Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Nancy Holt Estate Records, 1835, circa 1900-2014, bulk 1960-2000, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.holtnanc
Creators:
Holt, Nancy, 1938-2014
Dates:
1835
circa 1900-2014
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
circa 65.4 Linear feet
Repository:
The Nancy Holt Estate records measure circa 65.4 linear feet and date from 1835, and circa 1900-2014, with the bulk of the material dating from 1960-2000. The records offer extensive documentation of Holt's career and include biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, writings, calendars and notebooks, Holt's project files including for unrealized projects, general business and professional files, subject files including source material, and printed material documenting Holt's professional activities from the 1960s to 2013. Also included are files Holt maintained related to her stewardship of Robert Smithson's estate and other records related to his life and work, and the John Weber Gallery records concerning Robert Smithson. These consist of the gallery's inventory and slide records of Robert Smithson's drawings and sculptures, including earthworks. The collection total also includes 30 linear feet of unprocessed records including 18 linear feet of Holt's photographic material; 1 linear feet of Holt's preliminary project plans and sketches; 2 linear feet of financial records; and 9 linear feet of Holt's annotated library.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Nancy Holt Estate records measure circa 65.4 linear feet and date from 1835, and circa 1900-2014, with the bulk of the material dating from 1960-2000. The records offer extensive documentation of Holt's career and include biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, writings, calendars and notebooks, Holt's project files including for unrealized projects, general business and professional files, subject files including source material, and printed material documenting Holt's professional activities from the 1960s to 2013. Also included are files Holt maintained related to her stewardship of Robert Smithson's estate and other records related to his life and work, and the John Weber Gallery records concerning Robert Smithson. These consist of the gallery's inventory and slide records of Robert Smithson's drawings and sculptures, including earthworks.
The collection total also includes 30 linear feet of unprocessed records including 18 linear feet of Holt's photographic material; 1 linear feet of Holt's preliminary project plans and sketches; 2 linear feet of financial records; and 9 linear feet of Holt's annotated library.
Biographical material includes some vital records for Holt such as birth and marriage certificates, as well as resumes, biographical notes, and academic and family history records. Also found are records related to Smithson's death and information Holt gathered about Smithson's childhood and military service in circa 2005.
Correspondence files document many personal friendships including with artists and writers such as Carl Andre, Robert Fiore, Dee Dee Halleck, Lucy Lippard, Stanley Marsh, Serge Paul, May Stevens, Dennis Wheeler, and others. The series includes some personal family correspondence with Holt's aunts Dorothy Lopez and Ethel Tate, as well as copies of two letters and a postcard sent to Holt by Robert Smithson in 1961 and 1968, and many greeting and holiday cards sent to Holt from the 1970s to the end of her life. Over five linear feet of professional correspondence documents many aspects of Holt's career and includes correspondence with galleries, museums, writers, and researchers interested in Holt's work or requesting permissions for publication and duplication of images and other records. Arranged in rough chronological order spanning from the early 1970s to 2014, these files also provide a chronological point of access to material about specific projects including Dark Star Park, Rock Rings, Sky Mound, and many others.
Holt's writings include many artist statements on specific works, and notes revealing something of the development of her ideas. These are further supplemented by her notebooks and her calendars which provide another point of access to her activities throughout her career beginning in the 1970s. A series of interviews includes transcripts and two sound recordings primarily of interviews of Holt by various people. Also found are transcripts and related material pertaining to a conversation between Holt, Robert Smithson, and Lucy Lippard about Eva Hesse.
Holt's project files document over fifty of her realized and unrealized projects from the late 1970s to the late 1990s including earthworks and land art, film and video, publications, and gallery installations. They include Holt's proposals, correspondence and memoranda, background records such as site studies and reports, Holt's plans and photographs showing the development of her ideas, and printed material such as publicity about her projects and reviews of her work. Noticeably missing from the files is substantial documentation of Sun Tunnels. The project files are supplemented by Holt's business and professional files with include some project-related material such as records of maintenance work carried out on specific sites, contractual records which may duplicate those found in the project files, and some reference material. Other business and professional files include exhibition records, grant material, documentation of loans and permissions, inventories of Holt's work, and legal records including real estate agreements for land purchased in Utah and Maine by Holt and Smithson.
Holt's subject files include primarily printed material such as a clippings file of subjects of interest to Holt. A separate series of printed material includes announcements, catalogs, invitations, and programs related to exhibitions, installations, film and video screenings, and other events and documents press coverage Holt's work over the course of her career. Also found are extensive clippings and articles about her work published in newspapers, art journals, and other publications.
Artwork by others consists of four items including a computer portrait of Holt by an unknown artist. Records documenting Holt's stewardship of Robert Smithson's estate and legacy includes agreements and contracts, authentications for some artwork, inventories and invoices for Smithson's work from John Weber Gallery and James Cohan Gallery, appraisal records for Smithson's library, permissions for reproductions and use of his work, and records related to the maintenance of specific works. The records include documentation of donations to museums and other art organizations, including Holt's gift of Spiral Jetty to the DIA art foundation which is also the owner and steward of Sun Tunnels. Also found are transcripts of interviews with Smithson, drafts and related material for writings about Smithson, and printed material about his work including announcements, catalogs, clippings, posters, and other publicity. Additionally, the John Weber Gallery records concerning Robert Smithson consist of the gallery's inventory and slide records of Robert Smithson's drawings and sculptures, including earthworks, and incorporate some slides from the James Cohan Gallery. James Cohan worked for John Weber before establishing his own gallery in 2001.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The Nancy Holt Estate records are arranged as 11 series.
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1912-2014 (0.6 linear feet; Box 45, OV 64)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1966-2014 (7.5 linear feet; Boxes 45-52, 63)
  • Series 3: Writings, Calendars, and Notebooks, 1947-2013 (2.6 linear feet; Boxes 40-42, 52-53, OVs 43-44, 65)
  • Series 4: Interviews, 1973-2007 (0.3 linear feet; Box 53)
  • Series 5: Project Files, circa 1900-2014 (bulk 1970-2000) (12.8 linear feet; Boxes 3-10, OVs 11-31, RDs 32-39)
  • Series 6: Business and Professional Files, 1967-2013 (2.5 linear feet; Boxes 53-55, 63, OVs 64, 66-67)
  • Series 7: Subject Files, 1835, circa 1960s-circa 2013 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 55-57, 63, OVs 65-66)
  • Series 8: Printed Material, 1964-2013 (2 linear feet; Boxes 57-59, 63, OV 65, RD 68)
  • Series 9: Artwork by Others, circa 1960s-circa 2006 (0.1 linear feet; Box 63)
  • Series 10: Robert Smithson Estate and Legacy, circa 1961-2013 (3.1 linear feet; Boxes 59-62, OV 66)
  • Series 11: John Weber Gallery Records Concerning Robert Smithson, circa 1960-circa 2001 (2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Nancy Holt (1938-2014) was an environmental and installation artist, sculptor, filmmaker, and photographer, based in New York, New York. She was best known for her large-scale public land art installations including her seminal work Sun Tunnels (1973-1976) located in the Great Basin Desert, Utah. Her work engaged with the natural environment and the celestial realm, tracing the rotation of the earth and the movement of the sun and stars. Holt was also fascinated by mechanical systems such as those used for heating, drainage, and ventilation, and her functional sculptural installations explored the relationship between architecture and the built environment.
Holt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, grew up in New Jersey, and graduated from Tufts University in 1960 with a degree in biology. She moved to New York City later that year where she met the artist Robert Smithson, to whom she was married from 1963 until Smithson's death in 1973.
Holt's landmark work Sun Tunnels was executed in 1973-1976 in Utah's Great Basin Desert, where Holt and Smithson had purchased surrounding land specifically to ensure an unimpeded view of the horizon. Holt went on to produce many site-specific outdoor works including 30 Below (1980), Dark Star Park (1984), Solar Rotary (1995), and Up and Under (1998). Her exploration of what she termed Systems Works included Catch Basin (1982), Flow Ace Heating (1985), and Spinwinder (1991).
Holt's photography was essential in the development of her ideas. In Missouri Ranch Locators: Vision Encompassed (1972) she used photography in her development of "seeing devices," creating eye-level steel pipes to direct viewers to a specific site in the surrounding landscape, and developing a concept that was central to Sun Tunnels and other works. Her book Ransacked, Aunt Ethel: An Ending (1980) documented through text and photographs the abuse and theft her aunt was subjected to at the end of her life. In Time Outs (1985) Holt used photographs of football games taken from a television screen to create a book born out of her childhood love of TV sporting events.
Holt's work can be found in the collections of major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and the Museum für Gegenswartkunst, Germany. Her permanent installations can be found at public institutions including Miami University Art Museum, Southern Connecticut State University, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, Western Washington University, and University of South Florida.
In 2012 Nancy Holt was made a Chevalier of the of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. In 2013 she was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Sculpture Center in New York. Holt received five National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two New York Creative Artist Fellowships, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Florida, Tampa.
Holt lived in Galisteo, New Mexico, from 1995-2013. She died in New York City in 2014.

