Nell Blaine papers
name: label: Creator
content: Blaine, Nell, 1922-1996
label: Names
content: Griffin, Howard, 1915-1975
label: Names
content: Harris, Carolyn, 1937-
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Massachusetts -- Gloucester
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- Massachusetts -- Gloucester
label: Occupation
content: Illustrators -- Massachusetts -- Gloucester
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Women printmakers
label: Topic
content: Scrapbooks
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Nell Blaine loaned a portion of her papers for microfilming on reel D311. She later donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in 1980 and 1985. The Howard Griffin papers included in the collection were received by Blaine as executrix of Griffin's estate.
creator: label: Creator
content: Blaine, Nell, 1922-1996
setName: label: See more items in
content: Nell Blaine papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of New York painter, illustrator, and printmaker Nell Blaine measure 2.7 linear feet and date from 1879 (a single publication), and 1940-1985. The collection provides scattered documentation of Blaine's life and career through biographical material, correspondence, writings, business records, printed material, scattered artwork, and photographs. Also included in the collection are papers relating to the estate of Blaine's friend, Howard Griffin.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Nell Blaine (1922-1996) was a painter, printmaker, and illustrator from Richmond, Virginia, who was active in New York City, New York, and Gloucester Massachusetts. Blaine's early work was abstract, and later evolved to figurative and landscape painting.  

Blaine was born in 1922 with severe visual impairments. She received corrective surgery as a child and quickly found a desire to draw and paint what she was finally able to see. Her art education began at the Richmond School of Art and later moved to New York City where she studied under Hans Hofmann. By 1943 Blaine had joined the American Abstract Artists group as the group's youngest member at the age of 21. This association led to her first solo exhibition at Jane Street Gallery, an early artists' cooperative, in 1945. Blaine was a founding member of the Greenwich Village gallery, and her circle of friends included New York artists and poets such as John Ashbery, Leland Bell, Rudy Burckhardt, Willem de Kooning, Robert De Niro Sr., Jane Freilicher, Kenneth Koch, Lee Krasner, Frank O'Hara, and Louisa Matthiasdottir. From 1943-1949 Blaine was married to musician Bob Bass. Blaine exhibited solo at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery in 1953 and was represented by the Poindexter Gallery and the Fischbach Gallery. 

In the 1950s, Blaine moved to Paris where she lived with friends including Larry Rivers. She was also a close friend of poet and art writer Howard Griffin, and illustrated a limited edition of his Four Poems and served as executrix of his estate.

In 1959, Blaine contracted polio while traveling in Greece. She used a wheelchair for the rest of her life but was able to resume painting after intense rehabilitation to regain the use of her hands.

By the mid-1970s Blaine had moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts where she maintained a summer home for the rest of her life, while also sharing an apartment and studio in New York with artist Carolyn Harris, who was her partner for over thirty years.

Nell Blaine died in 1996 in New York City.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.7 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1879
label: Date
content: 1940-1985
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.blainell
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1950s-1985 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1879, 1940-1985 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1940s-1980s (0.1; Box 2)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1949-1983 (0.4 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1940s-1980s (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-3, OV 5)

Series 6: Artwork, circa 1950s-1984 (0.1 Linear feet; Box 3, OV 5)

Series 7: Photographs, 1940s-1980s (0.4 Linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2020 with funding from the Collections Care Initiative Fund, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the National Collections Program. The collection was further processed and the finding aid was updated by Stephanie Ashley in 2023 and was digitized in 2023 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2023 and is available on the Archives of American Art website. Papers not digitized include duplicates, blank versos of photographs, material with privacy concerns, and complete catalogs and publications for which only covers and relevant pages have been digitized.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of New York painter, illustrator, and printmaker Nell Blaine measure 2.7 linear feet and date from 1879 (a single publication), and 1940-1985. The collection provides scattered documentation of Blaine's life, career, and relationships within the art world through biographical material, correspondence, writings, business records, printed material, scattered artwork, and photographs depicting Blaine's exhibitions, friends, homes, studios, and artwork. Also included in the collection are papers relating to the estate of Blaine's friend, Howard Griffin. A large proportion of the collection consists of photocopies of original papers and is annotated with Blaine's notes explaining the context and significance of many of the papers.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art are an interview of Nell Blaine conducted 1967 June 15, by Dorothy Seckler, and the Nell Blaine letters to Robert A. Wilson, 1963-1995.

Additional papers of Nell Blaine are also held by Harvard University.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of scrapbooks loaned for microfilming on reel D311. Loaned materials were returned to the donor and are not described in the collection container inventory.