This collection is arranged as 10 series. When possible the original order of Peter Selz was maintained. However, multiple accessions were merged and integrated.
Peter Howard Selz (1919-2019) was a pioneering historian of modern art, professor, and writer who taught at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1965-1988 and founded and directed the Berkeley Art Museum from 1965-1973.
Selz was born in 1919 in Munich, Germany to Eugene Selz and Edith Drey Selz. In 1936, the family fled Nazi Germany and immigrated to the United States. Selz attended Columbia University from 1937 to 1938 and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. During World War II, Selz served in the U.S. Army in the Office of Strategic Services. He married writer Thalia Cheronis in 1948 but they later divorced in 1965; he married several times afterwards.
After the war, Selz attended and taught at the University of Chicago where he received a Ph. D. in German Expressionism. He spent a year in Paris, 1949-1950, at the Sorbonne and École du Louvre on a Fulbright grant. He received a second Fulbright grant in 1953 to study at the Royal Museums of Art and History in Belgium. From 1953-1955, Selz also taught at the Chicago Institute of Design.
In 1955 Peter Selz accepted a position to chair the art history department at Pomona College in Claremont and relocated to California for a few years. He also became director of the college's art gallery.
In 1958 Selz moved to New York City to become curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art and was there through the transformative mid-1960s. While at MOMA, he organized several significant exhibitions of modern art, including the 1960 Jean Tinguely "Homage to New York," a sculpture that destroyed itself (and started a fire) in the sculpture garden of the museum;
In 1965, Peter Selz returned to California to become the founding director of the Berkeley Art Museum at the University of California, Berkeley, a position he held until 1973. He organized exhibitions of Funk, film, and ceramicists like Peter Voulkos and Robert Arneson. Peter Selz later became project director for Christo's "Running Fence", the 24.5-mile long fabric fence over the Marin County hills in 1976. He also served concurrently as a professor of art history at UC until retiring in 1988.
Peter Selz was a member of the College Art Association's board of directors for two terms, 1958-1964 and 1966-1971. Selz is a prolific writer, and the author or co-author of numerous books, exhibition catalogs, and articles. Notable books include
In 1988 Peter Selz was named emeritus professor at University of California, Berkeley. In 1993 he was on the acquisitions committee of the Museums of Fine Arts, San Francisco. In 2012, Selz curated
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the
Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 2343-2345 and 4383-4385 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
The Peter Howard Selz papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Peter Selz in multiple installments from 1976 through 2014. Additional papers were donated in 2018 by Gabrielle Selz, Peter Selz's daughter.
Peter Howard Selz papers, 1929-2018, bulk 1950-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Multiple accessions were merged and integrated and processed by Rihoko Ueno in 2014, with funding from the Frederick Hammersley Foundation. The 2018 addition was minimally processed and integrated into the collection by Rayna Andrews in 2018, with funding from Gerald and Bente Buck. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
The Archives of American Art also holds oral history interviews of Peter Selz conducted by Paul J. Karlstrom on July 28, 1982, October 12, 1982, and November 3, 1999.
The papers of art historian and writer Peter Howard Selz measure 31.5 linear feet and 0.696 GB and date from 1929 to 2018, with the bulk of the materials from 1950 to 2005. The papers document Selz's long career via correspondence, writings, professional files, project files, membership and association records, artists' research files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed and digital materials, and scrapbooks.
Correspondence is with colleagues, artists, museums, and galleries concerning a wide variety of topics, including exhibitions and publications. The bulk of the correspondence consists of alphabetical files (two linear feet) that includes correspondence with artists. Notable correspondents include Pol Bury, Alexander Calder, Gordon Onslow Ford, Alberto Giacometti, Morris Graves, Philip Guston, Dimitri Hadzi, Jacques Lipchitz, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Jean Tinguely, and others. Eight additional files of chronological correspondence is with curators, arts organizations, and publishers. Additional correspondence is found in the professional files, project files, membership files, artists' research files, and exhibition files.
The bulk of the writings series is comprised of files related to Selz's books and includes typescript drafts and galleys, printed and digital material, correspondence, and publishing contracts. Files are found for
Professional files document curatorial and teaching positions at the Chicago Institute of Design, Pomona College, University of California, Berkeley, and the Museum of Modern Art. The series includes contracts, recommendations, syllabi, and correspondence.
