Wallace Berman papers
name: label: Creator
content: Berman, Wallace, 1926-1976
label: Names
content: Bengston, Billy Al
label: Names
content: DeFeo, Jay, 1929-1989
label: Names
content: Di Prima, Diane
label: Names
content: Duncan, Robert Edward, 1919-
label: Names
content: Fonda, Peter, 1940-
label: Names
content: Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997
label: Names
content: Heinecken, Robert, 1931-
label: Names
content: Herms, George, 1935-
label: Names
content: Hirschman, Jack, 1933-
label: Names
content: Hopper, Dennis, 1936-
label: Names
content: Jess, 1923-
label: Names
content: Johnson, Ray, 1927-
label: Names
content: Jordan, Patricia M., 1937-1989
label: Names
content: Lamantia, Philip, 1927-
label: Names
content: McClure, Michael
label: Names
content: Meltzer, David
label: Names
content: Miller, Henry, 1891-
label: Names
content: Patchen, Kenneth, 1911-1972
label: Names
content: Perkoff, Stuart Z.
label: Names
content: Ruscha, Edward
label: Names
content: Sherman, Donald
label: Names
content: Wieners, John, 1934-
topic: label: Occupation
content: Assemblage artists
label: Topic
content: Works of art
label: Topic
content: Poets
label: Topic
content: Collage
label: Topic
content: Art -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area
label: Topic
content: Assemblage (Art)
label: Topic
content: Beat generation
label: Topic
content: Photography, Artistic
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Wallace Berman papers were donated by Tosh Berman, Wallace Berman's son, in 1992.
creator: label: Creator
content: Berman, Wallace, 1926-1976
setName: label: See more items in
content: Wallace Berman papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Wallace Berman papers date from 1907 to 1979 (bulk 1955-1979). The collection measures 4.9 linear feet and presents a cursory overview of Berman's career as an assemblage artist and poet. The collection contains business correspondence, letters from other artists and writers of the Beat movement, writings by others, scattered artwork by Berman, photographs by Robert F. Heinecken, and sound recordings of poetry readings.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Wallace Berman was born in 1926 in Staten Island, New York. In the 1930s, his family moved to the Jewish district in Los Angeles. After being expelled from high school for gambling in the early 1940s, Berman immersed himself in the growing West Coast jazz scene. During this period, he briefly attended the Jepson Art School and Chouinard Art School, but departed when he found the training too academic for his needs.

In 1949, while working in a factory finishing antique furniture, he began to make sculptures from unused scraps and reject materials. By the early 1950s, Berman had become a full-time artist and an active figure in the beat community in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Many art historians consider him to be the "father" of the California assemblage movement. Moving between the two cities, Berman devoted himself to his mail art publication Semina, which contained a sampling of beat poetry and images selected by Berman.

In 1963, permanently settled in Topanga Canyon in the Los Angeles area, Berman began work on verifax collages (printed images, often from magazines and newspapers, mounted in collage fashion onto a flat surface, sometimes with solid bright areas of acrylic paint). He continued creating these works, as well as rock assemblages, until his death in 1976.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.9 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1907-1979
label: Date
content: bulk 1955-1979
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.bermwall
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into nine series which generally reflect material type.

With the exception of the letters in Series 1, each series is arranged chronologically. The original arrangement of the letters has been maintained, with a chronological arrangement of miscellaneous business letters and an alphabetical arrangement of the letters from Berman's more prominent colleagues.

Series 1: Letters, 1957-1979, undated (0.5 Linear feet; Box 1, OV 7)

Series 2: Notes from Interview, 1967 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 3: Writings by Others, 1972, undated (Box 1; 6 folders)

Series 4: Artwork, 1956-1976 (Box 1, OV 7; 5 folders)

Series 5: Semina, 1955-1967 (Boxes 1-2; 26 folders)

Series 6: S. M. S., 1968 (Box 2; 1 folders)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1907-1976 (Boxes 2-5; 2.7 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, 1956-1976 (Box 5, OV 7; 8 folders)

Series 9: Sound Recordings, 1962-1965 (Box 6; 6 folders)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Jean Fitzgerald in 1998. The finding aid was modified during conversion to EAD by Stephanie Ashley in 2001.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: This collection is available on 35 mm microfilm reels 5282-5284 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.

Most of the sound recordings have been digitized for research access and are available at the Archives of American Art offices.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The Wallace Berman papers, 1907-1979 (bulk 1955-1979), measure 4.9 linear feet and present a cursory overview of Berman's career as an assemblage artist and poet. The collection is valuable not only for its documentation of the work of Wallace Berman, but for its documentation of the California beat movement of the late 1950s through the early 1970s.

Found are numerous letters, writings, poems, and other published material which portray the thoughts, attitudes, and trends popular in a prominent underground culture which eventually led to radical changes in America and American art. The collection contains business correspondence, letters from other artists and writers of the beat movement, writings by others, scattered artwork by Berman, and photographs by Robert F. Heinecken. In addition, the collection contains files for Berman's mail art publications Semina and S.M.S. Also of note is the large volume of printed material (2.7 feet), much of it in the form of books and other published material. Sound recordings include poets Michael McClure, Kenneth Patchen, David Melzer, and another unidentified writer performing their work.