John Wilde papers, 1935-2011

Biographical materials include Wilde's Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Award, certificates and diploma from the University of Wisconsin, curriculum vitae, death certificate and memorial from his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, and files for his membership activities in the National Academy of Design, the Rock County Bicentennial Commission, and the Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Awards committee.

Correspondence is with family; artists and close friends Karl Priebe, Gertrude Abercrombie, Sylvia Fein, Dudley Huppler, and Marshall Glasier; curator Robert Cozzolino; art critic Theodore Wolff; art collectors Peter and Helga Gardetto; and with collaborators Andrew Balkin Editions, Warrington Colescott, Tandem Press, and Harvey Littleton. The majority of the correspondence in Shirley Wilde's files consists of sympathy cards and letters received after John Wilde's death. Other correspondence of Shirley is with galleries and museums regarding the exhibition and sale of John's works. Some of the correspondence files also include printed materials, writings, and business records, particularly in the gallery and museum files.

The first group of correspondence is more general in nature and arranged in rough chronological order. The second group of correspondence is arranged alphabetically by name or subject.

Letters from Walter Hamady are ACCESS RESTRICTED and stored separately.

There are two sound recordings of interviews with Wilde for Harry Bouras' radio show Critics Choice , as well as one interview with Gertrude Abercrombie by Studs Terkel discussing representational and non-representational art for Studs Terkel's WFMT radio show in Chicago.

There are 27 journals spanning seven decades. Some of Wilde's journal entries are daily logs of the weather, visitors, and brief descriptions of daily activities. Other journals contain lengthier entries about his ideas on art, his progress and thoughts on work he was completing at the time, and topics outside of art.

Writings by Wilde include term papers and his thesis, "A Survey of the Developement of Surrealism in Painting and Its Chief Innovations with Special Emphasis on the Life and Work of Max Ernst," written for the completion of his M.A. in Art History from the University of Wisconsin. Other writings by Wilde are transcriptions for gallery talks and speeches, miscellaneous writings including memorials for Karl Priebe and Robert Wilde (brother), and notes that include a notebook of seminar and meeting notes. Writings about Wilde are by Theodore Wolff, Michael Seefeldt, and various authors. Other writings include J.C. Bradley's "Return from Never-Never Land" and Goerge Herring's "A Mirror of Emblems." Additional writings by others are found in the series of artist collaboration books.

Wilde's business records include account books showing expenses, teaching income, and gallery sales; appraisals; files for donations of Wilde's artwork to museums by The Littleton Collection and Harvey K. Littleton; files for loans and sales; and inventory books and lists showing detailed information on retail prices, the locations of loaned and consigned artwork, exhibition information for individual pieces of artwork, and information about purchased works. A draft of Wilde's last will and testament is also found in this series.

Files for exhibitions contain correspondence, preliminary lists of artwork, catalog manuscripts and notes, photographs, press coverage, and lecture transcripts for several of Wilde's major exhibitions, including an exhibition of Wilde's drawings held at the Albrecht Museum of Art in 1974, Leaders in Wisconsin Art (1982), John Wilde: Drawings 1940-1984 (1984), Wildeworld: The Art of John Wilde (1999), John Wilde: Recent Work (2003), With Friends: Six Magical Realists (2005), and Alchemy and Image (2010). Many of Wilde's exhibitions were held at the University of Wisconsin's Elvehjem Museum of Art which is now the Chazen Museum of Art.

This series is arranged in chronological order by exhibition year.

Printed materials include art auction catalogs, brochures, calendars, exhibition catalogs and announcements, invitations, newsletters, newclippings, magazines and journals, posters, press releases, programs, and an annual report for the University of Wisconsin. Poetry booklets includes The Snake Pit by Catherine Lynn and Claude Binky and the Large Inedible Bird by Dan Nielsen.

Two scrapbooks contain clippings and printed materials compiled by Wilde, some of which were sent to Wilde by friends and colleagues.

This series includes photographs, negatives, transparencies, slides, and lantern slides of Wilde, his studio and estate, and with family and friends Gertrude Abercrombie, Sylvia Fein, Michael Glasier, Dudley Huppler, Karl Priebe, James Watrous, and others. Files for works of art include photograph albums of works returned to Wilde's studio and of works sold; works at exhibitions and in special collections; works by Gerald Purdy; and few drawings in digital format. Also included are photographs of others, many unidentified, and miscellaneous photographs of a bedroom and nature.

The binders were removed from the photograph albums, but the pages remain in the original order.

Nearly 90 books form this series of limited edition, letterpress books published by Perishable Press and a few other publishers. Wilde collaborated with authors and poets to produce illustrated books including Five Poems by Khatchik Minasian, Poems for Self Therepy by George Economou, Six Poems by J.D. Whitney, and John's Apples by Reeve Lindbergh. Wilde also authored and illustrated 44 Wilde 1944, What His Mother's Son Hath Wrought (WHMSHW), The Story of Jane and Joan, and A Hamady Wilde Sampler/Salutations 1995. Also found in this series are books by Walter Hamady, Mary Laird Hamady, and other authors published by Perishable Press. Many of the books have personal annotations to Wilde from the authors and Walter Hamady.

This series is arranged in chronological order with works by Wilde listed first.

There are six sketchbooks created by Wilde. In the sketchbook dated 1943-1944, Wilde marked pages to indicate that those sketches were developed into finished drawings or paintings. Many of the sketches throughout all of the books are accompanied by Wilde's writings and feature himself, his friends, and his first wife Helen. Lists of artworks and accounting notes are interspersed with the sketches and writings. The sketches are mainly in pencil or pen but a few painted sketches are also be found.

Artwork includes preparatory drawings and a sketch with writing by Wilde, as well as a few sketches by others. Also included is large collage by Jerome Karidis titled "Homage to the Queen Gertrude Abercrombie" that was gifted to Wilde by Karidis.