John Wilde papers
name: label: Creator
content: Wilde, John, 1919-2006
label: Names
content: Andrew Balkin Editions
label: Names
content: Tandem Press
label: Names
content: Abercrombie, Gertrude, 1909-1977
label: Names
content: Bouras, Harry
label: Names
content: Colescott, Warrington, 1921-
label: Names
content: Cozzolino, Robert, 1970-
label: Names
content: Economou, George
label: Names
content: Ernst, Max, 1891-1976
label: Names
content: Fein, Sylvia
label: Names
content: Gardetto, Helga
label: Names
content: Gardetto, Peter
label: Names
content: Glasier, Marshall, 1902-
label: Names
content: Hamady, Walter
label: Names
content: Huppler, Dudley, 1917-1988
label: Names
content: Karidis, Jerome
label: Names
content: Laird, Mary Louise, 1948-
label: Names
content: Lindbergh, Reeve
label: Names
content: Littleton, Harvey K.
label: Names
content: Minasian, Khatchik
label: Names
content: Priebe, Karl J., 1914-1976
label: Names
content: Seefeldt, Michael
label: Names
content: Terkel, Studs, 1912-2008
label: Names
content: Whitney, J. D.
label: Names
content: Wolff, Theodore F.
topic: label: Occupation
content: Draftsmen (artists) -- Wisconsin
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Wisconsin
label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- Wisconsin
label: Topic
content: Art -- Wisconsin
label: Topic
content: Surrealism
label: Topic
content: Magic realism (Art)
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The John Wilde papers were donated incrementally between 1975 and 2015 by John Wilde and his estate. Portions were previously lent for microfilming. Additional letters from Walter Hamady were lent for microfilming by John Wilde in December 1999.
creator: label: Creator
content: Wilde, John, 1919-2006
setName: label: See more items in
content: John Wilde papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Wisconsin painter, educator, and draftsman John Wilde measure 21.3 linear feet and 0.008 GB and date from 1935 to 2011. The papers consist of biographical material, correspondence, interviews, writings and notes, 27 journals, personal business records, exhibition files, two scrapbooks, photographic materials, six sketchbooks, artwork, and nearly 90 limited edition, letterpress artist collaboration books – many that include artwork contributed by Wilde.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: John Wilde (1919-2006) was a painter, educator, and draftsman who specialized in silver point and was associated with Magic Realism.  He lived and worked in Wisconsin. 

Wilde was born near Milwaukee, Wisconsin on December 12, 1919. He lived his whole life in Wisconsin except when he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison for his bachelor and master degrees in art and art history. While at university, Wilde, along with Marshall Glasier, Sylvia Fein, Karl Priebe, Dudley Huppler, and Gertrude Abercrombie, formed a close-knit circle of friends who shared similar ideas on art and painted in the style of Magic Realism. They often met at Priebe's studio in Milwaukee or Abercrombie's house in Chicago. Wilde also met his first wife and fellow art student, Helen Ashman, during this time. Wilde later married Shirley Grilley after Helen's death in 1966.

Wilde completed artwork for several books published by Perishable Press, a publishing company owned by Walter Hamady.  He contributed illustrations to John's Apples by Reeve Lindbergh, 1985- The Twelve Months by Hamady, and Five Poems by Khatchik Minasian. Wilde also wrote and illustrated 44 Wilde 1944, What His Mother's Son Hath Wrought (WHMSHW), The Story of Jane and Joan, and co-authored A Hamady Sampler, Salutations 1995 with Hamady. In addition to his collaborations with Perishable Press, Wilde worked with Warrington Colescott, Harvey Littleton, Tandem Press, and Andrew Balkin Editions on various projects. 

The Elvehjem Museum of Art, now the Chazen Museum of Art, located at the University of Wisconsin in Madison where Wilde taught art for 35 years, held several exhibitions of Wilde's work including John Wilde: Drawings 1940-1984 (1984), Wildeworld: The Art of John Wilde (1999), and With Friends: Six Magical Realists (2005). 

The Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin began representing Wilde in 1993 and continued to represent Wilde's work after his death in Cooksville, Wisconsin on March 9, 2006.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 21.3 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 0.008 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1935-2011
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.wildjohn
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Collages
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Illustrated letters
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 13 series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1939-2006 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1935-2011 (9.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-9, 21, 25-27)

Series 3: Interviews, circa 1959-circa 1975 (0.2 linear feet; Box 9)

Series 4: Journals, 1935-2006 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 9-11)

Series 5: Writings and Notes, 1936-2006 (0.5 linear feet; Box 11)

Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1940-2006 (0.5 linear feet; Box 12)

Series 7: Exhibition Files, 1963-2010 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 12-13)

Series 8: Printed Materials, 1940-2010 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 13-14, 21)

Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1948-1963 (0.4 linear feet; Box 21)

Series 10: Photographic Materials, circa 1940-2000s (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 14-17, 21, 0.008 GB; ER01)

Series 11: Artists Collaboration Books, circa 1970-circa 2000 (4.0 linear feet; Box 17-20, 22)

Series 12: Sketchbooks, 1940-1985 (0.2 linear feet; Box 20, 22)

Series 13: Artwork, circa 1943-circa 2000 (0.3 linear feet; Box 20, OVs 23-24)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2017 with funding from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care Fund, using accelerated processing strategies implemented by the Archives to increase information about and access to more of our collections. For this collection, accelerated processing included arrangement to the series, subseries and folder levels, adhering to the creator's original arrangement as much as possible. Generally, folder contents were simply verified with the original folder titles, but items within folders were not arranged further. All materials were rehoused in archival folders and boxes for long-term stability, but staples and other fasteners have not all been removed. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 1154-1157, 2539-2540, and 4710 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Collages
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Illustrated letters
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Wisconsin painter, educator, and draftsman John Wilde measure 21.3 linear feet and 0.008 GB and date from 1935 to 2011. The papers consist of biographical material, correspondence, interviews, writings and notes, 27 journals, personal business records, exhibition files, two scrapbooks, photographic materials, six sketchbooks, artwork, and nearly 90 limited edition, letterpress artist collaboration books – many that include artwork contributed by Wilde.  

Biographical materials include certificates and awards, a diploma from the University of Wisconsin, curriculum vitae, memorials, and membership files. Correspondence is with family and friends, and colleagues Karl Priebe, Gertrude Abercrombie, Sylvia Fein, Dudley Huppler, Marshall Glasier, Robert Cozzolino, Theodore Wolff, Peter and Helga Gardetto, Andrew Balkin Editions, Warrington Colescott, Tandem Press, Harvey Littleton, and others.  Letters from Walter Hamady are access restricted and housed separately.   

There are interviews with Wilde from Harry Bouras' radio show Critics Choice, as well as an interview with Gertrude Abercrombie by Studs Terkel's for Terkel's WFMT radio show broadcast in Chicago. 

Wilde discusses his artwork and other topics in 27 journals spanning seven decades. Additional writings by Wilde  include term papers, his thesis titled "A Survey of the Development of Surrealism in Painting and Its Chief Innovations with Special Emphasis on the Life and Work of Max Ernst," transcriptions for gallery talks and speeches, notes, and various other writings. Writings about Wilde are by Theodore Wolff, Michael Seefeldt, and other authors. Wilde's personal business records include account books, appraisals, donation papers, inventory books and lists, and a draft of Wilde's last will and testament.

There are exhibition files for Leaders in Wisconsin Art (1982), John Wilde: Drawings 1940-1984 (1984), Wildeworld: The Art of John Wilde (1999), John Wilde: Recent Work (2003), With Friends: Six Magical Realists (2005), and others. 

Printed materials include art auction catalogs, calendars, clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, invitations, magazines and journals, poetry booklets, press releases, programs, and an annual report.  There are also two scrapbooks containing clippings and other printed materials compiled by Wilde.   There are photographs of Wilde, his studio and estate, his close friends and fellow artists, and of works of art by Wilde and others. Few photographs are in digital format.

A series of nearly 90 artists collaboration books, many illustrated by Wilde, include Five Poems by Khatchik Minasian, Poems for Self Therepy by George Economou, Six Poems by J.D. Whitney, John's Apples by Reeve Lindbergh and 44 Wilde 1944, What His Mother's Son Hath Wrought (WHMSHW), The Story of Jane and Joan, and  A Hamady Wilde Sampler/Salutations 1995. Other books are by Walter Hamady, Mary Laird Hamady, and others. 

Six sketchbooks contain drawings and studies, as well as sketches of himself, his friends, and of his first wife Helen. Interspersed througout the sketchbooks are lists of artworks, accounting notes, and other notes and writings. Additional artwork includes files marked as preparatory drawings by Wilde, a large collage by Jerome Karidis titled Homage to the Queen Gertrude Abercrombie, and a few drawings by others.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: An interview with John Wilde conducted in 1979 by Michael Danoff for the Archives of American Art and the collection, Maurice W. Berger correspondence with John Wilde, 1952-1959, are also found in the Archives of American Art.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Also avaialbe at the Archives of American Art are materials lent for microfilming (reel 5661 and 4710) including letters from Walter Hamaday. Lent material was returned to the lender and is not described in the collection container inventory.

Portions of the loaned material on reel 4710 were subsequently donated, but a comparison of the film and papers was not completed.