Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1929-1954
Viktor Schreckengost was a pioneer of modern industrial design whose career spanned 75 years and whose influence--through design, art, and teaching--has left an indelible mark on modern America. A small-town potter who began his career during the Great Depression, he championed the middle-class consumer. "Good design doesn't have to cost more," he is known for saying: his constant retooling of designs and manufacturing processes made his products available to the average American. Always in tune with changing fashions and feelings, Viktor imbued his products with the spirit of their generation: the Jazz Bowl, now an Art Deco icon; the Murray pedal car, a staple of baby-boomer childhoods; and American Limoges' Flower Shop dinnerware, considered so representative of its time that the American Girl(TM) 1940's doll Molly is sold with a tea set based on the design.
Paul Suttman papers, 1947-1998
In 1963 sculptor Paul Suttman (1933-1993) and his second wife, printmaker Evelyn Gwinner settled in a rustic farmhouse near Impruneta, south of Florence, in the Chianti region of Tuscany. Their home became a center for visiting artists and good friends such as Katharine Kean, Red Grooms, Mimi Gross and Bob Thompson. In the catalog Paul Suttman, Encounters in Bronze, his fourth wife Virginia Bush Suttman wrote, "They were always on the edge of poverty, collecting bakery leftovers for a pig they raised for food, and scrimping on everything else--except casting, buying prints and antiques, and traveling to see more art."
Bob Thompson papers, 1955-2000
These papers, gathered by Bob Thompson's widow Carol, document the dissolution of his estate and the exhibition and sale of his paintings. Included is correspondence with galleries and museums; letters from Judith Wilson concerning her research on Thompson; inventories, checklists, and price lists; photographs of Thompson, his wife Carol, his mother, his studios, and friends; written recollections of Thompson and poems in memoriam; and clippings, announcements, catalogs, and other printed material. There are also miscellaneous items from Bob Thompson including a letter he wrote to the editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, 1955; membership cards; a letter from Boston University admitting him to the School of Education, 1955; and writings.