Rowan of the Public Buidlings Administration, Section of Fine Arts, and contracts, 1940-1944, concerning Langsdorf's watercolors for the Carville, La. Marine Hospital, murals for post offices in Russell, Kansas and St. Genevieve, Missouri, and for the Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington, D.C., and for related exhibitions; a photocopy of a letter from collector Joseph Hirshhorn, Jan. 18, 1943, regarding his purchases of Langsdorf's work; general correspondence, 1958-1972; price lists; and printed material, 1937-1976, including press releases, archaelogical newsletters, exhibition announcements and clippings.

Biographical/Historical Note: Painter; Chicago, Illinois. Full name is Martyl Schweig Langsdorf.

Material on reels 2992-2994 donated 1977 by Martyl S. Langsdorf. Material on reel 1364 lent for microfilming 1977 by Langsdorf. Unmicrofilmed material is a combination of the unfilmed portion of the 1977 gift and the 1990 transferred material from General Services Administration. The GSA received the material originally from Martyl Langsdorf for their files on New Deal art.

How to Use this Collection

• Microfilm reels 1364 & 2992-2994 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
• Microfilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of unmicrofilmed portion requires an appointment and is limited to Washington, D.C. storage facility.
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