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Peter Lipman-Wulf Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Lipman-Wulf, Peter.
Title: Peter Lipman-Wulf Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1945-1975
Quantity: 1.25 linear ft.
Abstract: Spanning 1945 through 1975, the Peter Lipman-Wulf Papers consists of correspondence, writings and memorabilia of the American sculptor, painter, graphic artist and educator (b. 1905). A German Jew by birth, Peter Lipman-Wulf fled to France in 1933 where he was interned in a prison camp before emigrating to the United States in 1947. While documenting his professional career, the collection reveals little of his personal life or war-time experiences.
Language: English
Repository: Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
222 Waverly Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244-2010
https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Peter Lipman-Wulf (1905-1993) was born in Berlin to a prominent lawyer and his wife, a well-known sculptor, and studied at the Berlin Academy. Artistic success came quickly; he took first prize in the Prussian State Competition and had commissions from the city of Berlin for two marble fountains before he was 27 years old.

In 1933 Lipman-Wulf lost his teaching position at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin due to growing anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany and he moved to France. Although he did not declare himself to the French government as a Jew, when France began arresting "enemy aliens" in 1939 he and hundreds of other immigrants were interned at Les Milles near Aix-en-Provence. (He was in sterling company, as his fellow detainees included painter Max Ernst, opera producer Friedrich Schramm, journalist Heinz Bieber-Georgi, two Nobel Prize winners in medicine, and numerous other "undesirables.") In 1940 he volunteered for a work detail in Normandy, from which he managed to escape to Switzerland where he remained through the end of the war.

In 1947 Lipman-Wulf moved to the United States, settling in New York and eventually becoming an American citizen. In addition to his own artistic endeavors he taught at Adelphi University on Long Island.

Lipman-Wulf worked in wood, bronze and ceramics in a semi-abstract style that often reflected the influence of German Expressionism. He also did portrait busts, including those of conductors Bruno Walter and Karl Bohm for the Metropolitan Opera. His work is in the permanent collections of museums and galleries in the United States and abroad, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the British Museum in London and the National Museum in Berlin.

[Portions of this biographical sketch adapted from Lipman-Wulf's obituary in the New York Times (September 30, 1993) and from The Holocaust, the French, and the Jews by Susan Zuccotti (University of Nebraska Press: 1999).]

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Spanning 1945 through 1975, the Peter Lipman-Wulf Papers consists of correspondence, writings and memorabilia of the American sculptor, painter, graphic artist and educator (b. 1905). A German Jew by birth, Peter Lipman-Wulf fled to France in 1933 where he was interned in a prison camp before emigrating to the United States in 1947. While documenting his professional career, the collection reveals little of his personal life or war-time experiences.

Correspondence is limited to a few predominantly incoming business letters concerning the creation of Peter Lipman-Wulf's own weekly radio program an New York station WEVD and the manuscripts he submitted for publication in the contemporary art Journal Leonardo.

Writings includes essays, notes, speeches, and radio scripts, the latter constituting the largest portion of the collection. Represented by both holograph and typescript drafts as well as the published versions which appeared in Leonardo, the essays are explications of Lipman-Wulf's artistic creations and principles. Also in this series, a manuscript and outlines of several speeches, as well as miscellaneous notes. Arranged chronologically (1950-1955), the 132 radio scripts for Lipman-Wulf's WEVD program encompass a broad range of art-related essays and Interviews. A broadcast list created by Peter Lipman-Wulf is located at the beginning of the radio scripts.

Memorabilia consists almost exclusively of printed material about Lipman-Wulf, and includes articles, clippings (1964-1965) and exhibition catalogs (1965-1974).

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Arrangement of the Collection

All series are arranged alphabetically.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Lipman-Wulf, Peter.

Subjects

Art, American -- 20th century.
Art, American.
German Americans.
Jewish artists -- United States.
Jews, American.
Painters -- United States.
Sculptors -- United States.
Sculpture, American -- 20th century.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Essays.
Exhibition catalogs.
Interviews.
Radio scripts.
Speeches (documents)

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Peter Lipman-Wulf Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Finding Aid Information

Created by: ASE
Date: Feb 1993
Revision history: 14 Nov 2007 - converted to EAD (MRC); 30 Mar 2017 - radio script inventory updated (MRC); 11 Sep 2019 - writings updated (MRC)

