Harold Weston papers, 1894-1978, bulk 1912-1972

Object Details

Place of publication, production, or execution

United States

Physical Description

24.3 Linear feet

Arrangement

The collection is arranged as 11 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers: Series 1: Biographical Information, 1896-1974 (Box 1, 38; 0.4 linear feet) Series 2: Correspondence, 1894-1975 (Box 1-3, 38; 2.5 linear feet) Series 3: Personal Business and Financial records, 1912-1977 (Box 4; 0.4 linear feet) Series 4: Associations and Organizations records, 1916-1972 (Box 4-10, 37-38; 6.5 linear feet) Series 5: Commissions and Project files, 1935-1965 (Box 10-12, 38, OV 39; 1.4 linear feet) Series 6: Freedom in the Wilds records, late 1960s-1976 (Box 12-13; 1.8 linear feet) Series 7: Writings and Notes, 1912-1975 (Box 13-14; 0.6 linear feet) Series 8: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1917-1967 (Box 14, 21; 0.6 linear feet) Series 9: Printed Material, circa 1900-1978 (Box 15-18, 38; 2.5 linear feet) Series 10: Scrapbooks, circa 1963-1977 (Box 17-18; 0.5 linear feet) Series 11: Photographs, circa 1900-1975 (Box 18-20, 22-36, 38; 4.8 linear feet)

Access Note / Rights

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Summary

The papers of modernist painter and activist Harold Weston (1894-1972) date from 1894 to 1978 and measure 24.3 linear feet. The papers focus on Weston's painting career and his involvement with humanitarian and artistic causes. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, association and organization records, commission and project files, materials relating to Weston's book Freedom in the Wilds , writings, artwork, printed materials, two scrapbooks, and photographs.

Citation

Harold Weston papers, 1894-1978, bulk 1912-1972. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Additional Forms

Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reels N69-76, 1293, and 515 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the collection as described in this finding aid does not reflect the order of the collection on microfilm.

Funding

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Use Note

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.

Related Materials

The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel N69-76) including biographic notes, exhibition material, clippings, a presentation album, and commemorative stamps. Some, but not all, of these papers were included in later donations. Materials not donated remain with the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Syracuse University also holds circa 14 linear feet of Harold Weston's papers.

Biography Note

Modernist painter and federal Treasury Relief Art Project artist Harold Weston (1894-1972) worked primarily in New York City and St. Huberts, New York in the Adirondacks. Weston was president of the U.S. Commission of the International Association of Art/Plastic Arts and the Federation of Modern Painters and Scultors. He was also chairman of the National Council on the Arts and Government and active with various political and humanitarian causes.

Harold Weston was born in 1894 in Merion, Pennsylvania into a privileged family. He attended school in Europe as a teenager, where he began to draw and sketch. In 1910, Harold contracted Polio which left him with a weak leg. After graduating from Exeter Academy, Harold entered Harvard University with the class of 1916 and was active in the Delta Upsilon Club and the Harvard Lampoon , for which he illustrated.

Despite his leg, Weston was determined to serve in some form during World War I. He traveled to Baghdad and volunteered with the YMCA. Here he started the Baghdad Art Club and organized exhibitions of soldier art. He remained in the Middle East until 1919 and served as the official painter for the British Army. The colors and the landscape of the region also inspired later works of art.

Upon returning to the United States, Weston built a one-room cabin in the Adirondack Mountains, where he lived and painted. He had his first one-man exhibtition at the Montross Gallery in 1922. In 1923, he married Faith Borton who moved with him to the Adirondacks. His wife inspired his series of "landscape nudes" which treated the body with different techniques that would typically be used in landscape painting. After suffering from a kidney infection in 1925, Weston and his wife moved to Ceres, France to recover. Weston continued to paint and started a family with Faith while in France. In 1930, the family moved back to the United States and lived in Greenwich Village, New York.

From 1936-1938, Harold Weston worked with the federal Treasury Relief Art Project and painted murals in the Procurement Building in Washington, D.C. The murals represent the growth of public buildings during the Great Depression. He took on a second major project to document the contruction of the United Nations in a series of six paintings. Later, the Smithsonian Instution received the paintings as gifts through an independent committee.

In addition to painting, Harold Weston devoted himself to public service by becoming involved in humanitarian causes, artist professional organizations, and federal government support of the arts. Weston served as president or chairman of three different organizations including the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, the International Association of Art/International Association of the Plastic Art, and the National Council on the Arts and Government. Before the start of World War II, Harold Weston was named the Chairman of Essex County Committee to Defend America, which argued for financial support of the allied forces in World War II. After the start of the war, he helped form the Food for Freedom movement which urged American aid for European and Asian refugees. Similarly, Weston served as Executive Secretary for the Reconstruction Service Committee which was established to assist the rebuilding of Europe.

Later in life, Weston wrote a book Freedom in the Wilds , which combined his own autobiography with a history of the Adirondack Mountain Reserve. Harold Weston died on April 10th, 1972 in New York City.

Language Note

English .

Provenance

Harold Weston lent the Archives of American Art materials for microfilming in 1969. Faith Borton Weston, Harold Weston's widow, donated the papers in several increments between 1972-1980 and lent materials for microfilming in 1977.

Location Note

Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001

Data Source

Archives of American Art

Record number

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9346

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211542

AAA_collcode_westharo

Creator

Weston, Harold, 1894-1972

Subject

Sizer, Theodore

Rosenfeld, Paul

Weston, Faith

Carmichael, Leonard

Mumford, Lewis

Phillips, Duncan

Dows, Olin

Roosevelt, Eleanor

Studio House (Phillips Memorial Gallery)

Adirondack Trail Improvement Society

Corcoran Gallery of Art

International Association of Art. United States Committee

Food for Freedom, Inc.

Harvard Lampoon (Organization)

Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors

Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA). Americans-in-Britain Outpost

New York State Council on the Arts

Phillips Collection

National Council on the Arts and Government

National Endowment for the Arts

Montross Gallery

Harvard University

Type

Christmas cards

Notes

Etchings

Speeches

Articles

Postcards

Poems

Woodcuts

Sketches

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Glass negatives

Lantern slides

Copper plates

Place

Adirondack Mountain Reserve (N.Y.)

Theme

Lives of artists

Topic

Painting, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York

Federal aid to the arts

Art and state

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York

World War, 1914-1918

Theme

Lives of artists

Record ID

AAADCD_coll_211542

Usage

Usage conditions apply