A DAY IN THE LIFE:Diaries From The
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RUDOLF ARNHEIM (b. 1904) Art historian and psychologist "All continued human activity required continued supply of activating energy, and no energy comes forth without a motive," wrote Rudolf Arnheim. One wonders then, what motivated Arnheim, author of such classic art-historical texts as Film as Art (1957), Toward a Psychology of Art (1966), and Visual Thinking (1969), to keep a nearly constant diary. In this diary from 1961, a crane appears as a good omen "promising longevity" for his just completed book Picasso's Guernica, which did indeed have a long life in print when it was reissued as The Genesis of a Painting in 1974. In the following entry for August 10, Arnheim muses about difficulty of straddling two academic disciplines: "For a man who finds himself located between two disciplines as I do, it is difficult to reconcile the procedure of research in the arts, where next to nobody thinks of making experiments in order to prove, with that in psychology, where everybody is expected to do so." He concluded, "Much of my work, in other words, must be based on the assumption that I see better than others do, which is the very opposite of putting trust in the randomness of a sample of observers." Rudolf Arnheim Papers. Gift of Rudolf Arnheim, 1974-1990. GEORGE BIDDLE (1885-1973) Painter It was George Biddle who recommended to his longtime friend Franklin
Roosevelt a federal relief art program for artists during the Depression,
giving rise to the Public Works of Art Project and the subsequent art
projects of the Treasury Department and Works Progress Administration.
Biddle painted murals for the Department of Justice in 1935 under the
auspices of the Section of Painting and Sculpture, which later became
the Section of Fine Arts, as well as several other mural commissions for
the government. Biddle, who was an acute observer, kept copious diaries
which he clearly expected to publish. He also had an uncanny knack for
remembering details and even whole conversations, which he poured into
his diary. In these entries from May 1955, he recalls visiting Georgia
O'Keeffe. Transcripts were made by Archives of American Art staff from typescripts of the original diaries provided by Biddle. Originals now in the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. KATHLEEN BLACKSHEAR (1897-1988) Painter, educator As a graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Blackshear worked as a teaching assistant under Helen Gardner and then continued to teach there for 35 years. In 1926, she kept a diary of her travels through the Southwest. In these entries from August 21 and 23, she describes the tourist activities including the performance of the snake dance and opportunities to buy baskets, pottery, silver, and turquoise jewelry. Kathleen Blackshear and Ethel Spears Papers. Gift of William Terrell, 1990. OSCAR BLUEMNER (1867-1938) Painter Oscar Bluemner's art evolved directly from his painting diaries, which he kept from 1911 to 1936. Trained as an architect in Germany, Bluemner, had the penchant for planning so common to the profession. On his walking tours of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with his painting diary in hand, he made rough outlines of landscapes and plotted complex color arrangements. Each sketch from nature was Bluemner's blueprint of light, line, mass, shadow, and color. Later he embellished his books with additional studies and made extensive notes on his theories and observations. His diaries are evidence of his all-consuming commitment to aesthetic exploration. "One rule," wrote Bluemner, "draw and paint, equally, constantly, separately, thinking, feeling." In this entry he writes about the many ways to prime a canvas and includes two studies. Oscar Bluemner Papers. Gift of John Davis Hatch, 1970-1985. SHELDON CHENEY (1886-1980) Art historian Sheldon Cheney, author of New World Architecture (1930), Expressionism in Art (1934), and New World Art History (1956), was an early advocate of modernism. He also wrote about dance and theater. In the diary from his European travels in1922, he describes his appointments in Berlin and includes his comments on theater, the public's interest in modern art, lunch with Marsden Hartley, an interview with Wilhelm Valentiner, and a visit to Max Kaus's studio. He also describes a dance school run by Elizabeth Duncan, sister of Isadora Duncan. About Hartley he wrote: "The most independent artist I know. Will not bother with things that don't interest him. Says American painting is