Gino E. Conti Collection, 1928-1973

(bulk 1958-1973)

Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology
Brown University
300 Tower Street
Bristol, RI 02809
Tel: (401) 863-5700
email: haffenreffermuseum@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	Gino E. Conti Collection
Date range:	1928-1973, 1958-1973
Creator:	Gino Emilio Conti, 1900-1983
Extent:	3.2 Linear feet
Abstract:	The photographic collection encompasses the years of 1958 until 1973 and documents Rhode Island artist Gino Conti's travels in the American southwest and northern Mexico, primarily on American Indian reservations. It consists of over 3,700 photographic prints, negatives and slides, a disbound photo album and calendar pages used to record the locations of his travels. The collection also includes a box of postcards, a letter, newspaper clippings, art exhibition flyers, images of religious art and architecture, a reference book on the Tarahumana signed by Conti and a related ethnographic collection.
Physical location:	Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology Collections and Research Center 300 Tower Road Bristol, Rhode Island 02809 Phone: (401) 863-5700 Email: haffenreffermuseum@brown.edu
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology
Collection number:	GEC

Scope & content

Rhode Island artist and photographer Gino E. Conti took over 3,700 photographs in the summers of 1958, 1962-1965, and 1969-1973 primarily on the Hopi, Apache and Navaho (Dine) reservations, and included visits to northern Mexico. During these travels Conti also collected a large number of Hopi Katsina dolls (including a large sample by artist Wilson Tawaquaptewa) blankets, pottery and other objects. The ethnographic collection and photographs along with accompanying materials were bequeathed to the museum after Conti's death in 1983. The collection also includes a number of items not related to the photographic collection such as postcards, religious and architectural images, newspaper clippings and a few exhibition flyers featuring Conti’s work.

Access Points

Occupations

• Artists -- Rhode Island

Subject Topics

• Social Life and Customs

Arrangement

Collection is arranged into five series by collection number and type of materials.

• Series 1. Photographs, slides and negatives
• Series 2. Correspondence
• Series 3. Art Ephemera
• Series 4. Printed materials
• Series 5. Ethnographic collection

Biographical note

Born in Barga, Italy in 1900, Conti emigrated with his parents to Providence, Rhode Island in 1903. Upon graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1923, he was awarded two scholarships to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and Academie Julian, both in Paris, France. During his time in Europe he also resided at the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria del Monte in Cesana, Italy. During the Great Depression in the late 1930s, he received contracts through the Works Progress Administration to paint two murals in Rhode Island; one at Samuel Slater Junior High School, Pawtucket and the second at Edwards Hall at the University of Rhode Island, Kingstown. During the late 1950s through the early 1970s, Conti began photographing people on the Hopi, Apache and Navaho (Dine) Reservations, and the Tarahumana people of Northern Mexico. He also taught Art at the Gordon School in Providence in the 1950s and 60s. After his death in 1983, over 3,700 photographs, a large Katsina doll collection and a number of objects from American Southwest, Northern Mexico and elsewhere were bequeathed to the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology in Bristol, Rhode Island.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	All responsible investigators shall have access to the collection for legitimate research and study, subject to procedures necessary to safeguard the objects and to restrictions required by limitations of normal operating hours, exhibition requirements, available study space and facilities, and the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology staff time.
Use of the materials:	Costs of reproducing documentary materials and photographs may be charged to investigators. No distinctions in such charges shall be made on the basis of the value or rarity of the original materials. Methods of reproduction may be limited if necessary to protect the originals from possible damage.
Preferred citation:	Gino E. Conti Collection, GEC, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University
Contact information:	Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology Brown University 300 Tower Street Bristol, RI 02809 Tel: (401) 863-5700 email: haffenreffermuseum@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Bequeathed to the Haffenreffer Museum by the Estate of Gino E. Conti in 1985.
Processing information:	Photographic slides cataloged in 1997. Collection arranged and described by Anthony M. Belz, July 2013.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared and encoded by Anthony M. Belz
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit2013
Descriptive rules:	Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material:

Related Collections The Gino E. Conti Papers at the Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division.

Alternative guide:

Conti, Gino E. (1945, May 13). First Congregational Children Trained. The Providence Sunday Journal. Providence, Rhode Island. Gino Emilio Conti. Obituary. (1983, February 9). Providence Evening Bulletin. Providence, Rhode Island. p. C2. Loveridge, G.Y. (1954, April 11). Penelope Court. Rhode Islander: Providence Sunday Journal Magazine. Providence Sunday Journal. Providence, Rhode Island. p. 2-7. Narsavage, David A. (1976, June 20). Gino Conti painted his life in bold strokes. The Providence Sunday Journal. Providence, Rhode Island. Stewart, Robert W. (1978, October 31). Desert treasure migrates inside. Providence Journal-Bulletin. Providence, Rhode Island. p. 3G. Tortolano, W. (2007) Rediscovering the art of Gino Conti. Ambassador Magazine. National Italian-American Federation. Winter 2007. p. 30-34. Van Siclen, Bill. (2007, December 23). On the trail of Providence artist Gino Conti. Providence Journal. Providence, Rhode Island.

Inventory

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