Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Archives related to: Associated American Artists

titleAssociated American Artists records, ca. 1934-1981.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionThe records document the organization's work producing and selling limited-edition prints by American artists. The records contain voluminous files on artists; dealers, galleries, and museums; and clients. Also found is business correspondence, financial records, sales and exhibition catalogs, thirteen dismantled scrapbooks, and posters.

UNMICROFILMED: Artist, Dealer, Museum, Gallery, and Client Files, 1958-1980, (48 linear feet) include artists' profiles, correspondence, loan and sale agreements, receipts, lists of works exhibited, exhibition announcements and catalogs, clippings, and photographs. Also found are Business Correspondence (2 linear feet); Financial Records (1.5 linear feet); Sales Catalogs (2.5 linear feet); and Exhibition Catalogs (1.5 linear feet); thirteen disbound scrapbooks(0.9 linear feet); and oversized posters.

REELS D255-D256: Thirteen scrapbooks of exhibition and critical material relating to various artists and on the history of Associated American Artists.

REEL D254: A book, A RECORD OF A SEASON - SEPTEMBER 1951 TO JUNE 1952, containing the highlights of the season and exhibition catalogs.

REEL 3176: Photocopies of correspondence between Grant Wood and Reeves Lewenthal and Maurice Liederman of Associated American Artists, 1938-1939 and 1941. The letters concern Wood's business relations with them, personal matters, his work, financial situation and health. [Microfilm title: Grant Wood papers.]

Bio / His Notes: Organized in 1934 to stimulate interest throughout the U.S. in the ownership of works of art by promoting the sale of prints through department stores. In 1935, oils, watercolors, and other media were added. Later the department store project was abandoned in favor of a New York headquarters.
extent55 linear ft. (partially microfilmed on 4 reels) reels D254-D256 and 3176
formatsCorrespondence Photographs Scrapbooks Catalogs Financial Records
accessMicrofilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of unmicrofilmed materials requires an appointment.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
finding aidhttp://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/findingaids/
updated03/16/2023 10:29:43
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titleOral history interview with Sylvan Cole, 2000 June-Oct.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionInterviews of Sylvan Cole conducted in five sessions, June -Oct. 2000, New York, N.Y., by Avis Berman for the Archives of American Art.
Cole discusses the history of Associated American Artists, the gallery for whom he began working in 1946, and its marketing techniques, customer base, and personalities, such as its founder, Reeves Lewenthal.

He also traces his own development as a dealer in prints after he left AAA and recalls many artists and other figures in the art world, including Will Barnet, Werner Drewes, Richard Florsheim, Helen Frankenthaler, David Hockney, Hans Hofmann, Edward Hopper, Una Johnson, Jacob Kainen, Jack Levine, William S. Lieberman, Robert Motherwell, and Raphael Soyer.

Note: Sound quality is fair; beginning and endings of tapes tend to be garbled and low.
extentSound recording: master: 5 sound cassettes (7 hrs, 30 min.): analog. Transcript 83 p.
formatsSound Recording Transcript Online Transcript
accessOnline Transcript
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
acquisition informationPart of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958.
updated11/12/2014 11:30:06
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titleAaron Bohrod papers, 1831-1995 (bulk 1904-1995)
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionCorrespondence, photographs, and scrapbooks make up the bulk of the collection, with biographical material, notes, writings, files on galleries, sales and business records, an interview, various art work, and printed material also included. The papers reflect Bohrod's artistic career, from his student days, his work as an artist-correspondent during WWII, his tenure as artist-in residence at the University of Wisconsin, his publications on art, his sales and exhibitions, and his many friendships and business associates.

REELS 1794-1797: Biographical sketches; correspondence, 1942-1974, primarily letters from colleagues including David Breger, Adolf Dehn, and the Milch Galleries, with one letter each from Thomas Hart Benton, Henri Cadiou, and Noel Coward; and letters from children and letters of recommendation by Bohrod; a file on the F. Carlton Ball/Aaron Bohrod pottery collaboration, 1952-1956, containing correspondence, writings, photographs of pottery sketchbooks and of art work, printed and financial material; writings, 1954-1973, including articles and lectures by and about Bohrod, a typescript, "Proposals to License Artists" by Jack Berland; a file for Bohrod's book, A Decade of Still Life, 1966, containing notes and mss. drafts, and book reviews; photographs, undated, of art work and artists, among them Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera; and 13 drawings by Bohrod. Also on microfilm are miscellaneous legal documents, financial papers, such as price lists, and receipts; exhibition catalogs and announcements, 1939-1972 and other printed material such as clippings, magazine articles, press releases, and reproductions.

UNMICROFILMED: Biographical material, 1942-1980, includes biographical sketches, medical records concerning heart surgery, 2 drivers licenses, membership cards, award certificates, and War Art Unit employment records. Correspondence, 1933-1994, ca. 5 linear ft., is with artists and others, including Ivan Albright, Leonard Bocour, Henri Cadiou, Adolf and Virginia Dehn, Lily Harmon, Fred Shane, and Claude Yvel. (Three letters, 1849-1866, concern the business interests of O.S. Chafee and Mr. Bushnell.) Files on galleries, 1961-1993, contain letters, financial and printed material, and photographs; among the galleries are ACA Galleries, American Artists Group, Grace Chosy Gallery, Harmon-Meek Gallery, Milch Galleries, and the Everett Oehlschlaeger Galleries.

