Hans Namuth photographs and papers
name: label: Creator
content: Namuth, Hans
label: Names
content: Exposition universelle et internationale (1958 : Brussels, Belgium)
label: Names
content: Jewish Museum (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
label: Names
content: Yale University. School of Art and Architecture
label: Names
content: Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984
label: Names
content: Boynton, Jack, 1928-2010
label: Names
content: Breuer, Marcel, 1902-
label: Names
content: Cage, John, 1912-1992
label: Names
content: Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Castelli, Leo
label: Names
content: Copland, Aaron, 1900-1990
label: Names
content: Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964
label: Names
content: De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997
label: Names
content: Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster), 1895-
label: Names
content: Hartigan, Grace
label: Names
content: Hopper, Edward, 1882-1967
label: Names
content: Johns, Jasper, 1930- -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Karpel, Bernard, 1911-1986
label: Names
content: Koch, Kenneth, 1925-
label: Names
content: Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969
label: Names
content: Navaretta, Cynthia
label: Names
content: Newman, Arnold, 1918-2006
label: Names
content: Noguchi, Isamu, 1904-1988 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Norman, Dorothy, 1905-1997
label: Names
content: Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973
label: Names
content: Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Shaw, Elizabeth Roberts, 1921-
label: Names
content: Stieglitz, Alfred, 1864-1946
label: Names
content: Wyeth, Andrew, 1917-2009 -- Photographs
place: label: Place
content: Massachusetts -- Boston
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Musicians -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Artists -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated 1972-1985 by Hans Namuth.
creator: label: Creator
content: Namuth, Hans
setName: label: See more items in
content: Hans Namuth photographs and papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of New York photographer and filmmaker Hans Namuth measure 4.5 linear feet and date from 1945 to 1985. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs taken by Namuth of New York artists. Also included are papers regarding Namuth's film about Alfred Stieglitz and other professional files.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Hans Namuth (1915-1990) was a German-American photographer and filmmaker who lived and worked in New York. He was primarily known for his work photographing prominent American artists in the 1950s and 1960s. 

Namuth was born in Germany but left for France in 1933 after the rise of the Nazi Party. While in France, he struck up a friendship with fellow German Georg Reisner.  From 1935 to 1939, Namuth and Reisner worked together as photographers primarily in Paris. His first works to catch the public's attention came from an assignment in Barcelona that accidentally coincided with the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Following a short internment in Nazi-occupied France, Namuth left for the United States. 

After taking photography classes with Alexey Brodovitch, art director of Harper's Bazaar, Namuth met Jackson Pollock at an exhibition in 1950 and asked to photograph the artist at work. His subsequent photographs of Pollock raised both artists' profiles. Namuth would spend the next three decades photographing major New York artists, architects, and art-related events for commission and for his own studio. He directed a number of films in collaboration with Paul Falkenberg and published several books of photographs. Namuth died in Long Island in 1990.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.5 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1945-1985
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.namuhans
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Transcripts
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged as 3 series.

Series 1: Alfred Stieglitz Film Project, 1945-circa 1981 (Box 1, OV 11; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 2: Professional Files, 1953-1985 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 3: Photographs, 1945-1984 (Box 2-10; 3.4 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed by intern Kelly Overstreet in 2017.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Transcripts
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of New York photographer and filmmaker Hans Namuth measure 4.5 linear feet and date from 1945 to 1985. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs taken by Namuth of New York artists. Also included are papers regarding Namuth's film about Alfred Stieglitz and other professional files.

The first series contains materials related to the planning and production of Namuth's film Alfred Stieglitz, Photographer. Documentation includes articles, correspondence, exhibition materials, grant program request sheets, magazines and catalogs, photo requests, photographs and photographic materials, notes and research, shot lists, script drafts and fragments, interview transcripts, and correspondence. Interviewees include Ansel Adams, Arnold Newman, Aaron Copland, Dorothy Norman, and others.

The second series contains various writings and papers relating to Namuth's professional activities, including Namuth's exhibition at the 1958 Brussels World Fair, business and financial records, papers on The Construction of Boston by Kennth Koch, correspondence, a notebook, and various printed materials. Namuth's correspondence is with James Boynton, Bernard Karpel, the Museum of Modern Art, Cynthia Navaretta, Elizabeth Shaw, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Yale University School of Art and Architecture.

Photographs taken by Hans Namuth depict prominent American (primarily New York-based) artists, architects, writers, musicians, and art critics. Artists are shown in their studios or homes, either at work or posing for the camera, and include Alexander Calder, Stuart Davis, Willem de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Edward Hopper, Jasper Johns, Lee Krasner, Isamu Noguchi, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, and Andrew Wyeth, among many others. Photographs of other individuals include Marcel Breuer, John Cage, Leo Castelli, Buckminster Fuller, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and others. Also found are photographs of exhibitions, openings, and art-related events from the 1950s and 1960s, such as a traveling Picasso exhibit and a Robert Rauschenberg opening at the Jewish Museum. Most photographs are black and white, but a few color prints are included.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Hans Namuth, Aug. 12-Sept. 8, 1971. Additional Hans Namuth papers are located at the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona.