Morris Louis and Morris Louis Estate papers

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Morris Louis and Morris Louis Estate papers

circa 1910s-2007

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ecc509be-66ed-4df5-9632-537bc9cf40ed

The Morris Louis and Morris Louis Estate papers measure 17.8 linear feet and date from circa 1912-2007, with the bulk of the material dating from 1965-2000. The collection documents Morris Louis' career as a Color Field painter and founding participant in the Washington Color School, as well as the subsequent administration of his estate by his wife Marcella Brenner. Found within Morris Louis’ papers are biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, scattered financial records, notes, writings, printed materials, and a canvas sample. The Morris Louis Estate papers include records of gallery exhibitions, mostly André Emmerich Gallery; artwork inventories; legal records concerning the lawsuit Bernstein v. Brenner; financial records of the sale of Louis’ artwork; printed materials; writings about Louis; photographs of exhibition installations and artwork; and posthumous project files which include documentation of film projects by Robert Pierce Productions, a catalog raisonne, PBS documentaries, video recordings of the exhibition "Morris Louis Now", and numerous sound recordings of interviews with artists, many with transcripts, discussing Morris Louis and conducted by Anita Faatz. Within the Morris Louis papers (circa 3 linear feet) are scattered biographical materials for Morris Louis and Marcella Brenner. Correspondence is with family friends, artists, and galleries, the bulk of which consists of photocopies. Of note are letters from Helen Frankenthaler, Clement Greenberg, Leonard Bocour, Kenneth Noland, and Anne Truitt. Business records include lists of artwork, receipts for art supplies, and scattered tax records. Six notebooks belonging to Morris Louis contain miscellaneous notes about students, studio rental payments, addresses, travel expenses, and a short list of paintings. There is one notebook of Marcella Brenner’s containing notes about expenses and addresses. Also found are printed materials, one canvas sample, and one embossing stamp. Photographs are of Morris Louis, Marcella Brenner, and the Bernstein family. The majority of the collection (circa 15 linear feet) consists of records created and maintained by Marcella Brenner in the course of managing Louis’ estate and posthumous exhibitions and projects. There are numerous gallery exhibition records for many posthumous and retrospective exhibitions between 1965 through 2002, including those held at the Andre Emmerich Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum, and numerous other U.S. and international galleries and museums. Louis' artwork is documented in highly detailed inventory lists and cards. Legal records document the lawsuit brought by the Bernstein family against Marcella Brenner which began in 1964 and ended in 1970 in favor of Brenner. Financial records document sales. Printed materials include clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and other miscellaneous materials. Writings include essays about Louis and manuscript copies of the book <emph render="italic">Trustee for the Human Race: Litigation over the Morris Louis Paintings</emph> written by Ruth S. Blau under contract for Marcella Brenner. Photographs are primarily of artwork depicted in exhibition installations. Project files are found for several posthumous documentary film projects and a catalog raisonne, and include a series of audio recordings of interviews of 27 artists conducted by Anita Faatz in 1970-1971. Artists interviewed include Clement Greenberg, Leonard Bocour, Andre Emmerich, Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland, and many others.

23 sound cassettes.K.Noland: 1 transcript (no tape exists)

Archives of American Art

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8289286

Archives of American Art

Related Entities

There are 47 Entities related to this resource.

Truitt, Anne, 1921-2004

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65j883k (person)

Anne Truitt, 1921-2004, artist of Washington, D.C. From the description of Oral history interview with Anne Truitt, 2002 Apr.-Aug [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 84389395 ...

Elderfield, John.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60k3qmk (person)

Lebron, James.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rn4c7d (person)

Phillips, Joann.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mw316m (person)

Art patrons, collectors; Santa Fe, N.M. From the description of Joann and Gifford Phillips papers, [ca. 1950] - 2006. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 123429806 Joann and Gifford Phillips are art patrons and collectors from Santa Fe, N.M. Gifford Phillips is the nephew of Duncan Phillips and a collector and founder of the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. From the description of Joann and Gifford Phillips papers, circa 1950-2011. (Unkno...

André Emmerich Gallery.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g49xkr (corporateBody)

Collins, James, 1939-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6st8t6w (person)

Upright, Diane.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r50tvh (person)

Elderfield, John.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61c30zm (person)

Wilder, Nicholas

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kd2q6c (person)

Art dealer, artist; Los Angeles, Calif. b. ca. 1927; d. 1989. From the description of Oral history interview with Nicholas Wilder, 1988 July 18. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220204181 Nicholas Wilder (1937 or 8-1989) was an art dealer and painter in Los Angeles, Calif. and New York, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Nicholas Wilder, 1988 July 18 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 613316349 ...

Helman, Joe.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d51qzw (person)

André Emmerich Gallery.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kq336d (corporateBody)

Washington Workshop Center for the Arts.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pk5pp1 (corporateBody)

Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pk0fqp (person)

d. Sept. 29, 1997. From the description of Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. (Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)). WorldCat record id: 83084427 Painter and sculptor, New York, N.Y. Studied at Ohio State University and at the Art Students League and under Reginald Marsh. Through his cartoon-like style and commentary, Lichtenstein came to represent a faction of his generation in his art and was one of the great proponents of the Pop Art movement of the 1960's. ...

Moffett, Kenworth

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s46tqz (person)

Critic; Curator, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass. Born 1943. From the description of Kenworth Moffett papers, 1970-1991. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122291724 ...

Fried, Michael

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hm5msb (person)

Washington Workshop Center for the Arts.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v45wff (corporateBody)

Phillips, Gifford

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v41c54 (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 ...

Lewis, Ira

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vq453r (person)

Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62627dj (person)

Painter (New York, N.Y.) Born 1928. From the description of Helen Frankenthaler interview, 1969. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220179604 Helen Frankenthaler (1928- 2011) was a painter from New York, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Helen Frankenthaler, 1969. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 495595062 Painters; New York, N.Y. Frankenthaler and Motherwell were married, and subsequently divorced. Were good fri...

Rubin, William Stanley

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66d5xwj (person)

Noland, Cornelia.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dn65r9 (person)

SCHUCKER, CHARLES, d. 1997.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bz776t (person)

Charles L. Schucker (1908 -1998) was a painter and educator in Chicago and New York, N.Y. who was active in the Federal Arts Project. From the description of Charles Schucker papers, 1934-1999. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 756821022 Painter; Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. From the description of Charles Schucker papers, 1934-1969. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122370481 ...

Brenner, Marcella, 1912-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rr32nq (person)

Meyersburg, Sybil.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61g2msg (person)

Blumberg, Stanley A.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dr65n0 (person)

Jacobson, Helen Saltz.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65h8k7r (person)

Quisgard, Liz Whitney, 1929-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s77gzc (person)

Emmerich, Andrés

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z040p0 (person)

André Emmerich is an art dealer. He is the owner of Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, N.Y. and Galerie Andre Emmerich, Zurich, Switzerland. From the description of Oral history interview with André Emmerich, 1993 Jan. 18 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 422876291 Art dealer. From the description of Reminiscences of André Emmerich and Nancy Stevenson Graves : oral history, 1977. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id:...

Shereshefsky, Leon.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f78df3 (person)

Siegel, Annie.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6932vn8 (person)

Kear, Jeannette.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d52nq9 (person)

Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sf2xzx (person)

Clement Greenberg, for many years America's most influential art critic, helped to create an audience and market for New York School artists such as Pollock, Newman, and David Smith. Greenberg wrote for Partisan review in the late 1930s and began writing art reviews for The Nation in the 1940s. Beginning in the 1950s, he abandoned regular reviewing in favor of the occasional article, organized exhibitions, lectured around the world, and served as a consultant for galleries, museums, and dealers....

Brenner, Abner.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m63mbj (person)

Carter, Betty, 1930-1998

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hd92d7 (person)

Noland, Kenneth, 1924-2010

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n58mx1 (person)

Kenneth Noland (1924- ) is a painter from New York, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Kenneth Noland, 1971 October 9-December 21 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 495596695 Painter; New York, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Kenneth Noland, 1971 October 9 - December 21. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 227191418 Kenneth Noland (1924-2010) was a painter, educator in South Salem, New York, and fr...

Friedman, Freda B.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69g7pgn (person)

Schach, Betty.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j40trz (person)

Spiegel, A.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sb5kkz (person)

Shereshefsky, Pauline M.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bp23ps (person)

Rubin, Lawrence

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65q5zfx (person)

Bloom, Sophia

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69044d5 (person)

Bocour, Leonard, 1910-1993

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cz4bdx (person)

Leonard Bocour (1910-1993) was an art collector and paint manufacturer of New York, N.Y. From the description of Oral history interview with Leonard Bocour, 1978 June 8. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 646395898 Art collector, paint manufacturer; New York, N.Y. From the description of Leonard Bocour interview, 1978 June 8 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 245522291 Art collector, paint manufacturer (New York, N.Y.). From the de...

Louis, Morris, 1912-1962

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jm2dvx (person)

Morris Louis (1912-1962) was a painter in Washington, D.C. Born Morris Louis Bernstein in Baltimore, Md. He participated in the WPA Easel Painting Project, and adopted the name Morris Louis. Marcella Louis became administrator of his estate of paintings, as a result of an agreement with his family, the Bernsteins. In 1964 she married scientist Abner Brener. From the description of Morris Louis and Morris Louis Estate papers, 1937-2001. (Unknown). ...

Weissbrodt, I. S., 1910-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m62pdw (person)

Jaegerman, Miriam.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68073vd (person)

Faatz, Anita J. (Anita Josephine)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pc5390 (person)

Social worker and educator, died 1999. At the time of the interview project, she was Director of the Otto Rank Association, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. From the description of Anita Faatz interviews, 1970-1971. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82780024 ...