Herman Maril papers
name: label: Creator
content: Maril, Herman
label: Names
content: Federal Art Project
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- Maryland -- Baltimore
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Maryland -- Baltimore
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- Maryland -- Baltimore
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Herman Maril papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in several installments from 1978-1981 by Herman Maril with the bulk of the material donated in 2018 by the Herman Maril Foundation via David Maril.
creator: label: Creator
content: Maril, Herman
setName: label: See more items in
content: Herman Maril papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter and printmaker Herman Maril measure 8.6 linear feet and date from 1932-2023, bulk dates 1934-1986. The papers document Maril's career as a painter and art educator based in Baltimore, Maryland, through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, writings, teaching and project files, gallery and organization files, printed material and video recordings, and photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Herman Maril (1908-1986) was a Modernist painter, printmaker and teacher in Baltimore, Maryland. Maril was a native of Baltimore and studied at the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts. During the Great Depression, he worked on the Federal Art Project sponsored by the Works Progress Administration and created murals for the post office of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Alta Vista, Virginia. Maril had a long career as an educator and taught at various places such as the Cummington School and, after his World War II military service, the King-Smith School, among other places. His longest tenure was at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was a professor of painting for over 31 years from 1946 until his retirement in 1977. Maril married his wife Esta in 1948 and they had two children, David and Nadja.

Maril exhibited widely and has been continuously represented by major galleries since the 1930s. According to the Herman Maril Foundation, "Maril's work has been featured in over 50 solo exhibitions at galleries and museums around the country. Maril's work is included in over 100 museums," and "In 1983, University of Maryland University College (UMUC) established a permanent Herman Maril Gallery to showcase his works."

Maril's artwork is part of the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Phillips Collection, The Whitney Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many other museums across the country and abroad. Maril passed away in 1986.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 8.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1932-2023
label: Date
content: bulk 1935-1986
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.mariherm
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Video recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1940-circa 1998 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, OV 11)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1933-2010 (2.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)

Series 3: Writings, 1932-1993 (0.4 linear feet; Box 3, OV 12)

Series 4: Teaching and Project Files, 1934-1996, bulk 1935-1975 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)

Series 5: Gallery and Organization Files, 1934-2014, bulk 1940-1990 (2.6 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, OVs 13-16)

Series 6: Printed Material and Video Recordings, 1918, 1934-2023, bulk 1935-1986 (2.4 linear feet; Boxes 6-9)

Series 7: Photographs, 1933-circa 1990 (0.2 linear feet; Box 10)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, prepared for digitization, and described in a finding aid by Rihoko Ueno in 2023 with funding provided by the Herman Maril Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2023 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter and printmaker Herman Maril measure 8.6 linear feet and date from 1932-2023, bulk dates 1934-1986. The papers document Maril's career as a painter and art educator based in Baltimore, Maryland, through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, writings, teaching and project files, gallery and organization files, printed material and video recordings, and photographs.

Biographical material includes resumes and short biographical profiles, military service records, awards and certificates, sketches and greeting card designs, and limited financial records. There are also an Herman Maril interview transcript and a sound recording of an interview.

Correspondence consists of a mixture of personal and professional correspondence with friends, colleagues, artists, universities, and galleries.  Notable correspondents include Mary Ainsworth, Julian Anthony, William Bronk, Martha and Sheldon Cheney, Sidney Cox, and Olin Dows.

Maril's writings include one journal and drafts of artist statements, short stories, essays, and lectures. Writings by others include essays on Herman Maril and other subjects.

Teaching and project files includes documents from schools and universities where Herman Maril taught art and material related to the Federal Art Project  sponsored by the Works Progress Administration. Most of the teaching files are from the Cummington School, King-Smith School, and the University of Maryland. The Federal Art Project materials include correspondence and photographs related to murals that Maril created for two post offices. 

The gallery files document Herman Maril's relationships with various galleries that represented him or exhibited his artwork over the years through correspondence, exhibition catalogs and announcements, price lists, inventory lists, and sales records. Organization files consist of membership records such as by-laws, meeting minutes, newsletters, bulletins, and brochures.

Printed materials mostly consists of books, exhibition catalogs and announcements, magazine articles, and newsclippings about Herman Maril. There is also a documentary on Maril and video recordings of various people such as curators and museum directors talking about Maril. There are a few clippings on other artists and subjects.

Photographs consists of black and white photographs of various Herman Maril paintings. There is one transparency and a few slides of paintings, but the rest of the series are photographic prints.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also has oral history interviews with Maril conducted by Dorothy Seckler on 1965 September 5, conducted by Robert Brown on 1971 July 21, and conducted by Maril's nephew, Ronald E. Becker, on 1980 July 14.