John F. Turner research material on Howard Finster
name: label: Creator
content: Turner, John F.
label: Names
content: Arient, Beth, 1946-
label: Names
content: Arient, James, 1946-
label: Names
content: Camp, Jeffrey Thomas, 1944-
label: Names
content: Dickinson, Eleanor, 1931-
label: Names
content: Esman, Rosa, 1927-2022
label: Names
content: Finster, Beverly
label: Names
content: Finster, Howard, 1916-2001
label: Names
content: Finster, Pauline
label: Names
content: Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997
label: Names
content: Hartigan, Lynda Roscoe
label: Names
content: Hemphill, Herbert Waide
label: Names
content: Jabbour, Alan
label: Names
content: Kind, Phyllis, 1933-2018
label: Names
content: Kirwin, Liza
label: Names
content: Lancaster, Clay
label: Names
content: Nasisse, Andy S., 1946-
label: Names
content: Nutt, Jim, 1938-
label: Names
content: Volkersz, Willem
topic: label: Occupation
content: Folk artists -- California
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Georgia
label: Occupation
content: Museum curators -- California
label: Topic
content: Authors -- California
label: Topic
content: Folk art
label: Topic
content: Self-taught artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The John F. Turner research material on Howard Finster was donated by John F. Turner in 1987 and 2016.
creator: label: Creator
content: Turner, John F.
setName: label: See more items in
content: John F. Turner research material on Howard Finster
abstract: label: Summary
content: The John F. Turner collection of research material on visionary self-taught artist Howard Finster measures 6.9 linear feet and dates from circa 1928 to 2015, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1978 to 1990.  John Turner is a California-based curator who compiled this collection in preparation for his book Howard Finster: Man of Visions (1989).  Found within the collection are correspondence;  numerous interviews with Finster and Finster family members, curators and historians, collectors, and artists;  draft manuscripts and research notes; compiled research files on other topics; printed materials and commercial broadcast video recordings; and photographic material, including polaroids annotated by Finster.  There is also one series of Howard Finster's papers that include writings by Finster, sound and video recordings of Finster exhibitions and talks by Finster related to those exhibitions, recordings of other speaking engagements, sermons, and other events, a scattering of personal business records that includes a ledger and price list of artwork, and artwork.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: John F. Turner is a writer and curator who lives in California.  Turner has written books on photography and folk art and is an adjunct curator at the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum.  He has also worked for NBC news and documented the lives of folk artists for many years.

Turner befriended visionary, self-taught artist and Baptist minister Howard Finster sometime in the late 1970s.  The research material in this collection was compiled over a decade for Turner's book Howard Finster: Man of Vision (Alfred A. Knopf, 1989).
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6.9 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1928-2015
label: Date
content: bulk 1978-1990
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.turnjohn
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Transcriptions
label: Type
content: Video recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1967-2005 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Interviews, 1977-circa 1989 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1980-circa 1989 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 4: Research Files, circa 1971-2015 (0.5 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 5: Howard Finster Files and Sound and Video Recordings, circa 1970-2001 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 3-5, OV 9, 11)

Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1975-2010 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 5-6, OV 10)

Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1928-circa 2000 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 6-8)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: This collection was processed by Rihoko Ueno in 2016.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Transcriptions
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The John F. Turner collection of research material on visionary self-taught artist Howard Finster measures 6.9 linear feet and dates from circa 1928 to 2015, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1978 to 1990.  John Turner is a California-based curator who compiled this collection in preparation for his book Howard Finster: Man of Visions (1989).  Found within the collection are correspondence;  numerous interviews with Finster and Finster family members, curators and historians, collectors, and artists;  draft manuscripts and research notes; compiled research files on other topics; printed materials and commercial broadcast video recordings; and photographic material, including polaroids annotated by Finster.  There is also one series of Howard Finster's papers that include writings by Finster, sound and video recordings of Finster exhibitions and talks by Finster related to those exhibitions, recordings of other speaking engagements, sermons, and other events, a scattering of personal business records that includes a ledger and price list of artwork, and artwork.  

Correspondence mostly consists of letters to John Turner from Howard Finster and Finster family members, folklorist Alan Jabbour, Clay Lancaster, Andy Nasisse, and others. There are also letters to Howard Finster from miscellaneous correspondents. 

Numerous interviews with and about Howard Finster are found on 47 sound cassettes, and one partial transcript.  In addition to interviews conducted by Turner, there are interviews with Finster conducted by Liza Kirwin and Willem Volkerz.  Most of the interviews are with others about Finster, including family members, collectors, curators and art historians, and other artists.  Interviewees include Jim and Beth Arient,  Jeffrey Camp, Eleanor Dickinson, Rosa Esman, Beverly and Pauline Finster, Allen Ginsberg,  Lynda Hartigan, Herbert Waide Hemphill, Alan Jabbour, Phyllis Kind, Jim Nutt, and others.

Writings consist of Turner's research notebooks and a typescript draft for his book Howard Finster: Man of Visions.  There are some curator's statements and loose notes possibly written by others.
  
Research files include printed material compiled by John Turner on various artists and subjects not directly related to Finster, except for bibliographies. 

Papers and other materials created by Howard Finster are arranged into one separate series.  These include writings; exhibition files, including video and sound recordings; personal business records; artwork, including album covers and posters; and sound recordings of Finster's public and private talks, sermons, and events.  Many of the sound recordings were recorded by Finster himself.  

Printed material consists of newspaper and magazine clippings about Howard Finster, exhibition catalogs, announcements, magazines, and art periodicals.  There are also 2 videocassettes of commercially released television appearances and music videos.

Photographic material includes photographs, slides, negatives, and transparencies of Howard Finster and his artwork.  There are images of Finster and his family, artwork, exhibitions, openings, and events. Some of the images are annotated by Finster.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also has the Barbara Shissler Nosanow materials relating to Howard Finster, circa 1981; an oral history interview with Howard Finster conducted on June 11, 1984 by Liza Kirwin; and an interview with Howard Finster conducted by James Arient and Howard Finster's own sound recordings of himself from 1981-1982.