Peppino Mangravite papers
name: label: Creator
content: Mangravite, Peppino, 1896-
label: Names
content: Dudensing Galleries
label: Names
content: Frank K. M. Rehn Galleries
label: Names
content: Braque, Georges, 1882-1963
label: Names
content: Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985
label: Names
content: De Chirico, Giorgio, 1888-
label: Names
content: Marini, Marino, 1901-
label: Names
content: Moore, Henry, 1898-1986
label: Names
content: Morandi, Giorgio, 1890-1964
label: Names
content: Rouault, Georges, 1871-1958
label: Names
content: Sutherland, Graham Vivian, 1903-
label: Names
content: Tamayo, Rufino, 1899-1991
topic: label: Topic
content: Works of art
label: Topic
content: Art -- Economic aspects
label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Most of the collection was donated by Peppino Mangravite in 1977. Additional papers were donated in 2003 by his daughter Denise Mangravite Scheinberg that include records documenting Mangravite's 1955 interviews with European artists, a sound recording and photographs of his meeting with Rufino Tamayo in 1972, a motion picture film of Mangravite's painting class at the Potomac School, and a small number of printed items.
creator: label: Creator
content: Mangravite, Peppino, 1896-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Peppino Mangravite papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Peppino Mangravite papers measure 6.2 linear feet and are dated 1918-1982. They consist of correspondence, subject files, recorded interviews with significant artists and transcripts, writings and notes, miscellaneous records, printed matter, and photographs documenting Mangravite's career as a painter and educator.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: In 1914, at the age of eighteen, Peppino Gino Mangravite (1896-1978) settled in New York City with his father. The young man had already completed six years of study at the Scuole Techiniche Belle Arti in his native Italy, where coursework included the study of anatomy and Renaissance fresco techniques. Upon arrival in New York, he enrolled at Cooper Union, and by 1917 was studying under Robert Henri at the Art Students League.

Mangravite began his teaching career - one that lasted half a century - as assistant to Hans Peter Hansen at the Hansen School of Fine Arts in New York during the academic year 1918/19. He was an involved and committed teacher who worked equally well with young children and college students. For several summers in the 1920s, he ran summer art camps in the Adirondacks for children and adults. From 1926-1928 Mangravite lived in Washington D.C., where he taught at the Potomac School. The majority of his life was spent in New York where he served on the faculties of Sarah Lawrence College, Cooper Union, the Art Students League, and, most notably, Columbia University. In addition, he spent 1937-38 as head of the art department of Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and from 1940-1942 taught at the Art Institute of Chicago. Mangravite was active in professional arts and education organizations. He wrote a number of articles about art education and served as chairman of the College Art Association's Committee for the Study of the Practice of Art Courses, 1943-1944.

In addition to teaching studio courses, Mangravite was a working artist. Represented by Dudensing Gallery, and later Rehn Galleries, he exhibited widely throughout the United States, and, occasionally, abroad. He won a number of awards, including a gold medal for mural painting at the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exhibition, 1926; the American Gold Medal Purchase Prize, Golden Gate Exposition, San Francisco, 1939; Alice McFadden Eyre Medal for best print, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1946; and a silver medal for mosaic design, Architectural League of New York, 1955. Mangravite was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships in 1932 and 1935, and during that same period was commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department to paint murals for post offices in Hempstead, N.Y. and Atlantic City, N.J. Other commissions of note include a mural for the Governor's Mansion in the Virgin Islands, and a mosaic mural for the main altar of the Workers' Chapel, St. Anthony's Shrine, Boston, Mass.

Sponsored by Columbia University and with the assistance of the United States Information Agency, Mangravite met with art department heads of several European universities in 1955 to discuss Columbia University's plans for a new arts center. He also interviewed eight artists - Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Giorgio De Chirico, Marino Marini, Henry Moore, Giorgio Morandi, Georges Rouault, and Graham Southerland -recording their ideas about art, life, and education.

Peppino Mangravite died in 1978.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6.2 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1918-1982
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.mangpepp
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Interviews
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into 7 series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1918-1977 (Boxes 1-2; 1.75 linear ft.; Reels 5878-5880)

Series 2: Subject Files, 1940-1960 (Box 2; 0.25 linear ft.; Reel 5880-5881)

Series 3: Interviews with Artists, 1955, 1972 (Boxes 3, 8; 0.65 linear ft.; Reel 5881)

Series 4: Writings, Notes and Lectures, 1928-1965 (Box 3; 0.35 linear ft.; Reel 5881)

Series 5: Miscellaneous Records, 1926-1974 (Boxes 4, 8, FC9; 10 folders; Reel 5881)

Series 6: Printed Matter, 1918-1982 (Boxes 4-6; 2.65 linear ft.; Reels 5881-5882)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1926-circa 1970 (Boxes 7-8; 0.4 linear ft.; Reel 5882)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed by Catherine S. Gaines in 2003. Motion picture film reels were inspected and re-housed in 2016 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund. Additional finding aid description of the film recordings was completed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2024.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: The collection is available on 35mm microfilm reels 5878-5882 in 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. 

Some of the sound recordings have also been digitized for research access and are available in the Archives of American Art offices.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The Peppino Mangravite papers measure 6.2 linear feet and are dated 1918-1982. They consist of correspondence, subject files, interviews with artists, writings and notes, miscellaneous records, printed matter, and photographs documenting Mangravite's career as a painter and educator.

Series 1: Correspondence includes chronological correspondence documenting Mangravite's career as a painter and educator. Correspondence is with employers, dealers, museums, galleries, collectors, clients, arts and educational organizations, publishers, and other artists. Much of the correspondence is between Mangravite and his dealers, the Dudensing Gallery and the Rehn Galleries, and with other galleries and museums where his paintings were exhibited. Mangravite's mural commissions are also discussed. Additional events documented include Mangravite's two Guggenheim Fellowships and his trip to Europe in 1955 to interview famous artists.

Mangravite's long teaching career is also documented in correspondence with Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, Avon School, Fieldston School of the Ethical Culture Schools, Potomac School, Dana Hall School, and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. Other topics covered in the correspondence concern Mangravite's published or proposed writings, particularly articles and books reviews, most notably for the Saturday Review of Literature and American Magazine of Art. Mangravite's membership activities in a variety of artists' organizations, such as the College Art Association, the American Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers; the American Artists' Congress, and the American Federation of Arts is well-represented in the correspondence.

A list of major correspondents can be found in the series description for Series 1: Correspondence.

Series 3: Interviews with Artists includes audio recordings, transcripts, photographs, notes and reports. During the summer of 1955, Mangravite traveled to England, France, and Italy where he conducted interviews with eight artists - Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Giorgio De Chirico, Marino Marini, Henry Moore, Giorgio Morandi, Georges Rouault, and Graham Southerland - recording their ideas about art, life, and education. In 1972, Mangravite recorded an interview with Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City, and the two artists were photographed together on that occasion.

Series 4: Writings, Notes, and Lectures consists of articles, papers, talks, lectures, miscellaneous writings, and notes by Mangravite, and a small number of items by other writers. Series 5: Miscellaneous Records includes art work by Mangravite and others, audiovisual records, biographical information, and financial records. Among the printed matter in Series 6 are articles, exhibition announcements, invitations, catalogs, and miscellaneous printed items by and about Mangravite, art-related topics, and other subjects. In Series 7: Photographs, photos of people include Mangravite, students, and other artists. Photos of works of art are of murals and paintings by Mangravite and sculpture by Edgar Britton.