Harry Marinsky interior design illustrations
Online Access
Available digital items: https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/collections/KA003001.
Summary
In the 1950s and 1960s, Harry Marinsky (1909-2008) illustrated for many publications, including House and Garden, House Beautiful and Woman's Day. The New School Archives collection consists of seventy illustrations in watercolor and marker depicting residential and commercial interiors and exteriors.
Dates
- circa 1953-1988
- Majority of material found within 1953 - 1969
Creator
- Marinsky, Harry, 1909-2008 (Illustrator, Person)
Extent
4.7 Cubic Feet (2 oversize boxes, 1 map case drawer)
Language of Materials
English
Scope and Contents
The bulk of the collection consists of watercolor and marker illustrations. Also included are two catalogs from the 1980s for exhibitions of Marinsky's sculpture, and a guide to houseplants (1963) illustrated by him.
The majority of the seventy illustrations depict residential interiors, although six drawings depict retail spaces and a restaurant (it is unclear if all six depict different views of the same department store). Another five depict the exteriors of houses. Living rooms, sitting rooms, and bedrooms are most frequently depicted. The drawings are prominently signed "Marinsky" and most are undated.
According to the donor, artwork was either created for use in magazine advertising layout or as illustrations for articles. In some cases, an editor would present Marinsky with a sample item, such as wallpaper, and ask him to design a room around it. In others, he visually documented an existing interior.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research use. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment.
Use Restrictions
To publish images of material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the New School Archives. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.
Biographical note
Born in London, Harry Marinsky (1909-2008) studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and Pratt Institute. He began his career as an artist in 1934 making costumes and papier mâché masks for a dance recital at New York City's Guild Theatre. He soon turned to the illustration of interiors, and served for three years as art director for Country Life and American Home, producing watercolor renderings for the magazines' covers. Marinsky supported a burgeoning interest in sculpture through commercial illustration for several decades; publications such as the New York Herald Tribune, House and Garden, House Beautiful, and Woman's Day commissioned work from him. During the administration of President Richard M. Nixon, Marinsky designed a rug for and helped to redecorate the Oval Office. In 1972, Marinsky moved to Italy to pursue his interest in bronze sculpture at the Tomassi Foundry in Pietrasanta.
Arrangement
Renderings are organized into two series by function of the space depicted: commercial and residential.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The bulk of the collection was donated by Harry Marinsky to Parsons School of Design in 1972. Marinsky donated an additional ten drawings in 2000.
- Drawings (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Illustrators (Occupation) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Interior decoration in art (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Magazine illustration -- 20th century (Subject) (Temporal) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Periodical illustrations (Type of Material) Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- Title
- Guide to the Harry Marinsky interior design illustrations
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
- Date
- May 4, 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English