Nummer Toegang: NL-Harkd-0740 Archive of Piet Mondrian
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Nummer Toegang: NL-HaRKD-0740 Archive of Piet Mondrian RKD – Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis (c) 2000 This finding aid is written in Dutch. 2 NL-HaRKD-0740 NL-HaRKD-0740 3 INHOUDSOPGAVE BESCHRIJVING VAN HET ARCHIEF......................................................................5 Aanwijzingen voor de gebruiker.......................................................................6 Openbaarheidsbeperkingen.........................................................................6 Beperkingen aan het gebruik.......................................................................6 Citeerinstructie............................................................................................6 Andere Toegangen.......................................................................................6 Archiefvorming.................................................................................................7 Geschiedenis van de archiefvormer.............................................................7 Geschiedenis van het archiefbeheer............................................................8 De verwerving van het archief.....................................................................8 BESCHRIJVING VAN DE SERIES EN ARCHIEFBESTANDDELEN..........................................9 0740.A Received letters of general character..................................................9 0740.B Personal papers.................................................................................11 0740.B.1 Papers regarding immigration to the U.S..............................................11 0740.B.2 Financial papers....................................................................................11 0740.B.3 Others...................................................................................................12 0740.C Notes, manuscripts and publications.................................................13 0740.D Photographs and reproductions........................................................15 0740.D.1 Photographs of family members...........................................................15 0740.D.2 Portrait- and studio photographs..........................................................15 0740.D.3 Others...................................................................................................17 0740.E Press documentation.........................................................................18 0740.F Deposited papers: Harry Holtzman archive.......................................19 0740.F.1 Correspondence.....................................................................................19 0740.F.2 Photographs...........................................................................................21 NL-HaRKD-0740 5 Beschrijving van het archief Beschrijving van het archief Naam archiefblok: Archive of Piet Mondrian Periode: ca. 1883, 1900, 1906, 1908-1909, 1929, 1935-1944, z.j. Archiefbloknummer: 0740 Omvang: 0.4 meter Archiefbewaarplaats: RKD – Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis Archiefvormers: Mondriaan, Piet Mondriaan, Piet 6 NL-HaRKD-0740 Aanwijzingen voor de gebruiker Aanwijzingen voor de gebruiker Openbaarheidsbeperkingen OPENBAARHEIDSBEPERKINGEN No access restrictions Beperkingen aan het gebruik BEPERKINGEN AAN HET GEBRUIK The archive is fully digitized, and can only be consulted using these scans Openbare archiefstukken kunnen op de leeszaal van het RKD - Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis worden aangevraagd. Citeerinstructie CITEERINSTRUCTIE Bij het citeren in annotatie en verantwoording dient het archief tenminste éénmaal volledig en zonder afkortingen te worden vermeld. Daarna kan worden volstaan met verkorte aanhaling. VOLLEDIG: RKD – Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis, Den Haag, Archive of Piet Mondrian, nummer toegang 0740, inventarisnummer ... VERKORT: RKD – Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis, Den Haag, Archive of Piet Mondrian (0740), inv.nr. ... Andere Toegangen ANDERE TOEGANGEN inventaris NL-HaRKD-0740 7 Archiefvorming Archiefvorming Geschiedenis van de archiefvormer GESCHIEDENIS VAN DE ARCHIEFVORMER Mondriaan, Piet Mondriaan, Piet The Dutch artist Pieter Cornelis (Piet) Mondrian (1872-1944) is seen as one of the most important pioneers of abstract art and his work is known all over the world. Born in Amersfoort, Mondrian started his career in the Netherlands by following the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten of Amsterdam (1892-1897). First working as a figurative artist, he developed his art from the style of the old- fashioned The Hague School to a more Symbolist and Luminist approach with influences from theosophy. In 1911 Mondrian moved to Paris and