Inventor Name
Frueh, Alfred Joseph
Repository
Archives of American Art
Reference Services/ILL
Smithsonian Institution
PO Box 37012
Victor Building, Room 2200, MRC 937
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202- 275-2156
http://archivesofamericanart.si.edu/start.htm
Physical Description
4.1 linear ft.
Summary
Alfred J. Frueh (1880-1968) was best known for his caricatures of theater personalities that appeared in The New Yorker from 1925 through 1962. In addition, he was a cartoonist, illustrator, painter, designer of children's furniture and toys, pop-ups, and cut-outs. The Alfred J. Frueh Papers, 1904-1993, measure 4.1 linear ft., and consist of biographical information, correspondence, notes and writings, art work, printed material, and photographs documenting the noted caricaturist's personal life and professional career. Biographical information includes birth, marriage, and death certificates, biographical notes, employment contracts, obituaries, and legal papers concerning patents and license agreements for toy animals and sheet material sculpture. Also included is a 1993 audiocassette recording of Frueh's children reminiscing about their father. Correspondence consists mainly of incoming letters with a small number of replies drafted by Frueh interfiled. Most of Frueh's surviving outgoing letters are addressed to Giuliette Fanciulli (whom he married in 1913), her parents and his sister Minnie Frueh. Many of the letters to Giuliette and family members are illustrated. Also included are a large number of greeting cards (mainly Christmas cards) containing original artwork, from friends, artists, writers and colleague. The correspondence concerns both personal and career matters. Notable correspondents are: George Gershwin, Robert Henri, Mr. and Mrs. Elie Nadelman, Eugene O'Neil; Walter and Magda Pach, New Yorker editor Harold Ross, and Alfred Stieglitz. Other letters document Frueh's interest in nut and fruit trees. Among the notes and writings by Frueh are six notebooks of miscellaneous jottings. Also included with this series are notes of ideas for art work, lists of caricature sketches, lists of plays and their casts, and address books kept by Alfred and Giuliette Frueh and by Giuliette and her mother (8 volumes). Notes and writing by other authors consist of lists of caricature sketches, a poem by an unknown writer, and 13 short stories by "Joe" with 6 illustrations by Frueh. Art work by Frueh comprises the largest series. It consists mainly of caricature sketches, mostly theatrical, but some political, and a few of himself, wife Giuliette, and personal friends. In addition, there are greeting cards, paper sculptures, pop-ups and cut-outs, prints, and water colors. Also included are various sketches, drawings, designs, and patterns for cartoons, book covers, greeting cards, lamp bases and a shade, magic squares, paper sculptures, sheet material sculpture, toy animals, and wallpaper. Among the printed material are articles by and about Frueh; book covers and jackets, magazine covers, and invitations, announcements, and a program cover designed by Frueh; caricatures, cartoons, and illustrations by Frueh; exhibition catalogs and announcements of Frueh's solo and group shows; and miscellaneous items. Photographs of people consist of a studio portrait and informal views of Alfred Frueh, ca. 1940s and undated, and of his daughter Barbara as a young child, ca. 1919. Photographs of art work by Frueh are of caricatures, lamp bases, paper sculptures, and toy animals.
Finding Aid
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/findingaids/fruealfr.htm