Finding aid for the Alexander Liberman miscellaneous papers, 1953-1997
Emmabeth Nanol
Descriptive Summary
Title: Alexander Liberman miscellaneous papers,
Date (inclusive): 1953-1997, undated
Number: 2003.M.30
Creator/Collector:
Liberman, Alexander
Physical Description:
35 Linear Feet
(35 boxes. Computer media: 2.74 GB [568 files]) and 2 unprocessed Jaz drives
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Alexander Liberman was an artist, photographer, and an influential art director of Vogue magazine
from 1943 to 1962, then editorial director of Condé Nast publications until 1994. The collection contains Liberman's drafts,
transcripts, mock-ups,
sound recordings relating to "Vogue project," The Artist in his Studio and other
publications. Also included are nine albums of photographs and clippings from Vogue and various newspaper
reviews.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for
the
access policy .
Language: Collection material is in English.
Biographical/Historical Note
Alexander Liberman was born in Kiev, Russia (now Ukraine) on September 14, 1912, and was educated in London and Paris before
moving to the United
States in 1941. Liberman, who is mostly known for his tenure as artistic director at Condé Nast and
Vogue for over 50
years, had a multifaceted career as sculptor, painter, photographer, writer and graphic designer.
In the summer of 1948, Liberman embarked on a project to photograph artists in their homes and studios. Many of the photographs
were published in
Vogue with accompanying text by Liberman. The project culminated in Liberman's book,
The Artist
in His Studio
, first published in 1960. According to the book's forward, Liberman's purpose was "to record and interpret with a camera
the
personalities and
ambiance of some of the leading European painters and sculptors."
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers except unreformatted audiovisual material and computer files, which are unavailable
until reformatted.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
"Alexander Liberman papers, 1953-1997, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2003.M.30.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2003m30
Acquisition
Gift of the Estate of Alexander Liberman. Acquired in 2003.
Processing History
Lora Chin Derrien received the collection and did preliminary processing in 2003. Emmabeth Nanol then reprocessed the collection
under Andra
Darlington's supervision in 2012.
Digital materials comprising 30 Syquest disks were processed by Laura Schroffel in 2017. Further processing is required on
remaining digital content.
Digital material
Selected material has been processed and is available online: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2003m30bd
Related Archival Materials
Alexander Liberman photography archive, 1911-1998, undated (Accession no. 2000.R.19). Connect to finding aid:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2000r19.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection is comprised of handwritten and typewritten drafts, corrected typescripts, layouts and mock-ups for photo-essays
in
Vogue,
The artist in his Studio, and other publications. Also includes correspondence, several
audio recordings, computer disks, and other media. Among the most heavily represented artists in the collection are George
Braques, Marc Chagall, and
Jacques Villon.
Arrangement
Arranged in five series:
Series I. Artist essays, 1954-circa 1990, undated;
Series II. Vogue project, 1956-1980;
Series III. The artist in his studio, 1954-1982,
undated;
Series IV. Other writings, 1956-1997, undated;
Series V. Miscellaneous, 1953-1997, undated
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Braque, Georges
Chagall, Marc
Matisse, Henri
Villon, Jacques, 1875-1963
Picasso, Pablo
Subjects - Topics
Art, Modern -- 20th century
Artists' studios -- France -- Paris
Art, French -- 20th century
Artists -- France -- Paris -- Interviews
Subjects - Titles
The artist in his studio
Genres and Forms of Material
Correspondence
Hard disks
Sound recordings -- 20th century
Video recordings -- 20th century
Drafts (documents)
Audiocassettes
Dummies (printed matter)
Contributors
Liberman, Alexander
Series I.
Artist essays,
1954-circa 1990, undated
Physical Description:
22 Linear Feet
(23 boxes. Computer
media: 1.64 GB [250 files])
Scope and Content Note
This series encompasses the many stages of Liberman's essays such as handwritten drafts, annotated typescripts, editorial
proofs, and mock-ups.
Also included are audio recordings and transcriptions on computer disk cartridges of interviews that accompanied his photographs
in the
Vogue project and, later,
The Artist in His Studio.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically with various subjects and cumulative files at the end.
