José de Creeft papers
name: label: Creator
content: De Creeft, José, 1884-1982
label: Names
content: Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.) -- Faculty
label: Names
content: New School for Social Research  (New York, N.Y.) -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Norton Gallery and School of Art
label: Names
content: Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Albers, Josef -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976
label: Names
content: Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Campos, Jules
label: Names
content: De Creeft, William
label: Names
content: De Diego, Julio, 1900- -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Dickinson, Edwin Walter, 1891-1978
label: Names
content: Diederich, William Hunt, 1884-1953
label: Names
content: Dodd, Lamar
label: Names
content: Escuder, Joseph
label: Names
content: Goulet, Lorrie, 1925-
label: Names
content: Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Gross, Chaim, 1904-1991 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Gómez Gil, Alfredo, 1936-
label: Names
content: Lawrence, Gertrude -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973
label: Names
content: Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Neumann, J. B. (Jsrael Ber) -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Nivola, Costantino, 1911-1988
label: Names
content: Rattner, Abraham -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Roszak, Theodore, 1907-1981 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Soyer, Raphael, 1899-1987 -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Sweeney, James Johnson, 1900-
label: Names
content: Zorach, William, 1887-1966 -- Photographs
topic: label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Educators -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Sculpture, Modern -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Stone Mountain Memorial (Ga.)
label: Topic
content: Latino and Latin American artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The José de Creeft papers were first lent for microfilming by the artist in 1963 and 1972. Lorrie Goulet, José de Creeft's widow, donated most of this material along with additional items in 1985 and 2009. Additional material donated in 2022 by Donna Maria de Creeft Perkins, Goulet's daughter.
creator: label: Creator
content: De Creeft, José, 1884-1982
setName: label: See more items in
content: José de Creeft papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Spanish-born sculptor and educator José de Creeft measure 28.9 linear feet and date from 1871 to 2004 with the bulk of the material dating from the 1910s to the 1980s. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, fifty diaries, writings, subject files, personal business records, printed materials, twenty-seven photo albums and other photographs, scrapbooks, and scattered sketches.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: José de Creeft (1908-1982) was a Spanish-born sculptor active in New York City, New York.

José de Creeft was born in Guadalajara, Spain and raised in Barcelona. In 1900, he apprenticed to sculptor Don Augustine Querol and studied drawing with Idalgo de Caviedas.  De Creeft moved to Paris in 1905 and began formal art training at the Académie Julianand.  He also took a studio in the Batteau Lavoir in Montmartre, where he interacted with Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Manolo, and Pablo Gargallo, all of whom also had studios there. During this period, de Creeft became friends with the artist Mateo Hernandez.

In 1915, de Creeft rejected the traditional technique of reproducing sculpture in stone from clay and plaster models and turned to direct carving in wood and stone.  He was also one of the first sculptors who practiced assemblage and incorporated found objects into his work. His notable assemblage sculpture El Picador, a large figure on horseback, received worldwide press coverage and was exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Independents in 1926. Between 1919 and 1928, his work was exhibited in various Paris salons.  In the late 1920s, he created 200 stone carvings for Roberto Ramonje's Forteleza (fortress) in Mallorca.  It was around this time frame when de Creeft met Alexander Calder, who became his student in direct carving. De Creeft encouraged Calder to display his mechanical toys and Calder put his Circus together for the first time in de Creeft's studio.   

De Creeft emigrated to the United States in 1929, right after marrying fellow sculptor Alice Robertson Carr. They divorced nine years later. 

While in New York, de Creeft began sculpting with lead sheets beaten into three-dimensional forms and established a studio at 1 Washington Square. His first solo exhibition was at the Ferargil Galleries in New York City and included The Portrait of Cesar Vallejo in chased lead and The Silver Fox  of found materials. 

In 1932, de Creeft accepted a teaching position in sculpture at the New School for Social Research.   He also taught courses at Black Mountain College, where he met his second wife, sculptor Lorrie Goulet, the Art Students League, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the Norton Gallery and School of Art.  In 1946, de Creeft and Goulet purchased a hundred-acre farm in Hoosick Falls, NY where they established a studio and part-time residence.  

Perhaps De Creeft's most well-known monumental scuplture is Alice in Wonderland in Central Park, New York City.  The 12' x 16' bronze was dedicated during a public event in 1959 and gave de Creeft worldwide recognition.  In 1995 a short film about the making of the sculpture was produced by J. D'Alba and narrated by Lorrie Goulet. 

