Smithsonian's Archives of American Art

Thank you to everyone who attended this year’s Archives of American Art Gala, marking our 70th anniversary.

We so appreciate the community coming together to celebrate our three honorees—Senga Nengudi, Richard Tuttle, and Ann Philbin—whose imagination and creativity have forever changed the art world. And we so appreciated having a chance to applaud our special anniversary honorees whose vision and gifts have been transformational for the Archives. Thank you for being on this journey with us!

The gala provides critical support to the Archives of American Art—making it possible for us to collect, preserve, and share the vital stories and voices of American art. We are grateful for everyone who makes our work possible, ensuring that the past can shape our shared future. We invite you to join us at next year’s gala!

Thank you,
Anne Helmreich, director

Images by Rupert Ramsay and Madeleine Thomas // BFA.com

Do you believe in ghosts? Halloween is the perfect time to visit this example of spirit (or ghost) photography, a popular format in the second half of the nineteenth century. Many viewers believed they were seeing actual “spirits” in these photographs, though in reality they were a product of darkroom technology.

Stay spooky! Stay Safe! 📷 👻

Image:
Photograph of Lisette Makdougall Gregory and her cousin Eleanor Brisbane represented as a spirit, undated. Hiram Power papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Meet the honorees of the Archives of American Art’s 2024 Gala!

We are pleased to announce artists Senga Nengudi and Richard Tuttle will each receive an Archives of American Art Medal. Artists Senga Nengudi and Richard Tuttle will each receive an Archives of American Art Medal and Ann Philbin, director of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles will receive the Lawrence A. Fleischman Award for Scholarly Excellence in the Field of American Art History.

In celebration of our 70th anniversary, we will also acknowledge an additional eight honorees in recognition of their vision and gifts that have been transformation for the Archives. They are Alice Walton, Ann Kinney, Barbara G. Fleischman, Frank and Katherine Martucci, Nina W. Werblow Charitable Trust, Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, Terra Foundation for American Art, and The Henry Luce Foundation.

Learn more about this year’s distinguished honorees and their contributions to American art, art history, and scholarship in their bios below.

SENGA NENGUDI is an African American conceptual and performance artist. She is renowned for her innovative sculptures that blend found objects with choreographed performances. Known for abstract-poetic work that uses ordinary materials, Nengudi casts new light on the relationship between work and viewer while critically exploring sociopolitical realities’ effects on the body. In 2020, she was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2023, she was named Nasher Prize Laureate for excellence in modern sculpture. Her most recent career retrospective was on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2021. Nengudi’s work is included in a number of collections, both national and international: the Museum of Modern Art, Dia Art Foundation, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art and the Lenbachhaus Museum in Munich. She completed an oral history interview for the Archives of American Art in 2013 and donated her papers to the Archives in 2018 and 2019.

RICHARD TUTTLE, a postminimalist artist and author based in New York City and New Mexico, is celebrated for his boundary-crossing art. Tuttle’s first exhibition was at the Betty Parsons Gallery in 1965, and his first major museum exhibition took place at the Whitney Museum in 1975. He has since been featured in exhibitions at prominent national and international museums and is represented by the Pace Gallery. In 2013, Tuttle was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The artist completed an oral history interview for the Archives of American Art in 2016 and donated his papers to the Archives in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

ANN PHILBIN, director of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, will retire in November after 25 years of transformative leadership. Before her tenure at the Hammer, she was the director of The Drawing Center in New York. Under Philbin’s guidance, the Hammer has become a powerhouse in contemporary art both locally and internationally. She has integrated the UCLA campus into the museum’s activities, revolutionizing its collections, programs and audiences. Philbin launched the “Made in LA” biennial, which has been instrumental in the careers of many contemporary artists. She also presented groundbreaking exhibitions, such as “Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980,” a PST initiative curated by Kellie Jones, which introduced many to the work of Nengudi.

Images:
Senga Negudi: Senga Nengudi papers, 1947. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Richard Tuttle: Photo by Melissa Goodwin
Ann Philbin: Photo by Mark Hanauer

The Fall 2024 issue of the Archives of American Art Journal is here, and it highlights personal and professional connections between people and across oceans!

Explore the influence of q***r relationships in late twentieth-century art, trace the multilayered connections between artists from the United States and Great Britain in the early 1900s, and probe the representation of political exiles in the Archives’ collections. The issue also features a collaborative curatorial project that intertwines artists’ self-presentations and the perspectives of those closest to them.

