The records of Carus Gallery measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1967-2002. This collection documents Dorothea Carus Isserstedt's management of the New York gallery through a small amount of business and personal correspondence; business records regarding acquisitions, sales, and consignments; intentories of artwork and rare books; exhibition catalogs, press clippings, and other printed material; and photographs depicting artwork and exhibition installations.
Scope and Contents:
The records of Carus Gallery measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1967-2002. This collection documents Dorothea Carus Isserstedt's management of the New York gallery through a small amount of business and personal correspondence; business records regarding acquisitions, sales, and consignments; intentories of artwork and rare books; exhibition catalogs, press clippings, and other printed material; and photographs depicting artwork and exhibition installations.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 5 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1974-2000 (4 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Business Records, 1971-1996 (1.8 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 3: Inventories, 1973-2002 (0.6 linear feet; Box 2-3)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1967-1992 (0.6 linear feet; Box 3-4)
Series 5: Photographic Material, 1980s-1990s (4 folders; Box 4)
Biographical / Historical:
The Carus Gallery was founded by Dorothea Carus Isserstedt (1914-2002). The gallery's primary interest was in European Graphic Arts, specifically German Expressionism, and Russian Constructivism. The gallery exhibited works by Alexander Archipenko, Ernst Barlach, Max Beckmann, Heinrich Campendonk, Otto Dix, Lyonel Feininger, Natalia Goncharova, George Grosz, Erich Heckel, Alexej Jawlensky, Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, Gustav Klimt, Max Klinger, Kathe Kollowitz, El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, László Moholy-Nagy, Marlow Moss, Otto Mueller, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Christian Rohlfs and Egon Schiele.
In 1968, following the death of her parents, Isserstedt opened the Carus Gallery, which was located on the ground level of her home at 243 E 82nd street in New York. The gallery was relocated to Madison Avenue in 1974 and finally to 1044 Madison Avenue where it remained until Isserstedt's retirement in 1996.
Dorothy was born in 1914 in Elberfeld, Germany. She studied art history and archeology at Freiburg University, receiving a doctorate in 1944. Towards the end of World War II Dorothy escaped to East Germany where she settled in Hamburg and found work as a supervisor with the British Forces Network. In 1952 she immigrated to Yorkville, NY where she worked in her father's print and framing shop. Dorothy became an American citizen in 1957.
Provenance:
The records were donated to the Archives in 2004 by Dr. Gheorghe Costinescu and Mrs. Silvelin von Scanzoni Costinescu, the heirs and executors of Dorothy Carus Isserstedt's estate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
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.
