Reuben Tam papers

ArchivalResource

Reuben Tam papers

1931-2006

The papers of landscape painter and educator Reuben Tam measure 9.2 linear feet and date from 1931 to 2006. The papers document his career as a painter in New York, Maine, and Hawaii through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, art organizations, schools, and galleries; diaries, poetry, and other writings; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, other printed material; photographs; artwork, including seventeen sketchbooks; and eight scrapbooks. There is a 1.1 linear foot unprocessed addition to the collection donated in 2020 that includes 34 sketchbooks, circa 1940-1974, by Tam from his time in New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Alaska and Canada. Biographical material includes school documents, records of his tenure as an instructor at the Brooklyn Museum of Art School, artwork consignment and sales records, and slides and accompanying audio cassette recording of the "Reuben Tam Show" about his work as an artist on Monhegan Island, Maine. Correspondence is with family, fellow artists, including William Kienbusch and Hyde Solomon, as well as art organizations, schools, and museums, such as Brooklyn Museum of Art School, Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Maine Coast Artists group, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is correspondence with the three galleries which represented his work: Downtown Gallery, Alan Gallery, and Coe Kerr Gallery. The collection includes five bound diaries as well as diary entries written by Reuben Tam on loose sheets of paper, primarily documenting the 1940s. Other writings include drafts of poetry, one notebook, miscellaneous notes, and essays by others. Printed material consists of school publications, exhibition catalogs and announcements for solo and group shows, brochures, flyers, magazines, bulletins, and news clippings. Eight scrapbooks found in this collection also include newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, as well as event invitations, membership cards, and letters, documenting 40 years of Reuben Tam's career. Photographs are of Reuben Tam, Tam with friends and family, and artwork. One photograph album contains photographs from Tam's visits to Maine from 1946 to 1948, and includes photographs of fellow artists Hyde Solomon, Carl Nesjar, Dorothy Andrews, and William Kienbusch. Artwork in the collection includes prints, drawings, and watercolors as well as seventeen large sketchbooks documenting the coastal landscape of Monhegan Island, Maine.

eng,

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6630744

Archives of American Art

Related Entities

There are 11 Entities related to this resource.

Downtown Gallery (New York, N.Y.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j42rdd (corporateBody)

Art gallery; New York, N.Y.; Owned by Edith Gregor Halpert. Established as Our Gallery in 1926 by Edith Gregor Halpert and Berthe Kroll Goldsmith for the purpose of promoting modern American art. Downtown Gallery was an early promoter of American folk art. The gallery name changed to Downtown Gallery in 1927, and Halpert became its sole owner in 1935. Subsidiary galleries operated by Downtown Gallery on its premises were: The Daylight Gallery (opened 1930), American Folk...

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture

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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...

Coe Kerr Gallery

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Alan Gallery (New York, N.Y.)

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Brooklyn Museum of Art

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Nesjar, Carl, 1920-....

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61n9wzd (person)

Sculptor; painter; photographer; Oslo, Norway; Cambridge, Mass. Nejar has executed numerous works by Pablo Picasso in concrete. He introduced Picasso to this technique in 1956 and was given exclusive rights to carry out his works in that medium. From the description of Carl Nesjar papers, [ca. 1962]-1981. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122394289 ...

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1959

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Andrews, Dorothy, 1918-2008

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gf4xsn (person)

Kienbusch, William, 1914-1980

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sf3n64 (person)

William Kienbusch (1914-1980) was a painter in New York, N.Y. and Maine. From the description of William Kienbusch letters to Francis and Sydney Hamabe, 1958-1977. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81787101 William Kienbusch (1914-1980) was a painter and art instructor in New York, NY, and Cranberry Island, Maine. Kienbusch befriended Rockport, Maine artist Francis Hamabe (1917-2002) and his wife Sydney (1917-1978). Hamabe was the co-founder of the Maine Coast Artists Associati...

Tam, Reuben

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bg37cq (person)

Reuben Tam (1916-1991) was an American landscape painter in Maine and Hawaii. From the description of Reuben Tam papers, 1931-1996. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 756821020 From the description of Reuben Tam papers, 1938-1997. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 613314166 From the description of Reuben Tam papers, 1931-2006. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 767864419 Painter, educator; New York, N.Y and Hawaii. Born 1916. Died 1991. ...

Solomon, Hyde, 1911-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ws92m4 (person)

Painter; Taos, New Mexico and New York, N.Y. From the description of Hyde Solomon papers, 1911-1983. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122514926 ...