Richard E. Filipowski papers
name: label: Creator
content: Filipowski, Richard, 1923-2008
label: Names
content: Bauhaus
label: Names
content: Boston Arts Festival
label: Names
content: Harvard University -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Institute of Design (Chicago, Ill.)
label: Names
content: Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Agoos, Herbert M., 1915-1992
label: Names
content: Anderson, Lawrence B. (Lawrence Bernhart)
label: Names
content: Belluschi, Pietro, 1899-1994
label: Names
content: Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964
label: Names
content: Eckbo, Garrett
label: Names
content: Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969
label: Names
content: Kepes, Gyorgy, 1906-2001
label: Names
content: Kepes, Gyorgy, 1906-2001
label: Names
content: Moholy-Nagy, László, 1895-1946
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- Massachusetts
label: Occupation
content: Design -- Study and teaching
label: Occupation
content: Designers -- Massachusetts
label: Occupation
content: Filmmakers -- Massachusetts
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Massachusetts
label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- Massachusetts
label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Art and industry
label: Topic
content: Industrial design
label: Topic
content: Educators -- Massachusetts
label: Topic
content: Industrial designers
label: Topic
content: Painting, Modern -- 20th century
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Richard E. Filipowski in multiple installments from 1989 to 1998.
creator: label: Creator
content: Filipowski, Richard, 1923-2008
setName: label: See more items in
content: Richard E. Filipowski papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Massachusetts-based designer, sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and educator Richard E. Filipowski measure 4.1 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 1998. The papers document his career through biographical material, correspondence, writings, teaching files, project files, printed material, photographic material, artwork, and a sound recording.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Richard E. Filipowski (1923-2008) was a designer, sculptor, painter, filmmaker and educator mostly based in Massachusetts. Richard Filipowski was born in Poland in 1923 and he and his family moved to Ontario, Canada in 1927. He studied under Laszlo Moholy-Nagy at the Institute of Design (formerly known as the New Bauhaus) from 1942 to 1946 and taught there after graduating, 1946-1950. Filipowski was invited by Walter Gropius to organize and teach Design Fundamentals at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design where he stayed until 1952. He then taught as an Associate Professor of Visual Design in the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1953-1989.

Filipowski also took on numerous commissions for sculptures and artwork. One especially noteworthy commission was a sculpture for an Ark created for the Temple B'Rith Kodesh in Rochester, New York. The sculpture was intricately wrought and welded from bronze and silver alloys and it remained a source of inspiration for other later sculptures and commissions which had a similar style of metal-working. Many of his works were also marked by his Bauhaus training. Filipowski passed away in 2008.
function: label: Function
content: Art commissions
label: Function
content: Art festivals
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1940-1998
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.filirich
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Christmas cards
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged as eight series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1941-1974 (Box 1; 7 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1941-1998 (Box 1, OV 6; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1951-1969 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Teaching Files, 1943-1970 (Box 2, OV 6; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 5: Project Files, 1944-1976 (Boxes 2-3, OV 6-7; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1941-1989 (Box 3, OV 7; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1940-1989 (Boxes 3-4, OV 8; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 8: Artwork, circa 1940-circa 1985 (Boxes 4-5, OV 6, 8; 0.7 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Rihoko Ueno in 2018.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The sound recording of the lecture "Art Phobia in Our Society" was digitized for research access in 2013 and is available at the Archives of American Art offices. Researchers may view the original reel for any archival notation on it, but the original reel is not available for playback due to fragility.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Christmas cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Massachusetts-based designer, sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and educator Richard E. Filipowski measure 4.1 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 1998. The papers document his career through biographical material, correspondence, writings, teaching files, project files, printed material, photographic material, artwork, and a sound recording.

Biographical material consists of a Bauhaus questionnaire, marriage license, various identification documents, Canadian selective service documents, resumes, and other miscellaneous material.

Correspondence mostly relates to Filipowski's teaching and sculpture, including letters from Herbert M. Agoos, Lawrence B. Anderson, Pietro Belluschi, Stuart Davis, Garrett Eckbo, Walter Gropius, Gyorgy Kepes, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and others.

Writings consist of Filipowski's lectures on art, notes, and other material. There is also one sound recording of a lecture.

Teaching files are mostly from the Institute of Design, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The series includes syllabi, faculty meeting minutes, notes and drafts for lectures, school catalogs and schedules, and files on student exhibitions and projects, including two films, Do Not Disturb and Hearts and Arrows.

Project files contain correspondence, business records, printed material, sketches and photographs on commissions in architecture, sculpture and furniture design. There are also files on programs which Filipowski assisted in planning and organizing, including the Boston Art Festival and a few exhibitions.

Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, and clippings mostly about Filipowski.

Photographs, slides, and negatives are of Filipowski and others, sculpture, furniture designs, and works of art by his students from Harvard and MIT.

Art work includes sketches, sketchbooks, cardboard studies for sculptures, and Christmas card designs.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Richard E. Filipowski conducted by Roger Brown on September 25, 1989 through March 14, 1990.