Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Worden Day Papers, 1935-1986, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.dayword
Creators:
Day, Worden, 1916-1986
Dates:
circa 1935-1992
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3.5 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of sculptor, painter and printmaker Worden Day (1916-1986) measure 3.5 linear feet and date from circa 1935-1992. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographic material, sketchbooks, and audiovisual material. There is a 1.0 linear foot additon, circa 1951-1992, donated in 2020 containing further papers of Worden Day.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of sculptor, painter and printmaker Worden Day (1916-1986) measure 3.5 linear feet and date from circa 1935-1992. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographic material, sketchbooks, and audiovisual material.
Included are biographical material consisting of resumes and an address book. Correspondence is with colleagues, curators, and museum directors including Will Barnet, Carl Zigrosser, May Sarton, Dorothy Dehner, Louise Bourgeois, Sue Fuller, among others. Writings by Day are about sculpture and painting, among them four unpublished manuscripts "Pop Art as an American Cultural Phenomenon," "What is a Print," "The Found Dimension- Aspects in the Development of Modern American Sculpture," and "New Expressions of Woodcut," and reviews for exhibitions written by Day for Art News. Also found in the collection are printed materials; scrapbooks; photographs of Day, her works and photograph albums; and three sketchbooks. Audiovisual material is arranged with biographical material and includes a taped interview on audio cassette with Day and one reel of motion picture film (also available as digital files), "Printmakers," presented by United States Information Service, 1961, showing American printmakers Mauricio Lasansky, Day, Karl Schrag, Seong Moy and Gabor Petredi at work and students in the School of Graphic Arts at the State University of Iowa, founded by Lasansky. Also arranged with biographical material is a file relating to an exhibition on the work of painter Vaclav Vytlacil organized by Day in 1975 at the Montclair Art Museum containing correspondence; letter fragments from Alex Minewski; writings by Vytlacil regarding his career and work with Hans Hofmann; an audio cassette; photographs of Vytlacil, Hofmann teaching in Munich, Ed and Isabell Rupprecht, Ernest Thurn, Betty Foster, and Alice Fish at the Hofmann School of Fine Arts, Munich; and the exhibition catalog.
There is a 1.0 linear foot additon, circa 1951-1992, donated in 2020 containing further papers of Worden Day.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as eight series
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1960-1986 (Box 1, FC6; 0.5 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1953-1977 (Box 1; 1 folder)
  • Series 3: Writings, 1955-1985 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Printed Material, 1949-1983 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
  • Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1940-1984 (Boxes 1, 4; 0.5 linear feet)
  • Series 6: Photographic Material, 1935-1986 (Boxes 2-3; 0.5 linear feet)
  • Series 7: Sketchbooks, 1960-1986 (Boxes 3, 5; 0.4 linear feet)
  • Series 8: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1951-1992 (Box 7; 1.0 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Worden Day (1916-1986) was a sculptor, painter, printmaker and curator in Montclair, New Jersey. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Day graduated from Randolph-Macon College in 1934. She then moved to New York City, and over the next few decades, studied drawing with Maurice Sterne and George Grosz; drawing, painting, and printmaking with William Von Schlegell, Harry Sternberg, Hans Hofmann, Will Barnet, and Vaclav Vytlacil at the Art Students League; and etching with Stanley William Hayter at the New School for Social Research. After earning her M.A. from New York University in 1966, Day taught as an instructor and lecturer in color theory, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, design, collage, American art history, modern art theory, and women artists. Her written reviews and essays were featured in publications such as Art News, Art Voices, and Impressions, and she had solo exhibitions throughout the United States, including at the Smithsonian Institution, Baltimore Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and Montclair Art Museum.

Administration

Author
Hilary Price
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art from 1972-1983 by Worden Day. Additional material was donated in 2017 by Constance Duhamel, Day's friend. Additional material was donated in 2020 by the Maier Museum of Art at Randoph College via Constance Duhamel.
Existence and Location of Copies
One sound recording and one video recording in the collection were digitized for research access and are available at Archives of American Art offices. Researchers may view the original cassette and reel for the archival notations on them, but originals are not available for playback due to fragility.
Portions of this collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 981, 1010, and 2016 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Hilary Price in 2018.

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. 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
Worden Day papers, 1935-1986. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art, American Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Prints -- Technique Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Landscape painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- New Jersey Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printmakers -- New Jersey Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors--New Jersey Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculpture Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, Modern Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pop art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art museum curators Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Motion pictures (visual works) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Woodcuts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Barnet, Will, 1911-2012 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bourgeois, Louise, 1911-2010 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dehner, Dorothy, 1901-1994 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fish, Alice Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Foster, Betty Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fuller, Sue (1914-2006) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lasansky, Mauricio, 1914- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Minewski, Alex, 1917-1979 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Moy, Seong Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peterdi, Gabor Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rupprecht, Edgar A. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rupprecht, Isabell Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sarton, May, 1912- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schrag, Karl Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Thurn, Ernest Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vytlacil, Vaclav, 1892-1984 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Zigrosser, Carl, 1891- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Montclair Art Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
State University of Iowa Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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