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Archives of American Art
A Finding Aid to the Michèle Cone Papers, 1959-2020, in the Archives of American Art
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.conemich
- Creators:
-
Cone, Michèle C., 1932-
- Dates:
-
1959-2020
- Languages:
-
The collection is in English and French.
- Physical Description:
-
7.3 Linear feet
- Repository:
The Michèle Cone papers measure 7.3 linear feet and date from 1959 to 2020. The collection documents Michèle Cone's professional activities as an art critic, educator, and scholar through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, recorded interviews and interview projects, AICA-USA files, professional files with recorded lectures and discussions, writing projects, curatorial projects, teaching files, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
The Michèle Cone papers, 1959-2020, measure 7.3 linear feet and document Michèle Cone's professional activities as an art critic, educator, and scholar through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, recorded interviews and interview projects, AICA-USA files, professional files with recorded lectures and discussions, writing projects, curatorial projects, teaching files, and photographic materials.
Biographical materials include curriculum vitaes and planning drafts for Cone's website, among other personal materials. Personal and professional correspondence is with arts publications and magazines, museums and galleries, and artists and colleagues, with much written in French. Letters and postcards are from Miguel Cervantes, David Diao, Albert Féraud, Anna Belle Geiger, Francoise Gilot, Grace Glueck, Joseph Nechvatal, Archie Rand, Pierre Restany, Sandy Skoglund, and Maro Gorky and Matthew Spender, among others. Interviews and interview projects include interview transcripts and 28 recordings with artists and colleagues, including Vito Acconci, Leo Castelli, Christo, Robert Gober, Red Grooms, Peter Halley, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Allan McCollum, Cady Noland, Pierre Restany, Richard Rogers, Daniel Spoerri, Haim Steinbach, Ben Vautier, and others.
Michèle Cone's time spent as a member of the board of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA-USA) is represented through AICA-USA files, and professional files document Cone's varied professional activities. Cone attended and presented at conferences; gave lectures at galleries, universities, and other organizations; and organized and participated in panel discussions, roundtables, and symposia. Some were recorded on sound cassette and include Roland Barthes, John Cage, Anne D'Harnoncourt, Michel Foucault, Harold Rosenberg, Philippe Sollers, and others. Critical reviews and articles, book projects, essays, museum catalog contributions, an unfinished memoir project, and other scholarly writing activities are found among writing projects, and curatorial projects document planned and proposed exhibitions. Teaching files primarily document Cone's time instructing at the School of Visual Arts in New York, with some material for NYU, and various slides and snapshots of events and artworks are found with photographic materials. The collection also includes assorted unidentified video recordings and born digital files. Researchers should note that some of Michèle Cone's projects continued to evolve into additional projects, speaking engagements, curatorial endeavors, and writings.
Arrangement
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 10 series.
- Series 1: Biographical Material, 1972-2019 (8 folders; Box 1)
- Series 2: Correspondence, 1965-2020 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)
- Series 3: Interviews and Interview Projects, 1969-2019 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 1, 7-8)
- Series 4: AICA-USA Files, 1989-2009 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
- Series 5: Professional Files, 1974-2013 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 7-8)
- Series 6: Writing Projects, 1959-2019 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 2-5, OV 9)
- Series 7: Curatorial Projects, 1990-2014 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 5-6, OV 10-11)
- Series 8: Teaching Files, 1988-2010 (0.2 linear feet; Box 6)
- Series 9: Photographic Materials, circa 1970-1992 (5 folders; Box 6)
- Series 10: Unidentified Video Recordings and Born Digital Files, circa 1980s-circa 1990s (0.3 linear feet; Box 6)
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Michèle Cone (1932- ) is a French-born art critic and scholar of 20th century art, especially the art of France under Vichy and Nazi occupation. Cone taught at New York's School of Visual Arts from 1980 to 2008 and received her PhD from NYU in 1988. In addition, she received a Chateaubriand Fellowship in the 1980s to conduct research for her PhD in Paris; was the New York editorial coordinator for the Italian magazine Flash Art; and is also a former board member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA-USA).
Cone's publications include three books: The Roots and Routes of Art in the 20th Century (Horizon Press, 1975); Artists under Vichy: A Case of Prejudice and Persecution (Princeton University Press, 1992), which is a revised version of her doctoral thesis, "Art and Politics in France, 1940-1944" (UMI, 1988); and French Modernisms: Perspectives on Art before, during and after Vichy (Cambridge University Press, 2001). In addition, she has published numerous critical reviews; contributed to anthologies and museum catalogs; written essays for various arts publications; planned and led lectures, panel discussions, roundtables, and symposia; conducted interviews with artists for publication, television programs, and oral history projects; and curated exhibitions.
Administration
Author
Anna Rimel
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Michèle Cone papers were donated in 2021 by Michèle Cone.
Existence and Location of Copies
Some of the video and sound recordings in this collection have been copied for research access and are available in the Archives of American Art offices.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Anna Rimel in 2023. Additional finding aid description of the sound recordings was completed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2023.
Using the Collection
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.
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.
Preferred Citation
Michèle Cone papers, 1959-2020. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Related Materials
Related Materials
The Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library also holds the Michèle C. Cone collection of Artists under Vichy.
Keywords
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sound recordings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Interviews | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York | Occupation | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York | Occupation | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Women art critics | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Women art historians | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
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