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Inventory

Correspondence
Box 1 Leonardo (publication) 1968-1973
Box 1 WEVD (radio station) 1950
Writings
Essays
Box 1 "Dance in My Sculpture" 1970 - manuscript drafts; manuscript, copyedited; reprint from Leonardo, vol. 3
Box 1 "Joseph and His Brothers" - manuscript (holograph)
Box 1 "On My Illustrations of Goethe's 'Faust'" 1975 - reprint from Leonardo, vol. 8
Box 1 "On Teaching a Fundamental Sculpture Course" 1973 - manuscript drafts; manuscript copyedited; reprint from Leonardo, vol. 6
Box 1 "On Teaching Art in America" 1972 - manuscript drafts; manuscript; Leonardo, vol. 5
Box 1 "The Sculptor and the Design" - holograph manuscript
Box 1 "Sculpture in Wood" - holograph manuscript
Box 1 "Ventures in Precious Books" - manuscript
Box 1 "Wall, Space and Sculpture: a Memoir" 1971 - research notes; manuscript drafts; manuscript; reprint from Leonardo, vol. 4 (4 folders)
Box 2 Radio broadcast list 1950-1955
Radio scripts
Box 2 Radio scripts 1950 (23 folders)
  • 1950 Mar. 31 "Through the Artist's Looking-glass" - essay
  • 1950 Apr. 7 "The Art World in Paris" - essay
  • 1950 Apr. 14 "Modern Art" - essay
  • 1950 Apr. 21 "Portraiture" - essay
  • 1950 Apr. 28 "The Vienna Treasures" - essay
  • 1950 May 5 "Children's Art" - essay
  • 1950 May 12 "Amateur Art" - essay
  • 1950 May 19 "Drawing and Design" - essay
  • 1950 May 26 "With Canvas and Easel on Vacation" - essay
  • 1950 June 2 "Woman's Art" - essay
  • 1950 June 9 "Traditional Art and Theater in Oberammergau" - essay
  • 1950 June 16 "Old and New French Tapestries" - essay
  • 1950 June 23 "About Chess Sets" - essay
  • 1950 June 30 "Artist's Balls and Carnivals" - essay
  • 1950 Nov. 10 "The Artist and the Virgin Islands" - essay
  • 1950 Nov. 17 "Report from Paris" - essay
  • 1950 Nov. 24 "Expressionism and Munch" - essay
  • 1950 Nov. 24 Eric Isenburger - interview
  • 1950 Dec. 1 Jack D. Wolfe - interview
  • 1950 Dec. 8 Raymond Frank Piper - interview
  • 1950 Dec. 15 Marcia Brown - interview
  • 1950 Dec. 22 "About Art Books" - essay
  • 1950 Dec. 29 "African Art" - essay
Box 2 Radio scripts 1951 (23 folders)
  • 1951 Jan. 5 Bernard Constant Meyer - interview
  • 1951 Jan. 12 re: exhibitions of drawings - essay
  • 1951 Jan. 19 re: Sculpture Center and Sculptors Guild - essay
  • 1951 Jan. 26 re: flowers and plants in art - interview
  • 1951 Feb. 2 Hugh Stix - interview
  • 1951 Feb. 9 Klaus Gunther Perls - interview
  • 1951 Feb. 16 "Fashion and Art" - essay
  • 1951 Feb. 23 Simon Lissim - interview
  • 1951 Mar. 2 Vladimir Visson - guest essay
  • 1951 Mar. 9 "Old and New Jewish Art" - essay
  • 1951 Mar. 23 William Zorach - interview
  • 1951 Mar. 30 re: watercolor painting - essay
  • 1951 Apr. 6 Lloyd Goodrich - guest essay
  • 1951 Apr. 13 re: Horst Janson on Max Beckmann - essay
  • 1951 Apr. 27 Lena Gurr and Elisabeth Model - interview
  • 1951 Apr. Elisabeth Kaufmann - interviews
  • 1951 May 4 John Taylor Arms - interview
  • 1951 May 11 Hudson D. Walker - interview
  • 1951 June 1 "Artists Equity Association Building Fund" - essay
  • 1951 Nov. 7 "First Woodstock Art Film Festival" - essay
  • 1951 Nov. 14 "A Roundup of Important Exhibitions" - essay
  • 1951 Dec. 5 Minna Harkavy - interview
  • 1951 Dec. 12 Vladimir Visson - interview
Box 2 Radio scripts 1952 (22 folders)
  • 1952 Jan. 2 Dorothy Norman - interview
  • 1952 Jan. 9 re: "A Condemned Race: Will We See the Last Sculpture Disappear?" - essay
  • 1952 Jan. 16 re: textile design - interview
  • 1952 Jan. 23 Lloyd Goodrich - guest essay
  • 1952 Jan. 30 "Current Exhibitions" - essay
  • 1952 Feb. 6 Stanley William Hayter - interview
  • 1952 Feb. 13 Maurice Lavanoux - interview
  • 1952 Feb. 20 Barse Miller - interview
  • 1952 Feb. 27 Alberta T. Ellison - interview
  • 1952 Mar. 5 re: poster art - essay
  • 1952 Apr. 2 re: lithography - interview
  • 1952 Apr. 9 Jacob Lawrence - interview
  • 1952 Apr. 16 Theodore Rousseau - interview
