Artist Files
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Grinstein, Stanley, 1927-2014
label: Collection Creator
content: Grinstein, Elyse, 1929-2016
setName: label: See more items in
content: Stanley and Elyse Grinstein papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1.7 Linear Feet (Boxes 1, 5-7, 21, OVs 3, 23-25)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1961-2022
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.grinstan, Series 2
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Files are arranged alphabetically by artist name, with individual named files for artists for whom there are 5 or more items. All artists represented in group files are noted in the container listing. Note that some items were digitized before receipt of additional records, so the arrangement does not always follow strict alphabetical order.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: This series has been digitized in entirety with the exception of some James Lee Byars items that could not be digitized due to format.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Series consists of letters, illustrated letters, cards, and postcards from artists, related printed material, and scattered artwork and photographs. The term "artist" refers also to musicians, writers, and dancers.

The files contain many items of note including substantive letters from artists including Daniel Buren, Judy Chicago, Joseph Cornell, Michael Fram, Frank O. Gehry, George Herms, Isamu Noguchi, and many others. Many of the letters acknowledge the importance of the Grinsteins' support, such as a letter from William S. Burroughs in which Burroughs writes how he was "able to write a chapter for my new book on the electric portable" and credits the "truly relaxed and congenial ambiance" of their home for making that possible. There is a guest list from a party for David Hockney in 1973, and a 2008 letter from Hockney thanking the Grinsteins for a recent party and reminiscing about all the "marvellous [sic] evenings I had spent in your house." The Philip Glass file includes records of a piano Stanley Grinstein purchased for Glass to play at their home. A set of correspondence sent by James Lee Byars, who used crepe paper and scrolls to inscribe his messages, sometimes in white pencil on white papers, captures something of his persona and practice. A proposal for an underground water recycling plant at Santa Monica Beach is by Mark di Suvero and includes original drawings. A 2022 email from Judy Chicago describes a trip to Los Angeles to attend a final party on the sale of the Grinstein's Rockingham home in 2022 which provides details about her friendship with the Grinsteins and provides context on the significance of the home. The file for Andy Warhol includes a detailed description of a party given for Warhol in 1970 written by Elyse Grinstein, and includes contact sheets and photos of Elyse, Warhol, and others at the party.

Files also include some notable printed material includes two copies of a poster invitation to an event of the 1960s radical street theater group "Bodacious Buggerilla," in which "Ed Bereal confronts you with Black guerilla theater." The poster lists Elyse Grinstein as a contact, and both copies have lists from Grinstein movie night on the versos. Also found is a poster invitation to a joint Judy Gerowitz (Judy Chicago) and Lloyd Hamrol exhibition, and a Raymond Rose Ritual Environment poster for New Year's Eve, 1968. Al Ruppersberg's file includes an original catalog of Al's Hotel and postcards including one documenting his original idea for Al's Café. Additional items of note include a handmade invitation by Barbara T. Smith for her 1969 performance "Ritual Repast" (which later became "Ritual Meal"); and hand drawn announcements for performances by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. 

Additional details are provided in the container listing.