technically the best in the world - because painters have no feeling to bother them. Is himself for abstraction-but has been through many periods - mystic, objective, etc. Has read very little. Lives on Wm. James. Logically would have to commit suicide, seeing uselessness of world (war put finishing touch on this) but sense of humor keeps him from it. But he does compromise once in a while when human feelings are concerned." Sheldon Cheney Papers. Gift of John T. Cheney. JOSEPH CORNELL (1903-1972) Assemblage artist In his diary, as in his art, Cornell struggled to hold on to life's evanescence. He wrote on scraps of paper - the backs of envelopes, magazine clippings, wrapping papers - recording his impressions of music, art, ballet, his boxes, and the intertwined sensations of seeing, feeling, and remembering. On the night of May 17, 1946, he illuminated his dreams on a lampshade, writing: "dreams recently just as intense in emotion and beauty (and even more prolonged and elaborate than fragments formerly recorded) but harder to get a hold of at any point to record. Many wonderful visions of the night have slipped away seemingly casual but actual as intense as above," and in the margin, "Friday succession of images, warm, comforting, friendly." Cornell had an enormous capacity for joy. In his entry from July 10, 1948, he comments on the "poetic intoxication" of his own happiness. Joseph Cornell Papers. Gift of Elizabeth Benton, 1974-1989. JOSEPH CORNELL (1903-1972). Photograph by Lee Miller, 1933. Katherine Segava Sznycer Papers. Gift of Katherine Segava Sznycer, 1978. HELEN TORR DOVE (1886-1967) Painter The Archives holds many diaries kept by Helen Torr Dove, artist and wife
of painter Arthur G. Dove (1880-1946). In daily entries for the 1920 and
1930s, she records exhibitions seen or participated in, sales, prices,
meetings with friends, and art marketing details such as frame-making
and varnishing, as well as the progress of her husband's paintings. In
this entry she writes about successful preparations for the exhibition
"Arthur G. Dove, Helen Torr Dove, New Paintings and Watercolors," at Alfred
Stieglitz's gallery An American Place, New York, March 20 to April 15,
1933. Arthur and Helen Torr Dove Papers. Gift of William Dove, 1982-1989. BARBARA FENDRICK Art dealer When Barbara Fendrick was Albert Paley's exclusive representative she kept meticulous records of his sculpture projects. Her notes cover the minutiae of their meetings, down to the color of Paley's socks. In this entry from May 31, 1984, she mentions a momentous event-the sale of Paley's jewelry tools at auction-an act that signaled his transition from the intimate scale of wearable art to grand public productions. Fendrick Gallery and Barbara Fendrick Gallery Records. Gift of Barbara Fendrick, 1999. DESMOND FITZGERALD (1846-1926) Collector, engineer Desmond Fitzgerald was one of Boston's leading collectors and art patrons. He served on the boards of the Boston Public Library and of the Copley Society, and in 1913 he arranged for the Armory Show to come to Boston. He was also a meticulous diarist, filling small leather appointment books with daily, if sketchy, notes on his activities for more than forty-seven years. In the end section of each volume, Fitzgerald gave more detailed comments such as his expanded account of a visit with Claude Monet in 1925. Sept. 5 Monet was glad to see me. He is 85 but still active and a lady is keeping house for him who I believe is a daughter-in-law -and she was very pleasant gave me a warm welcome and took me into the large studio, built in his garden - Monet was very glad to see me and the garden was full of flowers as ever - I thought Monet was quite active - He seems shorter than he used to be - perhaps 5'2" high - dressed in an old gray suit - He complained about the cataracts on his eyes and I have a suspicion that they still give him trouble and they may possibly affect the quality of his work - He showed me a dozen of the water lily pictures arranged as they are to be shown in the building which is now ready for them - He told me also that some of them were at the Luxembourg where I noticed them in my previous visit to Paris last year. I also cannot avoid feeling that his recent work is not as fine as it was 15 or 20 years ago - but this is a matter which I should not like to say much about - M-told me that the eliptical [sic] building which they are building is ready for the pictures and that some of them are already installed and I understood him that the story of the "refusé" picture was true and already installed - but I must go