Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm77046938
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of William Zorach, artist, were given to the Library of Congress between 1962 and 1965 by Zorach. Additional materials were given by his son, Tessim Zorach, between 1967 and 1978 and in 1988.
The papers of William Zorach were arranged and described in 1963. Material received in 1965 and 1967 was incorporated into the collection in 1968. Further additions and revisions were made in 1978 and in 2010.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Motion pictures and tapes have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Photographs and slides have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the William Zorach Papers.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of William Zorach is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of William Zorach are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, William Zorach Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of William Zorach (1889-1967) span the years 1822-1974, with the bulk of the material falling between 1930 and 1968. The original portion of the collection consists of correspondence, speeches, articles, book manuscripts, sketches, printed matter, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous material organized in six series: Family Correspondence; General Correspondence; Speech, Article, and Book File; Printed Matter; Miscellany, and Oversize. Addition I contains similar material arranged in five series: Family Correspondence, General Correspondence, Subject File, Speeches and Writings File, and Miscellany. Addition II consists of photocopies of correspondence and related documents.
The General Correspondence in the main portion deals largely with the creation, production, and sale of works of art by William Zorach and his fellow artists. Zorach worked closely with the architects of the buildings for which he was commissioned to execute sculpture. He corresponded with Ellerbe and Company about a Mayo Clinic project; with Murphy & Mackey about his sculpture “The Runner” for the St. Louis Kiener Memorial Foundation; and with Kenneth Franzheim about the Second National Bank Building in Houston.
Zorach also served as an instructor for the Art Students League where he conducted numerous courses in sculpture; and notes for speeches and lectures delivered before both professional and general audiences are contained in the Speech, Article, and Book File series. Additional notes in the same series give Zorach’s views concerning subjects such as abstract art, aesthetics, and art instruction for children.
Edith Gregor Halpert of the Downtown Gallery in New York was Zorach’s agent, and there is considerable business and personal correspondence between them. Many bills, receipts, and purchase slips pertaining to his works are retained in the collection.
In 1956, Zorach recorded his memoirs for the Columbia University Oral History Program. Typewritten transcripts of his dictated recollections are contained in the main body of these papers and in the Addition. The American Artists Group published a monograph on Zorach’s life and work, and copies of the material for this book are in the collection, as are notes for his books.
Principal correspondents in the main portion of the collection, in addition to those named above, include Sir Jacob Epstein, Winslow Eaves, Max Weber, and Jerry Bywaters of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Lloyd Goodrich of the Whitney Museum of Art, Lamar Dodd of the Department of Art at the University of Georgia, and the Rockefeller family. There is also substantial family correspondence in the main portion.
Although he maintained a studio-home in Brooklyn, N. Y., Zorach resided at Robinhood, a farm near Bath, Maine. Two letters addressed to James Riggs, a nineteenth-century owner of the estate, are included in the papers.
Addition I of the Zorach Papers consists of items received by the Library in 1968-1978. It includes correspondence, drafts of poems and other writings, legal and financial records, sketches, printed matter, and miscellaneous material. The papers in this part are dated 1918 to 1974, but are concentrated in the period, 1959-1968.
Many of the papers in the Addition pertain to the years immediately before and after William Zorach’s death in 1966 and provide documentation of legal and financial problems encountered by Zorach’s estate. Correspondence of William and Marguerite Zorach with friends, students, organizations, and admirers is contained in the General Correspondence and is largely personal in nature. Correspondence with Edith Halpert is also in this series. Material relating to the bitter legal dispute between Halpert and the Zorach estate is located in the Subject File. Discussion on the nature of art in general and of Zorach’s sculptures in particular, advice to inquiring artists and collectors, and direction provided to various art associations seeking assistance are some of the more important topics covered in the correspondence series.
Art was the cement of the Zorach’s life together as demonstrated in the title of William Zorach’s autobiography,
William Zorach’s contacts with the art world as represented by sales, exhibitions, and castings of his works are gathered in the business correspondence folders in the Subject File series. Correspondence concerning gallery exhibits of works by Marguerite Zorach, a noted regional New England artist, is also concentrated in these folders.
Addition II spans the years 1955-1962. It consists of photocopies of letters with related legal documents from Zorach to his niece, Rosemary Lewis, concerning his citizenship, and photocopies of correspondence with Alfred Hamilton Barr and related documents concerning accusations against him of Communist associations.
This collection is arranged in twelve series:
Letters sent and received by Zorach and his family.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters sent and received.
Arranged alphabetically and therein chronologically.
Speeches, lectures, articles, poems, miscellaneous notes, and memoirs.
Arranged by type of material.
Newspaper clippings, bulletins, announcements, brochures, and magazines.
Arranged by type of material.
Financial papers, telephone books, notebooks, citations and awards, invitations, sketches and blueprints, scrapbook, and mailing lists.
Arranged by type of material.
Letters sent and received between family members, telegrams, and postcards.
Arranged by correspondents and therein chronologically.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, telegrams, postcards, and miscellaneous attachments.
Arranged chronologically.
Correspondence, financial and legal material, business records, memoranda, and art sketches and drawings.
Arranged alphabetically by subject and therein chronologically.
Handwritten and typewritten drafts, transcripts, correspondence, legal documents, poems, and notes relating to speeches, books and miscellaneous writings.
Arranged by type of material and therein chronologically.
Diaries, printed matter, cards, invitations, correspondence, condolences, documents, notes, and writings.
Arranged alphabetically by topic.
Photocopies of letters from Zorach to his niece and between Zorach and Alfred H. Barr and related related documents.
Arranged by type of material.
Sketches and blueprints.
Arranged and described according to the series, folder, and container from which the items were removed.