Project files document Selz's professional work on specific art projects, panels, and symposiums. There is extensive documentation of Selz's work as project director of Christo's
Membership and association records document Selz's involvement with or membership in various art councils, trustee boards, such as the College Art Association, Art in Chicago Advisory Committee, Bay Area Rapid Transit (B.A.R.T.) Art Council, and the San Francisco Crafts and Folk Art Museum Advisory Board, among others. Materials include meeting minutes, bulletins, correspondence, and memoranda.
Artists' Research Files consist of a wide variety of research materials Selz compiled about artists for lectures, writings, projects, exhibitions, etc. Files vary and may include original and photocopied correspondence, photographic material, resumes, printed and digital material, and writings. There is also 1 sound cassette. Files are found for Bedri Baykam, Max Beckmann, Fletcher Benton, Ciel Bergman, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Bruce Conner, Jean Dubuffet, Lyonel Feininger, Leon Golub, Dimitri Hadzi, Rico Lebrun, Harold Paris, Irving Petlin, among many others.
Exhibition files include catalogs, reviews, clippings, writings, correspondence, and other material documenting exhibitions organized by Selz. Limited materials are found for the MOMA
Personal business records are related to the Mark Rothko estate and Kate Rothko's legal case against Marlborough Gallery, Inc. Also included in this series are Peter Selz's school transcripts, bequests, royalty statements, house designs, and other material.
Printed materials include clippings, prints of articles written by Peter Selz, exhibition announcements and invitations, and photocopies of artwork images.
There are nine disbound scrapbooks dating from the 1940s up through 2012 containing clippings, exhibition announcements, and photographs of art events, Selz, and artists. This series also includes materials from the 2018 addition that may have previously been compiled in binders.
This series contains correspondence with friends, colleagues, artists, museums, and galleries. Additional correspondence is found in writings, professional files, project files, membership and association files, artists' research files, exhibition files, and personal business records.
The bulk of the correspondence is arranged alphabetically by name of artist, organization, museum, gallery, and an occasional subject. There are eight files of chronological correspondence representing Selz's original filing order.
This series is further arranged as 2 subseries.
This subseries includes correspondence with artists, curators, art dealers, museums, universities, and galleries regarding a variety of topics, including upcoming exhibitions and publications. Notable correspondents include Pol Bury, Alexander Calder, Gordon Onslow Ford, Alberto Giacometti, Morris Graves, Dimitri Hadzi, Jacques Lipchitz, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Jean Tinguely, and many others.
Alphabetical files, for the most part, represent general correspondence arranged by Selz. The correspondence relates to additional correspondence found in other series. Letters from unidentified correspondents, due to illegibility or the absence of a surname, are grouped together in a folder next to the end of the series. The last folder in the subseries consists of photocopies of letters from artists.
Folder includes correspondence related to a series of lectures at the Shaanxi Association of Artists and the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in China.
O'Keeffe, Georgia
Reinhardt, Ad
Sabarsky, Serge
This file also includes an essay by Paul Karlstrom and the transcript of an interview with Peter Selz conducted by Susan Landauer in 2006.
Eight files of chronological correspondence with museum curators, art organizations, and publishers such as the University of California Press.
Writings include typescript drafts of books, articles, essays, and lectures by Selz, along with writings by others. Also found are publication and research related materials and correspondence.
This series is arranged as 3 subseries.
This series is comprised of typescript drafts, correspondence, publishing contracts, research files, image rights and reproduction requests, financial material, and reader feedback, all related to books written or co-authored by Peter Selz. The titles include
This subseries is arranged alphabetically by title. Some books have folder groupings that are arranged by document type. Most of the book drafts are not numbered and are not in a specific order. The exception is
Photocopies of Eduardo Chillida and other people at various events.
Oversized material house in OV 32.
Includes a mixture of photocopies and originals of correspondence.
This subseries consists primarily of drafts of articles, essays, and lectures by Peter Selz.
Researchers should note that writings that appear in notes or draft form in this subseries may be related to materials found in other parts of the collection.
This subseries is arranged chronologically. Undated writings appear at the end of the subseries in alphabetical order.
Includes typescript drafts from a folder titled "Lectures - Various."
