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INVENTORY OF THE THEODORE ROSZAK PAPERS, 1926-1994, bulk
1930-1980
960023
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Title: Theodore Roszak papers
Dates: 1926-1994
Dates: 1930-1980
Collection Number: 960023
Creator:
Roszak,
Theodore, 1907-1981
Extent:
137 linear
ft.
(68 boxes, 4 rolls, 9 flat file folders, 1
portfolio)
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Research Library
Special Collections and Visual Resources
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688
Abstract: Papers of sculptor,
painter, and designer Theodore Roszak include the artist's photographs of his
work and installations, correspondence and documents relating to public and
private commissions, lectures and teaching notes, 55 sketchbooks, working and
presentation drawings, and newspaper and journal clippings, some collected in
scrapbooks.
Request Materials: To access physical materials on site, go to the
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Language: Collection material is in
English
Open for use by qualified researchers. Audio visual material not
available until reformatting is complete.
Contact
Library Rights and Reproductions
Theodore Roszak papers, 1926-1994, bulk 1930-1980. Research Library,
The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 960023
Acquired in 1996.
Ten monographs, most of them exhibition catalogs, were transferred to
the Library's general collections.
Theodore Roszak papers, 1928-1981. Archives of American Art,
Smithsonian. Some of the materials microfilmed by the Archives were returned to
Roszak and, consequently, form part of the papers acquired by Getty Research
Institute.
Theodore Roszak interview, 1963. Archives of American Art,
Smithsonian.
Theodore Roszak was born May 1, 1907 in Poznan, Poland. Roszak's
mother was an accomplished fashion designer and his father was a organist and
prolific composer. The Roszak family emigrated to the United States in 1909 and
settled in Chicago. Roszak began drawing at the age of seven; by the age of
fifteen he was attending evening sessions at the Art Institute of Chicago
Professional School. In 1925 he entered the Art Institute as a full-time
student.
In 1929 Roszak received the Anna Louise Raymond Fellowship for
European Study. He discovered the avant-garde movement abroad and was
especially attracted to surrealism, particularly the work of Giorgio de
Chirico. He returned to America and settled in New York in 1931 and was awarded
a Tiffany Foundation Fellowship. Throughout the 1930s to the mid 1940s, Roszak
produced mostly drawings, yet he was also experimenting with the extension of
those drawings as manifested in paintings and sculpture. At this time he was
influenced by constructivism and the machine aesthetic. His interests shifted
subsequently and from 1946 onward he primarily produced sculpture in the
abstract expressionist style. Roszak returned to drawing in the 1970s when illness prevented him from welding.
Throughout his life, Roszak maintained an interest in photography. He created
photograms until 1947. He also meticulously photographed his projects: his
works in progress and the finished pieces.
Roszak is well known for his collaborations with Eero Saarinen, which
include the spire and bell tower at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
1956, and the Eagle for the United States Embassy in London, 1960. In 1956 a
major traveling retrospective of his work was organized at the Walker Art
Center, Minneapolis. He also had several important exhibitions at the Pierre
Matisse Gallery and Hirschl and Adler Galleries, both in New York City. He held
teaching positions at the Laboratory School of Industrial Design, New York, and
Sarah Lawrence College. Roszak served on several government-sponsored
committees, including the Advisory Committee on Cultural
Presentations Program, Advisory Board of National Committee of Arts and
Government, and the Fine Arts Commission, Washington D.C. and New York.
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Theodore Roszak papers document Theodore Roszak's artistic career,
based predominantly in New York, from 1926 to 1981. The material was generated
and collected by Theodore Roszak, with additional materials added by his wife
Florence and his daughter Sarah Jane Roszak, some of which date to 1994. The
collection contains about 137 linear feet of personal papers, photographs,
business correspondence, press clippings, drawings, architectural and
engineering plans and audio recordings. Media in the collection include
drawings (pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, etc.), photographs, printed matter,
painting, audio tapes, teaching notes, and small number of transparencies and
35 mm slides.
The collection documents Roszak's artistic processes from the
sketching of an idea to the construction of the object, to its packaging and
exhibition. The Roszak papers also document preservation, and logistical and
financial details regarding the sale and exhibition of his artwork.
Arrangement
Organized in three series:
Series I. Personal and family papers,
1930-1981
Series II. Business
papers, 1930-1990
Series III. Art work,
1926-1981
Series IV. Audio
recordings, undated
Roszak, Theodore,
1907-1981
Roszak, Theodore,
1933-
Saarinen, Eero,
1910-1961
Moholy-Nagy, László,
1895-1946
Abstract
expressionism—United States
Constructivism (Art)—United
States
Public art—Designs and plans
Public art—United States
Sculptors—United States
Sculpture, Abstract
Sculpture, American
Photograms
Photographic
prints
Drawings
Blueprints