Henry Varnum Poor papers

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Henry Varnum Poor papers

1873-2001

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw96265d653-098f-4ccc-abed-0bc649c50516

The papers of Henry Varnum Poor measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1873-2001, with the bulk from the period 1904-1970. Correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material and photographs document Poor's work as a painter, muralist, ceramic artist and potter, architect, designer, writer, war artist, educator and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is extensive information about the design and construction of Crow House, his home in New City, New York, commissions for other architectural projects, and his personal life.Henry Varnum Poor's correspondence documents his personal, family, and professional life. Correspondents include family and friends, among them George Biddle, Charles Burchfield, John Ciardi, Marion V. Dorn (who became his second wife), Philip Evergood, Lewis Mumford, John Steinbeck, David Smith, and Mrs. John Work (Alice) Garrett. Among other correspondents are galleries, museums, schools, organizations, fans, former students, and acquaintances from his military service and travels. Family correspondence consists of Henry's letters to his parents, letters to his parents written by his wife, and letters among other family members. Among the writings by Henry Varnum Poor are manuscripts of his two published books, <emph render="italic">An Artist Sees Alaska </emph>and <emph render="italic">A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality</emph>. as well as the text of "Painting is Being Talked to Death," published in the first issue of <emph render="italic">Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions</emph>, April 1953, and manuscripts of other articles. There are also film scripts, two journals, notes and notebooks, lists, speeches, and writings by others, including M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston's account of Poor rescuing an Eskimo, and Bessie Breuer Poor's recollections of The Montross Gallery.Subject files include those on the Advisory Committee on Art, American Designers' Gallery, Inc., William Benton, Harold Dickson, <emph render="italic">Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions</emph> Sales, and War Posters. There are numerous administrative files for the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Artwork by Henry Varnum Poor consists mainly of loose drawings and sketches and 45 sketchbooks of studies for paintings, murals, and pottery. There is work done in France, 1918-1919, and while working as a war correspondent in Alaska in 1943. There are commissioned illustrations and some intended for his monograph, <emph render="italic">A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality</emph>. Also found are a small number of watercolors and prints. Work by other artists consist of Anne Poor's drawings of her father's hands used for the Lincoln figure in <emph render="italic">The Land Grant Frescoes</emph> and interior views of Crow House by Ernest Watson.Documentation of Poor's architectural projects consists of drawings and prints relating to houses designed and built for Jules Billing, MacDonald Deming, John Houseman, Burgess Meredith, Isabel Padro, and Elizabeth S. Sargent. Also found is similar material for the new studio Poor built in 1957 on the grounds of Crow House.Miscellaneous records include family memorabilia and two motion picture films, <emph render="italic">Painting a True Fresco</emph>, and <emph render="italic">The Land Grant Murals</emph> at Pennsylvania State College.Printed material includes articles about or mentioning Poor, some of his pottery reference books, family history, a catalog of kilns, and the program of a 1949 Pennsylvania State College theater production titled <emph render="italic">Poor Mr. Varnum</emph>. Exhibition catalogs and announcements survive for some of Poor's shows; catalogs of other artists' shows include one for Theodore Czebotar containing an introductory statement by Henry Varnum Poor. Also found is a copy of <emph render="italic">The Army at War: A Graphic Record by American Artists</emph>, for which Poor served as an advisor. There are reproductions of illustrations for <emph render="italic">An Artist Sees Alaska</emph> and <emph render="italic">Ethan Frome</emph>, and two Associated American Artists greeting cards reproducing work by Poor.Photographs are of Henry Varnum Poor's architectural work, artwork, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects. This series also contains negatives, slides, and transparencies. Images of architectural work include exterior and interior views of many projects; Poor's home, Crow House, predominates. Photographs of artwork by Poor are of drawings, fresco and ceramic tile murals, paintings, pottery and ceramic art. People appearing in photographs include Henry Varnum Poor, family members, friends, clients, juries, students, and various groups. Among the individuals portrayed are Milton Caniff, Marcel Duchamp, Wharton Esherick, M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston, and Burgess Meredith. Among the family members are Bessie Breuer Poor, Marion Dorn Poor, Anne Poor, Eva Poor, Josephine Graham Poor, Josephine Lydia Poor, Peter Poor, and unidentified relatives. Photographs of places include many illustrating village life in Alaska that were taken by Poor during World War II. Other places recorded are French and California landscapes, and family homes in Kansas. Miscellaneous subjects are exhibition installation views, scenes of Kentucky farms, and a photograph of Poor's notes on glazes.

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Archives of American Art

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SNAC Resource ID: 6630668

Archives of American Art

Related Entities

There are 19 Entities related to this resource.

Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mx3911 (person)

Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (French:28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French-American painter, sculptor, chess player and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, conceptual art, and Dada, although he was careful about his use of the term Dada and was not directly associated with Dada groups. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, as one of the three artists who helped to define the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the opening decades of...

Meredith, Burgess, 1907-1997

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6427ndn (person)

American actor. From the description of Typed invitation : London, to [John Steinbeck], 1943 Oct. 4. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 775796417 ...

Benton, William, 1900-1973

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z60n7k (person)

Senator, publisher. From the description of Reminiscences of William Benton : oral history, 1967. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122481066 From the description of Reminiscences of William Benton : oral history, 1968. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 309721364 Art collector, politician; Chicago, Ill. Publisher of ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, Vice-President of the University of...

