John Button papers
name: label: Creator
content: Button, John, 1929-1982
label: Names
content: Ansen, Alan
label: Names
content: Burton, Scott, 1939-1989
label: Names
content: Cohan, Zara
label: Names
content: Davis, Bette, 1908-1989
label: Names
content: Fabian, Gerald Langston
label: Names
content: Fondren, Hal
label: Names
content: Freilicher, Jane, 1924-2014
label: Names
content: Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997
label: Names
content: LeSueur, Joe
label: Names
content: O'Hara, Frank, 1926-1966
label: Names
content: Orlovsky, Peter, 1933-2010
label: Names
content: Porter, Fairfield
label: Names
content: Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890-1980
label: Names
content: Schuyler, James
label: Names
content: Weaver, Helen, 1932-2021
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- California -- San Francisco
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: New York school of art
label: Topic
content: Realism
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The John Button papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Alvin Novak, a longtime friend of Button's, and by John Button via Jaap van Liere, executor, in 2010.
creator: label: Creator
content: Button, John, 1929-1982
setName: label: See more items in
content: John Button papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of artist John Button measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1950 to 2004. This small collection documents Button's career as a painter in New York City and his relationships with various writers and artists, including notable members of the New York School movement. Found here is correspondence, including letters to Button from Fairfield Porter; writings, including a typed poem by Frank O'Hara; exhibition catalogs, publications, reviews, and other printed material; 19 photographs of Button with friends and associates; and three photographs of the mural created by Button and Mario Dubsky for the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse, circa 1971-1974.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: John Button (1929-1982) was an artist who lived and worked in San Francisco, California, and New York City. Button attended the University of California, Berkeley and moved to New York City in the early 1950s. There, he befriended Fairfield Porter, Frank O'Hara, and other members of the informal New York School art movement. During his lifetime, Button gained recognition for his adherence to realism and his urban landscape paintings.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.2 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1950-2004
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.buttjohn
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, and a finding aid prepared by Mae Hunt in 2025.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of artist John Button measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1950 to 2004. Correspondence includes two letters from Fairfield Porter, 1974, and photocopies of six letters and a postcard from Porter; three letters from Button to Zara Cohan, circa 1961-1964; and photocopies of personal and professional letters from Button to businesses, organizations, elected officials, and friends. Writings consist of a typed poem by Frank O'Hara, a copy of a poem by Helen Weaver, a copy of a poem about Button attributed to James Schuyler, and copies of two poems by Katherine Porter. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, newspaper articles, reviews, a tribute to the artist Willard Warren Cummings written by Button, and publications by Button and others, including a book of poems titled If I Dream I Have You, I Have You, written by Richard Howard and illustrated by Button, 1997. Photographs depict Button, Allen Ginsberg, Alan Ansen, Peter Orlovsky, Bette Davis, Gerald. L. Fabian, Maxine Groffsky, Harry Matthews, Scott Burton, James Schuyler, Jane Freilicher, Hal Fondren, Joe LeSueur, Frank O'Hara, and a mural created by John Button and Mario Dubsky at the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse at 99 Wooster Street in New York City, circa 1971-1974.