Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Riva Helfond papers, 1934-1983, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Correspondence
Correspondence
Collection ID:
AAA.helfriva
Creators:
Helfond, Riva, 1910-2002
Dates:
1934-1983
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1.2 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of printmaker Riva Helfond measure 1.2 linear feet and date from 1934 to 1983. The papers concern Helfond's professional career and participation in the Works Progress Adminstration (WPA). Found are biographical materials, correspondence, a notebook, personal business records, photographs, printed material, a clippings scrapbook, and three sketchbooks.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of printmaker Riva Helfond measure 1.2 linear feet and date from 1934 to 1983. The papers concern Helfond's professional career and participation in the Works Progress Adminstration (WPA). Found are biographical materials, correspondence, a notebook, personal business records, photographs, printed material, a clippings scrapbook, and three sketchbooks.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
New Jersey painter, printmaker, and educator Riva Helfond (1910-2002) was known for her social realist studies of working people and their lives. She was employed by the the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project (WPA FAP) and taught printmaking at New York University and elsewhere.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Helfond studied at the School of Industrial Art and the Art Students League and worked for the FAP at the Harlem Community Art Center with Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden. She subsequently worked in the FAP's Graphic Arts Division with Louis Lozowick and Jacob Kainen, and in the silk- screen division where she was supervised by Anthony Velonis. In 1964 she taught printmaking at New York University and after 1980 was on the faculty of Union College in Cranford, New Jersey.
Helfond was married to sculptor Will Barrett and her circle of friends included Abstract Expressionist artists and critics such as Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, and Harold Rosenberg. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Brooklyn Museum, and many other institutions.
Helfond died in New Jersey in 2002.

Administration

Author
Jayna M. Josefson
Sponsor
Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated in 1983 by Riva Helfond.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2023 with support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.

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.
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
Riva Helfond papers, 1934-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- New Jersey Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- New Jersey Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printmakers -- New Jersey Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women printmakers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women educators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
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