INVENTORY OF THE WILLIAM AND NOMA COPLEY FOUNDATION AND COLLECTION RECORDS, 1954-1980

Series I. Foundation documents, 1954-1967

Physical Description: 1.25 lin. ft. 2.5 boxes

Scope and Content Note

Foundation documents comprise material primarily pertaining to the foundation's grant program, 1954-1966. Items include statutes and by-laws, award recommendations by Darius Milhaud and others for prominent composers and promising students (many of whom attended the Aspen Music Festival), and recommendations by Roberto Matta Echaurren and others for artists' grants. Correspondence with awardees includes award letters, thank-you notes, biographies, descriptions of current work, and letters about personal matters. Awardees include, among others, the composers Charles Jones, Manfred Kelkel, Charles Turner, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Shinkichi Tajiri and Bernard Pfriem, and the artists Jean Arp, Hans Bellmer, Dan Flavin, Wifredo Lam, and Dorothea Tanning. Letters from the writer Patrick Waldberg provide art world gossip and personal views on art events. Some letters discuss the monographs published by the Foundation. Series II contains much more correspondence about the Foundation's publishing program.

Box 1, Folder 1

Official documents, 1954-1955

Physical Description: ca. 13 items

Scope and Content Note

By-laws in English and French; articles of incorporation; correspondence with the law firm of Arvey, Hodes & Mantynband; correspondence with IRS about tax exempt status.

Box 1, Folder 2

Darius Milhaud recommendations, 1961-1966

Physical Description: ca. 38 items

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with Milhaud regarding music award recommendations reveals selection process; with personal correspondence interspersed.

Box 1, Folder 3

Other recommendations, 1960-1966

Physical Description: ca. 20 items

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence recommending artists and composers, with Ernst Roth, Pierre Boulez, and Roberto Matta Echaurren (also personal letters and small drawings); notes from Man Ray, Marguerite Arp, Sam Hunter, Julien Levy, Dan Flavin, and Alfred Barr, Jr.

Box 1, Folder 4-5

Music biographies, 1954-1966

Physical Description: ca. 100 items

Scope and Content Note

Typed curricula vitae, some in letter format, a few with cover letters, from students and established awardees.

Box 1, Folder 6

Art biographies, ca. 1960-1966, 1964-1966

Physical Description: ca. 35 items

Scope and Content Note

Curricula vitae, most typed and some in letter format, a few with cover letters, from artists Lucas Samaras, Mark di Suvero (handwritten letter about his childhood), Dan Flavin, and Maria Papa, among others; 9 photographs.

Box 1, Folder 7-8

Music awardee correspondence, 1954-1960 1962-1966

Physical Description: ca. 150 items

Scope and Content Note

Most are letters of award to grant recipients and thank-you letters from them, but also some bios, descriptions of current work and personal correspondence. Represented are, among others, Jacques Bondon (6 items), Harris Danziger (6 items), Manfred Kelkel (14 items), Charles Jones (17 items), Jean-Louis Martinet (2 items), Benjamin Lees (3 items), Charles Turner (21 items), Claude Prey (4 items), Leland Smith (3 items), Gilbert Amy (3 items), Howard Swanson (1 item), Edgard Varèse (4 items), Morton Subotnick (1 item), Antoine Tisne (4 items), Mikis Theodorakis (8 items), Peter Schickele (1 item), Peggy Glanville-Hicks (ca. 24 items, most about separate grants awarded to aid production of “Transposed Heads,” 1959, and “Nausicaa,” 1962), William Bolcom (1 item), Bruce Mather (3 items), Jean-Claude Eloy (2 items), Henry Brant (6 items), John Downey (6 items), Luciano Berio (1 item), Paul Mefano (1 item), John Cage (3 items).

Box 1, Folder 9

Miscellaneous music correspondence, 1953-1965

Physical Description: ca. 10 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes letters from and to F. Charles Adler ( 1956), and letter to Erich Leinsdorf ( 1961).

Box 2, Folder 1-2

Art awardee correspondence, 1956-1959, 1961-1966

Physical Description: ca. 42 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters of award to grant recipients and thank-you letters from them; also some bios, descriptions of current work and personal correspondence. Awardees include Serge Charchoune (4 items), Arturo Estrada (1 item), Jacques Hérold (1 item), Hans Bellmer (4 items), Richard Lindner (8 items), Shinkichi Tajiri (8 items), Bernard Pfriem (3 items: long description of childhood, letter to and letter from Maxime), Richard Hamilton (2 items), Ruth Francken (2 items), Caroline Lee (1 item), Gene Beery (2 items), David Packard (3 items), Dan Flavin (1 item), Mark di Suvero (3 items).

Box 2, Folder 3

Other awardee correspondence, 1959-1960

Physical Description: 3 items

Box 2, Folder 4

Artist corresp. A, 1954-1966

Box 2, Folder 4

Altoon, John, 1966

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Thank-you letter from Altoon mentions dissatisfaction with a drawing he gave WC; letter to Altoon from WC.

