Diana Korzenik collection of art education ephemera and books, Approximately 1780-1982, bulk 1850-1940

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Summary

Creators:
Korzenik, Diana, 1941-
Abstract:
A collection of art education materials representing the evolution of art education in America, compiled by Massachusetts professor Diana Korzenik, and composed of instructional materials (e.g. art instruction manuals, art reproductions, drawing books, drawing cards, painting books, penmanship books, etc.), objects (e.g. boxed painting sets, drawing slates, models, drawing desks, colored pencils, crayons, paint, etc.) and non-instructional materials (e.g. promotional materials, scrapbooks, coursework by Korzenik's students, catalogs, etc.)
Extent:
134.1 Linear Feet (approximately 700 items in 112 boxes)
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Diana Korzenik collection of art education ephemera and books, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains approximately 700 pieces of ephemera that along with more than 500 separately cataloged books form the Diana Korzenik Collection of Art Education representing the evolution of art education in the United States from mainly 1800 to 1950. An archive reflecting specific techniques and values employed in the education of children and budding artists of all ages during this period, the collection was compiled by Massachusetts professor Diana Korzenik, and the ephemera includes 178 pamphlets, 40 serial titles, 277 coloring and drawing books, and over 200 artifacts such as wooden and metallic paint boxes, tracing slates, stencil kits, geometric wooden blocks, chromolithographed scenes for copying, sketchbooks, crayons, and posable wooden mannequins. In addition to actual artifacts used by students, the collection also includes theoretical and instructional books aimed at art educators, policymakers, and parents. Many of the items demonstrate more traditional ways in which art has been taught in schools and homes, including the copying, tracing and stenciling of prepared images, the composing of original images, and the filling-in of outlined pre-defined images.

The ephemera is subdivided by series:

  1. Series I: Instruction materials consisting of materials clearly used for didactic purposes, such as painting or penmanship books.
  2. Series II: Non-instructional materials such as student drawings, commercial catalogs, and material chiefly collected by Mabel Spofford, an art supervisor for Gloucester, Massachusetts, public schools in the mid-twentieth century. The wide variety of art education ephemera amassed by Spofford includes art educators' meeting notes, bulletins, summer school announcements, sample art projects, and other items reflective of her professional interests.
  3. Series III: Objects consisting of three-dimensional artifacts that would have been used for art-making purposes including raw material such as paint and pencils, and devices such as drawing slates.

Among the oldest items in the collection is a Thomas Reeves and Sons watercolor paint set (Box 75, Set 05) dating from 1781. The collection spans over 200 years, with the most recent item being a copy of Some Events in the Life of Walter Smith (Box 22 Evelope 26) from 1982.

Biographical / historical:

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Diana Korzenik (born 1941) attended Vassar College and then transferred to Oberlin College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history. After studying art history at Columbia University, she taught in Harlem for five years before entering the Harvard Graduate School of Education to study under Rudolf Arnheim. In 1972 Korzenik received her EdD from Harvard, and began teaching at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston shortly thereafter. In Boston she began the flea market visits that started her collection of art education books and ephemera. She went on to serve as professor and chairperson of the Art Education Department at Massachusetts College of Art for many years, as well as course instructor at Harvard University. Publications include Drawn to Art: A Nineteenth-Century American Dream (1985), Art Making and Education (with Maurice Brown, 1993), Objects of American Art Education: Highlights from the Diana Korzenik Collection (2004), and "The Myth of the Self Taught" in Grandma Moses : American Modern (2016), as well as several other books and articles.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Diana Korzenik, 1997. Box 15, Envelope 9-10, transferred from Huntington Art Reference Library, May 2000. Box 31, Envelope 18, purchased from Mike Kaplan, October 2000.
Custodial history:

The collection was assembled by Diana Korzenik over a period of nearly three decades. With the exception of the Mabel Spofford archive, which she purchased as a whole, Korzenik pursued each item individually with the aim of assembling frequently overlooked and misunderstood material. Korzenik utilized many items from the collection in her professional activities, including teaching and writing.

Processing information:

In 1999/2000, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funded a grant to catalog, digitize, and preserve the Diana Korzenik Collection.