and see Durand-Ruel about this. Desmond Fitzgerald Papers. Purchased through a grant from the Hope Foundation of Providence, Rhode Island. JOHN GRAHAM (1881-1961) Painter, writer, collector John Graham, a Russian immigrant, writer, painter, collector, connoisseur, and charismatic spokesman for the avant-garde, was also an incessant doodler. His 1937 pocket diary reveals the force of his imagination and his enthusiasm for Picasso. That same year Graham published his treatise System and Dialectics of Art and was in the process of expanding and finishing several other writing projects. He was also acting as a private agent for collector Frank Crowninshield and others and made at least one extended trip to Mexico. With most of his energy consumed by these activities, he had little time to paint. His diary was one place where he indulged in graphic expression. He covered his lists of objects to buy and sell, letters to write, and people to meet, with multicolored pencil drawings and Picassoesque doodles. John Graham Papers. Gift of the Museum of Modern Art, 1987. JOHN GRAHAM (1881-1961), ca. 1955. Photographer unknown. John Graham Papers. Gift of the Museum of Modern Art, 1987. ROBERT HENRI (1865-1929) Painter, educator Robert Henri was best known as an inspirational teacher and a leader
in the movement against academic art. In this diary, he describes his
visit to Venice in September 1891, when he was a student in Paris. "Over
to Sotto Marino-in a sail boat for a sou-a peculiar strip of town on a
narrower strip of land than Croggia. The houses all stand alone, no party
walls, are high, and their irregularity of tops and general independence
of each other presents an odd character. A people wonderfully picturesque
bright colored - more ancient in costume than their neighbors, barefooted
& much display of legs-and almost nakedness among some children. All
work out doors-every step presents a new picture. Everybody is preparing
corn to dry in the sun or tying onions up in bunches principally women
& children doing this. It's a place to make an artist to wild over
color and character." Robert Henri Papers. Purchased with funds from the Joseph Coudon VII Memorial Fund, 1991. CHARLES M. KURTZ (1855-1909) Art administrator, critic, collector, museum director Charles M. Kurtz is perhaps best known as an art administrator for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the St. Louis Fair, and for his tenure as the first director of the Albright Gallery in Buffalo, New York. Though Kurtz was a meticulous record keeper, only five small diaries have survived for parts of 1894, 1897, 1899, and 1901. In his entry for February 16 and 17, 1899, he recounts the sale of Thomas B. Clarke's collection. Photograph of Kurtz in front of two paintings by E. A. Hornel. ca. 1890s. Charles M. Kurtz Papers. Gift of Isabel Kurtz, 1988, and by her estate through E.W. Dann Stevens, l99l. SHERMAN E. LEE (b. 1918) Art historian, museum director From November 9 to December 10, 1973, Dr. Sherman E. Lee, director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, led a U.S. delegation of art and archeology scholars to the Peoples Republic of China. He kept a journal of his experiences. On their thirty-day trip they saw a staggering amount of art and archaeological material in all media. In his journal Lee noted his most startling discoveries, along with his comments on museum display and interpretation, conservation, material and technical accomplishments, politics, and meetings with colleagues. In this entry for December 5, he describes the museum at Hangchou. The musical program is one of many enclosures. Sherman E. Lee Papers. Gift of Sherman E. Lee, 1997. WILLIAM MACBETH (1851-1917) Art dealer In this entry of March 31, 1892, William Macbeth announces an "important business change." Having worked with print dealer Frederick Keppel for ten years, Macbeth decides to strike out on his own and open a gallery devoted entirely to American art. William Macbeth Papers. Gift of Phoebe C. Macbeth and William Macbeth,II. JERVIS MCENTEE (1828-1891) Painter An incurable name dropper, Hudson River School painter Jervis McEntee frequently mentions artists Sanford R. Gifford, Eastman Johnson, John F. Weir, Edwin Booth, J. Q. A. Ward, Worthington Whittredge, his teacher Frederic E. Church, and others. In his entry for April 7, 1874, McEntee describes varnishing day at the National Academy of Design and the all-important placement of paintings: "I feel that I have had a decided snub at the hands of the hanging committee David Johnson, [Carl Ludwig] Brandt, and Irving who took