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Nickolas Muray papers, 1910-1992

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Contents and Arrangement

The collection is arranged as 2 series.

Make a Request

  • To request an appointment to view materials, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reading Room" button. Please note, you will receive the full box.
  • To request reproductions, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reproduction" button.

Series 1: Nickolas Muray Papers , 1910-1978
0.9 Linear feet
Boxes 1-2, OV 3

Biographical materials include curriculum vitae, identification cards related to Muray's particaption in Olympic fencing events, and membership related to the Circle of Confusion and the New York Coffee House Club. There is also a transcript of Muray's interview with the NY radio station WEAF regarding beauty and aesthetics, and documentation of Muray's 1961 heart attack and recovery.
Correspondence is primarily with Muray's friends, business associates, and clients, including Martha Graham, Claude Monet, Ruth St. Denis, and H.G. Wells. There are also letters related to his participation in the Olympic Games, his application to the Army Signal Corps Photographic Services, and a handful of letters from Frida Kahlo that discouss her health, impending divorce from Diego Rivera, and plans regarding the exhibition of her artwork.
Writings include an autobiographical account by Muray; lists and notes regarding celebrity portrait photo sittings; typescripts of theater perfermance reviews; and a mock-up of Great Tribes of the World, with photographs by Muray. There is also a typescript commentary of Revealing Eye by Paul Gallico.
Teaching files are primarily course materials relating to Muray's 1940 and 1941 New York University photography classes and a lecture series based on his travels in Africa. Printed material includes a copy of Muray's book Celebrity Portraits of the Twenties and Thirties, a brochure advertising Muray Studios, clippings, and miscellaneous printed material.
There are also a handful of sketches by illustrator Willy Pogany and photographic materials of Muray, his family and friends, and his work. Photographs include Muray in uniform as a member of the 1928 Olympic fencing team; carbro prints of Loretta Young, 3 models, and and arrangements of food; and a photograph of Muray with Miguel Covarrubias, Diego Rivera, and Frida Kahlo.
Description Container Select
Biographical Material
Curriculum Vitae, circa 1950-1960
1
1
Identification Cards, Olympics, 1931-1932, 1964
1
2
Interview Transcript, WEAF-NYC Radio, 1929
1
3
Medical History, Heart Attack, 1961-1962
1
4
Memberships, circa 1963
1
5
Correspondence
A-B, 1926-1965
Includes letters from Evangeline Adams, Judith Anderson, and the secretary to the King of Belgium.
1
6
C, 1925-1965
Includes letters to Hall Caine, Feodor Chaliapin, Miguel Covarrubias, and Joan Crawford, as well as a Christmas card from Frank Crowninshield decorated with an etching by Gari Melchers.
1
7
D-G, 1926-1965
Includes letters from John Galsworthy and Martha Graham.
1
8
H-K, 1926-1965
Includes letters from Jascha Heifetz, Joseph Hergesheimer, Hedda Hopper, and A.S. Hutchinson.
1
9
Kahlo, Frida, 1931-1940
1
10
L-O, circa 1928-1960
Includes letters from Mary Martin, Claude Monet, and Agnes O'Neill. There are also two photographic Christmas cards of Murray in costume.
1
11
Olympic Games, 1954-1956
1
12
P, circa 1925-1960
Includes a letter from Bessie Breuer Poor.
1
13
Parrott, Katherine Ursula, circa 1925-1945
Includes a profile of Muray by Parrott.
1
14
Q-S, 1925-1967
Includes letters from Ruth St. Denis, George Bernard Shaw's secretary, H. De Vere Stacpoole, and Frank Swinnerton.
1
15
Signal Corps Photographic Center, 1942-1944
1
16
T-Z, circa 1926-1962
Includes letters from Carl Van Vechten, A.B. Walkley, and H.G. Wells.
1
17
Writings
Autobiographical Account , circa 1950-1960
1
18
Book Mock-Up, Great Tribes of the World (unpublished)
1
19
Lists, Celebrity Portraits, 1965
1
20
Notes, Celebrity Photo Sittings, circa 1920-1960
1
21
Typescripts, Performance Reviews, circa 1920-1950
1
22
Typescript, On Revealing Eye by Paul Gallico, circa 1967
1
23
Teaching Files
Lecture Materials, Peoples of the World, 1957-1962
2
1
NYU Photography Course, 1940-1941
2
2
NYU Photography Course Notes, 1940-1941
2
3
Printed Material
Book, Celebrity Portraits of the Twenties and Thirties by Nickolas Muray, 1978
2
4
Brochure, Muray Studios, circa 1925
2
5
Clippings, 1920-1942
2
6
Clippings, 1943-1969
2
7
Miscellaneous, circa 1960-1970
2
8
Artwork
Sketches, circa 1925
2
9
Photographic Materials
Nickolas Muray, Family, and Friends, circa 1910-1930
Oversized materials housed in OV 3.
2
10
Nickolas Muray, Family, and Friends, circa 1931-1960
2
11
Studio of Nickolas Muray, circa 1920-1960
2
12
Advertising Work, Carbro Prints, circa 1950-1960
2
13
Oversized Photograph scanned with Box 2, Folder 10, circa 1928
OV 3
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Series 2: Unprocessed Addition , 1927-1992
0.6 Linear feet
Boxes 4-5

The Unprocessed Addition includes biographical material, correspondence, photographs, research notes and a diary about Africa, and a subject file on the book The Revealing Eye, Personalities of the 1920s, written by Paul Gallico with photographs taken by Muray, 1967.
Description Container Select
Unprocessed Addition, 1927-1992
4
Unprocessed Addition, 1927-1992
5

Make a Request

  • To request an appointment to view materials, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reading Room" button. Please note, you will receive the full box.
  • To request reproductions, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reproduction" button.