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McElroy (Robert R.) Photographs of Happenings and Early
Performance Art
2014.M.7
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Title: Robert R. McElroy photographs of happenings and early performance art
Date (inclusive): 1959-2012
Number: 2014.M.7
Creator/Collector:
McElroy, Robert R.
Physical Description:
34 Linear Feet
(72 boxes, 1 flatfile folder, computer media: 1.37 GB (67
files))
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Robert R. McElroy's photographs
document performance art and exhibitions by New York artists that took place during the
late-1950s to the mid-1960s. Included are prints, contact sheets, negatives, and slides. The
collection features photographs of works by Jim Dine, Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, and
Robert Whitman.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials
described in this inventory through the
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Language: Collection material is in English.
Biographical / Historical Note
Robert R. McElroy was an American photographer who documented happenings and performances
in New York during the late-1950s through the mid-1960s by artists including Jim Dine, Allan
Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, and Robert Whitman. Their works developed a new genre of art that
was meant to be fleeting and ephemeral, but by capturing these early performance pieces
through his lens McElroy provides a glimpse into the development of this art form.
McElroy was born in 1928 to an Irish Catholic family in Chicago. His interest in
photography began when he was part of his high school's camera club, and in 1946 he enlisted
in the U.S. Army with the goal of joining the photographers of the Signal Corps. McElroy was
stationed in Vienna, where he became part of the 63rd Signal Battalion's movie team and
produced short documentary-style films. While in Vienna, McElroy became adept at using
hand-held movie cameras such as the Eyemo and Arriflex, and honed his photographic skills on
a Leica, which he would continue to employ well into his career. In 1948, he was sent to a
school for combat motion picture and photography where he learned to document unpredictable
moments and to remain outside of the action. This training would later contribute to
McElroy's skill at capturing the spontaneous movements of performance art. Four years later,
McElroy enrolled in Ohio University's photography program where he met the artist Jim
Dine.
McElroy moved to New York in June 1958 and worked several commercial photography jobs.
During this time he began to attend performances in Greenwich Village theaters and
reconnected with colleagues, including Dine, from Ohio University. Soon after Dine and
artists Marcus Ratcliff and Tom Wesselman established Judson Gallery, McElroy began
documenting exhibitions and performances. In January 1960, he photographed his first event
at the opening of Reuben Gallery's
Paintings exhibition
featuring Red Grooms, Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, Lucas Samaras, George Segal, and Robert
Whitman.
From 1960 to 1965, McElroy photographed happenings at various gallery and event spaces
including Judson Memorial Church, Martha Jackson Gallery, and Sidney Janis Gallery. He
captured seminal performances including Oldenburg's
Ray Gun
Spex
(1960) at Judson Memorial Church, Kaprow's
Yard as part of the exhibition
Environments, Situations,
Spaces
(1961) at Martha Jackson Gallery, and Whitman's
The
American Moon
(1960) at the Reuben Gallery. McElroy was given access to spaces
both during rehearsals and at final performances which allowed him an opportunity to
determine the vantage points that would best translate the immediacy of the events into
two-dimensional form. He used straightforward shots and close-ups, and captured views of the
installations from various angles.
McElroy photographed Oldenburg's works extensively and was often invited to shoot not only
his performances, but also Oldenburg at work in his studio. McElroy documented the
production, installation, and the opening night for
The Store
in 1961; and also captured Oldenburg and his wife, Patti, creating his well-known soft
sculptures at his 14th Street studio in 1962. He was present for many of Oldenburg's
performances from his early project,
Ray Gun Theater, to one
of his final works,
Washes, in the spring of 1965.
While McElroy photographed these happenings and exhibitions, he also worked as a printer in
the darkroom for
Newsweek beginning in 1962, and was promoted
to staff photographer by 1963. His activities in the art world lessened after his promotion
and by 1965, he focused his time at
Newsweek documenting a
range of events from cultural movements to political campaigns. He followed John Glenn in
his fight for the presidential nomination from the Democratic Party; covered Ronald Reagan
at his summer home in Santa Barbara; and shot images of Brooklyn's streets from the air
during the fiery 1977 blackout. McElroy continued to work for
Newsweek until his retirement in the late 1980s.
McElroy's images have been frequently used in accounts of postwar art and represent some of
the most significant documentation of happenings that took place in New York during the late
1950s to mid-1960s. McElroy passed away at the age of 84 in 2012.
Open for use by qualified researchers, except audiovisual materials which are unavailable
until reformatted.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Robert R. McElroy photographs of happenings and early performance art, 1959-2012, The Getty
Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2014.M.7
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2014m7
Partial gift of Evelyn R. McElroy in memory of Robert R. McElroy. Acquired in 2014.
Processed by Sheila Prospero under the supervision of Kit Messick from July to December
2014. Selected digital material was processed by Laura Schroffel in 2018. Further processing
is required on remaining digital content. Tif files were normalized to the JPG format for
access.
Selected moving image and born digital material was processed in 2018 and is available
online: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2014m7 and here http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2014m7av
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Born digital content will be made available through the digital preservation repository.
Material will be available on-site only.
Three serials were transferred to the library. These publications can be found by searching
the library
catalog for the Robert R. McElroy Collection.
Scope and Content of Collection
The archive is largely comprised of McElroy's photographs documenting happenings,
performances, and exhibitions by New York artists from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s.
Included are vintage black-and-white prints, negatives, and contact sheets, as well as a
smaller group of color prints and slides. It also contains a number of prints created by
Pace Gallery in 2012. A significant portion of the collection features photographs of works
by Jim Dine, Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, and Robert Whitman.
The artist files in Series I form the bulk of the archive and contain photographs of
artists' performances and exhibitions. These also include images of artists at work,
rehearsals, exhibition openings, and works of art. The majority of the prints, contact
sheets, and negatives are black-and-white but some color prints and slides are also
included. Notable performances found in this series include Dine's
Car Crash (1960), Kaprow's
Service for the Dead
(1962), Carolee Schneemann's
Chromelodeon (4th Concentration)
(1963), and Whitman's
American Moon (1960). A large portion
of the series features Oldenburg's work and includes performances such as
Circus: Ironworks/Fotodeath (1961) and
Ray
Gun Theater
(1962), as well as one of his last performances,
Washes (1965). This section also contains images of Oldenburg
working on pieces for
The Store (1961) and sewing his
well-known soft sculptures with his wife Patti at his 14th Street studio in 1962. The
photographs in Series I include both vintage and modern prints. Some artist files also
contain image CDs of McElroy's photographs or DVDs of artists' works and performances.
Also in this series are photographs of events, performances, and group shows organized by
galleries such as
Ray Gun Spex at Judson Memorial Church
(1960),
Environments, Situations, Spaces at Martha Jackson
Gallery (1961), and
New Realists at the Sidney Janis Gallery
(1962). There is extensive documentation of the Reuben Gallery, founded by Anita Reuben in
1959. This includes images of the first event McElroy photographed, the group exhibition,
Paintings in 1960, as well as photographs of Rosalyn
Drexler's solo exhibition of that same year. McElroy's involvement with the New York art
scene can be seen through the various events that he photographed such as the conferences,
artist parties, and exhibition openings that are filed in this series. Also included are
image CDs of various events and performances photographed by McElroy; some discs were
created by Pace Gallery.
The third section of the series contains prints from McElroy's negatives created by Pace
Gallery for the exhibition,
Happenings: New York, 1958-1963
(2012). This includes both black-and-white and color prints organized chronologically by
event.
Lastly, a small number of photographs of happenings taken by other photographers are filed
at the end of the series. Included are later prints of photographs taken by John Cohen,
Scott Hyde, Fred McDarrah, and Lucas Samaras.
Series II is comprised of McElroy's personal papers including correspondence, clippings,
and ephemera. Correspondence ranges from 1963 to 2008 and contains both personal and
business correspondence. Included are letters from artists such as Dine, Drexler, Oldenburg,
Richard Serra, and Whitman. The majority of the correspondence is business-related and
pertains to image requests for publication or exhibition, and to copyright issues. Some
files also include loan agreements, receipts, and notes written by McElroy. Clippings
contain articles about artists, galleries, or performance art, and some feature McElroy's
photographs. This series also contains a small quantity of artist or gallery ephemera and
miscellaneous papers.
Arranged in two series:
Series I. Photographs and media, 1959-1970, 1981, 2003-2012;
Series II. Papers,
1960-2010.
Schneemann, Carolee
Dine, Jim
Samaras, , Lucas
Kaprow, Allan
Whitman, Robert
Oldenburg, Claes
Martha Jackson Gallery
Sidney Janis Gallery
Judson Memorial Church
Reuben Gallery
Art, American -- 20th century
Conceptual Art
Happening (Art)
Performance art
Gelatin silver prints -- New York (State) -- 20th century
Black-and-white negatives -- New York (State) -- 20th
century
CD-Rs
Black-and-white photographs
Color slides
DVDs -- United States -- 21st century
Color prints (photographs)
Photographs, Original
McElroy, Robert R.