Box 2, Folder 4

Arakawa, Shusaku, 1965, n.d.

Physical Description: 3 items

Scope and Content Note

Letter and postcard from Arakawa; letter to him from WC.

Box 2, Folder 4

Arman, 1964-1967

Physical Description: 6 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters from Arman about personal matters, his work progress, and upcoming exhibitions, ca. 1965; 2 New Year's cards, 1964, 1967.

Box 2, Folder 4

Arp, Jean and Marguerite, 1957-1966

Physical Description: 32 items

Scope and Content Note

Extensive personal correspondence, written between Marguerite and Noma with one letter from Arp. Subjects include Arp's health, financial matters, how Arp feels about the works Sophie left him, exhibitions, the works by Arp in the Copley collection, purchases, loans, description corrections, and damage to “Concrétion humaine sur coupe A”.

Box 2, Folder 5

Artist correspondence, B-CH, 1954-1966

Box 2, Folder 5

Baj, Enrico, 1960-1962

Physical Description: 12 items

Scope and Content Note

About loans from the collection; the measurement of “Miroir”; Baj's health.

Box 2, Folder 5

Bell, Larry, 1965

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Chatty letter from Bell regarding a work for the “optical show”; WC reply.

Box 2, Folder 5

Bellmer, Hans, ca. 1950-1965

Physical Description: 20 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about production of the Foundation's book on Bellmer and photograph requests for a book of Bellmer's drawings (see also Series II); personal matters; the health of Unica Zürn, 1961-1962, 1964-1965; handwritten page “Fonctionnement du rêve” with drawings and quotations from Freud, Schopenhauer, Spitta, et. al., ca. 1950.

Box 2, Folder 5

Brancusi, Constantin, 1955-1956

Physical Description: 7 items

Scope and Content Note

Copies of 6 letters from Hodes, Sidney Janis, and Brancusi; a 5 pp. report about “Endless Column”.

Box 2, Folder 5

Carrington, Leonora, 1957

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Letter from Carrington in which she uses choice words about Murray Greenbaum, who cheated them and other artists out of money; a reply from Noma.

Box 2, Folder 5

Charchoune, Serge, 1961-1964

Physical Description: 5 items

Scope and Content Note

Personal letters; 2 cards, photograph and small printed text “Dolgolikov de Serge Charchoune” by Georges Adamovitch.

Box 2, Folder 5

Christo, postcard from, 1966

Physical Description: 1 item

Box 2, Folder 6

Artist correspondence, CO-L, 1954-1966

Box 2, Folder 6

Consagra, Pietro, 1956

Physical Description: 1 item

Box 2, Folder 6

Crippa, Roberto, 1960

Physical Description: 5 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about the purchase of a work.

Box 2, Folder 6

Delvaux, Paul, 1956-1957

Physical Description: 16 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters, notes, and import documents regard purchase of a work.

Box 2, Folder 6

Ernst, Max, 1961

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Handwritten note on a copied [photostat?] typescript.

Box 2, Folder 6

Flavin, Dan, 1965-1966

Physical Description: ca. 13 items

Scope and Content Note

References for the Guggenheim Foundation; a 3 pp. letter in which Flavin discusses himself, Walter Hopps's notion of an “East Coast-West dichotomy on art,” and the comportment of the artist in the face of commercial galleries; letters regarding Flavin drawings; copy of 7 pp. bio. written for the Guggenheim Foundation.

Box 2, Folder 6

Francis, Sam, 1965

Physical Description: 1 item

Box 2, Folder 6

Francken, Ruth, 1965-1966

Physical Description: 6 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about recent productivity; requests for help finding New York representation.

Box 2, Folder 6

Herms, George, 1962

Physical Description: 1 item

Box 2, Folder 6

Johnson, Ray, n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Illustrated thank-you note.

Box 2, Folder 6

Lam, Wifredo, 1956-1957, 1959-1961

Physical Description: 22 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about payment for a work; travel arrangements; some letters include drawings; includes 1 drawing on cardboard, 1 clipping.

Box 2, Folder 6

Lebel, Jean-Jacques, 1962

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Letter about money he owes WC.

Box 2, Folder 6

Lee, Caroline, 1962, 1966

Physical Description: 4 items

Scope and Content Note

1 p., 5 pp., 6 pp. and 2 pp. letters about problems with her studio; her new foundry; the current French art scene and why the French cannot understand Pop Art; the civil rights movement; her busy schedule.

Box 2, Folder 7

Artist correspondence, M-R, 1954-1966

Box 2, Folder 7

Mason, Raymond, 1961, 1963

Physical Description: 10 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about the casting and purchase of two sculptures.

