Forrest Bess letters to L. E. and Patricia Cooke
name: label: Creator
content: Bess, Forrest, 1911-1977
label: Names
content: Cooke, L. E. (L. Ezra)
label: Names
content: Cooke, Patricia J.
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Texas -- Bay City
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated 1986 by Patricia (Mrs. L.E.) Cooke as part of AAA's Texas Project.
creator: label: Creator
content: Bess, Forrest, 1911-1977
setName: label: See more items in
content: Forrest Bess letters to L. E. and Patricia Cooke
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Forrest Bess letters to L.E. and Patricia Cooke, date from circa 1963-1964 and consist of photocopies of two letters and twelve slides of two paintings. Bess writes concerning two paintings owned by the Cookes, and discusses Carl Jung, and the reactions of the unconscious to Bess's work.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Forrest Bess (1911-1977) was a painter and fisherman in Bay City, Texas, known for his generally small, abstract, biomorphic paintings, and his ideas on the merging of masculine and feminine energy. L.E. and Patricia Cooke were art collectors. 

Although Bess lived much of his life in relative isolation, he was represented by Betty Parsons in New York, and his work received renewed interest after a 1981 solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Although most of his paintings are in private collections, his work can be found in museums including the Menil Collection, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and others.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.01 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1963-1964
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.bessforr
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Due to the small size of the collection, the letters are arranged as one series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection received preliminary processing by T. James on April 5, 1986, and was microfilmed on Reel 3752. The collection was processed and described in a finding aid by Stephanie Ashley, and digitized, in 2021.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection was digitized in 2021 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Original letters are in the possession of the donor.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Forrest Bess letters to L.E. and Patricia Cooke, date from circa 1963-1964 and consist of photocopies of two letters and twelve slides of two paintings. Bess writes concerning two paintings owned by the Cookes, and discusses Carl Jung, and the reactions of the unconscious to Bess's work.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds the Forrest Bess photographs and slides, the Forrest Bess letters, the Dana Friis-Hansen papers on Forrest Bess, the Louis Waldman research material on Forrest Bess, and the Rosalie Berkowitz papers relating to Forrest Bess.