Will Shuster papers
name: label: Creator
content: Shuster, Will
label: Names
content: Public Works of Art Project
label: Names
content: Henri, Robert, 1865-1929
label: Names
content: Karig, Walter, 1898-
label: Names
content: La Farge, Oliver, 1901-1963
label: Names
content: Nash, Willard Ayer, 1898-1943
label: Names
content: Scott, Winfield Townley, 1910-1968
label: Names
content: Sheridan, John E., 1880-1948
label: Names
content: Sloan, John, 1871-1951
label: Names
content: Wheelock, Warren, 1880-1960
place: label: Place
content: United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- New Mexico
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers
label: Topic
content: Art, American -- New Mexico -- Santa Fe
label: Topic
content: New Deal, 1933-1939 -- New Mexico
label: Topic
content: Art and state -- New Mexico
label: Topic
content: Federal aid to the arts -- New Mexico
label: Topic
content: Mural painting and decoration -- 20th century -- New Mexico
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The material borrowed from Will Shuster in October 1964 (reel NDA 3) was part of a project of AAA to document New Deal art projects throughout the U.S. The bulk of the Will Shuster papers (reels 169-177, 277) were lent by his widow, Selma Dingee Shuster. Five letters from John Sloan (Reel 4283) were lent in 1989 by her estate.
creator: label: Creator
content: Shuster, Will
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Painter, printmaker, and writer active in Santa Fe, N.M.; b. 1893; d. 1969
function: label: Function
content: Art festivals
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 12 Reels (ca. 3000 items (on 12 microfilm reels))
unitdate: label: Date
content: [undated] and 1914-1970
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.shuswill
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Reels
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Letters arranged chronologically.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: 35mm microfilm reels NDA 3, 4283, 169-177, 277 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Letters from Sloan to Shuster: Originals in the Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, De.
label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: All materials except John Sloan letters: Originals in the library of the Santa Fe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Correspondence with John Sloan and others, writings, poems, original art works, scrapbooks, photographs, and Shuster's own descriptions of his work.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Reel NDA 3: Instructions, releases, speeches, manuscripts notes, photographs of Shuster's PWAP murals in New Mexico; and a typescript of a comedy written by Shuster.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Reels 169-177: 400 letters, 1917-1968, including correspondence with Robert Henri, Edgar Varese, John S. Velie, Walter Karig, and family members. Other materials consist of diaries, 1918, 1928, 1933-1934, 1937-1962, and 1964-1969; photographs of Shuster, family, and friends, and his work; original drawings, watercolors, oils and etchings; sketchbooks; poems, lectures, and stories by Shuster; a record of his works; scrapbooks, 1920-1928, 1923-1935, and 1935-1963; and material relating to John Sloan, who was Shuster's close friend and his teacher in 1920.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Reel 277: Materials relating to John Sloan, including letters from him 1922-1951; notes by Winifield Townley Scott recording conversations with Helen Shuster and Mrs. Sloan after Sloan's death and commenting on Sloan's work, tributes by Oliver LaFarge and others, and clippings. Additional correspondents are John Sheridan, Robert Henri, Warren Wheelock, Willard Nash, and the Veterans Administration, concerning Shuster's medical disability after having his lungs damaged by poisoned gas during the World War, 1914-1918. Also included are poems by Shuster, 1925-1939, and other Santa Fe residents, including Scott; and correspondence and printed material relating to Shuster's participation in various Santa Fe festivals.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Reel 4283: Five letters from Sloan to Shuster. Three letters are illustrated and contain detailed instructions and advice on etching technique. A fourth letter, dated Jan 2, 1922, includes a recipe for gesso preparation and an offer from Sloan to pay Shuster's entry fee to "show in the Independents." Sloan in his two page letter, dated January 3, 1947, comments on the pace of his work; his participation in a "Mr. & Mrs. Exhibition" at the Laurel Gallery; a production of Eugene O'Neill's "The Ice Man Cometh"; and the Whitney Annual.