A Finding Aid to the Jake Berthot Papers, circa 1958-1994, bulk 1970-1992, in the Archives of American Art

Scope and Contents

The papers of Jake Berthot measure 3.9 linear feet and date from 1958-1994, with bulk dates from 1970-1992. The papers document Berthot's career as a painter and art professor through correspondence, writings, personal business files, printed material, photographic material and artwork. The correspondence series comprises a significant portion of the collection, documenting personal and professional-- including educational-- activities and relationships Berthot had. The writing series contains writings by Berthot and others. Writings by Berthot include 3 notebooks; essays on art and creative writing; gallery layout plan notes and miscellaneous notes including an annotated calender page. Writings by others include typescript essays on Berthot and creative writing, namely poetry. Also found are personal business records which contain an exhibition price list, artwork shipping invoices and miscellaneous personal receipts including travel reciepts and ticket stubs. The printed material series extensively documents Berthot's life and career as an artists through exhibition catalogs, flyers and announcements, news and magazine article clippings and personal ephemera such as basketball cards, travel attraction brochures and retail catalogs. Also found are a number of exhibition flyers and announcements sent to Berthot from other artists. Photographic material contains photographs of Berthot, his friends and family as well as photographs and slides of images of Berthot's and other artists' works of art. The Artwork series includes drawings, small paintings, and other works of art created by Berthot, as well as works created by other artists, including Sam Messer; former students; and Berthot's family.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged as six series

Biographical / Historical

Jake Berthot (1939-2014) was an abstract painter and art professor from New York. Born in Niagra Falls, NY, Berthot grew up in Clearfield, Pennsylvania before moving to New York City after high school and enrolling at Pratt Institute in 1960. In 1961 he began teaching classes at Pratt which marked the beginning of his career as an art professor. Berthot subsequently taught classes at Cooper Union (1974–81), Yale University (1982-92), the University of Pennsylvania (1993) and the School of Visual Arts (1994 -2013).

Throughout his career as an artist Berthot's work frequently appeared in solo and group exhibitions in both commercial and public galleries. His painting were included in the Whitney Museum of American Art's Annual in 1969 and again in 1973; The Corcoran Biennial in 1975; the Venice Biennale, 1976; New Painting – New York at the Hayward Gallery in London in 1979; American Art: 1950 to the Present at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1979; New Works on Paper in 1981 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1984, among other exhibitions. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1981 and a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1983.

His work is held in multiple collections including those of The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery, The Phillips Collection, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum among many more.