Archives of American Art

Lily Harmon papers

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.harmlily
Creators:
Harmon, Lily, 1912-
Dates:
1930-1996
Languages:
Multiple languages
.
Physical Description:
6 Linear feet
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Primarily research files and notes, subject files, interview tapes and transcripts, correspondence, writings, and other materials compiled by Harmon for a never-published biography of art dealer J.B. Neumann, titled The Art Lover. Found are photocopies of J.B. Neuman's correspondence with Karl Nierendorf, Clifford Odets, Elsa Schmid, and Alfred Stieglitz; photocopies and other materials from the J.B. Neumann Collection at the University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Center, including photocopies of the magazine published by Neumann titled Art Lover Library, 1930-1957 (volume 1, 1930 is original bound volume), copyprints and photocopies of photographs of Neumann, his family, and of other subjects; interview transcripts and audio tapes with numerous artists conducted in the mid-1980s; research notes and files; and subject files on numerous artists (all photocopies).
Scope and Contents
Harmon's personal papers include resumes; copies of letters from friends, family, dealers and others; photographs of Harmon's paintings; writings, including poems, excerpts from diaries, autobiographical essays, and her autobiography FREEHAND; photocopies of various mss. drafts of Harmon's biography of Neumann, The Art Lover, and related writings by Harmon, including The Art Dealer and the Playwright, and Synopsis of Art Lover, ca. 1987-1990 ; a transcript of an interview of Harmon conducted by Karl Fortress, 1967; magazine and newspaper clippings; exhibition announcements and catalogs; and miscellany.
Scope and Contents
Interviewees include: Dore Ashton, Sally Avery, Alfred Barr, Phillip Bruno, Al Copley, Dorothy Dehner, Bettina Drew (about Nelson Algren), Elsie Driggs (also found is a video interview and transcript of Driggs by Merryman Gatch, n.d.), Ben Hertzberg, Leonard Hutton, Lewis Isaacs, Max Kahn, Katharine Kuh, Johanna Neumann Lamm, Frances Manacher, Peter Neumann, Albrecht Neumann, Nolbert Rothbaum, Margarete Schultz, Joseph Solman, Margarete Sapanel, Hugh Stix, Ilse Vogel with Howard Knotts, and Edward M.M. Warburg.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Painter and sculptor; New York City. Harmon worked for the influential art dealer J.B. Neumann, and spent several years preparing a biography of him which was never published. As an artist, she lived in Europe in the early part of the century, and worked on WPA art projects in the 1930s.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated 1983 and 1998 by Lily Harmon.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews 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
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women sculptors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Neumann, J. B. (Jsrael Ber) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ashton, Dore Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Avery, Sally Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bruno, Phillip A. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Copley, Alfred L. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dehner, Dorothy, 1901-1994 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drew, Bettina, 1956- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Driggs, Elsie, 1898-1992 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hertzberg, Benjamin Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hutton, Leonard, Sir Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Isaacs, Lewis Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kahn, Max, 1903-2005 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Knotts, Howard Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kuh, Katharine Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lamm, Johanna Neumann Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manacher, Frances Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Neumann, Albrecht Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Neumann, Peter, 1928- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nierendorf, Karl Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Odets, Clifford, 1906-1963 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rothbaum, Nolbert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sapanel, Margarete Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schmid, Elsa, 1897- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schultz, Margarete Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Solman, Joseph, 1909-2008 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stieglitz, Alfred, 1864-1946 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stix, Hugh Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vogel, Ilse Margret Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Warburg, Edward M. M. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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