Abraham Joel Tobias papers
name: label: Creator
content: Tobias, Abraham Joel, 1913-1996
label: Names
content: Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.)
label: Names
content: Fine Arts Federation of New York
label: Names
content: United States. Work Projects Administration
label: Names
content: Block, Irving
label: Names
content: Brooks, James, 1906-1992
label: Names
content: Caswell, Edward C.
label: Names
content: Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973
label: Names
content: Gaber, George
label: Names
content: Gill, Brendan, 1914-1997
label: Names
content: La Gambina, Vincent, 1909-1994
label: Names
content: Lishinsky, Abraham
label: Names
content: Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949
label: Names
content: Spivak, Max, 1906-1981
label: Names
content: Tobey, Alton S. (Alton Stanley), 1914-2005
topic: label: Topic
content: Mural painting and decoration
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The papers were donated in 2001 by Carolyn Tobias, the widow of Abraham Joel Tobias.
creator: label: Creator
content: Tobias, Abraham Joel, 1913-1996
setName: label: See more items in
content: Abraham Joel Tobias papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Abraham Joel Tobias papers date from 1913 to 2000 and measure 2.8 linear feet. Through project and exhibition files, printed material, correspondence, and photographs, the collection provides an overview of Tobias's career as a painter and muralist in New York City.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Abraham Joel Tobias (1913-1996) was a painter, muralist, and educator in New York City. He was a pioneer in the use of shaped canvases.

A native of Rochester, New York, Tobias came to New York City to study at the Cooper Union School of Art, 1930-1931, and at the Art Students League, 1930-1933. He worked for the Federal Arts Project,1938-1940, where he continued his training as a muralist, working with artist and technicians.

During World War II, Tobias served in the armed forces. He was an art director with the Intelligence Division, Army Air Force, and in 1945 was employed as a graphic designer for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Tobias was artist-in-residence and served as instructor in painting and drawing at Adelphia College, Garden City, Long Island, 1947-1957. He also was was a visiting lecturer at various schools including Howard University, Brooklyn Museum Art School, Pratt Institute Art School, as well as at colleges in Illinois and Kansas.

Tobias completed over ten mural commissions for governmental agencies and educational institutions, including: United States Post Office, Clarendon, Arkansas; Howard University, Washington, D.C.; James Madison High School, Brooklyn, New York; Beth Israel Hospital, New York City; Domestic Relations Court Building, Brooklyn, New York; and Adelphi College, Garden City, New York. In 1962, Tobias began The History of Science mural for the lobby of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn; it was never completed.

Tobias experimented with diverse materials such as terrazzo and mosaic for mural application. He also broke new ground with the use of ethyl silicate paint as a permanent medium for outdoor murals. In 1958, he patented striated plastic, a pliable material used to achieve an effect similar to stained glass.

He participated in many solo and group exhibitions. In 1935, Tobias presented his shaped canvas painting in the "Sculptural Painting" exhibition at Delphic Studios in New York City. In 1987, Tobias was recognized for his earlier pioneering work with a retrospective exhibition, "Abraham Joel Tobias: Sculptural Paintings" at The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum of Rutgers University. Other exhibitions included: "Plastics U.S.A.," the United States Information Service's exhibition in Moscow (1961); "New York City WPA Art," Parsons School of Design, New York City (1977); "For a Permanent Public Art," Tweed Gallery, New York City (1989); and "The Technological Muse," Katonah Museum of Art, New York (1991).

Tobias's professional memberships included the Architectural League of New York, National Society of Mural Painters, and New York Artists Equity Association. He served on the Board of Directors for the Fine Arts Federation of New York from 1988-1996. He won the Architectural League Award in 1952. The Art Commission of the City of New York recognized Tobias, posthumously, for distinguished service to public art.

Abraham Joel Tobias married Carolyn Pratt in 1949; the couple had one daughter. Abraham Joel Tobias died in Rego Park, New York, in 1996 at the age of 82.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.8 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1913-2000
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.tobijoel
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 8 series:

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1913-1996 (Boxes 1, 4; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1933-1997 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 3: Project and Exhibition Files, 1938-2000 (Boxes 1, 2, 4, OV 5; 1.6 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, circa 1928-1992 (Box 2; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1913-1999 (Boxes 3, 4; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Artwork, circa 1990s (Box 3; 1 folder)

Series 7: Photographs, 1929-1970 (Box 3; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 8: Video Recording, 1995 (Box 3, 1 folder)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: This collection was fully processed and a finding aid prepared by Carla de Luise in 2006.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The Abraham Joel Tobias papers date from 1913 to 2000 and measure 2.8 linear feet. Through project and exhibition files, printed material, correspondence, and photographs, the collection provides an overview of Tobias's career as a painter and muralist in New York City.

General correspondence regards mural proposals, exhibitions, professional activities, and museums' acquisitions of artwork by Tobias. A file of correspondence with the Fine Arts Federation of New York concerns efforts to recognize murals by Irving Block, James Brooks, Philip Evergood, Abraham Lishinsky, José Clemente Orozco, and Max Spivak as landmarks; it also includes minutes of meetings, 1988-1995, that reflect Tobias's service as a board member. Other correspondence is with friends and artists including Edward Caswell, George Gaber, Filia Holtzman, Vincent La Gambina, and Alton S. Tobey.

Project files document murals such as: The Four Freedoms, Midwood High School, Brooklyn, New York, honoring students and teachers who died in World War II (circa 1946); Birth for the maternity ward at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City (1951-1953); and Medical Science and Medical Research, Long Island Jewish Hospital (1954). The Science and Engineering project file (1958) contains a patent certificate for striated plastic, a material Tobias used in two murals. Also of interest is correspondence with the Harman Foundation regarding a documentary film about Tobias's use of ethyl silicate for outdoor murals. Among the exhibitions documented are: "Plastics U.S.A.," "New York WPA Artists Then and Now," and "Abraham Joel Tobias: Sculptural Paintings of the 1930s."

Printed material consists of announcements, invitations, solo and group exhibition catalogs, and clippings relating to Tobias's artistic career. Also found are pamphlets he designed for the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Photographs are of Tobias's artwork and the artist with friends and family. There is a video recording of an interview with Tobias conducted by Brendan Gill in 1995.