Elizabeth Wilder Weismann: An Inventory of Her Collection at the Benson Latin American Collection

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Descriptive Summary

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents

Administrative Information

Introduction

Description of Series

Series I, Photographic and visual material

Series II, Bibliographic card files

Elizabeth Wilder Weismann:

An Inventory of Her Collection at the Benson Latin American Collection


Descriptive Summary
	Creator	Weismann, Elizabeth Wilder, 1908-
	Title	Elizabeth Wilder Weismann Collection
	Dates:	ca. 1930 - ca. 1979
	Abstract	Photographic material and research files regarding art and architecture in colonial Mexico and other Latin American countries.
	OCLC Record No.	31770051
	Extent	4,104 photographs
	Extent	2,171 negatives
	Extent	card files(3 linear ft.)
	Languages	and [code "engspa" not found in ISO 639-2 list].
	Repository	Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

Biographical Note

U.S. scholar of Latin American colonial art and architecture. Born 1907; died 1989 in Austin, Texas. Weismann held positions at the Library of Congress, Smith College, Wellesley College, and Ohio State University. Her publications include a translation of Toussaint, Manuel. Colonial art in Mexico, as well as her own works: A guide to the art of Latin America; Mexico in sculpture; The decorative arts in Latin America; Art and time in Mexico: from the Conquest to the Revolution.

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Scope and Contents

Photographic material and research files of interest for art and architectural research into the colonial period in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Photographic prints and negatives, postcards, and occasional reproductions or clippings of images collected by Weismann depict architecture, painting, graphic and minor arts, and sculpture in Mexico, Central America and South America from pre-Conquest to modern times. A few images are from California, New Mexico, and Texas.

Some images are originals taken by Weismann; most are copies she obtained from Mexican photographic collections, including that of Guillermo Kahlo at the library of the Instituto Nacional Antropología e Historia.

Other photographers contributing to the collection include George Kubler, John McAndrew, Judith Hancock de Sandoval, and commercial photographer Salvador Toscano.

Extensive card files concern artisans, monuments, paintings, and art objects of colonial New Spain.

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Administrative Information

Prepared by the Mexican Archives Project

November 1994

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Introduction

The Elizabeth Wilder Weismann Collection was donated by Weismann to the Benson Latin American Collection in 1985. The collection was described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in August 1994.

The collection comprises circa 6,275 photographs and negatives and three linear feet (10 boxes) of card files. A container list and partial item list are available in the library.

Weismann's publication, Americas: the decorative arts in Latin America in the era of the revolution, Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, 1976, was based upon the collection.

The suggested citation for the papers is “Elizabeth Wilder Weismann Collection, ca. 1930-ca. 1979, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin.”