De Creeft was as founding member of the American Artist's Congress, the Sculptors Guild, and the Artist's Equity Association.  De Creeft was represented by the Georgette Passedoit Gallery from 1936 to 1949.  Later, he joined The Contemporaries (gallery) and exhibited there until 1966.  Kennedy Galleries represented de Creeft from 1970 until his death in 1982.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 28.9 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1871-2004, bulk 1910s-1980s
label: Date
content: bulk 1910-1990
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.decrjose
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 11 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1914-1979 (Boxes 1, 27; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1910s-1980s (Boxes 1-6, 34; 4.3 linear feet)

Series 3: Diaries, 1926-1981 (Boxes 6-11; 5.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, 1871-1977 (Boxes 11-13, 28; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Subject Files, 1924-1980 (Boxes 13-16, 27; 2.4 linear feet)

Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1909-1980s (Boxes 16-17, 27; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1921-1980s (Boxes 17-21, 27, 33, 34; 4.8 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, 1900-2004 (Boxes 21-25, 29, 31, 34; 5.2 linear feet)

Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1929-1982 (Box 26, 30, 32; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 10: Artwork, 1916-1975 (Box 26, 29, 34-35; 0.6 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Portions of the collection were milcrofilmed onto reels D150, 375-378 upon receipt of a loan and returned to the donor. Most of the collection was later donated in multiple accessions. The collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2016, with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund. The 2022 addition was processed by Ricky Gomez, and the finding aid updated in 2023.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection and materials lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels D150 and 375-378 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Spanish-born sculptor and educator José de Creeft measure 28.9 linear feet and date from 1871 to 2004 with the bulk of the material dating from the 1910s to the 1980s. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, fifty diaries, writings, subject files, personal business records, printed materials, twenty-seven photo albums and other photographs, scrapbooks, and scattered sketches. 

Biographical materials include address books, awards, recorded interviews with and about de Creeft, membership materials, naturalization records, resumes, and travel documents.

Correspondence is primarily professional in nature and concerns exhibitions, de Creeft's involvement in arts organizations, and awards.  There are also scattered personal letters from family and friends. Correspondents include Alexander Calder, Nina, Alice, Barbara and William de Creeft, Hunt Diederich, Joseph Escudar, and Gil Gomez, Jacques Lipchitz, Edwin Dickinson, James Johnson Sweeney, Costantino Nivola, Abraham Rattner, and Lamar Dodd, among others. 2022 addition includes correspondence between de Creeft and his wife, Lorrie Goulet.

De Creeft's fifty diaries are nearly complete for the period dating from 1926 to 1981.  Some are bound volumes and others are loose pages. The bulk of the diaries are in Spanish and many include sketches. Additional writings, called "escritos varios" by José de Creeft, are mostly in Spanish and consist of typed manuscripts and essays, including "Roosty Was My Friend, 1957,  notebooks, an artist's statement, and writings by others, including drafts for The Sculpture of  de Creeft by Jules Campos, and a video recording entitled José de Creeft by Bob Hanson. There is one sound recording of Lorrie Goulet reading poetry. 

Subject files are varied and include files on de Creeft's teaching positions at the New School for Social Research, Black Mountain College, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the Art Students League.  There are files for some of his sculpture projects, inlcuding Alice in Wonderland, Poet, and a proposed model for the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial in Georgia, as well as compiled information about various art related topics of interest.

De Creeft's business records include appraisals, contracts, leases, price lists, and scattered receipts.  Also found are art inventories in the form of three sets of index cards, some of which include photographs. 

Printed materials include books, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, exhibition labels, postcards, and posters. 2022 addition includes additional clippings. 

There are loose photographs and twenty-seven photograph albums depicting de Creeft, his family, friends, and works of art.  There are photos of Alexander Calder; de Creeft and Goulet with Raphael Soyer, posing with Soyer's portrait of them; Gertrude Lawrence; art juries, which also include images of Chaim Gross, Jacques Lipchitz, Theodore Roszak, and William Zorach; students, friends, and faculties of Black Mountain College, the Art Students League, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the Norton School of Art, which also includes images of Joseph Albers, Alexander Calder, Julio De Diego, Walter Gropius, J. B. Neumann, and Abraham Rattner. 

Seven mixed media scrapbooks document de Creeft's career from 1929 to 1982.  

Also found are scattered pen and pencil sketches and one sketchbook dating from the 1920s. 2022 addition includes 18 sketchbooks.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds an interview of José De Creeft conducted October 1-8, 1968 by Forrest Selvig; and the Lorrie Goulet papers, 1931-2009.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels D150 and 375-378). While most of the items were included in subsequent gifts, material not donated to the Archives remain with the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.