This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
The papers of artist and educator Ben Cunningham measure 2.3 linear feet and date from 1904 to 1989 with the bulk of the material dating from 1930 to 1975. The collection documents his career through professional and personal papers, writings, printed materials, artwork, and photographic materials.
Personal and professional papers include resumes, biographical summaries, audiovisual recordings of two interviews with Cunningham, papers related to the damage of
Portions of the collection are available on 35mm microfilm reel 663 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Syracuse University Libraries also holds papers of Ben Cunningham.
Ben Cunningham (1904-1975) was an artist and educator who worked in San Francisco and New York. He was from Nevada and initially attended the University of Nevada to study architecture. After a year, he moved to California to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. His first one-man show was at the Beaux Arts Gallery in San Francisco in 1931, and for the next decade exhibited in solo and group shows. While in San Francisco, Cunningham also worked as a muralist and was a supervisor of mural paintings under the Federal Art Project. Cunningham moved to New York City in 1944 where he continued his work as an artist, and began teaching at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, and the Art Students' League of New York. He conducted the summer workshop in advanced painting at the University of Minnesota at Duluth. His artwork can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Forth Worth Art Museum, the Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolkata, India, and private collections.
Donated 1972-1989 by the estate of Patsy and Ben Cunningham.
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo in 2023
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
Ben Cunningham papers, 1904-1989, bulk 1930-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The Ben Cunningham papers are arranged as five series:
Found here are the artist's resumes, biographical summaries, and several passports; audiovisual recordings of two interviews with Cunningham, one of which includes an edited transcript; papers concerning damage to
Writings include an illustated lecture on color given by Cunningham at the Art Students' League; drafts about color technique; mixed writings and notes by Cunningham on color, the life of an artist, feelings, subject matter in paintings, his artwork, and more; notes by Patsy on Ben's life, things he once said, his artwork, and bibliographic information. This series also includes writings by others about Cunningham, one draft of a pamphlet from the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts that incorporated Cunningham's ideas and philosophies, and a copy of "The Revision of Vision" by S. I. Hayakawa.
Clippings cover Cunningham's career, exhibitions, other art related topics, the death of Jean Varda; an invitation to Varda's funeral ceremony is also present. Exhibition materials consist of catalogs, announcements, posters, and invitiations for Cunningham's group and solo shows. Scrapbooks contain mostly clippings, exhibition ephemera, and photographs of artwork and exhibition installations. Also present are reproductions of Cunningham's work used by others, ephemera from art events, and a copy of
Found here are glass slides that Ben Cunningham used to create designs, two sketches, one drawing, and a woodcut by Cunningham. Studies include those for
Photographic matrials consist of family photos, pictures taken at exhibitions and events, images of the artist, and several snapshots of his studio. The series also includes photographs, slides, and transparencies of Cunningham's artwork; and one file of artwork made by his students at Cooper Union.