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Container List



Series I, Photographic and visual material [ca. 6,275 items]
box
1			Subseries 1, Mexico [17 boxes]
		Primarily about architecture in Mexico, the series also contains materials on sculpture, painting, graphic arts, and minor arts in Mexico.
				Architecture
	1				Chiapas
	2				Distrito Federal?
	3				D.F.: contact prints by Judith Hancock
	4				D.F.: Judith Hancock de Sandoval
	5				print #68 (323)
	6				print #359
	7-9				Distrito Federal
box	folder
2	1-2				Guanajuato
	3				Guerrero
	4				Hidalgo
	5				Jalisco
	6-7				Mexico (state)
	8				Michoacán
	9				Morelos
	10				Oaxaca
	11				Puebla
box	folder
3	1				Puebla
	2				Querétaro
	3				San Luis Potosí
	4				Sinaloa
	5				Tlaxcala
	6				Yucatán
	7				Zacatecas
box
4-5				Architecture, etc., Central Highland Mexico
box
6				Architecture, wood sculpture, painting
					Prints: Chiapas, Guanajuato, Guerrero
box
7					Prints: Hidalgo, Jalisco
box
8					Prints: Mexico, D.F.
box
9					Prints: Mexico state, Michoacán
box
10					Prints: Morelos, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca
box
11					Prints: Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tlaxcala, the Alamo
box
12					Negatives: Chiapas, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco
box
13					Negatives: Mexico, D.F.; Mexico state; Michoacán
box
14					Negatives: Morelos, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tlaxcala, the Alamo
box
15				Architecture, sculpture, paintings (alpha by state); Notidentified geographically: Graphics, painting, sculpture
box
16				Graphic arts
	1				Books
	2				Engravings
	3				Lithography
	4				Manuscripts
	5				Painting - Genre
	6-7				Painting - Saints/Ecclesiastics
	8				Painting - 16th century
	9				Painting - 18th century
	10-11				Painting - 19th century portraits
	12				Painting - 20th century portraits
	13				Painting
	14				Photography
	15				Posada, José Guadalupe
	16				Woodcuts
	17				Maps
box	folder
17	1			Sculpture
				Minor arts
	2				Bookbinding, food, glass, ivory, straw
	3				Ceramics
	4				Clothing and costume
	5				Decorations, fireworks
	6				Furniture
	7				Iron and steel
	8				Jewelry
	9				Lacquer
	10				Leather
	11				Masks
	12				Silver
	13				Textiles
	14				Woodcarving
	15				Descriptive information prepared by Weismann on photographs in Mexico, Minor arts sub subseries
	16-18				Minor arts
box
18			Subseries 2, Latin America (except Mexico) [3 boxes and 2 folders]
		Architecture, minor arts, sculpture, and painting in Latin America.
				Architecture
	1-2				Argentina
	3				Bolivia
	4-5				Brazil
	6				Colombia
	7				Cuba
	8				Costa Rica
	9-10				Ecuador
	11-12				Guatemala
box	folder
19	1				Honduras
	2				Nicaragua
	3				Panama
	4				Paraguay
	5				Peru (Arequipa-Copacabana)
	6				Peru (Cuzco)
	7				Peru (Lima-Trujillo)
	8				Peru (Unidentified)
	9				Peru (Machu Picchu)
	10				Peru
box
20				Minor arts
	1				Argentina - Silver
	2				Brazil - Furniture
	3				Brazil - Wood carving
	4				Chile - Furniture
	5				Chile - Silver
	6				Colombia - Furniture
	7				Ecuador - Furniture
	8				Ecuador - Iron
	9				Ecuador - Silver
	10				Ecuador - Woodworking
	11				Guatemala
	12				Panama - Iron, silver
	13				Peru - Furniture
	14				Peru - Jewelry
	15				Peru - Silver
	16				Peru - Woodworking
	17				South America - Brass, bronze, copper
	18				South America - Ceramics
	19				South America - Clothing and costume
	20				South America - Cult images
	21				South America - Furniture
	22				South America - Gourds, tortoise shell, mother of pearl
	23				South America - Iron and steel
	24				South America - Leather
	25				South America - Silver
	26				South America - Textiles
	27				South America - Woodcarving
	28				Venezuela - Jewelry
	29				Venezuela - Silver
	30				Furniture
	31				Votive jewelry
	32				Unidentified
	33				Descriptive information prepared by Weismann on photographs in Latin America, Minor Arts sub-subseries
	34-35			Sculpture
	36			Painting
box	folder
21	1-2			Adams photographs - Argentina
			Subseries 3, Mixed Mexican and other Latin American materials [4 boxes]
		Materials which could not be identified or separated into the preceding two subseries. Included are items from the pre-Conquest era; from Weismann's travels to Mexico as well as (in 1940-1941) Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Yucatán; and scenes of Mexican and Guatemalan architecture and streets.
				Pre-Conquest
	3				Mexico
	4				Tula, Hidalgo
	5				Yucatán
	6				Yucatán
	7				Maya-Central America
	8				Postcards - Mexico and Central America
	9				South America
	10				Miscellaneous
	11				Photographic reproductions of museum objects
	12				Bonampak
box
22				Photographic material from long trips
					Prints (Mexico only): general landscape, some towns, countryside, sculpture
box
23					35 mm negatives from Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Yucatán (1940-1941)
box
24				Mexico/Guatemala (architecture, street scenes, very little sculpture)
box
25			Subseries 4, USA - Architecture [1 folder]
	1			USA - Architecture
			Subseries 5, Renwick Gallery exhbition [3 folders]
		Includes lists of images in the exhibition, 12 color slides of objects from the Fundaçao Museu used in the exhibition, and the publication, Americas: the decorative arts in Latin America in the era of the revolution.
	2			Lists of images
	3			Brazil and Peru: Fundaçao Museu Carlos Costa Pinto 12 color slides
	4			Americas: the decorative arts in Latin America in the era of the revolution
			Subseries 6, Assorted materials.
		Four folders of biographical information on Weismann, one folder of her notes relating to her arrangement of the collection, 44 negatives labeled, “Chile (Araucanian items),” and a few additional negatives.
	5-8			Biographical information on Weismann
	9			Notes, etc. from Weismann's arrangement project
box
26				Chile (Araucanian items) 44 negatives
				Brazil, Venezuela, and unidentified 4negatives
box
27				5 × 7 negatives

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Series II, Bibliographic card files

Card files concern artisans, monuments, paintings, and art objects of colonial New Spain. Arranged by Weismann in the following groups: artists; authors; authors and travelers; and index to files of towns having sculpture. Cards relating to the Renwick exhibit are filed separately by Mexican state; a few relate to Guatemala, the Philippines, and the U.S.A., and are filed accordingly.

Subseries 1, General

box

Artists

box

Artists; Authors

box

Authors; “Authors and travelers”

box

“Authors and travelers”

box

Index to files of towns having sculpture

Subseries 2, Renwick exhibit

box

Aguas Calientes; D.F. Mexico

box

D.F. Mexico - Jalisco

box

Mexico (state) - Oaxaca (state)

box

Oaxaca (city) - Quintana Roo

box

San Luis Potosí - Zacatecas; Guatemala, Philippines, U.S.A.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Elizabeth Wilder Weismann:

An Inventory of Her Collection at the Benson Latin American Collection

Descriptive Summary

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents

Administrative Information

Introduction

Container List

Series I, Photographic and visual material [ca. 6,275 items]

Series II, Bibliographic card files

Series I, Photographic and visual material
[ca. 6,275 items]