Correspondence, 1954-1979, undated

Journal articles, correspondence, published works, unpublished research and notes and photographs document the career of Edward Muegge “Buck” Schiwetz as an artist, illustrator and architectural sketcher.  The collection is arranged into four main series: Biographical Material, Correspondence, Art Projects by E.M. Schiwetz, and Photographs.

The first series, Biographical Material, 1929-1955, contains two published journals, each containing articles about E.M. Schiwetz. They provide biographical data on the artist and his budding, and then successful career.  Each article contains several examples of his work.

The second series, Correspondence, 1954-1979, contains letters written to and from Schiwetz. Most of the correspondence pertains to work rather than personal life, although many elude a respect and affection for the artist. Of note are letters concerning Mathews Ranch and the work E.M. Schiwetz did for the book, Interwoven written by Sallie Reynolds Mathews.  Most of these letters are from book designer Carl Hertzog, with the dates ranging from 1956 to 1958.  Six of these letters are handwritten.

The third series, Art Projects by E.M. Schiwetz, 1928-1961, is arranged according to the five individual projects. The first, and largest, is Schiwetz’s material for Interwoven, which contains notes, sketches to be included as illustrations, a small photo of an unidentified gravestone, two 7x10 photos of a two-story house, one program from Susan Mathews Reynolds funeral dated November 10, 1955, two programs from the Mathews Memorial Presbyterian Church dated December 22, 1957, sketches of the church by E.M. Schiwetz that were used for the front header of the programs and other materials relating to the book or to Mathews Ranch.

The second project is layout illustrations that pertain to Reluctant Empire written by George Fuermann. The third project pertains to the book, Spindletop:  The True Story of the
Oil Discovery that Changed the World written by James A. Clark and Michel T. Halbouty and contains a dust jacket from the book and a painting by E.M. Schiwetz of the scene on the dust jacket. The fourth project is Texas, published by the Commerce and Finance Departments that contains a collection of 52 advertisements.  The book is signed by Anderson Layton of Houston, Texas and dated December 1928.  The last project is “Texas Sketchbook:  A Collection of Historical Stories from the Humble Way,” about Texas history with stories by Frank Field and illustrations by E.M. Schiwetz.  There are two copies of the sketchbook, one of them being a reprint from the earlier publication with a different cover. The last series of the collection, Photographs, 1961-1978, contains six black and white photographs by James Vance. Five of the photographs are of what appears to be Texas scenery.  One of the photographs is of E. M. Schiwetz working on a sketch or painting of a landscape.