Ray Johnson Collections

Once described as New York’s “most famous unknown artist,” Ray Johnson (1927-1995) was a renowned and prolific maker of collages and a pioneering figure in the worlds of Pop, Fluxus, Conceptual Art, and performance. The founder and impresario of the first international mail art network, the New York Correspondence School (NYCS), established in 1962, Johnson treated social interactions, whether live or conducted via the postal service, as a type of artistic endeavor.

After studying at Black Mountain College from 1945 through 1948, Johnson settled in New York City. There, he established himself as a painter of geometric abstractions while also pursuing a career in graphic design. By the mid-1950s he had destroyed much of his early work and was producing a type of collage he called “moticos” (a nonsensical anagram of the word “osmotic”), which could be hung on the wall, mailed in envelopes, or featured in impromptu performances. As the collages evolved and began to incorporate images of celebrities—including Elvis Presley, James Dean, and Shirley Temple—Johnson found himself at the forefront of what would become known as Pop Art. Later, by organizing and choreographing the activities of the NYCS, he participated in the burgeoning Fluxus movement whose interdisciplinary activities blurred the boundaries between art and everyday life. For the remainder of his career, until his death in 1995, Johnson cultivated a position for himself that would be both inside and outside the art world: extraordinarily well-networked but critically savvy and always resistant to the structures and constraints of traditional art spaces.

Note on processing status abbreviations:

• [P] = Processed and available for patron use.
• [PAR] = Partially processed; may be available for patron use upon the consent of the archivist.
• [U] = Unprocessed and unavailable for patron use.
  

Keystone Collection

William S. Wilson Collection of Ray Johnson, c.1920-c.2016 (bulk 1960-1980)

Approx. 50 linear feet [PAR] The William S. Wilson Collection of Ray Johnson, acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018, was partially exhibited by the museum in the exhibition Ray Johnson ℅ (November 26, 2021–March 21, 2022). This collection of approximately 50 linear feet documents the life and career of Johnson, with particular strengths in the 1960s and 1970s. The collection, assembled over six decades by Johnson’s longtime friend, collaborator, and self-proclaimed “archivist,” William “Bill” S. Wilson III (1932-2016), comprises the original archives of the New York Correspondence School, along with Wilson’s later additions. It includes original collages, design flyers, mail art, letters, photographs, and more, most of which Wilson arranged in more than 170 3-ring binders.

In preparation for Ray Johnson ℅, the binders were ‘rapid scanned’ (i.e., low-resolution files, in situ, with no post-production). In April 2023, the Art Institute Archives initiated a one-year project to complete item-level (i.e., sleeve) cataloging and description of all 171 binders in an Airtable database. This project was led by Jessica Smith, Archivist, and Sofia Canale-Parola, Ray Johnson Project Cataloger.

• Airtable Database - View the fully digitized and cataloged binders from the Wilson Collection online.
• Finding Aid
  

Ray Johnson Movie Star Collages

Approx. 2 linear feet [U] In the last five years of Johnson’s life, he created large-scale, totemic collages that have been known as “movie star collages” for their incorporation of celebrity likenesses and popular printed matter. 26 of these works were donated to the museum in 2022 as archival resources to compliment our other Ray Johnson study collections. Examples of these works can be seen in the Morgan Library & Museum’s exhibition PLEASE SEND TO REAL LIFE: Ray Johnson Photographs.

Ray Johnson Object and Ephemera Collection

Approx. 0.5 linear foot [U] A small collection of miscellaneous objects and ephemera related to Ray Johnson. Includes postcards, zines and gallery guides.

Judith Kirshner Collection of Ray Johnson

Approx. 0.5 linear foot [U] 13 mailers and letters received by Kirshner from Ray Johnson circa 1977. These materials relate to a proposed exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Also includes a Feigen Gallery poster brochure and an MCA “Words at Liberty” brochure.

Millicent Safro Collection of Ray Johnson

Approx. 2.5 linear feet [U] Millicent “Malka” Safro joined Diana Epstein in managing the Tender Buttons store on East 77th Street in New York City shortly after its opening in 1964, eventually becoming a partner in the business. Johnson was hired to design the store logo, subsequently adopting the “Tender Button” as one of his signature motifs. Safro, who had been corresponding with Johnson since the mid-1950s, would continue to be a frequent reference in his work. This collection includes collages, mail-art, prints, papers, assemblages, books, papers, exhibition documents, source materials, objects, ephemera, correspondence and other materials given to Millicent Safro by Ray Johnson.

Sybil Shearer Collection of Ray Johnson, 1951-1956 (bulk 1955-1956)

Approx. 0.6 linear foot [P] In 1955, dancer Sybil Shearer (1912-2005) received from Ray Johnson 30 of his “moticos” through the mail. These early collages and collage fragments, referred to as “Taoist Collages,” remained in Shearer’s collection throughout her life. Originally created to be used in performances, the collages sent to Shearer represent some of the earliest cut paper compositions of Johnson’s career. The collection includes 47 total objects, including the moticos, 8 broadsides, 5 envelopes and 2 letters. On this collection see “Ray Johnson’s Elusive Dream: ‘I Want to Dance’,” by former Art Institute Mellon COSI Research Fellow, Modern and Contemporary Art, Jenny Harris.

• Finding Aid
• Images
  

Daniel M. Wells Collection of Ray Johnson

Approx. 1.7 linear feet [U] Documentation related to Ray Johnson’s New York Correspondence School exhibition and Valentine’s Day performance at Western Illinois University in 1974. Includes 2 three-ring binders of original works and correspondence as well as 4 magazines.

Karl Wirsum Collection of Ray Johnson

Approx. 2 linear feet [U] of original mail art correspondence between Ray Johnson and Karl Wirsum.

Contact the Archives

• Via our Contact and Application for Access form
• Email: archives@artic.edu
  

Curatorial Collections

Ray Johnson Collection—Department of Modern and Contemporary Art

• Approx. 1 object. View online.
• Contact the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at collections@artic.edu.

Ray Johnson Collection—Department of Prints and Drawings

• Approx. 87 objects. View online. Collages from the William S. Wilson Collection of Ray Johnson and the collection of Toby R. Spiselman, among others.
• Contact the Department of Prints and Drawings at pdstudy@artic.edu.
  

Related Resources

AIC artist page for Ray Johnson

Ray Johnson c/o

“New York’s Most Famous Unknown Artist”: Getting to Know Ray Johnson

The Art of Friendship: Two Collages in the William S. Wilson Collection of Ray Johnson

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Correspondence Art

Ray Johnson and the Last Dance of the Taoist Collages