Skip to main content Skip to main navigation

Jack Smith Papers

Call Number

MSS.440

Dates

1891-1990, undated, inclusive
; 1963-1985, bulk

Creator

Barbara Gladstone Gallery (Role: Donor)
Smith, Jack, 1932-1989

Extent

20.7 Linear Feet
in eight manuscript boxes, one half manuscript box, ten record cartons, five oversize flat boxes, and two flat file folders.

Language of Materials

Materials are primarily in English, with some materials in Italian, Spanish, French, and German.

Abstract

Jack Smith (1932-1989) was a New York-based actor, filmmaker, and photographer known for his pioneering influence in experimental filmmaking and performance art. Smith's low-budget productions employed camp and kitsch aesthetics, including his best known film, Flaming Creatures. In addition to creating his own works, Smith appeared as an actor in productions by Andy Warhol and Robert Wilson. Smith died in 1989 from AIDS-related pneumonia. This collection consists of materials created by Smith throughout the course of his career as an artist, actor, filmmaker, and photographer. The majority of the collection consists of Smith's notes, scripts, drawings, flyers, and posters for his films and performance pieces, dating from the early 1960s through the late 1980s. The collection documents not only Smith's career and creative process, but also the larger landscape of underground cinema and performance art in the 1970s and 1980s.

Biographical note

Jack Smith (1932-1989) was a New York-based filmmaker, photographer, and actor known for his pioneering influence in experimental filmmaking and performance art. Smith moved to New York City in 1953, where he attended film classes at the City College of New York and worked as a photographer. He worked as an actor and assistant with Ken Jacobs for two years before making his first film, Scotch Tape, in 1959.

Smith created his most well-known film, Flaming Creatures, in 1963. The film was confiscated by the New York Police Department and banned throughout the United States due to nudity and charges of obscenity, and was later ruled obscene by a New York Criminal Court. Jonas Mekas, a friend of Smith's and the founder of the journal Film Culture and the Anthology Film Archives, championed the film and, despite the ban, screened it in theaters and hotel rooms around the country and at the Knokke-le-Zoute film festival in Belgium in 1964. This led to an argument between the two, as Smith believed that Mekas was responsible for the confiscation of the film as well as its notoriety. Mekas disagreed with Smith's practice of constantly re-editing his work, fearing that this would alter the original genius of the work, and used this to defend his possession of the film. As a result of this disagreement, Smith never produced another film in entirety as he was constantly editing his work, even while he was screening it. He also refused to have his work out of his possession. Many of his subsequent works focused on Mekas, including I Was a Mekas Collaborator, Death in Uncle Archives' Vault, and his adaptation of The Critic by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, variously titled The Critic, The Lobsters, Lucky Landlordism of Roachcrust, and Lucky Landlordism of Lotusland.

Actress Maria Montez was another profound influence on Smith's work. Known as the Queen of Technicolor, she was the star of Universal's Technicolor adventure movies filmed in the 1940s. Smith's performances, sets, and costumes were influenced by Montez and the atmosphere of her films. In the early 1960s, Smith convinced the young drag queen Rene Rivera to adopt the name Mario Montez in homage to Maria Montez. Mario starred in Flaming Creatures and other Smith performances, before becoming one of Andy Warhol's superstars.

Throughout the late 1960s and into the mid-1980s, Smith began to focus more on performance art and combined live performances with screenings of his films and slideshows. In addition to the Mekas inspired performances, shows created during this time period include Death of a Penguin, The Secret of Rented Island, Sinbad and the Rented World, No President, and I Was a Male Yvonne De Carlo for the Lucky Landlord Underground. Smith also published essays and short stories in Film Culture and other periodicals and appeared as an actor in productions by Andy Warhol, Robert Wilson, and Ken Jacobs.

Smith died in 1989 from AIDS-related pneumonia. His influence has been identified in genres of experimental filmmaking and performance art on the broad scale, and specifically in the works of Warhol, John Waters, Laurie Anderson, and Cindy Sherman.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in six series, with the materials arranged in alphabetical order within series I, IV, and V. Series II is arranged into two broad topics, Health and Source Material, with no further arrangement within these topics. Series III and VI have not be arranged. The series are as follows:

Series I. Films and Performances, Series II. Subject Files, Series III. Books, Series IV. Business Records, Series V. Personal Items, and Series VI. Exhibition and Writings on Jack Smith.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of materials created by Jack Smith throughout the course of his career as an artist, actor, filmmaker, and photographer from the 1960s to the late 1980s. Materials include scripts and notes on his films and performance pieces; and drawings, photographs, and collages used for flyers and posters for his performances. The influence of Smith's disagreement with Jonas Mekas, Smith's idolization of Maria Montez, and his work with Mario Montez is evident throughout his work. Other items in the collection include subject files and books on film-making, time periods and locations that influenced Smith, health, nutrition, and fitness; address books, his Rolodex, and mailing lists for his performances; financial material, including bank statements, investment statements, and tax records on a property Smith owned in Arizona; identification cards; and a small amount of correspondence. The majority of the collection consists of Smith's flyers and posters for his performances and notes on everything from ideas for new films and performances to lists of errands and chores.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Jack Smith Papers; MSS 440; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Gladstone Gallery in July 2015. The accession number associated with this gift is 2014.440.

Custodial History

Prior to and following Smith's death, his personal papers were co-managed by New York performance artist Penny Arcade and film historian J. Hoberman through The Plaster Foundation, Inc. In January 2004, the New York Surrogate Court ordered Arcade and Hoberman to return the collection to Smith's sister, Sue Slater, resulting in an extended series of legal disputes. Despite claims from Arcade and Hoberman stating that Slater did not respond to their earlier attempts at communication, the collection was awarded to Slater. They refused to surrender the collection until 2008 when it was purchased from Smith's estate by the Gladstone Gallery. In July 2015, the Gallery donated this collection, which represents a portion of the original collection, to the Fales Library & Special Collections.

Appraisal

Duplicates of flyers and posters for Smith's films and performances were weeded. Newspaper and magazine clippings and books not relevant to Smith's interests or work were weeded. Smith's clothing and receipts were determined to be of low research value and were deaccessioned.

Related Materials

For more information on Jack Smith, see the Ed Leffingwell Jack Smith Curatorial Files (call number MSS 380), which contain materials associated with Leffingwell's organization of the exhibition "Jack Smith: Flaming Creature" at MoMA PS1 in New York in 1997-1998 and associated printed matter, including material created by Jack Smith.

Other collections related to Smith include the John Vaccaro and the Play-House of the Ridiculous Papers (call number MSS 321) and the Serpent's Tail/High Risk Archive (call number MSS 086).

Collection processed by

Megan O'Shea

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-02-06 14:23:23 -0500.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English.

Processing Information

The collection was rehoused in acid-free folders, enclosures, and boxes. Enclosures and sticky notes added by the Gladstone Gallery staff and tags added by The Plaster Foundation, Inc. staff were removed and discarded.

Materials related to a particular film or performance were arranged together. Subject files were created from loose clippings, with clippings sorted into two broad topics, Health and Source Material. Business and financial documents were arranged by type of document. Personal items were arranged by type of document.

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012