A Thousand Kisses: Love Letters from the Archives of American Art

Exhibited in DC at the Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery, Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture
January 25, 2008 through June 2, 2008

Love letters bring out the voyeur in most of us. These deeply personal communications have the power to make us blush or, at the very least, to let us observe a tender moment in the complex lives of others.

This selection of affectionate communiqués to and from American artists gives us insight into the lives of painters, sculptors, illustrators, and others—their relationships, perceptions, and creative energies—from the mid-19th century to the late 20th. They also allow us to empathize with artists through the most universal of human emotions: love in all its permutations.

Drawn from the collections of the Archives of American Art, the letters presented here cover a range of intensity, from sexual passion to the devotion of a parent, and from the durable bonds of friendship to the enthusiasm of fans.

• Many of the exhibited letters also appear in the recently published book With Love: Artists' Letters and Illustrated Notes by Liza Kirwin and Joan Lord.
• Read an Exhibition Review from the Washington Post.

Images from this Exhibition

[Xavier Gonzalez love note to Ethel Edwards], ca. 1985.	[Lee Krasner letter to Jackson Pollock], 1956 July 21.	[Joan Mitchell with her painting Untitled (1951) in her parents apartment in Chicago], ca. 1952.
[Joan Mitchell and Michael Goldberg], ca. 1950.	[Joan Mitchell letter to Michael Goldberg], ca. 1950.	[Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner in Pollock's studio, looking up at the camera], ca. 1950.
[Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner], ca. 1946.	[Konrad and Florence Cramer], ca. 1930.	[Paul Bransom sketching a leopard], ca. 1928.
[Paul and Grace Bransom], ca. 1915.	[Florence Ballin Cramer letter to Konrad Cramer], [postmarked] 1911 April.	[Paul Bransom letter to Grace Bond], [1905] Thursday.
[Harry Payne Whitney letter to Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney], ca. 1896.	[To Gorgeous Ethel on her saints day], n.d..	[I went to buy the Sunday Times], n.d..
[I am in a hurry, back in 10 m.], n.d..	[Florence J. Ballin in her studio at 30 W. 59th Street], n.d..