Overview
Collection Information
Size: 64 p. + microfilm reel
Summary: Seager's conceptual work of art, "Excuse My Dust" consists of letters (43 p.) from 1937 to and from George Watson Cole, first librarian of the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif; letters from Virginia Ledesma, who found the letters, to the Seager household and to Gretchen Seager, 1991-1992, and Sarah Seager's correspondence with Paul Karlstrom and Stephen Polcari, 1992 of the Archives of American Art, where she describes the art work as a "project [which] explores the question of historical value, the designation of such value, and the notion of personal history."Cole's correspondence relates primarily to the illness of his wife, Laura.
Biographical/Historical Note
Conceptual artist; Pasadena, Calif.
Provenance
Donated 1992-1993 by Sarah Seager, a conceptual artist. It was Virginia Ledesma who found the Cole correspondence while her husband was working on the home of Michael Eck, grandson of Ada and Moulton [Adams], Laura Cole's sister. She mailed the letters to the Cole's address in Pasadena should any of the descendents reside there; however the house was occupied by the Seager family. Gretchen Seager passed them to her daughter, Sarah, who appropriated them to create a piece of conceptual art which she titled "Excuse My Dust," which she donated to the Archives of American Art as her work/papers. The material was sent to Seager on a temporary basis in order for her to have them microfilmed, also as part of her piece.
Language Note
English .
