Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Martin H. Bush Papers, 1948-2012, bulk 1970- 2008, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.bushmart
Creators:
Bush, Martin H.
Dates:
1948-2012
bulk 1970-2008
Languages:
Most of the collection is in
English
; some printed material is in
German
.
Physical Description:
5.1 Linear feet
0.705 Gigabytes
Repository:
The papers of Martin H. Bush measure 5.1 linear feet and 0.705 GB and date from 1948-2012, with the bulk of the material dating from 1970-2008. The collection documents Bush's career as an art historian, educator, consultant, and gallery director through biographical material, correspondence, interviews, subject files, a scrapbook, and printed and digital material. There is an unprocessed addition to this collection that includes one VHS tape, "American Art Forum: Martin Bush, October 27, 1988."

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of Martin H. Bush measure 5.1 linear feet and 0.705 GB and date from 1948-2012, with the bulk of the material dating from 1970-2008. The collection documents Bush's career as an art historian, educator, consultant, and gallery director through biographical material, correspondence, interviews, subject files, a scrapbook, and printed and digital material. There is an unprocessed addition to this collection that includes one VHS tape, "American Art Forum: Martin Bush, October 27, 1988."
Biographical material includes curriculum vitae, a certificate of discharge from the United States Army Reserve, and a lifetime membership certificate from the Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art. Most of the correspondence is personal in nature and consists of letters between Bush and his colleagues at Wichita State University and the Ulrich Museum of Art, friends, and family members. Martin H. Bush's interviews on videocassette with artists and other figures in the art world include Benny Andrews, Duane Hanson, Ivan Karp, Alice Neel, Louise Nevelson, and Arnold Newman.
Subject files primarily document Martin H. Bush's activities as an art dealer and consultant and contain auction house sales and files on individual artists, including Richard Pousette-Dart, Robert Goodnough, Ernest Trova, and Isaac Witkin. Source files include illustrated letters by John Von Wicht and a folder on Samuel Beckett's correspondence with Bush that includes three holograph letters and one typescript letter from Beckett. A small amount of material references Bush's tenure as director of the ACA Gallery. Photographic and digital materials are also included.
A scrapbook contains news clippings and excerpts of newsletters covering Bush's career at Wichita State University. Printed material includes books, an educational brochure, exhibition catalogs, and a memorial booklet.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1956-2008 (Box1, OV 5; 0.2 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1984-2012 (Box 1; 0.8 linear ft.)
  • Series 3: Interviews, circa 1970-1994 (Boxes 1-2; 1 linear ft.)
  • Series 4: Subject Files, 1963-2012 (Boxes 2-4; 2 linear ft., ER01; 0.705 GB)
  • Series 5: Scrapbook, 1971-2000 (Box 4; 1 folder)
  • Series 6: Printed Material, 1948, 1964-circa 2000 (Box 4, 0.25 linear ft.)
  • Series 7: Unprocessed addition, 1988 (Box 4)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Martin H. Bush is an art historian, educator, consultant, and gallery director.
Bush received a Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at Albany in 1958. From 1963-1965, he taught at Syracuse University, where he earned his Ph.D in History in 1966. Bush also served as the University's Assistant Dean for Academic Resources from 1965-1970. During this time, Martin H. Bush was also a consultant to the New York State Education Department.
From 1970-1974, Martin H. Bush was the Vice President of Academic Resource Development at Wichita State University, a position created for him by the University's President, Clark Ahlberg. In this post, Bush established a special collections department at Ablah Library and the Ulrich Museum of Art. Bush was also a consultant to several major corporations in Wichita, including Fourth Financial Corporation, Range Oil Company, and American Diversified Real Estate. In 1974, in recognition of Bush's contribution to the museum, the University opened the Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection. Bush has been involved in the acquisition of major pieces of outdoor sculpture from such well-known artists as Chaim Gross, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Juan MirĂ³, Louise Nevelson, and George Rickey. In 1989, Bush moved to New York City, where he continued his work as an art consultant. From 1992-1993, he was President of the ACA Gallery.
Martin H. Bush has published many books and articles on artists as well as contributed essays for exhibition catalogs. In the 1970s-1980s, Bush interviewed major artists for public television and radio programs in Wichita, among them Benny Andrews, Isabel Bishop, Richard Pousette-Dart, and Theodoros Stamos. Martin H. Bush's honors and awards include the George S. Patton Medal by the government of Luxembourg for his essay, "Ben Shahn: The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti," 1969; "Outstanding Educator" by the Kansas Art Education Association, 1979; and the Wichita Arts Council Award, 1984.

Administration

Author
Joy Goodwin
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated in 2013 by Martin H. Bush. An unprocessed addition to the collection was donated by Lisa Bush Hankin in 2016.
Processing Information
This collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared in 2014 by Joy Goodwin. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2021 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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
Martin H. Bush papers, 1948-2012, bulk 1970-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art -- Study and teaching Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gallery directors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Consultants Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wichita State University -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
ACA Galleries Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trova, Ernest T., 1927- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pousette-Dart, Richard, 1916-1992 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Witkin, Isaac Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Von Wicht, John, 1888-1970 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Beckett, Samuel, 1906-1989 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Andrews, Benny, 1930-2006 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hanson, Duane Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Goodnough, Robert, 1917- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Neel, Alice, 1900-1984 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Karp, Ivan C., 1926-2012 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newman, Arnold, 1918-2006 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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