Box 2, Folder 7

Mesens, E.L.T., 1960

Physical Description: 5 items

Scope and Content Note

Mesens asks WC's help with Magritte exhibit at ICA, London; 3 pp. handwritten copy of letter from Mesens to Roland Penrose expressing his dislike of the idea of a retrospective at the ICA and problems with their personal relationship; a tactful letter from WC expressing his feeling that they cannot all work together on the show.

Box 2, Folder 7

Metcalf, James and Pilar, ca. 1965

Physical Description: 7 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters regarding Metcalf's problems with galleries and exhibitions; personal matters.

Box 2, Folder 7

Noguchi, Isamu, 1958

Physical Description: 4 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about possible purchase of a stone table and Noguchi's recommendation of J.B. Blunk for a grant.

Box 2, Folder 7

Oppenheim, Meret, 1964-1966

Physical Description: 5 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters concern acquisition of an object and exchange of works between Oppenheim and WC; exhibition announcement; a New Year's card with an original lithograph (no. 7/25).

Box 2, Folder 7

Packard, David, 1962-1963

Physical Description: 3 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters relate progress of his work; thoughts on WC's green book [Duchamp book?]; repair of “Monstrance Number One”.

Box 2, Folder 7

Penrose, Roland and Lee Miller, 1965-1966

Scope and Content Note

5 items

Box 2, Folder 7

Petlin, Irving, 1962, 1965

Physical Description: 6 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about life in Greece and recent work painted there ( 1962); photographs needed by Petlin of his work; an event the Los Angeles Times refused to report on, in which the Copleys would have been proud of Larry Bell, John Altoon, John Weber, Maurice Tuchman, et al. ( 1965 May 23); showing at Rolf Nelson's; personal matters.

Box 2, Folder 7

Pfriem, Bernard, 1961-1962

Physical Description: 9 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about Pfriem's positive reaction to the Foundation's book about him; the possibility of purchasing an extra run (see also Series II); works for consideration at MOMA; disappointment with his last show; personal matters.

Box 2, Folder 7

Ray, Man, 1965-1965

Physical Description: 7 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about photographs from ArtNews for books on Man Ray; exhibitions that might need loans from the Copley collection (especially the LACMA [Los Angeles County Museum of Art] retrospective); Copley's feelings about top LACMA personnel; Man Ray's rheumatism.

Box 2, Folder 7

Reynal, Jeanne, 1960-1961

Physical Description: 8 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters regarding the repair of mosaics in the collection; shipping a Gorky work.

Box 2, Folder 7

Rivers, Larry, 1965

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters regarding payments.

Box 2, Folder 8

Artist correspondence, SH-TIN, 1954-1966

Box 2, Folder 8

Tajiri, Shinkichi, 1956-1957, n.d.

Physical Description: 12 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters regarding payment and the loan of a sculpture to the Stedelijk Museum; personal letter contains a photograph collage.

Box 2, Folder 8

Tanguy, Kay Sage, 1957-1958, 1960-1961

Physical Description: 17 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about compiling a catalog of Yves Tanquy's work and the difficulties in finding his earlier pieces; letter from Tanguy recommending François Tuefferd for a grant; 2 pp. list of catalog needs.

Box 2, Folder 8

Tanning, Dorothea, 1959, 1966-1967, n.d.

Physical Description: 14 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters about a gift to the Tate Gallery of a Tanning work; a Foundation book on Ernst; news of Man Ray; the Copleys' tentative plan to buy an apartment from Ernst; loans for a retrospective.

Box 2, Folder 8

Tinguely, Jean, 1961, 1966, n.d.

Physical Description: 7 items

Scope and Content Note

References for Pontus Hulten with mention that Tinguely forgot to leave the “petite chose” at Jimmy's [Metcalf?]; 3 postcards with colored marker drawings on recto, titled “Peinture originale exécutée en collaboration avec métamatic no. 8 de Tinguely” (edition Iris Clert), signed and dated 20 VII [year illegible]; 2 postcards dated 1961 and 1966.

Box 2, Folder 9

Artist correspondence TR-W, 1954-1966

Box 2, Folder 9

Trouille, Clovis, 1959, 1963

Physical Description: 4 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters of thank-you for the London catalog; possible purchase of “Mes Funérailles”; praise for WC's work.

Box 2, Folder 9

Waldberg, Patrick and Isabelle, 1957-1958

Physical Description: 5 items

Scope and Content Note

Letter from Noma about life in Mexico; gossipy 4 pp. letter from Waldberg about his opinion of the Duchamp book production; the failure of Jacques Hérold's recent exhibition; the bickering of the “old guard” at the Dada retrospective at the Galerie de l'Institute; a raid of the show by a commando of “jarrivistes”; his research and thoughts on Dada for a possible publication.

Box 3, Folder 1

Form letters, 1960-1966

Physical Description: 30 items

Scope and Content Note

Carbon copies of form letters to award recipients and advisors, many with annotations; list of awardees for 1961-1962, 1965.

