Collection Information

Size: ca. 400 items (on partial microfilm reel).

Summary: REEL 3591: Papers regarding his research on New Deal Art Projects, including correspondence and copies of correspondence with William C. Agee, George Biddle (including 16 photographs of murals in Mexico City and Washington, D.C. and a clipping), Mrs. Edward Bruce, Olin Dows, Maria Ealand, Arlene Jacobowitz, Masha Zakheim Jewett (including an exhibition catalog and clippings on Bernard Baruch Zakheim), Horace Kallen, Rockwell Kent, Chet LaMore, Merwin C. Phelps, David W. Scott, Harold Weston, and others; National Endowment for the Humanities grant proposals "NDA Projects in Pennsylvania," 1975, and "Images of the Heartland," 1980, and notes from Contreras' interviews with Maria Ealand, John Gernand, Jacob Kainen, Dorothy Miller, and Selma Rein.

REEL 41: Contreras' Ph.D. thesis entitled, "The New Deal Treasury Department Art Programs and the American Artist: 1933-1943."

Biographical/Historical Note

Artist, art historian; Albuquerque, New York; d. 1990.

Provenance

Donated 1985 by Belisario Contreras.

Location of Originals

• Grant proposals: Location of originals unknown.

Alternative Forms Available

Microfilm reel 3591 and 41 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.

Restrictions on Access

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.

How to Cite This Collection

Belisario Contreras papers, 1958-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.