Whitney Artists' Correspondence and Ephemera Collection

Collection

Identifier: NNWhit.007

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection comprises a selection of original artist correspondence, announcements, invitations and other unique materials collected by Whitney Museum staff in an effort to document the activities and artistic work of American artists. Together they provide insight into the thoughts and conversations of Museum staff and the artists they represented. Much of the correspondence is with artists whose work was included in Whitney exhibitions, or entered the Museum’s Permanent Collection. The correspondence is diverse and ranges from formal requests to writing that is more personal in nature. Select folders also contain hand-drawn artist illustrations and postcards.

Dates

1934-2012

Extent

12 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Gathered from Whitney Museum artist files, this collection includes original correspondence, notes, announcements, invitations, and other unique materials that document the activities and artistic work of numerous American artists. The correspondence is diverse and ranges from formal requests to writing that is more personal in nature. Select folders contain hand-drawn artist illustrations and postcards. Made possible with generous support from the Leon Levy Foundation, much of the collection is digitized and available online at the Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York (DCMNY) digital repository.

Arrangement

Materials in this series are arranged in alphabetical order according to the artist’s last name.

Custodial History

The collection of original artist correspondence and other ephemera was primarily retrieved from the Whitney Museum Library Artist File collection. The larger Library Artist File collection is comprised of approximately 400 linear feet of file folders that contain news clippings, magazine articles, gallery and museum brochures, announcements and photographs on thousands of American artists. The collection originated at the time of institution's founding in the 1930s. Over the years, staff members have contributed correspondence, ephemeral material, and other items related to individual American artists for the purposes of documentation and research.

In 1998 library staff found a small box containing a substantial group of original letters by artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, Isabel Bishop, Peter Blume, Charles Burchfield, Vija Celmins, Stuart Davis, and many others. Around this time Library staff also made a concerted effort to retrieve other original letters and rare ephemera for preservation and use.

For a period of approximately ten years, a succession of Library interns and volunteers were directed to conduct a thorough sweep of the artist files and remove any original correspondence and other priority items such as posters on artists' exhibitions, photographs of artists, rare brochures and other unique material. The items were placed into acid free folders and boxes. The posters, and oversized items were placed in large flat boxes. Small but significant and rare exhibition publications were cataloged and added to the online catalog, "WhitneyCat."

Related Materials

Approximately 580 items from the Whitney Museum Library, Artists' Correspondence and Ephemera collection are digitized and available online at the Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York (DCMNY) digital repository. Researchers can consult the digital surrogates at this link: