William and Ethel Baziotes papers
name: label: Creator
content: Baziotes, William, 1912-1963
label: Names
content: Kootz Gallery (N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
label: Names
content: Alloway, Lawrence, 1926-1990
label: Names
content: Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981
label: Names
content: Baziotes, Christos
label: Names
content: Baziotes, Ethel
label: Names
content: Baziotes, Harry
label: Names
content: Bernshṭin, Meʼir, -1978
label: Names
content: Blesh, Rudi, 1899-1985
label: Names
content: Bodin, Paul, 1910-1994
label: Names
content: Canaday, John, 1907-1985
label: Names
content: Castano, Giovanni, 1896-1978
label: Names
content: Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994
label: Names
content: Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-1979
label: Names
content: Halper, Nathan
label: Names
content: Hare, David, 1917-1992
label: Names
content: Hélion, Jean, 1904-1987
label: Names
content: Janis, Harriet Grossman
label: Names
content: Kamrowski, Gerome
label: Names
content: Kootz, Samuel Melvin, 1898-1982
label: Names
content: Lee, Francis P.
label: Names
content: Licht, Michel, 1893-1953
label: Names
content: Matta, 1912-2002
label: Names
content: Motherwell, Maria
label: Names
content: Motherwell, Robert
label: Names
content: Namuth, Hans
label: Names
content: Onslow-Ford, Gordon
label: Names
content: Paneth, Donald
label: Names
content: Peterson, Charles
label: Names
content: Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973
label: Names
content: Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956
label: Names
content: Ricci, F.
label: Names
content: Ruiz-Picasso, Maya
label: Names
content: Schumm, Gertrud
label: Names
content: Schwabacher, Ethel, 1903-1984
label: Names
content: Sievan, Maurice
label: Names
content: Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980
label: Names
content: Vazakas, Byron
label: Names
content: Zulieta, Orlando
topic: label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art, Abstract
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The William and Ethel Baziotes papers were donated by Ethel Baziotes, widow of William Baziotes, in several installments from 1969 to 1993.
creator: label: Creator
content: Baziotes, William, 1912-1963
setName: label: See more items in
content: William and Ethel Baziotes papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of New York City abstract expressionist painter William Baziotes and his wife Ethel measure 6.3 linear feet and date from circa 1900-1992, bulk 1935-1980. The collection includes William Baziotes biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, and photographs. The papers of Ethel Baziotes consists of correspondence mostly dated after her husband's death regarding exhibitions of his work, along with limited biographical material and writings.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: William Baziotes (1912-1963) was an abstract expressionist painter in New York City. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Baziotes moved to New York City in 1933, where he studied painting at the National Academy of Design, 1933-1936. He participated on the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project as a teacher, 1936-1938, and painted for the Easel Painting Project, 1938-1940. 

In 1941 he married Ethel Copstein. He had his first one-man show at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery in 1944. The Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, Inc. held a solo show for Baziotes in 1946 and continued to exhibit his works until 1958.

Baziotes taught at Subjects of the Artist, 1948; the Brooklyn Museum Art School and New York University, 1949-1952; the People's Art Center at the Museum of Modern Art, 1950-1952; and Hunter College, 1952-1962. Baziotes died in 1963.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6.3 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1900-1992
label: Date
content: bulk 1935-1980
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.baziwill
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 5 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1933-1982 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1936-1988 (Boxes 1-2; 1 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1950-1992 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1944-1992 (Boxes 2-7, 9; 4.1 linear feet)

Series 5: Photographs, circa 1900-1979, bulk 1940-circa 1963 (Boxes 7-9; 0.7 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection received a preliminary level of arrangement after donation. Multiple accessions were merged, processed, and a finding aid was prepared by Rihoko Ueno in 2018.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The majority of this collection is available on 35 mm microfilm reels N70-21, N70-24, 347, and 4984-4985 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.

The interview with Harry and Constance Baziotes was digitized for research access and is available at Archives of American Art offices.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of New York City abstract expressionist painter William Baziotes and his wife Ethel measure 6.3 linear feet and date from circa 1900-1992, bulk 1935-1980. The collection includes William Baziotes biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, and photographs. The papers of Ethel Baziotes consists of correspondence mostly dated after her husband's death regarding exhibitions of his work, along with limited biographical material and writings.

Biographical material on William Baziotes consists of a bibliography, teaching files, a sound recording of an interview, membership cards, sales records, a sketchbook, and other miscellaneous material. There is one folder regarding Ethel Baziotes containing a few certificates and her college diploma.

Correspondence consists of letters to William and Ethel Baziotes. Notable correspondents include Lawrence Alloway, Alfred Barr, Andre Breton, Clement Greenberg, Peggy Guggenheim, David Hare, Jean Helion, Maria and Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, and others.  There are also letters from the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery regarding the sales of William Baziotes's artwork and letters written by William Baziotes to his brother Christos. Letters to Ethel Baziotes include condolence letters as well as letters from museum and galleries regarding exhibitions of her husband's work.

Writings include William Baziotes's notes on various subjects, a list of book titles, and a transcript for a speech. Writings by others include essays about William Baziotes and other subjects.

Printed materials consist of clippings, announcements, magazines, and many exhibition catalogs, mostly on group exhibitions which included artwork by William Baziotes.

Photographs are of William Baziotes, Ethel Baziotes, family and friends, their residence, and his artwork.  There are a also photographs of Meir Bernstein, Samuel Kootz, Paul Bodin, Maria Motherwell, Pablo and Maya Picasso, Rudi Blesh, Nathan Halper, Ethel Schwabacher, Clyfford Still, and others.