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A Finding Aid to the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Papers, 1909-2010, Bulk 1930-2010, in the Archives of American Art

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A Finding Aid to the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Papers, 1909-2010, Bulk 1930-2010, in the Archives of American Art A Finding Aid to the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Papers, 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010, in the Archives of American Art Catherine S. Gaines 2015 May 14 Archives of American Art 750 9th Street, NW Victor Building, Suite 2200 Washington, D.C. 20001 https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions https://www.aaa.si.edu/ Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 3 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 4 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 5 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 6 Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1924-1995........................................................... 6 Series 2: Correspondence, 1928-1990s.................................................................. 8 Series 3: Interviews, 1965-1990............................................................................... 9 Series 4: Writings, 1952-1999................................................................................ 10 Series 5: Diaries, 1975-1984.................................................................................. 11 Series 6: Subject Files, 1926-2001........................................................................ 12 Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1932-1992................................................. 16 Series 8: Printed Material, 1928-1992................................................................... 18 Series 9: Artwork, 1930s-1992............................................................................... 20 Series 10: Photographic Materials, 1909-2000s.................................................... 21 Series 11: Charlotte Park papers, 1930s-2010...................................................... 25 Series 12: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1930-2010............................................... 31 James Brooks and Charlotte Park papers AAA.broojame Collection Overview Repository: Archives of American Art Title: James Brooks and Charlotte Park papers Identifier: AAA.broojame Date: 1909-2010 (bulk 1930-2010) Creator: Brooks, James, 1906-1992 Extent: 20.1 Linear feet Language: The collection is in English. Summary: The papers of Abstract Expressionist painters James Brooks and Charlotte Park measure 18.7 linear feet and are dated 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Correspondence, subject files, personal business records, printed material, and a sound recording document his painting career, interests, professional and personal activities. Also found are biographical materials, interviews, writings, and art work. The collection also includes papers of his wife, Abstract Expressionist painter Charlotte Park, regarding her painting career, personal life, activities as executor of James Brooks' estate, and some material concerning the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation. There is a 1.4 linear foot addition to this collection donated in 2017 that includes 58 "week-at-a-glance" appointment books, three journals and one address/ telephone book of Charlotte Park; a hand written chronology with significant dates and notes; postcards and exhibition announcements sent to Charlotte and James; doodles; and a sketch, possibly by Don Kingman. Administrative Information Acquisition Information The majority of the collection was donated in 2013 by the James Brooks and Charlotte Brooks Foundation and an additional 1.4 linear feet donated 2017 by the Foundation. In 1979 James Brooks donated most of the material lent for microfilming in 1969. Separated Materials Correspondence, interview transcripts, photographs, and printed material were loaned by James Brooks for microfilming in 1969 (reel N69-132). With the exception of an address book, a scrapbook, and a few photographs, Brooks donated almost all of the loan in 1979. Related Materials Also among the Archives of American Art's holdings are letters from James Brooks and Sean Scully, 1980-1989 addressed to Theodora ["Teddy"] S. Greenbaum, and an oral history interview with James Brooks conducted by Dorothy Seckler, 1965 June 10 and June 12. Page 1 of 31 James Brooks and Charlotte Park papers AAA.broojame Available Formats Portions of this collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels N69-132 and 292-293 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm. Processing Information Portions of the collection received varying levels of processing after donation. The collection was partially microfilmed in the order in which it was received, except for the last donation from the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation, which was not microfilmed. All previously filmed and unfilmed portions were merged, processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared in 2015 by Catherine S. Gaines. A small addition received in 2017 is unprocessed. Preferred Citation James Brooks and Charlotte Park papers, 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Restrictions ACCESS RESTRICTED: Use of original material requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Access requires written permission from The James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Restrictions This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Terms of Use The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information. Biographical / Historical James Brooks (1906-1992) and Charlotte Park (1919-2010) were Abstract Expressionist painters in East Hampton, N.Y. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Brooks spent his childhood in Colorado, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Texas. He begn drawing as a young boy, finding inspiration in magazine illustrations and comic strips. Before moving to New York City in 1926, he studied at Southern Methodist University (1923-1924) and at the Dallas Art Institute. In New York, Brooks studied illustration at the Grand Central Art School. After exposure to museums led him to differentiate between illustration and fine art, Brooks enrolled at Art Students League. During this period he supported himself by doing lettering for magazine advertisements. From 1936-1942 he participated in the WPA Federal Art Project, executing murals at Woodside Library, Queens, New York (destroyed); the Post Office, Little Falls, New Jersey; and his famous Flight at LaGuardia Airport's Marine Air Terminal (painted over in the 1950s and restored in 1980). During World War II Brooks served in the United States Army as an art correspondent in Cairo. When at the Office of Special Services, Washington, DC, he met Charlotte Park who worked there as a graphic artist and later became his wife. The couple moved to New York City in 1945 and married in 1947. Brooks resumed Page 2 of 31 James Brooks and Charlotte Park papers AAA.broojame friendships with artists he knew from the WPA including Philip Guston, Bradley Walker Tomlin, and Jackson Pollock. Brooks and Park were especially close with Pollock and Lee Krasner; after they moved to Long Island, Brooks and Park, soon followed, first to Montauk and later to the Springs, East Hampton, New York. By the late 1940s, Brooks had turned away from figural painting in the social realist style and moved toward abstraction. In the early 1950s, he was experimenting with enamel, gouache, and diluted oil paints, staining various grounds in ways that produced interesting shapes, adding spontaneous splashes of color over which he painted more deliberately. In the 1960s he switched to acrylics, leading to wider use of color and broader strokes. Peridot Gallery presented Brooks' first solo exhibition in 1949. He helped organize and participated in the famous Ninth Street Show of 1951, earning critical acclaim. This assured him a place in two of the Museum of Modern Art's most important exhibitions of the period, Twelve Americans (1956) and New American Painting (1958). He showed at the Stable Gallery, Kootz Gallery, Martha Jackson Gallery and others. During his lifetime Brooks enjoyed five traveling retrospective exhibitions. Prizes and awards included Carnegie Institute's Pittsburgh International Exhibition 5th
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