Sarah Mundy
Scope and Contents
The papers of feminist art historian and educator Linda Nochlin measure 31.2 linear feet and 3.62 gigabytes and date from circa 1876, 1937 to 2017. The collection is comprised of biographical materials; date books and notebooks; correspondence; writing project files that include material on Gustave Courbet and realism, bathers and the body, essays and lectures on 19th century art among other topics, artists, and smaller writing projects; professional files containing material on conferences and fellowships; teaching files detailing courses taught by Nochlin at New York University Institute of Fine Arts and other institutions; printed materials; artwork; and photographic materials that document Nochlin and her relationships with family, colleagues and friends, and artists.
Biographical materials include two address books; awards and prizes; certificates and diplomas; childhood writings and notes, assignments, and school newsletters; course work at Vassar College and NYU's Institute of Fine Arts; honors; and one sound recording and three transcripts of Nochlin interviews with Alain Veinstein, Dan Karlholm, Jon Weiner, and Moira Roth.
Over 150 date books and notebooks spanning nearly 60 years contain appointments, reminders, travel plans, thoughts on art, journal entries, daily activities, to-do lists, contact information, fiction writing, and other small notations. Correspondence is with family; close colleagues and artists Ewa Lajer-Burcharth, Zuka Mitelberg, Joan Mitchell, and Philip Pearlstein; and professional contacts regarding speaking engagements, publishing projects, exhibitions, artists' work, conferences, and events.
The bulk of the collection documents Nochlin's prolific writing career that includes her lifelong research and work on Gustave Courbet, realism, bathers and the body, as well as numerous essays and lectures, research and writings on artists, and various other writing projects.
Files for professional activities contain material for conferences and symposiums that include 11 sound and video recordings, grants, fellowships, and travel arrangements and expenses. Teaching files consist of documentation for courses taught by Nochlin at New York University Institute of Fine Arts, Vassar College, Yale University, and other academic institutions.
Publications and other printed materials include annotated books, booklets, clippings, exhibition catalogs, journals and magazines, newsletters, offprints, five video recordings of broadcasts and documentary material, flyers, invitations, posters, and postcards. Artwork includes sketches in ink, charcoal, paint, and pencil created during Nochlin's childhood into her early 20s, along with artwork by children, and one video art recording by Zoulikha Bouabdellah.
Photographs and negatives are of Nochlin with artists Nancy Graves, Sebastian Horsley, and Shirley Jaffe; childhood classmates; friends and colleagues; students; and travels to Europe. Also included are photographs of works of art, personal photographs of family members, and portraits and snapshots of Nochlin.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated in 2018 by Daisy Pommer, Linda Nochlin's daughter.
Related Materials
Also found at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview of Linda Nochlin conducted on June 9-30, 2010 by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art's Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts project at Nochlin's home in New York, N.Y.
Funding
Sponsor
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Collections Care Initiative Fund, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the National Collections Program.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2019. Born-digital materials were processed by Jessica Purkis in 2019.