Box 3, Folder 2

General correspondence 1962-1966

Physical Description: ca. 23 items

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with Fondation de la Cité Internationale des Arts about activities; letters about Diter Rot [i.e. Dieter Roth] monograph; with Porter McCray of JDR III Fund regarding money for the New York Studio School; with Roland Penrose about funds for ICA (London); letter to A. James Speyer about loaning Ernst's “Surrealisme et la peinture” to the Art Institute of Chicago; with Lucy Lippard concerning money for her Max Ernst catalogue raisonné project; outline for the Modern Legal Handbook for Artists and Collectors.

Box 3, Folder 3

Thank-you letters for foundation monographs, 1962, 1965

Physical Description: 4 items

Box 3, Folder 4

Press releases, 1955, 1958, 1960-1962

Physical Description: ca. 12 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes awardee announcements and cover letters.

Box 3, Folder 5

Mailing lists, n.d., 1960

Physical Description: ca. 100 pp.

Scope and Content Note

Addresses, mostly of libraries and educational institutions, for sending foundation books; letter from Diter Rot [i.e., Dieter Roth], 1960.

Box 3, Folder 6

International Institute of Contemporary Art, 1957, n.d.

Physical Description: 12 items

Scope and Content Note

Blank stationery; brochures; proceedings of the city council of Chicago ( Dec 23, 1957) with resolution of IICA's organization [WC was vice-president]; carbon copy of IICA charter; membership card.

Series II. Richard Hamilton correspondence, 1960-1966

Physical Description: 1 lin. ft. 2 boxes

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence comprises 189 items, arranged in chronological order, between William and Noma Copley and the British Pop artist Richard Hamilton, in his capacity as editor of the Copley Foundation Monograph series. Some letters are written to and from Hamilton's wife Terry. One letter (1965) is from Hamilton's companion Rita. Hamilton includes copies of letters to and from other correspondents in his letters to the Copleys. The files include a small number of original letters from others: Hans Bellmer, Barnet Hodes, Kenneth Rowntree, Alfred Barr, Jr., Marcia Tucker, Yale University Library, and Diter Rot [i.e., Dieter Roth]. Most of Hamilton's letters are addressed to Bill and Noma, most of the replies (pink carbon copies) are from Noma. The few letters between Bill Copley and Hamilton attest to their difficult relationship. The Copleys write from Europe, New York, and Los Angeles. The long, detailed letters concern production for the Bellmer, Charchoune, Hérold, Duchamp, Rot [i.e Roth] books, negotiations with the artists, distribution processes and personal matters. After 1962 there are references to art world news and gossip, Copley's and Hamilton's gallery and museum exhibitions, collecting interests, censorship, Hamilton's own art work ($he, Pin-up), and his interest in artists' books. Most of the letters are typed (the Copleys' letters in carbon copy), but several letters are handwritten.

Box 3

Correspondence, 1960-1966

Box 3, Folder 7

1960-1962

Physical Description: 90 items

Box 3, Folder 7

1960

Physical Description: 8 items

Scope and Content Note

Fifteen letters between Pfriem and Hamilton, Oct 1960-Nov 1961, summarized on 9 typed pages.

Hamilton letter to Pfriem.

Six letters between Hamilton and Bill and Noma Copley, and between Terry Hamilton and the Copleys.

Box 3, Folder 7

1961

Physical Description: 49 items

Scope and Content Note

Forty-two letters between Hamilton and Bill and Noma Copley, including some between Terry and the Copleys.

One letter, with separate accounting of book production costs, from Hamilton to Barnet Hodes.

One letter from Hamilton to Jacques Hérold.

Two letters from Hamilton to Hans Bellmer; 1 letter from Bill Copley to Bellmer; 1 letter from Bellmer.

Box 3, Folder 7

1962

Physical Description: 33 items

Scope and Content Note

Twenty-six letters between Hamilton and Bill and Noma Copley, including some between Terry and the Copleys. One of Terry's letters is handwritten. Hamilton's anguished letter of Nov. 7 tells them of Terry's death.

One letter from Hamilton to Serge Charchoune (with a list of Charchoune's book illustrations); 1 to Barnet Hodes.

Two letters from Barnet Hodes to Hamilton, letter from Tony Bell to Bradford, and a letter from Bradford to Hamilton, all regarding production errors or distribution.

Box 3, Folder 8

1963-1966

Physical Description: 66 items

Box 3, Folder 8

1963

Physical Description: 10 items

Scope and Content Note

Eight letters between Hamilton and Bill and Noma Copley.

Two letters between Bill Copley and Prof. Kenneth Rowntree regarding Senior Lectureship for Hamilton at University of Durham.

Box 3, Folder 8

1964

Physical Description: 22 items

Scope and Content Note

Twenty-one letters between Hamilton and Bill and Noma Copley; 1 Hamilton letter to Barnet Hodes.

Box 3, Folder 8

1965

Physical Description: 24 items

Scope and Content Note

Eleven letters between Hamilton and Bill and Noma Copley (most of them between Hamilton and Noma); 1 letter from Rita to Noma.

One letter from Hamilton to Michael Greenwood, Hanover Gallery, London; 1 to G.R. Martin of Lund Humphries; 1 to Barnet Hodes.

One letter from Alfred Barr, Jr. to Noma regarding Diter Rot [i.e. Dieter Roth].

Five letters between Marcia Tucker, Noma Copley and Yale University Library about acquiring the Foundation's monographs; 2 letters from Marcia Tucker to Hamilton.

William and Noma Copley Foundation letterhead sample, with annotations about design.

Box 3, Folder 8

1966

Physical Description: 10 items

Scope and Content Note

Five letters between Hamilton and Bill and Noma Copley; 1 handmade postcard from Hamilton and Rita to the Copleys.

Two letters from Diter Rot [i.e. Dieter Roth] and 1 typed page of text from his book, over which there are censorship concerns ("Ich kache...").

compose (to john cage) - an artist postcard by Hamilton.

Series III. Personal correspondence, 1957-1980

Physical Description: .5 lin. ft. 1 box

Scope and Content Note

This series contains letters, drawings and cards from artists and musicians, sent to Noma Copley. The letters are from 1957-1980, most dating after the end of the Foundation's activities in 1966, and are arranged alphabetically. One file contains letters, drawings, and ephemera from William and Noma. The Copleys separated in 1968 but Noma remained friendly with many of the artists. The letters are generally personal, but also include descriptions of working interests from artists Vija Celmins, Chryssa, Walter De Maria, Richard Hamilton, Man Ray, Roberto Matta Echaurren, Irving Petlin, Cliff Westermann, and others. This series also holds some handmade cards and drawings by artists prior to 1966.

Box 4

A-Z

Box 4, Folder 1

Arp, Jean, 1964, 1967

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

New Year's cards.

Box 4, Folder 1

Assadour, ca. 1972

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Etched card.

Box 4, Folder 1

Unidentified A, n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Drawing of napkin with silverware, “Strategic Food Command” and other lettering.

Box 4, Folder 2

Beery, Gene, n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Transparent Christmas card.

Box 4, Folder 2

Brant, Henry, 1967

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

printed sheet music with New Year's greeting.

Box 4, Folder 2

Buonagurio, Toby, ca. 1970

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Handmade thank-you note.

Box 4, Folder 2

Unidentified B, n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Ink drawing, signed Aaron.

Box 4, Folder 3

Cage, John, 1968

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Note-o-gram describing recent electronic work.

Box 4, Folder 3

Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 1968, 1973, 1975

Physical Description: 3 items

Scope and Content Note

Letter, note, and invitation.

Box 4, Folder 3

Celmins, Vija, 1970-1975, 1980, 1985, n.d.

Physical Description: ca. 25 items

Scope and Content Note

Personal letters about her art production; her studio; drawings sales; her health; the Los Angeles art scene; a women's artist group in Los Angeles; her exhibition in London.

Box 4, Folder 3

Chase-Riboud, Barbara, 1967, 1970, n.d.

Physical Description: 7 items

Scope and Content Note

One letter mentions Angela Davis and Malcolm X; statement of purpose with drawing for Guggenheim; 2 New Year's cards; 1 clipping.

Box 4, Folder 4

Christo, 1969

Physical Description: 1 item

Box 4, Folder 4

Chryssa, 1970, 1973, 1975-1976

Physical Description: 8 items

Scope and Content Note

One angry letter expressing recent frustrations; photocopy of a very long letter; small colored drawing.

Box 4, Folder 4

Crippa, Roberto, 1957-1958

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Hand-colored card.

Box 4, Folder 4

Unidentified C, n.d.

Physical Description: 5 items

Scope and Content Note

Five intricately folded squares with colored drawings.

Box 4, Folder 5

Copley, William and Noma, 1956-1983, n.d.

Physical Description: ca. 45 items

Scope and Content Note

Copies of the Christmas postcards sent; WC exhibition announcements; notes from WC to NC; 2 WC drawings; letter (fragment?) written by NC to unidentified correspondent about the breakup of the Copley marriage.

Box 4, Folder 6

De Maria, Walter, 1967-1970

Physical Description: 7 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters discuss politics; his feelings about California ( Apr 6 1968); his film “Hard Core” ( Aug 22 1969).

Box 4, Folder 6

Unidentified D, 1959

Physical Description: 4 items

Scope and Content Note

Three humorous drawings of soldiers; handmade Christmas card signed Max and Jane.

Box 4, Folder 7

Edmondson, Leonard, 1953

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Small etching.

Box 4, Folder 7

Elde, Ansgar, 1965

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Invitation with colored drawings.

Box 4, Folder 7

Ernst, Max, 1963

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Postcard; Christmas card from Margaret Krebs with Ernst picture on front.

Box 4, Folder 7

Estrada, Arturo, 1958

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Hand-colored New Year's card.

Box 4, Folder 7

Unidentified E, n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Drawing of waterfowl.

Box 4, Folder 8

Ford, Charles Henri, 1976

Physical Description: 1 item

Box 4, Folder 8

Fox, n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Christmas card.

Box 4, Folder 8

Frank, Mary, 1979

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Exhibition announcement.

Box 4, Folder 8

Frumkin, Allan and Jean, n.d., 1977

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Handmade Christmas card; gallery newsletter.

Box 4, Folder 9

Granell, E.F., 1964

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Handmade Christmas card.

Box 4, Folder 9

Unidentified G, n.d.

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

1 drawing of scarecrow (signed n.g.) and 1 drawing of cat on a bicycle, with French text

Box 4, Folder 10

Hamilton, Richard, 1968-1971

Physical Description: 10 items

Scope and Content Note

Personal letters, with some mention of his work.

Box 4, Folder 10

Hérold, Jacques, 1963, 1965

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Birth announcement with print (fragment); New Year's postcard.

Box 4, Folder 10

Hiquily, Philippe, 1967

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Handmade New Year's card.

Box 4, Folder 11

Jacquet, Alain, n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Christmas card.

Box 4, Folder 12

King, Bill, 1973, 1975, 1977

Physical Description: 8 items

Scope and Content Note

2 Christmas cards ( 1973, 1977); silver card with punched-out figures ( 1975); drawing “The test” with cut-out figures ( 1973); “Dad! (a bronze)” with painted envelope and bronze cut-outs; letter with metal can opener ring attached ( 1977).

Box 4, Folder 13

Lam, Wifredo, 1960

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Christmas postcard with drawing.

Box 4, Folder 13

Lees, Benjamin, 1974, n.d.

Physical Description: 3 items

Scope and Content Note

Two Christmas cards; publicity brochure.

Box 4, Folder 13

Lepri, Stanislas, 1963, n.d.

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Christmas card; New Year's card with drawings.

Box 4, Folder 14

Magritte, René (?), n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Thank-you note with ink drawings.

Box 4, Folder 14

Man Ray and Juliet, 1950-1980, n.d.

Physical Description: 16 items

Scope and Content Note

Personal letters describe how busy he is and his health; Christmas cards; announcements; painted get well card; photographs.

Box 4, Folder 14

Matta Echaurren, Roberto, n.d.

Physical Description: 3 items

Scope and Content Note

Sheet with drawings of birthday wishes to WC; another sheet of drawings; Christmas card with drawings.

Box 4, Folder 15

Noailles, Marie-Laure de [i.e. Laure, Marie], 1962

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Christmas card.

Box 4, Folder 15

Unidentified N, n.d.

Physical Description: 5 items

Scope and Content Note

Five sheets with story text and colored drawings, signed Jerry.

Box 4, Folder 16

Oldenburg, Claes, 1970, n.d.

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Signed announcement; New Year's card.

Box 4, Folder 16

Penrose, Roland, 1963, n.d.

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Postcard; thank-you note.

Box 4, Folder 16

Petlin, Irving, 1973, 1977, 1980-1981, 1983

Physical Description: 9 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters; announcements.

Box 4, Folder 16

Unidentified P, 1962

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Hand-drawn thank-you note from Paris.

Box 4, Folder 17

Rozsda, Endre, 1965

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Handmade New Year's card.

Box 4, Folder 17

Ruppersberg, Allen, 1974

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Announcement from the Claire Copley Gallery.

Box 4, Folder 18

Sabol, Audrey, 1976-1980, n.d.

Physical Description: 14 items

Scope and Content Note

Postcards; letters.

Box 4, Folder 18

Stuart, David, 1982

Physical Description: 4 items

Scope and Content Note

Postcards; an invitation.

Box 4, Folder 19

Tajiri, Shinkichi, 1971-1972, 1975

Physical Description: 4 items

Scope and Content Note

Letters; New Year's cards.

Box 4, Folder 19

Tanguy, Kay Sage, n.d.

Physical Description: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Christmas cards.

Box 4, Folder 20

Urvater, Gigi and Bertie, 1967

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

New Year's card with Hérold print.

Box 4, Folder 20

Waldberg, Patrick, n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Ink and pencil drawing.

Box 4, Folder 20

Westermann, Cliff [H.C.], 1964-1979

Physical Description: 17 items

Scope and Content Note

Personal letters with many drawings, some in color.

Box 4, Folder 20

Wheeler, Doug, n.d.

Physical Description: 1 item

Series IV. Collection documents, 1954-1967

Physical Description: 1 lin. ft. 2 boxes

Scope and Content Note

Documents (bulk 1964-1966) comprise material relating to the exhibition and care of the Copley art collection. Contains correspondence with museum and gallery directors and staff, loan forms, certificates of insurance, appraisals and insurance evaluations, condition and treatment reports, shipping documents and photograph requests. Other documents include financial and insurance papers.

Box 5, Folder 1-9

Loans and evaluations, 1954, 1957-1967

Physical Description: ca. 350 pp.

Scope and Content Note

Extensive material relating to exhibition loans. Some of the exhibitions mentioned include Daniel Cordier's Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme ( 1959-1960); “Max Ernst” at MOMA ( 1961); “Picabia” at Musée Cantini, Marseille ( 1962); “Jean Arp” at Musée d'Art Moderne á Paris ( 1962); “New Realists” at Hague Museum ( 1964, Hamilton); “Marcel Duchamp” at the Pasadena Art Museum ( 1963); “Rene Magritte” at MOMA ( 1965); “Max Ernst: Recent Paintings and Sculpture” at the Jewish Museum ( 1966); “Marcel Duchamp” at the Arts Council of Great Britain ( 1966); “Man Ray” exhibition at LACMA.

Box 5, Folder 10

Loans - University of California, Santa Barbara, 1965-1966

Physical Description: ca. 40 items

Scope and Content Note

Material regarding loan of 12 works for “Surrealism -- A State of Mind” includes correspondence with Ala Story, certificates of insurance, loan forms and receipts, sheet of paper with damage notes, and 6 installation photographs.

Box 5, Folder 11

Loans - Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1965-1966

Physical Description: ca. 27 items

Scope and Content Note

Regarding works loaned to “Harbingers of Surrealism,” including correspondence with Thomas Leavitt and William Hesthal about checklist, shipping and damage to Ernst's work “Figure zoomorphique” with condition report, certificates of insurance, and loan forms.

Box 6, Folder 1

Gifts and permanent loans, 1951, 1959-1961, 1964-1966

Physical Description: ca. 65 items

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with directors of various museums and institutions, including Henry Geldzahler, Walter Hopps, James Soby, Roland Penrose; many letters with Sam Hunter; appraisals for Tamayo and Matta Echaurren gifts.

Box 6, Folder 2

Art purchases, 1965-1966

Physical Description: ca. 15 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes list of negative numbers for some works in the collection, 6 photographs of works by Joseph Cornell, Roy Lichtenstein, and Agustin Cárdenas, and receipts.

Box 6, Folder 3

Sales, 1961, 1963-1965

Physical Description: ca. 8 items

Scope and Content Note

Receipts and some correspondence.

Box 6, Folder 4

Consignment lists, 1963

Physical Description: 4 items

Box 6, Folder 5-6

Taxes and investments, 1961-1966

Physical Description: ca. 45 items

Scope and Content Note

WC correspondence with Hodes regarding taxes and legality of deductions (showing a concern for how the IRS viewed WC's status as an artist); investments; charitable donations; sale of Copleys' chateau at Longpont, France; the report “Analysis of the Portfolio of William Copley” ( 1961).

Box 6, Folder 7

Restoration, 1964-1967

Physical Description: ca. 35 items

Scope and Content Note

Some correspondence; bills; estimates; condition and treatment reports.

Box 6, Folder 8

Insurance, 1963-1967

Physical Description: ca. 35 items

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with the Copleys' insurance agent about claims and policy updates (some not related to the collection); bills; certificates of insurance; lists of artwork insurance revisions ( 1965).

Box 6, Folder 9

Shipping, 1963-1964

Physical Description: ca. 40 items

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with shippers mostly about Copleys' personal effects being held up in French customs and their arrival in the U.S.; bills; shipment arrival notices.

Box 6, Folder 10

Publicity, 1960-1966, bulk 1965-1966

Physical Description: ca. 60 items

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence about photograph permission requests, including some with Phil Leider of Artforum concerning the Surrealist issue with the story of Barnet Hodes's collection ( Mar 4, 1966); checklist of works hung in the Copleys' New York apartment when it was in a MOMA sponsored tour ( 1965); clippings.

Box 6, Folder 11

Miscellaneous articles, n.d.

Physical Description: 4 items

Series V. Collection photographs, n.d.

Physical Description: 1.25 lin. ft. 4 boxes

Scope and Content Note

Over 350 b/w photographs, arranged roughly alphabetically by artist, of art works in the Copley collection. Titles, dimensions and medium are listed on each photograph or on attached descriptive labels. In 2 instances, there is a label without a photograph. The shots of Arp's “Concrétion humaine sur coupe A,” and “Levres,” and Dali's “Un Oeuf sur le Plat sans le Plat” are signed by the artists with certification statements.

Box 7

A-D

Box 7

Aeppli, Eva

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Armand

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 7

Arman

Physical Description: 4 photographs

Box 7

Altoon, John

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 7

Arp, Jean

Physical Description: 9 photographs

Box 7

Asher, Michael

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Baj, Enrico

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 7

Balthus

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Baruchello, Gianfranco

Physical Description: 4 photographs

Box 7

Blow, Sandra

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 7

Bellmer, Hans

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 7

Brauner, Victor

Physical Description: 5 photographs

Box 7

Beery, Gene

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Bell, Larry

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 7

Blake, Peter

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Breton, André

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Cadavre Exquis: Victor Brauner and Yves Tanguy

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Cadavre Exquis: Victor Brauner, Jacques Hérold, Yves Tanguy

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Cárdenas, Agustin

Physical Description: 2 photographs + 1 descriptive label

Scope and Content Note

[1 photograph missing]

Box 7

Calder, Alexander

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Carone, Nicholas

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Carrington, Leonora

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 7

César [i.e. Baldaccini, César?]

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Celmins, Vija

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Chadwick, Lynn

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Chagall, Marc

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Charchoune, Serge

Physical Description: 5 photographs

Box 7

Christo

Physical Description: 4 photographs

Box 7

Clough, Peter

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 7

Cohen, George

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Conner, Bruce

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 7

Consagra, Pietro

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 7

Crippa, Roberto

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 7

Dali, Salvador

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 7

De Chirico, Giorgio

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 8

D-G

Box 8

Delvaux, Paul

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Dix, Otto

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 8

Domínguez, Oscar

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 8

De Maria, Walter

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Saint-Phalle, Niki de

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Duchamp, Marcel

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Effront, Nadine

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 8

Eisenhower, Leslie

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Ensor, James

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 8

Ernst, Max

Physical Description: 37 photographs

Box 8

Estrada, Arturo

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Fini, Leonor

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 8

Francis, Sam

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Francken, Ruth

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Fahlström, K.K.

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Giacometti, Alberto

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 8

Greberek

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Granell, E.F. [i.e. Granell, Eugenio Fernández?]

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 8

Gorky, Arshile

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 9

Photographs of art works: H-O

Box 9

Hayter, William

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Henry, Maurice

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 9

Hérold, Jacques

Physical Description: 7 photographs

Box 9

Hiquily, Philippe

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Herms, George

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 9

Jacquet, Alain

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Julie, Henri

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Kelly, Leon

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 9

Kienholz, Edward

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Kiki

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Klee, Paul

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Krizek

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Kukoc, Milda [i.e. Kukoc, Mislav?]

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Klein, Yves

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Kalinowski, Horst Egon

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Labisse, Felix

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 9

Lam, Wifredo

Physical Description: 5 photographs

Box 9

Lee, Caroline

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Lepri, Stanislas

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Lemeslie

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Lindner, Richard

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 9

Lion, Claude

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Loy, Mina

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Lichtenstein, Roy

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 9

Man Ray

Physical Description: 14 photographs

Box 9

Mason, Raymond

Physical Description: 2 photographs + 1 descriptive label

Scope and Content Note

[1 photograph missing]

Box 9

Masson, André

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 9

Matta Echaurren, Roberto Sebastián

Physical Description: 5 photographs

Box 9

Mesens, E.L.T. (Edouard Léon Théodore)

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Metcalf, James

Physical Description: 8 photographs

Box 9

Michonze, Grégoire

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Miró, Joan

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Moses, Ed

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 9

Noailles, Marie-Laure de [i.e. Laure, Marie]

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 9

Oldenburg, Claes

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 9

Oppenheim, Meret

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

P-Z

Box 10

Packard, David

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 10

Paolozzi, Eduardo

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Pegeen

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Penrose, Roland, Sir

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 10

Petrov, Peter

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Petlin, Irving

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 10

Penalba, [Alicia]

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Peverelli, [Cesare]

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Pfriem, Bernard

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 10

Phillips, Helen

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Picabia, Francis

Physical Description: 6 photographs

Box 10

Polak, Marcel

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Piqueras, Jorge

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Raysse, Martial

Physical Description: 5 photographs

Box 10

Reynal, Jeanne

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Rivers, Larry

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Richier, Germaine

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Rodin, Auguste

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Ruscha, Edward

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Saby, Bernard

Physical Description: 4 photographs

Box 10

Sage, Kay

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Schwitters, Kurt

Physical Description: 7 photographs

Box 10

Sills, Thomas

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Steinberg, Saul

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 10

Stevenson, Harold

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 10

Saul, Peter

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Seitz, William Chapin

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Tajiri, Shinkichi

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 10

Takis

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Tanguy, Yves

Physical Description: 6 photographs

Box 10

Tanning, Dorothea

Physical Description: 8 photographs

Box 10

Taeuber-Arp, Sophie

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Tinguely, Jean

Physical Description: 4 photographs

Box 10

Todd, Mike

Physical Description: 2 photographs

Box 10

Toyen

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Doesburg, Theo van

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Villon, Jacques

Physical Description: 3 photographs

Box 10

Waldberg, Isabelle

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Warhol, Andy

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Westermann, H.C. (Horace Clifford)

Physical Description: 4 photographs

Box 10

Wols

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Wolfers, [Marcel?]

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Zev

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Box 10

Zürn, Unica

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Container list