This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
This small collection of Bach's professional papers contains primarily correspondence and papers related to his consulting work for the American Institute of Interior Designers and his correspondence with UNESCO and other organizations regarding laws against design piracy. The collection also contains correspondence, notes, and clippings concerning his research on industrial design topics, including the value of better design in industry, an ideal industrial design school, and specialized museums serving industries. Also included in the collection are typescripts and published copies of some of Bach's writings and lectures.
Materials are arranged in two series. Folders in the General series are arranged alphabetically and contain Bach's reference, research, consulting, and association/committee papers. Folders in the Writings and Presentations series are arranged chronologically.
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Columbia University is providing access to the materials in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.
Richard F. Bach Papers. Located in the Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
Associated Materials--A collection of Richard's Bach's papers is also held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Institutional Archives.
Source of acquisition--Gift of Richard Bach's family. Accession number--1967.003.
Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
This collection was processed by Susan Graham, Graduate Student Intern, Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, in 2009.
Born in 1888, Richard F. Bach became known as a supporter of collaboration between museums and the industrial arts and as an advocate for value of aesthetics in industrial production, a concept he termed "Art in Industry." He received his A.B. from Columbia University in 1909, was the Acting Librarian of Avery Library from 1918 to 1920, and held curatorial and education positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1918 to 1952. During the latter 1940s, Bach corresponded with United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's copyright division, seeking support and guidance for design copyright legislation in the United States. From 1952 to 1961, he served as an educational advisor to the American Institute of Interior Designers. He was a prolific writer and lecturer, publishing numerous articles about American industrial art and a book entitled Museums and the Industrial World (1926). Bach died in his home in the Bronx in 1968.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.