Theodoros Stamos papers, circa 1922-2008

Biographical materials include birth and death certificates, membership cards, two address books with contact information for artists such as Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko, and interview transcripts. There are three versions of the Stamos will, including the final draft in which he left the majority of his estate to his sister, Georgianna Savas. Also included are a VHS video cassette of Stamos' memorial service, memorabilia, and a plaque awarded posthumously by a Greek organization.

This series contains records of art sales made by Louis K. Meisel Gallery. Also found are a check book register and a receipt for canvas.

Correspondence documents business dealings with museums and galleries that represented Stamos. Also found are letters from E. W. Root, director of Black Mountain College and an early collector of Abstract Expressionist art, a collaged Christmas card from Helen Frankenthaler, and personal letters and notes.

Business and legal records include the estate and final tax records for Theodoros Stamos as well as petitions and legal documents regarding the disinternment of Mark Rothko from the Stamos burial plot in East Marion, NY.

This series contains an artist's statement and personal notes including price lists for works of art. Writings about Stamos by others include a chronology of Stamos' life through 1970, a 1960 interview with Lawrence Alloway for Art News and Review, and a documentary film proposal that include Stamos and his work.

This series contains artwork by Stamos such as line drawings, collages and small paintings. Also included are a handmade card and drawings by other artists, and illustrated rocks attributed to Stamos and gallery owner, Betty Parsons.

This series contains clippings and exhibition announcements in both English and Greek, relating to Stamos and his artwok, and to other Abstract Expressionists. Posthumous announcements were collected by Georgianna Savas and are mostly from shows of his work that she arranged. Some clippings concern the Rothko Estate controversy and the disinternment of Rothko's remains from Stamos' burial plot.

This series includes photographs of Stamos, his family, his homes and studios in New York and Greece, and works of art. Most photographs are unattributed, but photographs by Han Namuth, Lloyd Lozes Goff, Steven Trefonides and Diran Deckmejian (a former student at the Art Students League) are found along with a group photograph of the "Irascibles" taken by Nina Leen for Life magazine in 1950. Other photographs document Stamos late in life, his memorial service and grave dedication, and views of posthumous retrospective exhibitions.

This series contains Georgianna Savas' papers relating to her brother, Theodoros Stamos. Found are notes and correspondence about the handling of the Stamos estate and correspondence concerning the Stamos retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Greece organized by Savas. There is correspondence relating to the exhumation of the Rothko remains from the Stamos family plot in East Marion, New York and records concerning cleaning and conservation services for Stamos' painting. Condolence cards received by Savas after the death of her brother are also part of this series.