changing his name to ‘Mondrian’. His work became at first cubist and after that developed into non-figurative abstraction. During a forced stay in the Netherlands (1914- 1919) because of World War I, where he was living in the artist colony of Laren, Mondrian came into contact with Theo van Doesburg, Bart van der Leck and Vilmos Huszár. Together they founded the progressive magazine ‘De Stijl’ in which they published their ideas about truly modern art. Back in Paris in 1919, Piet Mondrian painted his ‘compositions’: works of art consisting of only black horizontal and vertical lines and color planes in red, yellow and blue. His art was admired en not understood at the same time. In order to make a living, Mondrian had to resort to painting portraits and copies on commission and also produced a lot of commercialy interesting flower pieces. Still he continued his search for the pure form of art he called ‘Neo- plasticism’ and was supported in that by the collector Sal Slijper who bought many of his – mainly early - paintings. He also had friends that looked after him, such as longtime friend Albert van den Briel, the Belgian artist/publicist Michel Seuphor and the Dutch painter Charley Toorop, who organized a raffle for one of his paintings to support Mondrian. In 1938 World War II drove Piet Mondrian away from Paris for the second time. With the help of his friends Ben and Winifred Nicholson he moved to London where he would spent the next two years. He left London because of the Blitz Krieg in September 1940 and moved to New York, where he arrived on October 3rd. His good friend Harry Holtzman (1912-1987) financed the passage by ship and arranged a studio for him. An artist himself, Holtzman greatly admired the work of Mondrian, whom he visited in Paris for the first time in 1934. Upon Mondrians arrival in New York, Holtzman introduced him in the New York art scene where he was immediately welcomed. There were many European artists that had fled World War II and ended up in New York. Several of them Mondrian already knew from his time in Paris, like Marcel Duchamp and Fernand Léger. 8 NL-HaRKD-0740 New York City inspired Piet Mondrian to take a new direction in his art. Boogiewoogie music and colored tape that came to his disposal, inspired him to break up the lines into small color planes, thus arriving at his final major artistic development. His last painting, entitled Victory Boogie Woogie, was left unfinished in his studio when Mondrian died on 1st February 1944. The artist had designated Harry Holtzman as his one and only heir. Geschiedenis van het archiefbeheer GESCHIEDENIS VAN HET ARCHIEFBEHEER Among the things Harry Holtzman inherited by Piet Mondrian, there was a cache of personal papers, containing letters, photographs, address-books, horoscope readings, an unpublished essay and other documents. Together with these personal documents from Mondrian, Holtzman also had a corpus of letters that the artist send him between 1935 and 1943. De verwerving van het archief DE VERWERVING VAN HET ARCHIEF In January 2012 the RKD bought the Archive of Piet Mondrian, including the deposited Harry Holtzman papers containing the letters by Mondrian, from the former owner, Miss Rhonda Roland Shearer, owner of the Art Science Research Laboratory (ASRL), New York City. Letters, manuscripts, photographs and personal items of the artist. NL-HaRKD-0740 9 Beschrijving van de series en archiefbestanddelen Beschrijving van de series en archiefbestanddelen 0740.A Received letters of general character 0740.A RECEIVED LETTERS OF GENERAL CHARACTER 0740.001 Letter by G. Benningsen to Piet Mondrian 1941 1 folder The envelope contains jottings on art by Piet Mondrian. 0740.001.1 1 0740.002 Letter by Anna Bergman to Piet Mondrian 1943 1 piece Includes a letter from the American Red Cross, that sent the letter from Bergman to Mondrian on January 31st 1944. 0740.003 Picturepostcard with reproduction of nightclubscene by the artist Colin n.y. 1 piece 0740.004 Letter by Valentine Dudensing to Piet Mondrian 1943 1 piece Concerning the purchase of the painting ‘Broadway Boogie-Woogie’ to the Museum of Modern Art. 0740.005 Letter by Zoe Dusanne to Piet Mondrian 1944 1 piece Concerning the purchase of two flower paintings by Piet Mondrian. 0740.006 Letter by Jean Helion to Piet Mondrian 1944 1 piece Concerning the sickbed of Piet Mondrian in January 1944. 0740.vb1 Letters and envelopes by Harry Holtzman to Piet Mondrian 1939-1941 and n.y. 4 folders 0740.007 18 October 1939, 1 piece 0740.008 May 8th, 1940 05-08-1940, 1 piece 0740.009 N.y. n.y., 1 piece Handwritten 0740.010 Loose envelopes and fragment of an envelope 1940, 1941 and n.y., 3 pieces 0740.011 Letter by Edna Mandel to Piet Mondrian, 1944 1944 1 piece Concerning an invitation for dinner. 0740.012 Letter by Carel Mondriaan to Piet Mondrian, 1938 and 1940 1938 en 1940 2 pieces