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Guide to the Papers of Trude Guermonprez, 1947-1976
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Container List

Box I, Folders 1-8

Series I: Biographical Materials, 1947-1977

Physical Description: (0.42 linear ft.)

Scope and Content Note

Contains personal and professional correspondence including a letter received by Guermonprez's husband after her death. Some letters are written in Dutch. Also included are photographs of Guermonprez; documents regarding her receipt of the Craftsmanship Medal in 1970; articles written about Guermonprez; and versions of her curriculum vitae. Items are arranged in chronological order though many are not dated.
Folder 1

Personal Correspondence, 1947-1971

Scope and Content Note

Contains correspondence to Guermonprez from friends and family.
Folder 2

Professional Correspondence, 1958-1977

Scope and Content Note

Contains correspondence to Guermonprez relating to her professional work.
Folder 3

Vitae, 1951-1977

Scope and Content Note

Contains chronologies of Guermonprez's career including teaching and exhibition history.
Folder 4

Awards: Craftsmanship Medal (American Institute of Architects), 1970

Scope and Content Note

Contains papers and photographs relating to Guermonprez's receipt of the Craftsmanship Medal in 1970.
Folder 5

Writings about Trude Guermonprez, 1950-1960

Scope and Content Note

Contains magazine interviews and newpaper clippings about Guermonprez.
Folder 6-7

Portraits of Trude Guermonprez, 1950-1972

Scope and Content Note

Contains photo-portraits and negatives of the artist.
Folder 6

: Photographs, 1950-1972

Folder 7

: Negatives, Undated

Folder 8

Telephone and mailing lists, Undated

Scope and Content Note

Contains lists of telephone numbers and mailing addresses, some handwritten and annotated, others photo-copied from address books and mailing labels.
Box II, Folders 1-6

Series II:  Professional Writings, 1949-1974

Physical Description: 6 folders

Scope and Content Note

This series includes draft and final manuscripts of public lectures given during regional and national crafts conferences, talks presented to weaving guilds and university classes, and articles written for publication. The writings are in English and some of the drafts are handwritten. In these lectures Guermonprez often discusses the tension that is created between the artistic imagination and the limitations imposed by the medium. Many of the lectures also discuss her approach to teaching. The series includes short artist statements about her own work and writings about the work of other weavers, the latter often issued as statements from a jury panel. Each subseries is organized chronologically, where possible.
Folders 1-4

Lectures and articles, 1949-1974

Scope and Content Note

Contains drafts of lectures and articles written by the artist.
Folder 1

1949-1954

Folder 2

1955-1960

Folder 3

1961-1974

Folder 4

Undated

Folder 5

Artist's statements and miscellaneous notes, 1949-1970

Scope and Content Note

Contains short statements written by Guermonprez about her work and artistic philosophy.
Folder 6

Writings on works of other artists, 1958-1972

Scope and Content Note

Contains drafts and finished pieces written by Guermonprez about other artists and their work.
Box III, Folders 1-4

Series III:  Workshops and Seminars, 1948-1971

Physical Description: (0.14 linear ft.)

Scope and Content Note

This series contains notes and brochures for workshops and seminars taught by Guermonprez including the weaving workshop offered at Pond Farm Workshops, a Bauhaus-influenced crafts school located in Guerneville, California where Guermonpez taught in 1949-50. Missing from the series, and from the collection, are descriptions of courses taught at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, where Guermonprez taught for over two decades.
Folder 1

Course/workshop descriptions, 1948-1971

Scope and Content Note

Contains brochures and drafts of brief descriptions of workshops and courses taught by Guermonprez.
Folder 2

Student comments on Textile Seminar, Fall 1973

Scope and Content Note

Contains commentaries written by students who attended a workshop taught by Guermonprez in the Fall of 1973.
Folder 3

Notes on weaving workshops, Undated

Scope and Content Note

Contains notes and correspondence relating to weaving workshops taught by Guermonprez including slide lists and schedules.
Folder 4

Proposal for video on weaving and the creative process, circa 1974

Scope and Content Note

Contains a draft proposal and budget for producing a video documenting handweaving.
Folder 5

Photographs of displays about weaving techniques, Undated

Scope and Content Note

Contains photographs of bulletin board displays demonstrating weaving techniques.
Box IV, Folders 1-10

Series IV:  Artistic Works, 1948-1975

Physical Description: (0.42 linear ft.)

Scope and Content Note

Contains photographs, negatives, and slides of Guermonprez's artistic works charting the stylistic and conceptual strands of her career. Represented are (not a complete list of works): painted warp weaving, "Leaf Study" (1948), textile graphics such as "Self-Portrait" (1951) and "Calico Cat" (1955), space hangings and banners "Arachne" (1963) and "Small Banner" (1965), stencil warp graphics, "Dusk" (1974) and "African Ancestor" (1970), double-weave tapestries "Alter Ego" (1970) and "We Are But Two Shadows" (1971), and curtains commissioned for three synagogues, Temple Beth Am, Los Altos (1968), Park Synagogue, Cleveland Heights (n.d.), and Temple Rodef Shalom, San Rafael (n.d.). Also included is a notebook containing sketches and technical plans for weavings, figure and landscape drawings and knitting diagrams.
Photographs and slides in this series are of individual works. They are mostly black-and-white format and are arranged alphabetically by title. Some works are not identified.
Folder 1

Sketchbook and weaving descriptions, Undated

Scope and Content Note

Contains a small, bound sketchbook belonging to Guermonprez which holds excellent examples of the artist's plans for weavings, some in color. The sketchbook also contains notes and figure and landscape drawings.
Folder 2

Exhibition brochures, 1964-1970

Scope and Content Note

Contains two brochures announcing exhibitions of Guermonprez's work.
Folder 3

de Young Museum Designer Craftsmen Exhibition photographs, 1964

Scope and Content Note

Contains a variety of photographs documenting Guermonprez's participation in the 1964 Designer Craftsmen Exhibition held at the de YOung Museum, San Francisco.
Folders 4-9

Photographs of works, 1948-1975

Physical Description: 4 folders

Scope and Content Note

This subseries contains photographs of Guermonmprez's weavings. Photographs are black and white and in color and are arranged in alphabetical order by title.
Folder 4

A-G

Folder 5

H-O

Folder 6

P-S

Folder 7

T-Z

Folder 8

Unidentified works and contact sheets.

Folder 9

Negatives of photographs of Guermonprez works, Undated

Folder 10

Slides of works, 1948-1975, Undated

Scope and Content Note

Contains slides of Guermonprez's artwork.