Elizabeth McCausland papers

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Elizabeth McCausland papers

1838-1995

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9cebe32f8-0180-44bb-a2a8-8ed061f173c1

The papers of art critic, writer, and historian Elizabeth McCausland measure approximately 45 linear feet and date from 1838 to 1995, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920 to 1995. The collection provides a vast accumulation of data on various artists and aspects of American art, especially the early American modernists and the Federal Arts Projects. Papers include McCausland's extensive research and writing files, particularly on Marsden Hartley, E. L. Henry, Lewis Hine, George Inness, and Alfred H. Maurer. McCausland's correspondence with artists includes a substantial amount with Arthur Dove and Alfred Stieglitz. Her collaborative work with Berenice Abbott on the <emph render="italic">Changing New York</emph> book and series of photographs is well-documented within the collection. Also found are general writings, subject files, files relating to exhibitions, teaching, and committees, photographs, art work, personal papers, and printed material. Additional McCausland material from the estate of Berenice Abbott include biographical materials, project files, writings, and printed materials.McCausland's personal papers consist of appointment books and engagement calendars, scrapbooks, student papers, works printed on her private press, financial records, biographical material, and scattered memorabilia, which together document other aspects of her life apart from her work. Correspondence includes incoming and outgoing letters along with enclosures, dating from McCausland's time as a journalist for <emph render="italic">The Springfield Republican</emph> in the 1920s and 1930s to her time as a freelance writer, art critic, and historian (1940s-1960s) and mostly concerning professional matters. Also included is a substantial amount of correspondence with artists, particularly Arthur Dove and Alfred Stieglitz, and some personal correspondence with her mother. General writings consists primarily of copies of McCausland's speeches and lectures on various art topics in addition to her early poems (dating from the 1930s) and scattered essays and articles.The most extensive part of the collection is comprised of McCausland's research and writing files pertaining to large research and curatorial projects, such as ones on the artists Alfred H. Maurer and Marsden Hartley (which was begun by the American Art Research Council and subsequently taken over by McCausland), and one for the American Processional exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in 1950. A wide variety of smaller projects are also well-documented in the series Other Research and Writing Files, including ones on E. L. Henry, Lewis Hine, George Inness, her collaborative work with Berenice Abbott on the <emph render="italic">Changing New York</emph> book and series of photographs. Numerous other artists and art topics are covered as well, such as Arthur Dove, Robert Henri, Jacob Lawrence, Charles Hawthorne, film, and photography. Files for her book <emph render="italic">Careers in Art </emph>(1950), her many speaking and lecture engagements, and editing work are also found in this series. Files consist primarily of correspondence, notes, research material, manuscripts, bibliographies, photographs of works of art, completed research forms for works of art, card index files, and printed material.Also found are subject files containing printed material, scattered notes and correspondence, and photographs, which may have been used for reference and/or collected in the course of McCausland's research activities; files relating to various exhibitions organized by McCausland from 1939 to 1944, including ones of silk screen prints and modern photography; files relating to courses on art history taught by McCausland, especially the one she taught at Barnard College in 1956; and files stemming from her participation in various art organizations and committees, especially during the time period just before and during the Second World War.Printed material consists primarily of clippings and tear sheets of McCausland's newspaper articles and columns, which document her contributions to <emph render="italic">The Springfield Republican</emph> from 1923 to 1946, in addition to scattered exhibition catalogs, announcements, books, and miscellaneous publications. Photographs include ones of various artists and works of art, ones from the Farm Security Administration, and ones by photographers, such as Berenice Abbott (including ones from the Federal Art Project book, <emph render="italic">Changing New York</emph>), Barbara Morgan, Weegee, and Edward Weston, among others. Photographs, sometimes annotated or including notes, are scattered throughout her research files. Also included are photographs of McCausland, dating from her childhood. Art work found in the collection includes drawings, prints, and watercolors that were either given to McCausland by the artist or collected by her in the course of her work as an art critic and historian.Additional material belonging to Elizabeth McCausland and donated by the estate of Berenice Abbott includes biographical material; business and personal correspondence; professional project files and writings, including drafts and research materials related to the book projects <emph render="italic">Art in America</emph>, <emph render="italic">Conversations with March</emph>, and <emph render="italic">Frank Kleinholz</emph>; and printed materials, including reprints of critical essays and articles by McCausland.

Archives of American Art

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6630620

Archives of American Art

Related Entities

There are 17 Entities related to this resource.

New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vr3vgx (corporateBody)

"Negro Week" was a program on the contributions of blacks to American culture held at the New York World's Fair in July 1940, and consisted of festivals, exhibitions, song and dance recitals, choral and symphonic music, concerts, religious services, guest speakers, and a children's program. From the description of New York World's Fair Negro Week records, 1940. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122580393 From the guide to the New York World's Fair Negro Week records, 1940, (The...

Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69x17bp (person)

Marsden Hartley, one of the early modernist painters and also a poet, was born in Lewiston, Maine, in 1877. After his mother's death, he moved to Cleveland to live with his father and stepmother, attending the Cleveland Institute of Art. He then moved on to study at the New York School of Art, where he found inspiration in the works of the American transcendentalists, particularly Emerson and Whitman. Among his other influences were Emily Dickison, his friend and contemporary Hart Crane, and Ger...

Abbott, Berenice, 1898-1991

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65f9g3d (person)

b.1898; d, 1991. From the description of Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122462170 B. in Springfield, Ohio on July 17, 1898; d. 1991 in Monson, Maine, age 93. From the description of Berenice Abbott : Artist File. (International Center of Photography). WorldCat record id: 437266448 Berenice Abbott was born July 17, 1898 in Springfield, Ohio. She attended Ohio State University, but left early in 1918, movin...

