Dore Ashton papers
name: label: Creator
content: Ashton, Dore
label: Names
content: Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art -- Faculty
label: Names
content: New School for Social Research  (New York, N.Y.) -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Yale University -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Adams, Pat, 1928-
label: Names
content: Adley, James, 1931-
label: Names
content: Albee, Edward, 1928-
label: Names
content: Albers, Josef
label: Names
content: Arnheim, Rudolf
label: Names
content: Avedon, Richard
label: Names
content: Berthot, Jake, 1939-2014
label: Names
content: Borges, Jacopo Luis
label: Names
content: Congdon, Dennis
label: Names
content: Cornell, Joseph
label: Names
content: Diebenkorn, Richard, 1922-1993
label: Names
content: Driskell, David C. (1931-2020)
label: Names
content: Giacometti, Alberto, 1901-1966
label: Names
content: Guidieri, Remo
label: Names
content: Guston, Philip, 1913-1980
label: Names
content: Hellman, Lillian, 1905-1984
label: Names
content: Herbert, George
label: Names
content: Hiss, Alger
label: Names
content: Howes, Barbara
label: Names
content: Kaprow, Allan
label: Names
content: Licht, Fred, 1928-
label: Names
content: Lindner, Richard, 1901-1978
label: Names
content: Malamud, Bernard
label: Names
content: Miró, Joan, 1893-
label: Names
content: Motherwell, Robert
label: Names
content: Moy, Seong
label: Names
content: Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990
label: Names
content: Oldenburg, Claes, 1929-
label: Names
content: Reuterswärd, Carl Fredrik, 1934-
label: Names
content: Sterne, Hedda, 1910-
label: Names
content: Tinguely, Jean, 1925-
label: Names
content: Tobey, Mark
label: Names
content: Tworkov, Jack
label: Names
content: Vasilikos, Vasilēs, 1934-
label: Names
content: Yunkers, Adja, 1900-1983
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Authors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Educators -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Women art critics
label: Topic
content: Women art historians
label: Topic
content: Women authors
label: Topic
content: Women educators
label: Topic
content: Art criticism
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern
label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Artists -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Dore Ashton papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Dore Ashton May 27, 1982, May 8, 1997, June 2, 2011, and March, 25, 2016.
creator: label: Creator
content: Ashton, Dore
setName: label: See more items in
content: Dore Ashton papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Dore Ashton measure 35.6 linear feet and date from circa 1928-2014, with one letter in the Joseph Cornell subject file dating from 1849. The records document Dore Ashton's career as an art critic, historian and educator, with particular depth for the period of 1952 through 1990. The collection contains a small amount of biographical material, as well as correspondence, writings, subject files, printed materials, artwork, and reference photographs of artworks. An addition to the Dore Ashton papers includes biographical material, correspondence, writings, writing project and subject files, teaching files, printed material, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographic material.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Dore Ashton (1928-2017) was an art critic, author, and educator in New York City.  She wrote, contributed, and edited more than 30 books.

Ashton was born in Newark New Jersey in 1928 and received an MA from Harvard University in 1950.  Her many books and articles focus on late 19th and 20th century art and artists.  Ashton was associate editor at Art Digest from 1952-1954, and critic for Arts and Architecture at the New York Times, 1955-1960.  Starting in 1962 she held several lecturing posts at various institutions including the School of Visual Arts, Cooper Union, and the New School for Social Research.  She was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 1964 and a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in 1980.  Among Ashton's books are Abstract Art Before Columbus, 1956; Poets and the Past, 1959; A Joseph Cornell Album, 1974; Yes, But…A Critical Study of Philip Guston, 1976, About Rothko, 1983; The New York School: a Cultural Reckoning, 1973; Noguchi East and West, 1992; and David Rankin: The New York Years, 2013.  Dore Ashton was the first critic to develop a comprehensive and eye-witness account of the history of the Abstract Expressions.   

Ashton married artist Adja Yunkers (1900-1983) in 1953, and they had two daughters Alexandra (known as Sasha) and Marina.  In 1985 she married writer Matti Megged (1923-2003). She died in The Bronx, New York City, New York in 2017.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 35.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1849
label: Date
content: circa 1928-2014
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.ashtdore
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Transcripts
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 8 series.

Series 1:  Biographical Materials, 1962-1978

Series 2:  Correspondence, 1945-2010, undated

Series 3:  Writings, 1952-1976, undated

Series 4:  Research files, 1849, 1950-1984, 2009, undated

Series 5:  Printed Materials, 1931-1981, undated

Series 6:  Artwork, 1949, 1952, 1983, undated

Series 7:  Photographs of Artwork, circa 1950-2010

Series 8: Addition to the Dore Ashton Papers, circa 1928-2013
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was partially processed by Jean Fitzgerald in 1997.  The collection was minimally processed and a finding aid created by Valerie Vanden Bossche in 2013 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund. The 2016 addition was processed to a minimal level and the finding aid updated by Hilary Price in 2017.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 5143-5152 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Transcripts
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Dore Ashton measure 35.6 linear feet and date from circa 1928-2014, with one letter in the Joseph Cornell subject file dating from 1849. The records document Dore Ashton's career as an art critic, historian and educator, with particular depth for the period of 1952 through 1990. The collection contains a small amount of biographical material, as well as correspondence, writings, subject files, printed materials, artwork, and reference photographs of artworks. An addition to the Dore Ashton papers includes biographical material, correspondence, writings, writing project and subject files, teaching files, printed material, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographic material. 

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence with many artists, writers and others, including Pat Adams, James Adley, Rudolf Arnheim, Jake Berthot, Dennis Congdon, George Herbert, Remo Guidieri, Barbara Howes, Fred Licht, Joan Punyet Miro, Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, and Hedda Sterne, among others. Smaller amounts of letters are from Joseph Albers, Edward Albee, Richard Avedon, Richard Diebenkorn, David Driskell, Alberto Giacometti, Philip Guston, Lillian Hellman, Alger Hiss, Bernard Malamud, Joan Miro, Robert Motherwell, Lewis Mumford, Claes Oldenburg, and Vassilis Vassilikos. 

Writings consist of transcripts of miscellaneous articles or those written for various publications. Research files include reference or research materials for books, exhibitions, individuals and various topics. Individuals and topics include Jacopo Luis Borges, Allan Kaprow, Richard Lindner, Seong Moy, Jean Tinguely, Mark Tobey, Jack Tworkov, Adja Yunkers; and Dadaism, poetry and symbolism.  

The addition to the Dore Ashton papers (Series 8) includes biographical material, correspondence, writings, writing project and subject files, teaching files, printed material, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographic material. Writings make up a significant part of the addition and contain hundreds of manuscripts, as well as lectures, notes, sixty notebooks, ten diaries, and writings by others. Writing project and subject files comprise over half of the addition and encompass a large collection of alphabetical files pertaining to artists, actors, writers, thinkers, and collaborators; work projects including writings, exhibitions, panels, symposia, and lecture series; as well as various other subjects and topics. The addition also contains teaching files related to Ashton's positions at the Cooper Union, the New School for Social Research, and Yale University.  The photographic material in this series is also abundant and contains hundreds of original photographs of Ashton throughout all stages of her life, many with friends and family.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Among the holdings of the Archives is an oral history interview with Dore Ashton conducted November 21, 2010 by George W. Sampson, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project.  

Dore Ashton papers are also located at Emory University Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.