Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Philip Stein Papers Regarding David Alfaro Siqueiros, 1933-2012, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.steiphil
Creators:
Stein, Philip, 1919-2009
Dates:
1933-2012
Languages:
The collection is in
English
and
Spanish
.
Physical Description:
3.8 Linear feet
3.88 Gigabytes
Repository:
The papers of muralist, writer, and activist Philip Stein regarding the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros measure 3.8 linear feet and 3.88 GB and date from 1933 to 2012. The papers reflect Stein's relationship with Siqueiros as an art assistant and their shared commitment to leftist politics. Much of the material relates to Stein's book Siqueiros, His Life and Work (1994) and his first book The Mexican Murals (1984). Found are research materials, correspondence, interviews, printed and digital material, photographic materials, video and film recordings, writings about and by David Alfaro Siqueiros, and materials concerning Stein as a painter.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of muralist, writer, and activist Philip Stein regarding the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros measure 3.8 linear feet and 3.88 GB and date from 1933 to 2012. The papers reflect Stein's relationship with Siqueiros as an art assistant and their shared commitment to leftist politics. Much of the material relates to Stein's book Siqueiros, His Life and Work (1994) and his first book The Mexican Murals (1984). Found are research materials, correspondence, interviews, printed and digital material, photographic materials, video and film recordings, writings about and by David Alfaro Siqueiros, and materials concerning Stein as a painter.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged in 7 series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Correspondence, 1934-2010 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
  • Series 2: Interviews, 1977-1994 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
  • Series 3: Writings, 1937-2006 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 0.021 GB; ER01)
  • Series 4: Subject Files and Research Files, 1933-2009 (0.6 linear feet;Boxes 2-3)
  • Series 5: Printed Material, 1949-2009 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 2-3,5)
  • Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1933-2005 ( 0.5 linear Feet; Boxes 3-4, 0.011 GB; ER02)
  • Series 7: Sound, Video and Film Recorings, circa 1967-2012 (1.3 linear feet; Box 3, 4, FC 6-9, 3.85 GB; ER03-ER04)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Artist, author and political activist, Philip Stein (1919-2009), also called "Estano," lived and worked in New York City, Mexico, and Spain. Stein worked as an assistant to muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. Both men were committed to the Mexican Mural School of new-realism, painting exterior murals rather than easel paintings so art could be public and directed to the masses.
Stein was born in Newark, New Jersey and was a mostly self-taught artist, occasionally studying at local art schools. He served in the armed forces during World War II as a meteorologist, seeing action throughout Europe. After the war, he moved to California to paint movie sets. In 1948, Stein and his wife Gertrude moved to Mexico where he studied art on the GI Bill at The School of Fine Arts of San Miguel de Allende. There he met Siqueiros, an ardent communist, who had attempted to assasinate Leon Trotsky. Stein worked with Siqueiros on several murals in Mexico until Siqueiros' death in 1974.
Between 1953 and 1993 Stein occasionally exhibited in Mexico, New York City and Spain. One of Stein's best known murals is at the Village Vanguard club in New York City. His biography of Siqueiros, Siqueiros, His Life and Work was published in 1994. Stein died at home in Manhattan in 2009 at age 90.

Administration

Author
Harriet E. Shapiro
Processing Information
This collection was processed and a finding aid prepared in 2015 by Harriet E. Shapiro. Motion picture film reels were inspected and re-housed in 2016 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding from Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Philip Stein papers regarding David Alfaro Siqueiros were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2015 by Anne Stein, daughter of Philip Stein.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Philip Stein papers regarding David Alfaro Siqueiros, 1933-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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.
Conditions Governing Access
Use of original material requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muralists -- Mexico Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Motion pictures (visual works) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- Mexico Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Siqueiros, David Alfaro, 1896-1974 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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