Usage conditions may apply for digital images, video, and sound recordings linked within SOVA collections. While digital content may be restricted, SOVA collection descriptions and catalog records are available CC0 for re-use. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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
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 |
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions