Anton Refregier papers

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Anton Refregier papers

circa 1900-circa 1990

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9545f99ed-0a65-4626-904d-8dda5c569fcf

The papers of Woodstock area painter, muralist, and designer, Anton Refregier (1905-1979) date from circa 1900 to circa 1990 and measure 35.9 linear feet. The collection records Refregier's early commercial work and murals for the Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) and documents his career through to the 1970s with records of commissions for many public and private buildings, exhibitions in the United States and abroad, teaching positions, essays and publications, and extensive travel, particularly to the Soviet Union and Mexico. The collection contains scattered biographical material, personal and business correspondence, notes and writings, diaries and journals, mural and tapestry files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork including sketches and cartoons for murals, and photographs of Refregier, his friends, family and travels.Biographical material contains legal records such as Refregier's will and marriage and death records, passports, resume material and 2 interview transcripts.Correspondence, both chronological and alphabetical, constitutes almost a third of the collection and documents all aspects of Refregier's career including his work for the WPA, private commissions, representation by ACA Galleries, his involvement with groups such as the Woodstock Artists Association and his teaching work for institutions such as Bard College. Also documented are his involvement with local political groups and international organizations such as the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship and the World Peace Council, and travels including visits to the Soviet Union. Notable correspondents include Henry Dreyfuss, Philip Evergood, Rockwell Kent, Emmy-Lou Packard, and Byron Randall. Correspondence also includes family letters written primarily by Refregier to Lila Refregier, in addition to greeting cards received by the Refregier family, many of which contain original arwork.Writings are primarily by Refregier and include drafts of many essays and autobiographical writings, in addition to copies of published works including <emph render="italic">Natural Figure Drawing</emph>, <emph render="italic">An Artists Journey</emph> and <emph render="italic">Sketches of the Soviet Union</emph>.The collection contains diaries and journals from 12 years in various formats including published and handmade day planners and typed and handwritten journal entries. They include sketches and primarily record travel and daily activities including specific projects such as the New York World's Fair mural (1938-1939).Mural and Tapestry files document individual commissions bid on and/or completed by Refregier. The creation of the Rincon Annex Post Office mural and subsequent controversies over its subject matter are well-documented here, as are many of Refregier's commissions for banks, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers, and schools.Exhibition files document at least 15 of Refregier's exhibitions, including his first one-man show at ACA Galleries (1942) and his exhibition of paintings at the Hermitage Museum (1967) in what was then Leningrad.Personal business records contain addresses of contacts. Scattered records referencing market values for Refregier's work can be found throughout the series in records such as bills and receipts, financial notes and tax records.Printed material provides extensive coverage of Refregier's entire career through announcements, invitations, catalogs, and news clippings. His interests in art, literature, music, theater and politics are also well-represented in these files.The collection contains 10 scrapbooks, mostly in fragmented condition, which contain a mixture of photographs, sketches and other artwork, notes and fragments of writings, and printed material. The scrapbooks document a variety of subjects including Refregier's family life, travels to Guatemala and the Soviet Union, and the artist at work.Artwork consists primarily of artwork by Refregier in the form of mural design sketches and cartoons in various media, including pencil, ink and pastel, in addition to 21 sketchbooks, many of which also contain journal entries and notes. Also found here are prints and reproductions of Refregier's "Peace card" block engravings for every year from 1950-1973, with the exception of 1970.Photographs document all phases of Refregier's career and include family photographs dating from circa 1900, photos of Refregier in the studio including work for the WPA, Refregier and other artists and individuals at events and parties from the 1940s-1970s, travel snapshots probably taken in Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Soviet Union, and photographs of artwork and installations. Individuals pictured include Julio de Diego, Marion Greenwood, Rockwell Kent, Pablo O'Higgins and David Siqueiros; also, a series of press photographs by Albert A. Freeman pictures Refregier with Howard Fast, Norman Bel Geddes, Marion Greenwood, John Kingsbury, Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Harry Stockwell. One photograph by Eliot Elisofon, 2 by Eugene Morley and 4 by Max Yavno can also be found here.

35.9 linear feet

rus,

eng,

Archives of American Art

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6630676

Archives of American Art

Related Entities

There are 23 Entities related to this resource.

Elisofon, Eliot, 1911-1973

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d9048w (person)

Eliot Elisofon (1911-1973), American photojournalist, filmmaker, author, artist, lecturer, and art collector, was best known as a photographer for LIFE magazine and as an expert on African art....

United States

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f874hn (corporateBody)

Idaho became a state on July 3, 1890 with post offices being established as early as 1876. From the guide to the Franklin County, Idaho Post Office Location Records, 1876-1945, (Utah State University. Special Collections and Archives) These photographs document Region 4, started in 1910, of the US Forest Service, covering Utah, Nevada, Southern Idaho, and Western Wyoming. From the guide to the US Forest Service Photograph Collection., 19...

ACA Galleries

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dj9qks (corporateBody)

ACA Galleries (est. 1932) is an art gallery in New York, N.Y. Also known as A.C.A. Gallery and American Contemporary Art Gallery. Founded by Herman Baron, Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Adolf Dehn on August 16, 1932 as an outlet for generally unknown and socially conscious artists. It was particularly important during the Depression period when it was closely allied with militant artists' organizations. Currently owned by Jeffrey Bergen. From the descript...

Yavno, Max

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6304633 (person)

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63b601x (person)

Painter; New York, N.Y. From the description of Yasuo Kuniyoshi letter to Edgar P. Richarson, 1948 July 25. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79897805 Japanese-American painter and printmaker; New York. From the description of [Yasuo Kuniyoshi art work] [graphic] / Yasuo Kuniyoshi, artist and photographer. [ca. 1945-1953] (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81603860 Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889-1953) was a Japanese-American painter, printmaker and photogra...

