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Oral history interview with Gertrude Kasle, 1975 July 24

Interviewee:
Kasle, Gertrude, 1917-  Search this
Interviewer:
Barrie, Dennis  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Gertrude Kasle, 1975 July 24. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Interviews  Search this
Art, Abstract -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12777
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212767
AAA_collcode_kasle75
Theme:
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212767

Terry Dintenfass, Inc. records, 1947-1987, bulk 1961-1983

Creator:
Terry Dintenfass, Inc.  Search this
Subject:
Merkin, Richard  Search this
Lawrence, Jacob  Search this
Tovish, Harold  Search this
Dove, Arthur Garfield  Search this
Suttman, Paul  Search this
Bloom, Hyman  Search this
Evergood, Philip  Search this
Pippin, Horace  Search this
Fleischner, Richard  Search this
Cober, Alan E.  Search this
Dintenfass, Terry  Search this
King, William  Search this
Goodman, Sidney  Search this
Frasconi, Antonio  Search this
Grace Borgenicht Gallery  Search this
Art Dealers Association of America  Search this
Type:
Visitors' books
Citation:
Terry Dintenfass, Inc. records, 1947-1987, bulk 1961-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
Theme:
Art Gallery Records  Search this
Art Market  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6583
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215884
AAA_collcode_terrdint
Theme:
Art Gallery Records
Art Market
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_215884
Online Media:

Terry Dintenfass, Inc. records

Creator:
Terry Dintenfass, Inc.  Search this
Names:
Art Dealers Association of America  Search this
Grace Borgenicht Gallery  Search this
Bloom, Hyman, 1913-  Search this
Cober, Alan E.  Search this
Dintenfass, Terry, 1920-  Search this
Dove, Arthur Garfield, 1880-1946  Search this
Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973  Search this
Fleischner, Richard, 1944-  Search this
Frasconi, Antonio  Search this
Goodman, Sidney  Search this
King, William, 1925-2015  Search this
Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000  Search this
Merkin, Richard  Search this
Pippin, Horace, 1888-1946  Search this
Suttman, Paul, 1933-1993  Search this
Tovish, Harold, 1921-2008  Search this
Extent:
22.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Visitors' books
Date:
1947-1987
bulk 1961-1983
Summary:
The records of New York art gallery Terry Dintenfass, Inc. date from 1947 to 1987, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1961 to 1983, and measure 22.1 linear feet. The records are comprised of administrative files, correspondence, exhibition files, artists' files, and financial records.
Scope and Contents:
The records of New York art gallery Terry Dintenfass, Inc. date from 1947 to 1987, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1961 to 1983, and measure 22.1 linear feet. The records include administrative files, correspondence, exhibition files, artists' files, and financial records.

Administrative files include advertising and membership records, insurance documents, a guest book, resumes, and agreements with other corporations. Correspondence is with artists, galleries, museums, and arts organizations. There is a significant amount of correspondence regarding the Art Dealers Association of America. Exhibition files are found for numerous exhibitions to which Dintenfass either loaned art or helped to organize. There is extensive documentation of the 20 Galleries/20 Years exhibition held at the Grace Borgenicht Gallery and the Terry Dintenfass Gallery in 1982 and the "Machine Themed Shows" in 1974-1975.

Artists' files comprise the largest group of materials within the collection. Files for Hyman Bloom, Alan Cober, Arthur Dove, Philip Evergood, Richard Fleischner, Antonio Frasconi, Sidney Goodman, William King, Jacob Lawrence, Richard Merkin, Horace Pippin, Paul Suttman, and Harold Tovish bulk the largest.

Financial records contain artist expense and sales ledgers, consignment papers, invoices and receipts, as well as records for D Contemporary Paintings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Administrative Files, 1961-1983 (1.0 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1961-1981 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1962-1983 (4.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-7, OV 23)

Series 4: Artists' Files, 1947-1987 (8.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-15, OV 23)

Series 5: Financial Records, 1959-1981 (7.0 linear feet; Boxes 16-22, OV 23)
Biographical / Historical:
Terry Dintenfass, Inc. is a New York City art gallery founded in 1959 by Terry Dintenfass (1920-2004).

In 1954, Theresa "Terry" Dintenfass opened D Contemporary Paintings in Atlantic City, New Jersey. With financial backing from Armand Erpf, she moved the gallery to New York City in 1959 and changed the name to Terry Dintenfass Gallery. There, she became a protégé of Downtown Gallery owner Edith Halpert. Dintenfass was one of several notable female art dealers in the city during the 1940s-1980s among Edith Halpert, Betty Parsons, Grace Borgenicht, Antoinette Kraushaar, and others. She showed work on consignment from other dealers, and when Edith Halpert retired, Terry Dintenfass, Inc. began to represent the estate of Arthur Dove. Other notable artists represented by the gallery included social realists Philip Evergood and Robert Gwathmey, and African American painters Horace Pippin and Jacob Lawrence, whom she represented for 25 years. The gallery's stable also included William King, Sidney Goodman, Hyman Bloom, Antonio Frasconi, and others.

