Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Additional Online Media

Catalog Data

Creator:
Charles Campbell Gallery  Search this
Names:
Allan Stone Gallery  Search this
Bryce Bannatyne Gallery  Search this
Canfield Gallery  Search this
Forum Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
San Francisco Art Dealers Association  Search this
Trini Gallery  Search this
Allagaert, Peter  Search this
Asawa, Ruth  Search this
Battenberg, John N., 1931-  Search this
Bellocq, E. J.  Search this
Berlind, Robert, 1938-  Search this
Bischoff, Elmer, 1916-1991  Search this
Brown, Joan, 1938-1990  Search this
Brown, William Theo, 1919-  Search this
Cook, Gordon  Search this
Farr, Charles Griffin, 1908-1984  Search this
Felix Landau Gallery  Search this
Ghent, Henri, 1926-  Search this
Goray, John  Search this
Graves, Morris, 1910-2001  Search this
Guest, Barbara  Search this
Harvey, Robert  Search this
Hattis, Phyllis  Search this
Mattox, Charles, 1910-1996  Search this
Morton, Geer  Search this
Olivera, Nathan  Search this
Qualters, Robert  Search this
Reichman, Fred, 1925-  Search this
Rustin, Jean, 1928-  Search this
Sanchez, Stephani  Search this
Thiebaud, Wayne  Search this
Van Hoesen, Beth, 1926-2010  Search this
Villa, Carlos, 1936-2013  Search this
Wonner, Paul, 1920-2008  Search this
Extent:
17.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Visitors' books
Sketches
Date:
1960-2001
Summary:
The records of the Charles Campbell Gallery in San Francisco date from 1960 to 2001 and measure 17.6 linear feet. The records include business correspondence with galleries, curators, trusts, and individual buyers and sellers; business records consisting of administrative files, business notebooks, and financial material; artist and exhibition files; and Charles Campbell's related personal files that include correspondence, catalogs, newsletters, and clippings about jazz, and photos and travel. Substantial artist files exist for Nathan Oliveira, which contain original artwork and photos of the artist, Peter Allegaert, Gordon Cook, Charles Griffin Farr, Morris Graves, Robert Harvey, Geer Morton, Fred Reichman, Jean Rustin, Stephani Sanchez, and Wayne Thiebaud, among others.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Charles Campbell Gallery in San Francisco date from 1960 to 2001 and measure 17.6 linear feet. The records include business correspondence with galleries, curators, trusts, and individual buyers and sellers; business records consisting of administrative files, business notebooks, and financial material; artist and exhibition files; and Charles Campbell's related personal files that include correspondence, catalogs, newsletters, and clippings about jazz, and photos and travel. Substantial artist files exist for Nathan Oliveira, which contain original artwork and photos of the artist, Peter Allegaert, Gordon Cook, Charles Griffin Farr, Morris Graves, Robert Harvey, Geer Morton, Fred Reichman, Jean Rustin, Stephani Sanchez, and Wayne Thiebaud, among others. The records are a rich resource for documenting the Bay Area Figuration art movement in the San Francisco region. Business correspondence is with galleries, curators, trusts, and individuals mostly regarding loans and sales. Correspondents include Allan Stone Gallery, Bryce Bannatyne Gallery, Canfield Gallery, Forum Gallery, Felix Landau Gallery, Henri Ghent, Barbara Guest, Phyllis Hattis, and Trini Gallery, among many others. Although there is scattered correspondence with artists filed among the business correspondence, the bulk of the gallery's correspondence with artists is found in the Artist and Exhibition Files. Business records include administrative files comprised of mailing lists, business registration records, newsletters, information about affiliated organizations (including The San Francisco Art Dealers Association), and records and clippings about arts law. Gallery notebooks contain information about the gallery's day-to-day activities and also include inventories, contacts, accounting information, and lists of business arrangements and dealings. Financial materials include appraisal and consignment records, invoices, insurance records,donation records, and a vendor analysis report comprise the financial material. Almost two-thirds of the collection is comprised of artist and exhibition files. In addition to the artistis listed above, there are substantial artist files for Ruth Asawa, E. J. Bellocq, Elmer Bischoff, Robert Berlind, John Battenberg, Joan Brown, William Theophilus Brown, Charles Mattox, Robert Qualters, Beth Van Hoesen, Carlos Villa, Paul Wonner, among many others. The artist files also include artwork, such as pen and ink and pencil sketches by Peter Allegaert, ink and gouache sketches by Nathan Oliveira, and a pen and ink sketch by John Goray. Scattered photos depict artists (notably Oliveira), their studios, artwork and installation shots, and exhibition attendee notebooks document shows from 1978 to 1987. The collection also contains personal correspondence and files relating to Charles Campbell's interest in jazz and travel. These records include music catalogs, clippings, newsletters, correspondence, brochures, tickets, maps, travel agendas, and photos. Campbell's personal correspondence is scattered throughout the collection, and documents Charles' and his wife Esther's friendships with artists and others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series. Missing Title Series 1: Business Correspondence, 1968-1996 (Boxes 1-3; 2.3 linear feet) Series 2: Business Records, circa 1968-2001 (Boxes 3-5; 2.3 linear feet) Series 3: Artist and Exhibition Files, 1960-1999 (Boxes 5-15; 10.7 linear feet) Series 4: Personal Files, circa 1972-circa 1998 (Boxes 16-17; 1.6 linear feet) Series 5: Printed Material, 1965-2000 (Boxes 17-19; 0.7 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Charles Campbell Gallery was established by Charles Campbell in 1972 in North Beach, San Francisco, following his ownership of The Louvre, a frame shop that he established in 1947. The Charles Campbell Gallery was among the most important San Francisco galleries of that era, especially for showing local artists. Campbell was a close friend of many of the leading Bay Area artists, most of whom had exhibibitions at his gallery, including Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud, Hassel Smith, Elmer Bischoff, and Gordon Onslow-Ford. Some of the artists represented and shown at the gallery were later identified with the region's signature art movement, Bay Area Figuration, including Nathan Oliviera, Paul Wonner, Gordon Cook, William Theophilus Brown, James Weeks, and Joan Brown. Campbell partnered with Paul Thiebaud in 1990 and the gallery changed its name to the Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, and began to show a fresh roster of artists. The partnership ended on friendly terms in 2001, with the business becoming the Paul Thiebaud Gallery. After this, Campbell re-established his independent gallery for a short while collaborating with a former gallery assistant Steven Lopez. This collaboration ended in a lawsuit resolved in 2007-2008 that essentially dissolved the gallery in all but name. Campbell was also very interested in jazz and he was at one point the manager of trombone player Turk Murphy. They briefly ran a club together in San Francisco, The Italian Villa. Charles Campbell died in 2014 at the age of 99.
Provenance:
Charles Campbell donated the Charles Campbell Gallery records in 2002.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Serices for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Figurative art  Search this
Travel  Search this
Jazz  Search this
Law and art  Search this
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- California
Genre/Form:
Visitors' books
Sketches
Citation:
Charles Campbell Gallery records, 1960-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.campgall
See more items in:
Charles Campbell Gallery records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9718002dc-7095-49c0-a393-8ad0367c156a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-campgall