Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Oscar Van Young and Loli Vann papers, 1924-1994, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.vanyoun
Creators:
Van Young, Oscar, 1906-1993
Vann, Loli, 1913-1999
Dates:
1924-1994
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3.2 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of painters Oscar Van Young and Loli Vann measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1924-1994. The collection sheds light on the careers of both artists through biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, museum and gallery files, printed materials, and photographic materials.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of painters Oscar Van Young and Loli Vann measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1924-1994. The collection sheds light on the careers of both artists through biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, museum and gallery files, printed materials, and photographic materials.
Biographical materials include resumes, certificates and awards, writings that include O. V. Young's master's thesis and artist statements, and photographic materials depicting the artists, artwork, events, and family gatherings.
Correspondence includes letters from friends, correspondence with artist and author Louise Dunn Yochim about her book, Harvest of Freedom: Jewish Artists in America 1930-1980s (1989), communication with collectors, and correspondence between Loli Vann and O. V. Young during his painting trip to St. Thomas in 1953.
Personal business records include inventories and lists of collectors, correspondence with Bugatti publishing, exhibition files, and index cards that list exhibited works by O. V. Young and Loli Vann throughout their careers. O. V. Young's teaching files include documentation of courses he taught and his credentials. Museum and gallery files document consignments and prices, and include correspondence with curators, and printed materials such as brochures, clippings, and catalogs. Printed materials consist of articles related to O. V. Young and Loli Vann's art career, Enciclopedia Internazionale Degli Artisti (1971) vols. 2 and 3 featuring O. V. Young and Loli Vann, exhibition catalogs and announcements, miscellaneous clippings of interest, and two scrapbooks.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as five series.
  • Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1924, 1946-1988 (Box 1,4; 0.8 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Correspondence Files, 1943-1993 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
  • Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1936-1991 (Box 1-2, 4; 0.8 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Gallery and Museum Files, 1949-1994 (Box 2-3; 0.5 linear feet)
  • Series 5: Printed Materials, 1940s-1993 (Box 3, 5, OV 6-7; 0.8 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Painter and lithographer Oscar Van Young (1906-1993) and painter Loli Vann (1913-1999), were active in Chicago and Los Angeles. They were married from 1935 until Van Young's death in 1993.
Van Young was born in Austria but his family moved to Russia in 1918 where he received a scholarship to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Odessa. He moved to the U.S. in 1923, living with relatives in Chicago and working for a linen shop before becoming an apprentice in an engraving house and an artist lithographer. He lost his job in 1930 and began painting full time. Around 1932, Young met Sam Ostrowsky who soon became his private painting instructor. It was at Ostrowsky's studio that Young met Loli Vann and the two were married in 1935. The couple frequently exhibited their artwork in joint exhibitions and moved to Los Angeles in the early 1940s.
Over the next several decades, Young had one-man shows at many California museums and elsewhere in the United States, and was represented in multiple group exhibitions. He attended Los Angeles State College from 1954 to 1959, earning his bachelor's and master's degree, and subsequently taught art at Pasadena City College (1959-1973), California State University at Los Angeles (1960-1963), and elsewhere. His work can be found in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum, Israel Art Museum, Chaffey College, Smithsonian Institution, and private collections around the world.
Loli Vann studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and with Sam Ostrowsky. She exhibited her paintings at Los Angeles Museum, Los Angeles Art Association, Pasadena Art Institute, Chaffey Community Art Association, La Jolla Art Center, Cowie Galleries, Carnegie Institute, Corcoran Gallery of Art, and Glendale Public Library. Vann worked as an executive secretary for the Los Angeles Division of Labor Law Enforcement form circa 1950 to 1975 before retiring to focus on painting full time.

Administration

Author
Christopher DeMairo
Sponsor
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated by Lilian Van Young (Loli Vann) in 1994.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo in 2022.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Conditions Governing 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.
Preferred Citation
Oscar Van Young and Loli Vann papers, 1924-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women educators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- California -- Los Angeles Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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