  • 1952 Apr. 23 Doris Meltzer - interview
  • 1952 Apr. 30 Antony Tudor - interview
  • 1952 May 7 Edith Bry - interview
  • 1952 May 14 John Ferren - interview
  • 1952 Nov. 21 re: Metropolitan Museum of Art - essay
  • 1952 Nov. 28 Yeffe Kimball - interview
  • 1952 Dec. 5 Simon Lissim - interview
  • 1952 Dec. 12 Vladimir Visson - interview
  • 1952 Dec. 26 Minna Citron - interview
Box 3 Radio scripts 1953 (19 folders)
  • 1953 Jan. 9 Julius Carlebach - interview
  • 1953 Jan. 16 Victor Candell, Colette Roberts, Hugo Robus - interview
  • 1953 Jan. 22 Samuel M. Adler - interview
  • 1953 Jan. 26 Arbit Blatas - interview
  • 1953 Feb. 9 Vladimir Kagan - interview
  • 1953 Feb. 14 Marcel Vertes - interview
  • 1953 Feb. 20 John I. Baur - interview
  • 1953 Feb. 25 George Burton Cumming - interview
  • 1953 Mar. 6 Lloyd Goodrich - interview
  • 1953 Mar. 13 Peter Lipman-Wulf - self-interview
  • 1953 Mar. 26 Mildred Constantine - interview
  • 1953 Apr. 3 re: Camille Pissarro exhibition - interview
  • 1953 Apr. 24 Charles Richard Hulbeck - interview
  • 1953 Apr. Barbara Lekberg - interview
  • 1953 May 1 re: popularity of ceramics - interview
  • 1953 Nov. 6 "European Trip 1953" - essay
  • 1953 Nov. 13 "European Experiences" - essay
  • 1953 Nov. 20 Andre Racz - interview
  • 1953 Nov. 27 Lloyd Goodrich - interview, guest essay
  • 1953 Bunsaku Kurata - interview
Box 3 Radio scripts 1954 (15 folders)
  • 1954 Jan. 15 John I. Baur, George Grosz - interview
  • 1954 Feb. 19 re: Andean art - essay
  • 1954 Feb. 26 re: Metropolitan Museum of Art - essay
  • 1954 Mar. 5 Simon Lissim - interview
  • 1954 Mar. 12 re: two exhibitions - essay
  • 1954 Mar. 19 re: Paul Klee exhibition - essay
  • 1954 Mar. 26 re: federal grant to the arts - essay
  • 1954 Apr. 2 Futurisme - essay
  • 1954 Apr. 16 re: Edouard Vuillard - essay
  • 1954 Nov. 12 re: "Art Review" radio program - essay
  • 1954 Nov. 19 re: art public at large - essay
  • 1954 Nov. 26 Roy and Marie Neuberger - interview
  • 1954 Dec. 3 Irwin Hersey - interview
  • 1954 Dec. 17 Dorothy Paris - interview
  • 1954 Dec. 31 Jacques Zucker - interview
Box 3 Radio scripts 1955 (11 folders)
  • 1955 Jan. 7 Walter W. S. Cook - interview
  • 1955 Jan. 14 Salvador Dali - interview
  • 1955 Jan. 21 Jay Bryan Nash - interview
  • 1955 Jan. 28 Victor E. d'Amico - interview
  • 1955 Feb. 4 Adelyn Dohme Breeskin - interview
  • 1955 Feb. 27 Wendell Phillips - interview
  • 1955 Feb. Irwin Hersey - interview
  • 1955 Mar. 11 re: New York Circulating Library of Paintings - interview
  • 1955 Mar. 18 re: "The Family of Man" - essay
  • 1955 re: exhibition about teaching art to children - interview
  • 1955 re: Francisco Goya - essay
Box 3 Radio scripts undated (18 folders)
  • re: William Blake and Henry Fuseli - essay
  • Julius Carlebach - interview
  • Hans Curjel - interview
  • The Economic State of the Artists - essay
  • An Exhibition at the Pierpont Morgan Library - essay
  • Sidney Janis - interview
  • Pupul Jayakar - interview
  • Ethel Katz - interview
  • Fernand Leger - essay
  • Henri Matisse - essay
  • re: museums - essay
  • re: Pablo Picasso - essay
  • re: public interest in art museums - interview
  • Rodin - essay
  • Three Kings - essay
  • Van Gogh - essay
  • Alfred Werner - interview
  • Charles White - interview
Speeches
Box 3 "Contemporary Sculpture in the Light of Our Technology, Our Social and Economic Needs" undated - drafts, manuscript
Box 3 re: modern art - Oakland Aug. 1952 - outline
Box 3 "Trends in American Art" - New World Club 11 Nov. 1951 - outline
Box 3 Miscellaneous notes undated (7 holograph pages)
Memorabilia
Printed material
Box 3 Articles about 1964
Box 3 Clippings about 1964-1965
Box 3 Exhibition catalogs, announcements 1965-1974
Box 3 Publicity for "Dies Irae" 1963
Box 3 Miscellany 1955
Miscellany
Box 3 List of benefit exhibitions 1945-1950

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