Willard Warren Cummings papers
name: label: Creator
content: Cummings, Willard Warren, 1915-1975
label: Names
content: Colby College
label: Names
content: Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
label: Names
content: Warner Brother's Company
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Maine -- Skowhegan
label: Topic
content: World War, 1939-1945 -- Art and the war
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Willard Warren Cummings papers were acquired from Willard H. and Willard W. Cummings from 1974 to 1976.
creator: label: Creator
content: Cummings, Willard Warren, 1915-1975
setName: label: See more items in
content: Willard Warren Cummings papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter and co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Willard Warren Cummings measure 19.3 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1997 with the bulk of the papers dating from 1930 to 1975. The collection documents Cummings's career as an artist through biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed materials, scrapbooks, artwork, and photographic material.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Willard Warren Cummings (1915-1975) was a painter and co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. 

Cummings was born to Willard H. and Helen Cummings in Old Town, Maine. He studied at the Académie Julian  in Paris, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Yale University, and was presented with an honorary doctorate degree from Colby College in 1960. Cummings was notable for his portraits of military generals, politicians including Margaret Chase Smith and Adlai Stevenson, actors such as Bette Davis, and other notable figures.

Cummings joined the U.S. Army in 1941. He organized a mural project for soldiers, painted portraits for the War Department, and served as an artist-correspondent with the War Art Unit in the Aleutian Islands. Cummings met artists Sidney Simon, Henry Varnum Poor, and Charles Cutler while assigned to the unit. After completing their military service, Cummings, Simon, Poor, and Cutler founded the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. Additionally, Cummings played an important part of organizing Soldier Art, an exhibition of the National Army Arts Contest winners. 

Cummings was married to Mildred "Milly" Cummings with whom he had a daughter, Daphne, and son, William. Cummings died in 1975 in Skowhegan, Maine.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 19.3 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1911-1997
label: Date
content: bulk 1930-1975
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.cummwill
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Drawings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as seven series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1930-1997 (Boxes 1, 18, OVs 20-22; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1911-1975 (Boxes 2-13, OVs 20, 23; 12.0 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1928-1974 (Box 14; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 4: Printed Materials, 1928-1996 (Boxes 14-16, 18; 1.9 linear feet)

Series 5: Scrapbooks, circa 1930-circa 1960 (Boxes 16, 19, OV 33, BV 35; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 6: Artwork, 1929-circa 1965 (Boxes 16, 18, OVs 24-32; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographic Materials, circa 1930-circa 1970 (Boxes 16-18, OV 34; 2.0 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2019.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter and co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Willard Warren Cummings measure 19.3 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1997 with the bulk of the papers dating from 1930 to 1975. The collection documents Cummings's career as an artist through biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed materials, scrapbooks, artwork, and photographic material. 

Biographical material includes an interview transcript, material for a mural commissioned by Warner Brothers Company, and records documenting Cummings's memorial. Personal and professional correspondence with family, friends and colleagues, and clients. Writings are by Cummings, his wife Mildred, and others, and includes a 1928 diary from his time in Paris. Printed material and six scrapbooks document Cummings's career, activities at Colby College, and the work of other artists. Artwork includes student work, six sketchbooks, and a substantial number of drawings. Photographs, slides, and negatives depict Cummings, his family, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, works of art, and images from military service in the War Art Unit.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found at the Archives of American Art are the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture records, 1945-2013, and an oral history interview of Willard Cummings conducted by Paul Cummings on March 20, 1973 for the Archives of American Art.