Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Collection
Finding Aid
Bard College
Archives and Special Collections
Created by John
Ohrenberger ‘16, September 2014 – December 2015
Collection
Summary:
This collection
consists of material from Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo detailing their journeys
to Latin America, their professional work as artists and educators, and personal
business and correspondence. It includes letters, personal writings,
biographical material, speeches, press clippings, and rare publications which
document both Rogo and Hirsch’s artistic careers. A significant amount of
photographs, negatives, and pictorial memorabilia depict their travels in Latin
America. The collection also includes a significant gift of artwork, which
includes sketches, prints, watercolors, and mixed media work by Stefan Hirsch
and Elsa Rogo, as well as work by other artists. The collection was processed
in conjunction with an exhibition titled Precisely
Not: Works from the Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Collection; the curatorial
files are included as an addition to this collection.
Related
Materials:
DeVito, Joan.
Senior Project at Bard College, 1981. Stefan
Hirsch : an essay, catalogue, and chronology. In Bard College Senior
Project Collection, for access contact Stevenson Library.
Hirsch, Stefan.
Report on Art at Bard College. 1947.
In Bardiana Collection, Stevenson Library. Call Number: N330 .A6
Other paintings
by Stefan Hirsch owned by Bard College are held at the Center for Curatorial
Studies (not held by Bard College Archives). For more information, contact the Museum
Registrar, Hessel Museum, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.
“Stefan Hirsch
and Elsa Rogo Papers” at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.
Contact Information
Helene Tieger, College Archivist
Stevenson Library Archives and Special Collections
1 Library Road
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
12504
(845) 758-7396
Biographical
Note:
Stefan Hirsch
(1899-1964) was a professor of painting at Bard College beginning in 1942 until
his retirement in 1960. He was born in 1899 in Germany, where he began studying
art. In 1917, he immigrated to the United States. After studying with Hamilton
Easter Field, he became associated with the Precisionist movement in American
art, which included artists such as Charles Sheeler, George Ault, Joseph
Stella, and Charles Demuth, among others. Like many of this group from the
1920s and 1930s, Hirsch received acclaim for his clean, geometric, and
mechanistic style then in vogue as a result of rise of modernist art in the
United States. In 1930 in New York City, he married Elsa Rogo, an artist and
noted photojournalist. Together, they spent an extended honeymoon in Mexico,
visiting pre-Columbian sites and befriending artists like Diego Rivera, David
Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente Orozco. Hirsch and Rogo travelled between
the United States and Latin America for the remainder of Hirsch’s life. Hirsch
continued painting and printmaking, while Rogo worked as a photojournalist and
teacher. In the 1930s, he was involved in the New Deal Arts programs, and
taught mural painting and art criticism at Bennington College and the Art
Students League. In 1942, Stefan Hirsch accepted a teaching appointment in
painting at Bard College, where he led the Division of the Arts. Together with
Rogo, he taught at Bard until his retirement in 1960. In 1961 he was granted
the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Bard College. He passed away
in 1964. After his death, Elsa Rogo stayed in contact with the College, and
donated much of their material and artwork to its collections. Hirsch’s first
retrospective exhibition occurred in 1964 at Bard College, and another was
organized at the Phillips Collection in 1977.
Original
Order:
The donation of
the Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers accompanied the gift of several of
Hirsch’s paintings to Bard College in 2004. The collecting practices of the
original owners are unknown; however the structure of the collection indicated
that Hirsch and Rogo kept a large volume of material which was organized in
different ways over a long period of time.
All of Series
I: Papers was contained in a large cardboard box that likely accompanied the
original donation. Most of the papers were housed in subject folders. There was
no discernable original order for this donation – standards for naming folders
seem to change over time and previous order was not maintained in the gift.
