Guide to the Blair Paltridge Collection M1257

Department of Special Collections and University Archives
2016
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu


Language of Material: English
Contributing Institution: Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Blair Paltridge collection
creator: Paltridge, Blair
Identifier/Call Number: M1257
Physical Description: 4.75 Linear Feet (10 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1960-1995
Abstract: The papers of photographer and art historian Blair Paltridge contain negatives, study slides, audio interviews, and exhibit catalogs pertaining to his research on Mexican and Latin American art.

Scope and Contents

This collection's focus is on Paltridge's extensive research on modern Mexican art and artists, and contains material on Edmundo Aquino, Armando Colina, Nicholas Dunphy, Felipe Ehrenberg, Alicia Esesarte, Byron Gálvez, Julia Lopez, Luis Nishazawa, Gerard Portillo Ortiz, Mario Pani, Antonio Rodríguez, Vicente Rojo, Antonio Serra, Raquel Tibol, and Rufino Tomayo. There are approximately 3,000 negatives of Paltridge's own work documenting Latin American art and artists, 2,000 study slides of European and pre-Columbian art, 19 audio cassettes of interviews with Latin American artists, two artist's books (Felipe Ehrenberg and Garcia Ponce), a framed engraving by Nicholas Dunphy, and exhibit catalogs and exhibit announcements.

Related Materials

Stanford Special Collections also holds Paltridge's Mexican art photographic negatives, 1972-1987 (MSS PHOTO 204): https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4471137

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.

Conditions Governing Use

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was purchased by Stanford University, Special Collections in 2001.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Blair Paltridge collection (M1257). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Biographical / Historical

Blair Allen Paltridge (1947-1999) was a photographer and art historian. While attending San Francisco State University in 1967, Paltridge published an erotic poem by Jefferson Poland in a magazine called Open Process. Both were subsequently suspended from SFSU, and the ACLU successfully defended them. Paltridge also documented queer theater group The Cockettes as well as many West Coast artists of the 1970s, and was also an editor for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Later he became deeply involved with contemporary Latin American art, including writing, documenting and curating exhibitions.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Art, Latin American.
Art, Mexican.
Paltridge, Blair

box 1

Audiocassettes (19)

box 2

Floppy disks (65)

box 3

Four binders of slides: 1. Pompei, Impressionists, Contemporary; 2. Primitivism; 3. Prehispanic Art Course; 4. Rembrandt, Durer, Greece, Renaissance, Ingres.

box 4

Exhibit Catalogs

box 5

Exhibit Catalogs

box 6

Exhibit Catalogs

box 7

Negatives

box 8

Negatives

box 9

Three binders of slides: 1. Maya stelae, Maya sites, Peru, Mixtec, Zapotec; 2. History of Photography; 3. Sites, Codices, Tamayo Museum, Tiatitco, Tula, Aztecs, Olmecs

box 10, folder 1

Nicholas Dunphy engraving

box 10, folder 2

Oversize exhibit catalogs