Roger Medearis papers
name: label: Creator
content: Medearis, Roger, 1920-
label: Names
content: Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Topic
content: Regionalism
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated 2006 by Elizabeth Medearis, third wife and widow of Roger Medearis.
creator: label: Creator
content: Medearis, Roger, 1920-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Roger Medearis papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Regionalist painter Roger Medearis date from circa 1920-2006, and measure 3.8 linear feet and 0.553 gigabytes. The papers document his life and career in Missouri, Oklahoma, Washington DC, Connecticut, and California. Found within the collection is biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, art dealers, and museums; unpublished manuscripts and other writings; files from galleries and exhibitions; project files on specific artworks; photographs of artworks and friends and family; and audio recordings of conversations with his mentor, Thomas Hart Benton.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Regionalist painter Roger Medearis (1920-2001) was born in Fayette, Missouri and spent the majority of his career in Los Angeles County. He was a student of Thomas Hart Benton at Kansas City Art Institute between 1938-1941, when he left to join the Navy as a draftsman during World War II. Following the war, he moved to Connecticut to continue his career as an artist with some success, including shows at Kende Galleries in New York. He worked primarily in egg tempera but also produced lithographs and clay and bronze models and sculptures. In the early 1950s he became discouraged by the waning of the Regionalist movement and the rise of Abstract Expressionism and left the art world to work as a salesman.  

Medearis returned to making art full-time in 1966, when he began a fruitful working relationship with Philip Desind of Capricorn Galleries in Bethesda Maryland. Medearis worked closely with Capricorn Galleries  until Desind's death in 1996. 

He has been the subject of exhibitions at the Huntington Museum of Art in California and included in several shows about the work of Thomas Hart Benton and his students. His 1941 painting, Godly Susan, along with several others, is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  

Medearis continued working until his death in July 2001 in San Marino California.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3.8 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: .553 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1920-2006
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.mederoge
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1920-2006  (0.7 Linear feet: Box 1; 0.553 Gigabytes: ER0001)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1941-2001 (0.4 Linear feet: Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1960-1999 (0.9 Linear feet: Box 2)

Series 4: Gallery Files/Exhibition Files, 1949-2006 (0.4 Linear feet: Box 3)

Series 5: Project Files, circa 1929-2005 (0.4 Linear feet: Box 3)

Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1940-2002 (0.3 Linear feet: Boxes 3-4)

Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1920-2001 (0.4 Linear feet: Boxes 4-5)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed and a finding aid produced by Caroline Anderson-Gray in 2025.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Regionalist painter Roger Medearis date from circa 1920-2006, and measure 3.8 linear feet and 0.553 gigabytes. 

Biographical material includes childhood writings, records from his time as a student of Thomas Hart Benton at the Kansas City Art Institute, records from his time in the Navy and business career, annotated calendars with descriptions of how Medearis spent each day, inventories of artworks, the journal and papers of wife Betty Medearis, and obituaries and eulogies of the artist. This series also includes audio recordings of conversations with Thomas Hart Benton. Correspondence includes letters to and from the artist with family, art dealers and museum staff. Correspondents include Thomas Hart Benton and his family, Eleanor Piacenza, Ann Constable, Ken Burns, Damon de Laszlo, Reeves Lewenthal, and others.  

Writings consists of copies and notes of several unpublished manuscripts, including Medearis' memoir, My Regionalism, as well as some photographs and slides of sketches in the memoir.  The series also includes drafts and notes for an article about being a student of Thomas Hart Benton, notes on painting and clay modeling, and the unpublished memoir of Medearis' father. Gallery and Exhibition files include planning documents, sales records, and correspondence between Medearis and galleries about his artwork and several exhibitions, notably documents related to his long-standing relationship with Philip Desind of Capricorn Galleries. 

Project files consist of notes and photographs of Medearis' artwork, as well as correspondence and other documentation about museums and galleries acquiring the pieces. The folder for Godly Susan  (1941) is especially rich, and includes planning documents, information on the painting's subject, and correspondence with Elizabeth Broun, Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum about acquiring the painting. Printed material includes a short book published by Capricorn Galleries, Roger Medearis Drawings: 1975-1981, newspaper and magazine clippings, and exhibition and gallery catalogues. Photographic material includes numerous printed photographs and transparencies of artworks, both finished and in process, and photographs of family and friends, including some of Thomas Hart Benton and Rita Benton.