Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Claudia DeMonte and Ed McGowin Papers, 1960-2018, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.democlau
Creators:
DeMonte, Claudia, 1947-
McGowin, Ed, 1938-
Dates:
1960-2018
Languages:
Most of the material is in English. Some of the printed material is in Spanish, French, German, Croatian, and Japanese.
Physical Description:
7.2 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of Claudia DeMonte and Ed McGowin measure 7.2 linear feet and date between 1960 and 2018. The papers primarily document Claudia DeMonte's career as a painter, and to a lesser extent her husband's career, through correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, and art institutions; notebooks, poetry, and other writings; scrapbooks; curriculum vitas, awards and certificates, commissions, and other professional activity; exhibition announcements and catalogs, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and other printed material; sketchbooks and other artwork; personal photographs, portraits, of artwork, and other photographic material.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of Claudia DeMonte and Ed McGowin measure 7.2 linear feet and date between 1960 and 2018. The papers primarily document Claudia DeMonte's career as a painter, and to a lesser extent her husband's career, through correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, and art institutions; notebooks, poetry, and other writings; scrapbooks; curriculum vitas, awards and certificates, commissions, and other professional activity; exhibition announcements and catalogs, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and other printed material; sketchbooks and other artwork; personal photographs, portraits, of artwork, and other photographic material.
Correspondence includes letters and postcards to and from family, friends, colleagues, and art institutions.
Writings includes a file of poetry written by DeMonte, manuscripts of books written by DeMonte, and a series of notebooks. Some of the notebooks are a combination of notes and sketches.
Scrapbooks consist of eight scrapbooks consisting of mixed material such as notes, photographs, sketches, and printed material.
Professional material consists of awards and certificates, a large number of calendars, commision work including an art project for the University of Northern Iowa completed by both DeMonte and McGowin, and a number of VHS and Betamax cassettes documenting DeMonte's career and interviews in connection with her Women of the World exhibition.
Printed material consists of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, exhibition announcements and catalogs, exhibition posters, and newsletters.
Artwork consists of a file of drawings and some sketchbooks.
Photographic material consists of photographs and slides of DeMonte, her artwork, and some of her exhibitions. There is also a file of photographs of DeMonte and McGowin at the White House with First Lady Laura Bush, and there are personal photographs of DeMonte and McGowin traveling and with family and friends.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into seven series.
  • Series 1: Correspondence, 1967-2013 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
  • Series 2: Writings, 1975-2013 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
  • Series 3: Scrapbooks, 1967-2009 (1.0 linear feet; Box 3, 9-10)
  • Series 4: Professional Activity Files, 1964-2013 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 3-5, 9)
  • Series 5: Printed Material, 1960-2018 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 5-7)
  • Series 6: Artwork, circa 1973 (0.1 linear feet; Box 7)
  • Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1977-2010 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 7-8)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Claudia DeMonte (1947- ) was born and raised in Astoria, New York City. She has more than 100 one-person shows and 600 group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at the Corcoran Museum, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Mississippi Museum, Tucson Museum, Flint Institute of Art, Museum of the Southwest, etc.
Her work is in numerous museum permanent collections, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Stamford Museum, Boca Raton Museum, and in major corporate collections such as those of Hyatt Regency Hotels, Exxon, Citibank and Siemens. Her public commissions have come from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Brooklyn Library System, Queens Supreme Court, Prudential Life Insurance, the State of New Mexico, and New York City School Construction Authority.
DeMonte is also the curator of "Women of the World: A Global Collection of Art." This traveling exhibition, with accompanying books, includes works of women from 177 countries dealing with the images of women.
DeMonte's work is heavily influenced by her travels to over 80 countries, her interest in the roles of women in contemporary society and Outsider Art, a collection compiled with her husband, artist Ed McGowin.
For 33 years, DeMonte has served on the faculty of the University of Maryland, where she was named Distinguished Scholar Teacher and Professor Emerita. In 2006, She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the College of Santa Fe.
DeMonte presently lives with her husband in New York City and Kent, Connecticut.
Ed McGowin (1938- ) was born in 1938 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and grew up in Mississippi and Alabama, receiving the M.A. from the University of Alabama. He has had one-person exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.; the Baltimore Museum; and the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, France. Since 1979, McGowin has executed major outdoor commissions for numerous public and private organizations, often collaborating with his wife, Claudia DeMonte.

Administration

Author
Ricky Gomez
Sponsor
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Claudia DeMonte and Ed McGowin papers were donated in 1994 by Claudia DeMonte and in 2020 by Claudia DeMonte and Ed McGowin.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Ricky Gomez in 2020.

Using the Collection

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.
Conditions Governing 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
Claudia DeMonte and Ed McGowin papers, 1960-2018. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Claudia DeMonte conducted by Liza Kirwin between February 13 and April 24, 1991; and the Ed McGowin papers, 1962-1998.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mixed-media artists -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- Maryland -- College Park 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
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Collagists -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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