TABLE OF CONTENTS
Series Descriptions/Container Listing
Roi Partridge
A Finding Aid to the Roi Partridge Papers, 1915-1995, in the Archives of American Art
by Rosa M. Fernandez
October, 2002
- Contact Information
- Reference Department
- Archives of American Art
- Smithsonian Institution
- Washington. D.C. 20560
- www.aaa.si.edu/askus
Collection Overview | ||
| Creator: | Roi Partridge | |
| Title: | Roi Partridge papers | |
| Dates: | 1915-1995 | |
| Abstract: | The Roi Partridge papers measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1915 through 1995, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1960 to 1977. The papers provide researchers with information regarding the private and professional life of California etcher and illustrator Roi Partridge (1888-1984) and to a lesser extent his first wife, photographer Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976). Found are letters, Christmas cards designed by Partridge, a travel log, an essay by Partridge, photographs, and printed materials. | |
| Extent: | 0.8 linear feet | |
Administrative Information
Provenance
The papers were acquired as gifts in two accessions in 1992 and 1995 from Gryffyd Partridge, Roi Partridge's son. The 1992 accession was microfilmed upon receipt.
Processing Information
The first accession was by processed by Kym Wheeler in 1995 and microfilmed that same year. The 1995 accession was processed by Rosa Fernández in October 2002.
Preferred Citation
Roi Partridge papers, 1915-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Alternative Forms Available
A portion of the collection is also available on microfilm reel 5028. The microfilm is available for interlibrary loan.
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Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy for portions on microfilm.
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Roi Partridge papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
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Index Terms | ||
| This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Archives of American Art under the following index terms. People, families and organizations are listed under "Subjects" when they are the topic of collection contents and under "Names" when they are creators or contributors. | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| Cunningham, Imogen, 1883-1976 | ||
| Neuhaus, Eugen, 1879-1963 | ||
| Partridge, Roi, 1888-1984 | ||
| Subjects-Topical: | ||
| Etchers -- California -- San Francisco | ||
| Printmakers -- California -- San Francisco | ||
| Types of Materials: | ||
| Christmas cards | ||
| Photographs | ||
| Sketchbooks | ||
| Names: | ||
| Cunningham, Imogen, 1883-1976 | ||
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Biographical Note
Etcher and illustrator Roi Partridge was born October 14, 1888 in Centralia, in what was then known as Territory of Washington. In 1892 the family moved to Seattle and, at the age of 10, Partridge was removed from public school by his mother and enrolled in a drawing and painting course. By 1907, the family had moved to Kansas where Partridge enrolled in studio courses at the newly established Fine Arts Institute of Kansas City.
Between 1910-1914, Partridge studied etching in Munich with the German artist Brockhoff. Partridge also studied in Paris, where he began to exchange letters with photographer and educator, Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976) who resided in Seattle. At the outbreak of World War I, Partridge returned to the U.S. and married Cunningham. In 1916, Partridge won the Purchase Prize for his submission at the Chicago Society of Etchers exhibition. Soon after, he permanently changed his signature from George Roy Partridge to Roi Partridge.
Between 1920 and 1954, Partridge taught etching at Mills College in Oakland, California and became the first director of the Mills College Gallery in 1925, while enjoying a reputation as a renowned graphic artist. Under his directorship (1925-1935) the Gallery became an important center for contemporary visual arts on the West Coast. He presented American and European artists, craftspeople, photographers, and designers, as well as the work of Mills faculty and students to the Mills College art community and the California Bay Area. His early exhibitions at the Gallery were the first presentations of modern painting and photography and included works by Alexander Archipenko, Ansel Adams, Diego Rivera, Imogen Cunningham, and Edward Weston.
Partridge also illustrated several important books including Creative Art, English Studio, Art and Archeology, Prints, and Aesthetic Judgment. An accomplished master landscape etcher, he produced more than 300 etchings from his extensive travels throughout the Northwest, California and the desert Southwest. Roi Partridge died in 1984 at the age of 96.
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Scope and Content Note
The Roi Partridge papers measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1915 through 1995, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1960 to 1977. The papers provide researchers with information regarding the private and professional life of California etcher and illustrator Roi Partridge (1888-1984) and to a lesser extent his first wife, photographer Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976). Found are letters, Christmas cards designed by Partridge, a travel log, an essay by Partridge, photographs, and printed materials.
Part 1, representing the first accession, measures 0.2 linear feet and dates from 1924 through 1990. Found are letters from Roi Partridge and second wife May Ellen to his eldest son and daughter-in-law, Gryffyd and Janet Partridge, Christmas cards designed by Partridge with images of his etchings addressed to student and friend, Polly Black (Eleanora Bosworth Black). Also found is a travel log recording three family car and sketching trips Partridge and Cunningham made with their children to the West, as well as one sketching trip Partridge made with Eugen Neuhaus in 1926. This part also includes an essay titled, "To Our Friends Who Art Not In Heaven" written by Partridge during a 1966 sketching trip to Maui describing his delight with the Hawaiian island, several photographs, and printed materials.
