Josef Presser and Agnes Hart papers, 1913-1980

Materials consist of an address book and addresses, curriculum vitae, family history, and personal identification records, including immigration, employment, and military records, passport and travel papers, membership cards, and death certificates.

Presser's personal correspondence is with family and friends, including the artists Charles Hopkinson and Vera Fraser. Business related correspondence is with various collectors, galleries, museums, art associations, and art schools. There is also correspondence related to Presser's law suit against the New York Port Authority, and Presser and Hart's real estate purchases in Hurley and Woodstock, New York. Hart's correspondence concerns Presser's estate and artwork after his death, including letters related to the organization of Presser's memorial exhibition in 1968.

Family correspondence with family includes letters from Agnes Hart, letters from the lawyer of Presser's first wife, Olga Mason, and letters from Presser's siblings, Ilonka, Charles, and Harry.

General correspondence is with various artists, collectors, galleries, museums, and art associations concerning the creation, purchase, sales, and exhibition of Presser's work. These include the artists Charles Hopkinson and Vera Fraser and the collectors Mrs. John D. Rockerfeller, Alfred S. Campbell, and Ray Austrian. There is also correspondence with art schools, including Cooper Union, New York University, and Queens College, concerning the logistics of Presser's employment. Correspondence related to Presser's law suit against the New York Port Authority, Presser and Hart's real estate purchases in Hurley and Woodstock, New York, and Christmas cards sent to Presser and Hart are also included in the subseries.

Hart's correspondence concerns Presser's estate and artwork, including letters to and from the American Embassy in Paris in the months after Presser's death, and from Gallery 5 East, which handled the sales of Presser artwork from 1974 to 1977. There is also correspondence related to the organization of Presser's memorial exhibition in 1968.

Writings by Presser include essay fragments, the essay, "Picric Pied Piper," and 4 notebooks containing scattered references, addresses, quotations, and note fragments. The unbound note fragments contain similar references, addresses, and miscellaneous notes. The subseries also includes 3 poems by Presser and 2 short essays by Arsene Alexandre and Frank Mele.

Teaching files include department memoranda, syllabi, class assignments, and class lists from Presser's tenure at New York University from 1947-1952. There are also memoranda from the New York School of Visual Arts and the Prospect Hill School.

Records include bank registers, artwork sales records, and receipts from Presser's residency in Paris in the 1960s.

Material consists of bulletins, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs related to Presser's career. There are also draft and final versions of Presser's memorial exhibition catalog, a copy of the 1951 conference Artist and the Museum sponsored by the Artists Equity Association and the Woodstock Artists Association, and a copy of the Artists Equity Association's 1950 and 1953 Improvisations catalogs.

Found are loose sketches, primarily of women, children, and figurative outlines; artwork drawn and painted over postcards and printed material; and 9 sketchbooks dating from the 1950s to 1960s of thematically similar subjects.

There are photographs of Presser with friends and family, and photographs of his New York studio and his artwork. There are also 4 photographs of the artist Abraham Walkowitz dating from the 1940s, which were used by Presser to paint a portrait for Walkowtiz's 100 Portraits project.

Materials include 2 engagement calendars, curriculum vitae, consignment lists, critiques by other artists, art institution membership cards, and travel documents from a 1966 trip to Europe.

Hart's correspondence with family and friends includes letters from artist and mentor Lucile Blanch, journalist Agnes Smedley, and Yaddo director Elizabeth Ames. Business correspondence is with galleries, collectors, and art associations concerning the creation, purchase, sales, and exhibition of Hart's work. There is also correspondence with the Art Students League and Dalton School regarding the logistics of Hart's employment as an art instructor.

Files include employment contracts, class catalogs, newsletters, and photographs from Hart's tenure at the Art Students League (1965-1975), and class catalogs and memoranda from Dalton Schools and Parnassus Square.

Material includes bulletins, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs related to Hart's career. There are also draft and final versions of the Woodstock Artists Association's 1956 Yasuo Kuniyoshi memorial exhibition catalog.

Consists of a photograph of the Central Cown Art Center, a gallery Hart managed in 1937.