This file includes drafts of essays and lectures including "The Beginnings of Abstract Painting," "Hans Hofmann," "Beckmann: The Final Year," and "Art in a Turbulent Era: German Expressionism From Kirchner to Kiefer."
Also included is Newsletter no. 3 from the New Art Association, 1970 September.
Also included in this file is an agreement with the University of California Press for the paperback edition of
This file also contains a course syllabus and printouts of powerpoint slides.
Pages in this file appear out of order and may be incomplete.
Found here are files relating to Peter Selz's professional appointments at various universities and museums. Included within are materials related to his faculty and curatorial appointments at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Museum of Modern Art, Pomona College, and the University of California, Berkeley. Files consist of teaching contracts, recommendations for students and colleagues, course syllabuses, and correspondence negotiating salary and promotions.
Includes syllabus and student papers for course, "Peter Selz, His Collection: Spiritual Dimensions in Modernism."
Found here are files for various art projects, panels, symposiums, and conservation plans that were organized by Selz or in which he participated. There are extensive files for the Berkeley Art Project which involved a competition for a sculpture to memorialize the Free Speech Movement, Christo's
This series is organized in rough alphabetical order by project title. Some files are further arranged by document type within each project file.
Includes a draft copy of the lecture "The Nazi Concept of Total Architecture."
Includes photographs of the installation process and setup as well as preliminary drawings envisioning how the project will look.
Oversized material housed in OV 33.
Membership and association records document Selz's involvement with or membership in various art councils, trustee boards, such as the College Art Association, Art in Chicago Advisory Committee, Bay Area Rapid Transit (B.A.R.T.) Art Council, and the San Francisco Crafts and Folk Art Museum Advisory Board, among others. Materials include meeting minutes, bulletins, correspondence, and memoranda.
This series is arranged alphabetically.
Files contain material related to the Berkeley Art Museum, previously the University Art Museum, Berkeley, as well as the Pacific Film Archive. Correspondence and printed material make up the bulk of the material, but reports, proposals, memoranda, and other materials are also included.
Found here are research files compiled and organized by Peter Selz about artists. Files may include original and photocopied correspondence, photographs, negatives, slides, articles, clippings, artist statements, resumes, and writings. Artists include Bedri Baykam, Max Beckmann, Fletcher Benton, Ciel Bergman, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Bruce Conner, Jean Dubuffet, Lyonel Feininger, Leon Golub, Dimitri Hadzi, Tobi Kahn, Christopher Lane, Rico Lebrun, Harold Paris, Irving Petlin, and many others. There is 1 sound cassette. Some of teh materials are in digital format.
Oversized material housed in OV 34.
Correspondence between Peter Selz and Leon Golub.
Correspondence between Selz and others about exhibitions and books on Leon Golub.
Oversized material housed in OV 35.
Oversized photograph housed in OV 34.
Exhibition files are found for numerous exhibitions organized by Selz, or to which he contributed. Files may include exhibition catalogs, reviews, clippings, writings, correspondence, digital and other material. Files are found for
Exhibitions are arranged by title in chronological order, and further by document type if needed.
Kinetic Sculpture Exhibition (1966)
Includes black and white photographs of the artist and some art inside a studio.
Peter Selz gave a lecture, "Emigré Artists at Mills College."
The bulk of the personal business records are related to the "Matter of Rothko," Kate Rothko's legal case against Marlborough Gallery, Inc. Also included in this series are assorted personal documents such as Peter Selz's school transcripts; designs for his Regal Street home in California; correspondence and photocopies related to Freedom of Information-Privacy Act requests for FBI files; bequests; royalty statements; estate papers for a relative; charitable donations; material related to the purchase and donation of artwork; and a selected bibliography and exhibition history.
Oversized material housed in OV 36.
Printed materials include copies of articles written by Peter Selz, images of artwork, news clippings, exhibition announcements and invitations, and miscellaneous materials. This series also includes a DVD.
Scrapbooks consists of 9 disbound binders which date from the late 1940s up through 2012. The binders contain newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements, and photographs of events at galleries and museums. There are numerous photographs of Selz and various artists. The titles in quotation marks were taken from the original labels on the binders. Also included are materials received in 2018, which may have been removed from binders prior to processing. This material includes clippings, exhibition announcements, correspondence, and photographs.
The binders are arranged chronologically.
Loose materials including photographs and cards tucked into binder sleeve.