This collection was organized into ephemera and book collections.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in the following 3 series:

  1. Series I. Instructional Materials
  2. Subseries A. Art Instruction Books
  3. Subseries B. Art Reproductions
  4. Subseries C. Cards
  5. Subseries D. Charts/Posters
  6. Subseries E. Correspondence Courses
  7. Subseries F. Drawing Books
  8. Subseries G. Drawing Cards
  9. Subseries H. Flyers and Magazine Excerpts
  10. Subseries I. Miscellaneous Pamphlets and Books
  11. Subseries J. Miscellaneous Periodicals
  12. Subseries K. Painting and Coloring Books
  13. Subseries L. Pattern Books
  14. Subseries M. Penmanship Books
  15. Subseries M. Prints
  16. Subseries N. Puppetry
  17. Subseries O. Tracing Books
  18. Series II. Non-Instructional Materials
  19. Subseries A. Catalogs
  20. Subseries B. Mabel Spofford: Artwork and Notes
  21. Subseries C: Non-Art Related: Miscellaneous
  22. Subseries D. Promotional: Art Supplies
  23. Subseries E. Promotional: Institutes, schools, courses, etc.
  24. Subseries F. Promotional: Instructional books, textbooks, and magazines
  25. Subseries G. Promotional: Pictures
  26. Subseries H. Ralph M. Pearson materials
  27. Subseries I: Rewards of Merit and Certificates
  28. Subseries J. Scrapbooks
  29. Subseries K. Student Drawings and Paintings
  30. Subseries L. Graduate Student Papers from various courses taught by Diana Korzenik
  31. Series III. Objects
  32. Subseries A. Boxed Painting Sets
  33. Subseries B. Boxed Sewing Cards Sets
  34. Subseries C. Boxed Stencil Sets
  35. Subseries D. Boxed Weaving Sets
  36. Subseries E. Chalk
  37. Subseries F. Charcoal
  38. Subseries G. Clay
  39. Subseries H. Colored Paper
  40. Subseries I. Colored Pencils
  41. Subseries J. Crayons
  42. Subseries K. Decals
  43. Subseries L. Drawing Desks
  44. Subseries M. Drawing Slates
  45. Subseries N. Dyes
  46. Subseries O. Erasers
  47. Subseries P. Ink
  48. Subseries Q. Models: Paper
  49. Subseries R. Models: Plaster
  50. Subseries S. Models: Wood
  51. Subseries T. Object Cards
  52. Subseries U. Paints
  53. Subseries V. Pegs and Peg Boards
  54. Subseries W. Pencil Boxes
  55. Subseries X. Pencils
  56. Subseries Y. Tools
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Art -- Study and teaching.
Art -- Study and teaching -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Art -- Study and teaching -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Art -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals.
Art teachers -- Massachusetts -- Archives
Artists' materials.
Artists' tools.
Crayons.
Copying -- Study and teaching.
Copying -- Technique.
Decorative arts -- Technique.
Decorative arts -- Study and teaching.
Drawing -- Study and teaching.
Drawing -- Technique.
Painting -- Study and teaching.
Painting -- Technique.
Penmanship -- Study and teaching.
Penmanship -- Technique.
Stencil work -- Technique.
Teaching -- Aids and devices.
Weaving -- Technique.
Artists' materials
Boxes (containers)
Catalogs
Cards
Chalk
Charcoal
Clay
Colored pencils
Copybooks
Crayons
Decals
Drawings
Engravings
Gameboards (board game elements)
Lay figures
Paint
Paintings
Pamphlets
Pattern books
Pegs
Pencils
Picture books
Pigment
Plaster
Prints
Rewards of merit
Scrapbooks
Slate
Solids (geometric)
Stencils (images)
Stencils (tools)
Student drawings
Study models
Tools
Tracings
Trade cards
Watercolors
Weaving
Wood blocks
Names:
Chautauqua Institution.
A.S. Barnes & Co. Barnes' national system of penmanship.
American Crayon Company, publisher.
Atkinson, Mentzer & Company, publisher.
Binney & Smith Co., publisher.
C.I. Hood & Co. (Lowell, Mass.), publisher. Hood's sarsaparilla painting book.
Charles E. Graham & Co., publisher.
Chautauqua Institution.
D. Appleton and Company, publisher.
D. Lothrop & Company, publisher.
Eberhard Faber Pencil Company, manufacturer.
F.W. Devoe & C.T. Raynolds Company, manufacturer.
Faber-Castell (Firm), manufacturer.
George Rowney and Co., publisher.
Ginn and Company, manufacturer.
Grout & Putnam, publisher. Grammar School Drawing Cards of Elementary Design.
Harper & Brothers, publisher. Harper's writing books : symmetrical penmanship with marginal drawing lessons for schools and families.
Ivison & Phinney, publisher. Systematic Drawing Cards for Schools, with Instructions.
Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co, publisher.
J.L. Hammett Co., manufacturer.
J.W. Schermerhorn & Co., manufacturer.
James R. Osgood and Company, publisher.
Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, manufacturer.
Koh-i-noor Hardtmuth AG, manufacturer.
L. Prang & Co., publisher.
Little, Brown and Company, publisher. Finger Painting: A Perfect Medium for Self Expression.
M.A. Donohue & Co., publisher.
McLoughlin Bros., publisher.
Milton Bradley & Co., manufacturer.
Milton Bradley & Co., publisher.
National Lead Company, publisher.
P.P. Caproni & Brother, manufacturer.
Perry Pictures Company, publisher.
Prang Company, publisher.
Prang Educational Company, publisher.
Raphael Tuck & Sons, publisher.
Saalfield Pub. Co., publisher.
Saml. Gabriel Sons & Company, publisher.
Stecher Litho. Co., publisher.
Transogram Company, manufacturer.
Wadsworth, Howland & Co., manufacturer.
Weber Costello Company, manufacturer.
Whitman Publishing Company, publisher.
William Dixon, Inc., publisher.
Winsor & Newton, manufacturer.
Korzenik, Diana, 1941- -- Art collections.
Korzenik, Diana, 1941- -- Private collections.
Pearson, Ralph M., 1883-1958
Smith, Walter, 1836-1886
Spofford, Mabel -- Archives
Korzenik, Diana, 1941- former owner.
Spofford, Mabel, artist.
Spofford, Mabel, former owner.
Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879, artist.
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot), 1805-1877, artist.
Bartholomew, William N. (William Newton), 1822-1898, artist.
Bartholomew, William N. (William Newton), 1822-1898 Bartholomew's drawing book.
Bartholomew, William N. (William Newton), 1822-1898 Bartholomew's national system of industrial drawing.
Bethune, George W. (George Washington), 1805-1862 Prospects of art in the United States.
Bush, Elmer Ellsworth, editor. Industrial and applied art books.
Campana, D. M. (Domenic Mathews), 1871- Teacher of oil painting and tapestry.
Coe, Benjamin H. (Benjamin Hutchins), 1799-1883, artist.
Coe, E. M. (Emily M.), artist.
Croasdale, Elizabeth. Easy drawing lessons for blackboard or slate.
Cross, Anson K. (Anson Kent), 1862-1944, designer.
Farley, D. H. (Dickerson H.), 1846- Normal review system of writing.
French, Thomas Ewing, 1871-1944 Lessons in lettering.
Harn, O. C. (Orlando Clinton), 1871-1955 Dutch Boy in story land.
Harn, O. C. (Orlando Clinton), 1871-1955 Dutch Boy's jingle paint book.
Harn, O. C. (Orlando Clinton), 1871-1955 Dutch Boy's lead party.
Herric, Pru, artist. Flowers, a paint book.
Hildreth, Ellen Stephens. Clay modeling in the school room.
Hodgman, Carolyn S., artist.
Hull-House (Chicago, Ill.), publisher. Hull-House year book, forty-second year.
Jacobs, Harry Wallingford, 1885- Drawing teacher : a Little folder of teaching projects for the art teacher.
Johnson, Walter R. (Walter Rogers), 1794-1852 Lecture on the importance of linear drawing, and on the methods of teaching the art in common schools and other seminaries.
Kemble, Marion. Introductory lessons in drawing and painting in water-colors.
Kerr, Rose Netzorg, 1892-1974 Design in dark and light.
Knudsen, Carl Wilhelm, 1818-1894 Knudsen's method of drawing instruction for schools.
Lemos, Pedro J.
Morgan, Lucius B. Grammar school drawing cards, of elementary design.
Munsell, A. H. (Albert Henry), 1858-1918 Munsell color system.
Nutting, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1803?-1887, artist.
Palmer, A. N. (Austin Norman), 1859-1927 Advanced edition of the Palmer method of business writing.
Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer, 1804-1894 Identification of the artisan and artist: the proper object of American education.
Pearson, Ralph M., 1883-1958
Price, Charles Matlack.
Purcell, Edward B.
Riker, John C., publisher.
Sarg, Tony, 1882-1942, artist.
Schuster, Sigismond, 1807- artist. Systematic drawing cards for schools
Seiss, Joseph A. (Joseph Augustus), 1823-1904 Arts of design.
Shaw, Ruth Faison, 1887-1969, artist.
Smith, Walter, 1836-1886, artist.
Smith, Walter, 1836-1886
Thompson, Langdon S. (Langdon Shook), 1838- Some reasons why drawing should be taught in our common schools.
Welby, Edward. Welby's book of alphabets : for ornamental penmen, professional letterers, and students, with practical directions for lettering, illuminating, etc ...
Wetherbee, F. I. (Frank Irving), 1869-
Wise, Marjorie. On the technique of manuscript writing.
Wright, Wynna, artist.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Diana Korzenik collection of art education ephemera and books, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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