However, the original names of the folders have been preserved and any changes
for the sake of clarity have been noted at the end of this finding aid (a
physical copy of these changes is also included at the beginning of Series I:
Papers). Series II: Photographs was re-arranged and rehoused in an earlier,
partial processing of the gift and their present order is non-original (the
original collection seems to have split between the Bard College Archives and
the Archives of American Art). Series III: Artwork is housed in a flat-file
cabinet according to size, however the object’s original order may be
re-determined by their accession number – 1.001 indicates the first object in
Portfolio 1, 2.001 is the first object in Portfolio 2, etc.
Condition
and Preservation:
Series I:
Papers and Series II: Photographs are stable and are held in acid-free folders.
Upon processing, significant parts of Series III: Artwork were assessed with
mold damage. The original order of this series, Portfolios 1-3, included large,
deteriorating, board paneled portfolios in which these artworks are thought to
have been housed for a significant amount of time. Many parts of the series
were cleaned using spore elimination and temperature-controlled techniques
intended stop mold growth.
Restrictions
on Access:
Access will be
determined by the College Archivist according to the nature of the request and
the availability of materials. Series I: Papers is likely available to be
viewed in their original format. Series II: Photographs has been completely
digitized and researchers should consult digital files before viewing
originals. Requests to view from Series III: Artwork will be determined
according to the state of materials and the availability to make viewing
arrangements. Some parts of Series III: Artwork are not available for
consultation because of damage and mold growth explained above. A small part of
the collection that has been exhibited has also been digitized and is available
on the Bard College Archive’s ARTStor Shared Shelf Collection as well as the
Bard College Archives website.
Contents
Series 1: Papers
Box |
Folder |
Title |
Date Range |
1 |
1 |
Art
Students League of New York |
1940’s |
1 |
2 |
Bard
College – Art in Lisboa (misc.) |
1956 |
1 |
3 |
Bard
College – Business (1954-1959) |
1954-1959 |
1 |
4 |
Bard
College – Conference – Art in Liberal Education |
1951 |
1 |
5 |
Bard
College – Criticism of Student Papers |
1947 |
1 |
6 |
Bard
College – Felix Hirsch Resignation |
1954 |
1 |
7 |
Bard
College – Martha Graham Lecture |
n.d. |
1 |
8 |
Bard
College – Poster Controversy |
1946 |
1 |
9 |
Bard
College – Publications |
1945-1965 |
1 |
10 |
Bennington
College |
1951-1958 |
1 |
11 |
Bennington
College – Division of the Arts |
1936 |
1 |
12 |
“Children
3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition – Addresses & Sponsors |
1942 |
1 |
13 |
“Children
3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition – Business |
1942 |
1 |
14 |
“Children
3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition – Financial |
1942 |
1 |
15 |
“Children
3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition – References |
1942 |
1 |
16 |
“Children
3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition – Sponsors |
1942 |
1 |
17 |
Children’s
Schools – Mexico – Design |
n.d. |
1 |
18 |
College
Art Association |
1954-1956 |
1 |
19 |
College
Art Association – Meetings – Cleveland |
1953 |
1 |
20 |
College
Art Association – Meetings – Washington |
1951 |
1 |
21 |
Columbia
University – Miscellaneous |
n.d. |
1 |
22 |
Correspondence
– Envelopes (Empty) |
n.d. |
1 |
23 |
Correspondence
– James Johnson Sweeney |
1959 |
1 |
24 |
Correspondence
– Shareholdings (1955-1958) |
1955-1958 |
1 |
25 |
Correspondence
– Students |
n.d.? |
1 |
26 |
Emily
Genauer – Correspondence |
1947-1948 |
1 |
27 |
Exhibitions
– Invitations and Ephemera |
1956? |
1 |
28 |
F.F.
