Fletcher Benton papers, 1934-2014

Biographical material includes four folders of photographs from Benton's childhood to the present and a number of personal photographs of the artist with family members and art personalities including Harold Paris, Edward Lucie-Smith, Dewain Valentine and Peter Selz. There is also a home video on 1 videocassette (VHS) by the artist showing part of his home studio and some of the sculptures from his garden. Among the legal documents and certificates there is a folder with materials about Benton's law suit against Ed Marquand, an editor that was hired to work on a book about Benton's Kinetic Art between 1986 and 1987.

Photographs and moving images of Benton working in his studio, of his artwork, and art-related events are found in series 7, Photographic and Moving Image Materials. Additional photographs and moving images related to exhibitions and commissions are found in series 4, Exhibitions and Commission files.

Correspondence is with galleries and museums that exhibited Benton's work including the San Francico Museum of Modern Art, André Emmerich gallery, Gloria Luria Gallery, Howard Wise Gallery, Yares Gallery and Thomas Baebor Gallery. There is extended correspondence with curators George W. Neubert and Gerald Nordland as well as the British art critic and writer Edward Lucie-Smith.

There is a series of correspondence related to Benton's exhibitions in Germany with the B. Haasner Gallerie and curators Jutta Brederhoff, Gerhard Kolberg, Peter Nestler and Jolie Leisegang. Leisegang was co-author of the book with Carter Ratcliff and Collette Chattopadhyay. There is also a large volume of correspondence with the prominent Dutch art collector Pieter Sanders and the Belgian contemporary art consultant Louise Descamps-Schneider.

Significant personal correspondence is found with two of Benton's former professors from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Richard Clark Smith and the painter Edwin Fulwider. Personal correspondence also includes letters with the artists Pol Bury, George Rickey, Ulfert Wilke, Marlene Louchheim and the photographer David Finn. There are also two early letters from Benton to Lillian E. Jones, a mentor and arts' patron from Jackson, Ohio who supported the sculptor during his first years at New York City.

The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by name and chronologically within each folder. Correspondence with less than three letters is filed in general alphabetical files. Letters with first names only, greeting cards and illegible signatures are filed at the end of the series. Additional correspondence can be found in Series 4, Exhibition and Commission Files. Some of the correspondents appear in Series 3, Interviews, and in the photographs in Series 1, Biographical Materials.

Series contains sound recorded interviews conducted by different journalists and researchers. Interviewers of note include those conducted by the British art critic Edward Lucie-Smith, Dan Tooker, Dan De Wilde, who interviewed Benton for a documentary on American sculptors. Interviews are on 1 sound tape reel and 7 sound cassettes.

Interviews are arranged chronologically. Interviews from television and radio broadcasts are found in Series 6 Broadcast Materials.

Materials include correspondence with galleries, museums and specific commission patrons; financial records; shipping and subcontracting documentation; audiovisual material and planning and design materials, including a significant amount of oversized materials. The most extensive documentation is found for the commission by Stanley Consultants, Inc. in Muscatine, Iowa; the California/International Arts Foundation Traveling Sculpture Exhibition; in Brussels and by Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Note that the folder of South American Materials contains correspondence, shipping records and inventories of artwork involving Estudio Actual (Caracas), Galeria Bonino Ltd, (New York) and Stanford University. An early exhibition in San Francisco is documented on digitized motion picture film shot by Al Wong in 1967. Additional audiovisual material in the series include 2 videocassettes (VHS); one with documentation of the installation of in Brussels, and a promotional video about in Los Angeles; and one sound cassette recording of the reception for in Muscatine, Iowa.

Arrangement is chronological. Additional information about exhibitions and commissions is found in series 2, Correspondence and series 5, Printed Materials.

Series contains printed material related to Benton's exhibitions and commissions. There are international materials in German, Japanese, Korean, Dutch and Spanish. Types of material include newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition catalogs, magazines, published books, brochures, posters, leaflets, press releases, and postcards related to exhibitions and commissions. Scattered magazines, books, and press releases referencing Benton's exhibitions are filed with exhibition catalogs, along with institutional collection catalogs unrelated to a particular exhibiton. Exhibition-related printed material consists mainly of exhibition announcements, but posters, brochures, and programs are also found.

