Hr. James R. Shipley, Head, Dep9.rtm nt of Art, ThA University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois .

Dear Mr. Shipley:

January 24, 1963 ..

It is a pleasure to hear of the proposal to appoint Art Sinsabaueh AEsoCia.te Professor . Ever since r.1eet!ng Mr. Sinsabaugh in 1960, I ha.VA beer! much interested in his progress and hopeful of his success .

~s a photographer, his simscientiousness ,arid r ape ct for the medium . "" ' ~ualify him admirably r r carrying further the significant work he

ha~ begt:.n. In the last thirty years landscape phctography has oo-come repetitioud and monotonous nd Art Sinsa'ba.ugh has approached it with !l new viewpoint which has sound esthetic ' ingredients, ntirely free of the anti - art affectations and frivolities of the present day avant ard . Also, he rocognizes the unique gifto of the camera and doee not adulterat e the m with borrc"Jings from pa inting. It is certain ho will go f!.l.?' 'With this a.nd produce photographs which will enliven the atrophied practic of landscape photoetaphy. What makes this even more absorbinc and useful is that he has ctiosen the neglect ed landocape of Illinois a~ his subject . His work, pr o~uced by contact printing from unusually large ne-gatives :.l'mticuloua' .and compelling and I am awaiting an opportunity to have an exhibition of it here at The Art Institute of Chicago.

I was introduced to him by Harry Callahan and had heard much of him fro~ Aaron Siskind. As a teacher, I feel he is gifted for obtain1Il6 the confidence of his students and thereby bringing out their best qualities . It i s al rays reassuring to encounter somo ne'w teacher who senses the responsibility of his calling and who is both intelligent and not confused in a time when too many bring to their profes ion the ,1

difficulties and disorders of problems which they are tryJng to solve I and settle within themselves .

With hi s many gifts, I am sure Art Sinsabaugh would oo a vo.luablt' member of the staf f of any institution which might be so fortur..at,'3 as to have him.

'Your s sinc;:erel y ,

Hugh &iwards, Curator of Photography) Associate Curator of Pr ints & DrawimtfS o

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Mr. Hugh Edwards Curator

DEPARTMENT OF "ff.. RT

Department of Photography The Art Ins~tute of Chicago Chicago, Illinois

Dear Hugh:

College of Fine and Applied Arts

University of Illinois, Urbana

November 5, 1963

Thank you very, very much for your very wonderful letter. It was so full and overflowing I simply can never begin to comment on all of your state­ments.

I shall write a letter to your Patron when the deal is firm. I think this to be more proper than now and have your Board turn the gift down.

Verbal thank yous are good and pleasant but for the record I can't say how much the show of my work in your gallery has meant to me. I had ex­pected it to be hung pleasantly but I surely wasn't prepared to see the elegant qualities which you managed to bring about by the placement of one photograph in relation to another and the ingenious spacing which created another kind of rhythm.

Letters still trickle in from interested parties and perhaps some will make the Chicago project possible someday.

I shall see you on that fateful date of November 18th at approximately 9:30 a.m. in McCormick Place.

Meanwhile I hope you are having a grand and glorious time in New York City and I shall be looking forward to hearing your attitudes and reactions to the Landscape Show.

Very sincerely,

Uv+-Art Sinsabaugh

P. s. Would you be kind enough to send me a few of my show announcement . cards? I have several requests on hand and no cards. Thank you

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Mr. Art Sinsabaugh , 1409 Wect Healy Street , Chrunpaign , Illinois.

Dear Arts

April 8 , 1964 .

Jus t a note to tefl you how haJ;py I am &b,mt t he calen dE-r . It makes me very proud to be one of the 500 who a.re to possess 1.t and I spent a l ong t ine with it l ast night . Your pictures make end.leas revelations nd I have lo ng wanted to own a number of them. The excellen ce of the repro duc­tions and the handsome format make this a calen dur for all the years to come. And thank you lways for my pm 11 part in the undertaking and your gratifying acknowledgement of i t in ·the text .

David Swan has told me how busy you are , so I do not know when this will r Gach you . I hope to see you soon . All t he best now to you tmd to Fra n.

Sin cerely ,

Hugh Edwards.

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-- -----------------------=-=- --- -11

~an H. E. Carter , Cf1' du&te College, 330 Administration Builcting, Uni \Tarsi ty of I 1l1nois 1 Urbana, Illinois .

Dear Den Carter:

January S, 1965.

Art Sinsabaugh has informed me he wish es to apply for an associate member­ship in the project of the Cent er of Advanced Study and I am writing to tell ;you how pleased I am to he r t his . '

Art Sinsabaugh • s photo graphic wo ~k on the Midwe st lan dscape has proved his rare ability in developing new possibilities of the ce.mera as well as for revealing the value of his insi ght and understanding 1n enlightening his subj oct so that it is elev ated to a plane f ar abo~ th e documentary .

·-·

It 1a hoped he will receive every possible encouragement for his fut ure work. f!ia serious enthusiasm for 'What he undertakes e.rieee from conscien­tiousness and diseermrient . One awaits anything he mi eht do ,dth conf1 dence and anticipation and any organization concerned with . furthering it may be assured of bringing i t self credit and appr ~ci etion .

Yours sincerely ,

Hugh Edwards , C~rator of Photo eraphy .

(

Mr. James R. Shipley , Head, The Departt::lent of Art , Colle ge of Fine .Arts, 143, The University of Illinois , Champaign, Illinois .

Der Mr. Shipley:

April 211 1965.

It is a pleasure to m&lte a statement in regard to Art Sins1:1.baugh whom I have Known for several years anJ whose work has been of much intere s t to Ke .

w"hen we e:xhibi ted his prints as a one-man show a:t the Art In st itute , the public re ponse to them was highly gratifying . They opened the eyes of many people to the exceptional character of the Midwest landscape which has always passed unnoticed because of some unquestioned and unexplained prejudice. There is no doubt as to the excellence of his pictures, his skill and patience, and his abilities for esthetic expressio n. None of these admirable qualities are ever carried to the point where the idea ... the •wholeness• - of his -.erk is compromised. Ve are ha py to own five of his prints and the continued requests on the part of the public to see them are a convincing testimonial of the lasting impression they have made .

H ving known Art Sinse .baugh personally in many situations which made de­mand on different re ourcea of his charaolt~r, I have found he can be recommended. and t his h s already been of value in his work with students -for positions which require relationships with others and an underst.anding of them. His comprehension of photo gr aphy in both its history and methods would be of benefit to advanced stu dents anywhere . And his naturHl enthu • sia.ein and exuberance are useful attributes vhich ar e firmly rounded in logic and good sense .

Art Sinsabe.ugh in his work as a si gnificant photo grapher deserves and should have every possible ericouragement and assist ance.

Yours sincer ely ,

Hugh Edwards, Associate Curator of Prints and Dr · wings; Cure:tor of Phot ogra. by .