Archives of American Art

Myer Shaffer scrapbook

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.shafmyer
Creators:
Shaffer, Myer, 1911-1983
Dates:
[ca. 1930-1941]
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.2 Linear feet
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
A scrapbook that contains miscellaneous newpaper/magazine articles, a portrait of the artist, exhibition notices, letters, and articles on art activity in Los Angeles written by Shaffer for the Jewish Community Press between 1937-1938. Other items include a program for the play "We are Children of the People" for which Shaffer painted the scenery and a family portrait.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Painter; Los Angeles, Calif.; b. 1912; d. 1973 Shaffer worked with the federal art projects of the 1930s. The destruction of his mural at the Mount Sinai home created controversy in 1938, as did the addition of a clenched fist (communist salute) above his mural at the L.A. Sanitorium (now City of Hope) in Duarte. As a student at the Chouinard School of Art, Shaffer assisted David Alfaro Siqueiros with his mural American Tropical (1933). Shaffer was also an art critic for the Jewish Community Press, 1937-1938.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated 1997 by Linda Shaffer, Myer Shaffer's daughter, via Orville Clark, an art historian who studies WPA murals and artists.

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.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Mural painting and decoration -- 20th century -- California -- Los Angeles -- Themes, motives Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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