Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the James Magee Papers, circa 1970-2019, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.magejame
Creators:
Magee, James R.
Dates:
circa 1970-2019
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
5.8 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of James Magee measure 5.8 linear feet and date from circa 1970 to 2019. The papers document Magee's career as a sculptor through correspondence with friends, colleagues, and art institutions; literary writings associated with certain pieces of sculpture; interviews, video footage of studio and works, audio of literary text written to accompany sculpture pieces, and other recordings; catalogs, book of literary text to accompany sculpture pieces, books on Magee, and other printed material; sketches and numerous sketchbooks; and photographs and negatives of specific sculpture pieces.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of James Magee measure 5.8 linear feet and date from circa 1970 to 2019. The papers document Magee's career as a sculptor through correspondence with friends, colleagues, and art institutions; literary writings associated with certain pieces of sculpture; interviews, video footage of studio and works, audio of literary text written to accompany sculpture pieces, and other recordings; catalogs, book of literary text to accompany sculpture pieces, books on Magee, and other printed material; sketches and numerous sketchbooks; and photographs and negatives of specific sculpture pieces.
Correspondence includes letters from friends and colleagues and letters praising Magee for his "Hill" project outside El Paso, Texas. Writings are primarily literary text (poems) inspired by Magee's pieces of sculpture that Magee had published.
Recordings consist of one video cassette on Magee's "Hill" project, audio cassette interviews for an article published in Mexico, audio cassettes and one audio reel of what appears to be poems inspired by sculpture pieces, and CD's containing audio and some documentation related to his exhibitions.
Printed material consists of a book of poems inspired by sculpture pieces that Magee had published, a book written on the life and art of Magee, catalogs, and a book of Goya letters that Magee compiled and edited. Also included with the book of Goya letters is a digital audio version of the book.
Artwork consists of sketches and numerous sketchbooks belonging to Magee. Sketchbooks contain a mix of watercolor paintings, pencil sketches, and ink sketches. Photographic material is primarily photographs and some negatives and contact sheets of some of Magee's works.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into six series.
  • Series 1: Correspondence, 1989-2018 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
  • Series 2: Writings, 1985-2009 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)
  • Series 3: Sound and Video Recordings, 1972-2012 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
  • Series 4: Printed Material, 1993-2019 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
  • Series 5: Artwork, circa 1970-2005 (4.0 linear feet; Boxes 2-9, OV 10-12)
  • Series 6: Photographic Material, 1972-2008 (0.6 linear feet, Box 4)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
James Magee (1946- ) is a sculptor and painter in El Paso, Texas. He is known for his work "The Hill", a monumental work of art on a 2,000 acre tract of desert land outside of El Paso, Texas that Magee has been continuously working on since the 1980s.

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
Donated in 2016 and 2019 by James Magee.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Ricky Gomez in 2021.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.
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 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.
Preferred Citation
James Magee papers, circa 1970-2019. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with James Magee conducted by Jason Stieber, September 29-30, 2016.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- Texas Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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