Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the John Button Letters to Gerald L. Fabian, 1950-1982, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.fabigera
Creators:
Fabian, Gerald Langston
Dates:
1950-1982
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.6 Linear feet
Repository:
The John Button letters to Gerald L. Fabian measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1950 to 1982. The collection consists primarily of correspondence from painter John Button to Gerald Fabian. Also included are letters from Fabian to Button, as well as printed material.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The John Button letters to Gerald L. Fabian measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1950 to 1982. The collection consists primarily of correspondence from painter John Button to Gerald Fabian. Also included are letters from Fabian to Button, as well as printed material.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
  • Series 1: John Button letters to Gerald L. Fabian, 1950-1982, (Boxes 1-2; 0.6 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
John Button (1929-1982) was an American artist well known for his paintings of city-scapes and associated with New York School artists like Fairfield Porter, Jane Freilicher, and Alex Katz. Born in San Francisco, California, Button attended the University of California, Berkeley and the California School of Fine Arts. In the early 1950s he moved to New York. He taught at the School of Visual Arts from 1965 until 1982. Button's work was included in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is held in collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and many others.
Gerald Langston Fabian (1924-2012) was a poet, actor, educator, and activist. He grew up in Montana, served in the Pacific with the Navy during World War II, and lived most of his life in San Francisco, California. He was a friend of painter, John Button.

Administration

Author
Rayna Andrews
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Gerald and Bente Buck.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The John Button letters to Gerald L. Fabian were donated to the Archives of American Art by Gerald L. Fabian in 1990.
Processing Information
The collection received a preliminary level of arrangement in 1991 by Jean Fitzgerald. It was minimally processed and a finding aid prepared by Rayna Andrews in 2018 with funding from Gerald and Bente Buck.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Preferred Citation
John Button letters to Gerald L. Fabian, 1950-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the John Button papers, 1964-2004.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- California Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- San Francisco Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Button, John, 1929-1982 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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