Arnold Mesches papers, 1939-2015

Biographical material dates from 1960s-2012 and includes addresses, family papers, interview transcripts, life documents, identification cards, a residency file, resumes, biographical statements, and travel records. Interviews are with Arnold Mesches and Jill Ciment.

Correspondence dates from 1949-2014 and is both personal and professional in nature. Personal correspondence is with wife, novelist Jill Ciment, family, friends, and artists. The bulk of the correspondence falls within two date ranges, 1949-1960s and 1990s-2014. Professional correspondence is with museums, galleries, and magazines, and pertains to exhibitions, acquisitions, sales, and work for hire. There are also a few letters from senators regarding political issues. Notable correspondents include Arthur Danto, Robert Storr, June Wayne, and Howard Zinn. Single items of correspondence are from Kerry James Marshall, Henry Miller, Robert Motherwell, and Ben Shahn. Additional correspondence is found throughout the collection, particularly in the gallery and exhibitions files (series 4), activism files (series 5.2), and teaching files (series 7).

Files are arranged by correspondent name or topic.

Writings date from 1958-2013 and include manuscripts of unpublished novels and short stories, autobiographical writings, recordings of dreams, introductions to artists, a journal, memorials, project proposals, statements on art and politics, notes from Mesches' psychotherapy sessions, as well as numerous outlines, fragments, and notes. The journal titled "Drawing," contains a typed recounting of daily activities, as well as reflections on art, his work process, and relationships from 1958-1962. Also found here are several writings by others, primarily about Mesches' work.

Gallery and exhibition files date from 1979-2015 and pertain to dozens of Mesches' gallery and museum exhibitions, including his 2013 retrospective at Miami Dade College, Arnold Mesches: A Life's Work. Items include correspondence, pricelists, checklists, floorplans, loan agreements, shipping details, catalog essays, and printed material.

Project files date from 1950s-2014 and consist of grant files, activism files, project notebooks, and art projects. Grant files include correspondence and writings for various grant and fellowship applications and awards. Activism files pertain to the Los Angeles Peace Tower, Arts Coalition for Freedom of Expression, and the pardon of muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. Peace Tower files contain mailing lists, a prospectus, account statements, petitions, photographic material, printed material, and a large amount of correspondence, primarily between Irving Petlin, one of the work's principal organizers, and other artists and curators including Rudolf Baranik, Jay de Feo, Elaine de Kooning, Leon Golub, Max Kozloff, and Mesches. It is unclear how Mesches came to possess this selection of material, although he was one of the organizers. One file pertains to the restaging of the work at the Whitney Museum in 2006.

Eight project notebooks (disbound) contain preliminary sketches, technical notes including color palette and paint formulas, Polaroids of in-process works, and source material. These detailed notebooks document Mesches' process from source material to finished work.

In addition, over 100 art project files further detail individual works, and include preliminary drawings in pen, pencil and charcoal, as well as collages, source material, and Polaroids. File titles primarily reference titles of works, however a few file titles describe the subject or genre, including murals, illustrations of courtrooms and trials, landscapes, and others. Several of Mesches' serial works are well represented here, including Anomie, Comings Attractions, and The FBI Files. The source material for The FBI Files is also found here, which consists of Mesches' declassified FBI file, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request in 1999.

The series is arranged as four subseries.

Subject files date from 1940s-2000s and consist of a sequence of alphabetical files maintained by Mesches. Files contain clippings and printed material used as reference material for paintings.

Teaching files date from 1992-2004 and document posts at New York University and other institutions. Items include course descriptions, lists of materials, course notes, newsletters, reference articles, and correspondence pertaining to current teaching posts, as well as visiting artist engagements and open faculty positions.

Personal business records date from 1983-2015 and include documentation related to donations, Mesches' estate, gallery representation, inventories, properties, artwork shipment, supplies, and website design. Items include correspondence, lists, receipts, invoices, agreements, research, and other legal documents.

Printed material dates from 1950s-2000s and documents Mesches' career as both political illustrator and fine artist. Found here are brochures, leaflets, and Frontier and The Nation magazines featuring illustrations by Mesches. Calendars, newsletters, clippings, announcements, exhibition catalogs, and press releases document Mesches' gallery and museum exhibitions. One video recording contains an interview with Mesches published by the Artist Network of Refuse & Resist!

Photographic material dates from 1940s-2010s and includes hundreds of photographic prints, contact sheets, slides, and negatives of Arnold Mesches, Mesches' family and friends, studio, and artworks from his seven decade long career. Photographs of Mesches' include snapshots and portraits at all stages of life, including at work in his studio, leading classrooms, hanging exhibitions, and at events and gathering in Los Angeles and New York.