The collection is open for research. Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of artist and educator Jules Olitski measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1950-2012. The collection sheds light on Olitski's career through writing files that consist of drafts, edits, and some correspondence; printed material such as newspaper clippings and articles, exhibition material, and published writings; portrait photographs of the artist; and sound and video recordings from interviews and lectures.
The majority of the collection consists of printed material that provides comprehensive coverage of Olitski's career including announcements, catalogs, and newspaper clippings from Olitski's exhibitions at galleries and museums. Sound and video recordings are of interviews with Olitski related to exhibitions of his work and of lectures given by Olitski at Brown University, the University of Miami, and the National Museum of American History, and other locations. The bulk of these recordings date from the 1990s.
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Jules Olitski (1922-2007) was a painter, sculptor, and educator in New York, New York, who established himself as one of the leaders of the abstract expressionist movement in the United States during the 1950s-1960s.
Olitski was born in the Ukraine, and moved to New York in 1923 after his father, a commissar, was executed. By 1935, Olitski had developed an interest in art and was awarded a scholarship at the Pratt Institute where he began taking classes in 1939. Soon after he attended the National Academy of Design until 1942 when he enlisted in the United States Army.
In 1949 Olitski studied sculpture with Ossip Zadkine in the Zadkine School of Sculpture in France, and the next year attended the Academia de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. He then moved back to the United States for his higher education, earning a master's degree from New York University. Olitski became an associate professor of art at the State University of New York, New Paltz in 1954. He held several more teaching positions throughout the 1950s and 1960s in New York and Vermont.
From the 1970s-2000s Olitski received honorary degrees from Keen State College, Hartford Art School, and Southern New Hampshire University, and held solo shows at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Knoedler Contemporary Art in New York, La Musee de Valence in France, and the Drabinsky Friedland Gallery in Toronto. He also participated in several major group exhibitions around the world including
The collection was donated in 2012 and 2013 by the Olitski Family Estate via Lauren Olitski Poster, director of the estate and Olitsky's daughter.
This collection is arranged as four series.
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo in 2021.
Jules Olitski papers, 1950-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.
Included are drafts of several articles and exhibition catalog essays written about Olitski throughout his career. Some of the folders may contain edits and comments made by Olitski and the authors, printed material, and scant correspondence.
Files are arranged chronologically, with undated material at the end of the series.
Articles and clippings include writings and reviews regarding Olitski, his shows, his artwork, the abstract expressionist art scene that Olitski was active in, and more by critics John Canaday, Irving Sandler, Hilton Kramer, and others. Also found here are advertisements for Olitski's shows and excerpts about Olitski from books. Exhibition material includes announcements, invitations, catalogs, and some posters from group and solo shows. Published writings by Olitski consist of writings on art, his own career, and poetry. The series also includes ephemeral materials related to Olitski's lectures and other events, bulletins and newsletters, and reproductions of Olitski's art.
The series consists of portrait snapshots taken of Olitski throughout his career and photographs of the artist at an awards dinner.
Found here are sound and video recordings from various interviews, lectures, and talks given by Olitski at universities, museums, and on radio. Of particular note is a video recording from Olitski's dedication of his work, "Elyon," at the Beth Tzedec Congregation Synagogue in 1990.
Series is arranged chronologically.