Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Gloria Ross Papers, circa 1924-1998, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.rossglor
Creators:
Ross, Gloria F.
Dates:
circa 1924-1998
Languages:
Collection is in
English
and
French
.
Physical Description:
14.5 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of New York tapestry éditeur Gloria Ross measure 14.5 linear feet and date from circa 1924-1998. The bulk of the papers consist of project files that document her collaborations with artists to make tapestries of their paintings and collages. Also found are scattered biographical material, professional correspondence, exhibition files, professional activity files, personal business records, printed material, photographs, and artwork.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of New York tapestry éditeur Gloria Ross measure 14.5 linear feet and date from circa 1924-1998. The bulk of the papers consist of project files that document her collaborations with artists to make tapestries of their paintings and collages. Also found are scattered biographical material, professional correspondence, exhibition files, professional activity files, personal business records, printed material, photographs, and artwork.
Biographical material includes resumes and career summaries, as well as an interview of Ross on one videocassette, and a few Frankenthaler family documents. Correspondence is with artists, weavers, workshops, publications, and galleries and is of a professional nature.
Project files document Ross's collaborations with prominent artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, Romare Bearden, Louise Nevelson, Milton Avery, Stuart Davis, and others. Project files may include correspondence, contracts, invoices, notes, photographs, yarn samples, and a few maquettes and cartoons. Also of note are extensive files regarding her collaborations with Navajo weavers to create tapestries based on geometric paintings by Kenneth Noland. Other project files include a commissioned tapestry for Temple Emanu-El in New York.
Exhibition files document various solo and group exhibitions of Gloria Ross tapestries and includes one videocassette from a 1978 exhibition. Records of her professional activities include her participation in symposia, lectures, and public events. Files may include correspondence, draft lectures, programs, and event publicity. Two short documentaries found on two videocassettes were produced for the Denver Art Museum. Personal business records document Ross's business relationships with weaving workshops and art galleries, most notably Atelier Raymond Picaud, Pinton atelier, Edinburgh Tapestry Company (Dovecot Studios), and Pace Editions, the major sales agent of Gloria Ross tapestries.
Printed material consists of catalogs, announcements, press releases, and other publications regarding exhibitions of Gloria Ross tapestries and Navajo tapestries. Photographs depict Ross, the Frankenthaler family, Ross's tapestries, weaving studios, and Navajo weavers. Artwork includes one painting by Paul Jenkins and unidentified textile and yarn samples.

Arrangement

Arrangement
This collection is arranged as 9 series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1926-1998 (5 folders; Box 1)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1965-1998 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1)
  • Series 3: Project Files, 1960-1998 (7.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-7, 14-15, 17-19, OVs 20, 22-24, Artifact)
  • Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1967-1994 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 17)
  • Series 5: Professional Activities, 1955-1997 (0.7 linear feet; Box 8)
  • Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1964-1998 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 8-10, OV 21)
  • Series 7: Printed Material, 1970s-1990s (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 10-11, 14)
  • Series 8: Photographs, circa 1924-1990s (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 11, 16)
  • Series 9: Artwork, circa 1970s-1990s (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 11-14, 17, 19)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Gloria F. Ross (1923-1998) was a tapestry éditeur in New York, New York.
Ross was born Gloria Frankenthaler in New York in 1923. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1943 and married Alfred Ross. They had three children: Alfred, Beverly, and Clifford. In 1954, Gloria Ross made her first needlepoint work from a design by her sister, abstract painter Helen Frankenthaler, and by the mid-1960s, she was exhibiting her tapestries and hooked rugs in New York. She established Gloria F. Ross Studio in 1966 and began regularly collaborating with artists such as Robert Motherwell, Louise Nevelson, Jack Youngerman, and Jean Dubuffet to make their works into tapestries. She created business partnerships with weaving workshops in Scotland and France to produce the works. In 1973 she had her first exhibition at Pace Editions, Inc., beginning a long relationship with the gallery as her main sales agent.
In 1979, Ross first traveled to the Navajo Nation to find weavers for a collaborative project with artist Kenneth Noland. She continued to visit the Southwest at least once a year until 1994, and she donated her collection of Navajo rugs and other textiles to the Denver Art Museum. Throughout the 1980s Ross traveled extensively for projects, exhibitions, and symposia. Her final commissioned project, completed in 1997, was a tapestry designed by artist Mark Podwol for Temple Emanu-El in New York. That same year she established the Gloria F. Ross Center for Tapestry Studies in Tucson, Arizona.

Administration

Author
Erin Kinhart
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated in 2013 by the Gloria Ross estate via Michael I. Katz, executor, with assistance from the Gloria F. Ross Tapestry Program, University of Arizona, via Ann Lane Hedlund, director.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Erin Kinhart in 2015.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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
Gloria Ross papers, circa 1924-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Paintings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tapestry -- Design Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tapestry -- Production control Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tapestry -- Technique Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Designers -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Navajo weavers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pace Editions (Firm) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pinton Atelier Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Denver Art Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dovecot Studios Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Temple Emanu-El (Bayonne, N.J.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Avery, Milton, 1885-1965 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Motherwell, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Atelier Raymond Picaud Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Noland, Kenneth, 1924- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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