Peter Blume papers
name: label: Creator
content: Blume, Peter, 1906-1992
label: Names
content: American Academy of Arts and Letters
label: Names
content: American Artists' Congress
label: Names
content: Boston College
label: Names
content: Connecticut Council of the Arts
label: Names
content: Askew, R. Kirk (Ralph Kirk), 1903-1974
label: Names
content: Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981
label: Names
content: Blankenhorn,  Heber, 1884-1956
label: Names
content: Blume, Grace
label: Names
content: Boursa, Harry
label: Names
content: Burke, Kenneth, 1897-
label: Names
content: Cowley, Malcolm, 1898-
label: Names
content: De Vries, Peter, 1910-1993
label: Names
content: Eisenstaedt, Alfred
label: Names
content: Getlein, Frank
label: Names
content: Godsoe, Robert
label: Names
content: Hirsch, Joseph, 1910-1981
label: Names
content: Kelly, Michael A.
label: Names
content: Miller, Arthur, 1915-2005
label: Names
content: O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986
label: Names
content: Soyer, Raphael, 1899-1987
label: Names
content: Trapp, Frank
topic: label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Peter Blume papers were donated by in 1993 by Grace Blume, Peter Blume's widow.  Additional papers were donated by Catherine Weiss, Jamie Vance, and Leigh Butler in 2010.
creator: label: Creator
content: Blume, Peter, 1906-1992
setName: label: See more items in
content: Peter Blume papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of New York and Connecticut painter Peter Blume date from 1870 to 2001 and measure 7.6 linear feet.  Found are biographical materials; correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, galleries and institutions, and writers;  writings on art by Blume and others; subject files regarding organizations, works of art, exhibitions, and reference files; personal business records; printed material; two scrapbooks; photographs of Blume, family, friends, and works of art; extensive artwork; and material relating to Blume's wife's family, the Cratons.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Russian-born painter and sculptor Peter Blume (1906-1992) was active in New York and Connecticut.  His style combined American and European traditions with folk art and surrealism.  

Peter Blume was born Piotr Sorek-Sabel in 1906 in Smorgon, Russia.  With his family, he emigrated to the United States in 1911 and settled in New York City.  Blume studied at the Educational Alliance and the Art Students League in New York.  Influenced by folk art, Precisionism, Cubism, and Surrealism, Blume combined European and American painting tradition to create his own style.  He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1932 and travelled to Italy. 

In 1934, Blume's South of Scranton (1931) won the first prize at the Carnegie International Exhibition.  Later, he exhibited The Eternal City (1937) at the Julian Levy Galleries in Manhattan.  With the Section of Painting and Sculpture of the Treasury Department, Blume completed two post office murals in New York and Pennsylvania.  Blume was a member of the National Academy of Design and was active with the American Academy in Rome. 

Peter Blume married Grace "Ebie" Douglas Craton in 1931.  The couple built their home in Sherman, Connecticut. The Blumes travelled the world and kept close relationships with family and friends, such as Ann and Heber Blankenhorn, Malcolm Cowley, and Ned and Nancy Holsten.  

Peter Blume died in Connecticut in 1992.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1870-2001
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.blumpete
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Travel diaries
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Prints
label: Type
content: Transcriptions
label: Type
content: Lectures
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Sketches
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 10 series.

Series 1:  Biographical Material, circa 1950-1992 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2:  Correspondence, 1926-1992 (1.8 linear feet; Box 1-3)

Series 3:  Writings and Notes, 1929-1986 (0.5 linear feet; Box 3, 9)

Series 4:  Subject Files, circa 1930-1988 (0.5 linear feet; Box 3-4)

Series 5:  Personal Business and Financial Records, 1934-1983 (0.6 linear feet; Box 4, 9)

Series 6:  Printed Material, 1930-1990 (0.7 linear feet; Box 4-5, 9, OV 15-16)

Series 7:  Scrapbooks, 1934-1944 (3 folders; Box 5)

Series 8:  Photographs, 1917-circa 1980 (1.1 linear feet; Box 5-6, 9)

Series 9:  Artwork, 1932-1984 (2.0 linear feet; Box 6-9, OV 10-14)

Series 10:  Craton Family Papers, 1870-2001 (0.2 linear feet; Box 6)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The Peter Blume papers were arranged upon receipt and fully merged, arranged, and described by Jayna Josefson in 2013 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection was digitized in 2014 and is available via the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Travel diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Transcriptions
label: Genre/Form
content: Lectures
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of New York and Connecticut painter Peter Blume date from 1870 to 2001 and measure 7.6 linear feet.  Found are biographical materials; correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, galleries and institutions, and writers;  writings on art by Blume and others; subject files regarding organizations, works of art, exhibitions, and reference files; personal business records; printed material; two scrapbooks; photographs of Blume, family, friends, and works of art; extensive artwork; and material relating to Blume's wife's family, the Cratons.  

Biographical materials include an award, obituaries, a travel itinerary, and sound recordings and transcripts of interviews of Peter Blume by Alfred H. Barr, Boston College, Harry Boursa, and Visionary Company Magazine.  

Correspondence is professional and personal.  Letters are from friends, family, artists, writers, galleries, and institutions.  Notable correspondents include Kirk Askew, Malcolm Cowley, Peter DeVries, Joseph Hirsch, and Frank A. Trapp, among others. Also found is Grace Blume's correspondence which includes letters to and from Peter Blume and letters from Grace to her family members and friends.  The bulk of Grace Blume's correspondence concerns her travels with Blume.

Writings and notes by Blume include a travel journal, lists of works of art, lectures, talks and other writings on art, artists, and friends. Writings by others include theses and scholarly papers about Blume, and include writings by Heber Blankenhorn, Kenneth Burke,  Malcolm Cowley, Robert Ulrich Godsoe, Frank Getlein, Michael A. Kelly, and Frank A. Trapp.  Also found is criticism on The Rock by school children.

Blume's subject files cover the American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Artists Congress, Heber Blankenhorn, works of art by Blume, exhibitions, and the Connecticut Council on the Arts.  Also found are reference files consisting of photographs of artwork by others and clippings.

Personal business and financial records consist of business correspondence with galleries and museums; sales and consignment records; scattered price lists; and receipts and invoices relating to the building and running of Blume's house in Connecticut. 

Printed materials include clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs for solo and group shows, magazines featuring articles about Blume, posters, and reproductions of works of art.

Scrapbooks include a fragment of a scrapbook from 1942-1944 and a clippings scrapbook from 1934-1939.

Photographs include portraits and snapshots of Peter Blume, Grace Blume, family, friends, travel, parties, pets, homes, landscapes, exhibitions, and works of art.   There are also photos of the Askews, the Blankenhorns, the Cowleys, Alfred Eisenstaedt, the Holstens, the Josephsons, Arthur Miller, Georgia O'Keeffe, the Sobys, and Raphael Soyer.

Artwork by Peter Blume includes completed drawings, sketches, doodles, prints, and preliminary drawings for many of his works.  Of note are extensive sketches of heads, and preliminary drawings for Recollection of the Flood.  

Craton family papers consist of geneological material relating to Grace Blume's brother, James Craton and his wife Catherine Sears Craton.  Found are vital records; military records for James and Marshall Craton; correspondence; scattered financial records; clippings; and family photographs.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Peter Blume conducted on August 16th, 1983 to May 23rd, 1984 by Robert F. Brown.