Reinhardt, Adolph Friedrich, 1913-1967
Painter, Educator
This site provides access to the papers of Ad Reinhardt in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2010. The bulk of the papers have been scanned and total 5,160 images.
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Size: 3.9 Linear feet
Summary: The papers of Ad Reinhardt measure 3.9 linear feet and date from circa 1927 to 1968. The collection documents Reinhardt's career as an abstract painter, cartoonist, and writer through biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, scrapbooks, and artwork.
Ad Reinhardt was born "Frederick Adolph Reinhardt" in 1913 in Buffalo, New York. He would, by the time he enrolled in elementary school, go by the name of Adolph Friedrich Reinhardt, which he would use on official documents for the rest of his life. Shortly after he was born, his family moved to Queens, New York. As a child he copied "funnies" and made collages from newspapers and won many school and community prizes for his artwork. In the fall of 1931 he entered Columbia University and studied art history under Meyer Schapiro, who encouraged him to get involved in radical campus politics. Reinhardt became the editor and cover designer of Jester , a campus magazine. After graduating in 1935, he trained as a painter at the National Academy of Design under Karl Anderson, and at the American Artists School under Francis Criss and Carl Holty, until 1937. At this time he joined American Abstract Artists and became affiliated with American artistic-political groups and other artist organizations. From 1936 to 1941 he worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project, Easel Division, while simultaneously developing his mature style of linear, abstract painting. Read More
Rita Reinhardt, Ad Reinhardt's widow, donated papers and lent material for micorfilming in 1969.
English .
This site provides access to the papers of Ad Reinhardt in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2010. The bulk of the papers have been scanned and total 5,160 images.
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Image assets for this folder have not been fully processed.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