Bonnard, Pierre,
1956-1960, undated
box 1, folder 6
Borès, Francisco,
undated
Brancusi, Constantin,
1955-1960
Braques, Georges,
1954-1960, undated
box 34, item C9, C11
Wire recordings
Scope and Content Note
2 sound cassettes : analog ; 3 7/8 x 1 15/16 in.
box 29, item CM1-CM5
Calder, Alexander,
1995
Physical Description:
0.4 GB
(45 files)
Scope and Content Note
5 computer disk cartridges (SyQuest); 5 1/4 in. CM1-CM5 contain 38 Tagged Image File Format files. Unavailable until reformatted.
Contact
reference for reformatting.
Cézanne, Paul,
1960, undated
Chagall, Marc,
1955-1960, undated
Drafts
1955-1960, undated
box 4, folder 1-4
Typewritten
Scope and Content Note
Pasted excerpts with notations.
box 34, item C3, C12, C16
Wire recordings
Scope and Content Note
3 sound cassettes : analog ; 3 7/8 x 1 15/16 in.
box 29, item CM6-CM8
De Kooning, Willem,
1996
De Kooning, Willem images (digital version available on-site only)
Physical Description:
0.2 GB
(33 files)
Scope and Content Note
3 computer disc cartridges (SyQuest) ; 5 1/4 in. Cartridges contain 30 tiff image files. Image files were converted to jpeg
for access using
IrfanView.
box 4, folder 7
Dongen, Kees van,
undated
Duchamp, Marcel,
1960, undated
box 34, item C7
Sound recordings
Scope and Content Note
1 sound cassette : analog ; 3 7/8 x 1 15/16 in. Wire recording.
Dunoyer de Segonzac, André,
1960
Feininger, Lyonel,
1956, undated
box 5, folder 1-4
Giacometti, Alberto,
1954-1960, undated
Gromaire, Marcel,
1957-1960
box 34, item C8
Sound recording
Scope and Content Note
1 sound cassette : analog ; 3 7/8 x 1 15/16 in. Wire recording.
box 30, item CM9-CM11
Johns, Jasper,
1996
Physical Description:
0.2 GB
(38 files)
Scope and Content Note
3 computer disk cartridges (SyQuest); 5 1/4 in. CM9-CM11 contain 34 Tagged Image File Format files. Unavailable until reformatted.
Contact
reference for reformatting.
Kandinsky, Wassily,
1955-1960, undated
Kupka, František,
undated
Léger, Fernand,
1960, undated
box 6, folder 5
Manesier, Alfred,
undated
Matisse, Henri,
1957-1960, undated
box 7, folder 5
Miró, Joan,
1960, undated
Monet, Claude,
1955-1960, undated
Drafts
1955-1960, undated
box 30-31, item CM12-CM17
Newman, Barnett,
1996
Physical Description:
0.5 GB
(73 files)
Scope and Content Note
6 computer disk cartridges (SyQuest); 5 1/4 in. CM12-CM17 contains 62 Tagged Image File Format files and 5 Adobe Photoshop
files. CM12-CM14 are
contained in Box 30 and CM15-CM17 are contained in box 31. Unavailable until reformatted. Contact reference for reformatting.
box 8, folder 4
Pevsner, Antoine,
1960, undated
Picasso, Pablo,
1954-1960, undated
folder 9, folder 4
Poliakoff, Serge,
undated
Rouault, Georges,
1954-1960, undated
Segonzac, André Dunoyer de
Scope and Content Note
See: Dunoyer de Segonzac, André.
box 31, item CM18-CM22
Smith, David,
1995, 1996
Physical Description:
0.34 GB
(61
files)
Scope and Content Note
5 computer disk cartridges (SyQuest); 5 1/4 in. CM18-CM22 contain 56 Tagged Image File Format files. Unavailable until reformatted.
Contact
reference for reformatting.
box 15, folder 4
Steichen, Edward,
1959, undated
Utrillo, Maurice,
1955-1960, undated
Van Kees, Dongen
Scope and Content Note
See: Dongen, Kees van.
Villon, Jacques,
1954-1960, undated
box 34, item C4, C10
Wire recordings
Scope and Content Note
2 sound cassettes : analog ; 3 7/8 x 1 15/16 in.
Vlaminck, Maurice de,
1955-1960, undated
box 11, folder 5
Yakovlev, Aleksandr,
undated
box 35
Microfilms
undated
Scope and Content Note
2 microfilm reels : negative.
