Summary |
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| Creator: | Pollock, Merlin F., 1905- |
| Title: | Merlin F. Pollock Papers |
| Dates: | 1945-1994 |
| Size: | 1 box (.5 linear foot) |
| Abstract: | The Merlin F. Pollock Papers consists of correspondence, clippings, programs and other materials related to his art, projects, exhibitions and awards. |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center/university-archives |
Biography
Merlin Pollock was a painter and professor at Syracuse University’s School of Art.
Merlin Pollock was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1905. After graduating from high school in 1922, he worked a variety of jobs for a few years in order to earn money for art school. Pollock went on to earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago. There he was awarded an American Traveling Scholarship, which he used to visit museums and private art collections in the eastern United States during the summer of 1929. The following year Pollock received the James Nelson Raymond Fellowship, which enabled him to travel and study fresco painting in Europe for a year and a half, particularly at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts.
In the years following, Pollock pursued his interest in mural painting. Having difficulty finding work during the Depression, he returned to Manitowoc to teach adult evening classes. The Public Works of Art Project, a program to hire artists under the New Deal, commissioned Pollock to paint a mural for a high school, and he supervised mural painting for the Federal Art Project for the State of Illinois. In 1934, he married Barbara Pank and was hired as an instructor in fresco painting by the Art Institute of Chicago, where he taught until 1943. In 1937, Pollock was one of twelve artists commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Interior to paint scenes from Alaska for the Works Progress Administration. During World War II, he served as a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy.
After the war, in 1946, Syracuse University hired Pollock as an assistant professor of fine arts. The following year, he became chair of the School of Art’s graduate program. Promoted to full professor in 1954, Pollock also served as director of Pinebrook summer art schools and as acting dean of the School of Art on three different occasions. When he retired in 1970, Syracuse University bestowed the Emeritus title on him and awarded him a Centennial Medal. In 1979, Pollock received the Chancellor’s Citation for his contributions to the School of Art.
Throughout his academic career, Pollock painted, showed his work regularly, and won awards in competitive exhibitions in New York State. As a watercolorist, he exhibited at annual juried shows at various institutions, including the Everson Museum in Syracuse, the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, and the Utica Munson-Williams-Proctor and the Binghamton Roberson Museums. He also had several one-man shows. Pollock’s artwork is in the permanent collections of the Everson, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute of Utica, the Washburn Municipal Museum of Topeka (Kansas), and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Pollock’s interest in nature and love of the outdoors was reflected in his work. He wrote that his paintings “evolve out of those aspects of nature that hold for me a particular fascination. I do not paint to imitate objects, but rather to express the ebb and flow of the forces of nature as they move within and through objects.”
Pollock died in 1996 in Savannah, Georgia.
Scope and Content Note
The Merlin F. Pollock Papers includes correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, exhibition programs and other materials dating between 1945 and 1994. The papers document Pollock's work, his recollections of his time on the WPA Alaska Art Project and Illinois Art Project, the numerous exhibitions and shows in which he presented his artwork, and recognitions he received, namely the Centennial Medal and the Chancellor's Citation from Syracuse University. There are also biographical information and correspondence with the Archives of American Art and Carl Roters, a fellow artist and Syracuse University art professor.
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries and all relevant rights holders
before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this
collection.
Selected Search Terms
Names
Subjects
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Merlin Pollock Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
The Pollock Papers were most likely received by the Syracuse University Archives in 1995; no other acquisition information is available.
Processing Information
The papers were placed in acid-free folders and box.
Finding Aid Information
Created by: Margaret Mason
Date: 2014
Revision history: