The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Ellis, Estelle.
Title: Research papers for At Home with
Art
Dates: circa 1996-2000
Call No.: Doc. 927
Acc. No.: 13x121
Quantity: 6 boxes
Location:
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Estelle Ellis (Rubinstein) was a writer, magazine
producer, and marketing specialist. She
graduated from Hunter College in New York City in 1940 and went to work for a
magazine publisher. In 1944, she served
as promotion director for the new magazine Seventeen. Although Mrs. Rubinstein did not invent the
concept of “teenager,” she was among the first to encourage marketing to that
age group. After 5 years, she left Seventeen to help establish the magazine
Charm, which was aimed at working
women. Again, she encouraged advertisers
to develop marketing campaigns aimed specifically at this group. After Charm
was bought out by its competitor Glamour,
Mrs. Rubinstein founded Business Image, Inc., dedicated -- in her words – “to helping business understand the impact
of social change on business trends.” This marketing agency included Condé Nast publications
among its clients; she worked with the editors to make sure they understood how
consumers were changing.
In later life, Mrs. Rubinstein co-wrote books: At Home with Books (1995), At Home with Art (1999), The Booklover’s Repair Manual (2000), and
Cipe Pineles (2005). Mrs. Rubinstein published her works under the
name Estelle Ellis. She planned to write
a book about conservators and their work, but it was not published. She was born in New York City in 1919, the
daughter of Peter and Bessie Ellis.
Peter Ellis, who repaired sewing machines, was born in Russia, Bessie
Ellis in England. Estelle Ellis was
married to Sam Rubinstein; they had two children. She died on July 1, 2012.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
Papers generated for the book At Home with Art, which Mrs. Rubinstein co-authored with Caroline
Seebohm and Christopher Simon Sykes (photographer). This book was published by Clarkson Potter in
1999. Included in this collection are
the cassette tapes of interviews with various collectors, artists, and
curators, transcripts of those tapes, drafts of the text, publicity material
for the book, a few photographs, and some correspondence, including letters
from people who were included in the book.
Of note are interviews with various artists about their interactions
with the collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel.
There is also some personal information about Mrs. Rubinstein.
ORGANIZATION
The transcripts are arranged alphabetically by name
of interviewee. The files about the publication
of the book are follow the transcripts.
The cassette tapes are in separate boxes.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Gift
of Nora J. Rubinstein and Ellis Rubinstein, children of Estelle Ellis
Rubinstein.
RELATED MATERIALS
Papers pertaining to Mrs. Rubinstein’s marketing
work are found at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History :
Estelle Ellis papers, 1942-2004.
An autographed copy of At Home with Art is found in the Winterthur Library.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Vogel, Dorothy.
Vogel, Herbert.
Topics:
Art – Collectors and
collecting.
Art – Private collections – United States.
Added title:
At Home with Art
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location:
Box 1:
Folder 1: Abrams,
George
Folder 2: Albee,
Edward
Folder 3: Ashbery,
John
Folder 4: Axelrod,
John
Folder 5: Bartlett,
Jennifer
Folder 6: Cernuda,
Ramon and Nercys
Folder 7: Commoner,
Lucy (textile conservator)
Folder 8: Cox,
Madison
Folder 9: Davidson,
Joan
Folder 10: Dell,
Bunny
Folder 11: Diker,
Charles
Folders 12-13: Dragon,
Ted, including Ossorio Foundation
Folder 14: Epstein,
Sarah G., and family
Folder 15: Friedman,
B. H. and Abby
Folder 16: Friedman-Kien,
Dr.
Box 2:
Folder 1: Gilman,
Sondra, and Gonzalez-Falla, Celso
Folder 2: Gund,
Agnes
[see
also Lopez, Sonia; and Shapiro, Daniel]
Folder 3: Huberm
Ulla (Lois and George de Menil)
Folder 4: Harrisberg,
Halley, and Rosenfeld, Michael
Folder 5: Hechinger,
John and June
Folder 6: Hennessey,
Richard
Folder 7: Jacobs,
Roz
Folder 8: Katcher,
Jane and Gerald
Folder 9: Kerschenblatt
and Gimblatt: photos
Folder 10: Kislak,
Jean and Jay
Folder 11: Lau,
Rex, and Mayo, Diane (with Micki Denhof)
Folder 12: LeSueur,
Joe
Folder 13: Livingston,
Maria and Henry
Folder 14: Lopez,
Sonia [Gund curator]
[see
also Gund, Agnes; and Shapiro, Daniel]
Box 3:
Folder 1: Mallin,
Sherri and Joel
Folder 2: Mangold,
Sylvia and Robert
Folder 3: Margulies,
Martin Z.
Folder 4: Menil,
Lois and George de
Folder 5: Miller,
Rosetta and Sam
Folder 6: Nivola,
Ruth, Clare, and Pietro
Folder 7: Ottavino,
Kate, and Ottavino Stoneworks: photos
Folder 8: Phillips,
Tom
Folder 9: Polsky,
Cynthia Hazen
Folder 10: Railey,
H. B. Randolph (Randy) and Sue
Folder 11: Rambush,
Catha Grace
Folder 12: Rijper,
Els
Folder 13: Rosenblum,
Robert, and Kaplowitz, Jane
Folder 14: Rosse,
Bonnie and Thomas
Folder 15: Ruwitch,
Francien and Lee
Folder 16: Sanders,
Timothy Greenfield
Folder 17: Shack,
Ruth and Richard
Folder 18: Shapiro,
Daniel, and Gund, Agnes
[see
also Gund, Agnes; and Lopez, Sonia]
Folder 19: Sharf,
Jean and Frederic
Folder 20: Smith,
Phillip
Folder 21: ten
Haeff, Ingeborg, and Githens, John
Box 4:
Folder 1: Thaw,
Clare and Eugene
Folder 2: Thomas,
Jonathan
Folder 3: Tuttle,
Richard
Folder 4: van
Dyke, Harry
Folder 5: Vogel,
Dorothy and Herbert: interview with them
Folder 6: Vogel,
Dorothy and Herbert: interviews with others about them
Folder 7: miscellaneous
notes
Folder 8: Book
proposal, correspondence with publisher (Clarkson Potter), etc.
Folder 9: Correspondence:
personal letters about book At Home with
Art
Folder 10: drafts
of book
Folder 11: publicity
for At Home with Art
Folder 12: Bresnan,
Joseph and Adrienne: correspondence
[not
about At Home with Art]
Folder 13: Rubinstein,
Estelle Ellis: personal
Folder 14: Winterthur
and MOMA: conservation labs: photos
Boxes 5-6: cassette tapes of interviews
(most of these are mini-cassette tapes)