William Benton papers
name: label: Creator
content: Benton, William, 1900-1973
label: Names
content: Albright, Ivan, 1897-1983
label: Names
content: Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975
label: Names
content: Biddle, George, 1885-1973
label: Names
content: Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988
label: Names
content: Bohrod, Aaron
label: Names
content: Dalí, Salvador, 1904-1989
label: Names
content: Dean, Abner, 1910-
label: Names
content: Der Harootian, Koren, 1909-
label: Names
content: Ernst, Jimmy, 1920-1984
label: Names
content: Hebald, Milton
label: Names
content: Hirsch, Joseph, 1910-1981
label: Names
content: Johnson, Ben
label: Names
content: Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971
label: Names
content: Kleinholz, Frank, 1901-
label: Names
content: Levine, Jack, 1915-2010
label: Names
content: Marsh, Reginald, 1898-1954
label: Names
content: Poor, Henry Varnum, 1887-1970
label: Names
content: Rosenberg, James N. (James Naumburg), b. 1874
label: Names
content: Sachs, Hella Moravic
label: Names
content: Vereisky, Orest G.
label: Names
content: Wood, Grant, 1891-1942
topic: label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century -- History -- United States
label: Topic
content: Art, American
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Material on reel 925 and 3134 donated by Benton 1968. His family donated and lent additional material 1985-1986, including originals of some letters which were originally donated as photocopies.
creator: label: Creator
content: Benton, William, 1900-1973
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Art collector, politician; Chicago, Ill. Publisher of ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, Vice-President of the University of Chicago, Congressman from Connecticut, and an avid collector of American art. Benton and Reginald Marsh were classmates and collaborated respectively as editor and illustrator for the Yale newspaper. During the Depression, Benton provided Marsh with a monthly stipend for which he received a monthly painting. When he became chairman of the board of ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, Benton collected contemporary American painting to Americanize BRITANNICA's British image.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Linear Feet ((on 3 microfilm reels))
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1940-1983
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.bentwill
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: 35mm microfilm reels 925, 3134, and 4073 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
label: Reproduction Note
content: Most letters are photocopies.
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Albright and Marsh sketchbooks; and Marsh letter (reel 4073, fr.1158-1266: Originals returned to the lenders, Charles and Marjorie Benton, after microfilming.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Correspondence; writings; notes; estate lists; contracts; photographs of works of art; exhibition catalogs; clippings; miscellaneous printed material.
label: Scope and Contents
content: REEL 925: Correspondence with artists, 1954-1968, concerning Benton's purchase and background of their works; and writings by Benton on Soviet art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: REEL 3134: A 13-page, incomplete, typescript, 1955, "Reginald Marsh as I Remember Him," by Benton. He writes of working with Marsh on the YALE RECORD and collecting Marsh's paintings.
label: Scope and Contents
content: REEL 4073: Correspondence, 1940-1983, with artists; typescripts on Marsh; writing by Jack Levine "How the Witches' Sabbath was Painted";
label: Scope and Contents
content: photographs and lists of works of art; a notebook "Works of Art on Loan to the William Benton Museum, University of Connecticut" from Benton's estate; a notebook "Painting Contracts" between artists, galleries, and Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.; notebook "Sold," containing data on the sale of Reginald Marsh's work;
label: Scope and Contents
content: printed material on Rockwell Kent, Thomas Hart Benton, Benton's collection, and others; photocopies of 2 portions of Ivan Albright's sketchbooks; a notebook "Britannica Painting Exhibitions Manual of Procedure"; a 2 p. typescript "The Story of My Portrait" by Grant Wood's sister Nan Wood Graham; 3 illustrated notebooks by Ivan Albright; and a sketchbook by Reginald Marsh containing 33 figure sketches.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Correspondents include Ivan Albright, Thomas Hart Benton, George Biddle, Isabel Bishop, Aaron Bohrod, Salvador Dali, Abner Dean, Koren Der Harootian, Jimmy Ernst, Milton Hebald, Joseph Hirsch, Ben Johnson, Rockwell Kent, Frank Kleinholz, Jack Levine, Reginald Marsh, Henry Varnum Poor, James N. Rosenberg, Hella Moravic Sachs, and Orest G. Vereisky.