Button (John) Nude Male Drawings, 1966-1976

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Summary

Title:
John Button nude male drawings
Dates:
1966-1976
Creators:
Button, John, 1929-1982
Abstract:
The collection consists of drawings of nude men made by John Button in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Button's nude drawings are documents of his connections with gay culture which included his presence in the initial stages of the Mattachine Society and the formation of ONE Incorporated.
Extent:
1.5 linear feet. 1 flat archive box
Language:
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder #, or item name] John Button Nude Male Drawings, Coll2013.015, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of 45 drawings of nude men made by John Button from 1966-1976. The subjects are identified as studio models from the School of Visual Arts as well as personal acquaintances.

Biographical / historical:

John Button was born in San Francisco in 1929. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, and later taught in Pennsylvania, Maine, Maryland and New York. Button and his partner Alvin Novak were involved in the early years of the Mattachine Society and contributed to the formation of ONE Incorporated. However, Button is best known as a Neo-Romantic Realist, "urban intimist," prize-winning painter. He is associated with the New York School of painters and poets, known for his treatment of light in paintings, with urban architectural elements contrasting with large areas of clouded skies. In addition to his works belonging to many museum collections, he also created a large political mural, since destroyed by fire, with Mario Dubsky for the Gay Activist Alliance Firehouse in Manhattan.

Lesser known for his drawings of male nudes, Button proposed a "frankly homosexual" show in 1972 as well as an exhibition titled "The Male Nude" at Hofstra University in 1973. Posthumous exhibitions include "The Body as Landscape" exhibition at ONE Archives circa 2002 and "John Button/ Paintings and Drawings from the Estate" at ClampArt in New York City, 2007-2008.

John Button died in New York City in 1982.

Sources:

John Button Drawings, Coll2013-015, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California

Button, John. John Button: An American Painter. Kean College; Union, NJ, 1984.

www.artnet.comhttp://www.artnet.com/artists/john-button (accessed May 2013)

http://clampart.com/2012/02/john-button-1929-1982 (accessed May 2013)

http://www.johnbuttonartist.com/ (accessed May 2013)

Acquisition information:
The date and method of acquisition are not documented.
Processing information:

Formerly housed in box A134. Collection processed by Jeff Snapp, 2013.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Jeff Snapp
Sponsor:
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Date Prepared:
(c) 2013
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-06-20T17:31-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder #, or item name] John Button Nude Male Drawings, Coll2013.015, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Location of this collection:
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007, US
Contact:
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
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