Gordon Franklin Peers was born March 17, 1909 to Sanford and May (Hallett) Peers in Easton, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Classical High in Providence (RI) in 1929, and then attended Rhode Island School of Design 1929-1933, receiving a diploma in 1933. He was a student at the John R. Frazier Summer School of Painting 1930-1935, and attended the Beaux Arts Academy and the Arts Students League in New York, 1933-1934. He exhibited his paintings at the 1939 New York World's Fair, the Golden Gate International Exposition, the Providence Art Club, and the Decordova Museum, among others. In 1947 he received his B.F.A. from RISD, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws, L.L.D., by the Portland School of Art in 1982.
Peers joined the RISD staff as a drawing instructor in 1933, and taught there for over forty years, with brief interruptions in 1936-1937 to teach in the art department at Rockford College in Illinois, and from 1942-1945 to serve in the U.S. Army. He became a full professor in the Painting Department in 1960 and in 1961-1962 was chief critic in residence in Rome for the European Honors Program. An avid traveler, he also visited Japan, England, France, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan, documenting his trips with slides and travel journals.
He served as head of the Painting Department 1955-1956 and 1963-1968; as Acting Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts 1962-1963, 1963-1965, and first semester, 1965-1966; and as Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts 1969-1972. He achieved tenure in 1965. As the meeting minutes in Box 1, Folder 3 and 4, attest, he constantly strove to improve the Fine Arts curriculum. He was always open to innovative teaching strategies, including an art department TV show in 1957. He was an early proponent of interdisciplinary studies, an interest dating back to 1959.
Much of his thinking on the subject of art pedagogy was influenced by his friend and mentor, RISD instructor and president John R. Frazier. Peers collected Frazier's writings, wrote a brief biography, and took slides of Frazier's paintings. Peers also admired and was influenced by the work of Florence Leif, a fellow RISD painting student whom he married in 1941. After her death in 1968, he funded a RISD scholarship for female painters in her honor. He continued to promote interest in her life and work with public and private showings of her paintings, and in 1981 established another scholarship for female painters at the Portland Museum of Art.
Peers retained close ties to RISD for his entire life. After his retirement in 1974, he was appointed Artist in Residence, a position he kept until his death on July 1, 1988. As Artist in Residence he continued to teach students and advise the Painting Department on appointments, offering the accumulated experience of nearly sixty years association with RISD.
There is restricted access to Will and Legal Correspondence, 1968-1978, and RISD Painting Department Appointments, 1934-1987. Please consult the Archives staff for further details.
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Gordon Franklin Peers papers, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.
The Gordon Franklin Peers papers represent a wide variety of material dating from 1853-1988, including correspondence (both personal and administrative), personnel and salary information, syllabi and notes for class lectures, and essays on art and philosophy. These materials document Peers' activities as the head of the Painting Department, as Acting Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts, and as Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts. Additionally, the papers include news clippings, legal documents, information on the scholarships set up by Peers, catalogues, calendars, journals, and documentation of art shows and sales. Material about John R. Frazier, a RISD instructor and president forms part of the collection. Also included are journals written by Peers' wife, Florence Leif and a collection of artifacts, slides, and photographs.
The papers are arranged in eleven series:
No further materials are expected for this collection.
The Gordon Franklin Peers papers were received from Paula M. Martiesian on June 9, 2003.
Related papers are locates at the Archives of American Art.
Materials in this series include correspondence with the Archives of American Art.
Faculty appointments contain personnel and salary information.
Materials in this series include correspondence with RISD Executive Vice-President Royal Farnum during World War II
Materials in this series document Peers' activities as head of the Painting Department, as Acting Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts, and as Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts, 1955-1972.
Materials in this series include syllabi and notes for class lectures date that mainly from the 1940s and 1950s, with additional essays on art and philosophy dating from the 1970s and 1980s.
Correspondence, news clippings and legal documents documenting the relationships with various administrators at RISD and the Portland Museum of Art
Records of art shows and sales for Peers and Leif are grouped with catalogs for other shows, including "ISMs in Art Since 1800", a 1949 RISD Museum of Art show.
Materials include writings by RISD instructor and president John R. Frazier, frequently annotated by Peers, as well as a brief biography of Frazier written by Peers.
Materials in this series include meticulous notes documenting Peers' daily activities, three journals written by Peers' wife, Florence Leif, documenting their travels together between 1952 and 1962, and four of Peers' passports issued between 1961 and 1979. Also included is Peers' address book.
Artifacts include swimming medals, two palettes, the Hallett family Bible, and a watercolor design for a stained glass window, annotated on the reverse. Four large format portrait photographs by Dwight Burnham are also included in this series.
Materials in this series include slides, many of which have detailed descriptive information written on the frames. Most slides document travel, including images of the 1961-1962 European Honor Program in Rome.