Kansas Printmakers Collection

Collection Summary

Title: Kansas Printmakers Collection
Call Number: MS 2014-06
Size: 2.5 linear feet (2 boxes) and 5 oversized folders (OS)
Acquisition: Purchased from Dennis Coffey (2008, 2009, 2011) and Deb Koons (2010); donated by Linda D. Smith (2003) and Stephen Hotvedt (2015).
Processed by: LBW, 7-2014; JZ, 2-2016
Restrictions: OS 5 is restricted

Literary Rights

Literary rights were not granted to Wichita State University. When permission is granted to examine the manuscripts, it is not an authorization to publish them. Manuscripts cannot be used for publication without regard for common law literary rights, copyright laws and the laws of libel. It is the responsibility of the researcher and his/her publisher, to obtain permission to publish. Scholars and students who eventually plan to have their work published are urged to make inquiry regarding overall restrictions on publication before initial research.

Content Note

This collection includes block prints, lithographs, etchings, and reproductions by Kansas printmakers Richard Bergen, Charles Capps, Sue Jean Covacevich, William Dickerson, Glenn Golton, John F. Helm, Jr., Clarence Hotvedt, Herschel Logan, Birger Sandzén, and Margaret Whittemore. The life and career of Hotvedt are further represented through photographs, drawings, a painted self-portrait, autobiographical writings, press clippings, and ephemera.

Biography

Richard Bergen: Richard Bergen, a sculptor and painter, was born on January 7, 1925, in Palm Beach, Florida, but grew up in New Jersey. Both his mother and grandmother were painters, and he displayed an early aptitude for drawing and sculpting. After his World War II service in the Navy, Bergen used the GI Bill to attend the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts in Newark, New Jersey. While enrolled in Newark, Bergen saw a Birger Sandzén painting, and, in 1949, moved to Lindsborg, Kansas, to attend Bethany College where Sandzén worked and taught. Bergen received a BFA in Sculpture from Bethany College. He furthered his education by earning a MA in Education from Kansas State University in 1963 and an EdD in Art Education from the University of Kansas in 1973. Bergen taught art in Salina for 24 years, acting as the coordinator for art in the public schools and as the head of the art department at Marymount College. In 1975, he became a full-time sculptor. While Bergen works in other mediums, including printmaking, sculpture is his favorite. Bergen works with his son, Rich, at Bergen's Studio in Salina.

Charles Capps: Charles M. "Chili" Capps, printer and commercial artist, was born on September 14, 1898, in Jacksonville, Illinois. After graduating from Illinois College in 1920, he spent two years at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts before attending the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. During the 1920s Capps worked on two separate occasions for the Western Lithograph Company in Wichita, Kansas, before joining McCormick-Armstrong in 1931, an association that endured until his retirement in 1965. His artwork reflects the landscapes of Kansas, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Mexico, each of which is prominently represented in his prints. Capps was renowned as a master of the aquatint and also received awards for his work in the 1930s and 1940s from the Midwestern Artists Exhibition at the Kansas City Art Institute and the National Exhibition of Prints at the Library of Congress. Charles Capps died on July 17, 1981.

He was a charter member of the Prairie Print Makers, and also had memberships in the Society of American Etchers, the Chicago Society of Etchers, the Philadelphia Society of Etchers & Graphic Artists, the California Society of Printmakers, the Rocky Mountain Printmakers, the Albany Print Club, and the Northwest Printmakers. Capps' work has been exhibited at the Wichita Art Museum, the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, the Kansas City Art Institute, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Sue Jean Covacevich-Boys: Sue Jean Covacevich-Boys, painter, printmaker, and teacher, was born Sue Jean Hill on February 14, 1905, in Wellington, Kansas. She studied painting at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, where she met Birger Sandzén, who became her teacher. In 1930 Covacevich-Boys traveled to Mexico to study mural painting and remained there for 12 years, teaching at the Academy of San Carlos within the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Prints for two books, Impressions of Mexico and Churches of Mexico, also came out of this stay. In 1946 she received a bachelor's degree from Southwestern College, and in 1950, a master's from Colorado State College. Covacevich-Boys taught at various Kansas schools for 43 years, including Derby High School and Southwestern College in Winfield. She also established an art therapy program at the former Winfield State Training School in the 1950s. In 1981 she was given the Governor's Artist of the Year award from the Kansas Art Commission, and was granted an honorary doctorate from Southwestern in 1988. Covacevich-Boys died in Winfield on May 14, 1998.

Her work has been exhibited in the Wichita Art Museum and internationally in Florence, Rome, and London; some of her prints are in the Library of Congress. Covacevich-Boys also founded the Winfield Arts Center in 1962, now known as the Winfield Arts and Humanities Council.

William Dickerson: William Judson Dickerson, a painter and printmaker, was born on October 29, 1904, in El Dorado, Kansas. Dickerson spent most of his life in Kansas, only leaving from 1926 to 1930 to attend the Art Institute of Chicago. Prior to studying art in Chicago, he attended Fairmount College, took classes with Clarence Hotvedt at the Wichita Art Association, and worked for C. A. Seward at the Western Lithograph Company. In 1930, he returned to Wichita to teach at the Wichita Art Association and establish his own studio. In 1933, he was named the director of the School of the Wichita Art Association, and he continued in that position until his retirement in 1971. Dickerson also worked as a WPA artist for the Kansas division of the Federal Art Project. Dickerson died on December 21, 1972, in Wichita.

Dickerson was a member of the Prairie Print Makers; Prairie Water Color Painters; Wichita Artist Guild; Kansas Oil Painters; Society of Canadian Painters, Etchers and Engravers; Kansas State Federation of Art; Kansas Pastel Society; and Kansas Watercolor Society. Dickerson has received recognition and awards for his work, which has been exhibited in Kansas, across the United States, and England, including the 1939 New York World's Fair and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1952. His artwork also appears in many collections including the Ulrich Museum, Wichita Art Association, Sandzén Memorial Art Gallery, Topeka Public Library, and Spencer Museum of Art.

Glenn Golton: Glenn Donald Golton, a painter and printmaker, was born on October 23, 1897, in Milton, Kansas. He attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, the Audubon Tyler School of Painting, and Ottawa University. In 1936, Golton began working at Mid-Continent Engraving Company in Wichita. While living in Wichita, he studied lithography with William Dickerson and taught at the Wichita Art Association. In 1939, he designed the cover for Kansas Magazine. By the mid-1940s, Golton was working as a commercial artist in New York City. Golton died on September 25, 1988, in San Diego, California.

Golton was a member of the Prairie Print Makers, and he exhibited his work primarily in Kansas in the 1930s. Golton's artwork can be found in collections at Ottawa University, Kansas State University, the Wichita Art Museum, the Spencer Museum of Art, IBM, and the Emprise Bank Collection.

John F. Helm, Jr: John Frederick Helm, Jr., a painter, graphic artist, and teacher, was born in Syracuse, New York, on September 16, 1900. He earned a degree in interior design from the University of Syracuse in 1924 and accepted a position at Kansas State Agricultural College in Manhattan, Kansas, teaching drawing and painting in the Department of Architecture and Allied Arts. In 1928 he initiated the art collection that would eventually become the core of the school's holdings devoted to state and regional artists; he became the curator of this collection until his retirement in 1970. Helm also worked in graphic arts, particularly excelling at drypoint. He was instrumental in encouraging exhibitions for local artists and in reviving Kansas Magazine in 1933, acting as its art editor until 1967. He died in Manhattan on March 27, 1972.

Helm was a member of the Friends of Art (now the Friends of the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University), the Kansas State Federation of Art, and the Prairie Print Makers. His prints were exhibited in 2001 and 2002 at the Beach Museum.

Clarence Hotvedt: Clarence Arnold Hotvedt, a painter and printmaker, was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on April 16, 1900. He was the seventh of ten children. Hotvedt's art career began in high school when he drew cartoons for his school yearbook. In 1919, he enrolled at the University of Minnesota to study architecture. One year later, he enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago to focus solely on art. After graduation, in 1924, Hotvedt was hired by C. A. Seward to work at the Western Lithograph Company in Wichita, Kansas. Hotvedt was the first paid teacher at the Wichita Art Association, where he taught life drawing classes, as well as night classes at Wichita High School. In 1931, Hotvedt left Wichita, and, in a series of career moves, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, New York City, and Providence, Rhode Island. Hotvedt returned to Western Lithograph as the director of the art department in 1946, remaining in this position until his retirement in 1969. Afterward, he painted in oil and watercolor and produced several lithographs of historic Wichita buildings. Hotvedt died on May 26, 1991, in Wichita.

