Lillian and Frederick Kiesler papers, [circa 1910]-2003, bulk 1958-2000.

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Lillian and Frederick Kiesler papers, [circa 1910]-2003, bulk 1958-2000.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/613316554

The papers of artist, performer, and arts educator Lillian Kiesler and sculptor, architect, set designer, educator, and writer Frederick Kiesler measure 48.2 linear feet and date from circa 1910s-2003, with the bulk of the material from 1958-2000. The collection documents their personal and professional lives and the legacy of Frederick Kiesler's work through biographical material, correspondence, legal, financial and business records, teaching files, exhibition and performance files, artwork, subject files, printed material, writings and interviews, monographs, photographic material, and sound recordings and motion picture film. Also found are papers related to Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann and the papers of artist Alice Hodges. The collection is arranged into two series: the Lillian Kiesler Papers (Series 1) and the Frederick Kiesler Papers (Series 2). Measuring 41.1 linear feet, the Lillian Kiesler Papers (Series 1) make up the bulk of the collection and document her personal life and professional career as an artist, actor, teacher, arts benefactor and promoter of Frederick Kiesler's legacy. The series spans her lifetime, although most of the material is dated after 1965. Among her papers are biographical materials, correspondence, legal and financial records, teaching files, exhibition and performance files, artwork, subject files, printed material, monographs, papers related to Frederick Kiesler and his legacy, papers of and related to Hans Hofmann, papers of Alice Hodges, photographic material, and sound recordings and motion picture film. Found among Lillian Kiesler's personal papers are address books, numerous calendars and appointment books, and diaries and journals. Her correspondence is extensive and contains business correspondence with John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, and Erick Hawkins Dance Foundation, and personal letters and greeting cards from friends, family, artists, scholars, and researchers, including Etel Adnan, Alcopley, Fritz Bultman, Steve Buscemi, Mike Diamond, Burgoyne Diller, Lucia Dlugoszewski, Piero Dorazio, Jean Dubuffet, Jay Gottlieb, Erick Hawkins, Burgess Meredith, Henry Miller, James Purdy, and Herrel Thomas. Of interest is a letter from Harry Holtzman postmarked March 13, 1935 describing his initial meeting with Mondrian, and a letter from E.B. Gordon describing Henry Miller in Paris. Materials related to Lillian Kiesler's estate and last wishes can also be found, as well as teaching plans, student work, and writings by Lillian Kiesler's mentor and friend, New York University professor Chandler Montgomery. Various printed material, correspondence, scripts, and rehearsal schedules from Lillian Kiesler's exhibitions and performances are also found, and among the directors, artists and writers represented are Jo Andres, Steve Buscemi, Cindy Lugar, Tim Miller and James Purdy. Artwork contains photographs by Bob Del Fredici, drawings by Piero Dorazio, and notes to Frederick Kiesler from Lillian Kiesler. Subject files about artists, friends, colleagues, performances, and organizations in which she supported, such as the Anthology Film Archives, include printed materials and research materials. Signed exhibition catalogs of Loren MacIver, Dina Ghen, Lenore Tawney, and Toshiko Takaezu, and a reprint article inscribed by Alcopley can be found, as well as numerous inscribed monographs, including books inscribed by Max Weiler and Piero Dorazio, an inscribed first edition of Henry Miller's Black Spring (1936), and a 1937 monograph by Harry Holtzman titled American Abstract Artists. Series 1 also includes materials related to her husband Frederick Kiesler, papers of and related to Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann, and the personal papers of artist Alice Hodges. The Papers Related to Frederick Kiesler were primarily created or compiled by Lillian Kiesler and document her work on behalf of Frederick Kiesler's legacy. Of interest are letters from Frederick Kiesler to Lillian Kiesler and Alice Hodges; a bound volume of correspondence to Piero Dorazio; an inventory of objects in the Frederick Kiesler estate; photographs