ARCHIVE HIGHLIGHTS:
About the Archive
This section is to give a view into Remy Charlip’s archive and how the contents are physically arranged. This website shows a small sampling which spans from the 1940s through his death in 2012. The website is broken down into areas that might be of interest to institutions and collectors and give a glimpse into the meticulously organized and well preserved collection.
There are two documents by the archivist, John Held Jr. that list the actual contents in broader terms and contexts as they were organized by Charlip. The first a 1000 page annotated catalogue of the entire collection available as a PDF. (Please note that there is an extensive collection of video and audio recordings which are not pictured on this site but can be referenced through this catalogue.) The second is a narrative description about the archive, it’s actual contents and organizational structure.
Charlip Collection Description
John Held, Jr., Archivist
Download PDF
In 2005, seventy-six year old Remy Charlip received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for choreography, allowing him to reflect on his long and distinguished career in preparation for a new project “The Art of Being an Artist.” Unfortunately, a stroke later that year cut short these activities, and in June 2006 the San Francisco art community held a celebration to honor him, “Every Little Movement: A Benefit for Remy Charlip.”
After observation of the materials in the collection, I came away with a deep respect for this artist, who had made a career not only in choreography, but also as a noted children’s book author and illustrator.
This respect extends not only to his talent and tenacity, but to his organizational abilities in documenting a career spanning over fifty years. Witnessing the distressed state of most artist’s archives, and having prepared my own Papers for donation to the Archives of American Art, the archivist was prepared to devote a substantial amount of time to the organization of the collection before an inventory could be undertaken. This proved completely unnecessary. Never had I come across a more efficient system of arrangement imposed on one’s personal collection.
It was apparent at once that no sorting was necessary; the state in which the collection surfaced was a window into the mind and workings of the artist, begging to be left intact. Collectively the Papers could very well have accomplished the intent of Charlip’s Guggenheim Fellowship proposal; item by item they revealed, “The Art of Being an Artist.”
My goal then became not only to inventory the collection, but to acknowledge and reveal the organizational ability of the artist. Upon first inspection, the Collection was found in boxes, drawers and files that were clearly marked in folders, arranged and subject headed by Charlip. I have left these indicators intact. Subject headings were added when necessary, to clarify the contents, placed in parenthesis to indicate additions.
The collection was found to be in excellent physical condition, with no water or mold damage. As many of the materials were inconsistently stored or unboxed (hanging folders in filing cabinet) to insure uniformity in packaging, standard banker’s storage boxes (12” x 15” x10”) were acquired and employed. A total of one hundred and six (106) boxes house the collection.
Eleven categories were established in arranging the inventory, based on location in which the collection was first inspected by the archivist (1-5, 10-11), and by specific media isolated by the artist (6-9).
1) Archive Files (22 boxes)
2) Living Room Files (12 boxes)
3) Alcove Files (22 boxes)
4) Atop Flat Files (7 boxes)
5) Desk Drawers (5 boxes)
6) Books Authored and/or Illustrated (5 boxes)
7) Photographs (4 boxes)
8) Video and Electronic Documentation (5 boxes)
9) Audio (2 boxes)
10) Flat File Boxes (3 boxes)
11) Flat Files (19 boxes)
******************************************************
1) Archive Files: (22 boxes)
From his birth in 1929 until a move to San Francisco in 1994, Charlip lived in New York City. This extended residency greatly aided the retention of records. When Charlip left for San Francisco, the Archive Files were stored at the New York City home of Charlip’s friend, June Ekman. A decision was made to engage the services of noted independent art dealer, Jean-Noel Herlin, to prepare a descriptive inventory of the collection for possible sale to the Getty Research Library. A fourteen-page description was prepared by Herlin in December of 1994. Eventually the collection was shipped to San Francisco, where it was stored by Charlip on-site at his apartment in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. When an archivist was retained to prepare a complete inventory of the collection in May 2007, these boxes had been moved to the living room of Charlip’s apartment. In order to insure continuity in packaging, the archivist transferred the Archive Files, from the longer cardboard boxes they had been stored in, to standard banker boxes, in the same order, in which they were found.
