Robert Motherwell Scrapbooks

in The Museum of Modern Art Archives

The Museum of Modern Art Archives
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019-5497
moma.org/learn/resources/archives

© 2001

The Museum of Modern Art Museum Archives

Finding aid prepared by Jeremy Melius, under the direction of Michelle Elligott, 2001.

Biographical Note

John Murray Cuddihy was born c.1922 into a wealthy Irish-American family. He is the son of H. Lester Cuddihy and Julia Murray Cuddihy, and the grandson of the publisher Robert J. Cuddihy. Robert Henri painted a portrait of him as a child in 1928. He married Heidi DeHaven in the early 1960s. Pursuing an academic career in sociology, Cuddihy received three masters degrees: two from Columbia University and a third from the New School for Social Research in New York City. He completed a Ph.D. in Sociology at Rutgers University; his dissertation was later published as The Ordeal of Civility: Freud, Marx, Levi-Strauss and the Jewish Struggle with Modernity in 1974. His book No Offense: Civil Religion and Protestant Taste was published in 1978. He taught at Vassar College, Columbia University, and the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry before taking a position in the sociology department at Hunter College. Cuddihy was also a Senior Fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities. His research interests included the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of intellectuals, and the overlap of sociology with anthropology. He was a member of the doctoral faculty at the Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York (GSUC). Cuddihy retired from Hunter College in the fall of 1997.

Cuddihy's engagement with the work of Robert Motherwell was long and intense, resulting in five scrapbooks. The project proceeded with the eminent painter's approval and often his help as well, as Motherwell sent several items to Cuddihy for inclusion in the scrapbooks.

Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) was a leading exponent of Abstract Expressionism. Educated at Stanford University and briefly in Harvard University's philosophy department, Motherwell concentrated his energies on painting soon after his arrival in New York City in 1939. Beginning in 1945, he showed exclusively with the Samuel Kootz gallery until moving to the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1958. He had his first major museum retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art in 1965, which subsequently travelled to major venues in Europe. During the remaining decades of his life, Motherwell saw great success with many museum exhibitions devoted to his work.

In 1944, Motherwell helped found the groundbreaking Documents of Modern Art series with Wittenborn, Schultz, Inc. He served as general editor of the series until it was discontinued in 1953. He also edited the prodigious 1951 volume The Dada Painters and Poets. (The series was reactivated in 1968 with Arthur A. Cohen as co-editor and again in 1979 with Jack Flam as co-editor).

Scope and Content Note

The Robert Motherwell Scrapbooks, complied by John Cuddihy, consist of five 14 ½" x 11 ½" scrapbooks and additional ephemeral material for a total of one linear foot of material. Containing material with inclusive dates of 1944 - 1978, the Scrapbooks document the development of Robert Motherwell's career. They include exhibition catalogues, hundreds of newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition invitations and checklists and other ephemera as well as photographs of Motherwell's work, records of Cuddihy's own collection, and various personal papers relevant to Cuddihy's interest in Motherwell. The latter includes records of sale, Cuddihy's diagrams of works by Motherwell and correspondence between Cuddihy and various dealers and museums, such as the Jewish Museum, the Sam Kootz Gallery, the Sidney Janis Gallery, The Museum of Modern Art, the Bennington College Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the American Federation of Artists (AFA), the Pasadena Art Museum, the Smith College Art Museum, and Dore Ashton, on behalf of Cooper Union. The scrapbooks also include several letters and cards from Motherwell, and one from Helen Frankenthaler, Motherwell's former wife. The final scrapbook contains several autobiographical items, including the covers of Cuddihy's two publications.

Photostats that duplicated some of the material contained in the scrapbooks have been deaccessioned. Select items have been maintained and are listed as Appendix A.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials.

The Robert Motherwell Scrapbooks have been microfilmed with funding provided by the Dedalus Foundation. As a preservation measure, the microfilm copy, rather than the original scrapbooks, is served to researchers.

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Robert Motherwell Scrapbooks are the physical property of The Museum of Modern Art. Literary rights, including copyright belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with The Museum of Modern Art. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archivist.

Related Collections at MoMA and Elsewhere

A copy of the microfilm is held at the Dedalus Foundation, located at 555 W. 57 Street, Suite 1222 New York, NY 10019 (tel: 212.220.4220; fax: 212.220.4225).

The George Wittenborn Papers contain documentation about Robert Motherwell, see finding aid for further information.

The Sound Recordings collection includes lectures and discussions in which Motherwell was a speaker and/or where his artwork is discussed.

The Department of Public Information Records contains clippings about MoMA exhibitions that featured works by Motherwell.

The Department of Circulating Exhibitions Records has correspondence, checklists and preparatory material for the circulating versions of MoMA exhibitions in which works by Motherwell were included.

The Records of the International Program include information about MoMA exhibitions that circulated internationally in which Motherwell's artworks were featured.

A comprehensive collection of materials related to Motherwell may be found at The Dedalus Foundation, New York.

Administrative Information

Provenance

In c.1965, photostat copies of the first two scrapbooks were placed on deposit by Cuddihy at The Museum of Modern Art's Library. In December of 1978, Cuddihy donated the complete set of original scrapbooks outright; they were officially accepted by the Library on December 22, 1978. On April 21, 1999, the scrapbooks and photostat copies were transferred from the Library to the Museum Archives, where they were processed in 2001.

Preferred Citation

The long version must be used for the first citation. For subsequent citations, the abbreviated version may be used.

Long version:
Robert Motherwell Scrapbooks, [series.page]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.

Abbreviated version:
Motherwell, [series.page]. MoMA Archives, NY.

Microfilm long version:
Robert Motherwell Scrapbooks [Reel;Frame]. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Microfilm abbreviated version:
Motherwell [Reel;Frame]. MoMA Archives, NY.

Condition

The scrapbooks are in fragile condition. Scrapbook I is the most delicate of the books and has many significant tears in the pages. The books were microfilmed to ensure long-term preservation. During the microfilming process, the books were disbound. The original scrapbooks should only be consulted when the corresponding microfilm does not give necessary detail.

Additional Descriptive Data

Explanation of Abbreviations

ALS is an Autographed Letter Signed.
TLS is a Typed Letter Signed.
TL stands for Typed Letter.
MoMA is The Museum of Modern Art.
n.d. stands for no date.
re: stands for regarding.
AN is an Autographed note not signed
ANS is an Autographed note signed
ACS is an Autograph card or message signed
JC is John Cuddihy
RM is Robert Motherwell
AFA stands for the American Federation of Artists

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