of artwork; an interview (sound recordings and transcript) with Lillian Kiesler about Frederick Kiesler for "Music of the Age," included on the tape is a portion of a Frederick Kiesler interview (1965); a recording of Lillian Kiesler interviewing Richard Kamler about Frederick Kiesler; and Frederick Kiesler's dialogue with Leo Castelli (undated). Lillian Kiesler was a student of Hans Hofmann (1880-1966) in New York City and Provincetown, Mass., as well as an enthusiastic volunteer promoter and assistant to The Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts. The bulk of the papers of and related to Hans Hofmann were created or compiled by Lillian Kielser and are about Hofmann's career and legacy. However, also found are some papers of Hans Hofmann, including letters from Hofmann to Lillian Kiesler and Alice Hodges describing his artwork, life in Provincetown, and issues with The Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, typed and handwritten lectures given by Hofmann, Hofmann's 1941 address to the American Abstract Artists (AAA), three boxes of card files on students of the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in New York City and Provincetown, and photographs of Hofmann and his house in Provincetown taken by Wilfrid Zogbaum and Tom Milius. The artist Alice Hodges (b. unknown-1965) was a close friend of Lillian Kiesler, a former secretary to Frederick Kiesler, and a student of Hans Hofmann. Included among her personal papers is some correspondence from Hans Hofmann and Katherine Dreier and numerous postcards from Hodges and Lillian Kiesler's trip to Europe in 1950, posters and printed material from her exhibitions, an oversized scrapbook chronicling Lillian Kiesler's teaching career, records from the United States Treasury War Bond Art Auction in 1945, original artwork and greeting cards made by Hodges and Lillian Kiesler, and 31 rolled negative strips in metal canisters of Frederick Kiesler sculptures, Provincetown and Hans Hofmann, Wellfleet, Empire State Music Festival (1955), and travels to Colorado and Europe, some of which may be printed and found in this subseries. Photographs found in the Lillian Kiesler Papers are mostly black and white and color snapshots of Lillian Kiesler's friends and family at events and at home, including candid photos of Hans Hofmann, Alice Hodges, Frederick Kiesler, and Alcopley. Slides prepared by Lillian Kiesler for a lecture on Frederick Kiesler and her lecture notes on index cards are found. Sound recordings and motion picture film include a variety of media, such as recordings of productions in which Lillian Kiesler performed, and music, film, or live stage performances written, directed, or performed by friends. Measuring 7.1 linear feet, Frederick Kiesler's personal papers (Series 2) document his professional career and date from 1923-1992. Biographical materials include his curriculum vitae, four passports, and numerous appointment books and notes from late in his life. Correspondence with architects, publishers, editors, universities, museums, galleries, manufacturers, artists and friends includes letters from L. Alcopley, Leopold Arnaud, Armand P. Bartos, Piero and Virginia Dorazio, George Howe, Kay Johnson, Jane Owen, and others. There are also photocopied letters from Katherine Dreier, Marcel Duchamp, and Piet Mondrian. Business and financial records from the 1940s to mid-1960s comprise a significant bulk of this series and are primarily tax returns and receipts and statements used to file tax returns. Materials on the publication of "Inside the Endless House" (1966), the International Theatre Exposition (in German) in 1924 and other exhibits from shortly after his death are found, as well as student artwork and papers from Kiesler's classes in the mid-1950s. A bound copy of the "Bibliography of Writings of and About Frederick Kiesler" compiled by Lillian Kiesler is found, as well as printed material about Frederick Kiesler and a handful of photographs of artwork. Users should note that Lillian Kiesler's and Frederick Kiesler's papers contain similar types of material that often overlap in subject matter, especially among the Papers Related to Frederick Kiesler (Subseries 1.10) in Series 1 and the Frederick Kiesler Papers (Series 2). This collection contains limited material related to Lillian Kiesler prior to the 1940s and Frederick Kiesler prior to his arrival in the United States in 1926.