Dr. WM McNeil Lowry |
1958 |
1 |
29 |
Fulbright
Correspondence |
1953-1956 |
1 |
30 |
“German
Art Between the Two Wars” – Exhibition |
1944 |
1 |
31 |
Hamilton
Easter Field Art Foundation (Catalogue) |
1935 |
1 |
32 |
Hirsch
Retrospective – Proctor Art Center |
1956 |
1 |
33 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Correspondence – University of Arkansas |
1952 |
1 |
34 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Correspondence – Wallace S. Baldinger |
1938 |
1 |
35 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Ford Fellowship |
1953-4 |
1 |
36 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Misc. Correspondence |
1952-3 |
1 |
37 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – “Notes on Art” |
n.d. |
1 |
38 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Photographs – Art and Misc. |
n.d. |
1 |
39 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Photographs – Art |
n.d. |
2 |
40 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Publications |
1931-1949 |
2 |
41 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Speech – American Association of Engineering Teachers |
1949 |
2 |
42 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Speeches |
1950 |
2 |
43 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Teaching – “Introduction to Art Project” |
n.d. |
2 |
44 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Teaching Appointments |
1937-1954 |
2 |
45 |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Writings |
n.d. |
2 |
46 |
Household
Bills |
1955-6 |
2 |
47 |
Inter-American
Commission of Women |
1954 |
2 |
48 |
Inter-American
Press Association |
1963 |
2 |
49 |
Miscellaneous
(1) |
n.d. |
2 |
50 |
Miscellaneous
(2) (1955-6) |
1955-6 |
2 |
51 |
Miscellaneous
– World War II |
1930-1955 |
2 |
52 |
Museum
of Modern Art, NY – Committee on Art Education |
1952 |
2 |
53 |
Personal
Notes & Doodles |
n.d. |
2 |
54 |
Rogo,
Elsa – Business Correspondence |
1930-1950 |
2 |
55 |
Rogo,
Elsa – Loose Materials |
1940s |
2 |
56 |
Rogo,
Elsa – News Clippings |
1930-1950 |
2 |
57 |
Toledo
Museum of Art – Correspondence |
1947 |
2 |
58 |
University
of Louisville – Conference |
1950 |
2 |
59 |
University
of Louisville – Exhibition and Correspondence |
1947-1950 |
2 |
60 |
University
of Louisville, Kentucky |
1947 |
2 |
61 |
World
War II Activities |
1940-50 |
- |
- |
Note: bound books in this collection
are indicated below |
- |
3 |
n/a |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Writings (The Creative Mind) [spine
label: “Correspondence S.H. and R. Field”] |
|
3 |
n/a |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Accordion File with material on Impressionism and Book Manuscript
Notes |
|
3 |
n/a |
Hirsch,
Stefan – Early Manuscripts of German Poems and Writings |
|
3 |
n/a |
Sinlapa Samai, Collection of three works on Thai
art and architecture; the first dealing with period of `Uthong, King of
Ayutthaya, 1314-1369; the second, with Ayutthaya period; and the third, with
Bangkok period; volume brought out on occasion of royal opening ceremony of
Bangkok National Museum, 25 May 1967 [from Worldcat]. In Thai and in English. |
|
3 |
n/a |
Escuelas
Primarias: nueva arquitectura economica y sencilla, Mexico,
Secretaria de Educacion Publica, 1932. [related
material, Box 1 Folder 17] |
|
3 |
n/a |
Emily Genauer – Best of Art |
|
Series 2:
Photographs
Album 1: Photographs (145 Items)
(bc.art.hirsch.001 – bc.art.hirsch.145)
Album 1: Photonegatives Film (~
(also
held: FotoBridge Digitization Material, including CD and Thumbnail Booklet –
see archivist)
(also held: negatives from the
collection)
Series 3:
Artwork
Portfolio 1: x items
Portfolio 2: x items
Box (x): Funeral Mask
Series 4:
Additional Material (held after end of Series I, in Box 2)
Folder (x): Precisely Not: Works from the Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Collection
(Curatorial File)
Folder (x): Additional Research
Material (mostly photocopies of catalogues)