JAMES PENNEY (1910-1982), a longtime teacher of painting at Hamilton College, gave the Archives an extensive series of sketchbooks that chronicle his career from his student days at the University of Kansas, from 1925 to 1929, through some twenty years as a painter in New York. Penney sketched incessantly, on subways, at construction sites, and at political rallies. In the 1930s, he worked on WPA murals under Moses Soyer's direction. He annotated his July 1935 sketchbook: "Dance Studio near Columbus Circle. Dancers sketched with Moses Soyer here at lunchtime."
James Penney Sketchbook, July 1935, 8 x 10 in. Studies of dancers, ink and watercolor on paper. James Penney Papers, Archives of American Art.
Description of James Penney's Papers |
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|---|---|
| CREATOR: | Penney, James, 1910- |
| TITLE: | James Penney papers, 1918-1982. |
| PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: | 12.6 linear ft. |
| BIO/HISTORICAL NOTE: | Painter, educator; Clinton, N.Y. Died in 1982. |
| SUMMARY: | Correspondence, writings and notes, diaries, scrapbooks, extensive sketchbooks and sketches, photographs and printed materials. Correspondence (1918-1981) to and from family members, Paul Manner, Penney's teacher Albert Bloch, and others concerns plans for murals and Penney's ideas on art, among other topics. Diaries concern a European trip (1952). Two scrapbooks contain clippings, photographs, letters and exhibition catalogs documenting Penney's career. Fifty-four sketchbooks (1925-1950) contain figure studies, portraits and caricatures, ideas for murals, and scenes in New York City, Kansas, Missouri and elsewhere. Photographs show Penney, family, friends and his works. Printed material includes clippings, newsletters and brochures, and exhibition announcements and catalogs. Other materials include writings, notes, price lists, contracts and other financial material, biographical materials, a journal (1933-1940), notebooks and ca. 300 loose sketches. Addition: Two volumes of lecture notes from art history classes taught by Albert Bloch, University of Kansas (1929-31); research material compiled by Penney relative to Albert Bloch exhibition, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York (1974); 53 volumes of sketchbooks; about 20 studies and sketches for federal government mural projects (1934-1942); correspondence; photographs and non-nitrate negatives; and 52 oversize sketches and studies for federal and non-federal mural projects (1933-1970s). |
| RESTRICTIONS: | Unmicrofilmed; use requires an appointment and is limited to Washington, D.C. storage facility. |
| PROVENANCE: | Part of the papers were given by James Penney. His widow, Rachel Penney, subsequently donated the rest. |