Series is arranged by type of material, and chronologically within each type. Newspaper and Magazine Clippings were originally organized in adhesive album pages but were removed during processing due to preservation concerns. Original album pages were photocopied to preserve the original arrangement. Additional printed materials can be found in series 4, Exhibition and Commission Files.

Broadcast materials consist of a variety of sound and video productions including radio and television programs featuring Benton, documentaries, promotional videos, and exhibition-related programs. Material is on two sound cassettes and ten videocassettes (U-matic and VHS).

Television footage includes an interview conducted by Paul Turner for a special program on KQED celebrating their Auction Art Awards from 1973-1975, news footage from the installation of the public sculpture from WQAD in Illinois, and an interview for WDAF-TV about Benton's exhibition in Halls' Gallery in Kansas City. A radio program is also found from Frankfurt's local radio, in German, about his work during the early 1980's in Germany.

Additional video programs include a distribution copy of a documentary about Dr. Wennesland, for which Benton did a short interview; an extended interview conducted by George W. Neubert in relation to Benton's work between 1964-1974; and a California State University production where Fletcher Benton discusses his kinetic work with professor Jim McManus. The latter tape also includes a short video about computer artist Grace Hertlein. is a documentary about twelve California sculptors and the relationship between their work and the region. is a short documentary about the exhibition held at the Gilman Baker Gallery in Boca Raton, Florida, in which Benton and DeWain Valentine participated, among other artists. includes an interview with Benton talking about his sculpture and its mechanical operations. There is also one sound cassette that contains the soundtrack from an unidentified television program with an interview of Benton.

Television and radio programs are filed first in the series, followed by documentaries and exhibition-related material. Additional audiovisual material includes a home movie in series 1, Biographical material, studio and artwork documentation in series 7, Photographs and Moving Image Materials, and raw footage and production materials for a documentary in series 9, video recordings.

Series includes photographs and moving image documentation of artwork, exhibitions, inaugurations, and images of Benton in his studios. Images of the artist include photographs, partially digitized motion picture film, and video taken in Benton's studios on Bloxom Street and Dore Street in San Francisco. Moving images of Benton's studios include a promotional video about the Dore Street Studio by Dave Hatch and a student film by Al Wong about Benton's studio at 63 Bloxom Street (1967). Images of artwork include photographs and motion picture film of paintings, sculptures, and kinetic works. David Finn's pictures are digital prints of Benton's sculptures created for the book (2003) by Carter Ratcliff.

Personal photographs of Benton and his friends and family are found in series 1, Biographical Materials. Additional moving image materials are also found in series 1, as well as in series 4, Exhibition and Commission Files, series 6, Broadcast Materials, and series 9, Video Recordings.

Editioned art Christmas card created by Benton for Galeria Bonino in New York.

Series consists of 13 videocassettes (VHS) from the production of the documentary by Morgan Cavett, who was Benton's cousin. Being production material, there is a substantial quantity of footage that was not used in the final documentary, which is available on Benton's website and on DVD. Some of the material is personal and filmed in a casual manner.

The full, unedited interview with the curator George W. Neubert and Fletcher Benton's interview at the Davis Symphony Hall comprise two video cassettes each. An interview and footage about the Homage to WWII Airplanes series is also found on two videocassettes.

Three videocassettes contain footage of San Francisco's North Beach area with comments from Benton about his first years in the city, along with interviews of two of his studio assistants, Michael Roby and another unidentified assistant. Local scenes include Vesuvio Cafe and City Lights Books. Footage also includes studio scenes, some still shots of sculptures, and a tour given by Benton of his studio. Additional footage of the Dore Street studio and Benton's Napa home is on two videocassettes, and two rough edits of the documentary are on two additional videocassettes.

Additional video recordings are found in series 1, Biographical Materials, series 4, Exhibition and Commission Files, series 6, Broadcast Materials, and series 7, Photographic and Moving Image Materials.