Weegee, 1899-1968

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bv8n5p (person)

Federal Art Project

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jt3cth (corporateBody)

The FAP projects included a broad range of events and activities which generated the various publications and materials found in the central files of the general subject series. ART FOR THE MILLIONS was a publication project about the accomplishments of the FAP consisting of a series of articles by Project workers. In addition to creating work for artists, the FAP sought to increase art appreciation as well as art sales among the general public. In doing so it devised a plan which created Nation...

Maurer, Alfred Henry, 1868-1932

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ws8wcj (person)

Inness, George, 1825-1894

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vm4dqp (person)

Painter; Montclair, N.J. From the description of George Inness letter to Horace H. Moses, 1866 Jan. 14. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122577231 ...

Hawthorne, Charles Webster, 1872-1930

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kp8520 (person)

Charles Webster Hawthorne (1872-1930), an American portrait and genre painter and teacher, founded the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899. The school, dedicated to outdoor figure painting, proved very successful and influential, attracting many well-known artists. Hawthorne directed the school until his death in 1930. Hawthorne is known for his genre scenes (he was intrigued by the Portuguese fishing families from Provincetown) and his portraits. From the description of Charles W. Hawtho...

Henri, Robert, 1865-1929

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6057h7j (person)

Painter, illustrator; New York, N.Y. From the description of Robert Henri letter, 1911 Feb. 8. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79700794 American artist. From the description of Robert Henri papers, 1922-1928. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 63935956 From the description of Robert Henri speedwriting card index, circa 1922-1928. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 298597773 From the description of Robert Henri diary ...

Weston, Edward, 1886-1958

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qd0shq (person)

Edward Weston, (American, 1886-1958), was born in Highland Park, Illinois and from an early age was involved with photography. He studied at the Illinois College of Photography in 1908, afterwards moving to Los Angeles to work for a commercial portrait studio and eventually starting his own. Weston exhibited his works in many salons and exhibitions, making his works known in the photographic community. In 1929 Weston moved to Carmel, California, where he would spend the rest of his...

Stieglitz, Alfred, 1864-1946

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tt4p3p (person)

Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer, founder of the Photo-Secession Group, gallery owner, and editor and publisher of photography magazines, most notably, Camera Work. Frank Hermann was an American painter, who spent most of his career in Germany, where he associated with several avant-garde art groups. Childhood friends, Stieglitz and Herrmann were schoolmates, spent time together when Stieglitz was in Europe, and visited each other in the United States when Herrmann returned in 1919....

Morgan, Barbara Brooks, 1900-1992

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sx6gxf (person)

Barbara Brooks Morgan was born in Buffalo, Kansas on July 8, 1900, but grew up in Los Angeles, Calif. She attended UCLA from 1919 to 1923, and later joined the art faculty (1925-30). She married Willard D. Morgan (ca. 1925) and relocated to New York (1930). After the birth of her two sons, Douglas (1932) and Lloyd (1935), she began to concentrate on her photography career. An accomplished designer, author, artist, and photographer, she is best known for her photographs of American modern dancers...

Henry, Edward Lamson, 1841-1919

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61c2gqw (person)

Painter; Ellenville, New York. E.L. Henry was an American genre artist, specializing in transportation subjects. His career is documented in the book, THE LIFE AND WORK OF EDWARD LAMSON HENRY by Elizabeth McCausland, 1945. From the description of Edward Lamson Henry letter to G.H. Buck, 1902. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 86122920 From the description of Edward Lamson Henry letters and envelope, 1869-1872 and [undated]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122355078 From...

Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62f7q08 (person)

Painter; New York, N.Y.; b. 1917; d. 2000. From the description of Oral history interviews with Jacob Lawrence, 1982 July 20-Aug. 4. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 84455118 Jacob Lawrence was an African-American painter and illustrator. He received the Spingarm Medal in 1975 and taught at the New School and Pratt Institute. He died in 2000. From the description of Jacob Lawrence exhibition card and autobiographical notes, 1947-1948. (Pennsylvania State University...

Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w690255p (person)

Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), an American photographer, began his career as a teacher at the Ethical Culture School in New York City. He first used a camera to record activities at the school. Subsequently he photographed immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, the shocking condition of child laborers throughout the U.S., the activities of the American Red Cross in World War I, and workers in various industries. He was commissioned to create photo-essays for industry and periodicals. His early pho...

McCausland, Elizabeth, 1899-1965

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rb7730 (person)

Elizabeth McCausland (1899-1965) was an art critic, writer, lecturer, and exhibition organizer. Taught at Barnard College, New School for Social Research, and Sarah Lawrence College; art critic for Springfield Sunday Union and Republican, late 1920s; author of text for Berenice Abbott's "Changing New York" (1939), "The Life and Work of Edward Lamson Henry, N.A., 1841-1919" (1945), "A. H. Maurer" (1951), "George Inness, An American Landscape Painter" (1946), "Charles W. H...

Dove, Arthur Garfield. 1880-1946

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hq45vh (person)

Arthur Dove painted with Brooks's daughter-in-law, Inez Seibert Brooks. From the description of Correspondence to Van Wyck Brooks, [Between 1920 and 1946]. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 175227818 Arthur Garfield Dove (1880-1946) and Helen Torr Dove were painters from Geneva and Centerport, N.Y. Born in Canandaigua, N.Y., Arthur Dove settled in New York City in 1903, becoming an illustrator for popular magazines, including ...