Shirley Jaffe papers
name: label: Creator
content: Jaffe, Shirley, 1923-2016
label: Names
content: Francis, Sam, 1923-1994
label: Names
content: Kushner, Robert, 1949-
label: Names
content: Mitchell, Joan, 1926-1992
label: Names
content: Stone, Sylvia, 1928-
label: Names
content: Sugarman, George, 1912-1999
topic: label: Topic
content: Painters -- France -- Paris
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Shirley Jaffe papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Shirley Jaffe in 2014.
creator: label: Creator
content: Jaffe, Shirley, 1923-2016
setName: label: See more items in
content: Shirley Jaffe papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of artist Shirley Jaffe measure 7.1 linear feet and 0.260 GB and date from circa 1950-2011. The collection documents Jaffe's life and career as an American painter living in Paris through biographical material, letters, notebooks, writings, project files, printed and digital material, photographic material, and sketchbooks.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Abstract painter Shirley Jaffe (1923-2016), née Sternstein, was known for the bold color palette and distinct geometric shapes and patterns that characterized her work. A native of New Jersey, Jaffe lived and worked in Paris, France, for most of her career. 

Jaffe was raised in Brooklyn and completed her studies at the Cooper Union in 1945.  In 1949 she and husband Irving Jaffe moved to Washington, D.C. where she attended the Phillips Art School before moving to Paris that same year. The Jaffes returned to New York briefly in the early 1950s, but moved back to Paris in 1953, where Jaffe settled and worked for the rest of her life. She was divorced from Irving Jaffe in 1962.

Jaffe began her career as an abstract expressionist but started to work in a flat and geometric style in the late 1960s. She was part of the American expatriate art scene in Paris and associated with Joan Mitchell, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Sam Francis, Kimber Smith, and others. In 1963, Jaffe received a grant from the Ford Foundation to spend a year working in Berlin.

Jaffe took on several commissions in France including illustrations, murals, and notably, the design of stained glass windows in the Chapelle Saint-Jean-l'Evangéliste in Perpignan, titled Funéraria, so named because the chapel was originally a place where the dead awaiting burial were placed. Jaffe worked in collaboration with master craftsman Jean Mauret to execute the brightly colored abstract forms that adorn the windows. 

Jaffe's paintings have been exhibited in New York at the Holly Solomon Gallery and the Tibor de Nagy Gallery, and at galleries and museums throughout France. Represented by Galerie Fournier for much of her career, Jaffe has been represented by Galerie Nathalie Obadia since 1999.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7.1 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 0.26 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1950-2011
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.jaffshir
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Interviews
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1950s-2006 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Letters, 1950s-2008 (3 linear feet; Boxes 1-4)

Series 3: Notebooks and Writings, 1950s-2000s (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)

Series 4: Project Files, 1970s-2007 (0.6 linear feet; Box 5, OV 9)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1952-2011 (0.7 Linear feet; Boxes 5-6, OVs 10-11)

Series 6: Photographic Material, 1950s-circa 2010 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 6-8, 0.260 GB; ER01)

Series 7: Sketchbooks, 1960s-2000s (0.3 linear feet; Box 8)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared by Hilary Price in 2015. Born-digital materials were processed in 2019 by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.

The collection was further processed with revisions to the finding aid by Stephanie Ashley in 2023 and the papers were digitized in 2023 with funding provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and The Walton Family Foundation.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2023 and is available on the Archives of American Art website. Materials which have not been digitized include blank pages, blank versos of photographs and negatives of photographs for which prints exists, duplicates, some appointment books, notebooks, and address books containing primarily names and addresses. In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have only had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages digitized.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of artist Shirley Jaffe measure 7.1 linear feet and 0.260 GB and date from circa 1950-2011. The collection documents Jaffe's life and career as an American painter living in Paris through biographical material, letters, notebooks, writings, project files, printed and digital material, photographic material, and sketchbooks.

Scattered biographical materials include address and appointment books, an interview with Jaffe by Jeff Perkins recorded on one videocassette, and other documents.  

Letters make up a significant portion of the collection and are primarily written to Jaffe from friends and family. In addition to frequent letters received from her siblings and mother, Jaffe also received letters from artists Joan Mitchell, Sam Francis, Kimber Smith, Sylvia Stone and Al Held, Hermine Ford, Robert Kushner, and George Sugarman. 

The papers include eighty-four notebooks kept by Jaffe containing lists, addresses, notes, sketches and the occasional diary entry.  Project files contain correspondence, gouache studies, sketches, and printed material related to commissions and collaborations, including illustrations, murals, and the design of stained glass windows in the Chapelle Saint-Jean-l'Evangéliste in Perpignan, titled Funéraria. 

Printed materials include articles, published books about Jaffe, clippings, exhibition catalogs, a recorded radio broadcast, and reviews. 

There are photographs, slides, transparencies, and digital photographs depicting Jaffe's paintings, commissions, exhibitions, and artists and art world figures including Larry Rivers, Kimber Smith, Linda Nochlin, Sam Francis, Paul Jenkins, and Joan Mitchell at exhibition openings in the 1960s-1970s.  Eight sketchbooks contain drawings by Jaffe in ink, marker, and pen.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Shirley Jaffe conducted by Avis Berman, September 27-28, 2010.