Marian Field Collection, 1936-1982 (inclusive); 1936-1941 (bulk)
Field, Marian, 1885-1957?
2.75 cubic feet (apx. 200 drawings)



Scope and Content Note
The Marian Field Collection consists of four series. The first series, which constitutes most of the collection, consists of 193 pen and ink drawings of twigs of Oregon woody plants in the spring and summer. They were drawn as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project between 1936 and 1941 for Frank Sipe, a botanist at the University of Oregon who had hoped to publish a book using the drawings. Series two consists of other artworks made by Field, and include a painting of the mushroom, Lactarius rufus; a composite of 15 hand-colored photographs of the twig drawings, ca. 1941; and pen and ink drawings of Arctostaphylos genus twigs. Series three contains correspondence pertaining to Sipe's book project, 1936-1938, and a biographical sketch of Field done by her daughter in 1982. Series four consists of text panels from a University of Oregon exhibit of Field's drawings from about 1982.

Provenance
After Field created the drawings, they presumably were sent to the University of Oregon, where they ultimately became part of that institution's herbarium. The Field Collection came to Corvallis when the University of Oregon and Oregon State University herbaria were combined in 1993 at OSU. The collection was transferred to the OSU Archives in December 1998.

Biographical Note
Marian Rorapaugh was born in the Dakota territory on November 7, 1885. After attending the Cincinnati Art Institute, she married William B. Field. Marian Field was the head of the University of North Dakota Art Dept. from 1905 to 1909, and attended the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts in 1909. After the Fields moved to Eugene, Oregon, in 1910, she set up a china painting business. She attended the University of Oregon, earning a B.A. in fine arts in 1930, and did graduate work from 1931 to 1933. From 1929 to 1933 Field was also an assistant in the university's art and architecture library.

From 1939 to 1942 Field directed the Salem Art Center as part of a Works Progress Administration project. After funding for the center was cut, she became an instructor in the Art Department at Oregon State College in October 1942. At OSC, Field taught classes in pen sketching, pencil sketching, color and composition, fashion illustration and scientific illustration. She also taught painting and sketching at the Homemaker's Camp during the summer. Field retired from Oregon State as Professor Emeritus of Art in July 1951, and moved to Berkeley, California, to be near her daughter's family.

Related Materials
A portrait photograph of Marian Field is located at Harriet's Collection #1883. Other botanical drawings can be found in the Helen M. Gilkey Papers.

Shelf Locations
SR 6/7/5/a-f (18.5x14.5 oversize boxes)

Inventory

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