Fritz Bultman papers, 1928-2010

Biographical notes include a list of exhibitions, 1947-2003. School records include report cards from Isidore Newman School, New Orleans, the first issue of "Junior Year in Munich 1935-36 News Letter" featuring "October Diary" (Bultman did not contribute an entry), and his student card from The Munich Preparatory School for the 1936/37 school year.

Additional school records from the period when Bultman studied in Munich are found enclosed with letters (Series 2).

Most incoming letters are addressed to Fritz Bultman or family members. Earlier letters concern Fritz's education in Munich, enrollment at the New Bauhaus, and studies with Hans Hofmann in New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Many letters are from Miz Hofmann (in German, some with translations) and from Hans Hofmann offering advice and encouragement; after the outbreak of World War II, they sought Bultman's help to obtain documents necessary for Mrs. Hofmann to join her husband in the United States. As Bultman's career progressed, incoming letters concerned exhibitions, sales, and invitations to lecture or serve as a visiting professor. In addition to brief notes and messages from Jeanne Bultman to Fritz, mostly of a routine nature, there are frequent, lengthy letters sent while traveling in Europe. Letters post-dating Bultman's death concern exhibitions, loans, and sales.

The majority of letters by Bultman are to his family; a large portion were written when he was a student. Some drafts and copies of letters by Bultman concern professional activities such as arrangements for lectures, exhibitions, and Cynthia Goodman's editing of "Form and Color in the Creative Process: The Painter's Primer" by Hans Hofmann.

Incoming and outgoing letters are filed together and arranged by year. Additional letters are included among the subject files (Series 7).

Interviews are with Fritz Bultman (1 sound cassette and 2 transcripts), Jeanne and Fritz Bultman together (1 videocassette: U-matic), and Jean Bultman (2 transcripts). Most are about Bultman's career; the undated interview with Bultman probably is incomplete. One interview with Fritz Bultman concerns John Graham and one with Jeanne Bultman focuses on Hans Hofmann.

The majority of Bultman's writings are texts or notes on a variety of topics for lectures and talks presented at universities and professional conferences. Also found are articles, a book review, and catalog essay. Writings about Bultman include a variety of articles, a review, and "Quotes re: Fritz Bultman and His Work," extracted from published sources and letters, 1950-1983. Miscellaneous writings are shorter pieces and unidentified fragments. Included is a poem by L.G. dedicated to Bultman.

Notebooks/sketchbooks (39 volumes) contain a variety of writings and notes (including some that are autobiographical), along with sketches and several finished drawings. Some volumes consist of writings and notes with a few sketches and doodles while others are mainly sketchbooks containing a few stray notes and brief writings; many contain approximately the same amount of text and drawings. Included are a volume titled "Venice" (1937), "New Bauhaus" from his year in Chicago (1937-1938), "N.Y.C." (circa 1938), and 3 volumes that focus on his psychoanalysis (1952-1953).

This series is arranged chronologically.

Entries, usually a full page, are about professional and personal activities. Volumes 1 and 2 contain almost daily entries with a few brief gaps; volume 4 includes longer periods without entries. Volume 3 was written while on a trip to Istanbul in October 1978.

Volumes are arranged chronologically.

Subject files reflect some of Bultman's activities, interests, and relationships. Individual files in this series may contain a wide variety of record types or consist simply of correspondence with or about an individual or institution.

The most thoroughly documented subject is Hans Hofmann. Printed materials include articles about Hofmann, a brochure of the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, exhibition notices and catalogs. Among the writings by Hofmann are: an article, "Plastic Creation;" his essay, "Form and Color in the Creative Process: The Painter's Primer" (edited by Cynthia Goodman, translated by Georgina Huck); and a book, The Search for the Real (edited by Sarah T. Weeks and Bartlett H. Hayes, Jr.); as well as lectures and talks.

Joseph Cornell documentation includes letters referring to Napoleonic Parakeet, a Cornell box owned by the Bultmans; also found are postcards and further correspondence. Printed material, mostly about exhibitions, includes a notice about Cornell's memorial service.

"Forum '49" and "Forum '49 Revisited" includes photographs of the 1949 installation and the participating artists --Fritz Bultman, Peter Busa, Kenneth Campbell, Minna Citron, Morris Davidson, Lillian Drake, Perle Fine, William Freed, Howard Gibbs, Kahlil Gibran, Adolph Gottlieb, John Grillo, Weldon Kees, Karl Knaths, Lawrence and Mrs. Kupferman, Blanche Lazzell, Boris Margo, George McNeil, F. Pfeiffer, and Judith Rothschild.

Found in the Weldon Kees file are requests for information about Kees, Bultman's notes about their friendship, along with a few letters from Kees and manuscripts of articles about him. The file concerning the Provincetown History Preservation Project contains many original letters of Fritz and Jeanne Bultman, a few photographs, and other items that Mrs. Bultman thought might be of interest to the project. Documentation of friendships with Tony Smith and Donald Windham includes a substantial number of letters. The Windham file also includes writings and there is a book cover Bultman designed for him.

Subject files are alphabetized by title.

Most items are about or mention Bultman. Exhibition catalogs, announcements, and reviews document his solo exhibitions and group shows. There are general and scholarly articles about him, along with publications containing reproductions of his work. Also found are a few articles by Bultman and catalogs of schools where he taught.

This series is arranged chronologically. Additional printed material is scattered throughout the subject files (Series 7).

All artwork is by Bultman. Drawings, sketches and paintings are in pencil, ink, gouache and tempera on paper. This series also contains one print.

Additional artwork is found in notebooks/sketchbooks (Series 5).

Photographs are of artwork, exhibition installations, people, and places. This series also includes some negatives, color transparencies, and 35-mm color slides.

Photographs of Bultman's artwork document his paintings, sculpture, and drawings, as well as his lesser known work in collage, stained glass, interior design and decoration. A view of destroyed interior murals he painted in the family home is included. In addition, there are a few photographs of artwork by Arthur B. Carles, Jean Dubuffet, John Graham, Ray Keyton, Myron Stout, and Jack Tworkov in a variety of media. Exhibition installation views are mainly of solo and retrospective shows in the United States, and two early exhibitions in Paris and Italy.

Most photographs of people are Fritz Bultman, his family and friends. Many pictures of Bultman from the 1970s-1980s are by Renate Ponsold. Identified family and friends include: parents Fred and Pauline Bultman, sister Muriel Bultman, childhood nurse Katie Belle, son Ellis Johann Bultman, Sherman Drexler, Hans Hofmann, Miz Hofmann, Miss Katsura, Lee Krasner, Annalee Newman, Barnett Newman, Alfonso Ossorio, Jeanne Reynal, Thomas Sills, Jack Tworkov, and Wally Tworkov. There is also a group portrait of the artists of Long Point Gallery: Varujan Boghosian, Fritz Bultman, Carmen Cicero, Sideo Fromboluti, Budd Hopkins, Rick Klauber, Lee Manso, Sidney Simon, Robert Motherwell, Judith Rothschild, Nora Speyer, and Tony Vevers.

Exhibition installation views are filed by date of exhibition; all other portions of this series are alphabetized by folder title. Photographs are also found among the subject files (Series 7).