good care to have all their pictures on the line. It has made me feel a little depressed but I try to be philosophical. Poor Weir was most shamefully treated and was utterly cast down. His picture is hung over another in a dark corner and as he is an Academician and had sent only this picture I regard is as a downright insult." A die-hard representative of the National Academy's old guard, McEntee also comments at length on such subjects as the art market, patrons and collectors, his residence in the Tenth Street Studio Building, the Century Club, and the encroachment of European influences. Jervis McEntee Papers. Gift of Mrs. Helen S. McEntee, 1964. FREDERICK WILLIAM MACMONNIES (1863-1937) Sculptor In 1880 at age of seventeen, MacMonnies served first as a helper then as an assistant in the studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He studied at both the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League before going to Paris in 1884 to study at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he excelled. In these entries from September 1884, MacMonnies had just arrived in Paris and finding Académie Julian too expensive, he makes arrangements to take classes at Colarossi's Academy while studying for his entrance exams for the École and making connections with John J. Boyles, Lorado Taft, and other American sculptors in Paris. Wednesday September 24. Friday September 26. Frederick William MacMonnies Papers. Gift of Louise Wysong Rice, 1988. REGINALD MARSH (1898-1954) Painter, illustrator Though Reginald Marsh was a lifelong free-lance illustrator for the New
Yorker, Esquire and many other national magazines, he is
best known for his paintings of New York night clubs and street scenes
in the 1930s and 40s. Marsh's 1912, which he kept at fourteen, shows his
early talent for illustration. Reginald Marsh Papers. Gift of Felicia Meyer Marsh, 1964 and 1979. FRANCIS SUMNER MERRITT (1913-2000) Painter, designer, art administrator In 1974 Francis Sumner Merritt, director of the Haystack Mountain School
of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, traveled to Nigeria to meet with African
artists and to interview prospective candidates for their participation
in an African American craft session at Haystack. He kept a detailed diary
of his appointments. In this entry for March 28, Merritt bargained for
African beads, fabric, and pottery in the Jankara Market on Lagos Island
in Nigeria and later met with the American Ambassador John E. Reinhardt. Francis Sumner Merritt Papers. Gift of Francis Sumner Merritt, 1980-1994. DOROTHY LAKE GREGORY MOFFETT (1893-1975) Painter In her 1910 diary Dorothy Lake George tells a good story about her classmates at the Académie Julian: "There was a very pretty Russian girl in the class. When she first came in the studio, last year, she used to go around saying, 'Don't you think I'm pretty. Aren't my arms beautiful, etc.' The girls got heartily sick of her and decided to cure her." They decided to vote for the prettiest girl in the class and the winner would treat everyone to champagne. They made a show of voting for the Russian girl, who was delighted to win, but regretted it when she learned that she had to buy the champagne. She never talked about her looks again. Ross and Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett Papers. Gift of Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett,1974. F. LUIS MORA (1874-1940) Painter, illustrator The papers of painter and illustrator F. Luis Mora include 242 pocket diaries, dating from 1899-1920. Mora's occasional thumbnail sketches are his graphic shorthand for the day's events. In his entry for March 1913, he describes his impression of the Armory
Show. F. Luis Mora Papers. Gift of Cornelia Colton, 1975. WALTER PACH (1883-1958) Artist, critic, lecturer, art adviser, and art historian Walter Pach is best known for his extensive, influential writings about modern art. He was also an artist. He studied with Robert Henri at the New York School of Art and went abroad to paint with William Merritt Chase in the summers of 1903 and 1904. In this entry for July 20, 1903, while in Amsterdam, Chase announces the death of James McNeil Whistler. July 20 Walter Pach Papers. Purchased from the Salander O'Reilly Galleries through the courtesy of the Brown Foundation, Inc., 1988 RUBENS PEALE (1784-1865) Painter Peale, a still life and animal painter, was 81 on April 15, 1865, when he recorded the "sad news of the murder of President Lincon [sic], he was shot while attending a performance at Fords' Theater last night in Washington. The