After Dintenfass retired in 1999, her son Andrew took over the business and continues to run the gallery today. Terry Dintenfass died in 2004 in Manhattan.
Related Materials:
Also found at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Terry Dintenfass conducted by Paul Cummings on December 2, 1974-January 13, 1975 for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1995 by Terry Dintenfass.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Art, American  Search this
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State)
Genre/Form:
Visitors' books
Citation:
Terry Dintenfass, Inc. records, 1947-1987, bulk 1961-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.terrdint
See more items in:
Terry Dintenfass, Inc. records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9e485640b-ef7f-49bb-8964-fed4c50e6438
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-terrdint
Online Media:

Subject Files

Collection Creator:
Frank Perls Gallery  Search this
Extent:
(Box 6-22; 16.5 linear feet)
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1939-1983
Scope and Contents note:
This series is the most extensive in the collection and reflects the order of the files maintained during the operation of the gallery. Subjects refer to named correspondents, family members, organizations, galleries, museums, publications, non-Frank Perls Gallery exhibitions, and art topics of interest. Although some of the files represent collected reference materials, the majority consist primarily of correspondence. Perls made very few distinctions between his work and personal life; his closest friends were artists he represented, clients whose collections he helped build, art critics he befriended, and fellow gallery owners he admired. This series provides rich documentation on these personal, family, and professional relationships.

Of particular note are files documenting Perls involvement with the Art Dealers Association of America, an organization dedicated to the high standards of ethical practice in the profession. Many files in this series document Perls professional efforts to uncover corruption and fraud within the art world, especially in Los Angeles.

While this series also contains scattered invoices, most financial records are found in the general financial and business records series. Photographs are also scattered within. The majority of the exhibition files filed here do not represent Frank Perls Gallery exhibitions. The few exhibition files found here are related to other business, such as requests for authentication of artwork and records documenting stolen and fake art investigations.
Arrangement note:
This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Frank Perls papers and Frank Perls Gallery records, circa 1920-1983, bulk 1949-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.perlfran, Series 4
See more items in:
Frank Perls papers and Frank Perls Gallery records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d5bb9e3b-3b2a-41dd-bf63-21fc2c335ca1
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-perlfran-ref123

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers

Creator:
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Names:
Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this
Bess, Forrest, 1911-1977  Search this
Congdon, William, 1912-1998  Search this
Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this
Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967  Search this
Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this
Extent:
61.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Interviews
Video recordings
Drawings
Date:
1916-1991
bulk 1946-1983
Summary:
The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection.
Scope and Content Note:
The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection. Personal papers also include personal photographs.

Artists files, the largest and most extensive series, consist of a wide variety of documents, including biographical materials, correspondence with or related to the artist, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales and expense invoices, clippings, price lists, and photographs of the artist, exhibitions, and artwork. The files reflect Parsons's close personal relationships with certain artists, particularly Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnett Newman. Extensive documentation is also found for Forrest Bess, William Congdon, Paul Feeley, Thomas George, Alexander Liberman, Seymour Lipton, Richard Pousette-Dart, Jesse Reichek, and Jack Youngerman. Historians and researchers will find these files to be an invaluable resource both in tracing Betty Parsons's role in promoting Abstract Expressionism and researching individual artists.

Exhibition files primarily document the gallery's infrequent group or themed exhibitions. Of particular note are the files on The Ideographic Picture, which was organized by Barnett Newman and included his work, as well as that of Pietro Lazzari, Boris Margo, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Theodoros Stamos, and Clyfford Still. Price lists, artist biographies and exhibition schedules are housed in the general exhibition files. Loan exhibition files provide documentation of artwork borrowed by other galleries or institutions for exhibitions, as well as shows outside of the gallery that were organized by Betty Parsons. Also found are gallery exhibition guest books, and announcements and catalogs.

Gallery correspondence is primarily with galleries and dealers, museums, arts organizations, and collectors. Scattered letters from artists are also found, although the bulk of the artists' correspondence is filed in the Artists Files. Also found here are memoranda and letters between Betty Parsons and her staff that contain detailed information concerning Parsons's schedule and gallery activities. Similar correspondence is found amongst the correspondence files within the series Betty Parsons papers.

Appraisal and conservation files include correspondence, appraisal invoices, forms, and appraisal requests and other information from the Art Dealers Association of America, and conservation invoices and reports. The majority of the appraisal records contain information about the specific works of art, including artist, title, date, current owner and the estimated value at the time of the request. Conservation records document conservation treatments undertaken by outside conservators to gallery stock.

Sales, purchases, stock and inventory are well documented in the sales and inventory records. The records provide detailed information about individual sales, prices of individual pieces of artwork, consignments, and loans. Most sales records also include detailed information about the buyer and are a valuable resource for provenance research. Files documenting the general administration, routine business operations, and financial transactions (not individual sales) of the gallery are housed in the general business and financial records. These records include ledgers, receipts, tax records, and banking records. There is some limited information about works of art scattered amongst the receipts and in the "in/out slips" files. Legal records house general legal documents and those concerning specific lawsuits. Of particular note is the file detailing the lawsuit between Betty Parsons and Sidney Janis over the fifth floor of 24 West 57th Street.

The remainder of the collection consists of Betty Parsons's personal papers which document her career prior to opening her own gallery, her work as an artist, and her personal art collection.

Some information about Parsons's work prior to opening her own gallery is found in the early curatorial files she retained from her curatorial and administrative work at the Wakefield Gallery and the Mortimer Brandt Gallery. Clippings, correspondence, announcements, exhibition lists and exhibition files are found. For both positions, she kept only the exhibition files for a small group of exhibitions organized around a specific theme, the most notable being the exhibition of Pre-Columbian Sculpture at the Wakefield Gallery.

Biographical materials include copies of her biography, family genealogies, photographs of Parsons, interviews with Colette Roberts and WYNC radio, memberships, photographs, and ephemera, including a collection of programs and invitations from events that she attended. Throughout her life Parsons gave generously of her time to various cultural and charitable institutions and was awarded for her contributions. There are also a number of files that document her speaking engagements, her participation as a juror in numerous juried exhibitions, charitable work, and awards that she received.

Parsons's personal correspondence files reflect how deeply Parsons's life was intertwined with the gallery. There are letters from museum directors, dealers, artists seeking representation, and personal letters from artists with whom she had close personal relationships, most notably Larry Bigelow, Alexander Calder, William Condon, and Ad Reinhardt. There are also letters from the English artist Adge Baker, with whom Parsons was romantically involved. Correspondence also includes several files of postcards and Christmas cards.

Pocket diaries and engagement calendars, spanning from 1933-1981, record social engagements, meetings, vacations, and telephone numbers. Also found are circa two linear feet of notebooks and sketchbooks, many of which are annotated with addresses, poetry, journal entries, and other observations of people, places, and travels. Writings by others include writings about Betty Parsons or the Betty Parsons Gallery, such as Lawrence Alloway's unpublished typescript titled "An American Gallery" and other topics.

Printed material consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs, art magazines, and newspaper and magazine clippings about Betty Parsons, her family and acquaintances, artists, and other art related topics, coupled with a miscellaneous selection of clippings, and a video recording, on topics that presumably captured Parsons's attention.

Personal art work records document Betty Parsons's career as an artist through inventories, group and solo exhibitions files, price lists, appraisals, sales and consignment invoices. Photographs are primarily reproductions of her works of art, although there are scattered photographs of exhibition installations.

Betty Parsons's private art collection files document her extensive personal collection of art that included works by Jackson Pollock, Agnes Martin, Romare Bearden, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, in addition to Amlash sculpture from ancient Persia and primitive sculpture from New Hebrides. These files include inventories, lists, exhibition records, sales and purchase invoices, and photographs. There are also files for donations and loans from Parsons's personal collection to museums and fund raising auctions for several non-profit institutions.

Finally, the personal financial records provide information about the Parsons's family finances and her personal financial success as an art dealer. In addition to her own investments, Parsons inherited shares in family investments through the estates of her parents, J. Fred Pierson, Jr. and Suzanne Miles Pierson, and younger sister, Emily Rayner. Real estate files include correspondence, utility bills, receipts, area maps, and land plots for houses in Sheepscot, Maine and St. Maartens, Netherlands Antilles. Tax returns, ledger worksheets, receipts, banking statements, deposit slips, and cancelled checks are among the other financial records.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series. Many of the series are further divided into subseries.

Missing Title

Series 1: Artists Files, 1935-1983 (19.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-18, 51, 55-56, OVs 53, 65)

Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1941-1983 (2.9 linear feet; Boxes 18-21, 51, 55, OVs 54, 66)

Series 3: Correspondence Files, 1941-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 21-24, 52, 56)

Series 4: Appraisal Files, 1954-1983 (0.7 linear feet; Box 24)

Series 5: Sales and Inventory Records, 1946-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 25-28, 51)

Series 6: General Business and Financial Records, 1946-1983 (9.3 linear feet; Boxes 28-38, 51, 56)

Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers, 1916-1991 (21 linear feet; Boxes 38-51, 55-64, OVs 65-67)
Historical Note:
Betty Parsons (1900-1982) was one of the leading art dealers in New York City specializing in modern art, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists, and an abstract painter and sculptor in her own right. She opened Betty Parsons Gallery in 1946 at 15 E. 57th St., later moving to 24 W. 57th St.

