Ethel Dean papers
Online Access
Available digital items: https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/collections/KA007501.
Summary
The collection includes class notes and a clipbook of decorative styles compiled by Ethel Epstein (who later used the surnames Dean and Evans) when she attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later Parsons School of Design) in the Interior Architecture and Decoration Department, around 1925. Also includes textile samples, circa the 1950s, and costume designs for the Broadway play "The Laughing Woman" (1936).
Dates
- probably 1925 - circa 1950s
Creator
- Dean, Ethel (Designer, Person)
Extent
1.9 Cubic Feet (1 box, 1 oversize box, 11 folders)
Language of Materials
English
Scope and Contents of Collection
The collection consists of Ethel Epstein/Dean's student work in the form of notebooks, a clip book of decorative styles and photographs of French cathedrals, and samples of her professional work in the fields of costume and textile design.
Of particular interest in the Student work series are class notes from lectures titled “Business Practices in Interior Decoration” given by famed interior decorator Eleanor McMillen Brown. The clip book illustrates decorative styles with postcards and clippings, accompanied by handwritten annotations about French and Italian architecture, furnishings, and artists. It also includes a hand-written bibliography.
Professional work is primarily composed of textile design drawings, prints, and samples. Notations on the backs of some prints -- primarily prints of floral designs, although several depict abstract motifs -- indicate that Dean sold the designs to manufacturers such as A. H. Jacobs, Thibaut, and Wall Trends. Costume design drawings are rendered in ink, pencil, and watercolor. Although many drawings feature descriptions of the outfits, there is no identifying information regarding the production for which Dean created it. The exception is three folders of costume design drawings for a production of Gordon Daviot's (pseudonym of Elizabeth Mackintosh) "The Laughing Woman." The production, staged by a possible relation, Alexander Dean, ran for 23 performances at the John Golden Theater, New York, in the fall of 1936.
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
A resident of Yonkers, New York, Ethel Epstein was born in 1908 and attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now, Parsons The New School for Design) from 1924 to 1926. She studied Interior Architecture and Decoration. Her third year coursework was completed in the school's Paris Ateliers. She later worked as a textile designer, creating wallpaper designs for such firms as Thibaut.
Sometime after attending the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, she changed her surname, as did her cartoonist brother Abner, from Epstein to Dean. At other times in her life, she was known as Ethel Evans, the surname used by another sibling who worked for Radio City Music Hall, and by their widowed mother. Ethel Epstein/Dean/Evans lived in New York City and died May 30, 1971.
Arrangement
Organized in 2 series: 1. Professional work, probably 1936, circa 1950s; 2. Student work, probably 1925-1926
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection was donated by Abner Dean to Parsons School of Design prior to the establishment of the New School Archives. Transferred to the New School Archives, 2004.
External Support
The processing of this collection was supported in part by a grant from the J. Paul Getty Trust.
- Brown, Eleanor McMillen (Teacher)
- Cathedrals (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clip books (Type of Material) Subject Source: Local sources
- Costume design (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Drawings (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Fashion design (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Furniture design (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Interior decoration -- Study and teaching -- New York (State) -- New York (Subject) (Places) Subject Source: Local sources
- Lecture notes (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- New York School of Fine and Applied Art. Interior Architecture and Decoration Department
- Paris Ateliers
- Sketches (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Student projects (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Textile design (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Wallpapers (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- Guide to the Ethel Dean papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
- Date
- August 24, 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English