Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Charles Pollock Papers, 1875-1994, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.pollchar
Creators:
Pollock, Charles C.
Dates:
1875-1994
Languages:
The collection is in English.
Physical Description:
3.1 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Charles Pollock measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1875 to 1994. Found within the papers are biographical materials; family and personal correspondence; subject files on art and professional topics; writings; printed material; artwork, including political cartoons and figurative sketches; and photographs of Pollock, his family and friends, and his work.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Charles Pollock measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1875 to 1994. Found within the papers are biographical materials; family and personal correspondence; subject files on art and professional topics; writings; printed material; artwork, including political cartoons and figurative sketches; and photographs of Pollock, his family and friends, and his work.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1945-1988 (7 folders; Box 1)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1927-1994 (1 linear foot; Boxes 1-2)
  • Series 3: Subject Files, 1931-1988 (0.8 linear feet; Box 2)
  • Series 4: Writings, 1935-1965 (2 folders; Box 2)
  • Series 5: Printed Material, 1930-1990 (4 folders; Box 2)
  • Series 6: Artwork, 1925-1949 (0.7 linear feet; Box 3, OV 5-8)
  • Series 7: Photographic Materials, 1875-1987 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Painter, muralist, and educator Charles Pollock (1902-1988) lived and worked in East Lansing, Michigan, New York City, Detroit, and Paris, France and painted in a social realist style early in his career before transitioning to abstract works in the 1940s. He is also the eldest brother of the abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock.
Born in Denver, Colorado to Stella McClure and LeRoy Pollock, Pollock received his early art training at the Otis Institute in Los Angeles, California. In 1926, he moved to New York City to attend the Art Students League where he studied under Thomas Hart Benton, with whom Jackson also studied after joining Charles in New York in 1930. In New York, he met and married his first wife, Elizabeth Feinberg Pollock, in 1931.
Pollock moved to Washington, D.C. in 1935 to work for the Resettlement Administration, and after two years, accepted a position as the political illustrator for the United Automobile Workers' newspaper in Detroit. After a short stint as the illustrator and layout editor for the paper, Pollock served as the supervisor of the Michigan WPA Mural Painting and Graphic Arts division from 1938 to 1942.
Upon completion of a three panel mural for Michigan State University in 1942, Pollock was invited to join the faculty of the art department, where he taught lettering, printmaking, typography, and design. During his twenty-five year tenure at the University, he also served as a book designer for the University's Press and continued to develop his abstract painting style. He met and married his second wife, Sylvia Winter Pollock, in 1957. Pollock served as the University of Pennsylvania's artist in residence in 1965 and 1967, and was the recipient of a National Foundation of Arts Grant (1967) and a Guggenheim Grant (1967-1968). The Pollocks moved to Paris in 1970, where Charles died of complications from a stroke in 1988.

Administration

Author
Judy Ng
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were donated in 1975 by Pollock's first wife, Elizabeth Feinberg Pollock, with assistance from Charles Pollock on the selection of items. Additional materials were donated in 1988 by his second wife, Sylvia Winter Pollock. From 1991 to 1994, Elizabeth Pollock gifted additional correspondence and photographs to the Archives.
Separated Materials
Nine works of art included in the 1975 gift from Elizabeth Pollock were transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, formerly the National Collection of Fine Arts, in 1976.
Existence and Location of Copies
Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 1097, 1116, and 4213-4215 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Processing Information
Materials received a preliminary level of arrangement after donation and portions of the collection were microfilmed onto reels 1097, 1116, and 4213-4215. Materials were merged and processed to an intermediate level and a finding aid prepared by Judy Ng in 2015, with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. The Archives of American Art has implemented minimal processing tactics when possible in order to increase information about and access to more of our collections.
Intermediate processing included arrangement to the series and folder levels with greater attention to the artwork and photographic materials series. For other series, items within folders were generally verified with folder titles, but not arranged further. The collection was rehoused in archival containers and folders.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Charles Pollock papers, 1875-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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.

Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Elizabeth Feinberg Pollock memoirs and the Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner papers.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art teachers -- France Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muralists -- France -- Paris Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art teachers -- Michigan Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- France -- Paris Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muralists -- Michigan Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cartoons (humorous images) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Expatriate painters -- France -- Paris Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- Michigan Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-7950
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions