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© 2015 University of Chicago Library
Series X contains personal financial records restricted for 50 years and student evaluative material restricted for 80 years. The remainder of the collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Greene-Mercier, Marie Zoe. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier was born March 31, 1911 in Madison, Wisconsin. Both of her parents were French immigrants; her father, Louis J.A. Mercier, served on the faculties of University of Wisconsin and Harvard University before returning to France to serve in World War I. Greene-Mercier described her family life during this time as "itinerant," but stability returned after the war. As a child, Greene-Mercier attended Catholic schools in the Boston area. After high school, she studied and traveled in Europe before entering Radcliffe College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1933.
Greene-Mercier's early career included work as a French teacher at Loyola University, an art critic, and assistant positions at the Renaissance Society and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1936, she began working as a French film reviewer for the International Film Bureau, a Chicago-based distributor of educational and foreign films. In 1937, she married the firm's owner, Wesley Hammond Greene. She began her association with the New Bauhaus School of Design in the same year, taking classes from 1937-1938.
The 1940s brought both the birth of Greene-Mercier's first two children, as well as the beginning of serious exposure as an artist, working in collage and sculpture. Notable early works include a series of collages, using paper mounted on glass, which she called "Polyplanes." She also exhibited figural sculptures, particularly idealized human heads and faces: Among these works are two sculptures of Greene-Mercier's sister-in-law, the actress Dame Judith Anderson.
In the early 1950s, Greene-Mercier began to produce primarily large, abstract sculptures cast in bronze. She worked in two formal styles, which she described as "Arboreal" and "Cubic." From 1953 to the late 1960s, her work was predominantly in the linear "Arboreal" style, represented by Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes and the series Orpheus. She began creating small- and large-scale works in the heavier "Cubic" style in the late 60s, and monumental sculptures in this mode would characterize her work in the 1970s.
Greene-Mercier also continued to create small paintings, collages, reliefs and drawings throughout her career. In 1969, three collections of her drawings of European cities were published by Libreria Internationale Italo Svevo as Trieste: 101 Disegni; Venezia: 101 Disegni; and Salzburg: 101 Zeichnungen.
In North America, Greene-Mercier exhibited primarily in Chicago and Canada, At the height of her career in the United States, she participated regularly in solo and group exhibitions in venues such as the Renaissance Society, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Arts Club of Chicago. However, her work found greater representation and larger audiences in Europe, with solo exhibitions held in Paris, Athens, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, and West Berlin (A
retrospective exhibition of her work was held in 1977 at Amerika Haus, Berlin). Her monumental sculptures were installed as public art in France and Germany.
Greene-Mercier participated in several Chicago-based arts organizations, including the Chicago Society of Artists, the Renaissance Society, the Arts Club of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, and the 57th Street Art Fair. She was also active in Chicago's Alliance and Maison Française. In 1956, Greene-Mercier began working with the Chicago chapter of the Artists Equity Association, advocating for the legal rights of artists. She served as president of the organization from 1959-1961. Greene-Mercier and her husband were instrumental among arts advocates who disputed the Art Institute of Chicago's use of the B.F. Ferguson Fund for Sculpture, which the museum used for operating expenses rather than for the development of the city's sculpture and monument collections.
Religion, specifically the Roman Catholic faith, played an important role in Greene-Mercier's life and profoundly influenced her artwork. Many of her mid-career works had overtly religious themes and found their way into churches and collections of liturgical art. Another important aspect of her personal life was music; she studied violin in Europe, and the influence of music on her sculpture is evident in works such as the Orpheus series.
The artist's name is often printed with alternate diacritics and hyphenations; however, she consistently represented herself as "Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier."
This collection represents Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier's work as an artist, critic, and activist; it also includes material related to her family and personal life. Materials in this collection include correspondence, writings, gallery and exhibition records, photographs, artifacts and works of art.
Series I: Correspondence, contains personal and professional correspondence of Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier. This series includes both incoming and outgoing correspondence, arranged alphabetically by correspondent, with partially identified and unidentified correspondence at the end. Correspondents include friends, family members, patrons, arts administrators, curators, galleries and artists and editors. The bulk of the correspondence dates from the 1950s-1980s, though the entire series spans the early twentieth century through the 1990s.
Series II: Biographical, documents biographical approaches to the work of Greene-Mercier, including her own autobiographical research and writing. Also included is a set of biographical reference files. Biographical writings represented in this series include the work of Frank Elgar (Greene-Mercier, 1978), Virginia Watson-Jones (Contemporary American Women Sculptors, 1986), Hedwig Wingler ("Greene-Mercier," 1986) and others. This series also documents the growth of Greene-Mercier's memoirs and short articles into a book-length autobiography, for which she conducted extensive research on regional history and her artistic influences.
Series III: Professional Records, represents Greene-Mercier's career as an artist. Included is documentation of exhibitions, gallery representation, and individual collections of Greene-Mercier's work. Routine business transactions such as sales, consignments, insurance and transportation are also represented. The files in this series are arranged chronologically, and include publicity material such as exhibition catalogs, clippings, financial documents such as invoices and receipts, plans for gallery installations, correspondence and notes.
Series IV: Critical and Historical Writing, contains material related to Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier's writing in art history and art criticism. Files in this series are arranged chronologically, and include drafts, samples of published works, notes and related correspondence. Represented in this series is her research on world's fairs; children's guides to the Art Institute of Chicago; critical reviews of films and exhibitions; an entry on "Sculpture" for Britannica Junior; writings on the New Bauhaus; and lectures and scripts for media presentations.
Series V: Artists Equity Association, contains material related to Greene-Mercier's work with the Artists Equity Association, concentrated during the years 1959-1961, when she served as the organization's president. Files in this series are arranged chronologically, and include correspondence, minutes, publicity material, clippings, and exhibition materials.
Series VI: Personal, contains material related to Greene-Mercier's childhood, personal interests and family life. Files in this series are arranged chronologically. Items from Greene-Mercier's education include draft and published versions of her creative writing, course material and memorabilia. Also found in this series is material related to vacation travel, the education and care of her children, her own continuing education, property management, and financial and medical affairs.
Series VII: Photographs, contains prints, negatives, slides, transparencies and contact sheets, documenting Greene-Mercier's artwork, exhibitions and personal life. Photographs in this series date from circa 1928-1996, with a concentration of material in the 1960s-1970s. The files in this series are arranged chronologically. Most of the images are black-and-white studies of Greene-Mercier's artworks, documenting her development as an artist from the late 1930s through the 1980s. Also represented are exhibitions; parties and gallery openings; production and installation of sculptures; portraits; and informal snapshots of friends, colleagues, family members and travel sites
Series VIII: Artworks and Artifacts, contains original Greene-Mercier works as well as a variety of artifacts related to travel, research and professional work.
Artworks in this series consist primarily of drawings. Included are hundreds of drawings of architecture and landmarks in European cities. Proofs of two of these publications based on these drawings (Salzburg: 101 Zeichnungen and Venezia: 101 Disegni) are also included. Other artworks include models and plans for sculptures, prints, a sculpture of a face in terracotta, and small watercolor paintings. Artifacts in this series include travel souvenirs, sewing patterns, wax blocks, and index cards transferred from Series IV.
Series IX: Publicity Material and Publications contains print ephemera, as well as publications such as books and periodicals. This series includes a chronological file of Greene-Mercier's publicity material from 1945-1988; several files of material compiled for exhibition publicity and directories such as Who's Who in America; collections of International Film Bureau greeting cards and note cards featuring Greene-Mercier's work; books and periodicals annotated by Greene-Mercier for research or general reference; publicity material for galleries, museums, arts festivals, and other artists; art and music education materials; music and theater programs; sheet music; clippings; religious pamphlets; and legal publications.
Series X: Restricted. This series contains restricted materials. This includes both student evaluative materials (R-80) and financial records (R-50).
Greene-Mercier's terracotta sculpture of the head of Rudolph Ganz forms part of the Artifacts Collection at the Special Collections Research Center.
This collection includes material in French, German and Italian, particularly in Series I and II.
This series contains personal and professional correspondence of Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier. Both incoming and outgoing correspondence are included, arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Partially identified and unidentified correspondence is found at the end of the series. Correspondents include friends, family members, patrons, arts administrators, curators, galleries and artists and editors. The bulk of the correspondence dates from the 1950s-1980s, though the entire series spans the early twentieth century through the 1990s.
A vital record of Greene-Mercier's career is her correspondence with her husband, Wesley H. Greene, who managed many of the routine matters of her work while she traveled in Europe. Their correspondence includes incoming and outgoing letters of both spouses, along with forwarded attachments and secondary letters.
A small number of secondary letters, primarily among members of the Mercier family, are also included.
Correspondence is also found in several other series of this collection, interfiled with related documents: Additional personal correspondence is found in Series VI; additional professional correspondence is found in Series III, IV and V; most correspondence regarding biographical and critical approaches to her work, including autobiographical research, is found in Series II.
The material in this series documents biographical approaches to the work of Greene-Mercier, including her own autobiographical research and writing. Also included is a set of biographical reference files.
Biographical writings represented in this series include the work of Frank Elgar (Greene-Mercier, 1978), Virginia Watson-Jones (Contemporary American Women Sculptors, 1986), Hedwig Wingler ("Greene-Mercier," 1986) and others. This part of the series includes drafts and samples of published versions of these texts, along with correspondence, publicity material, and research material.
Material related to Greene-Mercier's autobiographical writing overlaps with Hedwig Wingler's biographical and critical writings; however, this series also documents the growth of Greene-Mercier's memoirs and short articles into a book-length autobiography, for which she conducted extensive research on regional history and her artistic influences. This part of the series includes manuscripts, typescripts and outlines of Greene-Mercier's autobiography, along with related notes, correspondence, publications, and curricula vitae.
At the end of this series, a set of biographical files includes publicity material such as catalogues and clippings; business and personal correspondence; photographs, school memorabilia; and other items related to significant developments in Greene-Mercier's life and career. Arranged chronologically, these files were compiled by Greene-Mercier and her husband, and may have been formed for autobiographical research or general professional reference.
Additional writings of Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier are found in Series IV and VI.
The material in this series represents Greene-Mercier's career as an artist. Included is documentation of exhibitions, gallery representation, and individual collections of Greene-Mercier's work. Routine business transactions such as sales, consignments, insurance and transportation are also represented. The files in this series are arranged chronologically, and include publicity material such as exhibition catalogs, clippings, financial documents such as invoices and receipts, plans for gallery installations, correspondence and notes.
Many of the files in this series were compiled by Wesley Greene, who played a large part in the management of his wife's routine business affairs. Such material is strongly related to the Greenes' correspondence found in Series I.
Additional professional correspondence is also found in Series I. Material related to Greene-Mercier's work with the Artists Equity Association is found in Series V. Additional publicity material and other records of exhibitions and collections is found in Series II and IX.
This series contains material related to Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier's writing in art history and art criticism. Files in this series are arranged chronologically, and include drafts, samples of published works, notes and related correspondence.
Represented in this series is her research on world's fairs; children's guides to the Art Institute of Chicago; critical reviews of films and exhibitions; an entry on "Sculpture" for Britannica Junior; writings on the New Bauhaus; and lectures and scripts for media presentations. Of particular interest is a correspondence exchange between Edward Hopper and the curatorial staff of the Art Institute, debating the interpretation of Hopper's work for a children's gallery guide.
Greene-Mercier's autobiographical writing and memoirs, including her critical approaches to her own work, are found in Series II. Juvenilia and memorabilia from her education are found in Series VI.
Notecards related to Greene-Mercier's research have been transferred to Series VIII.
This series contains material related to Greene-Mercier's work with the Artists Equity Associations, concentrated during the years 1959-1961, when she served as the organization's president. Files in this series are arranged chronologically, and include correspondence, minutes, publicity material, clippings, and exhibition materials. This series includes several files on the conflict over the B.F. Ferguson Fund for Sculpture, which culminated in Wesley Greene vs. The Art Institute of Chicago.
Correspondence regarding AEA matters is also found in Series I. Narrative of Greene-Mercier's activism with AEA is found in her autobiographical writings.
This series contains a variety of material without a strong relationship to Greene-Mercier's professional activities. The series includes material related to Greene-Mercier's childhood, personal interests and family life. Items from Greene-Mercier's education include draft and published versions of her creative writing, course material and memorabilia. Also found in this series is material related to vacation travel, the education and care of her children, her own continuing education, and property management.
This series contains a small amount of correspondence, interfiled with other closely related material; however, most personal correspondence, (including letters among the Greene and Mercier families), is found in Series I. Additional memorabilia and personal items are found in Series II and VIII.
This series contains photographic prints, negatives, slides, transparencies and contact sheets. It includes images of Greene-Mercier's artwork; exhibitions and other professional events; family, colleagues and friends; travel and tourist sites. Photographs in this series date from circa 1928-1996, with a concentration of material in the 1960s-1970s. The files in this series are arranged chronologically; undated, unidentified and unsorted photographs are found at the end of the series, as are two albums, a set of glass slides, and a slide presentation.
Most of the images are black-and-white studies of Greene-Mercier's artworks, documenting her development as an artist from the late 1930s through the 1980s. Also represented are exhibitions; parties and gallery openings; production and installation of sculptures; portraits; and informal snapshots of friends, colleagues, family members and travel sites.
Many of Greene-Mercier's works were untitled, or had informal descriptive titles; titles are included in the inventory when given in photograph captions. Dates of individual works are also approximate, since her sculptures were often cast in multiples.
Identifying information and notes are found on the backs of some photographs. Some files also contain notes related to the artworks or events represented in the photographs. Professional photographers are often identified on the backs of prints - these photographers include Samuel Kitrosser, Louise Barker, Oscar Savio and many others.
Images of Greene-Mercier's works are also found in Series II, III and IX. Original artworks are found in Series VIII.
This series contains original Greene-Mercier works as well as a variety of artifacts related to travel, research and professional work.
Artworks in this series consist primarily of drawings. Included are hundreds of drawings of architecture and landmarks in European cities. Proofs of two of these publications based on these drawings (Salzburg: 101 Zeichnungen and Venezia: 101 Disegni) are also included. Other artworks include models and plans for sculptures, prints, a sculpture of a face in terracotta, and small watercolor paintings. A few of these works are evidently by other artists. Notes and photoduplicates of artworks are sometimes filed with the original pieces.
Artifacts in this series include travel souvenirs, sewing patterns, wax blocks, and index cards transferred from Series IV.
A terracotta sculpture of the head of Rudolph Ganz forms part of the Artifacts Collection at the Special Collections Research Center.
This series contains print ephemera, as well as publications such as books and periodicals.
Subseries 1: Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier, includes exhibition catalogs, press releases, clippings and tear sheets, periodicals, monographs, pamphlets, broadsides and other print material documenting Greene-Mercier's artworks and professional development. Included in this subseries is a chronological file of material from 1945-1988; several files of material compiled for exhibition publicity and directories such as Who's Who in America; collections of International Film Bureau greeting cards and note cards featuring Greene-Mercier's work; and several business cards.
Subseries 2: General, consists primarily of books and periodicals annotated by Greene-Mercier for research or general reference. Also included in this series are publicity material for galleries, museums, arts festivals, and other artists; art and music education materials; music and theater programs; sheet music; clippings; religious pamphlets; legal publications; and duplicates of Greene-Mercier publicity represented in Subseries 1.
Additional print publicity material is found in Series II, III and VII.
This series contains restricted materials. This includes both student evaluative materials (R-80) and financial records (R-50).