Core of the Archives Files are two boxes containing dance announcements, flyers and programs, resultant reviews and correspondence from 1946-1992. These items range from a Merce Cunningham Dance Company announcement embossed by Charlip at Black Mountain College and early Cunningham dance programs, to correspondence from Lou Harrison postmarked Black Mountain College in 1951. The Archive files also include book jackets commissioned from Charlip in the 1950’s, slides, negatives, video, film and awards (including Obie’s). Printed materials, many designed by Charlip, documenting the emergence of the Paper Bag Players, and his participation in the Judson Dance and Poets’ Theaterare well documented. An uncompleted book collaboration with Donald Evans, “Postcards to Gopshe,” and a translation of Charlip’s writings into French by Robert Filliou, are also included. Course descriptions for many of Charlip’s teaching projects are to be found here, as are many of his biographical writings. The Archive files also contain extensive information on Charlip’s dance choreography for Lucas Hoving (“Growing Up in Public”) and Oakland Ballet (“Ludwig and Lou”). An interview by Martin Duberman with Charlip and Cunningham dancer Viola Farber, concerning their Black Mountain College years also appears in the Archive Files.
The Archive Files also contain sixty-five (65) notebooks by Charlip completed from 1965-1984.
2) Living Room Files: (12 boxes)
The Living Room Files are named for having been found stacked in boxes in one corner of Charlip’s apartment living room, when first inspected. They were, like the Archive Files, brought up from a basement storage area. Like the Archive Files, after initial inspection, they were repacked from various size boxes into standard banker’s storage boxes. They constitute a continuation of materials found in the Archive Boxes containing biographically historical material that need not be consulted on a frequent basis, in contrast to working files, which later categories of the Collection resemble.
The files contain publicity from 1974-2004, composed of originals, tearsheets or photocopies of articles about Charlip’s choreographic and publishing activities. The Living Room Files also contain information on various applications, grants and residencies received by Charlip (NEA 1991, NEA 1988, NEA 1992-93, Kidspace 2002, SF Library 1998, Irvine Fellowship 2000, etc.) School visits and bookstore appearances made in connection with his children’s publishing activities are also detailed. Additional programs, announcements, posters and flyers from Charlip’s dance activities, 1970-1984, are continued is this section, detailing extensive activity both domestically and abroad. In addition, a number of Charlip’s writings and drawings from 1980 onwards can be found in these “Word and Picture” files, including plays (for the Paper Bag Players, “Young Omelet” for Hofstra University, reworking his children’s book, “Harlequin”), numerous poems and short stories and essays directed at adults, as well as some three hundred plus original drawings for programs and “Air Mail Dances.” Financial records are also found, such as royalty statements from publishers 1985-1993), and contracts including those with the San Francisco Arts Education Foundation (1994), and Les Trois Oures, children’s book publisher in Paris, France. Travel photography (prints, slides, negatives) can also be found in this section.
3) Alcove Files (22 boxes)
The Alcove Files are so named for their placement in an alcove off the living room of Charlip’s San Francisco Precita Avenue apartment. The alcove (approximately 10’ x 10’) contained horizontal file cabinets with hanging folders, shelving above and opposite, and a large closet along the rear of the alcove. Papers contained in the file cabinets were taken from hanging folders and placed in manila folders when necessary, or simply shifted (when manila folders were encased in hanging folders) into standard storage boxes. Materials found on the shelves were placed in folders and boxed. The alcove closet contained Charlip’s audio collection.
The Alcove Files, as opposed to the Archive and Living Room Files, were used as working files, readily accessible for consultation as the need arose, in contrast to the previously mentioned categories, which housed historical materials rarely consulted. This is not to say that relevant historical papers, such as book contracts were excluded, if they were required for frequent inspection. Materials pertaining to Charlip’s activities in dance, children’s literature, teaching, grants and residencies are housed in these files.
Original graphics can be found in a section devoted to Charlip’s “Air Mail Dance” scores, and his preliminary drawings for greeting cards and postcards produced for Dance Theater Workshop (New York) and Tricycle Press (Oakland). Biographical writings and other texts for adults can also be found in this section.
