Nancy Holt Estate records, 1835, circa 1890s-2014

Collection Information

Size: 60.8 Linear feet

Summary: The Nancy Holt Estate records measure circa 60.8 linear feet and date from 1835, and circa 1890s-2014, with the bulk of the material dating from 1960-2000. The records offer extensive documentation of Holt's career and include biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, writings, calendars and notebooks, Holt's project files including for unrealized projects, general business and professional files, subject files including source material, and printed material documenting Holt's professional activities from the 1960s to 2013. Also found is Holt's photographic material documenting various phases of the execution of many of her works of art, as well as personal and family photographs. Furthermore, the collection includes files Holt maintained related to her stewardship of Robert Smithson's estate, other records related to his life and work, and the John Weber Gallery records concerning Robert Smithson which consist of the gallery's inventory and slide records of Smithson's drawings and sculptures, including earthworks. The collection total includes 11.9 linear feet of unprocessed records including 2.0 linear feet of financial records, 9.0 linear feet of Holt's annotated library, and 0.9 linear feet of preliminary drawings and sketches.

Biographical/Historical Note

Nancy Holt (1938-2014) was an environmental and installation artist, sculptor, filmmaker, and photographer, based in New York, New York. She was best known for her large-scale public land art installations including her seminal work Sun Tunnels (1973-1976) located in the Great Basin Desert, Utah. Her work engaged with the natural environment and the celestial realm, tracing the rotation of the earth and the movement of the sun and stars. Holt was also fascinated by mechanical systems such as those used for heating, drainage, and ventilation, and her functional sculptural installations explored the relationship between architecture and the built environment. Read More

Provenance

Bequest of Nancy Holt, 2014.

Related Materials

The Archives of American Art also holds the Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt papers, an interview with Nancy Holt conducted 1992 July 6 by Scott Gutterman for the Archives of American Art, an interview with Nancy Holt conducted 1993 August 3 by Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz for the Archives of American Art, and the James Cohan Gallery records relating to Robert Smithson.

Language Note

English .

Digitization Note

This site provides access to the papers of Nancy Holt in the Archives of American Art. The John Weber Gallery records concerning Robert Smithson (Series 11) were digitized in 2022, and total 4,131 images.