Image:
Front cover of the Fall 2024 issue of the Archives of American Art Journal, featuring a detail of a photograph of Maren Hassinger “social dance” session, 1985. Photographer unknown. Maren Hassinger Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

📣 The Alice Kagawa Parrott papers have been digitized! 🎉

Alice Kagawa Parrott (1929-2009) was a Japanese American fiber artist and ceramicist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, studied weaving at Cranbrook Academy of Art, and taught weaving and ceramics at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1956, she opened a weaving and craft shop called The Market, which later became Parrott Fabrics Inc. From 1971-1972, Parrott was an artist-in-residence in Maui, where she taught workshops and created tapestries for several public commissions, and in 1977, she became an American Craft Council Fellow. Parrott passed away in 2009 in Santa Fe.

Her papers include photographs of her studio and gardens, extensive correspondence with Lenore Tawney, Toshiko Takaezu, and notable museums and galleries, dyed yarn samples, and patterns used in custom orders.

View the digitized collection at s.si.edu/3CeTs9c

This project received federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Images:
All, Alice Kagawa Parrott Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
1. Helga Gilbert. Photograph of Alice Kagawa Parrott, undated.
2. Photograph of a tapestry by Alice Kagawa Parrott, circa 1963-2000.
3. Alice Kagawa Parrott. Dyed yarn sample (bougainvillea), circa 1960-1990.

JOIN US on Tuesday, October 29 in New York City at our annual gala to celebrate our 70th year of documenting and preserving the records of the visual arts in the United States.

Purchase tickets and tables on our website: www.aaa.si.edu/support/annual-gala-tickets. The last day to purchase tickets is Wednesday, October 23.

Anniversary Benefit Prints

We are pleased to offer an exceptional selection of artworks for sale to support the Smithsonian Archives of American Art’s 70th Anniversary Gala. These prints were generously donated by prominent contemporary artists to benefit the Archives of American Art.

Purchase soon at archivesofamericanart.myshopify.com/. Editions are very limited.

Images:
1. Chuck Close, Self Portrait
2. Cindy Sherman, Untitled 1975/2004

In honor of , we are demystifying some of our most used jargon in a new series, Talking Terminology 📚

What's the difference between an archive and archives? More than just an "s"!

When speaking about an archive, we are referring to papers, photographs, correspondence, and other ephemera created by a specific person or organization. An archives is the repository where an archive lives. An archives typically provides both storage and stewardship of its holdings and is often a place for reference and research.

So, the Archives of American Art is an archives that houses an archive of many visual artists and organizations. Make sense?

Do you come across insider talk that you'd like to see more clearly defined? Let us know in the comments below ⬇️

Finding aid for featured image: https://s.si.edu/4hbsgM0

From the new issue of the Archives of American Art Journal, this article dives into Felix Gonzalez-Torres letters to María Martínez-Cañas. Find it here: https://ow.ly/kSXV50TGRm9 Smithsonian's Archives of American Art

Announcing our latest batch of oral history transcripts with women who made lasting and significant contributions to the history of art and culture in the United States. Read transcripts of oral history interviews with: Judith Heidler Richardson, Dorothy Varian, painter Madeleine L'Engle, and Agnes Mongan.

The Archives of American Art is currently working on a multi-year initiative to convert legacy oral history typescripts to digital form and to make them available on the Archives’ website. This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.



Image:
Dorothy Varian and Waldo in her garden, 1933. Dorothy Varian papers. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Artist Marie Romero Cash (born 1942) currently works in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the city in which she has spent most of her life.

The daughter of two prominent artists, Cash is known best for retablos (large painted altarpiece), which can be seen at churches around the country, including several in Santa Fe and throughout New Mexico. In 2019, she became one of only five United States artists invited to participate in the year's International Folk Art Market.

In addition to her art, Cash is also an accomplished author across a variety of genres, including mystery, romance, autobiography, and books for children.

Learn more about Marie Romero Cash and her papers on our website: s.si.edu/3U7ixfG.



Images:
All, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
1. Marie Romero Cash. Preparatory sketch for a retablo, circa 1980. Marie Romero Cash papers.
2. Chuck Rosenak. Marie Romero Cash at work, circa 1990. Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material.
3, Chuck Rosenak. Marie Romero Cash with work, circa 1990. Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material.