This is the main section devoted to Charlip’s editorial correspondence with publishers, as well as book contracts and royalty statements. Here too is found Charlip’s records pertaining to teaching and residencies from 1993 onward, including projects with the Naropa Institute (1992), Contraband Dance Company (1993), June Watanabe (1993), Speelteater Gent (1994), Sara Shelton Mann (1994), University of Colorado, Boulder (1995), Anna Halprin (1996) Library of Congress (1997), CAL Arts (1997-1998), etc. Residences, such as those at The Music Center of Los Angeles (1992), The Headlands Center for the Arts (1994) and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program (1996) are documented. Information on grants, including Charlip’s successful John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2006) can also be found. In addition, the Alcove Files also contain letters of reference written by and on behalf of Charlip, interviews with Margaret Tedesco and Charles Amikhanian, book reviews, sample contract and release forms, and information on Cage and Cunningham. A particularly useful source of biographical information is the detailed daily records kept by Charlip in calendar entries from 1999-2005.
Items from shelving in the Alcove Files contain greeting cards, note cards and postcards of Charlip graphics, commercially produced by others; as well as art supplies and postal supplies. Some six-hundred slides (“Air Mail Dances,” children’s books, The Paper Bag Players, Dance Theater Workshop exhibition) and a small number of important photography, including family snapshots and portraits, as well as documentary photography of Charlip, Carolyn Brown, Viola Farber and John Cage from 1955.
Audio recordings (reel-to-reel, cassette) document Charlip’s dance programs, media interviews, lectures and workshops. There are also a substantial number of recordings by Lou Harrison. Charlip’s popular music listening collection is also included.
Source material on Lou Harrison can be found at the end of this section including correspondence and original scores in Harrison’s calligraphic hand.
Medical records are also included in the Alcove Files.
4) Atop Flat Files
A large flat file containing original art dominated Charlip’s living room. Atop these flat files, were art supplies, some video cassettes and folders, forming a continuation of the type of materials found in the Alcove Files, some of a more recent vintage, that appeared to be as yet incorporated into the larger Alcove files due to time and/or space constraints.
Art supplies in this section include such everyday work tools as brush cleaners, mechanical pencils, exacto knife, liquid paper, staple remover, magnifying glass, etc. Video cassettes (Sony Video 8) are from rehearsals of dance programs during the time period, 1986-1990. “Air Mail Dance” original drawings can be found in this section, as in the Alcove Files. Book jackets illustrated by Charlip the 1950s, and original graphics for specific projects (Dance Theater Workshop, San Francisco Bay Area Book Council, Harvard Summer Dance) can also be found. More recent activities are documented in depth including a trip to Japan (2003), publication of “Little Old Big Beard and Big Young Little Beard” (Cavendish, 2003), Lou Harrison’s 80th Birthday Celebration (2003), Charlip’s book collaboration with Eric Dekker for “Rein,” published by Editions MeMo, Paris (2004), an “Air Mail Dance” program performed by dancer Joanna Haigood at San Francisco’s Exploratorium (2005), and the benefit program for Charlip, “Every Little Movement” (2006). Other activities from 1991 through 2006 are also covered. Earlier archival material, including Cunningham Dance Company programs and publicity for The Paper Bag Players, can be found here, a result of them having been returned from loan.
5) Desk Drawers
Items in this section were found in the drawers of a living room desk Charlip used as a workstation. As expected, most of drawers contained art supplies, but there are significant historical items to be found here as well, both in drawers and in files on the floor behind the desk. To make the Collection as comprehensive as possible, it was determined to include all art supplies, however insignificant, in the event that these items could aid attribution problems in the future.
Art supplies include pens, pencils, markers and brushes, bottled ink and ink cartridges, acrylic and tempera paint mediums. Various papers, including tracing paper, watercolor paper, blank postcards and greeting cards are also located here. Historical items were found in desk drawers labeled, “Dustjackets,” and “Prints.” These include book jackets designed by Charlip in the 1950s, as well as for books authored and/or illustrated by Charlip. Posters designed by Charlip for The Living Theater (David Tudor concert), the Viola Faber Dance Company, and Charlip’s own projects are also located here. Artist galleys for Charlip’s, “Little Old Big Beard and Young Little Beard,” also appear. Approximately fifty-five (55) photographs marked “Oversize Photographs,” all 8” x 10” or larger, were also found in Charlip’s desk drawers, and include photography by Terry Schutte, George Anacona, Michael Katz, Jane Brown, Tazewell Thompson and most prominently by Lord Snowden (London Dance Theater) and a Carl Van Vechten portrait of Charlip from 1951.
