Archives of American Art

John Button papers

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.buttjohn
Creators:
Button, John, 1929-1982
Dates:
1964-2004
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.2 Linear feet
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Correspondence, writings, photographs, and printed material regarding painter John Button.
Scope and Contents
Correspondence includes two letters from Fairfield Porter,1974, three letters from Button to Zara Cohan, 1964, and copies of personal and professional letters from Button to businesses, organizations, and friends regarding his artwork, political beliefs, and personal issues, and photocopies of a postcard and six letters from Fairfield Porter. Writings include a typescript poem by Frank O'Hara, a poem by Helen Weaver, a copy of a poem attributed to James Schuyler about Button, and copies of two poems by Katherine Porter.
Scope and Contents
Photographs are of Button, Allen Ginsberg, Alan Ansen, Peter Orlovsky, Bette Davis, Gerald. L. Fabian, Maxine Groffsky, Harry Matthews, Scott Burton, James Schuyler, Jane Freilicher, Hal Fondren, Joe LeSueur, Frank O'Hara, and three photographs of the mural created by John Button and Mario Dubsky at the Gay Activist Alliacne Firehouse, 99 Wooster Street, New York, 1971-1974. Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, reviews, publications by Button and others, among them a book of poems, "If I Dream I Have You, I Have You," written by Richard Howard and illustrated by Button, 1997.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
John Button (1930-1982) was a painter in San Francisco, Calif. and New York, N.Y.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated 2010 by Alvin Novak, longtime friend of Button's, and by John Button via Jaap van Liere, executor.

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.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997 -- Photographs Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
O'Hara, Frank, 1926-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Davis, Bette, 1908-1989 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ansen, Alan Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cohan, Zara Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fondren, Hal Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Orlovsky, Peter, 1933-2010 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Freilicher, Jane, 1924-2014 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fabian, Gerald Langston Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schuyler, James Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
LeSueur, Joe Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Burton, Scott, 1939-1989 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Weaver, Helen, 1932-2021 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890-1980 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Porter, Fairfield Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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