Today we are delighted to welcome the new class of Samuel H. Kress Foundation Teaching Fellows to our Teaching with Primary Sources Workshop. This session of the Workshop centers provenance research and digital art history, making extensive use of the digitized records of art dealer Jacques Seligmann.

Our 2024–25 fellows are (clockwise from top left): THERESA AVILA, California State University, Channel Islands; PAULA BURLEIGH, Allegheny College; JESSICA M. DANDONA, Minneapolis College of Art and Design; HEATHER HORTON, Queens College, City University of New York; LIZ KIM, Texas A&M University-Kingsville; KIMBERLY MORSE JONES, Hood College; BEATA NIEDZIALKOWSKA, University of North Carolina at Pembroke; AMY NYGAARD, University of St. Thomas; RHONDA REYMOND, West Virginia University; JULIA A. SIENKEWICZ, Roanoke College.

Explore resources for teachers and learn more about the Teaching with Primary Sources Workshop on our website: s.si.edu/3YlWzs2.

We are grateful to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for the support of the Teaching with Primary Sources Workshop.

Did you know artist Louise Nevelson was also a talented athlete? 🏀

In honor of the start of this year's WNBA Finals, and for all the ballers out there, please enjoy a 1913 photograph of artist Louise Nevelson (back row center) with her teammates, coach, and their canine mascot. In her 1964-65 oral history for the Archives, she recollects serving as the captain of her high school basketball team, calling the sport "a great release, a great pleasure."

Read the full interview transcript on our website: s.si.edu/3Yh7YZV.

Image:
Louise Nevelson with her basketball teammates, 1913. Louise Nevelson papers. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

We think this sketchbook and drawing by Geraldine “Gera” Lozano passes our test with flying colors. 🐦‍🔥

Lozano and Jari "WERC" Alvarez are artistic collaborators who have created murals throughout the United States, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Brazil. One of their murals, Portal Flow, is a segment of {Portraits}, a nearly 1.5 long mural created by 18 artists along McCarter Highway in Newark, New Jersey, Lozano's hometown.

This sketchbook, as well as a handful of others in the Jari "WERC" Alvarez and Geraldine "Gera" Lozano papers, is available for research in our reading room. Read the finding aid on our website: s.si.edu/3N3UxGy.



Images:
All, Geraldine “Gera” Lozano. Sketchbook and Sketch of bird, 2011. Jari "WERC" Alvarez and Geraldine "Gera" Lozano papers. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

This post was updated to credit Geraldine "Gera" Lozano as the creator of the featured sketchbook.

Join us in New York City on October 29 for a night of celebration ✨

The 2024 Annual Gala will celebrate the Archives’ 70th anniversary and an impressive group of honorees. The night brings together international philanthropists, art collectors, artists, museum leaders, and national media for an exceptional reception, elegant dinner, and special performance.

Tickets are now on our website: s.si.edu/47VyThc. We hope you will join us for what promises to be a memorable evening!

🎉 We are excited to share that the papers of Matsumi Kanemitsu are fully digitized! 🎉

Kanemitsu (1922-1992) was a Japanese American painter in New York City and Los Angeles. He served in the US Army from 1941 to 1946 but spent much of that time detained in various army camps because of his Japanese ancestry after the Pearl Harbor attack. While detained during World War II, Kanemitsu began drawing, using supplies provided by the Red Cross.

After the war, he studied with Fernand Leger, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Harry Sternberg, and Karl Metzler. Kanemitsu worked at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop and as a professor at the Chouinard Art Institute and Otis Art Institute.

Found among the papers are biographical materials, correspondence, professional files, personal business records, and printed and photographic materials. Learn more about Matsumi Kanemitsu and to explore his digitized collection on our website: s.si.edu/3TW4OrZ.

The project received federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Images:

All Matsumi Kanemitsu papers. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
1. Matsumi Kanemitsu painting, 1990.
2. Contact card for Shinkichi Tajiri, circa 1970-1991.
3. Exhibition catalog for Contemporary Japanese Artists in California, 1985.

Happy American Archives Month from the Archives of American Art!

📣 The Ching Ho Cheng Papers are now digitized! 📣

Born in Cuba, Cheng lived in Paris, Amsterdam, and spent most of his life in New York. His early pop psychedelic style evolved over his career, moving into gouache, then torn works, and, finally, his Alchemical Series. During a period where very few Asian-American artists found recognition, he was widely regarded by both critics and peers. He was in more than fifteen exhibitions before his death in 1989, and his work has been collected posthumously by the Hirshhorn, the Whitney, and many other museums.

Cheng’s papers include photographs, sketchbooks, correspondence, and other ephemera collected over the course of his life. Delve into the digitized collection and discover more about Ching Ho Cheng’s life and art on our website: s.si.edu/3BtTkp9.

This project received federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Images:
All Ching Ho Chen papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
1. Timothy Greenfeld-Sanders. Ching Ho Chen, photographic print, circa 1970s.
2. Ching Ho Cheng. Sketch, circa 1980s.
3. Paper Now exhibition catalogue, 1986.

This colorful paper cube is a mock-up of an exhibition announcement for Dominican-American artist Scherezade Garcia crafted by her sister, fellow multimedia artist iliana emilia garcia. In their individual art practices, Scherezade and iliana emilia work with themes of place, heritage and memory. Both of the Garcia sisters are founding members of the printmaking collective Dominican York Proyecto Grafica.

This object, as well as the rest of the Garcias' papers, are available for research in our reading room. Explore the finding aids for Scherezade’s (s.si.edu/3Xy3sWz) and iliana emilia’s (s.si.edu/3z9qf1x) collections on our website.



Images:
All, iliana emilia garcia. Mock-up of a 3-dimensional exhibition announcement for Scherezade Garcia, undated. Scherezade Garcia papers. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

We are pleased to announce that the Hisako Hibi and Matsusaburo “George” Hibi papers are now fully digitized! The collection chronicles the life and career of the Hibis through correspondence, exhibition files, sketchbooks, scrapbooks, and other materials. During World War II, the Hibi family and thousands of other Japanese Americans were forcibly removed to incarceration camps in California and Utah. Matsusaburo co-founded art schools for fellow incarcerees at Tanforan and Topaz camps with artist Chiura Obata and his handwritten account of the founding of the Topaz Art School is included in the papers. The collection is available to explore on our website: s.si.edu/4e96Blt.

This project received federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Images:
All Hisako Hibi and Matsusaburo "George" Hibi papers. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
1. Hisako Hibi. Sketch, circa 1955-1957.
2. Hisako Hibi. Sketch of Matsusaburo "George" Hibi, 1 June 1945.
3. Topaz Art School exhibition catalog, June 1945.

Announcing our latest batch of oral history transcripts with women who made lasting and significant contributions to the history of art and culture in the United States. Read transcripts of oral history interviews with Buffie Johnson, Josine Ianco-Starrels, Grace Mayer, and Elizabeth Bliss Parkinson.

The Archives of American Art is currently working on a multi-year initiative to convert legacy oral history typescripts to digital form and to make them available on the Archives’ website. This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.



Image: Burnell the Photographer. [Buffie Johnson, artist, in Sarasota], n.d.. Buffie Johnson papers. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

🎉 It’s Hispanic Heritage Month! Found among our many Latino-related collections are the papers of Gustavo Acosta. Now residing in Miami, Florida, Acosta was born in Cuba and immigrated to the United States in the early 1990s. Acosta’s artwork focuses on urban architectural landscapes and has been exhibited in Cuba, Brazil, Panama, Florida, and New York. Within the papers are interviews with Acosta, correspondence in both Spanish and English, lectures on the Cuban Avant-Garde movement, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sketches and sketchbooks, and other source material. Make an appointment to see the papers in our reading room or browse the finding aid on our website: s.si.edu/3XIWFcZ.



Images:
All Gustavo Acosta papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
1. Gustavo Acosta. Tower sketch, 2016.
2. Gustavo Acosta. Ink sketch on envelope, undated.
3. Art Miami ID badge, 2012.

Your curiosity fuels our mission at the Archives of American Art. We invite you to discover yesterday and imagine tomorrow with us. Discover how you can join thousands of supporters like you in shaping a brighter future. Learn more about the campaign and our ambitious goal to fund our oral history program, to capture and preserve the voices of artists like Toshiko Takaezu, on campaign page: s.si.edu/4e11YtS.