Ibram Lassaw papers
name: label: Creator
content: Lassaw, Ibram, 1913-2003
label: Names
content: American Abstract Artists
label: Names
content: Mason, Alice Trumbull, 1904-1971
topic: label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Ibram Lassaw papers were donated in installments between 2001 and 2019 by Denise Lassaw, Ibram Lassaw's daughter, and Ernestine Lassaw, Lassaw's widow. Materials on reels NY65-1, N69-129, N69-130, and 1810 were lent for microfilming between 1965 and 1980 by Ibram Lassaw. Material on reel N69-129 was subsequently donated with the 2015 accession.
creator: label: Creator
content: Lassaw, Ibram, 1913-2003
setName: label: See more items in
content: Ibram Lassaw papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Ibram Lassaw papers measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1928-2004. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, slides, a scrapbook and additional printed material and audio visual material documenting the career of sculptor Ibram Lassaw. Some of the material has been compiled by Lassaw's daughter, Denise Lassaw, by photocopying original documents and in some cases, compiling them into booklets for her "Lassaw Archives Project." There are also 29 VHS tapes, circa 1984-2004, of lectures, television appearances, interviews and other events regarding Ibram Lassaw and other artists.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Ibram Lassaw (1913-2003) was a Russian American sculptor, known for non-objective construction in brazed metals. Lassaw was born in Alexandria, Egypt to Russian emigre parents, and moved to New York in 1921. Lassaw studied scuplture at the Clay Club and later at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York, and he later went on to study at City College of New York. During the mid-1930s, Lassaw worked briefly for the Public Works of Art Project cleaning sculptural monuments around New York City. He subsequently joined the WPA as a teacher and sculptor until he was drafted into the army in 1942. Lassaw's contribution to the advancement of sculptural abstraction went beyond mere formal innovation; his promotion of modernist styles during the 1930s did much to insure the growth of abstract art in the United States. He was one of the founding members of the American Abstract Artists group, and served as president of the American Abstract Artists organization from 1946 to 1949.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3.1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1928-2004
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.lassibra
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Video recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into five series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1934-2001 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Writings, 1966-1985 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Professional Activity Files, 1928-2003 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1928-2004 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 1, 4-6)

Series 5: Video Recordings, 1987-2004 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Ricky Gomez in 2020.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection are available on 35mm microfilm reels NY65-1, N69-129, N69-130, 1810, and 2129 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Ibram Lassaw papers measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1928-2004. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, slides, a scrapbook and additional printed material and audio visual material documenting the career of sculptor Ibram Lassaw. Some of the material has been compiled by Lassaw's daughter, Denise Lassaw, by photocopying original documents and in some cases, compiling them into booklets for her "Lassaw Archives Project." There are also 29 VHS tapes, circa 1984-2004, of lectures, television appearances, interviews and other events regarding Ibram Lassaw and other artists.

Correspondence includes letters from the Public Works of Art Project, the Whitney Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, among others. A notebook labeled "Alice Mason" contains approximately 50 letters and postcards from Lassaw's friend and colleague Alice Trumbull Mason to Lassaw, 1932-1944, and a few letters from Lassaw to Mason.

Writings include teaching notes, notebooks and student essays.

Professional material includes resumes and interview certificates; two booklets compiled by Denise Lassaw contain a variety of photocopied documentation; slides; records from Lassaw's involvement with the Springs Annual Art Exhibition; and mimeographed recipes from various artists, labeled "draft for artists' cookbook."

Printed material includes clippings, exhibition announcements, exhibition catalogs, articles on Lassaw, published article by Lassaw, and three hand-made encyclopedias by Lassaw.

Video recordings include lectures, television appearances, interviews and other events regarding Lassaw and other artists.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Also available in the Archives on microfilm only are Lassaw's papers lent for microfilming.  Microfilm reel NY65-1 includes approximately 200 photographs of Lassaw and his work, 1929-1964. Reel N69-121 includes letters received; writings on diverse subjects, such as art, religion and philosophy; drafts of articles and lectures; biographical sketches; typescript of interview with Lassaw and transcript of TV program in which he appeared along with Theodore Roszak discussing their sculptures commissioned by Yale & Towne; jottings of ideas and techniques for sculpture, and personal reflections. Reels N69-129-N69-130 and reel 1810 contain and notebooks recording daily activities, sculpture ideas, philosophical reflections, quotes from the writings of artists, philosophers and religious figures and some sketches of ideas for sculpture.  Those mentioned include Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Bill King, Herman Cherry, Jim Brooks, Adolph Gottlieb and Peter Selz. Microfilm reel 2129 contains a photocopy of a notebook containing an inventory of Lassaw's work, 1929-1958, with a description of each work including the title, date, medium and size and records of the owners, selling prices, where and when each work was exhibited and reproduced, and some sketches of the works of art.