Administration

Author
Stephanie Ashley
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Bequest of Nancy Holt, 2014.
Existence and Location of Copies
The John Weber Gallery records concerning Robert Smithson (Series 11) were digitized in 2021 and are available on the Archives of American Art website. Negatives of the master slides (1 folder) have not been digitized.
Processing Information
The John Weber Gallery records concerning Robert Smithson were processed and a finding aid was prepared by Stephanie Ashley in 2021, and the records were digitized in 2021. Holt's project files were processed and the finding aid was updated by Stephanie Ashley in 2022. The calendars and notebooks were processed and the finding aid was updated by Stepanie Ashley in 2023. Additional series were processed and the finding aid was updated by Stephanie Ashley in 2023-2024.
Processing reduced the collection extent by approximately 10 linear feet through more efficient rehousing and weeding of duplicate material.

Using the Collection

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.
Conditions Governing Use
Items created by Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson copyright held by Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Requests for permission to reproduce should be submitted to ARS.
Conditions Governing Access
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.
Preferred Citation
Nancy Holt Estate records, 1835, circa 1900-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds the Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt papers, an interview with Nancy Holt conducted 1992 July 6 by Scott Gutterman for the Archives of American Art, an interview with Nancy Holt conducted 1993 August 3 by Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz for the Archives of American Art, and the James Cohan Gallery records relating to Robert Smithson.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women sculptors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Environmental artists -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Earthworks (Art) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Installation artists -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women photographers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women filmmakers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diaries 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
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- New Mexico -- Galisteo Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Installation artists -- New Mexico -- Galisteo Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Environmental artists -- New Mexico -- Galisteo Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographers -- New Mexico -- Galisteo Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Filmmakers -- New Mexico -- Galisteo Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smithson, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
John Weber Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
James Cohan Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lippard, Lucy R. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dia Art Foundation Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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