Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Dotty Attie papers, circa 1950s-2014, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.attidott
Creators:
Attie, Dotty, 1938-
Dates:
circa 1950s-2014
Languages:
Collection is in English
Physical Description:
2.5 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of New York City painter and printmaker Dotty Attie measure 2.5 linear feet and date from circa 1950s to 2014. Her papers include scattered biographical material, professional files, notes, personal business records, photographs, artwork, and 12 sketchbooks.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of New York City painter and printmaker Dotty Attie measure 2.5 linear feet and date from circa 1950s to 2014. Her papers include scattered biographical material, professional files, notes, personal business records, photographs, artwork, and 12 sketchbooks.
Scattered biographical materials include identification cards, an address book, artist statements and biographies, a few personal letters, and interviews.
Professional files document exhibitions, residencies, and fellowships. Contents of files vary and may include letters and invitations, letters from colleagues and admirers of her work, inventory lists, interviews, loan agreements, travel itineraries, printed materials, photographs, and miscellany. Notes include pages from a notebook that includes both technical instruction and personal notes. There is written text that Attie wrote to be incorporated into her artwork. One file of personal business records contains loan agreements, shipping receipts, and membership fees.
Photographs are of Attie, artwork, and friends and family. Photographs of artwork include exhibition views, single works, and collages. Photographs of Attie include contact sheets and prints of the artist throughout her life, including some copy prints of Attie as a child. Some images of Attie are self-portraits. Photographs of family and friends include her husband, children, A.I.R. Gallery members, and copy prints of relatives.
Artwork and sketchbooks include artists' books, sketches on tracing paper, and 12 sketchbooks.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 6 series
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1974-circa 2006 (0.1 linear foot; Box 1)
  • Series 2: Professional Files, circa 1970s-2014 (.9 linear feet; Box 1)
  • Series 3: Notes, circa 1970s-1990s (.2 linear feet; Box 2)
  • Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1982-2013 (.1 linear foot; Box 2)
  • Series 5: Photographs, circa 1960s-1990s (.3 linear feet; Box 2-3)
  • Series 6: Artwork and Sketchbooks, circa 1950s-1970s (.7 linear feet; Box 2-3)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Dotty Attie, née Laibow (1938- ), is an American painter and printmaker based in New York City who has been exhibiting in museums and galleries since the 1960s. As a co-founder of Artists in Residence (A.I.R.) Gallery, one of the first all-female cooperative galleries in the United States, Attie has had a considerable impact on the art world prejudices against women artists.
Born in Pennsauken, New Jersey, Attie pursued her interest in art at the Philadelphia College of Art, and received her BFA in 1959. In 1962, she married the photographer David Attie and they had two children. Throughout the 1960s, Attie continued her education through fellowships at the Brooklyn Museum of Art School and the Art Students League.
In 1972, Attie and five other women founded A.I.R. Gallery, setting the example of the women's cooperative gallery that would be followed across the country. Attie was a member of A.I.R. Gallery until 1988 and during that time exhibited her own work, curated and co-curated several exhibitions of women artists, organized panels on subjects of interest to women artists, and worked to make the art world more inclusive to women.
Attie gained national and international recognition through her involvement with A.I.R. Gallery and has received numerous fellowships, grants, residencies, as well as exhibitions in galleries and museums nationally and internationally. Attie has also served as faculty at the Cooper Union and Rhode Island School of Design.

Administration

Author
Hilary Price
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated in 2015 by Dotty Attie.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Hilary Price in 2015.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Terms of Use
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 Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Preferred Citation
Dotty Attie papers, circa 1950s-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Artist in Residence (A.I.R.) Gallery records.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women printmakers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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