Robert Pincus-Witten papers, 1942-2017, bulk 1962-2005

Materials include report cards, class schedules, diplomas, and other ephemera that document Pincus-Witten's interest in art during his formative years, and his academic career from elementary school through his doctorate. Also included are color and black and white photographs of family, friends, and classmates; headshot proofs taken by Fred Thumhart in 1978; identification documentation including international student IDs and vaccination cards from the late 1950s, United States passports, New York State driver's licenses, and press passes; a 2003 portrait of Pincus-Witten by Martin Summers; notes and letters regarding High School of Music and Art graduation in 1953; a 1991 Queens College retirement certificate; 1950 and 1952 Regional and National Scholastic Art Awards and photographs of works submitted by Pincus-Witten; sketches and portraits drawn by Robert-Pincus Witten in circa 1952; address books filled with business cards, hand written contact information, notes, telephone messages, postcards, letters, photographs, and handwritten addresses on scraps of paper; and a 1942 World War II Ration Book Two.

Correspondence includes letters, post cards, greeting cards, birth announcements, printed emails, and annotated exhibition announcements and invitations from friends, family, artists, galleries, and colleagues. People of note include Mel Boucher, Judy Gantzman, Gary Komarin, David Salle, Sean Scully, and letter from Eleanor Roosevelt to Pincus-Witten's grandmother, "Oma." There are also letters to and from Pincus-Witten's PhD advisor, Joshua C. Taylor, where they discuss Pincus-Witten's thesis and starting his teaching career at Queens College in the 1960s. There are many enclosures in the correspondence files including clippings, sticky notes, research materials related to Alphonse Osbert, color and black and white photographs, photographs of Pincus-Witten and Leon Hecht at events, slides, contracts, sketches, and small works of art. Also included are several postcards and other items that are considered mail art.

Included are Pincus-Witten's personal journals he kept from 1959-1961 while he was living or visiting abroad during graduate school, and from 1971 through 2015. These journals document the daily activities of Pincus-Witten's personal and professional life, most notably his visits to galleries, museums and studios, and encounters with significant figures in the art world. They are filled with annotated scraps of papers noting topics and artists, photographic material, notes, letters, invitations, business cards, clippings, postcards, drawings, event tickets, receipts, annotated cocktail napkins, greeting cards, exhibition announcements and other print material. Excerpts, or entries, from the journals are also found among Pincus-Witten's writings as he published them in a recurring column in Arts magazine from 1976 to 1990.

Writing includes annotated calendars and day planners from 1984-2016; typed and handwritten draft essays, articles, lectures, and journal excerpts from 1978-2002; Pincus-Witten's graduate and undergraduate essays and notes, including his thesis proposal and sample chapters; an undated poem he wrote entitled, "The Wit and Wisdom of Larry Gagosian," writings related to political and critical views dated 1973-1975; and three folders of handwritten notes from circa 1969 to the 2000s. Also included are audio recordings on cassette tapes of Pincus-Witten dictating drafts of his writing in the 1980s and 1990s.

Artist files maintain Pincus-Witten's original arrangement and date from 1950-2016. Materials consist of correspondence including printed emails, postcards, letters and facsimiles; exhibition catalogs, announcements, checklists, posters, and invitations; artists CVs; clippings including reviews of the artists work; draft essays about the artists and their work; lists of works; notes; periodicals; draft presentations; greeting cards; brochures; thank you notes; bibliographies; notecards; photocopies of Pincus-Witten's journal entries related to the artists; invoices; copies of certificates of insurance; color and black and white photographs, negatives, and slides; press releases; travel documentation including itineraries; printed internet articles; interview transcripts; newsletters; holiday cards; a draft eulogy Pincus-Witten wrote for Corice C. Arman; memorial programs and announcements; exhibition checklists and posters; and a birth announcement. Artists of note include Christo and Jean-Claude, Eva Hesse, Liza Lou, Cindy Nemser, Richard Serra, Cy Twombly, and Rose Cabot. Also included is a CD-R from Rose Cabot's "The Marks Project."

