7. Manuscript Collections

Abstract The Zieget Shaker Collection Papers document Irene and Julius Zieget's relationship with the Shaker community while they developed an extensive collection of Shaker art and crafts. The papers also include some of the Ziegets' acquisitions--nineteenth- and early twentieth-century manuscript material. Included here are records of deaths, recipes and other household instructions along with spiritual messages, blessings and hymns all recorded neatly in the distinctive and decorative Shaker...

Abstract This collection consists of approximately five months worth of letters written by the artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889-1953) in which he describes his 1931-1932 journey back to Japan in vivid detail. Writing to his wife Katherine (Schmidt) in New York, Kuniyoshi details every experience, particularly the social and media activities surrounding his one-man exhibitions in Tokyo and Osaka, and his visits to Okayama to spend time with his dying father. A few photographs of Kuniyoshi's train stop in...

Abstract

This collection documents the activities of FOCUS: Philadelphia Focuses on Women in the Visual Arts, a city-wide arts program that occurred in April and May of 1974. The records in the FOCUS collection date from 1972 to 1975 and include meeting minutes from various FOCUS committees, outreach and advertising documents, correspondence, and records of the grant application process.

Abstract Julien Levy (1906-1981) was a pioneering New York art dealer of the 1930s and 1940s. The records date from 1857 to 1983 and include correspondence, exhibit announcements and invitations, scrapbooks, gallery financial ledgers, audio-visual materials, and personal papers such as letters, diaries, appointment books and calendars. The material in this collection reflects the course of Levy’s life, beginning with childhood letters and elementary school papers, and ending with Levy’s obituary and...

Abstract The painter John Raphael Covert was an active participant in the American avant-garde art movement between 1915 and 1923. He later became a traveling salesman for his family's Vesuvius Crucible Company and pursued his intense interest in cryptography, word games and magic squares. The John Raphael Covert Papers consist of the artist's correspondence, word and number puzzles (such as anagrams, acrostics, and riddles), financial records, photographic portraits, and a few sketches....

Abstract

George Grey Barnard was an American sculptor and collector of Medieval art. He located and arranged the pieces that eventually became "The Cloisters" for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His papers are comprised primarily of correspondence and financial and business records documenting both his collecting and creation of art. The collection includes a significant amount of personal correspondence, biographical information, and family financial records as well.

Abstract The Francis Bacon Foundation was formed by Walter and Louise Arensberg in 1938 to promote study in science, literature, religion, history and philosophy with special reference to the works of Francis Bacon. The Foundation also served as the legal owner of the Walter and Louise Arensberg art collection. The Francis Bacon Foundation Records consist of correspondence, administrative and financial records which illustrate the organizational aspects of the Foundation, the Baconian research...

Abstract This collection documents the efforts of journalist Daniel M. Williams to refine and publish a biography of the American sculptor and collector George Grey Barnard. While the project never came to fruition, the collection represents approximately 30 years of Williams's accumulated research and writings, and consists of correspondence, including some of Barnard's personal letters to his family, as well as clippings, ephemera and photographs regarding the artist's life and career as a sculptor...

Abstract

The Alexina and Marcel Duchamp Papers are comprised of personal papers of Marcel Duchamp as well as published material documenting the artist and his work that were compiled and organized by his widow, Alexina Duchamp. The collection is comprised of approximately 800 personal photographs; a small portion of Duchamp's correspondence; his lecture notes and transcripts; vital records; transcripts of several interviews with Duchamp; and published material concerning the artist.

Abstract

David Lebe Collection contains archival materials from the artist.