Looking for Walter Abell archives/info
KDL for Sandra Paikowsky
I am currently researching the life and work of the art-writer and
art-activist Walter Abell (1897-1956). Any kind of help concerning any
archival materials that may relate to his numerous activities in Canada
and the United States would be greatly appreciated! -- see more details below:
(Please e-mail me directly as I am not subscribed to the list -- Thank you!)
Sandra Paikowsky E-mail: sp...@vax2.concordia.ca
Details:
The American-born Walter Abell came from the Barnes Collection and
Antioch College to Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia in 1928.
During his fifteen-year stay at Acadia he helped bring modernity to the
Martime provinces' art community through several strategies. At Acadia, he
created the art department and taught the first courses in Canadian art
history. In 1935, he organized the Maritime Art Association, the first
Canadian regional art society. Here he developed an interprovincial
network for travelling exhibitions which he obtained from the National
Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Toronto etc. and from from American
sources as the College Art Association and Federation of American Artists.
In 1937, he spent the year at Columbia University and was
Supervisor of Education at the Brooklyn Museum. In 1940 he founded
Maritime Art Magazine which under his editorship became Canadian Art in
1943. He then left Acadia to spend a year as Education Director at the
National Gallery of Canada before returning permanently to the United
State at the University of Michigan. All of his Canadian activities were
funded directly and indirectly by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Abell constantly contributed articles on Canadian art and such
borderless issues such as the role of the artist in society. His writings
were published in Canadian periodicals as well as American sources
including the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticsim and the Magazine of
Art. He also produced two major art-theory texts, Representation and Form
(New York:Scribners, 1936) and The Collective Dream in Art (Cambridge:
Harvard Univ. Press, 1957)
Sandra Paikowsky
Professor, Art History Department
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
E-mail: sp...@vax2.concordia.ca Tel.:(514)848-4754
Lee Sorensen
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Professor Paikowsky and ARLIS-L:
Have your tried the Dictionary of Art Historians, a web reference work I'm
constructing? Its address is: http://www.lib.duke.edu/lilly/dah.htm
The Abell entry has very little information right now, but does list
several evaluations from several works not contained in your summary,
including both of W. Eugene Kleinbauer's books, "Modern Perspectives in
Western Art History" and his "Research Guide to the History of Art".
I hesitate to use Abell as an example of the DAH because it's an example of
an unfinished citation. However, the DAH is growing fast. In the past six
months, I've gotten funding to have graduate students index the historians
listed in both Bazin's "Histoire de l'histoire d l'art" and
"Archäologenbildnisse: Porträts und Kurzbiographien von Klassichen
Archäologen deutscher Sprache". DAH also has a key word search feature
that allows searching by such fields as art methodology (feminist, Marxist,
etc.) school of thought, or whom his/her teachers or influence were.
Even though the DAH is unfinished, and will be for a while, I bring it to
the attention of art librarians because of the information it can deliever,
not what's missing. Feedback is always appreciated. It's also already
listed on Chris Whitcomb's web art history pages.
Best of luck,
Lee
Lee R. Sorensen
South Regional Representative
and acting Web Administrator
ARLIS/NA
Duke University - Lilly Library
Box 90727
Durham, NC 27708-0727
Phone: 919/660-5994 lsl...@duke.edu
FAX: 919/660-5999 lsl...@mail.lib.duke.edu
http://www.lib.duke.edu/lilly/artlibry/artlibry.htm
Purgamentum init, exit purgamentum.