Ibram Lassaw papers, 1928-2004

Collection Information

Size: 3.1 Linear feet

Summary: The Ibram Lassaw papers measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1928-2004. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, slides, a scrapbook and additional printed material and audio visual material documenting the career of sculptor Ibram Lassaw. Some of the material has been compiled by Lassaw's daughter, Denise Lassaw, by photocopying original documents and in some cases, compiling them into booklets for her "Lassaw Archives Project." There are also 29 VHS tapes, circa 1984-2004, of lectures, television appearances, interviews and other events regarding Ibram Lassaw and other artists.

Biographical/Historical Note

Ibram Lassaw (1913-2003) was a Russian American sculptor, known for non-objective construction in brazed metals. Lassaw was born in Alexandria, Egypt to Russian emigre parents, and moved to New York in 1921. Lassaw studied scuplture at the Clay Club and later at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York, and he later went on to study at City College of New York. During the mid-1930s, Lassaw worked briefly for the Public Works of Art Project cleaning sculptural monuments around New York City. He subsequently joined the WPA as a teacher and sculptor until he was drafted into the army in 1942. Lassaw's contribution to the advancement of sculptural abstraction went beyond mere formal innovation; his promotion of modernist styles during the 1930s did much to insure the growth of abstract art in the United States. He was one of the founding members of the American Abstract Artists group, and served as president of the American Abstract Artists organization from 1946 to 1949.

Provenance

The Ibram Lassaw papers were donated in installments between 2001 and 2019 by Denise Lassaw, Ibram Lassaw's daughter, and Ernestine Lassaw, Lassaw's widow. Materials on reels NY65-1, N69-129, N69-130, and 1810 were lent for microfilming between 1965 and 1980 by Ibram Lassaw. Material on reel N69-129 was subsequently donated with the 2015 accession.

Related Materials

Also available in the Archives on microfilm only are Lassaw's papers lent for microfilming. Microfilm reel NY65-1 includes approximately 200 photographs of Lassaw and his work, 1929-1964. Reel N69-121 includes letters received; writings on diverse subjects, such as art, religion and philosophy; drafts of articles and lectures; biographical sketches; typescript of interview with Lassaw and transcript of TV program in which he appeared along with Theodore Roszak discussing their sculptures commissioned by Yale & Towne; jottings of ideas and techniques for sculpture, and personal reflections. Reels N69-129-N69-130 and reel 1810 contain and notebooks recording daily activities, sculpture ideas, philosophical reflections, quotes from the writings of artists, philosophers and religious figures and some sketches of ideas for sculpture. Those mentioned include Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Bill King, Herman Cherry, Jim Brooks, Adolph Gottlieb and Peter Selz. Microfilm reel 2129 contains a photocopy of a notebook containing an inventory of Lassaw's work, 1929-1958, with a description of each work including the title, date, medium and size and records of the owners, selling prices, where and when each work was exhibited and reproduced, and some sketches of the works of art.

Language Note

English .

Funding Note

The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.