Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Alice Yamin Papers, 1927-1998, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.yamialic
Creators:
Yamin, Alice
Dates:
1927-1998
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of painter, draftsperson, and art consultant Alice Yamin date from 1927-1998, and measure 2.0 linear feet. Found within the papers are letters from artists, writers, galleries, and CIGY-GEIGY Corporation for whom Yamin worked as an art consultant. The collection also contains exhibition files, printed material, and photographs of Yamin, family members, and colleagues.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
The papers of painter, draftsperson, and art consultant Alice Yamin date from 1927-1998, and measure 2.0 linear feet. Found within the papers are letters from artists, writers, galleries, and CIGY-GEIGY Corporation for whom Yamin worked as an art consultant. The collection also contains exhibition files, printed material, and photographs of Yamin, family members, and colleagues.
The most significant series consists of letter files, which also contain scattered printed material and photographs collected by Yamin, concerning specific individuals and organizations. Represented within the files are artists Herb Aach, Ilya Bolotowsky, Ernest Briggs, Lily Brody, Fritz Bultman, Elaine DeKooning, Sideo Fromboluti, Fritz Glarner, Adolph Gottlieb, John Grillo, Buffie Johnson, Alex Katz, William H. Littlefield, Alice Trumbull Mason, Elizabeth McFadden, Daphne Mumford, Barnett Newman, Philip Pavia, Mark Rothko, Elsa Schmid, and Jane Teller; curator Henry Ginsburg; writers Barbara Nimri Aziz, Georgine Oeri, Gertrud Oeri-Sarasin, and Leo Yamin; and galleries including the Ingber Gallery and the Landmark Gallery. There are also letter files concerning the CIGY-GEIGY Corporation; for Alice Yamin's brother, businessman Frank S. Bernard, and the town of Chilmark, Massachusetts, where the Yamins spent their summers. Even though Yamin's responses to the letters are not included in the collection, this series illustrates the wide range of her friendships and associates in the art business.
Also found are exhibition files containing letters, prospectuses, business records such as loan agreements, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs concerning the inclusion of Yamin's art work primarily in group exhibitions. Printed material consists of miscellaneous clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs that do not relate to the exhibition files, as well as miscellaneous booklets, brochures, and a copy of the book American Drawings, Watercolors, Pastels, and Collages published by the Corcoran Gallery of Art which contains a reproduction of Yamin's work. Photographs are of Yamin, family members, and colleagues including Bill and Maria Lipkind, and Aaron Siskind.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 4 series. Letter files pertaining to specific individuals and organizations are arranged alphabetically; miscellaneous letters, exhibition files, printed material, and photographs are arranged chronologically.
  • Series 1: Letter Files, 1927-1998 (Boxes 1-2; 1.5 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1956-1982 (Box 2; 18 folders)
  • Series 3: Printed Material, 1949-1992 (Box 2; 22 folders)
  • Series 4: Photographs, 1923-1978 (Box 2; 2 folders)

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Alice Bernard was born on April 8, 1905 in Paris, France. She was brought to the United States as a child and spent most of her life in New York City. She married writer Leo Yamin who died on January 20, 1999.
Alice Yamin was a painter and draftsperson influenced by Abstract Expressionism. Beginning in 1950, she worked with a carbon medium, primarily producing dramatic black and white works on paper. She was also an art consultant for the international chemical firm CIBA-GEIGY Corporation that began collecting contemporary art in 1959 when it moved its headquarters from Manhattan to Ardsley, New York, a suburb of New York City.
Alice Yamin died on April 4, 2002.

Administration

Author
Jean Fitzgerald
Provenance
The Alice Yamin papers were donated in 1981 by the artist and in 2002 by Harry Smith, her nephew.
Processing Information
The Alice Yamin papers were processed to an intermediate level arrangement in April 2008 by Jean Fitzgerald.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Alice Yamin papers, 1927-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
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.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Consultants -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painting -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Draftsman -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aziz, Barbara Nimri Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aach, Herbert, 1923-1985 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ginsberg, Henry Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
De Kooning, Elaine Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bultman, Fritz, 1919-1985 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brody, Lily Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Briggs, Ernest, 1923- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bolotowsky, Ilya, 1907- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bernard, Frank S. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yamin, Leo Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schmid, Elsa, 1897- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Teller, Jane Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Siskind, Aaron Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Katz, Alex, 1927- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Landmark Gallery (New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fromboluti, Sideo, 1921- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lipkind, Bill Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lipkind, Maria Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glarner, Fritz, 1899-1972 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903-1974 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grillo, John, 1917- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Johnson, Buffie Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oeri, Georgine Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oeri-Sarasin, Gertrude Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pavia, Philip, 1915-2005 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Littlefield, William Horace, 1902-1969 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mason, Alice Trumbull, 1904-1971 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
McFadden, Elizabeth Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mumford, Daphne, 1934 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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