Professional files document different aspects of Pincus-Witten's career from 1973-2009. The Gagosian Gallery files date from 1989-1993 and include daily logs in memorandum format and addressed to Larry Gagosian, correspondence, lists of catalogs published by the gallery, invoices, facsimiles, transcribed journal entries, clippings, exhibition catalogs, draft essays, press releases, meeting notes, Yves Klein litigation regarding a possible fake, and a faxed photograph of Pincus-Witten and Leon Hecht. Other materials include documentation related to Pincus-Witten's travels to the 11th Annual International Sculpture Conference in 1980; a 2007 Adi Foundation Symposium in Jerusalem; the 1997 Cunard Cruise to Hamburg where Pincus-Witten gave a series of lectures; a 1995 Paris flight itinerary; an International Art Press Group to Israel in 1986; and color photographs of a trip to Washington, D.C. in circa 1990 and photographs from Israel trips taken between 1975 and 1977. There is a folder from Omni Art Co. that includes correspondence, invoices, email printouts, exhibition announcements, invitations, and a photocopied group photo; correspondence related to a post-minimalism exhibition Pincus-Witten wanted to curate at MoMA that includes correspondence between himself and Bill (William) Rubin from 1973, where they politely discuss a disagreement regarding what defines modern art; and a draft MoMA PS1 Deputy Director contract from 2003. Audiovisual materials in this series include audio recordings on sound cassettes of lectures and panel discussions featuring Pincus-Witten, a Marcel Duchamp interview by Richard Hamilton; and two sound reels of panel discussions with Pincus-Witten including "Disintegration of Minimalism" at the High Museum in 1973. Also included are photographs of Iris Clert artwork, Ray Johnson collages, Jeff Koon's "Pink Panther" in a crate, and 12 folders of reference photographs depicting artist artworks and installations including artists such as Albert Ryder, George Segal, Henry O. Tanner, Joshua Neustein, Eva Hesse, Hector Guimard, Rachel Lalique, Giorgio de Chirico, Bruce D. Kurt, Margaret Wharton, and others.

Teaching files include student correspondence regarding thesis projects and references; handwritten lecture notes with slide descriptions and photocopies of slides from the 1970s; student artwork slides from 1990; a copy of a circa 1989 early modern art class final; annotated draft lectures; clippings; notes for a twentieth century art and theory course; bibliographies; essays written by Pincus-Witten; Sotheby's American Arts course materials from 1988-1989 including faculty lists, teaching assignments, correspondence, meeting minutes, and a copy of Southeby's grading system; CUNY slide lists for lectures; a John Baldessari exhibition checklist; and a description of CUNY's art history doctoral program with proposed curriculum.

Printed material includes wedding invitation packets and programs; opera, theater, and orchestra programs from 1977-2001; gallery, museum, hotel, cruise, and historic site pamphlets; clippings; event menus; artist statements from 2000-2004; blank postcards; event tickets from 1986-1997; exhibition announcements, invitations, and posters; cruise passenger lists; newsletters; clippings related to artists, exhibitions, and performances; memorial service announcements and programs; copies of "Iris Times" and other newsletters; press releases; printed bibliographies; lecture, symposium, and course flyers from 1973-1982; an undated checklist proposal; 2008 and undated art of sale catalogs; photocopies of exhibition catalogs; press releases from 1980-2009; and art ephemera cards.

Artwork includes pencil, ink, and watercolor sketches and sketchbooks created by Robert Pincus-Witten in the late 1950s and early 1990s. Most of the sketches are dated from the late 1990s, and the early 1990s sketches include pencil drawings of Leon Hecht.

Unidentified Born Digital Materials include thirty-one 5.25 floppy disk(s). Labels indicate files contained on the discs may be writings by Pincus-Witten. Some software disk(s) are included.