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Boime (Albert) papers
LSC.1834
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Albert Boime papers
Creator:
Boime, Albert
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1834
Physical Description:
64.8 Linear Feet
(151 boxes, 3 oversize flat boxes, 2 shoe boxes, and 1 carton)
Date (inclusive): 1941-2008
Abstract: The collection contains drafts, correspondence, notes, course materials, research aids, CVs, and audiovisual materials pertaining
to the academic career of art historian and professor Albert Boime. Materials in the collection span Boime's graduate studies
and lengthy career, including seminal research on Vincent Van Gogh, Impressionism and the French Commune, and a 6-volume History
of Modern Art written from a social history perspective. Though best known for his work on 18th and 19th century European
art, Boime's papers cover a broad range of traditional and avant-garde Art History topics approached from a social history
theoretical framework.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are primarily in English.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS UNPROCESSED DIGITAL, AUDIO, AND AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: Digital, audio, and audiovisual materials are not currently
available for access and will require further processing and assessment. If you have questions about this material please
email spec-coll@library.ucla.edu.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], Albert Boime papers (Collection 1834). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Myra Boime, 2007, 2010.
2010 addition consisted of 2 cartons containing film reels, video, audio, 1 notebook.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by Kimberly Williams in the
Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) with assistance from Megan Fraser, 2011. The processing of this collection was generously supported by
Arcadia
funds.
Additions processed by Krystell Jimenez in the CFPRT, under the supervision of Courtney Dean, 2018. The additions were integrated
into the existing arrangement and an audiovisual series was added. Unprocessed materials include 1 3.5 inch floppy disk, 3
CDs, 3 VHS, 65 audiocassettes, 1 Hi8s, and 7 16mm films. The 16mm films were processed and digitized by Chloe Patton in UCLA
Library AV Preservation.
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UCLA Catalog Record ID:
9967001553606533
Albert Boime was born in St. Louis, Missouri on March 17, 1933 to Max and Dorothy Boime, both eastern European Jewish immigrants.
In 1955 Boime joined the U.S. Army, serving in Germany before his discharge in 1958. Upon returning to the States Boime began
his studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and received his B.A. in 1961. He went on to receive both his M.A.
(1963) and Doctorate (1968) from Columbia University. Through his brother Jerome (1934-1977), Boime met teacher and social
activist Myra Block, and they married in 1964.
He began his career as an instructor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1967 and became an associate professor
in 1969. He was appointed professor of art at the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1971. Boime chaired the art
department at Binghamton from 1972-74 and was recruited by the University of California, Los Angeles in 1978. He served as
a professor of art history there for three decades. Boime passed away in 2008.
As a social art historian Boime was concerned with overlooked artists and ventured outside traditional research methods to
evaluate an artist's work. He approached artworks as social documents, not simply artistic expressions, and demonstrated how
artists are influenced by the historical events of their lifetime. Though Boime is best known for his studies of 19th-century
European art, his work touched on many genres including popular imagery in Europe and America and emblematic national monuments.
In the course of his career Boime authored nearly 20 books and over 100 articles. He also received various awards including
two Guggenheim fellowships (1974, 1984), a Rome Fellowship (1979), and the A. Kingsley Porter Prize for his Art Bulletin article
"The Second Republic's Contest for the Figure of the Republic" (1971). In 2006 a symposium on the social history of art was
convened at UCLA in his honor.
Quoting from the preface of his book
The Birth of Abstract Romanticism, Boime described his art historical intent, "By examining the political forces that motivated the art makers and finders,
and revealing the hidden mainsprings in visual production, I truly believed that I was contributing to the emancipation of
thought, at least in one small corner of the minds of my students and readers. Thus art history became my raison d'être, a
vehicle for enhancing the lives of my fellow citizens, while at the same time bringing about a nano-change toward social justice
in society."
Sources: Dictionary of Art Historians,
albertboime.com
The collection consists of notes, correspondence, drafts, and annotated photocopies relating to Boime's academic career. Additional
materials include VHS tapes, audiocassettes, and 16mm film. The papers include documentation corresponding to universities
and Art History departments where he was employed, syllabi and outlines for courses and seminars, notes associated with research,
conference materials, drafts of publications, and correspondence. The bulk of the collection consists of materials collected
as part of Boime's research activities. Research topics span a wide range, although the bulk of material relates to French
history painter Thomas Couture, imagery and symbolism of U.S. monuments and icons, artists and movements associated with his
Social History of Modern Art series, social issues, academies and academic painting, the Italian painter group Macchiaioli,
and comics and cartoons. Boime often revisited research topics after initially encountering the subject matter, so his files
may include materials from different decades on the same research topic. The addition contains similar materials and subjects,
and a greater number of audiovisual materials. Box 154 contains film reels that were digitized and documentation from the
processing archivist, Chloe Patton.
The collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: Career, 1950-2005
- Subseries 1.1: Academic life, 1950-2005
- Subseries 1.2: Fellowships and grants, 1973-2002
- Subseries 1.3: Department affairs, 1970-2004
- Subseries 1.4: Special projects, 1975-2003
- Subseries 1.5: Colleagues, 1980-2003
- Subseries 1.6: Students, 1987-2003
- Series 2: Course materials, 1978-2008
- Series 3: Research materials, 1941-2008
- Series 4: Lectures and conferences, 1972-2005
- Series 5: Publications drafts, 1970-2004
-
- Series 6: Correspondence, 1963-2008
- Subseries 6.1: Publication correspondence, 1979-2007
- Subseries 6.2: Specific correspondence, 1963-2003
- Subseries 6.3: General correspondence, 1964-2008
- Series 7: Audio and audiovisual materials, 1974-2005
- Series 6: Correspondence, 1963-2008
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Art historians -- United States -- Archives.
Boime, Albert--Archives.