The Papers of Marguerite Wildenhain

The Papers of Marguerite Wildenhain, 1896-1990 | Luther College Archives

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Collection Overview

Title: The Papers of Marguerite Wildenhain, 1896-1990

ID: LCA/RG15/Wildenhain, M

Primary Creator: Wildenhain, Marguerite (1896-1985)

Extent: 11.0 Linear Feet. More info below.

Languages: English, German

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Letters, account books, typescript carbon copies, photographs, postcards, personal business records and family memorabilia documenting the later years of Marguerite Wildenhain' s life and art at Pond Farm, California. Biographical Series consists of family history and personal records including a family tree dated 1869, her passports and medical history. Correspondence Series includes letters from friends, family and students, address book and correspondence with art galleries. The Non-Textual Series includes personal and professional photographs, a film, postcards and textiles. Financial Records include personal and Pond Farm account books, receipts from travel and sales, and book publishing records. Property Records Series includes survey map of Pond Farm and negotiations for donation of land to National Park Service. General Business Series contains lists of students at Pond Farm and inventories of her works and donations, as well as thirteen transcripts of lectures from 1957 to 1977.

Biographical Note

Marguerite Friedlaender Wildenhain was born October 11, 1896, in Lyon, France. She was educated in Europe, apprenticing at the Bauhaus under master potter Max Krehan and sculptor Gerhard Marcks. Expelled from the Bauhaus owing to her Jewish origin, she moved to Holland with her husband, Frans Wildenhain, where they founded a pottery in Putten. After living there seven years, she moved to the United States in 1940. Her husband, also a Bauhaus-trained ceramic artist, remained behind, conscripted into the German army. Marguerite Wildenhain settled near Guerneville, CA, in 1942 where she founded an artist cooperative known as Pond Farm.

Frans Wildenhain (1905-1980) joined her in the late 1940’s where they managed the venture together, adding two additional artists. Trude (Jalowetz) Guermonprez (1910-1976), a textile artist, and Victor Ries, a metal artist and jewelry maker, worked there for several years until 1952. Eventually, Frans and Marguerite Wildenhain divorced and Marguerite became the sole manager of the Pond Farm workshops.

At Pond Farm, about 70 miles north of San Francisco, she opened a summer school which lasted until 1980, training approximately 25 students each summer. These summer-long workshops were intense learning experiences for artists, many of whom have gone on to have distinguished art-related careers of their own. During these years, she also traveled extensively, giving workshops at colleges and galleries around the United States and visiting South and Central America, Iran, Israel and Europe. She was an active member of the American Craft Council.

Works by Wildenhain are typically signed with the words Pond Farm and include a small jug signet incised on the base. Her ceramic art was shown widely in galleries and museums and sold commercially at Gump’s in San Francisco and in department stores in Chicago, IL, and Dallas, TX. Three books, two films, and numerous exhibit catalogs and articles in art reference books document her life and philosophy of art.

Dean Schwarz, former Art Department faculty member and chair at Luther College and a ceramics artist, met Wildenhain in the 1960s and studied with her during many summer workshops. As a result of this relationship, WildenhaIn was introduced to Luther College, teaching students through workshops and lectures. In 1969, Wildenhain was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree by Luther College. The College received 51 pieces of pottery from her in 1973 followed by a collection of her drawings in 1981. At that time, she also donated drawings and woodcuts by Gerhard Marcks, her mentor and life-long friend from the Bauhaus. During her lifetime, Marguerite presented rare books to the Luther College Library and contributed her mineral collection to the College’s Geology Collection. After her death at Pond Farm, February 24, 1985, her Gerhard Marcks bronze sculptures and her collection of pre-Columbian pots were bequeathed to the College through her estate.

Administrative Information

Repository: Luther College Archives

Alternate Extent Statement: 22 boxes

Use Restrictions: Copyright held by the estate of Marguerite Wildenhain.

Preferred Citation: Cite unpublished materials: Marguerite Wildenhain Papers, RG15 Manuscripts, Luther College Archives, Decorah, Iowa

Finding Aid Revision History: 12/02/19: EC updated the preferred citation.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Biographical Files, 1896-1985],
[Series 2: Correspondence, 1967-1985],
[Series 3: Financial Records, 1940-1984],
[Series 4: Property Records and Reference Materials, 1956-1993],
[Series 5: Business Files, 1966-1982],
[Series 6: Reference Material],
[Series 7: Non-textual],
[All]

Series 4: Property Records and Reference Materials, 1956-1993

Box 1: Property Records, 1956-1982

Folder 1: Property Records- Survey of Pond Farm, 1956
Folder 2: Pond Farm Correspondence: Eugene Wait, Esq., 1964-1967
Folder 3: Transfer of Pond Farm, 1966-1982
Folder 4: Pond Farm Correspondence: State of California, 1963-1970
Folder 5: Pond Farm Correspondence: Letters of Support, 1963
Folder 6: Pond Farm Correspondence: Michael Blume, Esq., 1967-1976

