Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

This series contains works of art created by Giōrgos Vakalo in a variety of media (ink, pencil, watercolor, conté crayon, engravings) and on a variety of supports (paper, carton, canvas) dating from the time of his education in Greece and Paris the 1920s, including works rendered over the course of his entire life until his death in 1991. Artwork is comprised mainly of loose, single sheets of paper, and bound sketchbooks.

This series has been arranged thematically as Vakalo maintained them, which roughly follows a chronological order with undated matter at the end of the series.

Description:

This series consists of personal and professional correspondence mainly received by Giōrgos and his wife, Helenē Vakalo, although there are letters written by them, as well as letters between others. Correspondents included are Nora Anagnōstakē, Karellē Zōe, Thrasos Kastanakēs, Irene Zmurkevych (Loyola University of Los Angeles), and Harvard College Library.

This series has been arranged alphabetically by correspondent or organization, with unidentified or miscellaneous letters at the end of the series. Correspondents with only one letter are grouped together in a general folder at the beginning of the series.

Description:

Consists of autograph and typed manuscript drafts of Vakalo's writings, including notes, talks, articles, interviews, TV or radio productions. There are also writings by others regarding Vakalo's work.

This series has been arranged by subject.

Description:

This series consists of photograph albums, loose black-and-white photographs, slides, and negatives of several theatrical plays or exhibitions that Vakalo prepared or participated.

This series has been arranged by subject and in a chronological or alphabetical order within each subject.

Description:

This series consists of autograph and typed manuscripts relating to Vakalo's exhibitions; catalogs, programs, and invitations of one-man or group exhibitions that Vakalo prepared or participated; correspondence; and some printed material.

This series has been arranged by subject.

Description:

This series consists of original documents, including contracts with theaters, Vakalo's identification cards, documents regarding his pension, accords, and invoices.

This series has been arranged in a chronological order by the first date.

Description:

This series consists of magazines, playbills, and clippings of several Greek and foreign newspapers.

This series has been arranged by subject.

Description:

This series consists of loose color and black-and-white photographs and photo- collages, slides and photographic negatives of Giōrgos Vakalo personal and professional life; art exhibitions that Vakalo prepared or participated; art works; and theatrical plays. Most of the photographs bear handwritten explanatory notes in pen by Vakalo's daughter-in-law, Kathleen Vakalo. Also, during the organization process of this new material, it was decided to keep the original envelopes where the photographs were stored and transferred to Special Collections, as they bear handwritten notes by Kathleen Vakalo that might be useful sources for the researchers.

This series has been arranged mostly by subject.

Scope and Contents

Consists of papers by and relating to Giōrgos Vakalo, a Greek painter, stage designer, art critic, and writer. Included are hundreds of his sketches or drawings showing various stages of creation. The works date from the time of his education in Greece and Paris the 1920s, including over the course of his entire life until the time of his death.

There are black-and-white photographs of several theatrical plays or exhibitions that Vakalo prepared or participated. Also, there are a large number of newspaper clippings kept by Vakalo through the years regarding critiques of his works; exhibition catalogs, programs and invitations, as well as lists of his works and contracts with several theaters or other organizations.

Apart from Vakalo's own writings, the collection contains a selection of typed manuscripts and printed matter by others written about Vakalo. The authors include many friends of Vakalo, art critics, as well as college students.

Arrangement

Organized into the following series and subseries:

Collection Creator Biography:

Vakalo, Giōrgos, 1902-1991

Giōrgos Vakalo was a painter and a stage designer. He was born in Constantinople in 1902. He began his art studies in his native Greece and continued them in Paris. There, in the decades between the two World Wars, he established his reputation both as a painter and as a stage designer working in the theater of the Cartel, Copeau, Baty Dullin, Pitoeff and Jouvet and also of Michel Saint-Denis, all of them reformers of the theatre following the revolution in design created by Gordon Craig. Vakalo during this period represented France at many international scenographic exhibitions and for his services was awarded a Chavelier of the Legion of Honor. Returning to Greece on the outbreak of World War II he has since designed productions for the National Theatre both for the classic dramas and comedies and for Shakespeare, Molière, de Musset, Brecht, and other dramatists. His paintings - a combination of surrealism, abstraction, and a characteristic playfulness - have been shown widely in Europe and in the United States and are to be found in the collections of former president of Cyprus, Makarios, the Museum of the École d'Aubusson and in the Harvard Library. Also they can be found in private collections in France, Belgium, Switzerland, America (Boston, Texas, and New York) and Japan. In Greece, his paintings are in state and private collections, in collections of societies and in the public galleries of Athens, Thessalonikē, Rhodes, and Iōannina.

For a certain period, the illustration of books was one of his most important activities. He took part in artistic movements, as a founding member in the group "Stathmoi." In 1957, along with his wife Helenē and a team of artists, designers and theorists, Panagiōtēs Tetsēs and Phrantzēs Phrantziskakēs, he established the first School of Decorative Arts, the "Vakalo School of Art and Design," in Athens (Greece). Vakalo died in 1991.

Acquisition:

Gift of Helenē Vakalo to the Program in Hellenic Studies for the Princeton University Library.

Appraisal

Nothing was removed from the collection.

Processing Information

Part of this collection was originally processed in 2000. New material was acquired in 2011. The collection was revised, reprocessed, and completed by Kalliopi Balatsouka in 2011. Finding aid was written by Kalliopi Balatsouka in 2011. New photographic material was received in 2018, it was processed, described, and arranged in new Series 8, which was added to the Finding Aid written by Kalliopi Balatsouka in March 2022.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research/

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Giōrgos Vakalo Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/sn009z50j
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes 1-21; B-001859; B-001860; B-001861