Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Reuben Tam Papers, 1931-2006, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.tamreub
Creators:
Tam, Reuben
Dates:
1931-2006
Languages:
Collection is in English.
Physical Description:
9.2 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of landscape painter and educator Reuben Tam measure 9.2 linear feet and date from 1931 to 2006. The papers document his career as a painter in New York, Maine, and Hawaii through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, art organizations, schools, and galleries; diaries, poetry, and other writings; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, other printed material; photographs; artwork, including seventeen sketchbooks; and eight scrapbooks. There is a 1.1 linear foot unprocessed addition to the collection donated in 2020 that includes 34 sketchbooks, circa 1940-1974, by Tam from his time in New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Alaska and Canada.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of landscape painter and educator Reuben Tam measure 9.2 linear feet and date from 1931 to 2006. The papers document his career as a painter in New York, Maine, and Hawaii through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, art organizations, schools, and galleries; diaries, poetry, and other writings; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, other printed material; photographs; artwork, including seventeen sketchbooks; and eight scrapbooks. There is a 1.1 linear foot unprocessed addition to the collection donated in 2020 that includes 34 sketchbooks, circa 1940-1974, by Tam from his time in New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Alaska and Canada.
Biographical material includes school documents, records of his tenure as an instructor at the Brooklyn Museum of Art School, artwork consignment and sales records, and slides and accompanying audio cassette recording of the "Reuben Tam Show" about his work as an artist on Monhegan Island, Maine.
Correspondence is with family, fellow artists, including William Kienbusch and Hyde Solomon, as well as art organizations, schools, and museums, such as Brooklyn Museum of Art School, Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Maine Coast Artists group, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is correspondence with the three galleries which represented his work: Downtown Gallery, Alan Gallery, and Coe Kerr Gallery.
The collection includes five bound diaries as well as diary entries written by Reuben Tam on loose sheets of paper, primarily documenting the 1940s. Other writings include drafts of poetry, one notebook, miscellaneous notes, and essays by others.
Printed material consists of school publications, exhibition catalogs and announcements for solo and group shows, brochures, flyers, magazines, bulletins, and news clippings. Eight scrapbooks found in this collection also include newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, as well as event invitations, membership cards, and letters, documenting 40 years of Reuben Tam's career.
Photographs are of Reuben Tam, Tam with friends and family, and artwork. One photograph album contains photographs from Tam's visits to Maine from 1946 to 1948, and includes photographs of fellow artists Hyde Solomon, Carl Nesjar, Dorothy Andrews, and William Kienbusch. Artwork in the collection includes prints, drawings, and watercolors as well as seventeen large sketchbooks documenting the coastal landscape of Monhegan Island, Maine.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 9 series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1934-1993 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1931-2006 (Box 1-4; 3.5 linear feet)
  • Series 3: Diaries, 1932-1974 (Box 4-5; 0.4 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Writings, 1939-1987 (Box 5; 7 folders)
  • Series 5: Printed Material, 1935-1997 (Box 5-6, 9; 1.2 linear feet)
  • Series 6: Photographs, circa 1930-1990 (Box 6-7, 9; 1.0 linear foot)
  • Series 7: Artwork, circa 1936-1975 (Box 7, 9-10, OV 11; 0.7 linear feet)
  • Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1938-1978 (Box 7-8; 0.9 linear feet)
  • Series 9: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1940-1974 (Box 12, OV13; 1.1 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Reuben Tam (1916-1991) was a landscape painter and educator in New York, Maine, and Hawaii. Tam was born in Kapaa, Hawaii, in 1916. He received a degree in education in 1937 from the University of Hawaii and was briefly a public school teacher before attending graduate courses at the California School of Fine Arts. In 1941 he moved to New York and took courses in art history and philosophy at the New School for Social Research and Columbia University. Tam became affiliated with the Downtown Gallery in 1945 and was a prolific exhibitor in national and regional shows, winning critical praise as an abstract landscape painter. In 1948 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and first exhibited in the National Academy's annual exhibition in 1947.
Tam was an instructor at the Brooklyn Museum of Art School from 1946 to 1974. While there he taught advanced studies in painting and was chairman of the graduate painting department. He also served as a visiting professor at Oregon State University, Haystack, and Queens College, CUNY.
Beginning in 1948, Tam and his wife, Geraldine, spent summers at their home and studio on Monhegan Island, Maine. Tam's work was deeply influenced by coastal landscapes both in Maine and in his native Hawaii. In 1981 he and his wife moved back to Kapaa, Hawaii, where he continued to paint and exhibit his new works until his death in 1991.

Administration

Author
Erin Kinhart and Rihoko Ueno
Sponsor
The processing and digitization of the Reuben Tam papers received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Scrapbooks were lent for microfilming in 1970 by Reuben Tam and were subsequently donated in 2009 along with additional papers by Geraldine King Tam, Reuben Tam's widow. 34 additional sketchbooks were donated in 2020 by the Geraldine King Tam Trust, via Cindy King, trustee and niece of Geraldine King Tam.
Existence and Location of Copies
The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2017 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website. Materials which have not been digitized include blank pages, blank versos of photographs, and duplicates. In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages scanned.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and described in a finding aid by Erin Kinhart in 2011. The collection was fully processed and prepared for digitization by Rihoko Ueno in 2017. The digitization of the Reuben Tam papers received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Reuben Tam papers, 1931-2006. 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
Reuben Tam papers, 1958-1966, are also located at Syracuse University.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- Maine Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Poems Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- Hawaii Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- Maine Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- New York (State) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- Hawaii Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diaries Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Watercolors Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alan Gallery (Charles Alan) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Andrews, Dorothy, 1918-2008 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Coe Kerr Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brooklyn Museum of Art Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Downtown Gallery (New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nesjar, Carl, 1920-2015 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kienbusch, William, 1914-1980 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Solomon, Hyde, 1911- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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