"A Thousand Kisses: Love Letters from the Archives of American Art" Exhibition
Archives of American Art New York Research Center Gallery
This event has ended.
Love letters bring out the voyeur in most of us. These deeply personal communications have the power to make us blush or, at the very least, to let us observe a tender moment in the complex lives of others. This selection of affectionate communiqués to and from American artists gives us insight into the lives of painters, sculptors, illustrators, and others—their relationships, perceptions, and creative energies—from the mid-19th century to the late 20th. They also allow us to empathize with artists through the most universal of human emotions: love in all its permutations. Drawn from the collections of the Archives of American Art, the letters presented here cover a range of intensity, from sexual passion to the devotion of a parent, and from the durable bonds of friendship to the enthusiasm of fans. Many of the exhibited letters also appear in the book "With Love: Artists' Letters and Illustrated Notes" by Liza Kirwin and Joan Lord.
[Image: Xavier Gonzalez "I went to buy the Sunday Times" (no date) handwritten, illustrated paper 21 x 22 cm. Xavier Gonzalez papers, 1905-1970. Courtesy of the Archives of American Art.]
Media
Schedule
from January 29, 2009 to March 27, 2009
Artist(s)
Italo Scanga, Dale Chihuly, Patti Warashina, Robert Sperry, Xavier Gonzalez, Ethel Edwards, Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell, Michael Goldberg, Moses Soyer, David Soyer, Frida Kahlo, Nickolas Muray, Konrad and Florence Cramer, Rockwell Kent, Frances Kent, Paul and Grace Bransom, Olin Levi Warner, Cynthia Hart, Waldo Peirce