Descriptive Summary
Biographical / Historical Note
Administrative Information
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Cindy Nemser papers
Date (inclusive): 1966-2012
Number: 2013.M.21
Creator/Collector:
Nemser, Cindy
Physical Description:
11.8 Linear Feet
(28 boxes. Computer media: .006 GB [9 files] and 22 unprocessed
3.5 inch floppy disks; 65 5.25 inch floppy disks; 11 optical discs; 5 zip disks )
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Cindy Nemser is an art and theater
critic largely known for her involvement in the feminist art movement of the 1970s. She was
the editor of The Feminist Art Journal from 1972 to 1977 and wrote the
acclaimed book Art Talk: Conversations With 12 Women Artists. Nemser's papers
contain her writings, including unpublished articles and novels, correspondence with many
artists, art critics, and book editors, and an extensive collection of Nemser's taped
interviews with artists and pioneers of the feminist art movement.
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Language: Collection material is in
English.
Biographical / Historical Note
Cindy Nemser was born in 1937 in New York. She found her love of art at a young age, and
although she did not pursue a career as an artist, she never left the arts, instead becoming
an art and theater critic as well as a proponent of the feminist art movement of the 1970s.
She holds both a bachelor's (1958) and a master's (1964) degree in English Literature from
Brooklyn College and a master's degree (1966) in Art History from the Institute of Fine
Arts, New York University.
In 1969, Nemser began writing articles that exposed the sexism that women face in the arts
with the hope of improving and expanding opportunities for female artists in the art world.
Many of her articles were published in magazines such as
Arts Magazine (of
which she was a contributing editor from 1973-1975),
Artforum,
Art in
America
,
Art Journal, and
Ms. In 1972, Nemser helped
found the
Feminist Art Journal for which she was editor and writer until
1977. Nemser has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her first
publication,
Art Talk: Conversations With 12 Women Artists (1975, 1995), was
a seminal work in the field of books written exclusively about women artists. She also
penned
Ben Cunningham: A Life With Color (1989), and a novel,
Eve's
Delight
(1982). Nemser conducted many interviews with artists and art
professionals over her active years in the art world, using her preferred format of audio
recordings to document the exchanges. Artists and critics she interviewed include Gordon
Matta-Clark, Lawrence Alloway, Eleanor Antin, Eva Hesse, Lee Krasner, and Helen
Frankenthaler. Many of the interviews were used as the basis for her articles and
Art
Talk
. In addition to her work as a writer, Nemser has also curated several
exhibitions focusing on women artists.
In Her Own Image and
Women's
Work: American Art 1974
were both created for the 1974 project Philadelphia
Focuses on Women in the Visual Arts. More recently, Nemser curated
Women's Work:
Homage to Feminist Art
at the Tabla Rasa Gallery, 2007.
Still an active feminist and writer, Nemser runs a blog entitled, "Firebrand: Cindy
Nemser's Forum" that can be found at cindynemser.blogspot.com. She currently resides in New
York.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers. Audio visual material and data disks are unavailable
until reformatted. Personal documents (Box 3, folder 40) are sealed during Nemser's
lifetime.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Cindy Nemser papers, 1966-2012, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no.
2013.M.21
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2013m21
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 2012.
Processing History
The collection was processed and cataloged by Kelsey Knox under the supervision of Laura
Schroffel. Digital materials were processed by Laura Schroffel in 2019. Further processing
is required on remaining digital content.
Digitized Material
Scope and Content of Collection
The Cindy Nemser papers highlight Nemser's most active period as a writer and critic, from
1966 to 2012. Series I includes correspondence with many artists, writers, critics, and
friends, including Lee Krasner, Audrey Flack, Helen Frankenthaler, and Eleanor Antin. The
series also contains correspondence regarding the publication of Nemser's writing. Many of
the business papers in this series relate to the work of publishing the
Feminist Art
Journal
, including subscription requests and royalty statements. The series also
contains invitations to and lists of lectures that Nemser participated in.
Series II spans Nemser's career as a writer, from her master's thesis to fiction to later
manuscripts and plays that were never published. While much of the material is related to
the feminist art movement, there are also several stories and plays written with other
themes, such as relationships between mothers and daughters. Several manuscripts are
cowritten with her daughter, Catherine.
Series III contains mostly recorded interviews with many artists and spouses of artists,
particularly those involved in the feminist art movement. Some of these interviews include
Vito Acconci, Lawrence Alloway, Lynda Benglis, Gordon Matta-Clark, Diane Burko, Ben
Cunningham, Chuck Close, Sonia Delaunay, Helen Frankenthaler, Eva Hesse, Grace Hartigan,
Lila Katzen, Hilton Kramer, Alice Neel, Louise Nevelson, and Lil Picard. Many of these
valuable interviews informed Nemser's book,
Art Talk: Conversations With 12 Women
Artists
, as well as most of her articles, both published and unpublished. Nemser's
recordings also capture proceedings from the Ad Hoc Women Artists' Committee and the College
Art Association's first Women's Caucus.
Arrangement
Arranged in three series:
Series I. Correspondence and business papers, 1966-2012;
Series II.
Writings, 1968-2011;
Series III.
Interviews and other recordings, 1969-2006.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Delaunay, Sonia
Hartigan, Grace
Burko, Diane, 1945-
Antin, Eleanor
Alloway, Lawrence, 1926-1990
Sleigh, Sylvia
Neel, Alice, 1900-1984
Cunningham, Ben,
1904-1975
Katzen, Lila
Kramer, Hilton
Benglis, Lynda,
1941-
Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988
Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984
Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011
Matta-Clark, Gordon, 1943-1978
Acconci, Vito, 1940-2017
Close, Chuck, 1940-
Flack, Audrey
Hesse, Eva, 1936-1970
Subjects - Topics
Women artists -- Interviews
Feminism in art -- Exhibitions
Feminism and art
Feminism in art -- United States -- 20th century
Artists -- Interviews
Genres and Forms of Material
Color slides
Black-and-white photographs
Color photographs
Sound recordings -- 20th century
Interviews -- United States -- 20th century
Scripts
Floppy disks
Contributors
Nemser, Cindy