Collection Information
Size: 3.5 Linear feet
Summary: The papers of Charles Culver measure 3.5 linear feet and date from 1920-1997. This material documents his personal life and career as a watercolorist and art critic for The Detriot Free Press from the late 1930s-1967. The collection includes biographical material, correspondence, writings, business files, artwork, photographs, printed material and artifacts.
Biographical/Historical Note
Charles Culver (1908-1967) was a Detroit-based watercolorist, critic, and teacher. Culver was very active in the Detroit arts community beginning in the late 1930s. He participated in many solo and group exhibitions in Detroit. His works are in museum collections, including the Detroit Institute of Arts and Whitney Museum in New York. Culver had exhibited in 5 solo exhibitions in New York. He was primarily known for his watercolor paintings of animals, a subject he studied and painted for the remainder of his life. Culver established the Watercolor Department at the Art School of Society of Arts and Crafts, later known as the College for Creative Studies, in Detroit; he taught at the school from 1960 until his death in 1967. In 1966 he became an art critic at the Detroit Free Press .
Provenance
The papers loaned for microfilming by Mrs. Charles Culver in 1969. Sarah C. Weiss, the daughter of Charles Culver, donated most of this material and additional papers to the Archives of American Art in 2004.
Related Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels D365-D367, and 3) including correspondence, journals and notebooks, writings, drawings, and a scrapbook. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and while some of these materials were included in subsequent gifts, the items not donated are not described in the collection container inventory.
Language Note
English .