6) Books Authored and or Illustrated by Charlip
Charlip’s published works, either as author, illustrator, or author/illustrator, had been separated from the rest of the collection and placed in plastic tubs.
Thirty-five (35) titles in eight-six (86) editions are to be found in this section, including works published in England, France, Japan, Korea and the United States.
7) Photographs
The photographs in this section were isolated in a wooden chest and a folder found behind Charlip’s desk. Contact sheets can also be found in this section of the Collection. Other photographs are found throughout the Collection, but this section appears to be the one in which Charlip placed the majority of historical photographs, circa 1950-1970. Commissioned slides and negatives are also included.
Approximately two thousand photographs and contact sheets. Of special interest are the many photographs taken by Peter Moore, a New York photographer known for his documentation of the New York avant-garde, including Rauschenberg performances and the activities of Fluxus. The photography covers all aspects of Charlip’s career in dance and choreography, including the early years of the Cunningham Dance Company. Some historical publications, such as flyers (for the Living Theater), programs (for Cunningham Dance Company) and publicity materials (Paper Bag Players) are interwoven with the photographs and have been left intact.
8) Video and Electronic Documentation
Video recordings (reel-to-reel, ¾” cassette, VHS and Video 8) and DVD’s were found in a glass case in Charlip’s living room and in plastic tubs in his bedroom. Additional video material was contained in the Archive Files, and placed in this section of the inventory.
Approximately three hundred video recordings inventoried in this section. Home video recording only became available in the late eighties, developing in the 1970s. The earliest video in the collection is reel-to-reel tape shot in 1976. Charlip was asked to participate (1978) in WGBH-Boston’s, “Frames of Reference” series, which was part of the Public Broadcasting System’s (PBS) Experimental Television Laboratory. This marked one of the first times dance was specifically developed for television viewing. As portable video recording became more accessible, so too did it’s use in documenting performances. From 1980 onwards, most of Charlip’s performances, and those he choreographed, as well as lectures, were likely to have been videotaped.
9) Audio Recordings
The earliest recordings in ¼” reel-to-reel were found in a chest. Compact discs were found in Charlip’s living room alcove closet.
Approximately seventy recordings. The earliest ¼” reel-to-reel recordings date from Charlip’s 1965 direction of “A Beautiful Day,” at the Judson Memorial Church, New York, for which Charlip received an Obie award for distinguished direction. The majority of the CD’s are of Lou Harrison recordings.
10) Flat File Boxes
Items extracted from Charlip’s Flat Files, including file folders, which were too bulky to store in Hollinger boxes, were housed in oversize storage boxes. Items in these oversized boxes were placed in folders, if applicable. If items were unable to be placed in folders without condition damage due to size and/or bulk constraints, they were placed in boxes without folders. Most of the materials in these files reflect Charlip’s publishing activities, including texts, artworks, book dummies, storyboards, correspondence, publicity. Titles of works included in this section include, “Mother Mother I Feel Sick…,” “Little Old Big Beard and Big Young Little Beard,” “ Why I’ll Never…,” “A Perfect Day,” “Arm in Arm,” Fortunately,” and “Amaterasu,” among others. Some biographical materials, especially those submitted for Charlip’s 2005 Guggenheim Memorial Foundation grant, can also be found in this section.
11) Flat Files
Items extracted from Charlip’s Flat Files were placed in Hollinger boxes to accommodate their size. Drawer numbers indicate the location in which they were found. Additional oversize materials from desk and art drawers are also located in this section. Most of the materials in the Flat Files reflect Charlip’s publishing activities including texts, artworks, book dummies, storyboards, correspondence and publicity. In addition, there are a number of printed proofs from books such as, “Mother Mother I Feel Sick…,” “A Perfect Day,” “Harlequin,” “David’s Little Indian,” “Handtalk,” “Four Fur Feet,” “What is the World,” “Arm in Arm,” “Peanut Butter Party,” “Sleepytime Rhyme,” “Thirteen,” etc. This section of the collection also houses original artworks by Charlip, and those of his friends John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Also found here are panels constructed by Charlip for exhibitions at the Dance Theater Workshop (New York) and San Francisco Public Library, which contain examples of his costume design, as well as graphic works.