Box 4: Reference Materials: Exhibit Catalogs, Misc., 1958-1980, 1960-1993

Folder 1: Clay Today (Iowa City, IA): The Gallery, 1962 [Exhibition: The New Gallery (Iowa City), December 4, 1962- January 8, 1963], 1962-1963
Folder 2: Bray, Hazel. The Potter's Art in California: 1885-1955. Oakland, CA: Oakland Museum Association, 1980. [Exhibitions: The Oakland Museum (Oakland), Aug. 22- Oct. 1, 1978; Scripps College (Claremont, CA), Nov. 5- Dec. 18, 1978], 1978
Folder 3: XX[Twentieth] Ceramic International. Syracuse, New York: The Museum, 1958 [Exhibitions: Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts (Syracuse, NY), Oct. 26- Dec. 7, 1958], 1958
Folder 4: The Fred and Mary Marer Collection. Claremont, CA: Scripp College, 1974. [Exhibition: Lang Art Galleries (Claremont, CA), March 19- April 28, 1974], 1974
Folder 5: Pond Farm Brochures, undated
Folder 6: Exhibit- Sonoma County Arts Council, 14 May- 8 June, year unknown
Folder 7: Pottery of Marguerite Wildenhain; A Selection of Her Recent Work. Introduction by Ben F. Williams. Raleigh: North Caroline Museum of Art, 1968. [Exhibition: Feb. 11- Mar. 5, 1968], 1968
Folder 8: Exhibit: Mint Museum of Art, 12 April 1942
Folder 9: Exhibit: Art Institute of Chicago, 1 March- 31 March 1941
Folder 10: Exhibit: Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, October 1946
Folder 11: Exhibit: University of Utah, June 1953
Folder 12: Exhibit: Crocker Art Gallery, 27 March- 30 April, 1955
Folder 13: Exhibit: University of Minnesota, 28 March- 18 April, 1966
Folder 14: Exhibit: Scripps College, 20 March- 12 April, 1956
Folder 15: Exhibit: Scripps College, 1959
Folder 16: Exhibit: Crocker Art Museum, 16 January- 11 February 1973
Folder 17: Exhibit: Santa Rosa Junior College Art Gallery, 17 March- 11 April, 1975
Folder 18: Wildenhain, Marguerite. Interview by Hazel Bray. March 14, 1981. Transcript and Tape Recording. Oral History Project, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 1981
Folder 19: Exhibit: Luther College, 1 May- 30 June, 1992
Folder 20: Exhibit: San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum, 2 May- 28 June, 1992
Folder 21: Exhibit: Palo Alto Cultural Center, 17 January- 25 April, 1993
Folder 22: Lectures, Presentations, and Miscellaney, undated
Folder 23: Counts, Charles. "The Letters of Gerhard Marcks...[Book Review], 1992-1993
Folder 24: Exhibit: Grinnell College, 30 August- 19 October, 1984
Folder 25: Marguerite Wildenhain: Master Potter. Produced by Younger Design. Producer Rollie Younger. Directed by Saul Elkins and Morteza rezvani. Film, Color, 16mm., 16 min., 1985
Folder 26: Pond Farm. Produced by Otto Hegel. Film, Color. 16mm, 20 min., 1960
Folder 27: Who's Who in California, 1942-1943
Folder 28: Levin, Elaine. North American Women Artists, 1995
Folder 29: Marguerite Wildenhain: Kiln Spacers, 2000

Box 5: Reference Materials: Pond Farm, Trude Guermouprez, and Victor Ries, 1950-1993

Folder 1: "Art is the Chief Crop Off Pond Farm's 250 Acres." San Francisco Chron., 9 July 1950
Folder 2: Neumann, Eckhard. Bauhaus and Bayhaus People, 1993
Folder 3: "Pond Farm Workshops: Gordon Herr Establishes Artists' Dream in Hills North of Guerneville", 1950
Folder 4: LeBaron, Gaye. "Gaye LeBaron's Notebook" (On Pond Farm) The Press D., 22 July 1979
Folder 5: LeBaron, Gaye. "Gaye LeBaron's Notebook" (Hexagon Was Artists' Mecca), 1 July 1991
Folder 6: Talley, Charles. "School for Life." American Craft 50, April/May 1991
Folder 7: Shapely, Carl. "Craft Workshops as Movement..." Christian Sci. Mon., 9 July 1949
Folder 8: Make A Point of Ideas. House and Garden 57, Feb. 1950
Folder 9: "Art is the Chief Crop Off Pond Farm's 250 Acres." San Francisco Chron., 9 July 1950
Folder 10: LeBaron, Gaye. "Gaye LeBaron's Notebook" (Hexagon Was Artists' Mecca), 1 July 1991
Folder 11: LeBaron, Gaye. "Gaye LeBaron's Notebook" (On Pond Farm) The Press D., 22 July 1979
Folder 12: "Pond Farm Workshops: Gordon Herr Establishes Artists' Dream in Hills North of Guerneville", 1950
Folder 13: Bryan, Dorothy. Trude Guermonprez. Handweaver Vol. 11, Spring 1960
Folder 14: Obituary- Trude Guermonprez. New York Times, 11 May, 1976
Folder 15: Bray, Hazel. Trude Guermonprez. Am. Craft, 1983
Folder 16: Rowley, Kathleen. "The Tapestries of Trude Guermonprez" Fiberarts, 1983
Folder 17: Jameiro, Jan. "Beforer the 60's:..." Fiberarts, Vol. 19, Jan/Feb 1993
Folder 18: Uchida, Yoshiko. Trude Guermonprez. Craft Hor., 1959
Folder 19: Victor Ries- Oral History. "Renaissance of Religious Art...", 1985
Folder 20: Pond Farm Materials- Trude Guermonprez, undated