Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Archives related to: Eaton, Marjorie

titleInterview with Marjorie Eaton, 1982 September 15
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionThrough the whole recording tape machine noise and squeaking in recording; distorted dialogue first and last seconds of recording. Last portion of interview is part of item 23904, Interview with Louise Nevelson and Interview with Marjorie Eaton. See Internal Note. Marjorie Eaton, interviewed by Laurie Lisle, discusses her experiences with Louise Nevelson. Topics include their friendship and time living together, Nevelson's personality, life and relationship with her son Mike. People discussed include Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Mike Nevelson.
extent1 sound cassette ; 1 hr., 2 min., 52 sec.
accessThis item has been digitally reformatted. It is available by requesting an appointment in the Archives of American Art's reading rooms, or in certain situations as a Reproduction Request.
record linkn/a
record sourcehttps://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/items/detail/interview-marjorie-eaton-23876
finding aidn/a
acquisition informationn/a
updated10/03/2023 15:40:16
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titleArensberg Archives
repositoryPhiladelphia Museum of Art
descriptionThe Arensberg Archives contain correspondence, ephemera, clippings, writings, art collection and personal records, and photographs created and collected by Walter and Louise Arensberg, as well as some material created on the couple's behalf by their secretary and the staff of the Francis Bacon Foundation. Through letters with contemporary artists, art dealers, museums, galleries, and publishers emerges a vivid picture of how the Arensbergs built and maintained one of the most important collections of Modern and Pre-Columbian art in the 20th century, particularly from the early 1930s to the early 1950s. Magazine and newspaper clippings; exhibition announcements, invitations, and catalogs; loan forms with various museums and galleries; tax and financial records; a card catalog; and photographs further illustrate how the Arensbergs acquired, cataloged, loaned, conserved, and administered their art collection. Countless letters are preserved from admirers wishing to visit the Arensbergs' Hollywood, California home to view the art collection. In more cases than not, a response from Walter Arensberg granting permission is also preserved. Also included is a significant amount of legal and financial material documenting the Arensbergs' negotiations with the Francis Bacon Foundation, the University of California at Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as several other institutions to find a suitable permanent home for the art collection. Walter Arensberg took a proactive role in promoting modern art in California, as demonstrated by records related to his role in the founding and administration of the short-lived Modern Institute of Art in Beverly Hills.

The material also offers a picture, albeit somewhat limited, of Walter Arensberg's professional interests in avant-garde poetry, the Bacon-Shakespeare controversy, and cryptography. The collection includes manuscripts for several experimental, unpublished poems and essays written by Walter Arensberg probably between 1915-1921, many in collaboration with Marcel Duchamp. At least one of these incorporates titles from Duchamp's readymades. Correspondence with John Covert, Walter's cousin, document his interest in cryptography, and Walter discusses his Baconian research and his research institute, the Francis Bacon Foundation, in several letters.

A significant amount of correspondence with economist John Nef, artists Marcel Duchamp and Charles Sheeler, and art dealer and Armory Show organizer Walter Pach, for example, demonstrate the variety of intellectuals with whom the Arensbergs' maintained close and long-term friendships. Countless other notable figures of the 20th century also crossed the Arensbergs' paths, ranging from literary figures, such as Arthur Cravan, to actors, such as Vincent Price, and these encounters are recorded in the Arensbergs' correspondence and photographs. The collection also includes a significant amount of correspondence with and experimental poetry of Elmer Ernest Southard, an important psychiatrist and neuropathologist, who was Walter's close friend and classmate from Harvard University. Walter received this material upon Southard's death in 1920, and he kept it for the rest of his life.
extent33 linear feet`
accessThe collection is open for research.
record linkhttps://pmalibrary.libraryhost.com/repositories/3/resources/307/collection_organization
record sourcehttps://pmalibrary.libraryhost.com/repositories/3/resources/307
finding aidhttps://pmalibrary.libraryhost.com/repositories/3/resources/307/collection_organization
acquisition informationThe collection was acquired in three major parts. Ephemera and some correspondence was given to the museum by the Francis Bacon Foundation in December 1950, simultaneously with the presentation of the Arensberg Art Collection, and received between 1953-1954. A second installment of this initial gift, containing the Arensbergs’ correspondence pertaining to their art collection, miscellaneous photographs, catalogues, and clippings, was transferred to the museum by the Francis Bacon Foundation in 1972. Additional personal correspondence and photographs, a card catalog to the Arensberg Art Collection, writings, and the papers of Elmer Ernest Southard, were transferred from the Francis Bacon Foundation to the museum in 1996. This material was formally given to the museum in 2001 by the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, which had received the material as part of a larger gift from the Francis Bacon Foundation in 1995. 2001. The following items were given by Naomi Sawelson-Gorse from Elizabeth Wrigley's estate: one Photostat of the cover of Filippo Tammaso Marinetti's Zang Tumb Tumb (October 1912); a card catalog record for "La Jolle Scene" by Bartlett; a photograph of Grace Clements' "Untitled" (1913) drawing.
updated10/03/2023 15:44:29
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