Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Collection Summary
Collection Title:
Bruce
Conner
photograph collection
Date (inclusive): circa 1935-circa 2008
Collection Number: BANC PIC 1997.069
Collector:
Connor, Bruce
Extent:
5 boxes and 9 oversize folders (ca. 925 photographic prints, ca. 100 xerographic prints and 10 slides), 2 boxes (ca. 350 negatives)
and 25 negatives ; b&w and color; 48 x 34 cm or smaller.
5 digital objects (5 images)
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: Contains portraits, snapshots and professional photographs documenting the life, activities and artwork of
Bruce
Conner
.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Information for Researchers
Access Information
COLLECTION STORED, IN PART, OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.
RESTRICTED NEGATIVES. Use of negatives only by permission of the appropriate curator. Inquiries regarding these materials
should be directed, in writing, to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item],
Bruce
Conner
photograph collection, BANC PIC 1997.069, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Alternate Forms Available
Digital reproductions of selected images are available.
Related Material
Bruce
Conner
correspondence concerning Jay DeFeo's "The Rose" (BANC MSS 98/32 c)
Auerhahn Press records (BANC MSS 71/85 c)
Bruce
Conner
papers (2005/50 c)
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
Clements, Geoffrey
Conner,
Bruce
, 1933-2008--Archives.
Conner,
Bruce
, 1933-2008--Pictorial works
DeFeo, Jay, 1929-1989--Pictorial works.
Haller, Robert A.
Hopper, Dennis, 1936-2010--Pictorial works.
Keenan, Larry
Kurz, Vivian--Pictorial works.
McClure, Michael--Pictorial works.
Shea, Edmund
Art, American--California--20th century--Photographs
Artists, 20th century--Photographs.
Artists, American--Photographs.
Administrative Information
Series 1: transferred from the
Bruce
Conner
correspondence concerning Jay DeFeo's "The Rose" (BANC MSS 98/32 c) with additions from the Auerhahn Press records (BANC
MSS 71/85 c) and from the
Bruce
Conner
papers (BANC MSS 2000/50 c).
Series 2-4: transferred from later additions to the
Bruce
Conner
papers received in 2011.
Processing/Project Information
Among 2011 additions, some material may duplicate that of earlier installments of the collection.
Biography/Organization History
Sculptor, filmmaker, collagist, painter, draftsman, photographer, conceptual artist.
Born in McPherson, Kansas, in 1933,
Bruce
Conner
spent his childhood and young adulthood in nearby Wichita. Upon graduating from Wichita High School East, Conner went on
to study art at Wichita University and University of Nebraska, where he met his wife-to-be, Jean Sandstedt. He continued art
studies at the Brooklyn Art School and the University of Colorado. In 1957, at the urging of his childhood friend, the poet
Michael McClure, and attracted by stories of a vibrant art and literary scene that included visual artists Jay DeFeo, Joan
Brown, and Jess, and poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Whalen, and Philip Lamantia, Conner and his wife, Jean, moved to
San Francisco. He subsequently became a key figure in the city's legendary Beat community. After brief sojourns to Mexico
City, 1961-1962, where his son, Robert was born, and Brookline, Massachusetts, 1963-1964, Conner resettled in San Francisco
where he continued to live and work until his death.
-Biographical note by Dean Smith, Bancroft Library
Scope and Content Note
Contains portraits, snapshots and professional photographs documenting the life, activities and artwork of
Bruce
Conner
. Portraits depict Conner from childhood through his later years. Also depicted are family members, friends and associates,
including his wife Jean, his son Robert, artist Jay DeFeo, poet Michael McClure, actor Dennis Hopper and friend Vivian Kurz.
Many of his exhibitions are documented, as are numerous artworks. Also includes many film stills. In addition to photographs,
the collection also includes several xerographic reproductions of Conner’s collages, drawings and other works.
Collection includes work by numerous photographers, including Edmund Shea, Larry Keenan, Frank English, Robert A. Haller,
Erni Burden and Geoffrey Clements.
Collection does not include original artwork by
Bruce
Conner
.