Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Miriam Beerman Papers, circa 1930-2006, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.beermiri
Creators:
Beerman, Miriam
Dates:
circa 1930-2006
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2.3 Linear feet
2.34 Gigabytes
Repository:
The papers of printmaker and painter Miriam Beerman measure 2.3 linear feet and 2.34 GB and date from circa 1930 to 2006. Found are scattered biographical materials including artwork and a video recording, correspondence, writings including digitial video recordings, and printed material.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of printmaker and painter Miriam Beerman measure 2.3 linear feet and 2.34 GB and date from circa 1930 to 2006. Found are scattered biographical materials including artwork and a video recording, correspondence, writings including digitial video recordings, and printed material.
Biographical materials include Beerman's artist statements and curriculum vitae, scattered personal business records, artworks, and a video recording titled Miriam Beerman: Drawings, Prints, Collage.
Correspondence includes professional and personal letters including Beerman's letters to her parents when she was a student in Paris, France.
Writings by Beerman include two digital video recordings of artist books: Three Sentences Beginning with the Letter S [featuring poems by Halvard Johnson and others], 2006, and Washing the Corpse [poem by Rainer Maria Rilke], 2006, narrated by Beerman.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 4 series.
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1930-2006 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 1, 3)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1945-2005 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
  • Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1949-2006 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2, 2.34 GB; ER01-ER02)
  • Series 4: Printed Material, 1956-2005 (0.5 linear feet; Box 2)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Miriam Beerman (1923- ) is a painter and printmaker in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.
Beerman was born in Providence, Rhode Island and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. She continued her studies with Yasuo Kuniyoshi at the Art Students League and with Adja Yunkers at the New School for Social Research.
In 1972, Beerman's exhibition The Enduring Beast, based on a book of poems that she edited and illustrated, was the first one-woman show ever presented by the Brooklyn Museum. Since that time Beerman has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions over the last 50 years and is represented in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Administration

Author
Jayna M. Josefson
Sponsor
Processing of this collection received federal support from the Collections Care Initiative Fund, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the National Collections Program
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Miriam Beerman donated her papers in several installments from 2005 to 2009. Additional materials were donated by Beerman's son, William Jaffe in 2015.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2021. Born-digital material was processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
Existence and Location of Copies
The video recording has been digitized for research access and is available at Archives of American Art offices.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
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 born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
All works of art and images of works of art: The donor retains all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.
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
Miriam Beerman papers, circa 1930-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds an interview of Miriam Beerman conducted 2009 December 28, by Anne Louise (Bayly) Berman, at Beerman's home, in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- New Jersey Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printmakers -- New Jersey 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
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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