Peek Inside the Little Black Books of Famous American Artists

"It might be considered nosey to thumb through someone else's little black address book, but that doesn't bother Mary Savig, curator of manuscripts at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. 'It is very nosey and that's why I really enjoy doing it,' she says."

"The 'Little Black Books' of some major and minor American artists are currently on view in a show at the Archives of American Art in Washington, D.C."

"'We can read correspondence and read diaries, and we can find out so much more about their process as artists, their everyday lives,' Savig explains. The books show 'the importance of their social networks, and how they would learn from each other and push each other to experiment in new ways.'"