Address:
Sam Karres Archive, 1955-2012 (majority within 1979-2010)
Using These Materials
Summary
- Creator:
- Karres, Sam, 1929-
- Abstract:
- This collection includes 86 sketchbooks of the Detroit artist, Sam Karres as well as miscellaneous items and publications that either discuss or correspond with his artwork.
- Extent:
- 11.5 Linear feet (3 manuscript boxes; 4 records center boxes; 3 oversize flat boxes)
- Language:
- English
- Authors:
- Finding aid prepared by Gabrielle Barr
Background
- Scope and Content:
-
The Sam Karres Archive largely consists of sketches of the Detroit area during the 1980s as well as other types of documents that relate to the drawings. It has been divided into six series: guidebooks, small sketchbooks, medium sketchbooks, large sketchbooks, printed materials, and miscellaneous items.
Guidebooks: In this series, there are three binders composed by Sam Karres' friend, Denny Stavros that provide background on the artist as well as discuss the content of his sketchbooks that were donated to University of Michigan's Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library for The Modern Greek Studies Collection. Following the descriptions of the sketchbooks, there are indexes and appendixes that include some of Karres' writings, photographs that complement the drawings, and photocopies of pages from the sketchbooks. The binders are divided up by the dates the sketchbooks were given: December 9, 2011, September 28, 2012, and June 20, 2013. The sketchbooks have been designated as small, medium, or large by Stavros in addition being assigned individual numeric identifiers. There is also one hand-written list of periodicals and ephemera donated by Stavros on September 28, 2012. A few of the articles and all of the ephemera relate to Sam Karres.
Small Sketchbooks: This section consists of ten sketchbooks ranging in size from 3.5 by 4. 75 inches to 5.5 by 8 inches. The majority of these sketchbooks from this series dates from the late 1970s and contends with a variety of subjects including: restaurant scenes, animals, human forms and faces, boats, and especially Greek Orthodox religious figures and practices.
Medium Sketchbooks: This series consists of twenty-two sketchbooks, ranging in size from 6 by 9 inches to 9 by 12 inches, completed between 1977 and 2009. Some of the themes depicted in the drawings are: restaurants, dogs, horses, wrestling, daily life activities, Karres' family, and characters like Greektown Stella, International Cowboy, and performers that could be found in Detroit's Greektown.
Large Sketchbooks: This series consists of forty-seven sketchbooks, ranging in size from 11 by 14 inches to 14 by 17 inches. Although the drawings in this section were completed between 1955 and 1991, the majority of the images were executed in the 1980s. Some of the themes reflected in these sketchbooks are: human forms, restaurant scenes, tug boats, factories, weightlifting, performances, Detroit's Greektown, vacations, and Karres' aging parents.
Miscellaneous: The items in this series consist of letters, news articles, exhibition catalogs, a flyer, an awards booklet, and photocopies of photographs. These assorted materials that range in date from the late 1950s to 2004, were donated by Sam Karres' friend, Denny Starvos to the University of Michigan's Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library for the Modern Greek Studies Collection on September 28, 2012. They are arranged in numerical order according to the numbers Starvos assigned to them.
- Biographical / Historical:
-
Sam Karres was born to John and Evridiki Karres in Wyandotte, Michigan on June 17, 1929. He had one older brother, George, whom is often depicted in Karres' drawings. Karres earned a B.A. and a M.F.A. in art at Wayne University (Wayne State University), graduating in 1953. After being stationed with the Army for two years in Alaska during the Korean War, Karres was employed by General Motors in their styling department and then went onto work as an illustrator for Ford Motor Company for the next twenty-four and a half years. Because he had been a saavy investor in the stock market and was offered an early retirement package, Karres was alble to dedicate himself to creating fine art after 1980, which included oil paintings, sculptures, etchings, watercolors, and drawings. The collection held by the University of Michigan laregely consists of sketches and watercolors depicting ordinary life in Detroit, particularly Greektown scenes. Karres had begun frequenting Greektown on nights and wekends in 1979, but after his retirement, he was free to observe this cultural neighborhood every afternoon and night, becoming a Denny Stravos has noted, the Toulouse Lautrec of Greektown. Over the years, Karres has had his works featured in numerous exhibits and included in publications such as James F. Bloch's 2001 book entitiled Sam Karres: Urban Expressionist. Karres married fellow artist, Diana in 1989.
Sources:
Bloch, James F. Sam Karres: Urban Expressionist. Ottawa:Centaur Books, 2001.
Companion to the 37 sketchbooks of Sam Karres' drawings donated by Karres to the University of Michigan, Hatcher Graduate Library for The Modern Greek Studies Collection on December 9, 2011.
Companion to the second group of 20 sketchbooks of Sam Karres' drawings donated by Karres to the University of Michigan, Hatcher Graduate Library for The Modern Greek Studies Collection on September 12, 2012.
Companion to the third group of 29 sketch books of Sam Karres' drawings donated by Karres to the University of Michigan, Hatcher Graduate Library forThe Modern Greek Studies Collection on June 20, 2013.
- Rules or Conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
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