The miscellaneous business records series, 1940-1994, consists of price lists, 4 ledgers listing sales and expenses, a trust accounts ledger, 2 check registers, a publication contract, records of royalty payments, real estate records, insurance records, records of investments, tax records, and miscellaneous receipts. The notes series includes a card file of addresses, mailing lists, lists of art work, guest register for an unidentified exhibition, notes concerning ceramics, and other various lists.

Writings, 1949-1990, include lecture manuscripts, Bohrod's reminiscences of John Sloan from the 1930s at the Art Students League, and other mss., as well as student compositions and typescripts about Bohrod by others.
Art work by Bohrod, 1954-1989, includes 7 small sketchbooks, 36 drawings, 8 prints, and designs for fabric and a pin. Art work by others, undated and 1951, includes a sixteenth century woodcut torn from a book, an etching by Philip Evergood, and a lithograph by Philip Pearlstein.
Scrapbooks, 1929-1992, 7 v., contain award certificates, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, book dust jackets designed by Bohrod, and photographs of art work. Found is documentation on Bohrod's Life magazine assignments as an artist-correspondent during WWII.
Printed material, 1831-1995, includes clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, press releases, programs, calendars of events, brochures, booklets, books, reproductions of art work, blueprints for Bohrod's studio, and philatelic material. There is also a catalog for Byron Thomas contains a photograph of Thomas.

Photographs, 1930-1990, (ca. 3,000 totalling 4 linear ft.), are of Bohrod (ca. 300), his family, studio (ca. 50), exhibition installations, and colleagues, including Carlton Ball and 2 group photographs of the Associated American Artists. Over 1,200 are of Bohrod's art work, and include his early and War Art Unit works (ca. 450), still life (trompe l'oeil) paintings (ca. 880), and ceramics. Travel photographs, 1935-1945, are of miscellaneous towns, farms, and industrial sites primarily in midwestern America, and include behind-the-scenes views of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. There are also photographs of miscellaneous Pacific Islands and various bomb-damaged towns in Europe taken during World War II.

Bio / His Notes:
Painter, ceramist, and educator; Madison, Wis. Born 1907. Died 1992. Born in Chicago, Bohrod studied from the late 1920s to the early 1930s at the Art Institute of Chicago, and under John Sloan at the Art Students League. He married Ruth Bush in 1929, and received 2 Guggenheim fellowships from 1935-1938. During World War II, he was an artist/correspondent in both the Pacific and in Europe.

Bohrod followed John Stuart Curry as artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, from 1948 until his retirement in 1973. In 1950, he began work in pottery with F. Carlton Ball with whom he published A Pottery Sketch Book in 1959. Bohrod's book, A Decade of Still Life,was published in 1966. His trompe l'oeil paintings also appeared in many magazines, including Life, Fortune, Holiday, and on several covers of Time.

Additional forms:
35mm microfilm reels 1794-1797 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
extent17.8 linear ft. (partially microfilmed on 4 reels) reels 1794-1797
formatsMicrofilm Correspondence Ephemera Photographs Scrapbooks
accessMicrofilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of unmicrofilmed portion requires an appointment. Unmicrofilmed portion: Authorization to publish requires written permission until January 1, 2020 from: Neil Bohrod, 1301 Sherman Ave., Madison, Wis. 53703.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
finding aidFinding aid available at AAA offices.
acquisition informationDonated 1974 by Aaron Bohrod and in 1996 by his son Neil Bohrod.
updated11/12/2014 11:30:06
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titleOral history interview with Federico Castellon, 1971 Apr.7-1971 Apr.14.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionBio / His Notes:
Printmaker and painter; Brooklyn, N.Y. Born 1914. Died 1971.

An interview of Federico Castellon conducted by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art. Castellon speaks of his childhood; his early interest in art; contact with Diego Rivera and the Weyhe Gallery in 1933; studying in Madrid and Paris; his involvement with the Spanish military; teaching at Columbia; traveling in Italy and in the Southwestern U.S.; making his first prints;

his involvement with the Associated American Artists Gallery; printmaking methods and techniques; his publications; subject matter and surrealism in his work; his working routine; one-man exhibitions; collecting prints; other printmakers; aesthetics. He recalls Diego Rivera, Carl Zigrosser, Elizabeth Ames, Reeves Lowenthal, Sylvan Cole, Terry Dintenfass, Lawrence Fleischman, the Weyhe Gallery, and the Associated American Artists Gallery.

Additional forms:
Transcript available on line at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/castel71.htm
extentSound recording: 2 sound tape reels ; 5 in. Transcript: 104 p.
formatsSound Recording Transcript Online Transcript
accessTranscript available on the Archives of American Art website.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
finding aidOnline transcript [http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/castel71.htm]
acquisition informationThis interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
updated11/12/2014 11:30:06
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titleLuigi Lucioni interview, 1971 July 6.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionInterview of Luigi Lucioni conducted by Robert Brown for the Archives of American Art. Lucioni speaks of his background from his birth in Italy to his childhood in the United States; attending the Cooper Union School and the National Academy of Design; and the effect of his visit to Italy on the development of his realistic style. He discusses exhibitions of his work, his techniques and working habits, his work in printmaking, and influences on his work. He recalls his involvement with the Associated American Artists group.

Bio / His Notes:
Painter, printmaker (New York, N.Y.)

Additional forms: Transcript available on line at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/lucion71.htm
extentSound recording: 1 sound tape reel ; 5 in. Transcript: 30 p.
formatsInterview Microfilm Transcript Online Transcript
accessTranscript available on the Archives of American Art website.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
finding aidTranscript available on line at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/lucion71.htm
acquisition informationThis interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
updated11/12/2014 11:30:06
....................................................................