Bard College Archives and Special Collections
Created by John Ohrenberger ‘16, September 2014 – December 2015
Collection Summary:
This collection consists of material from Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo detailing their journeys to
Latin America, their professional work as artists and educators, and personal business and correspondence. It includes letters, personal writings, biographical material, speeches, press clippings, and rare publications which document both Rogo and Hirsch’s artistic careers. A significant amount of photographs, negatives, and pictorial memorabilia depict their travels in Latin
America. The collection also includes a significant gift of artwork, which includes sketches, prints, watercolors, and mixed media work by Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo, as well as work by other artists.
The collection was processed in conjunction with an exhibition titled Precisely Not: Works from the
Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Collection; the curatorial files are included as an addition to this collection.
Related Materials:
DeVito, Joan. Senior Project at Bard College, 1981. Stefan Hirsch : an essay, catalogue, and chronology. In
Bard College Senior Project Collection, for access contact Stevenson Library.
Hirsch, Stefan. Report on Art at Bard College. 1947. In Bardiana Collection, Stevenson Library. Call
Number: N330 .A6
Other paintings by Stefan Hirsch owned by Bard College are held at the Center for Curatorial
Studies (not held by Bard College Archives). For more information, contact the Museum Registrar,
Hessel Museum, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.
“Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers” at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.
Contact Information
Helene Tieger, College Archivist
Stevenson Library Archives and Special Collections
1 Library Road
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
(845) 758-7396

Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers: Finding Aid 2
Biographical Note:
Stefan Hirsch (1899-1964) was a professor of painting at Bard College beginning in 1942 until his retirement in 1960. He was born in 1899 in Germany, where he began studying art. In 1917, he immigrated to the United States. After studying with Hamilton Easter Field, he became associated with the Precisionist movement in American art, which included artists such as Charles Sheeler,
George Ault, Joseph Stella, and Charles Demuth, among others. Like many of this group from the
1920s and 1930s, Hirsch received acclaim for his clean, geometric, and mechanistic style then in vogue as a result of rise of modernist art in the United States. In 1930 in New York City, he married
Elsa Rogo, an artist and noted photojournalist. Together, they spent an extended honeymoon in
Mexico, visiting pre-Columbian sites and befriending artists like Diego Rivera, David Alfaro
Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente Orozco. Hirsch and Rogo travelled between the United States and
Latin America for the remainder of Hirsch’s life. Hirsch continued painting and printmaking, while
Rogo worked as a photojournalist and teacher. In the 1930s, he was involved in the New Deal Arts programs, and taught mural painting and art criticism at Bennington College and the Art Students
League. In 1942, Stefan Hirsch accepted a teaching appointment in painting at Bard College, where he led the Division of the Arts. Together with Rogo, he taught at Bard until his retirement in 1960.
In 1961 he was granted the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Bard College. He passed away in 1964. After his death, Elsa Rogo stayed in contact with the College, and donated much of their material and artwork to its collections. Hirsch’s first retrospective exhibition occurred in 1964 at Bard College, and another was organized at the Phillips Collection in 1977.
Original Order:
The donation of the Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers accompanied the gift of several of Hirsch’s paintings to Bard College in 2004. The collecting practices of the original owners are unknown; however the structure of the collection indicated that Hirsch and Rogo kept a large volume of material which was organized in different ways over a long period of time.
All of Series I: Papers was contained in a large cardboard box that likely accompanied the original donation. Most of the papers were housed in subject folders. There was no discernable original order for this donation – standards for naming folders seem to change over time and previous order was not maintained in the gift. However, the original names of the folders have been preserved and any changes for the sake of clarity have been noted at the end of this finding aid (a physical copy of these changes is also included at the beginning of Series I: Papers). Series II: Photographs was rearranged and rehoused in an earlier, partial processing of the gift and their present order is nonoriginal (the original collection seems to have split between the Bard College Archives and the
Archives of American Art). Series III: Artwork is housed in a flat-file cabinet according to size, however the object’s original order may be re-determined by their accession number – 1.001 indicates the first object in Portfolio 1, 2.001 is the first object in Portfolio 2, etc.
Condition and Preservation:
Series I: Papers and Series II: Photographs are stable and are held in acid-free folders. Upon processing, significant parts of Series III: Artwork were assessed with mold damage. The original order of this series, Portfolios 1-3, included large, deteriorating, board paneled portfolios in which these artworks are thought to have been housed for a significant amount of time. Many parts of the series were cleaned using spore elimination and temperature-controlled techniques intended stop mold growth.

Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers: Finding Aid 3
Restrictions on Access:
Access will be determined by the College Archivist according to the nature of the request and the availability of materials. Series I: Papers is likely available to be viewed in their original format. Series
II: Photographs has been completely digitized and researchers should consult digital files before viewing originals. Requests to view from Series III: Artwork will be determined according to the state of materials and the availability to make viewing arrangements. Some parts of Series III:
Artwork are not available for consultation because of damage and mold growth explained above. A small part of the collection that has been exhibited has also been digitized and is available on the
Bard College Archive’s ARTStor Shared Shelf Collection as well as the Bard College Archives website.

Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers: Finding Aid
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1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
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Contents
Series 1: Papers
Box Folder
1
1
1
2
1
1
3
4
10
11
8
9
12
5
6
7
15
16
17
13
14
Title
Art Students League of New York
Bard College – Art in Lisboa (misc.)
Bard College – Business (1954-1959)
Bard College – Conference – Art in Liberal
Education
Bard College – Criticism of Student Papers
Bard College – Felix Hirsch Resignation
Bard College – Martha Graham Lecture
Bard College – Poster Controversy
Bard College – Publications
Bennington College
Bennington College – Division of the Arts
“Children 3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition –
Addresses & Sponsors
“Children 3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition –
Business
“Children 3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition –
Financial
“Children 3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition –
References
“Children 3,000 miles apart” – Exhibition –
Sponsors
Children’s Schools – Mexico – Design
1942
1942
1942
1942 n.d.
Date Range
1940’s
1956
1954-1959
1951
1947
1954 n.d.
1946
1945-1965
1951-1958
1936
1942
4

25
26
27
28
29
21
22
23
24
30
31
35
36
37
32
33
34
18
19
20
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1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers: Finding Aid
College Art Association
College Art Association – Meetings –
Cleveland
College Art Association – Meetings –
Washington
Columbia University – Miscellaneous
Correspondence – Envelopes (Empty)
Correspondence – James Johnson Sweeney
Correspondence – Shareholdings (1955-1958)
Correspondence – Students
Emily Genauer – Correspondence
Exhibitions – Invitations and Ephemera
F.F. Dr. WM McNeil Lowry
Fulbright Correspondence
“German Art Between the Two Wars” –
Exhibition
Hamilton Easter Field Art Foundation
(Catalogue)
Hirsch Retrospective – Proctor Art Center
Hirsch, Stefan – Correspondence – University of Arkansas
Hirsch, Stefan – Correspondence – Wallace S.
Baldinger
Hirsch, Stefan – Ford Fellowship
Hirsch, Stefan – Misc. Correspondence
Hirsch, Stefan – “Notes on Art”
1954-1956
1953
1951 n.d. n.d.
1959
1955-1958 n.d.?
1947-1948
1956?
1958
1953-1956
1944
1935
1956
1952
1938
1953-4
1952-3 n.d.
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38
39
40
41
42
43
55
56
57
58
50
51
52
53
54
44
45
46
47
48
49
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1
2
2
2
2
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2
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2
2
2
2
2
2
Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers: Finding Aid
Hirsch, Stefan – Photographs – Art and Misc.
Hirsch, Stefan – Photographs – Art
Hirsch, Stefan – Publications
Hirsch, Stefan – Speech – American
Association of Engineering Teachers
Hirsch, Stefan – Speeches
Hirsch, Stefan – Teaching – “Introduction to
Art Project”
Hirsch, Stefan – Teaching Appointments
Hirsch, Stefan – Writings
Household Bills
Inter-American Commission of Women
Inter-American Press Association
Miscellaneous (1)
Miscellaneous (2) (1955-6)
Miscellaneous – World War II
Museum of Modern Art, NY – Committee on
Art Education
Personal Notes & Doodles
Rogo, Elsa – Business Correspondence
Rogo, Elsa – Loose Materials
Rogo, Elsa – News Clippings
Toledo Museum of Art – Correspondence
University of Louisville – Conference n.d. n.d.
1931-1949
1949
1950 n.d.
1937-1954 n.d.
1955-6
1954
1963 n.d.
1955-6
1930-1955
1952 n.d.
1930-1950
1940s
1930-1950
1947
1950
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Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers: Finding Aid
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2
2
-
3
3
3
3
3
59
60
61
- n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
University of Louisville – Exhibition and
Correspondence
University of Louisville, Kentucky
World War II Activities
Note: bound books in this collection are indicated below
Hirsch, Stefan – Writings (The Creative Mind)
[spine label: “Correspondence S.H. and R.
Field”]
Hirsch, Stefan – Accordion File with material on Impressionism and Book Manuscript
Notes
Hirsch, Stefan – Early Manuscripts of German
Poems and Writings
Sinlapa Samai, Collection of three works on
Thai art and architecture; the first dealing with period of `Uthong, King of Ayutthaya, 1314-
1369; the second, with Ayutthaya period; and the third, with Bangkok period; volume brought out on occasion of royal opening ceremony of Bangkok National Museum, 25
May 1967 [from Worldcat]. In Thai and in
English.
Escuelas Primarias: nueva arquitectura economica y
sencilla, Mexico, Secretaria de Educacion
Publica, 1932. [related material, Box 1 Folder
17]
Emily Genauer – Best of Art
1947-1950
1947
1940-50
-
3 n/a
Series 2: Photographs
Album 1: Photographs (145 Items) (bc.art.hirsch.001 – bc.art.hirsch.145)
Album 1: Photonegatives Film (~
(also held: FotoBridge Digitization Material, including CD and Thumbnail Booklet – see archivist)
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Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Papers: Finding Aid
(also held: negatives from the collection)
Series 3: Artwork
Portfolio 1: x items
Portfolio 2: x items
Box (x): Funeral Mask
Series 4: Additional Material (held after end of Series I, in Box 2)
Folder (x): Precisely Not: Works from the Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Collection (Curatorial File)
Folder (x): Additional Research Material (mostly photocopies of catalogues)
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