Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Thomas, Robert, 1924-1987
- Abstract:
- The collection consists of four boxes containing sketchbooks filled with drawings and sketches by UCSB Art Studio professor, Robert Thomas (1924-1987).
- Extent:
- 5.5 Linear Feet (2 cartons, 2 flat boxes)
- Language:
- English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Robert Thomas papers, UArch FacP 75. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Papers of Robert Thomas (1924-1987), professor of Studio Art at UCSB (1954-), including 65 sketchbooks with drawings and sketches in watercolor, pencil and charcoal. The subjects in these sketchbooks include the human body and face, animals, as well as other various shapes and objects. The sketchbooks are untitled. They are organized by date.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Robert Thomas was born on April 19, 1924, in Wichita, Kansas, and died on October 16, 1987, in Santa Barbara, California. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943 to 1946, he studied sculpture in Paris with Ossip Zadkine. He then went on to receive his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1951, and an M.F.A. from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland in 1952. In 1954 he started his teaching career as an instructor in art at UCSB.
He was primarily known for female figure sculpture, but he was also skilled in drawing and painting. Although an intensely private person, he was an unselfish teacher. For the students who sensed the promise of a life in studio art practice, Robert Thomas was a dedicated teacher and a loyal friend. During his thirty-six years of active teaching, he helped a significant number of students acquire the courage as well as the skill to contemplate careers as sculptors.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Robin and Liz Thomas, 2021.
- Physical location:
- Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Robert Thomas papers, UArch FacP 75. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Location of this collection:
-
UC Santa Barbara LibrarySanta Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-3062