Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
This collection is located on-site.
The collection consists of roughly 3,500-4,000 drawings, as well as sketchbooks, correspondence, and some framed work. It is also primarily in ink on paper, although there is some color and some grey wash. There are a small number of political cartoons, but the majority of the collection is reportorial and observational: Puerto Rican Rights demonstrations in the lobby of the Daily News in 1972; Chinese Opera at Brooklyn College; the 1980 Democratic National Convention; scenes from the Manhattan House of Detention (aka "The Tombs") in the 1970s; the East Harlem Protestant Parish (established in 1948 by graduates of Union Theological Seminary); flophouse denizens on the Bowery. There is also a small cache of photographs and correspondence.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
This collection is located on-site.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Manuscripts/University Archivist, Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML). The RBML approves permission to publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Joseph W. Papin Collection; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Gift of Jane Papin, 2019.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Joseph Papin (1931-1992) was a reportorial artist and political cartoonist. Originally from the midwest, he came to New York in the late 1950s, and got his first job as an illustrator in an article for Harper's Magazine in 1958. As a freelancer, his illustrations appeared in every major periodical in America: from Newsweek to Forbes, American Heritage to The National Review. Eventually, he became a staff artist at the New York Daily News. He illustrated books, worked as a courtroom artist, but also wandered around New York City, drawing what he saw.
While Papin was in the military in the mid-1950s, he worked for the Army Pictorial Center, making training films, but he also documented his surroundings in drawings. He was a highly-regarded artist, winning an award for Excellence in Reportorial Coverage from the Society of Publication Designers in 1968, and Page One Awards from the Newspaper Guild of New York in 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1987, and 1988. He also won Outstanding Artist of the Year for Reportorial Art from the New York Press Club in 1987. His work was exhibited in both solo and group shows nearly two dozen times between 1959 and 1991.
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.
| Subject | ||
|---|---|---|
| Political cartoons -- United States | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |