James Magee papers
Object Details
- Creator
- Magee, James R.
- Occupation
- Sculptors -- Texas
- Provenance
- Donated in 2016, 2019 and 2024 by James Magee.
- Creator
- Magee, James R.
- See more items in
- James Magee papers
- Sponsor
- The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
- Summary
- The papers of James Magee measure 6.2 linear feet and date from circa 1970 to 2019. The papers document Magee's career as a sculptor through correspondence with friends, colleagues, and art institutions; literary writings associated with certain pieces of sculpture; interviews, video footage of studio and works, audio of literary text written to accompany sculpture pieces, and other recordings; catalogs, book of literary text to accompany sculpture pieces, books on Magee, and other printed material; sketches and numerous sketchbooks; and photographs and negatives of specific sculpture pieces.
- Biographical / Historical
- James Magee (1946-2024) was a sculptor and painter in El Paso, Texas. He was known for his work "The Hill", a monumental work of art on a 2,000 acre tract of desert land outside of El Paso, Texas that Magee had been continuously working on since the 1980s.
- Extent
- 6.2 Linear feet
- Date
- 1964-2023
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Art
- Identifier
- AAA.magejame
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Sound recordings
- Video recordings
- Sketchbooks
- Drawings
- Interviews
- Citation
- James Magee papers, circa 1970-2023. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
- Arrangement
- The collection is arranged into seven series. Series 1: Correspondence, 1979-2023 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1, 13) Series 2: Writings, 1985-2009 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1, 13) Series 3: Sound and Video Recordings, 1972-2012, 2022 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, 13) Series 4: Printed Material, 1964,1993-2019 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2, 13) Series 5: Artwork, circa 1970-2005 (4.1 linear feet; Boxes 2-9, OV 10-12, Box 13) Series 6: Photographic Material, 1972-2008 (0.6 linear feet, Box 4)
- Processing Information
- The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Ricky Gomez in 2021.
- Rights
- The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own. The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
- Genre/Form
- Sound recordings
- Video recordings
- Sketchbooks
- Drawings
- Interviews
- Scope and Contents
- The papers of James Magee measure 6.2 linear feet and date from circa 1970 to 2019. The papers document Magee's career as a sculptor through correspondence with friends, colleagues, and art institutions; literary writings associated with certain pieces of sculpture; interviews, video footage of studio and works, audio of literary text written to accompany sculpture pieces, and other recordings; catalogs, book of literary text to accompany sculpture pieces, books on Magee, and other printed material; sketches and numerous sketchbooks; and photographs and negatives of specific sculpture pieces. Correspondence includes letters from friends and colleagues and letters praising Magee for his "Hill" project outside El Paso, Texas. 2024 addition includes correspondence from Rod McCall. Writings are primarily literary text (poems) inspired by Magee's pieces of sculpture that Magee had published. Recordings consist of one video cassette on Magee's "Hill" project, audio cassette interviews for an article published in Mexico, audio cassettes and one audio reel of what appears to be poems inspired by sculpture pieces, and CD's containing audio and some documentation related to his exhibitions. 2024 addition includes one thumb drive with video recordings. Printed material consists of a book of poems inspired by sculpture pieces that Magee had published, a book written on the life and art of Magee, catalogs, and a book of Goya letters that Magee compiled and edited. Also included with the book of Goya letters is a digital audio version of the book. 2024 addition includes exhibition announcements. Artwork consists of sketches and numerous sketchbooks belonging to Magee. Sketchbooks contain a mix of watercolor paintings, pencil sketches, and ink sketches. Photographic material is primarily photographs and some negatives and contact sheets of some of Magee's works.
- Restrictions
- This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
- Related Materials
- Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with James Magee conducted by Jason Stieber, September 29-30, 2016.
- Record ID
- ebl-1596265531060-1596265531061-0
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
