Liza Kirwin

Archives of American Art

From the weekly shopping list to the Ten Commandments, our lives are shaped by lists. Whether dashed off as a quick reminder, or carefully constructed as an inventory, this humble form of documentation provides insight into its maker's personal habits and decision-making processes. This is especially true for artists, whose day-to-day acts of living and art-making overlap and inform each other. Artists' lists shed uncover a host of unbeknownst motivations, attitudes, and opinions about their work and the work of others. Lists presents almost seventy artifacts, including "to do" lists, membership lists, lists of paintings sold, lists of books to read, lists of appointments made and met, lists of supplies to get, lists of places to see, and lists of people who are "in." At times introspective, humorous, and resolute, but always revealing and engaging, Lists is a unique firsthand account of American cultural history that augments the personal biographies of some of the most celebrated and revered artists of thelast two centuries. Many of the lists are historically important, throwing a flood of light on a moment, movement, or event; others are private, providing an intimate view of an artist's personal life: Pablo Picasso itemized his recommendations for the Armory Show in 1912; architect Eero Saarinen enumerated the good qualities of the then New York Times art editor and critic Aline Bernstein, his second wife; sculptor Alexander Calder's address book reveals the whos who of the Parisian avant-garde in the early twentieth century. In the hands of their creators, these artifacts become works of art in and of themselves. Lists includes rarely seen specimens by Vito Acconci, Leo Castelli, Joseph Cornell, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, H. L. Mencken, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Richard Pousette-Dart, Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Andrew Wyeth.

To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts, and Other Artists' Enumerations from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art

Lists

"Even in our age of emails, texts, and tweets, there is a growing fascination with the simple act of putting pen to paper. Associations such as the International Association of Master Penmen and The Society for Italic Handwriting keep the traditions of calligraphy and penmanship alive, script typefaces continue to be bestsellers, and hand-drawn display type and packaging of all sorts are having their own renaissance. The Art of Handwriting builds on this interest, revealing how the simple act of writing a letter can be an artistic act. This correspondence from the collections of the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art show that an artist might put pen to paper just as he or she would craft a line in a drawing. Brief essays from curators and art historians explore what can be learned from the handwriting of celebrated artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Isamu Noguchi, Willem de Kooning, Thomas Eakins, Sister Corita Kent, and many others. Each letter is accompanied by an archival image of the artist or an artwork that is described in relation to the handwriting. The Art of Handwriting provides a fresh way to think about artists and their creative work"--

Archives of American Art

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