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Archives of American Art
A Finding Aid to the Miriam Wosk papers, 1961-2013, in the Archives of American Art
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.woskmiri
- Creators:
-
Wosk, Miriam, 1947-2010
- Dates:
-
1961-2013
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
17 Linear feet
- Repository:
The papers of illustrator and artist Miriam Wosk measure 17 linear feet and date from 1961 to 2013. The collection includes biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, diaries, dream journals, writings, personal business records, scrapbooks, printed material, sketchbooks, sketches, photographic material, and photograph albums.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
The papers of illustrator and artist Miriam Wosk measure 17 linear feet and date from 1961 to 2013. The collection includes biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, diaries, dream journals, writings, personal business records, scrapbooks, printed material, sketchbooks, sketches, photographic material, and photograph albums.
Biographical material consists of an address book, interview transcript, driver's license, stationary, a short documentary about Miriam Wosk, two guest books for exhibitions, resumes, and other documents.
Correspondence includes personal and professional correspondence with friends, family, artists, galleries, and museums. There is a substantial amount of correspondence with Wosk's brothers and parents.
The bulk of the written material in this collection is comprised of diaries and journals. There are 25 diaries from the early 1960s to the late 1980s, one "dream workbook," and 26 "dreamwork journals" from the late 1980s to 2010. Aside from the diaries and journals, there are a few scattered writings such as artist statements, essays, loose journal entries, notebooks on Wosk's art practice, and also one folder of writings by others.
Personal business records mostly contain documents regarding the finances, management, and disposition of Miriam Wosks artwork in the form of sales records, registries, donations, price lists, and inventories. Other material in the series includes files on special design projects and studio practice files. There are also architectural plans and design plans for the remodeling of several of Wosk's residences.
There are 3 scrapbooks of printed material about Miriam Wosk and her art, and 12 scrapbooks of clippings of miscellaneous images, mostly art by other artists, that she found to be of interest.
Printed material includes exhibition announcements and catalogs, clippings, and magazines. Clippings make up the bulk of this series and they are divided into two categories: interviews and articles about Miriam Wosk, her art, and her residences; and illustrations created by Wosk for various magazines during the 1970s.
Artwork mostly consists of sketchbooks, loose sketches, and studies. The sketchbooks often include journal entries and notes.
Photographic material includes photographs, slides, transparencies, albums, and a few digital images. The vast majority of this series consists of images of Miriam Wosk's artwork from the late 1960s to 2009, with a few photographs of the artist and her houses. There are some snapshots of artwork by other artists which Wosk probably took for reference.
Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is arranged as 8 series.
- Series 1: Biographical Material, 1968-2010 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
- Series 2: Correspondence, 1967-2009 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 14)
- Series 3: Diaries, Journals, and Writings, 1961-2009 (4.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-7)
- Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1969-2013 (1.7 linear feet; Box 7, OVs 21-29)
- Series 5: Scrapbooks, circa 1970-2010 (2 linear feet; Boxes 8, 14-18, 20)
- Series 6: Printed Material, 1968-2013 (1 linear feet; Boxes 8, 19-20)
- Series 7: Artwork, circa 1970-2010 (2 linear feet; Boxes 9, 19, OVs 30-37)
- Series 8: Photographic Material, circa 1970-circa 2009 (4 linear feet; Boxes 10-13, 20)
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Miriam Wosk (1947-2010) was an illustrator and mixed media artist in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California. She was born in Vancouver, Canada to Morris and Dena Wosk. Wosk moved to New York City when she was 19 so she could attend the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she studied illustration.
She became a freelance illustrator and did work for many magazines, including Mademoiselle, The New York Times, and Vogue. Especially noteworthy is the cover that she designed of the first issue of Ms. Magazine in 1971. She continued her work as an illustrator through the 1970s and then moved to Los Angles, California, and transitioned to focus on her career as an artist.
In 1981, she commissioned architect Frank Gehry to redesign the apartment building she bought in Beverly Hills, with special focus on the penthouse where she would live. Wosk's creative vision transformed the remodeling project into a collaboration and she gave Gehry design plans for the tiles, stair railings, and other features of the residence. Wosk would hire architects for other properties she owned as well.
Once in California, Wosk immersed herself in her artistic career and went on to become a highly respected mixed media artist, frequently working with paint, pastel, and collage. Her artwork often incorporated a variety of materials such as crystals, wire, foil, clippings, glitter, postcards, and found objects. Her work is often described as Surrealist. Dreams and the natural world are often themes in her art. Wosk's artwork was featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions in California, New York, and across the country. In 2010, she died in Santa Monica, California.
Administration
Author
Rihoko Ueno
Sponsor
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by Adam Gunther and in part by the Walton Family Foundation.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Miriam Wosk papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2013 and 2019 by the Miriam Wosk Family trust via Adam Gunther, Wosk's son and trustee of her estate.
Existence and Location of Copies
The collection was digitized in 2022 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
Processing Information
The collection was fully processed, prepared for digitization, and described in a finding aid by Rihoko Ueno in 2022 with funding provided by Miriam Wosk's son Adam Gunther.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Use
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.
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
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Preferred Citation
Miriam Wosk papers, 1961-2013. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Keywords
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women artists | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Scrapbooks | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Sketchbooks | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Drawings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Illustrators -- California -- Los Angeles | Occupation | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Mixed-media artists -- California -- Los Angeles | Occupation | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Diaries | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Gehry, Frank O., 1929- | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Archives of American Art
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