48.2 linear ft.

Smithsonian Institution. Libraries

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7804088

Smithsonian Institution. Libraries

Related Entities

There are 39 Entities related to this resource.

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Kiesler, Lillian, 1911-2001

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Lillian Olinsey was born in 1911. She studied art at the Art Students League, Cooper Union, and the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, where she also assisted Hofmann and the school administration. She taught art to children and young adults for twenty years in New York City. From 1945 to 1955, she taught at the Greenwich House Art workshops and the Woodward School, followed by the Brooklyn Museum (1948-1958), Barnard School (1953-1963), New York University School of Education (1955-1966), and Ju...

Kiesler, Frederick, 1892-1965

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Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts.

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Montgomery, Chandler

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Arnaud, Leopold, 1895-1984

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Diller, Burgoyne, 1906-1965

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Painter. From the description of Oral history interview with Burgoyne Diller, 1964 Oct. 2. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220193121 Burgoyne Diller (1906-1965) wad a painter from New York, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Burgoyne Diller, 1964 Oct. 2. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 276394246 Painter; New York, N.Y. Associated with abstract painting, particularly Neoplasticism. From the descript...

Anthology Film Archives

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John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1959

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Dreier, Katherine Sophie, 1877-1952

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Painter and co-founder/president of the Société Anonyme, Inc. From the description of Correspondence, 1928-1929. (Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)). WorldCat record id: 122577860 Katherine S. Dreier, artist, promoter of modern art, and co-founder of the Société Anonyme. Société Anonyme, organization founded in 1920 by Katherine S. Dreier, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray to promote modern art among the public. From the description of Katherin...

Milius, Tom.

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MacIver, Loren, 1909-

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d. May 3, 1998. From the description of Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. (Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)). WorldCat record id: 83858326 ...

Andres, Jo.

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Dorazio, Piero, 1927-2005

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Hawkins, Erick

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Purdy, James

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Howe, George, 1886-1955

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Architect, Chair of the Dept. of Architecture at Yale University. Partner in the architecture firm Howe & Lescaze. From the description of George Howe papers, 1926-1974, (bulk 1926-1955). (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 505720125 ...

Dlugoszewski, Lucia, 1931-2000

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Bultman, Fritz, 1919-1985

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Painter (New York, N.Y.). From the description of Fritz Bultman interview, 1968 Jan. 6. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220181531 Painter, sculptor; New York, N.Y. Born in New Orleans, Bultman began his studies with Morris Graves in 1931. He studied in Munich, 1935-1957, where he also was a tenant of Mrs. Hans Hofmann. From 1938-1941, he attended the New Bauhaus of Chicago and studied with Hofmann in N.Y. and Provincetown. Bultman taught drawing at th...

Hodges, Alice Baur

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Dubuffet, Jean, 1901-1985

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Takaezu, Toshiko 1929-

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Zogbaum, Wilfrid, 1915-1965

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Sculptor; New York. From the description of Wilfrid Zogbaum papers, 1924-1966. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122647941 Sculptor, New York, N.Y. From the description of Wilfrid Zogbaum interview, 1964 Nov. 2. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220198948 Wilfrid Zogbaum, b. 1915; d. 1965, Sculptor of New York, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Wilfrid Zogbaum, 1964 Nov. 2 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 317...

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Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966

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University of Iowa. Museum of Art

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Tawney, Lenore

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Miller, Henry, 1891-1980.

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Novelist. From the description of Papers, 1952-1957. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155457225 Henry Miller (1891-1980) was an American author. He was known for his experimental, surrealist novels, such as Tropic of Cancer, which mixed fiction and autobiography. His writing was controversial for its graphic depictions of sexuality, leading to a 1964 obscenity trial in the United States, Grove Press, Inc. v. Gerstein. From the guide to the Henry Miller Letter, unda...

Copley, Alfred L.

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Whitney Museum of American Art

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Owen, Jane Blaffer.

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Daughter of Sarah Campbell Blaffer and art patron; Houston, Tx. From the description of Jane Blaffer Owen interview, 1980 Mar. 12. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220191127 Jane Blaffer Owen, art patron of Houston, Tx. Daughter of Sarah Campbell Blaffer. From the description of Oral history interview with Jane Blaffer Owen, 1980 Mar. 12. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 646397649 ...

Buscemi, Steve, 1958-

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Castelli, Leo

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Leo Castelli (1907-1999) was an art dealer in New York, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Leo Castelli, 1969 July [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79081963 b. September 4, 1907; d. August 21, 1999. From the description of Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122377727 Art collector and dealer; interviewee b. 1907. From the description of Reminiscences of Leo C...

Holtzman, Harry

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Harry Holtzman was born in New York, and studied at the Art Students League under Hans Hoffman. In the early 1930s Holtzman traveled to Paris where he met the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), and in 1940 sponsored Mondrian's immigration to the United States. From 1950 to 1975 Holtzman taught at Brooklyn College. He was the author and editor of several books on Mondrian and was executor of the painter's estate. From the guide to the Harry Holtzman papers, 1945-1987, (Beinecke ...