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...

Greenwood, Marion, 1909-1970

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61v5gt6 (person)

Painter, lithographer, mosaicist, fresco and mural painter; New York, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Marion Greenwood, 1964 Jan. 31 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 276394253 From the description of Marion Greenwood photographs and printed material, [ca. 1933-1960]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122502696 From the description of Oral history interview with Marion Greenwood, 1964 Jan. 31. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 2201...

Packard, Emmy Lou, 1914-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61k0k3c (person)

Emmy Lou Packard (1914-1998) was a painter and a mural painter. From the description of Oral history interview with Emmy Lou Packard, 1964 May 11-12 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 317592448 Painter, mural painter; Calif.; d. Feb. 1998. From the description of Emmy Lou Packard interviews, 1964 May 11-May 12. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 227191840 From the description of Oral history interview with Emmy Lou Packard, 1964 May 11-12. (Un...

Randall, Byron, 1918-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66q35bm (person)

Painter; Tomales, Calif. From the description of Oral history interview with Byron Randall, 1964 May 12 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 317592452 Painter; Tomales, California. From the description of Oral history interview with Byron Randall, 1964 May 12. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 233007111 From the description of Byron Randall interview, 1964 May 12. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220195691 ...

Geddes, Norman-Bel 1893-1958

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gf0t85 (person)

American designer, author and theatrical producer. From the description of Letter, 1916 May 25, to "Wiff" [i.e., Helen Belle Sneider Geddes]. (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRC); University of Texas at Austin). WorldCat record id: 122648343 American stage designer and industrial designer. From the description of Norman Bel Geddes Theater and Industrial Design Papers, 1873-1964 (bulk 1914-1958). (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRC); University...

O'Higgins, Pablo, 1904-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mq7bjm (person)

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6td9w2g (person)

Painter; New York, N.Y. From the description of Rockwell Kent interview, 1957 Sept. 12. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80242441 Painter, illustrator, writer, lecturer; Ausable Forks, New York. From the description of Rockwell Kent letters to Robert T. Hatt, 1935-1936. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122553040 In addition to being a successful painter, printmaker, illustrator, designer, and commercial artist, Kent pursued careers as a writer, professional ...

Morley, Eugene, 1909-1953

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6989g9m (person)

Refregier, Anton, 1905-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b69gkt (person)

Russian-born Woodstock painter Anton Refregier (1905-1979) immigrated to the United States in 1920. Refregier was well-known for his sometimes controversial social realist murals for the WPA. After an apprenticeship to the sculptor, Vasilief, in Paris, Anton Refregier attended the Rhode Island School of Design from 1920-1925 and studied with Hans Hoffman in Germany in 1927. He had his first one-man show at ACA Galleries in New York City in 1942 and settled in Woodstock, ...

National Council of American-Soviet Friendship (U.S.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ht6cq0 (corporateBody)

Founded in 1943, the National Council and its various branches promoted educational activities, peace programs and cultural exchanges between American and Soviet citizens, involving peace coalitions from both countries. The Council's purpose was to overcome politicized separations during the period which became known as the Cold War. The Council successfully fought a court case, overcoming assertions that the group was composed of Communist sympathizers. From the description of Colle...

Refregier, Lila

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p68p29 (person)

Siqueiros, David Alfaro

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ph3zbd (person)

Biographical/Historical Note David Alfaro Siqueiros was a leading member of the Mexican muralist movement and a technical innovator of fresco and wall painting. His ideological differences with Diego Rivera attracted much attention in the 1930s. From the guide to the David Alfaro Siqueiros papers, 1920-1991, 1930-1936, (Getty Research Institute) ...

Dreyfuss, Henry, 1904-1972

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nz8zj5 (person)

Industrial and stage designer. Born New York, March 2, 1904. Attended Society for Ethical Culture High School in New York. Apprenticed to designer Norman Bel Geddes, 1922-1924. Established his own industrial design firm in 1929. His clients included Bell Telephone Laboratories, Deere &amp; Company, Honeywell, Inc., Polaroid Corporation, General Electric, the 1939-40 and 1964-65 New York World's Fairs, New York Central Railroad, Hoover Company, Singer Sewing Machine Company, Royal Typewriter Co.,...

Bard College

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John Bard founded St. Stephen's College in 1860 as an Episcopal training school on his estate in Annandale-on-Hudson. It affiliated with Columbia University in 1928, changed its name to Bard College in 1935, and became independent of Columbia and co-educational in 1944. From the description of Archives, 1860-1987. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155516793 ...

Woodstock Artists Association (Woodstock, N.Y.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xm3781 (corporateBody)

Collecting area: Art history and biographies of artists associated with Woodstock, N.Y. From the description of Repository description. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155504594 ...

World Peace Council.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w690771m (corporateBody)

The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization, representing over 100 countries, with headquarters in Athens, Greece since 2000 (formerly in Finland). The WPC was founded in 1948; Frederic Joliot-Curie was its first president. During the Cold War, the WPC tended to criticize western, especially American, armaments but refrained from equal criticism of the Soviet Union side. On its web site (as of March 2011) it is described as an "anti-imperialist, democratic, independent and non...

Fast, Howard, 1914-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kb64ss (person)

De Diego, Julio, 1900-1979

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zk5pqz (person)

Painter; born in Madrid; d. 1979. From the description of Julio de Diego papers, 1931-1971. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82903224 ...