Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Tony Vevers Papers, 1947-2008, bulk 1960-1999, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.vevetony
Creators:
Vevers, Tony
Dates:
1947-2008
bulk 1960-1999
Languages:
Collection is in English.
Physical Description:
3.4 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of painter and art historian Tony Vevers measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1947 to 2008, with the bulk of materials dating from 1960 to 1999. The collection concerns his career as a painter and teacher and his research and writings about the history of art in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Found within the papers are correspondence, writings, subject files, printed material, and photographs.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of painter and art historian Tony Vevers measure 3.4 linear feet and date from 1947 to 2008, with the bulk of materials dating from 1960 to 1999. The collection concerns his career as a painter and teacher and his research and writings about the history of art in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Found within the papers are correspondence, writings, subject files, printed material, and photographs.
Among the biographical materials are résumés, a personal statement, the transcript of Tabitha Vevers's 1986 "Conversation with My Father," and applications for grants to study Provincetown artists and the history of the Provincetown art community from the 1920s to the 1950s. Personal and professional includes some letters to his wife Elspeth.
The collection as a whole—and especially Vevers's writings and subject files–focuses on the Provincetown art community, its history and significance. Vevers's writings include many lectures prepared for classes he taught at Purdue University and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, catalog essays, and notes. There are notes and research materials about artists Houghton Cranford Smith, E. Ambrose Webster, Edwin Dickinson, and Lucy and William L'Engle, and subject files about the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Long Point Gallery, and other galleries in the area, as well as a file of Provincetown-related obituaries and eulogies for Hans Hofmann, Robert Motherwell, and Jack Tworkov, with Vevers's eulogies for Tworkov and Myron Stout.
Printed materials consist mainly of clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements relating to Vevers and his art interests. Artwork consists of a small print and watercolor, probably by Vevers, as well as a pen-and-ink portrait by an unidentified artist.
Photographs are mainly of artwork by Vevers. The two images of Vevers show him as a young boy and in 1984 at work in his studio. There are several photographs of exhibition installations at the Sun Gallery in Provincetown, 1958-1959, identified artists are: Yvonne Andersen, Dominic Falcone, Red Grooms, Taro and Gwen Yamamoto.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged in 7 series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1962-2000 (Box 1; 1 folder)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1950s-2006 (Box 1; 0.1 linear foot)
  • Series 3: Writings, 1947-2008 (Boxes 1-2; 1.9 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Subject Files, 1954-2006 (Boxes 2-3; 0.7 linear foot)
  • Series 5: Printed Material, 1960s-2008 (Boxes 3-4; 0.7 linear foot)
  • Series 6: Artwork, circa 1950s-circa 2005 (Box 4; 2 folders)
  • Series 7: Photographs, circa 1950s-1984 (Box 4; 0.1 linear foot)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Painter and art historian, Tony Vevers (1926-2008) and his artist wife Elspeth Halvorsen (b. 1929) lived and worked in Provincetown, Massachusetts, as year-round or summer residents from 1955 to 2006. From 1964 to 1988, Vevers taught art and art history at Purdue University in Indiana. An active participant in the Provincetown art community, he was also an historian of the Provincetown art scene.
Vevers was born in London, England and immigrated to the United States in 1940, graduating from the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut and Yale University. Following college he studied in Florence, Italy, and with Hans Hofmann in New York City, where he met his wife Elspeth Halvorsen. The couple had two daughters, one of whom, Tabitha is also an artist.
Vevers, active in the Abstract Expressionist movement, had several one-man exhibitions and participated in over one hundred group exhibitions. His works are in the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, the Delgardo Museum in New Orleans and many universities, corporate, and private collections in the United States and abroad.
Tony Vevers died in Chatham, Massachusetts on March 2, 2008 following complications from pneumonia.

Administration

Author
Harriet E. Shapiro
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2013 by Elspeth Halvorsen-Vevers the widow of Vevers.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared in 2014 by Harriet E. Shapiro.

Using the Collection

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 materials requires an appointment.
Preferred Citation
Tony Vevers papers, 1947-2008, bulk 1960-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Arts are two oral history interviews with Tony Vevers, one conducted by Dorothy Seckler 1965 September 9, the second conducted by Robert F. Brown in 1998 July 9 and August 25.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Transcripts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Portraits Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists' studios -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Provincetown (Mass.) -- Description and Travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- History -- Study and teaching Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, Modern -- 19th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Study and teaching Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Abstract expressionism Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- Massachusetts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Watercolor paintings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians -- Massachusetts Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
L'Engle, Lucy, 1889-1978 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
L'Engle, William, 1884-1957 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Motherwell, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smith, Houghton Cranford, 1887-1983 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stout, Myron, 1908-1987 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tworkov, Jack Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Andersen, Yvonne Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sun Gallery (Provincetown, Mass.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yamamoto, Gwen Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yamamoto, Taro Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Long Point Gallery (Provincetown, Mass.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Purdue University -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Provincetown Art Association Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dickinson, Edwin Walter, 1891-1978 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vevers, Tabitha Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Webster, E. Ambrose (Edwin Ambrose), 1869-1935 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Halvorsen, Elspeth Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grooms, Red Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Falcone, Dominic Personal Name 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