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Sarah Mundy
Scope and Contents
The papers of sculptor and ceramicist Ruth Duckworth measure 4.7 linear feet and date from circa 1930 to 2010. The collection documents Duckworth's career through exhibition files, professional files, printed materials, artwork, and photographs.
Exhibition files are for Ruth Duckworth: Modernist Sculptor, a multifaceted retrospective of Duckworth's life and work organized by her agent Thea Burger and curator Jo Lauria. Professional files consist of business papers, writings, correspondence regarding Duckworth's professional activities, and files containing Burger's speech delivered at Duckworth's memorial service and sympathy letters received after Duckworth's death. Printed material consists of clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and a few miscellaneous items. Duckworth's artwork includes sketches of ceramics, figure drawings, self portraits, and paper cutouts. Photographic materials picture Duckworth, her artwork and studio, and travel in Europe and Japan, and include personal snapshots.
Language
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Ruth Duckworth papers were donated in 2015 by Thea Berger, Duckworth's agent. A portion of this material had been lent for microfilming in 1977 by Ruth Duckworth. Additional contact sheets and negatives of Duckworth were donated in 2020 by photographer Cal Kowal.
Separated Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on Reel 1397 including biographical information, photographs, twelve silhouette cutouts, a scrapbook of clippings, and loose printed material. Loaned materials returned to the donor that were not subsequently donated are not described in the collection container inventory.
Related Materials
Also in the Archives of American Art is an interview with Ruth Duckworth conducted on April 27, 2001 by Kenneth R. Trapp for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America at the studios of Smithsonian Productions, Washington, D.C.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2022.