Series II.
Vogue project clippings,
1956-1980
Physical Description:
3 Linear Feet
(2
boxes)
Scope and Content Note
Two albums of
Vogue clippings of Liberman's photo-essays.
Arrangement
Arranged according to original order, roughly chronological.
Series III.
The Artist in His Studio (1960),
1954-1982, undated
Physical Description:
7 Linear Feet
(5
boxes)
Scope and Content Note
Contains possible layouts for the book, correspondence, four albums of reviews, an audio reel and papers relating to Liberman's
exhibiton from
October 29, 1959 to January 10, 1960 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, titled,
The Artist in His studio: An Exhibition
of Photographs by Alexander Liberman
.
Arrangement
Arranged in two groupings: publication and exhibition.
Publication,
1957-1982, undated
box 11, folder 6
Book layout,
1957, undated
box 11, folder 7
Letters to Neil Jacobs about gift books,
1982
box 35, item R1
Tape 2. Book and the Artist: Alexander Liberman and Burton Cumming,
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 sound tape reel : analog, 7 1/2 ips ; 7 in., 1/2 in. tape.
box 11, folder 8
Checklist and exhibit scripts,
1960
Series IV.
Other writings,
1956-1997, undated
Physical Description:
2 Linear Feet
(3 boxes. Computer media:
1.1 GB [318 files]) and 1 unprocessed Jaz drive
Scope and Content Note
The series contains annotated drafts and typescripts, original title lists and layouts, and computer disk cartridges relating
to several of
Liberman's other writing projects.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically with unidentified at the end.
box 11, folder 9
"Beauty of our Time" in
Vogue,
circa 1961
box 11, folder 10-11
Introduction for Irving Penn's
Moments Preserved: Eight Essays In Photographs and Words (1960)
1960, undated
box 32, item CM23-CM28,
CM30-CM31
Prayers in Stone (1997),
1994-1997
Physical Description:
0.4 GB
(311
files)
Scope and Content Note
7 computer disk cartridges ; 5 1/4 in. SyQuest (CM23-CM28). CM26 is empty. CM23-CM25 and CM27-CM28, CM30 contain 18 Tagged
Image File Format
files; 5 Adobe Illustrator (.eps) files; 7 Quark Xpress Data Files and many other font and subsidiary files. 1 computer disk
; 3 1/2 in. Jaz
(CM31) has not been processed. Unavailable until reformatted. Contact reference for reformatting.
School of Paris/Imprints of Paris,
1956-1960, undated
box 12, folder 1-2
Original titles list and layouts,
1958-1960, undated
box 12, folder 3-4
Drafts,
1956-1960, undated
box 32, item CM29
"9 American Artists",
1994-1996
Physical Description:
0.07 GB
(7 files)
Scope and Content Note
1 computer disk cartridge (SyQuest); 5 1/4 in. CM29 contains 6 Quark Xpress Data Files. Unavailable until reformatted. Contact
reference for
reformatting.
Series V.
Miscellaneous,
1953-1997, undated
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
(2 boxes) and 1
unprocessed Jaz drive
Scope and Content Note
Mostly untitled and undated sound recordings and computer disk cartridges.
Arrangement
Arranged by media.
box 32, item CM32
Digital files,
circa 1990-1997
Scope and Content Note
1 computer disk (Jaz); 3 1/2 in. Label is blank. Unavailable until reformatted. Contact reference for reformatting.
Sound recordings,
1953-1960, undated
Dictaphone memobelts,
1953
box 12, folder 7
Papers from dictaphone memobelts
box 34, item C1-C2, C5-C6,
C13-C15
Wire recordings and slide,
1957-1960, undated
Scope and Content Note
7 sound cassettes : analog ; 3 7/8 x 1 15/16 in. Recordings are numbered sequentially from 1 to 18 with cassettes 12 and 17
missing. Some
recordings labeled with artists names are listed in Series I, although all wire recordings are physically stored in the same
box in their
original order.
box 34, item C17
Greece,
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 sound cassette : analog.
box 34, item C18
Untitled,
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 sound cassette : analog.
box 35, item R2
Tape 3. Untitled,
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 sound tape reel : analog, 3 3/4 ips. ; 7 in., 1/2 in. tape.