Hotvedt was one of the founding members of the Prairie Print Makers. He also held memberships with the Wichita Art Guild, California Society of Printmakers, Allied Artists of Fort Worth, and the Kansas Watercolor Society. His artwork was primarily exhibited in Kansas in the 1920s and 1930s and is displayed in collections at the Woolaroc Museum and the Emprise Bank Collection.

Herschel Logan: Herschel Logan, a printmaker and illustrator, was born in Magnolia, Missouri, on April 19, 1901. Logan's family moved to Winfield, Kansas, shortly after his birth. In 1920, he graduated from Winfield High School where he was the cartoonist for his school's newspaper. Logan enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. After one year, he took a job as a commercial artist for McCormick-Armstrong in Wichita, Kansas. While living and working in Wichita, Logan met C. A. Seward, who put Logan in contact with other printmakers. It was from these artistic contacts that Logan gained most of his printmaking education. In 1929, Logan left Wichita for a position at Consolidated Printing and Stationery in Salina, Kansas, where he became the art director in 1931. Logan remained in that position until his 1967 retirement. Logan died on December 8, 1987, in Santa Ana, California.

Logan was a charter member of the Prairie Print Makers. He also held memberships with the California Society of Printmakers, the Wichita Art Guild, the Salina Art Association, the Rocky Mountain Printmakers, and the Prairie Water Color Painters. His work was exhibited primarily in Kansas in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and it can be found in collections across the state: the Sandzén Memorial Art Gallery, the Beach Museum of Art, the Topeka Public Library, the Emprise Bank Collection, and the Kansas Museum of History.

Birger Sandzén: Sven Birger Sandzén, a painter and printmaker, was born in Blidsberg, Sweden on February 5, 1871. Sandzén studied art in Stockholm and Paris, where he was introduced to Pointillism and Impressionism. He emigrated to Lindsborg, Kansas, in 1894, to teach languages, art, and music at Bethany College. By 1899, he was the principal art instructor at Bethany, where he worked until his retirement in 1946. Sandzén took guest teaching positions at the Broadmoor Academy in Colorado Springs (Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center), Chappell House (Denver Art Museum), Utah State Agricultural College, Stephens College, the University of Michigan, and the Kansas City Art Institute. Sandzén was a prolific artist, creating over 2,600 oil paintings, over 500 watercolors, 207 lithographs, 94 block prints, and 27 drypoints during his career. When all editions are totaled, there are over 33,000 prints by Sandzen. Much of his artwork depicts the plains and the American Southwest; he often traveled to Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico. Sandzén died on June 19, 1954, in Lindsborg.

In 1930, Sandzén helped organize the Prairie Print Makers, and in 1933 he formed the Prairie Water Color Painters. Sandzén also held memberships with the New York Watercolor Club, the California Watercolor Society, the Philadelphia Watercolor Club, the Chicago Society of Etchers, the Smoky Hill Art Club, and the Taos Society of Artists. Sandzén's works have been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and Sweden and are found in numerous collections in the United States and Sweden, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, the Library of Congress, the Chicago Art Institute, the Denver Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Museum of Stockholm, and others.

Margaret Whittemore: Margaret Evelyn Whittemore, a printmaker, painter, and writer, was born in Topeka, Kansas, on September 7, 1897. Both of Whittemore's parents taught at Washburn College in Topeka, and she graduated from Washburn in 1919. From 1920 to 1923, she studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. She also spent time in the art colony at Taos, New Mexico. In 1927, Whittemore taught art at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, and from 1928 to 1935, she edited The Palette, the national publication of the honorary art fraternity Delta Phi Delta. She also wrote and published articles in numerous publications, including the Christian Science Monitor, Kansas City Star, Topeka Daily Capital, Kansas Teacher, American Magazine of Art, and others. Whittemore wrote and illustrated several of her own books and illustrated books for other writers. Her first book, Sketchbook of Kansas Landmarks, published in 1936, contained drawings and descriptions of historic Kansas sites like the capitol, missions, bridges, old trails, and homes. Whittemore died on November 24, 1983, in Sarasota, Florida.

