Edward F. Fry Papers Ms
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Edward F. Fry papers Ms. Coll. 651 Finding aid prepared by Donna Brandolisio. Last updated on January 22, 2018. University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts 2010 Edward F. Fry papers Table of Contents Summary Information....................................................................................................................................3 Biography/History..........................................................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents....................................................................................................................................... 7 Administrative Information........................................................................................................................... 9 Controlled Access Headings..........................................................................................................................9 Collection Inventory.................................................................................................................................... 11 Correspondence......................................................................................................................................11 Exhibitions............................................................................................................................................. 48 Writings..................................................................................................................................................57 Research................................................................................................................................................. 71 Memorabilia........................................................................................................................................... 78 Miscellaneous and Oversized Materials................................................................................................82 - Page 2 - Edward F. Fry papers Summary Information Repository University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Creator Fry, Edward F. Title Edward F. Fry papers Call number Ms. Coll. 651 Date circa 1947-1992 Extent 66 boxes Language English Abstract Comprising documents related to Fry’s life and career: correspondence, research, and letters from numerous artists and colleagues, handwritten lectures, typescript essays, over 1000 photographs of artists’ works with special interest in Pablo Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz, Henri Laurens, and David Smith. Correspondence with artists (some include slides and drawings), curators, art historians, and museums. Highlights of curated exhibitions include the 1967 5th Guggenheim International Exhibition, the 1969 David Smith retrospective, the canceled 1971 Hans Haacke exhibition, and the 1987 Documenta 8. Materials related to Fry’s special interest in cubism, specifically Pablo Picasso, include the book Cubism, lectures, notes, photographs, and research. - Page 3 - Edward F. Fry papers Cite as: Edward F. Fry papers, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Biography/History The papers of Edward Fort Fry (1935-1992) reveal the prestige and controversy surrounding the career of an art historian and curator. As an associate curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from 1967 to 1971, Edward Fry experienced accolades in 1969 for his work on the David Smith Retrospective and frustration in 1971 regarding the cancellation of the Hans Haacke exhibition, which lead to Fry’s dismissal. From the early 1960s to 1992, Fry contributed to and curated exhibitions; wrote articles, exhibition catalogs, and essays; taught the history of art and participated in lecture series at several universities; introduced unknown artists from eastern Europe and Asia to the United States; and maintained correspondence with artists and colleagues from around the world. Born 6 May 1935 to Dr. Wilfred Elyes Fry (1899-1976) and Irene Fort Fry (1899-1984), Edward Fry and his sister Margaret resided with their parents in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia. Fry attended the distinguished, all-boys Haverford School from 1947 to 1953, achieving academic excellence in science and math. He attended Princeton University in 1957 where he received his Bachelor of Arts in English literature. Accepted to Harvard University, Fry initially planned to study law but withdrew after the first semester and then enrolled in the fine arts department. He worked with Louis Grodecki on a thesis entitled “Thierry and Champart at Jumièges: the Construction of Notre-Dame and the Romanesque Capitals,” and with Frederick B. Deknatel on his dissertation. During his time at Harvard, Fry was a teaching fellow and became curator and trustee of the Museum of Art, Oqunquit, Maine, where he worked closely with artist Henry Strater. Receiving a Fulbright Fellowship from 1961 to 1963, Fry spent the majority of his time researching and studying in Europe, chiefly in Paris, where he formed invaluable relationships with artists and historians and began his life-long study of sculpture and cubism, as well as his in-depth research and investigation of Pablo Picasso. During his research fellowship Fry traveled extensively, noting places, names, and dinners in his calendars, such as meetings with futurist painter Gino Severini. Personal correspondence with contemporary scholars William Innes Homer and Robert Rosenblum provides a glimpse into the guarding and sharing of information among scholars, as well as rivalries and gossip from home. For instance, during Fry’s sojourn in Paris, scholars and colleagues presented Fry with their own research questions, taking advantage of a contact in Europe, and asking that their queries be kept confidential. One friend and colleague, William Innes Homer, working on a monograph of Georges Seurat, asked Fry to procure— with detailed instructions—copies of documents held by Paul Signac’s daughter. In a 9 February 1962 - Page 4 - Edward F. Fry papers letter Homer relays, “. I (unlike Rewald , etc.) am not out to exploit her and her mother’s material; but I do and will need her help, document-wise, if I keep on with Seurat . (this is still secret by the way).” Correspondence of this type reveals not only the guarding of original research but also the ways in which scholars gathered source material. Fry was able to build intellectual and congenial relationships with artists and their family and friends. This ability aided in his research on cubism, evidenced in the many pages of correspondence, with Rubin Lipchitz, brother of sculptor Jacques Lipchitz. Discussions of Lipchitz’s sculpture and cubism run throughout their letters. An outline regarding the development of sculpture and cubism in Rubin Lipchitz’s hand serves as one example of their close relationship during Fry’s stay in Paris. Preserved are extensive and copious notes on Jacques Lipchitz, Pablo Picasso, Henri Laurens, and futurism, in original card files with notes from interviews, including photographs of works. The resulting volume from Fry’s Fulbright Fellowship, entitled Cubism, was published by McGraw-Hill Book Company in 1966 and subsequently published in German and Italian. After completing his Fulbright Fellowship, Fry was an instructor in the history of art at Princeton University and worked as a consultant from 1965 to 1967 for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The consulting work Fry performed for the Guggenheim lead to his associate curatorship after the Fifth Guggenheim International Exhibition: Sculpture from Twenty Nations, 1967–1968; Fry organized the exhibition and wrote the catalog’s essay. The size and scope of the exhibition displayed Fry’s awareness of a multitude of sculptors from the international art scene and the entanglements in acquiring sculptures from artists and dealers to mount such an all-encompassing exhibition. The paper trail to acquire Jean Arp’s Ptolemy III for the exhibition started with a letter to Francois Arp and continued until the sculpture was included in the show. This perseverance exemplifies the specificity of Fry’s vision regarding how each artist should be represented within the multitude of artists being exhibited. Fry organized several exhibitions in 1969, including the significant and substantial David Smith, a Retrospective. Fry meticulously researched all of Smith’s work for the exhibition—with the help of then doctoral student Rosiland Krauss—including amassing a nearly complete photograph collection of all of his sculpture. The Guggenheim was completely filled with Smith’s work, utilizing in its entirety Frank Lloyd Wright’s visionary space of the museum: it was the first time all of the floors of the Guggenheim Museum were open to the public. The critical response to the exhibition and Fry’s catalog was favorable. Newspaper clippings, telegrams, and notes from friends and from David Smith’s sister, Catherine Smith Stewart, praised Fry’s choices and scope and applauded him for showing the range of Smith’s monumental sculpture. From 1968 to 1971 Fry organized several successful sculpture exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum, including Jean Arp and Japanese Art 1970: The Fifth Japan Arts Festival. In addition, in 1968 Fry was sent on behalf of McGraw-Hill Book Company to acquire and exhibit