Robert Bruce Inverarity papers, circa 1840s-1997

Personal correspondence regarding Inverarity's activities as Washington State director of the WPA Federal Art Project, 1936-1941, along with other correspondence from the same period not directly relating to the WPA and miscellaneous undated correspondence, has been microfilmed on Reel NDA-16. Additional personal and professional correspondence, 1929-1993 and undated has not been microfilmed. Among this correspondence are a very small number of letters addressed to his wife, Jane. Correspondents include their daughter, friends, and colleagues, among them: Max Ernst, Dorothea Tanning, Rockwell and Sally Kent, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Wolfgang Palen, Juliet and Man Ray, Mark Tobey, Edward Weston, and various individuals associated with the W.P.A. Business correspondence concerns appraisals and consulting work, publications, conferences, the Museum of International Folk Art, the Adirondack Museum, and the Philadelphia Maritime Museum.

Please note that many subject files (Series 4) also contain correspondence.

This series is arranged as 2 subseries:

Subject files, compiled for reference and research purposes, include a variety of printed material, photographs, correspondence and notes.

Most of Inverarity's sketchbooks are in published books that were converted to sketchbooks by replacing most of the text block with tipped in sheets of drawing paper. In addition to pencil and ink drawings, and a small number of watercolors they include notes scattered throughout. Vol. 1 contains sketches of places in Washington and California, and includes designs for woodcarving. Vol. 2 contains sketches of places in Washington, Oregon, Montana, and the Midwest. Vols. 3, 4 and 5 contain sketches of places in Washington. Vols. 6 and 7 contain sketches of Alaska. Vol. 8 contains sketches of unidentified subjects. Notes of particular interest are on camouflage (Vol. 6) and artists' materials and techniques (Vol. 8).

Art work by other artists includes a gouache by Tobey, produced in his youth and said to be his first painting. Drawings include caricatures of Inverarity by Anfinson and unknown. Display panels for a small exhibit on Airbrush Stencil Prints produced by the WPA Federal Art Project include didactic text with photographs of the technique, sample stencils, prints at various stages of completion, and finished prints.

In addition, there are drawings among Inverarity's writings and notes (Series 3), among notes in subject files (Series 4) and filed with some of the WPA printed material (Series 8).

This series is arranged as 2 subseries:

Inverarity compiled five scrapbooks. Volumes 1 through 3 consist mainly of newspaper clippings and miscellaneous printed items concerning his career as an artist and teacher, WPA administrator, and museum director. In addition, volume 1 includes a small number of photographs. Volume 4 preserves items designed by Inverarity - book covers, letterheads, greeting cards, brochures, etc. - and biographical information. Volume 5, devoted to Inverarity's monograph (University of California Press, 1950), includes a small amount of correspondence and a few photographs as well as reviews and advertisements.

WPA items relate to the Federal Art Project and consist of published administrative reports and clippings about the project, and printed items produced by the Federal Art Project.

Printed material by Inverarity includes articles on a wide variety of topics, his book (1950), and two published portfolios, (1940) and (1941). Among the printed material by other authors are articles, books, reports, and other items about or mentioning Inverarity, and books designed or illustrated by Inverarity.

Miscellaneous items include a catalog of the Cornish School - where Inverarity met Mark Tobey and later taught - and catalogs and brochures of Freemont College/University and the University of Scientific Method where he studied. Also of interest are a few ephemeral items designed by Inverarity for the Adirondack Museum and others.

Additional printed material can be found as attachments to correspondence (Series 2), with subject files (Series 4), and in scrapbooks (Series 6).

This series is organized into 4 subseries:

Photographs of art work are arranged by artist. Many photographs of Inverarity's work are views of framed items hanging in his home. Other views show large numbers of framed items gathered into one room (on chair seats and propped up against furniture) in order to record the maximum number of items in one picture; in many cases, these are portraits of artists photographed by Inverarity. Photographs of people consist of artists (including original and copy prints of portraits by Inverarity), friends, colleagues, and various groups.

Photographs of places include museums where Inverarity was Director (Museum of International Folk Art and the Adirondack Museum ), places where he lived (Ridgefield, Conn. and La Jolla, Calif.), and travel pictures (Amsterdam, Burma, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Nepal, Scandinavia, and Thailand). Of particular interest are a large number of photographs taken on his 1932 trip to British Columbia to study the Haida Indians. In addition, there are several nineteenth century photographs of family homes and various locations in South America, probably taken by his father.

Most of the WPA photographs document work of the Federal Art Project in Washington State. Multiple photographs mounted on many large cardboard panels (probably for display) show individual works of art, exhibition installations, and views of various art centers, etc. Other photographs are of individual works of art and include some Index of American Design drawings, mosaic procedures, and the mosaic for the Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California. Among the miscellaneous subjects are a view of the microreader invented by Inverarity, and his art photographs - boats, figure studies, industrial scenes, and landscapes.

Photographs known to have been taken by Inverarity are clearly identified. Prints, slides, and color transparencies are interfiled. In addition, a small number of photographs are attached to Series 1: Correspondence, in many subject files (Series 4), and in Series 6: Scrapbooks. Of particular note is Man Ray's photograph of his studio, sent as a greeting card (Christmas?) in 1952 and filed with correspondence.

This series is arranged as 5 subseries: