Charles Pollock papers
name: label: Creator
content: Pollock, Charles C.
label: Names
content: Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- France
label: Occupation
content: Muralists -- France -- Paris
label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- Michigan
label: Occupation
content: Muralists -- Michigan
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Michigan
label: Topic
content: Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Painters -- France -- Paris
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Expatriate painters -- France -- Paris
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The papers were donated in 1975 by Pollock's first wife, Elizabeth Feinberg Pollock, with assistance from Charles Pollock on the selection of items. Additional materials were donated in 1988 by his second wife, Sylvia Winter Pollock. From 1991 to 1994, Elizabeth Pollock gifted additional correspondence and photographs to the Archives.
creator: label: Creator
content: Pollock, Charles C.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Charles Pollock papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Charles Pollock measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1875 to 1994. Found within the papers are biographical materials; family and personal correspondence; subject files on art and professional topics; writings; printed material; artwork, including political cartoons and figurative sketches; and photographs of Pollock, his family and friends, and his work.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Painter, muralist, and educator Charles Pollock (1902-1988) lived and worked in East Lansing, Michigan, New York City, Detroit, and Paris, France and painted in a social realist style early in his career before transitioning to abstract works in the 1940s. He is also the eldest brother of the abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock.

Born in Denver, Colorado to Stella McClure and LeRoy Pollock, Pollock received his early art training at the Otis Institute in Los Angeles, California. In 1926, he moved to New York City to attend the Art Students League where he studied under Thomas Hart Benton, with whom Jackson also studied after joining Charles in New York in 1930. In New York, he met and married his first wife, Elizabeth Feinberg Pollock, in 1931.

Pollock moved to Washington, D.C. in 1935 to work for the Resettlement Administration, and after two years, accepted a position as the political illustrator for the United Automobile Workers' newspaper in Detroit. After a short stint as the illustrator and layout editor for the paper, Pollock served as the supervisor of the Michigan WPA Mural Painting and Graphic Arts division from 1938 to 1942.  

Upon completion of a three panel mural for Michigan State University in 1942, Pollock was invited to join the faculty of the art department, where he taught lettering, printmaking, typography, and design. During his twenty-five year tenure at the University, he also served as a book designer for the University's Press and continued to develop his abstract painting style. He met and married his second wife, Sylvia Winter Pollock, in 1957. Pollock served as the University of Pennsylvania's artist in residence in 1965 and 1967, and was the recipient of a National Foundation of Arts Grant (1967) and a Guggenheim Grant (1967-1968).  The Pollocks moved to Paris in 1970, where Charles died of complications from a stroke in 1988.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3.1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1875-1994
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.pollchar
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Cartoons (humorous images)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1945-1988 (7 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1927-1994 (1 linear foot; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Subject Files, 1931-1988 (0.8 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 4: Writings, 1935-1965 (2 folders; Box 2)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1930-1990 (4 folders; Box 2)

Series 6: Artwork, 1925-1949 (0.7 linear feet; Box 3, OV 5-8)

Series 7: Photographic Materials, 1875-1987 (0.4  linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Materials received a preliminary level of arrangement after donation and portions of the collection were microfilmed onto reels 1097, 1116, and 4213-4215. Materials were merged and processed to an intermediate level and a finding aid prepared by Judy Ng in 2015, with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. The Archives of American Art has implemented minimal processing tactics when possible in order to increase information about and access to more of our collections.

Intermediate processing included arrangement to the series and folder levels with greater attention to the artwork and photographic materials series. For other series, items within folders were generally verified with folder titles, but not arranged further. The collection was rehoused in archival containers and folders.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 1097, 1116, and 4213-4215 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Cartoons (humorous images)
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Charles Pollock measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1875 to 1994. Found within the papers are biographical materials; family and personal correspondence; subject files on art and professional topics; writings; printed material; artwork, including political cartoons and figurative sketches; and photographs of Pollock, his family and friends, and his work.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Elizabeth Feinberg Pollock memoirs and the Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner papers.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Nine works of art included in the 1975 gift from Elizabeth Pollock were transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, formerly the National Collection of Fine Arts, in 1976.