Esherick, Wharton

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n42xhr (person)

Smith, David, 1906-1965

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63r0v2k (person)

Sculptor; Bolton Landing, N.Y. From the description of David Smith interview, 1964 Oct. 25. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80437636 Sculptor. Studied painting at the Art Students League in New York City between 1927 and 1932. Smith began working with sculpture around the time of leaving the League. In 1940 he moved to upstate New York where he remained until his death in 1965. Retrospective exhibitions of Smith's work at the Museum of Modern Art in 1957, and at the Fogg Art ...

Dickson, Harold E., 1900-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63n50p5 (person)

Harold E. Dickson's teaching career at Penn State spanned 41 years, starting in 1923 as an instructor in watercolor. In 1927, he was appointed an assistant professor in fine arts, becoming a full professor in 1946. In 1956, he was named professor of history of art and architecture, and retired as professor emeritus in 1964. In 1974, he was the recipient of the Lions Paw Medal for his efforts in popularizing the work of Pennsylvania artists. Instrumental in bringing major works of art to Penn Sta...

Garrett, Alice Warder

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66139x0 (person)

Biddle, George, 1885-1973

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sq91hr (person)

George Biddle was an author and a widely exhibited artist who also contributed to national magazines. He died in 1973. From the description of Business and personal papers, 1929-1943. (Winterthur Library). WorldCat record id: 122573566 B. 1885 d. 1973. From the description of George Biddle artist file. (Whitney Museum of American Art). WorldCat record id: 228433040 American artist and Chairman, War Department Art Advisory Committee. From the ...

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65n03x8 (corporateBody)

The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture was founded in 1946 on farmland near the town of Skowhegan in central Maine. The school provides an unstructured studio space and environment for artists to focus on their work. Faculty consist of resident and visiting artists who provide studio visits and regular criticism. Admission is highly competitive and the school regularly accepts only sixty-five students annually, often out of hundreds of applicants. Students are allowed to attend only once...

Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s18205 (person)

American writer. From the description of Correspondence with Alfred S. Dashiell, 1931-1940. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 51846130 Carl Zigrosser and Lewis Mumford were life-long friends with shared interests in the arts, society and politics. From the description of Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1925-1971, n.d. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155902319 Sir Patrick Geddes was a Scottish biologist, sociologi...

Poor, Henry V. (Henry Varnum), 1812-1905

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6st7w30 (person)

Henry Varnum Poor (1888-1970), best known as a potter and ceramic artist, was also an architect, painter, muralist, designer, educator and writer who lived and worked in New City, New York. A native of Chapman, Kansas, Henry Varnum Poor moved with his family to Kansas City when his grain merchant father became a member of the Kansas Board of Trade. From a young age he showed artistic talent and spent as much time as possible - including school hours - drawing. When a sch...

Watson, Ernest William, 1884-1969

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z04bks (person)

Illustrator and block printer; New York, N.Y. Founder &amp; editor of American Artist, 1937-1955. From the description of Ernest William Watson papers, 1949-1965. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122576928 ...

Marston, Muktuk

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66c044x (person)

Montross Gallery

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Art gallery at 550 5th Avenue, New York, N.Y. From the description of Montross Gallery exhibition catalogs, 1908-1926. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122291732 ...

Ciardi, John, 1916-1986

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pv6qw8 (person)

American poet and critic. Winner of Avery and Jule Hopwood Award in poetry, 1939. Professor of English at Harvard, 1946-48, and Rutgers, 1953-61. From the description of Letter, 1980 Feb. 4, Key West, Fla., to Henry F. Pommer, Ripon, Wis. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34364896 Poet, editor, literary critic, lecturer, and journalist. Full name: John Anthony Ciardi. From the description of John Ciardi papers, 1910-1997 (bulk 1960-1985). (Unknown). W...

Caniff, Milton Arthur, 1907-1988

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fx77kb (person)

American cartoonist, best known for the long-running comic strips Terry and the pirates and Steve Canyon. Lived for many years in New City, NY as a neighbor of Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya, Maxwell Anderson, Alan Jay Lerner, and others. Also an original board member of the Kurt Weill for Music thanks to his long association with Lenya. Caniff died in 1988. From the description of An oral history interview with Milton Caniff / conducted for the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music by Donald Spo...

Burchfield, Charles Ephraim, 1893-1967

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cj8gsw (person)

Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) was a watercolorist and painter in West Seneca, N.Y. From the description of Charles Burchfield letter to Alan M. Pensler, 1966 Aug. 3. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 779477543 From the description of Charles Burchfield letter to Alan M. Pensler, 1966 Aug. 3. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 756821068 Painter; Gardenville, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Charles Burchfield, 1959 Aug. 19. (Unknown). Wo...

Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cr5wpf (person)

Painter; New York, N.Y. From the description of Philip Evergood interview, 1959 June. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 78587895 Painter (New York, N.Y.). From the description of Philip Evergood interview, 1968 Dec. 3 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 84162936 Correspondence to Lewis Mumford from Philip Evergood and his wife, Julia Evergood. From the description of Letters, 1937-1965, to Lewis Mumford. (University of Pennsylvania...

Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6js9rqn (person)

Margaret Gemmell, later van Judah, was a friend of Steinbeck's during their stay at Stanford University, 1925-26. Included with the papers is a manuscript in her own hand describing her friendship with Steinbeck. From the description of John Steinbeck papers, 1925-1978. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 754866392 This is the producer's copy, property of Oscar Serlin; the play ran from 7 Apr. to 6 June, 1942. From the description of The moon is down, a play in 3 acts...