Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Janet deCoux Papers, 1895-2000, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.decojane
Creators:
De Coux, Janet, 1904-1999
Dates:
1895-2000
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3.92 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of sculptor Janet DeCoux date from 1895-2000 and measure 3.92 linear feet. The collection documents DeCoux's career through scattered biographical material, correspondence, audio cassette tapes of an autobiographical narrative, an interview transcript, miscellaneous notes and writings, sketchbooks and drawings, files for commissioned sculpture projects, printed material, photographs of DeCoux, family members, friends, colleagues, and artwork.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
The papers of sculptor Janet deCoux measure 3.92 linear feet and date from 1895 to 2000. Found within the papers are scattered biographical material, including curriculum vitae and a file concerning deCoux's induction as a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania. Correspondence is primarily between family, friends, and colleagues. It includes letters from Carl Milles, Bruce Moore, C.P. Jennewein, the Guild of Liturgy, Art and Design (GLAD), the Liturgical Arts Society, Inc., sculptor James Earle Fraser, offering advice on various sculpture projects, his wife Laura Gardin Fraser, a letter of congratulations from Paul Manship on the occasion of deCoux's election to the National Academy of Design, and approximately fifty letters, 1944-1952, from Anne Morrow Lindbergh, writer and wife of aviator Charles Lindbergh. There are also one or two letters from Lu Duble, Joseph Bailey Ellis, Mark Tobey, and Albert Wein.
Found within the papers are a transcript of an interview of deCoux by George Gurney, and audio cassettes with transcripts of an autobiographical narrative by deCoux. Miscellaneous notes and writings include autobiographical accounts and poems by deCoux and miscellaneous writings by others. Seven of deCoux's sketchbooks and a folder of drawings by deCoux, as well as a portrait of deCoux by C. Paul Jennewein are found in the Artwork series. Project files contain letters, receipts, clippings, brochures, and photographs for sculpture projects primarily commissioned by religious organizations. Printed material includes clippings, exhibition catalogs, and miscellaneous brochures. Photographs are of deCoux, family members, friends including Anne Morrow Lindbergh and her children, colleagues including James Earle Fraser, Laura Gardin Fraser, Carl Milles, and Bruce Moore, and sculpture.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 8 series. Glass plate negative housed separately and closed to researchers.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1895-1993 (Box 1; 13 folders)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1895-2000 (Boxes 1-2; 1.0 linear feet)
  • Series 3: Interviews, 1978, 1990 (Box 2; 3 folders)
  • Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1937-1996 (Box 2; 23 folders)
  • Series 5: Artwork, 1928-1929 (Boxes 2, 6; 9 folders)
  • Series 6: Project Files, 1942-1982 (Boxes 2-3, 6; 36 folders)
  • Series 7: Printed Material, 1906-2000 (Box 3; 20 folders)
  • Series 8: Photographs, 1926-1996 (Boxes 3-6, MGP 1; 1.3 linear feet)

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Janet deCoux was born on October 5, 1904 in Niles, Michigan, the youngest of the five children of Bertha Wright deCoux and Rev. Charles John deCoux, an Episcopal clergyman. The family moved to Grand Rapids in 1908 and four years later to a farm in Gibsonia, outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
deCoux studied with Joseph Bailey Ellis at the Carnegie Institute of Technology from 1925 to 1927. She then apprenticed in the New York studio of C. Paul Jennewein for fifteen months, followed by a year at the Gorham Bronze Division learning architectural modeling. She also worked with Aristide Cianfarani in Providence, and for Alvin Meyer in Chicago. While serving her apprenticeships, she attended night school at the New York School of Industrial Arts, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Art Institute of Chicago. deCoux was then employed in James Earle Fraser's studio where she had previously assisted Gozo Kawamura.
In 1932 deCoux met Eliza Miller in the sculpture department of Carnegie Tech, beginning a sixty-year relationship in which they shared a shop and adjoining studios in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania. For several months in 1935, deCoux traveled to Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, where she joined her friend Aly Moore, the wife of sculptor Bruce Moore. She first met longtime friend Father Hughson on a ship returning to the United States from Europe.
A Guggenheim Fellowship awarded to deCoux in 1938 was renewed for a second year. In 1943, she became resident instructor at Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Janet deCoux died in December 1999.

Administration

Author
Jean Fitzgerald
Sponsor
Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Provenance
The Janet deCoux papers were donated in 1992 by the artist and in two later installments in 2000-2001 by her longtime companion, Eliza Miller.
Alternative Forms Available
Portions of this collection are available on 35mm microfilm reel 4909 at 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
Letters received in 1992 were microfilmed upon receipt on Reel 4909. Later additions were merged with the letters and processed as one collection in June 2007 by Jean Fitzgerald. Glass plate negative re-housed with a grant provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Janet deCoux papers, 1895-2000. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
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.

Related Material
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Janet deCoux done by George Gurney, May 5, 1978.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- Michigan Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women sculptors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women educators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Poetry Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fraser, Laura Gardin, 1889-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guild of Liturgy, Art and Design Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fraser, James Earle, 1876-1953 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lindbergh, Anne Morrow, 1906-2001 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gurney, George Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Liturgical Arts Society Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jennewein, Carl Paul, 1890- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Milles, Carl, 1875-1955 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manship, Paul, 1885-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Moore, Bruce, 1905-1980 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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