Whittemore was a member of the Topeka Print Makers and the National League of American Pen Women. Her work has been exhibited across the state of Kansas, and, in 1936, she won first prize for best print by a Kansan at the 9th Annual Exhibition of American Block Prints. Her work is found in collections across Kansas, including the Spencer Museum of Art, the Topeka Public Library, the Wichita Public Library, the Emporia Public Library, the Mulvane Art Museum, Bethel College, the Emprise Bank Collection, and others.

Detailed Description: Series Listing

Series 1 Box 2 FF 1 Richard Bergen. Includes block print, Kansas Moon.
Series 2 Box 2 FF 2 Charles Capps. Includes lithograph, Beside the Mills.
Series 3 OS 1 Sue Jean Covacevich. Includes a block print and a copy.
Series 4 OS 1 William Dickerson. Includes lithograph, Mills River Front.
Series 5 Box 2 FF 3 Glenn Golton. Includes lithograph, High Water.
Series 6 Box 2 FF 4 John F. Helm, Jr. Includes aquatint, Afterglow.
Series 7 Box 1 FF 1-6, Box 2 FF 5-11, OS 5 Clarence Hotvedt. Includes an etching, a painting, a lithograph, drawings, and a reproduction. Also included are newspaper clippings, photographs, personal records, creative and autobiographical writings, and ephemera.
Series 8 Box 1 FF 7-15, Box 2 FF 12-14, OS 5 Herschel Logan. Includes 10 block prints and 2 newspaper items.
Series 9 Box 1 FF 16, OS 2-4, Art rack Birger Sandzén. Includes 2 block prints and 3 lithographs.
Series 10 Box 2 FF 15-24 Margaret Whittemore. Includes 10 color block prints of Kansas scenes and buildings.

Detailed Description: Box and Folder Listing

Series 1 ‒ Richard Bergen

Box 2 FF 1 Kansas Moon (block print), n.d.

Series 2 ‒ Charles Capps

Box 2 FF 2 Beside the Mills (lithograph), 1934

Series 3 ‒ Sue Jean Covacevich

Map case OS 1 Block print for 1976 American bicentennial celebration in Winfield, Kansas, 1976. Copy of the same, n.d.

Series 4 ‒ William Dickerson

Map case OS 1 Mills River Front (lithograph), n.d.

Series 5 ‒ Glenn Golton

Box 2 FF 3 High Water (lithograph), n.d.

Series 6 ‒ John F. Helm, Jr.

