John Loring papers, 1961-2020
Summary Information
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- MS#2034
- Bib ID:
- 15264625 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Loring, John
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 18 Linear Feet (31 boxes (16 legal ms boxes; 1 legal 1/2 ms box; 1 letter 1/2 ms box; 5 letter ms boxes; 2 tall ms boxes; 4 14x18 flat boxes; 3 16x20 flat boxes; 1 mapcase folder))
- Language(s):
- English .
- Access:
- 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.
-
The following boxes are located off-site: Boxes 1-32. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Description
Content Description
The John Loring papers consist of correspondence, photographs, articles by and about him, and other materials that document his long and storied life. This includes his own work as an artist, and interior and garden designer, and his long tenure as Design Director of Tiffany & Co. where one of his most celebrated designs is the Atlas Series.
The collection also documents his wide range of friends and admirers, including such European royalty as Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark and her sister, Queen Anna Maria of Greece; his work with Jacqueline Kennedy when she served as editor of a number of his books on Tiffany published by Doubleday; actors, artists and celebrities such as Bette Davis, Joseph Losey, Ray Johnson, and "Ultra Violet"; and his own extensive work as a journalist including a comprehensive group of his writings for Architectural Digest.
Arrangement
- Series I: John Loring Photo Biography and Autobiography
- Series II: John Loring Art
- Series III: John Loring's and Others' Design Work for Tiffany
- Series IV: Correspondence and Materials Relating to Nobility, Actors and Actresses, Celebrities, and Art World
- Series V: John Loring Press
- Series VI: Ukraine Russia, 1961
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
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.
The following boxes are located off-site: Boxes 1-32. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Single photocopies 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.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Loring Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Related Materials
Loring's other major gift to RBML is the archive of his grandfather's circus, The Burr Robbins Circus Collection.
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
Material not rehoused. Arranged by Jenny Lee, 2022. Finding aid assembled by Kevin Schlottmann, 2023.
Separated Materials
Selected books were removed from the collection and cataloged.
Biographical / Historical
John Loring is Design Director Emeritus of Tiffany & Co., where he was Design Director from 1979 until his retirement in 2009. Along with his numerous books about Tiffany's and art in general, he wrote the definitive book about Joseph Urban, based and fully illustrated in large measure with high quality reproductions from the RBML Urban archive, published by Abrams in 2010.
He received a BA in English Literature from Yale University in 1960, but turned to art while continuing his studies for four more years at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Since 1964, his own prints, paintings, and collages have been exhibited in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere.
Along with his published books, John Loring has written extensively on art and design for major journal publications, including Architectural Digest, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and many others, as found in his archive.
The Loring archive is also a testimony to the wide range of his friends and admirers, from European royalty to Jacqueline Kennedy, art world greats such as Peggy Guggenheim, Ray Johnson, Harry Benson, Harold Pinter, and Joseph Losey, as well as the designers with whom he has worked at Tiffany including Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso.
Subject Headings
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.
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