assassin entered his private box and shot him in back of his head and then escaped, the assassin's name is ______," and there Peale left a blank, presumably to fill in when the information was available. Peale, who was in Philadelphia, described the arrival of Lincoln's body to the city, the crowds, and other funereal details. On April the 22nd he wrote, "The corpse arrived this afternoon from Harrisburg and it was dark, and although the square was brilliantly illuminated with greek lights each side of the great walk. Red, Blue & White, which made a most brilliant appearance and lighted up the whole square & streets near, yet much of the procession near lost to us. The crowd was so dence [sic] in Walnut Street that police could scarcely keep the crowd back." The following day, the elderly Peale stood on line for most of the morning attempting to view the corpse, but pressing crowds forced him to give up just as he reached the entrance to the hall. That evening he and his daughter Mary were granted to permission to enter a back door affording "a fine opportunity of viewing the corpse and decorations of the hall, which was totally covered with black cloth except the statue & portraits of General Washington & wife. I staid [sic] one hour and left Mary gazing on the corpse, she intending to paint a portrait of him." Rubens Peale Papers. Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence A. Fleischman, 1959. RICHARD J. POWELL (b. 1953) Art historian Richard J. Powell kept this diary of his intellectual journey and adventures abroad while tracking down information on painter William H. Johnson for his dissertation. In this entry from June 3, 1985, Powell outlines some of the key themes in his research, which was the basis of his book Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson (1991) and exhibition at the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Richard J. Powell Papers. Gift of Richard J. Powell, 2000. CHARLES C. PERKINS (1823-1886) Painter, etcher, author, art and music critic Charles Perkins studied art in Rome and Paris and promoted public art education in Boston. He organized the Boston Art Club and served as its president from 1869 to 1879. He was also a founder and honorary director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and wrote numerous books including Italian Sculptors (1868) and Tuscan Sculptors: Their Lives Works and Times (1864), both illustrated with his etchings and drawings. While in Spain in 1854, Perkins kept this twenty-seven-page illustrated travel journal. He writes about the countryside, museums, the Alhambra, architecture, and a military insurrection in Madrid. Charles C. Perkins Papers. Gift of Perkins's heirs with the assistance of Giovanni Castano, 1957. ABRAHAM RATTNER (1893-1978) Painter Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Rattner studied at the Corcoran School
of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. After a year of
travel abroad on a Cresson scholarship from the Pennsylvania Academy of
the Fine Arts, he established a studio in Paris, where he remained until
September 1939 and the beginning of World War II. Rattner writes about
fleeing Paris. On September 1, Germany invaded Poland, and on September
3, France, along with Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, declared
war on Germany. Abraham Rattner and Esther Gentle Papers. Gift of Abraham Rattner 1972-1983, Esther Gentle, 1986-1987, and Gene Allen, 1992. E. P. RICHARDSON (1902-1985) Art historian, museum director While E. P. Richardson and Lawrence Fleischman founded the Archives of American, there is precious little about the Archives in his diaries. Instead Richardson wrote about the business of running the Detroit Institute of Arts. In this entry for May 12, 1957, he relates background detail on the acquisition of a work attributed to Verrocchio and the young Leonardo da Vinci. The attribution is now considered dubious. E. P. Richardson Papers. Gift of Constance Richardson, 1985. JAMES D. SMILLIE (1833-1909) Painter, engraver In forty-five small leather bound volumes James D. Smillie kept a daily record of his paintings, drawings and prints, social engagements, health, travels, and acquaintances. A founder of both the American Watercolor Society and the New York Etching Club, he was also a member of the National Academy of Design and the Century Club and America's premiere landscape engraver. In this entry for April 26, 1865, he writes about "having a supplemental varnishing day" at the National Academy of Design (the opening was postponed because of President Lincoln's