WPA Adobe Building Photographs (Anikeyev)

Finding aid created by Monterey Public Library staff using RecordEXPRESS

Monterey Public Library

625 Pacific Street

Monterey, California 93940

(831) 646-3741

https://www.monterey.org/services/library/history_room/index.php

2023

Descriptive Summary

Title: WPA Adobe Building Photographs (Anikeyev)

Dates: 1940

Collection Number: PHO 925

Creator/Collector:

Extent: 42 photographs, b & w: prints; negatives; 7.5 x 9.5 in. prints mounted on 10 x 13 in. (26 x 33 cm.) boards.

Repository: Monterey Public Library

Monterey, California 93940

Abstract: The photographer Sibyl Anikeyev (Anikeef) was a student of Edward Weston. In the 1920s, she married Vasia (Vasili) Anikeyev, an opera and Russian folk and liturgical singer. After the Anikeyevs returned from Germany and Italy, where Vasia studied voice, they moved to the Monterey Peninsula. In 1939, Sibyl Anikeyev joined the Federal Art Project on the Monterey Peninsula, becoming the project photographer. Traveling on the Peninsula and along the California coast, she photographed landscapes, fishermen, and historic adobe buildings. Several of her photographs were published in the book, Monterey Peninsula, compiled by the Work Projects Administration in Northern California (1941).

Language of Material: English

Access

Access by appointment only; contact Local History Librarian or designated staff.

Publication Rights

Reproduction by Local History Librarian or other designated staff; may be restricted due to condition of the materials.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. WPA Adobe Building Photographs (Anikeyev). Collection Number: PHO 925. Monterey Public Library

Acquisition Information

Gift from Amelie Kneass.

Biography/Administrative History

During the New Deal, the Monterey Peninsula received $1,000,000 in funds from the Work Projects Administration to develop a regional Federal Art Project and to employ various artists to work on public art projects. Under the supervision of Amelie Kneass, the local Federal Art Project was headquartered at the former residence of writer Charles Warren Stoddard, Casa Verde, located at 303 Decatur Street in Monterey.

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection focuses on historic adobe structures built during the Spanish and Mexican eras of California. Monterey Peninsula, Salinas area, and San Juan Bautista buildings are represented. Each print is numbered, dated, and signed by the photographer. Several have the Art Project label attached to the back of the mounting board.