Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Robert McChesney Papers, 1913-2006, in the Archives of American Art

Summary
Collection ID:
AAA.mcchrobe
Creators:
McChesney, Robert, 1913-2008
Dates:
1913-2006
Languages:
Collection is in English.
Physical Description:
6 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of artist Robert Pearson McChesney measure 6 linear feet and date from 1913 to 2006. McChesney was an abstract expressionist painter and muralist based in Petaluma, California. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition files, printed materials, scrapbooks, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
The papers of artist Robert Pearson McChesney measure 6 linear feet and date from 1913 to 2006. McChesney was an abstract expressionist painter and muralist based in Petaluma, California. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition files, printed materials, scrapbooks, and photographic materials.
Biographical materials consist of legal documents, estate papers, awards, genealogical information, a few notebooks and writings, and other assorted personal papers.
The bulk of the correspondence is with galleries and museums about shows and art sales. There is very limited personal correspondence with friends and family. There are a few holiday cards designed by Mary Fuller and Robert McChesney.
Exhibition files include announcements, catalogs, publicity, reviews, correspondence, exhibition lists, price lists, and other material.
Printed materials consist of clippings, reviews, announcements, catalogs, books, and periodicals.
There are 4 scrapbooks of printed material and photographs of Robert McChesney's shows and artwork.
Photographic materials include photographs, slides, and negatives of Robert McChesney and his artwork along with photographs of travels, friends, and family.
Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is arranged as 6 series.
    Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1931-1995 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, OV 9)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1936-2006 (1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
  • Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1970-2006 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
  • Series 4: Printed Materials, 1945-2006 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 3-4, OV 9)
  • Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1940-2002 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 6-8)
  • Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1913-2002 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 4-5, 7, OV 9)
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Robert Pearson McChesney (1913-2008) was a California Abstract Expressionist painter and muralist.
Robert McChesney was born on January 16, 1913 in Marshall, Missouri. His parents were Ruby Eversmann Pearson and Jack Wiley McChesney who ran a photography studio. McChesney attended Washington University School of Fine Arts in St. Louis, Missouri from 1933-1934 and Otis Arts Institute in Los Angeles, California from 1936-1937. In 1937, he married Frances, an artist figure model, and they later divorced.
McChesney worked in the mural division of the depression-era Federal Works Project Administration on the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) in San Francisco from 1938 to 1940. At the GGIE, McChesney and other artists worked on a mural series designed by Herman Volz. During World War II, he served in the U. S. Merchant Marine in the South Pacific. He painted a great deal while he was in the South Pacific and when he returned to San Francisco those paintings became the basis for his first solo exhibition in 1944 at the Richmond and Richmond Gallery.
After the war, McChesney lived in a house in Point Richmond, California with several artists, including the sculptor Mary Fuller whom he married in 1949. Beginning in 1950, he taught at the California School of Fine Arts, California State University at Hayward, and the California Labor School. In 1952, he moved to Sonoma Mountain in Petaluma, California where he built in a house and studio.
Over the course of his artistic career, McChesney had over 40 solo exhibitions and his artwork is included in the collections of many museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Robert McChesney died on May 10, 2008 in Sonoma County, California.
Administration
Author
Rihoko Ueno
Existence and Location of Copies
Material lent for microfilming is availalbe on 35mm microfilm reel 878 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Robert McChesney loaned three scrapbooks to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1975. Mary Fuller McChesney, Robert McChesney's widow, donated the rest of the Robert McChesney papers in 2015.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Rihoko Ueno in September 2015.
Separated Materials
The Archives of Art also holds materials lent for microfilming (reel 878) including three scrapbooks. Two of the scrapbooks were later donated and integrated with the collection. The remaining scrapbook is only available on microfilm and is not described in the collection container inventory.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Preferred Citation
Robert McChesney papers, 1913-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Related Materials
The Archives of American Art has an oral history interview with Robert McChesney conducted in 1964 by Lewis Ferbraché.
Keywords
Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Abstract expressionism Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muralists -- California Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- California Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Awards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Christmas cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
McChesney, Mary Fuller Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Repository Contact
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions