Samuel Adler papers
name: label: Creator
content: Adler, Samuel, 1898-1979
topic: label: Occupation
content: Educators -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Scrapbooks
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated in several installments from 1965 to 1980 by Samuel Adler and his wife, Beverly Adler.
creator: label: Creator
content: Adler, Samuel, 1898-1979
setName: label: See more items in
content: Samuel Adler papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Samuel Adler papers measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1902-1980, with the bulk of the records dating from 1927-1980. The collections sheds light on Adler's career through personal and professional papers, printed materials, scrapbooks, photographic materials, and sound recordings.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Samuel Adler (1898-1979) was an abstract painter, sculptor, and educator active in New York, New York.

Under special arrangement, Adler was admitted to the National Academy of Design at age 13 for a six-year program, studying under Leon Kroll, Charles Louis Hinton, and others. He did not graduate, and instead became a professional violinist, playing for conductors Henry Hadley and Bruno Walter, and he studied under Harold Eisenberg and Herbert Butler. 

In 1933, Adler left his music career to work on his art and offered private classes in painting and drawing. During World War II, he designed radio housings for the Army. In 1948, Adler had his first one-man show at Joseph Luyber Galleries, New York, and began teaching at New York University. He went on to have solo shows at various museums and galleries including University of Indiana, Louisville Art Center, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, University of Georgia, Frank Rehn Gallery, Notre Dame University, Rose Fried Gallery, and Krannert Art Museum. His work was also featured in group shows widely throughout the United States and abroad. 


In the 1950s Adler contributed a chapter titled "Imagination and the Artist" to Education and the Imagination (1958), edited by Irving Kaufman. His work can be found in the permanent collections of Brooklyn Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Newark Museum, Norfolk Museum, and others.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.2 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1902-1980
label: Date
content: bulk 1927-1980
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.adlesamu
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged as five series.

Series 1: Personal and Professional Papers, 1926-1975 (Box 1; 8 folders)

Series 2: Printed Materials, circa 1945-1977 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Scrapbooks, 1945-1980 (Box 1, Bound Volumes 4-9; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Photographic Materials, 1902-1972 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Sound Recordings, 1957-1979 (Box 2-3; 0.3 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Loaned papers of Samuel Adler were microfilmed on reel D231 and then returned to Adler. These papers were not subsequently donated. The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo 2023.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reel D231 at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Samuel Adler papers measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1902-1980, with the bulk of the records dating from 1927-1980. The collections sheds light on Adler's career through personal and professional papers, printed materials, scrapbooks, photographic materials, and sound recordings. 

Personal and professional papers consist of Adler's identification cards, marriage certificate, scant notes on painting, and some studio insurance records. Correspondence is comprised of personal and professional letters about exhibitions, purchase of artwork, Adler's artist-in-residence position at Notre Dame University, and more. The series also contains a guestbook from an Adler exhibition at Rehn Gallery, several of Adler's sketches and drawings, lecture notes from classes he taught, and other writings on contemporary art.

Printed materials include exhibition catalogs, invitations, and announcements of Adler's solo and group shows, ephemera from Adler's speaking engagements, scant writings about Adler and reproductions of his work, and a copy of Education and the Imagination, edited by Irving Kaufman, which includes a chapter by Samuel Adler titled "Imagination and the Artist." 


Six scrapbook volumes and 2 folders of scrapbook contents document Adler's career through a myriad of materials including awards and certificates, correspondence including letters about Adler's teaching positions, printed material, an inventory of artworks from Adler's estate, and more. 


Photographic materials depict Adler, his family, friends, and works of art. Nine sound recordings are of interviews, radio programs, and lectures.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Papers loaned for microfilming on reel D231, including: correspondence (with correspondents such as Morris Blackburn, Glenn Raymond Bradshaw, Howard S. Conant, Lamar Dodd, Ernest Fiene, Anthony Lauck, Sidney Laufman, Arthur Osver, John Rood, and Hudson D. Walker); three scrapbooks, 1944-1955; catalogs; and gallery literature were returned to Samuel Adler after microfilming and are not described in the collection Container Inventory.