This bound volume served as a sketchbook of sorts for GRACE ALBEE (1890-1985). In it she documented her printmaking process from ink sketch to wood engraving. With each successive rendering of One Last Spring, she cultivated the composition by adding a plow at the edge of a furrowed field, a fallen branch beneath a spray of tree limbs, and other refinements.
Grace Albee bound volume, 7 1/4 x 5 :3/4 in. Left: "First sketch for "One Last Spring," ink on paper, 1954; right: sketch no. 2, ink and pencil on paper; enclosures: trial proof wood engraving and pencil on velum drawing. Grace Albee Papers, Archives of American Art.
Description of Grace Albee's Papers |
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| CREATOR: | Albee, Grace. |
| TITLE: | Grace Albee papers, 1890-1971. |
| PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: | 3.5 linear ft. (microfilmed on 5 reels) reels 2845-2847 and 2977-2978 |
| BIO/HISTORICAL NOTE: | Printmaker and wood engraver; New York. Lived 1890-1985. |
| SUMMARY: | Biographical notes; correspondence; diaries; sketchbooks; art works; photographs; sales ledger; exhibition catalogs and announcements; and printed material. |
| REELS 2845-2847: | Biographical notes; correspondence, 1916-1971 (some with drawings or wood engravings, including 3 sheets of engraved stationary by Albee, 1969-1970), and letters from Albee's family, Percy Albee, John Taylor Arms, Fritz Eichenberg, Ralph Fabri, A. Hyatt Mayor, Lynd Ward, and others; newspaper and magazine clippings; photographs, 1910-1971, of Albee, her family and colleagues, and of Albee at work in her studio; awards; 2 wood engravings and one linocut; a file on William B. Conner, Albee's patron and friend, ca. 1916-1966; exhibition catalogs, invitations and announcements, 1919-1971; title pages of books; and diaries, 1956-1970, some containing detailed daily entries, sketches, and 13 wood engravings (mostly bookplates) scattered throughout. |
| REELS 2977-2978: | Biographical notes; diaries, 1927-1955; correspondence, 1890-1971, from Frederick Wilcox, and others; a sketchbook, 1931, of Germany and France, and one book, 1948-1966, containing 49 preliminary drawings and designs for engravings and 21 of the accompanying wood engravings (6.4 x 8.8 cm. or smaller); a sales ledger, 1928-1971; 2 watercolor drawings by others; exhibition catalogs and announcements, 1927-1971; 3 illustrated publications, 1934-1958; clippings and articles, 1911-1971; and miscellaneous printed material, 1929-1971 (some unfilmed). Sixteen slides showing Albee were not microfilmed. |
| RESTRICTIONS: | Microfilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of unmicrofilmed material requires an appointment and is limited to Washington, D.C. storage facility. |
| PROVENANCE: | Donated 1971 by Grace Albee. |
| FINDING AIDS: REELS 2845-2847: | Inventory of correspondence available at Archives of American Art offices. |
| ADDITIONAL FORMS: | 35mm microfilm reels 2845-2847 and 2977-2978 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. |
