The collection is arranged as 5 series.
William Baziotes (1912-1963) was an abstract expressionist painter in New York City. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Baziotes moved to New York City in 1933, where he studied painting at the National Academy of Design, 1933-1936. He participated on the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project as a teacher, 1936-1938, and painted for the Easel Painting Project, 1938-1940.
In 1941 he married Ethel Copstein. He had his first one-man show at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery in 1944. The Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, Inc. held a solo show for Baziotes in 1946 and continued to exhibit his works until 1958.
Baziotes taught at Subjects of the Artist, 1948; the Brooklyn Museum Art School and New York University, 1949-1952; the People's Art Center at the Museum of Modern Art, 1950-1952; and Hunter College, 1952-1962. Baziotes died in 1963.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
The majority of this collection is available on 35 mm microfilm reels N70-21, N70-24, 347, and 4984-4985 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 interview with Harry and Constance Baziotes was digitized for research access and is available at Archives of American Art offices.
The William and Ethel Baziotes papers were donated by Ethel Baziotes, widow of William Baziotes, in several installments from 1969 to 1993.
William and Ethel Baziotes papers, circa 1900-1992, bulk 1935-1980. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection received a preliminary level of arrangement after donation. Multiple accessions were merged, processed, and a finding aid was prepared by Rihoko Ueno in 2018.
The papers of New York City abstract expressionist painter William Baziotes and his wife Ethel measure 6.3 linear feet and date from circa 1900-1992, bulk 1935-1980. The collection includes William Baziotes biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, and photographs. The papers of Ethel Baziotes consists of correspondence mostly dated after her husband's death regarding exhibitions of his work, along with limited biographical material and writings.
Biographical material on William Baziotes consists of a bibliography, teaching files, a sound recording of an interview, membership cards, sales records, a sketchbook, and other miscellaneous material. There is one folder regarding Ethel Baziotes containing a few certificates and her college diploma.
Correspondence consists of letters to William and Ethel Baziotes. Notable correspondents include Lawrence Alloway, Alfred Barr, Andre Breton, Clement Greenberg, Peggy Guggenheim, David Hare, Jean Helion, Maria and Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, and others. There are also letters from the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery regarding the sales of William Baziotes's artwork and letters written by William Baziotes to his brother Christos. Letters to Ethel Baziotes include condolence letters as well as letters from museum and galleries regarding exhibitions of her husband's work.
Writings include William Baziotes's notes on various subjects, a list of book titles, and a transcript for a speech. Writings by others include essays about William Baziotes and other subjects.
Printed materials consist of clippings, announcements, magazines, and many exhibition catalogs, mostly on group exhibitions which included artwork by William Baziotes.
Photographs are of William Baziotes, Ethel Baziotes, family and friends, their residence, and his artwork. There are a also photographs of Meir Bernstein, Samuel Kootz, Paul Bodin, Maria Motherwell, Pablo and Maya Picasso, Rudi Blesh, Nathan Halper, Ethel Schwabacher, Clyfford Still, and others.
This series includes biographical material on William Baziotes such as a bibliography, a sound cassette of an interview with Harry Baziotes discussing William Baziotes, a list of sales records and a ledger, a sketchbook, membership cards, teaching files from Hunter College, and other miscellaneous material. Also found is a memorial exhibition file that contains clippings, correspondence, announcements, list of artworks, and photographs. One folder regarding Ethel Baziotes contains a few certificates and her college diploma.
Correspondence mostly consists of letters to William Baziotes, with a limited number of outgoing letters. Letters to Baziotes are from Lawrence Alloway, Alfred Barr, Andre Breton, Clement Greenberg, Peggy Guggenheim, David Hare, Jean Helion, Maria and Robert Motherwell, Charles Peterson, Jackson Pollock, and others. Other notable correspondents in this series include John Canaday, John (Giovanni) Castano, Gerome Kamrowski, Gordon Onslow-Ford, Gertrud Schumm, Ethel Schwabacher, and Byron Vazakas. It should be noted that there are usually only one or two letters from most of the correspondents. There are also numerous letters from the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery regarding the sales of his artwork.
Especially noteworthy are William Baziotes's letters to his brother Christos. Baziotes encourages Christos and another brother Harry in their art, and discusses employment on the WPA Easel Project, the New York art scene, teaching at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and at New York University, his relationships with Paul Bodin, Clement Greenberg, Samuel Kootz, Francis Lee, Joan Miro, and Robert Motherwell.
Also included in this series are condolence letters to Ethel Baziotes upon the death of her husband. There are letters to Ethel from friends and artists, as well as museums and galleries regarding retrospective exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Newport Harbor Museum.
Letters to William Baziotes are at the beginning of the series, followed by letters from William Baziotes, letters to William and Ethel Baziotes, condolence letters to Ethel Baziotes, and finally letters to Ethel Baziotes. The letters are mostly arranged chronologically within each grouping.
Includes 3 letters from William Baziotes
Writings include William Baziotes's notes on various subjects, a list of book titles which interested him, and a transcript for a speech. Writings by others include essays about William Baziotes and other subjects. There is one folder of writings by Ethel Baziotes, mostly about her husband. The writings in this series are by William Baziotes unless otherwise noted.
Printed materials consist of clippings, announcements, magazines, and many exhibition catalogs, mostly on group exhibitions which included artwork by William Baziotes. Most of the material in this series is either about William Baziotes, includes an article about him, or at least mentions his artwork and includes an image. Material that is not about Baziotes is usually noted in the folder title.
Photographs are of William Baziotes, Ethel Baziotes, family and friends, his residence, and his artwork. There are a few photographs of Meir Bernstein, Sam Kootz, Paul Bodin, Michel Licht, Maria Motherwell, Pablo and Maya Picasso, Orlando Zulueta, Rudi Blesh, Nathan Halper, Harriet Janis, Ethel Schwabacher, Maurice Sievan, Clyfford Still, and others. The bulk of the material in the series consists of photographs, but there are also a few slides and negatives.