death). On the following day Smillie sketches the Jersey City Ferry for the American Bank Note Company and sees proofs his steel engraving of Albert Bierstadt's painting The Rocky Mountains, Laner's Peak. In the evening he attends inaugural ceremonies for the opening of the new building for the National Academy of Design - "crowded to suffocation and very hot" - and in the midst of his busy day, throws in a reference to the capture of Lincoln's assassin. See also: Framed Etchings and Photographs. Smillie Family Papers. Gift of Barbara Curtis, 1978-1990. MARY THAYER (b. 1876) Abbott Handerson Thayer's daughter Mary often modeled for him. In this 1888 diary, which she kept at age twelve, she noted the times that she posed for her papa, and recorded family picnics, dips in the lake, fishing trips, and the visitors who came to call. Her routine entries help pin down Thayer's paintings, which are notoriously difficult to date. Abbott Handerson Thayer and Thayer Family Papers. Gift of John Plunkett, 2000. TANAGER GALLERY (1952-1962) New York The Tanager Gallery, a cooperative, artist-run gallery founded by Lois
Dodd, Charles Cajori, Angelo Ippolite, William King, and Fred Mitchell,
opened in 1952 on East 4th Street and later moved to a small
storefront at 90 East 10th Street. It was one of a cluster
of galleries on 10th Street that drew the attention of the
art critics, collectors, and the popular press. In a daily diary, the
gallery members left messages for one another. This entry for November
13, 1956 mentions that Life is interested in doing "the Tangier
story" and they would like a picture of the artists "doing something together,"
not at the Cedar Bar or the Club, but on 10th Street. While
Life schedule a photo session on December 5, they did not publish
a story on the gallery. Tanager Gallery Records. Gift of Lois Dodd, 1972 and 1989. HELEN LAWRENCE WALTERS In her entry of December 17, 1915, Walters describes the sudden love affair between American Communist John Reed and writer Louis Bryant: "Jack has fallen in love with Louise and impetuously wants to take her to New York right away - we are endeavoring to avert scandal and save Paul [Trullinger, her husband]. She is quite up in the air and greatly thrilled by the idea of New York and everything. I think that plays more part in it than Jack does. We went out with her tonight and the atmosphere was rather strained. Altho [sic] Paul doesn't know about this, he feels something is wrong. Louise is rather heartless." Reed's life and his relationship with Bryant was the subject of the1981 motion picture Reds, staring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton. Carl Walters Papers. Gift of Mrs. Noelle Gilmour, 1966. FRAMED ETCHING AND PHOTOGRAPHS:JAMES D. SMILLIE (1833-1909) etching, June 1881 (possibly a self-portrait). Charles Henry Hart Autograph Collection. Anonymous gift, 1954. ROBERT HENRI (1865-1929), ca. 1908. Photographer unknown. Photos of Artists Collection I [Macbeth Gallery Records]. Gift of Robert G. McIntyre and estate, 1955-1966. F. LUIS MORA (1874-1940), ca. 1910. Photos of Artists Collection I [Macbeth Gallery Records]. Gift of Robert G. McIntyre and estate, 1955-1966. ABRAHAM RATTNER (1893-1978) in his Paris studio, ca. 1928. Photographer unknown. Abraham Rattner and Esther Gentle Papers. Gift of Abraham Rattner 1972-1983, Esther Gentle, 1986-1987, and Gene Allen, 1992. REGINALD MARSH (1898-1954) in his studio on Union Square, May 11, 1954. Photograph by Sidney J. Waintrob. Waintrob-Budd Photographs of American Artists. Gift of Samuel I. Hoffberg, 1979-1980. HELEN TORR DOVE (1886-1967), ca. 1933. Photographer unknown. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Papers. Gift of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1982. TANAGER GALLERYopening, 90 East 10th Street, New York. Artist Elise Asher (b. 1914) on right. The Tanager Gallery mounted her first solo exhibition in 1953. Photograph by Maurice Berezov. Tanager Gallery Records. Gift of Lois Dodd, 1972 and 1989. Yusuf Grillo (left), chairman of the art department at Yaba College in Nigeria, and (right) FRANCIS SUMNER MERRITT (1913-2000), director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, 1974. Photographer unknown. Francis Sumner Merritt Papers. Gift of Francis Sumner Merritt, 1980-1994. GEORGE BIDDLE (1885-1973) at work on his mural Society Freed Through Justice for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., 1936. Photograph by Robert Imandt. Photos of Artists Collection I. Last Updated ... February 21, 2001 |
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