Archives of American Art

Stuyvesant Van Veen papers

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.vanveen
Creators:
Van Veen, Stuyvesant
Dates:
circa 1926-1988
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
5.1 Linear feet
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Biographical material, correspondence, photographs, works of art, writings, project files, a scrapbook, and printed material relating to painter, illustrator, and cartoonist, Stuyvesant Van Veen.
Scope and Contents
Biographical information includes resumes, curriculum vitae, artist statements and profiles, membership cards, certificates, and awards. Correspondence is both professional and personal, and is with art galleries, artists and the U.S. Information Agency about exhibition exchanges with the U.S.S.R. Photographs are of Van Veen, his works of art, and works of art by Frances Avery. Artwork (portions filmed on microfilm reel 2026) includes numerous sketchbooks and sketches of artists, writers, musicians, scientists, and celebrities, caricatures and finished works by Van Veen, cartoons, illustrations, posters, Christmas cards, and book jackets. Writings include diaries,1928-1955, recording Van Veen's daily activities and notes and fragments of writings by Van Veen, including "My diary in sketches for 1942" with seven entries for January 1942.
Scope and Contents
Project files include the 1939 New York World's Fair mural for Hall of Pharmacy, the mural series Memorial to Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field Apartment Houses, New York, 1963, and the New York City public school murals at PS 8, The Bronx, New York. A scrapbook contains letters, photographs, and clippings. Printed material includes 72 photographic postcards featuring murals and sculptures of the 1939 World's Fair, catalogs, exhibition announcements, clippings, and off-prints. Also included are four comic books which contain illustrations by Van Veen under the pseudonymns Joe Lozen, Jack Camden, and Lester Raye.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Stuyvesant Van Veen (1910-1988) was a painter, illustrator, cartoonist, and printmaker in New York, New York. Van Veen was the illustrator for "The Fairy Fleet"; literary satires, Nation and New Masses magazine, and a WPA muralist.

Administration

Existence and Location of Copies
35mm microfilm reels 621, 922-924, and 2026 are available for use at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. It has yet to be determined if material on reels 621, 922-924 has been donated in its entirety.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated 1964 through 1986 by Van Veen and in 2010 by the New York Artists Equity Association via Regina Stewart, who found the material in Van Veen's apartment after his death. Among the donation are papers Van Veen lent for microfilming in 1969 and 1973. "My diary in sketches for 1942" donated 2016 by art historian Christine I. Oaklander who purchased the material at auction.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.

Related Materials
Also in the Archives are papers that were lent for microfilming on reels 621, 922-924 that include biographical information, correspondence, sketchbooks, photographs, a scrapbook, 1927-1941, designs for book jacket, exhibition catalogs and announcements, magazine articles and comic strips, press clippings, 1926-1966, miscellaneous, and sketches (some may be completed works).

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Caricatures and cartoons Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Graphic arts -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mural painting and decoration -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cartoonists -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Avery, Frances Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States Information Agency Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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