Virginia Admiral papers
name: label: Creator
content: Admiral, Virginia, 1915-2000
label: Names
content: Art Workers Coalition
label: Names
content: Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: De Niro, Robert, Sr., 1922-1993
label: Names
content: Mapplethorpe, Robert (Robert Michael)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Authors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Poets -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Women authors
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Virginia Admiral donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in 1979 and 1980.
creator: label: Creator
content: Admiral, Virginia, 1915-2000
setName: label: See more items in
content: Virginia Admiral papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter and poet Virginia Admiral measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1945-1978. The scattered papers include identification cards, correspondence with artists and friends, personal business records, and printed material. Found are files relating to the Art Workers' Coalition, a group that sought to pressure the Museum of Modern Art and others to implement political and economic reforms to their practices.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Virginia Admiral (1915-2000) was a painter and poet based in New York City, New York. She was the ex-wife of Robert De Niro and mother of actor Robert De Niro Jr. 

Virginia Admiral was born in Oregon in 1915 and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. She worked for the Federal Arts Project in Oakland, California in 1938 but enrolled at the Hofmann School in New York City two years later. It was at the Hofmann school, where she studied under its founder Hans Hofmann, that she met fellow artist Robert De Niro. They married and had a son, Robert De Niro Jr., who would later become an actor. Admiral and De Niro divorced in 1945. 

Admiral's work was included in the 1948 Peggy Guggenheim exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Also an activist and a writer, Admiral participated in the anti-Vietnam War movement, and wrote for True Crimes magazine. She died in 2000 in New York City, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1945-1978
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.admivirg
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, with a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2020, with funding provided by the Collections Care Initiative Fund, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the National Collections Program
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter and poet Virginia Admiral measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1945-1978. The scattered papers include identification cards, correspondence with artists and friends, personal business records, and printed material. Found are files relating to the Art Workers' Coalition, a group that sought to pressure the Museum of Modern Art and others to implement political and economic reforms to their practices.