Jay DeFeo papers, circa 1940s-1979

This series contains a wide range of images of DeFeo beginning with a folder of portraits from her high school years taken by her stepfather, through to circa 1970. Photographs include images taken by DeFeo herself, Wallace Berman, Jerry Burchard, Wally Hedrick, and others.

DeFeo is pictured in many of the photographs of beach trips, with Wally Hedrick in Christmas scenes, and at parties held at the Fillmore Street apartment and on the building's roof deck. Also found are photographs taken at Fillmore Street showing Hedrick and DeFeo at work, revealing various stages of progress on paintings such as Incision and The Rose. The photographs provide insight into the extent to which Fillmore Street served as both home, community gathering place, and studio. One folder contains two photos of DeFeo and others at her 1958 exhibition at Dilexi Gallery.

The series also includes many photographs of artist friends including Joan Brown, Manuel Neri, Deborah Remington, and David Simpson. There are photos of DeFeo's pet cats, roses, and other sources of inspiration. Photos of Hedrick include some of his artwork, including work in an exhibition at the New Mission Gallery, and photos of him with other musicians playing in the Studio 13 Jazz Band. Additional photos of musicians and concerts include a contact sheet of images of the Count Basie Orchestra, and two photos of singer Keeley Smith.

Photographs are in the form of black and white and color prints and snapshots, polaroids, contact sheets, small images from printed negative strips, and negatives. A number of photos were cut by DeFeo; according to notes found in this series, she often cut up photos for use in collages.

The bulk of this series has been digitized. Items not digitized include negatives for which prints exist; some of the small photos of cats, of which a sample has been digitized; and duplicates.