Jay DeFeo papers
name: label: Creator
content: DeFeo, Jay, 1929-1989
label: Names
content: Berman, Wallace, 1926-1976
label: Names
content: Blum, Irving, 1930-
label: Names
content: Conner, Bruce, 1933-2008
label: Names
content: Hedrick, Wally, 1928-2003
label: Names
content: Terrill, Ruth
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- California -- San Francisco
label: Occupation
content: Photographers -- California -- San Francisco
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women photographers
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Expressionism (Art)
label: Topic
content: Symbolism
label: Topic
content: Beat generation
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated between 1975-1981 by Jay DeFeo.
creator: label: Creator
content: DeFeo, Jay, 1929-1989
setName: label: See more items in
content: Jay DeFeo papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of California painter Jay DeFeo measure 1.5 linear feet and date from circa 1940s to 1979. The  collection provides scattered documentation of DeFeo's career, and details on her seminal work, The Rose, through biographical material, correspondence with friends and colleagues, personal business records, writings by others, printed material, photographs highlighting DeFeo's prominent role in her community, and artwork.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Expressionist and symbolist painter, photographer, and educator Jay DeFeo (1929-1989) was a central figure in the progressive community of artists, poets, and musicians of the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1950s-1960s. She devoted eight years to producing her most celebrated painting, The Rose, and was known for her endlessly experimental cross-disciplinary work in painting, drawing, photography, and collage. 

DeFeo was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, and was three years old when her family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended the University of California Berkeley and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in studio art in 1950-1951. She then traveled for eighteen months on a scholarship to France, Spain, North Africa, and Italy and spent six months in Florence producing her first significant body of work. 

DeFeo returned to San Francisco in 1953 and married fellow artist Wally Hedrick in 1954. The couple rented a Victorian flat at 2322 Fillmore Street and actively participated in Beat counterculture, throwing large parties for their friends including artists, musicians, painters, poets, and photographers. Joan and Bill Brown were neighbors and the four artists shared ideas and space to such an extent that they cut a door in an adjoining wall so they could come and go between their two apartments with ease. 

DeFeo's first solo exhibition was held at the Dilexi Gallery in 1959, and Dorothy Miller selected her work for her landmark Sixteen Americans exhibition the same year. After an exhibition at Ferus Gallery in 1960, DeFeo turned down other gallery affiliations to work almost exclusively on The Rose. Completed in the Fillmore Street flat in 1966, DeFeo's monumental work was first exhibited at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1969, and was later moved to the San Francisco Art Institute to await conservation. 

DeFeo and Hedrick divorced in 1969, and DeFeo moved to Larkspur in Marin County to regroup from personal set-backs and the draining experience of working on The Rose.  She taught part-time at various art institutions in California, and in 1981 moved to Oakland and joined the art faculty at Mills College, becoming a tenured professor in 1986. She worked prolifically as an artist to the end of her life. 

The Rose underwent extensive conservation and in 1995 was purchased by the Whitney Museum of American Art for the museum's permanent collection. DeFeo's work has been exhibited extensively in the United States and Europe and can be found in the collections of major museums throughout the United States and abroad.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1.5 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1940s-1979
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.defejay
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Drawings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series

Series 1: Biographical material, 1948-1969 (2 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1950-1979 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1, OV 3)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1950s-circa 1960s (0.1 linear feet; Box 1, OV 3)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1955-1974 (3 folders; Box 1)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1956-1975 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, OV 3)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1940s-circa 1970s (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 3)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1950s-circa 1960s (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was microfilmed on 35 mm microfilm reels 1645, 908, 2673, and 3957 at some point after receipt. It was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared by Helen MacDiarmid in 2014. The collection was further processed and the finding aid was updated by Stephanie Ashley in 2021. The papers were digitized in 2022 with funding from the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection was digitized in 2022 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of California painter Jay DeFeo measure 1.5 linear feet and date from circa 1940s to 1979. The  collection provides scattered documentation of DeFeo's career, and details on her seminal work, The Rose, through biographical material, correspondence with friends and colleagues, personal business records, writings by others, printed material, photographs highlighting DeFeo's prominent role in her community, and artwork. 

Correspondence, while scattered, contains some significant and illuminating letters. The series includes documentation of Bruce Conner's assistance in managing the moving and conservation of The Rose, correspondence with the Pasadena Art Museum regarding the first public showing of the work, and correspondence with the San Francisco Museum of Art and Tony Rockwell regarding its conservation. Other correspondents of note include Wallace Berman, Irving Blum and Ferus Gallery, Mark Green, Frank Lobdell, Fred Martin, David Simpson, Ruth Terrill, and Eleanor (Nell) Sinton. Throughout the series letters both to and from DeFeo provide details on her thoughts about her work, personal and professional challenges and decisions at various stages of her career, and her artistic growth as she developed her interest in photography and other media.

Writings are by others and include reflections by Fred Martin on art and travel, and poems from Wallace Berman's self-published journal, Semina. Personal business records contain significant documentation of preservation costs for The Rose, the purchase of DeFeo's work, Incision, and  the lease of the flat that was the site of DeFeo's personal and artistic growth and community for over a decade. Printed material includes scattered articles on artwork by DeFeo and others, posters announcing DeFeo's group and solo exhibitions at Ferus Gallery, and announcements and catalogs for others.  

Photographs provide important documentation of DeFeo's pivotal role in the San Francisco art community and include some of the most reproduced images of her and others including Wally Hedrick and Joan Brown, taken by photographers such as Jerry Burchard, Wallace Berman, Wally Hedrick, and DeFeo. Many other personal photographs of group trips to the beach and parties at the Fillmore Street flat capture the camaraderie and vitality of the community to which DeFeo belonged. 

Also found are several collages made by DeFeo, and artwork by others including Wallace Berman, and sketches by Al Wong.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art has an oral history interview with DeFeo conducted 1975 June 3-1976 January 23 by Paul Karlstrom for the Archives of America Art.  An 83 page transcript is available online. The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley holds some of DeFeo's archival materials.