Box 2 FF 4 Afterglow (aquatint), 1954

Series 7 ‒ Clarence Hotvedt

Box 1 FF 1 Old and Tired (etching), n.d.
Box 1 FF 2 Baptism certificate for Clarence Hotvedt, 1900. "Our Dog Watch," story, c. 1910s. "A Narrow Escape," story, c. 1910s. Photocopied drawing of the rear exterior of Hotvedt home in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, c. 1915. Photocopy of cartoons drawn by Hotvedt for high school yearbook, c. 1915-1918. "Blue Streak," illustrated story, 1916. Eau Claire High School commencement program, 1919. Photo with handwritten title, "Dad Diefendorf in store at Topeka Kan.," c. 1920s. Photocopy of Wichita Sunday Eagle article on Hotvedt, November 29, 1925. Two envelopes of photos showing Hotvedt and others at the Art Institute of Chicago, c. 1920s. Envelope of photos showing Hotvedt and others of Western Lithograph Company, c. late 1920s.
Box 1 FF 3 Photocopied Wichita Beacon clipping on Hotvedt teaching evening art class in Wichita, 1928. Photocopies of Wichita Sunday Eagle pull-out section featuring Hotvedt and other Kansas artists, December 8, 1929 and January 25, 1931. Hotvedt's business card while at Stafford-Lowden, c. 1931-1936. Holiday greeting flyer from the Hotvedts, 1937. Envelope of photos showing buildings and Hotvedt print, c. 1930s. Holiday greeting cards, c. 1940-1965. Photocopied drawing, "Mother Hotvedt, 1940" 1940. Photo of "Kirchner for President" print, c. 1940s. "Organization of the Art School in Wichita," c. 1946-1969. Handwritten resume, c. 1960s. Wichita Eagle clipping on prize-winning painting by Hotvedt, 1961. Funeral service card for Bertha Magdalene Hotvedt, 1965. Untitled drawing of person, 1970. Invitation to showing of Hotvedt's work at Wethington Studio Gallery, 1972 or 1977. "Resume of Clarence A. Hotvedt," c. 1970s-1980s
Box 1 FF 4 Wichita Eagle-Beacon clipping on Hotvedt exhibition, December 13, 1981. Kansas Art Commission article on Prairie Print Makers, May 1982. Eau Claire Leader-Telegram obituary on Hotvedt, 1991. Photocopy of map showing Norwegian town where Hotvedt's ancestors lived, n.d. Two life drawings of nude woman, n.d.
Box 1 FF 5 Draft one of Hotvedt family history and autobiography, c. 1968-1970s. Some sections in this draft do not fit into the sequence of recorded events in draft two and are clipped separately.
Box 1 FF 6 Draft two of Hotvedt family history and autobiography, c. 1970s. C. A. Hotvedt ‒ Prairie Print Maker biography edited by Stephen Hotvedt, 2015.
Box 2 FF 5 Self-Portrait (reproduction), n.d.
Box 2 FF 6 Wichita City Hall (lithograph), 1974
Box 2 FF 7 Self-Portrait (painting), 1979
Box 2 FF 8 Hotvedt family photo, c. 1908
Box 2 FF 9 Exterior of Hotvedt home and nearby church (drawing), c. 1910s. Reproduction of drawing, 2015.
Box 2 FF 10 Family room in Hotvedt home (drawing), 1916. Reproduction of drawing, 2015.
Box 2 FF 11 Newspaper clippings, 1918, 1943, 1981, 1984
Map case OS 5 Wichita Sunday Eagle article on Hotvedt, November 29, 1925
Map case OS 5 Wichita Sunday Eagle pull-out section featuring Hotvedt and other Kansas artists, December 8, 1929
Map case OS 5 Wichita Sunday Eagle pull-out section featuring Hotvedt and other Kansas artists, January 25, 1931

Series 8 ‒ Herschel Logan

Box 1 FF 7 Barker Homestead (block print), 1930
Box 2 FF 11 District School (block print), 1934
Box 1 FF 8 Kansas Hills (block print), 1934
Box 1 FF 9 A Kansas Wheatfield (block print), 1923
Box 1 FF 10 Lindy (newspaper clipping), n.d.
Box 1 FF 11 Lost Hope (block print), 1927
Box 1 FF 12 Meadow Land (block print), 1934
Box 1 FF 13 Old Mission, Ranchos de Taos (block print), 1926
Box 2 FF 13 Sod House in Winter (block print), 1938
Box 1 FF 14 Sod Shanty (block print), 1934
Map case OS 5 Wichita Sunday Eagle pull-out section of Logan's and other artists' works, November 1, 1925
Box 1 FF 15 Photocopies of Wichita Sunday Eagle pull-out section of Logan's and other artists' works, November 1, 1925
Box 2 FF 14 Woodland Byway (block print), 1938

Series 9 ‒ Birger Sandzén

Box 1 FF 16 Blue River (block print), 1928
Map case OS 2 Glimpse of Taxco (lithograph), 1931
Map case OS 3 In Old Central City (lithograph), 1933
Art rack   Sunshine Creek (lithograph), 1931
Map case OS 4 Temple of Quetzalcoatl (lithograph), 1935

Series 10 ‒ Margaret Whittemore

Box 2 FF 15 Blacksmith Shop - Valley Falls (color block print), c. 1930-1939
Box 2 FF 16 Coronado Heights near Lindsborg, Kansas (color block print), c. 1930-1939
Box 2 FF 17 Early Capitol at Lecompton, Kans. (color block print), c. 1930-1939
Box 2 FF 18 First Capitol of Kansas, Pawnee (color block print), c. 1930-1939
Box 2 FF 19 Last Chance Store, Council Grove, Kans. (color block print), c. 1930-1939
Box 2 FF 20 Old Mill, Valley Falls, Kansas (color block print), c. 1930-1939
Box 2 FF 21 Pony Express Station, Marysville, KS (color block print), c. 1930-1939
Box 2 FF 22 Quivira Cabin or Quivira Cabin Junction City (color block print), n.d.
Box 2 FF 23 Shawnee Mission (color block print), n.d.
Box 2 FF 24 Vinland Library (color block print), n.d.