Robert W. White papers
name: label: Creator
content: White, Robert, 1921-2002
label: Names
content: American Academy in Rome
label: Names
content: American Battle Monuments Commission
label: Names
content: Century Association (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Davis Galleries
label: Names
content: Graham Gallery
label: Names
content: Graham Modern (Gallery)
label: Names
content: Heckscher Museum
label: Names
content: National Academy of Design (U.S.)
label: Names
content: Parsons School of Design
label: Names
content: Parsons School of Design -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Peabody Museum
label: Names
content: Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture -- Faculty
label: Names
content: State University of New York at Stony Brook
label: Names
content: Steuben Glass (Firm)
label: Names
content: Suffolk Museum
label: Names
content: United States. Coast Guard
label: Names
content: Ames, Amyas
label: Names
content: Cremer, Theodore
label: Names
content: Fleischmann, Patricia
label: Names
content: Fosburgh, Hugh, 1916-
label: Names
content: Franklin, Gilbert, 1919-2004
label: Names
content: Hancock, Walker Kirtland, 1901-1998
label: Names
content: Harrison, Jim
label: Names
content: Hobbs, Susan, 1945-
label: Names
content: Huntington, Willard R.
label: Names
content: Kean, Rebekah Harkness
label: Names
content: La Farge, Bancel, 1865-1938
label: Names
content: Lamb, Ward
label: Names
content: Lessard, Suzannah
label: Names
content: Lowe, David, 1933-
label: Names
content: Matthiessen, Peter
label: Names
content: O'Cain, Walker
label: Names
content: Oxman, Katja
label: Names
content: Oxman, Mark
label: Names
content: Platt, Frank C. (Frank Cheney), 1932-
label: Names
content: Pope, Laura Spencer
label: Names
content: Resika, Ellen
label: Names
content: Resika, Paul
label: Names
content: Ripley, S. Dillon (Sidney Dillon), 1913-2001
label: Names
content: Russotto, Paul
label: Names
content: Simon, Sidney, 1917-1997
label: Names
content: Styron, William, 1925-
label: Names
content: White, Bessie Chanler
label: Names
content: White, Claire Nicolas, 1925-
label: Names
content: White, Lawrence Grant
topic: label: Topic
content: Educators -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Sculptors -- New York (State)
label: Topic
content: Sculpture -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Artists' studios -- Photographs
label: Topic
content: Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Robert W. White Papers were donated in 2003 by Claire Nicolas White, widow of Robert White.
creator: label: Creator
content: White, Robert, 1921-2002
setName: label: See more items in
content: Robert W. White papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of New York sculptor Robert White measure 8.4 linear feet and 0.846 GB and date from 1889-2003, with the bulk of the material from 1915-2003. The collection documents White's varied career as a sculptor, educator, painter, and illustrator through biographical material; extensive correspondence; project files; personal business records; notes and writings; sketchbooks and sketches by Robert White and others; printed and digital material; audiovisual material; artifacts; and photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Robert Winthrop White (1921-2002) lived and worked in St. James, New York and was primarily known as a sculptor and educator.

He was the son of the architect, Lawrence Grant White (1887-1956) and Bessie Chanler White. Stanford White (1853-1906), Robert's grandfather, was one of the founding partners in the prominent New York City architectural firm, McKim, White, and Mead.

As a youth, Robert White traveled to Munich, Germany to study woodcarving, sculpture, and painting. In 1935, he entered Portsmouth Priory School in Rhode Island. From 1938-1942, he was enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design, where his mentors were Walter Raemisch in sculpture and John Howard Benson in calligraphy. In World War II, White served as chief boatswain's mate in the United States Coast Guard and later worked in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). At the end of the war, White continued his training in sculpture and painting. In 1947, Robert White married Clare Nicolas, daughter of the painter and stained glass master, Joep Nicolas and the sculptor, Suzanne Nicolas. 

Robert White, influenced by the classical techniques of the Renaissance artists, worked in various media, such as bronze, stone, plaster, terra-cotta, and wood. His subjects included portrait, figure, and life studies; animals; and dancers. Robert White also was an illustrator. He illustrated works by Laura Spencer Pope, William Styron, and others. White also illustrated two collections of his own poems, Casques and Dust and Palace: The Story of A Friendship that were privately published before his death in 2002.

Robert White held teaching positions at several universities and schools, including the Suffolk Museum of Art, the Parsons School of Design, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. From 1967-1987, White was an associate professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

White exhibited his work in museums and galleries in the United States and abroad, including Artists Choice Museum, Artist's Gallery, Benson Gallery, Boston Athenaeum, Gallery North, Hartwick College Museum, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Patricia Fleischmann Gallery, Rijksakademie Van Beeldende, State University of New York at Stony Brook, and the Suffolk Museum and Carriage House, among others. Robert White was represented by the Davis Gallery, Graham Gallery, and Graham Modern in New York City.

Robert White's private and public commissions included works for the American Battle Monuments Commission, Amyas Ames, Theodore Cremer, John Marquand, Peabody Museum, State University of New York, William Styron, and Xerox Corporation. His work can be viewed in the collections of the Boston Athenaeum, Brooklyn Museum, Civici Musei 3 Gallerie di Storia e Arte, Heckscher Museum, and the Rhode Island School of Design. Robert White was the recipient of the Laurel Gallery's "New Talent" exhibition prize, 1948; American Academy's Rome Prize, 1952-1954; and the Proctor Memorial Prize at the National Academy of Design, 1962, 1982. He was also awarded grants from the Tiffany Foundation, 1950 and the Fairfield Foundation, 1968. From 1952-1955, White was a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, where he also served as an artist-in-residence from 1969-1970. Robert White was a member of the American Academy in Rome, the Augustus Saint Gaudens Memorial, Century Association, and the National Academy of Design.

Robert White continued to work on the family estate in St. James, New York until his death in 2002.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 8.4 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 0.846 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1889-2003
label: Date
content: bulk 1915-2003
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.whiterobe
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Essays
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Lectures
label: Type
content: Notebooks
label: Type
content: Sketches
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into ten series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1939-2002 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1923-2002 (Boxes 1-4; 3.8 linear feet)

Series 3: Project Files, 1952-2003 (Boxes 4-5, OV 10; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1889, 1946-2003 (Boxes 5-6, OV 10; 1.3 linear feet)

Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1915, circa 1946-2002 (Boxes 6-7; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 6: Sketchbooks and Sketches, circa 1965-1972 (Boxes 7, 9; 0.3 linear feet

Series 7: Printed Material, 1937-2003 (Boxes 7, 9; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 8: Audiovisual Material, 1973 (ER01; 0.846 GB)

Series 9: Artifacts, circa 1965 (Box 7; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 10: Photographs, circa 1940s-2001 (Box 8; 0.5 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was fully processed by Joy Weiner in August 2008.
Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Essays
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Lectures
label: Genre/Form
content: Notebooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The papers of New York sculptor Robert White measure 8.4 linear feet and 0.846 GB and date from 1889-2003, with the bulk of the material from 1915-2003. The collection documents White's varied career as a sculptor, educator, painter, and illustrator through biographical material; extensive correspondence; project files; personal business records; notes and writings; sketchbooks and sketches by Robert White and others; printed and digital material; audiovisual material; artifacts; and photographs.

Scattered biographical materials include a curriculum vitae, documentation relating to White's service in the U.S. Coast Guard, a certificate of appreciation, and a memorial card for White's daughter, Natalie Laura White.

Correspondence contains primarily incoming letters from family and friends, and from clients, galleries, museums, arts organizations, students, and university administrators. Spanning over a seventy year period, family and friends correspondence centers on daily activities, events, and work. There is extensive correspondence from Robert White's parents, Lawrence Grant White and Bessie Chanler White and from Claire Nicolas White and her family. Other correspondents include Gil Franklin, Walker Hancock, Jim Harrison, Susan Hobbes, Willard R. Huntington, Ben LaFarge, Ward Lamb, Suzannah Lessard, Peter Matthiessen, Walker O'Cain, Mark and Katja Oxman, Frank C. Platt, Laura Spencer Pope, Paul and Ellen Resika, Paul Russotto, Sidney Simon, and William Styron, among others.

General correspondence mostly concerns White's commissions, teaching appointments, and his activities in professional organizations. Also included are letters from family members, friends, and colleagues. Frequent correspondents include: the American Academy in Rome, Amyas Ames, the Augustus Saint Gaudens Memorial, Century Association, Theodore Cremer, Davis Galleries, Patricia Fleischmann, Hugh Fosburgh, Rebekah Harkness Kean, David Garrard Lowe, National Academy of Design, Parsons School of Design, S. Dillon Ripley, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Steuben Glass, and the Suffolk Museum and Carriage House.

Project files contain materials on Robert White's exhibitions and his commissioned projects. Materials include letters, lists of artwork, notes, price lists, receipts, exhibition schedules, contracts, and loan agreements. Files document White's exhibits at the Davis Galleries, Elaine Benson Gallery, Graham Gallery, Graham Modern, Heckscher Museum, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Included are extensive files on White's commissions for the American Battle Monuments Commission, Peabody Museum, and Steuben Glass.

Personal business records include files on Robert White's association with the Augustus Saint Gaudens Memorial and the National Academy of Design; his teaching appointments at the Parsons School of Design, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture; and his dealings with foundries. There are scattered files on the Whites' St. James, New York property and residence.

Notes and writings contain Robert White's diaries, artist's statements, notebooks, essays on art, lectures, and scattered notes. Also found are writings by Clare White and others. 

Sketchbooks and loose sketches contain preliminary studies by Robert White and scattered sketches by others. Printed material houses newspaper clippings and periodicals; exhibition announcements, catalogs, brochures, and posters; press releases and newsletters; and miscellaneous printed material.

Artifacts include two printing blocks: a portrait sculpture of Stephanie White and a landscape image. Audiovisual material consists of a digital audio recording of a classroom lecture by Robert White at an unidentified venue.

Photographs house images of Robert White; his studio; and snapshots of family and friends, many unidentified. Also included are photographs and slides of artwork.