Scope and content:

Although Ray Johnson attended Black Mountain College with Ruth and Albert, he actually knew Ruth from Milwaukee through mutual friend Elaine Schmitt, who was also studying at MSTC. In fact, he was one of the people who convinced her to go to Black Mountain. His letters to Ruth, sometimes adorned with small drawings or collage, date from after he moved to New York (beginning late 1948/early 1949). There is reportedly very little of his early correspondence in existence; therefore, each letter has been described individually. Also of note are several sheets of typescript prose, including "What Is a Moticos," fliers from the New York Correspondance School, and various exhibition notices.

In a 1998 interview by Mary Emma Harris, Asawa said "Ray was one of the most talented that ever came out of Black Mountain. He would not go with the flow of New York or any art scene. He was always contradicting them or trying to knock them down from that pedestal that they were being put on. Artists going into this style or that style and Ray wouldn't put up with any of it. So, he was never the big name that he should have been but he was probably more talented than anyone that I have ever known."

Contents

Access and use