Part 2 consists of the unmerged second accession, dates from 1915 through 1995, and measures 0.6 linear feet. General correspondence includes letters from Partridge to the National Academy of Design concerning the modernist movement in California and other art related matters. Correspondents include Ansel Adams, writer Sherwood Anderson, writer and printer Porter Garnett, Mrs. Charles Webster Hawthorne, Hamilton Wolf and others. There is also Imogen Cunningham correspondence that includes letters from her parents, Isaac and Susan, and letters Cunningham wrote to her son and daughter-in-law, Gryffyd and Janet Partridge. A 1970 letter from the M. H. De Young Museum concerns Cunningham's exhibition that same year. Also found in this accession are family correspondence between Roi Partridge and his children, Gryffyd, Padraic, and Rondall Partridge, printed materials, and photographs of drawings.
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Arrangement | ||
The Roi Partridge papers are arranged into two parts, each representing separate and unmerged accessions. | ||
| Part 1: 1992 Accession, 1924-1990, undated (Box 1, 0.2 linear feet; Reel 5028, frames 229-423) | ||
| Part 2: 1995 Accession, 1915-1995, undated (Box 2-3, 0.6 linear feet, unmicrofilmed) | ||
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Series Descriptions/Container Listing
Part 1: 1992 Accession, 1924-1990, undated (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet; Reel 5028, frames 229-423) |
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Part 1 contains two folders of scattered family postcards and letters between Roi Partridge and May Ellen Partridge to Gryffyd and Janet Partridge; some include attachments such as exhibition announcements, newspaper clippings, and other documents. Also found are ten Christmas cards and one letter from Partridge to a former student at Mills College; Partridge's and Cunningham's travel log for family trips to the West that detail impressions of their trip, towns and cities visited, and other travel related events, as well as one sketching trip Partridge made with Eugen Neuhaus in 1926 ; a short typewritten essay written by Partridge about a sketching trip he and his second wife, May Ellen took to Maui in 1966; three photographs of Roi and second wife May Ellen and a drawing; and printed materials that include A Seattle Heritage: The Fine Arts Society, 1942 by Anne C. Calhoun, one of the founding members of the organization and a close friend of Roi Partridge. Other printed material includes images of etchings by Partridge, a newsletter from The Print Makers Society of California, and several announcements for Roi Partridge exhibitions, including one with Ansel Adams at the Mills College Art Gallery in 1977. |
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Box |
Reel |
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| 1 (pam) | 5028 | Family Letters, 1934, 1955-1984, undated (2 folders) | |||||||
| Christmas Cards and Letter, 1981, 1985, undated | |||||||||
| Roi Partridge and Imogen Cunningham Travel Log, 1924-1926 | |||||||||
| Essay (Poem), "To Our Friends Who Art Not In Heaven", undated | |||||||||
| Photographs, 1940, undated | |||||||||
| A Seattle Heritage: The Fine Arts Society, 1942 | |||||||||
| Other Printed Material, 1959-1960, 1977, 1990, undated | |||||||||
Part 2: 1995 Accession, 1915-1995, undated (Box 2-3; 0.6 linear feet; unmicrofilmed) |
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Part 2 includes general correspondence with the National Academy of Design and others concerning the modernist movement in California and other art related matters. Correspondents include Ansel Adams, writer Sherwood Anderson, writer and printer Porter Garnett, Mrs. Charles Webster Hawthorne, Hamilton Wolf and others. Also found is family correspondence between Roi Partridge and his children, Gryffyd, Padraic, and Rondall Partridge. Imogen Cunningham correspondence includes letters from her parents, Isaac and Susan, and letters Cunningham wrote to her son and daughter-in-law, Gryffyd and Janet Partridge. A 1970 letter from the De Young Museum concerns Cunningham's exhibition that same year. The collection also includes printed materials, such as announcements for Roi Partridge exhibitions, newsletters, a pamphlet for the show Group f. 64 at the Oakland Museum in 1993, and other material; photographs and negatives of Partridge drawings; and one folder of miscellaneous lists and notes. |
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Box |
Reel |
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| 2 (hol) | unfilmed | General Correspondence, 1915-1995, undated (2 folders) | |||||||
| Family Correspondence, 1947-1983, undated (2 folders) | |||||||||
| Correspondence, National Academy of Design, 1947-1965, 1977 | |||||||||
| Imogen Cunningham Correspondence, 1931-1932, 1961-1976, 1995, undated | |||||||||
| Exhibition Announcements and Newsletters, 1976-1993, undated | |||||||||
| Photographs of Drawings of California and Other Subjects (with Appraisal Information), 1987, undated | |||||||||
Box |
Reel |
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| 3 (pam) | unfilmed | Photographs of Drawings of California and Other Subjects (with Appraisal Information), undated | |||||||
| Photographs of Drawings of Hawaiian Landscapes, undated | |||||||||
| Photographs of Drawings of Japanese Landscapes and Photographs, undated | |||||||||
| Photo Negatives (California, Hawaii, and Japan Photographs), undated | |||||||||
| Lists and Notes, undated | |||||||||