An Inventory of His Art Collection at the Harry Ransom Center
Creator:
Levine, David, 1926-2009
Title:
David Levine Art Collection
Dates:
1960s-2000s (1990-1999)
Extent:
1 box (34 items)
Abstract:
The collection consists of 33
original, signed pen and ink caricature drawings and one print by David Levine
(American, 1926-2009).
Call Number:
Art Collection AR-00352
Language:
English
Access:
Open for research. Please note that a minimum of 24 hours notice is required to pull
art materials to the Ransom Center's Reading and Viewing Room. Some materials
may be
restricted from viewing. To make an appointment or to reserve Art Collection
materials, please contact the Center's staff at art@hrc.utexas.edu. Researchers
must
create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before
using
archival materials.
Use Policies:
Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential
information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and
regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information
pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in the collections without
the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of
action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning
an
individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive
to a
reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of Texas at
Austin
assume no responsibility.
Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the
owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of
the
copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information
please see the Ransom Centers' Open Access and Use Policies.
David Levine was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1926, the son of a nurse and a
garment shop worker. His parent's left political leanings and working-class
upbringing would inform Levine's approach to depicting his subjects, who often
were
persons in positions of great power, wealth, or cultural and political influence,
in
caricature. His distinctive, incisive, and critical--but not altogether
unsympathetic--caricatures would become his hallmark when he began working for
Esquire in the 1960s and The New York Review of Books from its inception in 1963. For nearly
fifty years, Levine contributed caricatures of artists, authors, politicians,
athletes, and other public figures largely to The New York
Review of Books, but also to other publications such as Time, The New Yorker,
The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post.
Levine was also a painter--he studied under Hans Hoffman--and his watercolor and
oil
subjects are noted for their marked difference in tone and subject. His method
and
approach is described as more gentle, full of fondness, and centering on the daily
lives of ordinary citizens, in contrast to the biting edge of his caricatures
of
public figures. After a lifetime of creative output of drawings and paintings
numbering in the thousands, Levine died in Manhattan on December 29, 2009, at
the
age of 83.
Sources:
Carlson, Michael. David Levine obitutary. The
Guardian, 31 December 2009.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/dec/31/david-levine-obituary (accessed
19 June
2017).
Weber, Bruce. "David Levine, Biting Caricaturist, Dies at 83." The New York Times, 29 December 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/arts/design/30levine.html?hp (accessed 19 June
2017).
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of 33 original, signed pen and ink drawings by David Levine
(American, 1926-2009) that are representative of the artist's distinctive
caricatures for The New York Review of Books. A
caricature of J. M. Coetzee was given by the author. An article in The New York Review of Books provides the published
context for a caricature of author Vladmir Nabakov that accompanies the original
drawing. Also included is one inkjet print of a caricature of J. M. Coetzee.
