Micaela Martinez Du Casse Letters, Papers, and Art.

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The Bohemian World of Xavier Martinez

By Turner Auctions + Appraisals LLC

Feb 25, 2023

Set Reminder 2023-02-25 13:30:00 2023-02-25 13:30:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : The Bohemian World of Xavier Martinez https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/turner-auctions/the-bohemian-world-of-xavier-martinez-12193
Turner Auctions + Appraisals LLC sturner@turnerauctionsonline.com

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• Lot Description
  [DU CASSE, MICAELA MARTINEZ.] A large archive of ephemera relating to Micaela Martinez and her family, including photographs (1910s-1950s); numerous letters (1930s-1980s); art (c. 1930s-1960s), and other miscellaneous papers. The lot includes: - PHOTOGRAPHS: Approx. 130 snapshots of young Kai, Elsie and Xavier Martinez, and friends in Piedmont and Carmel, 1910s-1920s, in a partially filled "album"; Approx. 100 snapshots, Piedmont and Carmel, 1940s-1950s, showing Kai and Ralph Du Casse, family and friends; and 10+ larger prints of Kai, Ralph, their children, Kai's Piedmont studio, etc. - JOURNALS: Six diary journals, 1936-1940, and 1942. All pages are densely filled with her neat script and are headed both Piedmont and Carmel, where she moved with Elsie and Harriet Dean in 1939. She writes of her art classes, her religious and artistic interests, her parents and Dean, and all the activities and people of her day-to-day life. Together with a later Egypt/London travel journal, 1979. - PHOTOGRAPHS: Approx. 130 snapshots of young Kai, Elsie and Xavier Martinez, and friends in Piedmont and Carmel, 1910s-1920s, in a partially filled "album"; approx. 100 snapshots, Piedmont and Carmel, 1940s-1950s, showing Kai and Ralph Du Casse, family and friends; and 10+ larger prints of Kai, Ralph, their children, Kai's Piedmont studio, etc. - LETTERS: Approx. 300+ letters, appearing to mostly be from the 1940s to the 1980s. Most are in envelopes, but there are several single envelopes stuffed with multiple and voluminous typed letters (1940s and later) from Elsie and Harriet (Pal and Pellie). There are letters sent from Mexico, which appear to be from Martinez relatives, and many other chatty letters from family, friends, and associates. (Contained in a vintage paper-covered wood trunk, 10 3/4in x 20 1/2in x 10 1/4in).  - ARTWORK: A few dozen pieces of loose art (a few works/portraits by others, possibly incl. Virginia S. Hale); sketches/plans for mural artworks, c. 1930s-1940s; a 1930s sketchbook of gesture drawings; a 1960s sketchbook; a 1970s sketchbook; and an oil on canvas board of the Sacred Heart and Crucifixion (10in x 8in); board canvas very warped. - PAPERS: Numerous miscellaneous papers and ephemera relating to Kai's education, art, and career; including a bound copy of an oral history interview of Helen Oldfield, conducted by Kai and Ruth Cravath, titled "Otis Oldfield and the San Francisco Art Community, 1920s to 1960s" (UCB 1981, Copy No. 4). Also included, Kai's papers related to activities with the Catholic Theater Guild and National Council of Catholic Women, and other assorted ephemera. NOTE: The wood trunk makes the lot somewhat heavy for shipping. Micaela Martinez (1913-1989), known as Kai, was the daughter of Xavier "Marty" Martinez and Elsie Whitaker and grew up in the Piedmont Hills amidst her parents' artistic Bohemian milieu. In 1923, after returning from a European year+ abroad with Harriet Dean, Elsie and Kai moved in with Dean, who had a house nearby the Martinez home. From that time onward she was raised by the pair (known as "Pal" and "Pellie"), but the three remained a close family unit with Marty Martinez until his death. Kai began drawing as a child with her father, and as a young girl developed an interest in religious/Catholic themes. As a teenager, she took classes at the California School of Arts and Crafts (CCAC/CCA) in Oakland, and with sculptor Ralph Stackpole at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. She also studied with muralist Victor Arnautauff, and later stonework with Ruth Cravath. Following her studies, she painted the library murals for the Franciscans in San Francisco, painted fresco murals for the seminarian's library at the San Luis Rey Mission, created Stations of the Cross paintings and sculptures for the cloisters of the Franciscan Sisters, and altar/mural at the U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Monterey. She was also a stagecraft artist/set painter, and later taught liturgical art classes at the San Francisco College for Women at Lone Mountain, and lectured at Holy Names University in Oakland. In 1944 she married painter Ralph Du Casse, and had two daughters. They eventually divorced, and Kai remained at the family's Piedmont house, where she maintained her studio to the end of her life. From the Family of Xavier Martinez (1869-1943), Elsie Whitaker Martinez (1890-1984), and Micaela Martinez Du Casse (1913-1989).
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