The history of the Betty Parsons Gallery is inextricably bound to the life and experiences of its founder. Betty Parsons was born Betty Bierne Pierson on January 31, 1900 in New York City. She enjoyed a privileged childhood, which included vacation homes in Newport and Palm Beach. Her only formal education was a five-year stint at the prestigious Chapin School from 1910-1915, where she met many of the women who would become life-long friends and supporters. In the spring of 1920, she married Schuyler Livingston Parsons from one of New York's oldest families. The marriage ended after only three years and the couple traveled to Paris where they could obtain a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. She retained her married surname and purchased a house on the rue Boulard in Paris, where she remained for ten years, pursuing studies in painting and sculpture.

Financial constraints forced Parsons to return to the United States in 1933. She first traveled west to California, but it was her return to New York in 1935 that marked the start of her career as an art dealer. Her first opportunity to connect with the New York art world came after a successful exhibition of her watercolors at the Midtown Galleries where the owner, Alan Gruskin, noted Parson's faithful and wealthy group of supporters and offered her work installing exhibitions and selling paintings on commission. Her work for the Midtown Galleries led to a second position in the Park Avenue gallery of Mary Sullivan, one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art. Here, Parsons learned the business of running a gallery. By 1940 Parsons was ready to take on more independent responsibility and agreed to manage a gallery within the Wakefield Bookshop. In this job, she exercised full curatorial control by selecting artists and organizing exhibitions. She championed then unknown contemporary American artists and the gallery's roster soon included Saul Steinberg, Hedda Sterne, Alfonso Ossorio, Joseph Cornell, Walter Murch, and Theodore Stamos. Although the majority of the exhibitions were solo shows, there were a few group shows and themed exhibitions, such as Love in Art (1941) and Ballet in Art (1942). Under Parson's direction, the gallery hosted an important exhibition of Pre-Columbian sculpture, curated by Barnett Newman.

When the owners of the Wakefield Bookshop decided to close the gallery late in 1944, Mortimer Brandt, a dealer who specialized in Old Master paintings and drawings, offered her a position as head of the newly created contemporary section of his gallery. Many of the artists who had shown with Parsons at the Wakefield Gallery followed her to her new gallery, where they were joined by Ad Reinhardt, Boris Mango, and Hans Hofmann. While the exhibitions garnered attention from the press and the interest of contemporary artists, the contemporary section was not a financial success and Brandt opted to close his gallery in 1946.

Using $1000 of her own money and an additional borrowed $4000, Parsons sublet the space that previously housed Mortimer Brandt's contemporary section, on the fifth floor of 15 East 57th Street, and opened the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In many respects the early years of the Betty Parsons Gallery were the most vital, as it was during the period of 1947-1951 that the gallery became linked with the Abstract Expressionists and the history of post-WWII American Art. In an unpublished history of the gallery, noted art critic Lawrence Alloway stated that the significance of the gallery's early exhibitions ranks with Durand-Ruel's Impressionists exhibitions or Kahnweiler's shows of the Cubists. Betty Parsons Gallery quickly became one of the most prestigious galleries in New York City associated with new American Art of all styles. Her close friend Barnett Newman organized the gallery's inaugural exhibition of Northwest Coast Indian Art and he soon began to exhibit his own work at the gallery. When Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery closed, Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, and Mark Rothko joined Parsons' growing stable of artists. Although Parsons continued to promote and exhibit many of the artists whom she had previously discovered, these four artists dominated this period. Newman, Pollock, Still, and Rothko worked closely together, holding themselves apart from the other artists somewhat. They were actively involved in the curatorial process and often hung their own shows. For these artists, the exhibition itself was an artistic act of creation.

Parsons provided a supportive environment and allowed her artists enormous freedom in planning and designing their exhibitions. She was not, however, an aggressive salesperson. During this early period the gallery ledgers document sales to an impressive array of museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as important collectors such as Edward Root and Duncan Phillips. Nevertheless, the art that the gallery promoted was not yet widely accepted. Sales were few, prices were low and the business would not turn a profit for several years. Meanwhile, there was mounting pressure from Pollock, Newman, Still, and Rothko to drop some of the other artists from Parsons' stable and focus all resources on them. They wanted to be promoted to a larger audience and have their work sold at higher prices, but Parsons enjoyed discovering new artists and did not want to be restricted in this endeavor. The year 1951 marks the last time that Pollock's drip paintings or the monumental works of Newman, Rothko or Still were shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In the following years the Betty Parsons Gallery continued to attract a diverse group of talented artists. Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Tuttle, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jack Youngerman had their first New York exhibitions at the Betty Parsons Gallery. Parsons opened Section Eleven in 1958, a short-lived annex to the main gallery, so that she could promote younger, less well-known artists. It closed in 1960 due to the administrative difficulties in running two essentially separate galleries.

In 1962, Sidney Janis, another prominent art dealer, started proceedings to evict Parsons from the floor that they shared on 15 East 57th Street. The Betty Parsons Gallery moved to 24 West 57th Street in 1963, where it remained until it closed in 1983, following Parsons' death the preceding year. Throughout the gallery's history, Parsons continued to promote faithful artists such as Hedda Sterne and Saul Steinberg, who had been with her from the beginning and to seek out new talent, both for her main gallery and for other venues, such as the short-lived Parsons-Truman Gallery, which she opened in 1974 with former Parsons Gallery director Jock Truman to show works on paper by emerging artists.

In addition to being an art dealer, Betty Parsons was a respected artist and collector. With her connoisseur's eye and connections, Parsons amassed an impressive private collection of art. She bought her first piece while an art student in Paris in the 1920s, a small gouache by Zadkine, but did not begin acquiring works in earnest until she was established as an art dealer. Partial inventories of her personal collection show that the majority of her collection contained works by artists associated with the gallery. Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Ad Reinhardt, Agnes Martin, and Kenzo Okada were among the artists represented. Many were gifts from the artists, such as an ink drawing by Jackson Pollock, inscribed "For Betty." Selections from her collection appeared in small museums across the United States, including a traveling exhibition organized by Fitch College, New York, in 1968. In her role as a promoter of contemporary American art, Parsons lent generously from her collection, particularly to the federal Art in the Embassies Program. Throughout her life she also donated works to a variety of museums, most notably, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark.

Parsons frequently claimed that her desire to pursue a career as an artist stemmed from a visit to the Armory Show when she was thirteen. In her late teens, after pressuring her father for art lessons, she studied with the sculptor Gutzon Burglum of Mount Rushmore fame. In Paris, she continued her studies first with Antoine Bourdelle, whose sculptures she had admired at the Armory Show, and later with Ossip Zadkine. The first exhibition of her work, figurative watercolors and sculptures, took place in Paris in 1927. As she matured as an artist, her art became more abstract. Her late works were painted wood sculptures that she pieced together from wood that she found near her studio in Long Island. Parsons's work was exhibited in more than thirty solo exhibitions, including, Betty Parsons; Paintings, Gouaches and Sculpture, 1955-1968, at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. During her lifetime, she would not allow her works to be shown in her own gallery. Shortly after she died of a stroke in 1982, In Memoriam, Betty Parsons: Late Sculptures, opened at the Betty Parsons Gallery.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews with Betty Parsons, June 4-9, 1969, by Paul Cummings, and June 11, 1981 by Gerald Silk.
Separated Material:
Some of the material originally loaned for microfilming in 1968 and 1969 was not included in later donations and can be viewed on microfilm reels N68/62-N68/74 and N69/105-N69/106. Loaned materials are not described in the container listing in this finding aid.
Provenance:
The gallery donated some records in 1974, many of which had been loaned earlier for microfilming. The bulk of the collection was donated in 1984 and 1986 by William Rayner and Christopher Schwabacher, executors of the Estate of Betty Parsons. Additional material was donated by William Rayner in 1998 and Christopher Schwabacher in 2017. Additional material was donated in 2018 by the Lee Hall estate via Carolyn Crozier and Deborah Jacobson, co-executors. Hall was Parsons's biographer and had the material in her possession at the time of Parsons's death. An additional photograph of Parons and Marie Carr Taylor by Henri Cartier-Bresson was donated in 2021 by Mary Carpenter, who inherited the photograph from her mother, Nan Thorton Jones, who received it as a gift from Taylor.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services 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.
Occupation:
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Women art dealers  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Abstract expressionist  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketchbooks
Interviews
Video recordings
Drawings
Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.parsbett
See more items in:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw956c1036f-b673-4dc1-8c1b-cde0bd641c60
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-parsbett
Online Media:

Correspondence

Collection Creator:
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Container:
Box 38, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1941-1944
Series Restrictions:
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers / Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers / 7.1: Early Curatorial Files / 7.1.1: Wakefield Gallery
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw999ce3024-2b6b-4b92-9680-3a78fb65d873
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-parsbett-ref1456

Correspondence

Collection Creator:
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Container:
Box 38, Folder 21
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1944-1958
Series Restrictions:
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers / Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers / 7.1: Early Curatorial Files / 7.1.2: Mortimer Brandt Gallery
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw94773f35f-4450-412e-ab9b-0635ce591500
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-parsbett-ref1469

Interview with Colette Roberts

Collection Creator:
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Container:
Box 39, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1968
Series Restrictions:
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers / Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers / 7.2: Biographical Material
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a3bcced5-9132-4eff-9f02-136aaa759807
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-parsbett-ref1483

Baker, Adge

Collection Creator:
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Extent:
(2 folders)
Container:
Box 39, Folder 49-50
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1932-1982
Series Restrictions:
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers / Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers / 7.3: Correspondence / 7.3.1: General Correspondence
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90690dca6-1dbc-4ec8-a13e-9ba96f19083a
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-parsbett-ref1523
Online Media:

Sterne, Hedda

Collection Creator:
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Container:
Box 58, Folder 42
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1944-circa 1951
Series Restrictions:
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers / Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers / 7.3: Correspondence / 7.3.1: General Correspondence
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw968a0868f-b9b8-47a3-84a7-6ef9ec5e7439
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-parsbett-ref3247

Sterne, Hedda

Collection Creator:
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Container:
Box 58, Folder 43
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1954-circa 1977
Scope and Contents:
Last item in folder (1977 letter) may not be Hedda Sterne; photo is a duplicate of one in Marjorie Liebman folder, with annotations "with Richard Francis in Maine."
Series Restrictions:
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers / Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers / 7.3: Correspondence / 7.3.1: General Correspondence
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d1e239a9-b248-41b2-b6ed-ac8a307065d1
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-parsbett-ref3248

Colin de Land collection

Creator:
De Land, Colin, 1955-2003  Search this
Names:
American Fine Arts, Co.  Search this
Armory Show (1913: New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Art Cologne  Search this
Art Forum Berlin  Search this
Biennale di Venezia  Search this
Documenta  Search this
International Art Fair  Search this
Balk, Dennis  Search this
Beckwith, Patterson  Search this
Davey, Moyra  Search this
Dion, Mark, 1961-  Search this
Fend, Peter  Search this
Fraser, Andrea  Search this
Greene, Carol  Search this
Heilmann, Mary, 1940-  Search this
Marks, Matthew  Search this
McDonald, Daniel  Search this
Morris, Paul  Search this
Pierson, Jack, 1960-  Search this
Wadlin, Craig  Search this
Waters, John, 1946-  Search this
Extent:
15.15 Linear feet
0.901 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Video recordings
Date:
1968-2008, bulk 1980-2003
bulk 1980-2003
Summary:
The Colin de Land collection measures 15.15 linear feet and 0.901 GB and dates from 1968 to 2008, with the bulk of the collection dating from the early 1980s through 2003. The majority of the collection consists of photographic material, primarily snapshots, documenting daily life in and around de Land's gallery American Fine Arts, Co., as well as de Land's pesonal life and affairs. There are candid photographs of exhibition openings, day-to-day gallery operations, art fairs, vacations, social gatherings, and New York City street scenes. Also included are some personal objects belonging to de Land and his wife Pat Hearn, as well as two scrapbooks containing items once decorating the walls of de Land's office at American Fine Arts. The collection includes video recordings documenting trips to Cape Cod, Hearn's illness, and occasional art world events.
Scope and Contents:
The Colin de Land collection measures 15.15 linear feet and 0.901 GB and dates from 1968 to 2008, with the bulk of the collection dating from the early 1980s through 2003. The majority of the collection consists of photographic material, primarily snapshots, documenting daily life in and around de Land's gallery American Fine Arts, Co., as well as de Land's pesonal life and affairs. There are candid photographs of exhibition openings, day-to-day gallery operations, art fairs, vacations, social gatherings, and New York City street scenes. Also included are some personal objects belonging to de Land and his wife Pat Hearn, as well as two scrapbooks containing items once decorating the walls of de Land's office at American Fine Arts. The collection includes video recordings documenting trips to Cape Cod, Hearn's illness, and occasional art world events.

The bulk of the collection consists of snapshots, along with their negatives and the envelopes provided by commercial photographic printers. The envelopes are sometimes annotated. The photographs, not typically identified by photographer, were taken by de Land, Hearn, and gallery employees, artists, and visitors. Most of the snapshots provide a candid record of life within de Land's circle, and not formal documentation of gallery exhibitions.

The figures in this collection often occupied blurred boundaries between artist, gallery employee, critic, and friend. Many of the photographs include AFA staff, including Daniel McDonald, Patterson Beckwith, and Craig Wadlin. Also of note are photos showing AFA artists, including John Waters, Mark Dion, Andrea Fraser, Moyra Davey, Dennis Balk, Peter Fend, and Jack Pierson.

In addition to life within the gallery, de Land's cameras also documented a larger art world of the era, candidly showing openings at other galleries, art fairs such as Art Basel, Art Cologne, and the Berlin Artforum, as well as festivals including the Venice Biennale and Documenta, many of which included AFA artists. There is some documentation of the Gramercy International Contemporary Art Fair and The Armory Show. The photographs frequently include de Land and Hearn's friends and fellow art dealers Paul Morris, Matthew Marks, and Carol Greene. Some images include artists that showed at Pat Hearn Art Gallery, such as Mary Heilmann. Collectors, celebrity visitors to the gallery, and critics also occasionally appear in the photographs. There is one 1968 photograph of de Land's mother and a small number of 1970s images of both de Land and Hearn.

In addition to the snapshots, there are a variety of other photographic formats, including digital, in the collection. The contents of the slides are of similar nature to the snapshots. The contact sheet binders offer some formal exhibition installation documentation, but are not exhaustive.

The collection also includes film and video footage. Thirty-five reels of Super-8 motion picture film primarily documents frequent vacations to Cape Cod, as well as the final stages of Hearn's illness and subsequent death. The 31 DV-mini cassettes include similar content, and some footage of opening receptions and other art world events.

Most of the official gallery records are missing, most likely lost in the frequent floods in the gallery basement. Two scrapbooks include material that was often photographed on the walls surrounding de Land's desk at AFA. Additional artifacts include one small painting by artist Charles Clough, inscribed to Hearn, a baseball hat frequently worn by de Land and appearing in many of the snapshots, and one page of an autographed calendar.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 4 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Photographic Material, 1968-2003, bulk 1980-2003 (14 linear feet; Box 1-14, 0.901 GB; ER01)

Series 2: Scrapbooks, circa 1980s-2003 (0.2 linear feet; Box 19)

Series 3: Video and Film Recordings, circa 1980-2003 (1.1 linear feet; Box 15, 16, 18)

Series 4: Artifacts, 1988-2008 (0.3 linear feet; Box 14, 17, 19)
Biographical / Historical:
Colin de Land (1955-2003) was a gallery owner whose New York City spaces challenged traditional modes of exhibition and art dealing.

Raised in Union City, New Jersey, de Land came to the art world from an academic background, having studied philosophy and linguistics at New York University. In 1984, de Land opened Vox Populi, a largely unrenovated space in the East Village, at 511 East 6th Street. The gallery showed experimental work by emerging artists, including the enigmatic John Dogg, thought to be a collaboration between de Land and artist Richard Prince.

In 1986, De Land opened his longest standing gallery, American Fine Arts, Co. (AFA), in the same space previously occupied by Vox Populi. The gallery moved to SoHo in 1988, first to 40 Wooster Street then to 22 Wooster Street in 1993. During the late 1990s, as most SoHo galleries moved to Chelsea, AFA remained a mainstay of the downtown arts scene. De Land's wife, Pat Hearn, whom he married in 1999 after over a decade together, was also a well known art dealer. Her gallery, Pat Hearn Art Gallery, also moved from the East Village to SoHo, later becoming one of the first to set down roots in Chelsea.

Known for his eccentric fashion and unorthodox business style, de Land cultivated a culture of experimentation within the AFA community. He typically hired young art students or recent graduates, often nurturing their own artistic careers. Along with a group of Cooper Union graduates, many of whom worked at the gallery, he founded the artist collective Art Club 2000. De Land often showed artists working in hybrid media, for example film and photography or music and installation. He was especially interested in ecological and environmental art, as well as work that took as its subject exhibition practice and the act of creating art. He often staged large thematic group shows. Artists who showed at the gallery included Mark Dion, John Waters, Andrea Fraser, Moyra Davey, Dennis Balk, Peter Fend, Tom Burr, James Welling, Mariko Mori, Dan Graham, Jessica Stockholder, Alex Bag, Christian Philipp Muller, and Jack Pierson.

In 1994, de Land and Hearn, along with gallerists Matthew Marks and Paul Morris, established the Gramercy International Contemporary Art Fair. Fashioned after the tradition of inexpensive hotel art fairs, four galleries were invited to exhibit artwork in rooms of the Gramercy Park Hotel, to be sold in a cash and carry model. The fair became an annual event, branching out to other cities, including Miami and Los Angeles, and growing significantly in size in New York. It later became known as The Armory Show.

De Land often carried a point-and-shoot camera and kept several on hand in the gallery. He documented opening receptions, art world social gatherings, concerts, and day-to-day happenings and invited visitors to the gallery and employees to do the same.

After Hearn's death from liver cancer in 2000, de Land became involved with Kembra Pfahler, the performance artist and leader of the rock band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. De Land took over Hearn's Chelsea gallery, operating it as a second location of AFA. Following his own struggle with cancer, de Land passed away in 2003. AFA remained open, closing at the end of 2004 with a tribute group exhibition to de Land.
Related Materials:
The archival gallery records of Colin de Land's art gallery American Fine Arts, Co. as well as the gallery records of the Pat Hearn Gallery are available at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in New York. The gallery records there also include a fair amount of de Land's personal papers. Bard also acquired de Land's and Hearn's personal library.
Provenance:
The Colin de Land papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2008 by Dennis Balk, an artist represented by American Fine Arts, Co. and a close friend of de Land.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services 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.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Video recordings
Citation:
Colin de Land papers, 1968-2008, bulk 1980-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.delacoli
See more items in:
Colin de Land collection
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f9da47c1-bd20-49da-8477-4f57e4a58874
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-delacoli
Online Media:

Emily Genauer papers

Creator:
Genauer, Emily, 1910-2002  Search this
Names:
Aronson, David, 1923-2015  Search this
Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988  Search this
Carnegie, Dorothy  Search this
Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985  Search this
Dalí, Salvador, 1904-1989  Search this
Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964  Search this
Graham, Martha  Search this
Guggenheim, Harry Frank, 1890-1971  Search this
Pereira, I. Rice (Irene Rice), 1902-1971  Search this
Still, Clyfford, 1904-  Search this
Tamayo, Rufino, 1899-1991  Search this
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959  Search this
Extent:
11.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Essays
Lectures
Transcriptions
Speeches
Photographs
Date:
circa 1920-1990
Summary:
The papers of art critic Emily Genauer measure 11.4 linear feet and date from circa 1920 to 1990. Found within the papers are correspondence with artists, gallery owners, and friends; extensive writings; research and reference files; personal business records; and photographs. Notable correspondents include David Aronson, Mrs. Max Beckman, Isabel Bishop, Dorothy Carnegie, Marc Chagall, Salvatore Dali, Stuart Davis, Martha Graham, Harry F. Guggenheim, Irene Rice Pereira, Clyfford Still, Rufino Tamayo, and Frank Lloyd Wright, among many others.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art critic Emily Genauer measure 11.4 linear feet and date from circa 1920 to 1990. Found within the papers are correspondence with artists, gallery owners, and friends; extensive writings; research and reference files; personal business records; and photographs.

Notable correspondents include David Aronson, Mrs. Max Beckman, Isabel Bishop, Dorothy Carnegie, Marc Chagall, Salvatore Dali, Stuart Davis, Martha Graham, Harry F. Guggenheim, Irene Rice Pereira, Clyfford Still, Rufino Tamayo, and Frank Lloyd Wright, among numerous others. Extensive writings consist largely of drafts of columns written by Genauer and supporting research notes, as well as essays, speeches, lectures, book manuscripts, and memoirs. Research and reference files include source material for columns and essays. Personal business records document Genauer's work on committees and arts organizations, juries, awards, honors and also include interview transcripts and other personal scattered files. There is material regarding her leaving the New York World-Telegram. Printed material includes two of Genauer's books, magazines, newspaper clippings, and exhibition catalogs. Photographs are portraits of Genauer and of artwork.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 6 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Correspondence and Letters, 1938-1991 (Box 1, 12, 0.8 linear feet)

Series 2: Writings, circa 1930s-1990s (Box 1-3, 2.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Research and Reference Files, circa 1920s-1990s (Box 4-6, 2.6 linear feet)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1933-1992 (Box 6-7, 0.8 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed Materials, circa 1920s-1990s (Box 7-9, 12, 1.6 linear feet)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1930s-1970s (Box 9-11, 12, 1.8 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Emily Genauer (1911-2002) was a modern art critic and columinst working in New York City from 1932 until well into the 1980s. In 1974, she won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished art criticism.

Genauer was born in 1911 in Staten Island. She attended Hunter College and Columbia University, majoring in Journalism. She began her writing career in 1929 with the New York World, which later became the New York World-Telegram. She became a strong advocate for modern art and sculpture and introduced modern artists like Marc Chagall and Diego Rivera to the newspaper audience. She also followed lesser known artists and often visited their studios, and they, in return, regularly read her articles and reviews of their shows.

Genauer left the New York World-Telegram in 1949 after a dispute with the owner who accused her writing as overly sympathetic to "Communists and left-wingers" and told her she could no longer write about Picasso. She immediately went to work as the art critic for the New York Herald Tribune, where she worked until 1967, when it folded. She then wrote a regular column for the Newsday Syndicate until the mid-1970s. She also worked for Harper's and in television and served on the council for the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1966 to 1970. Genauer was the author of a number of books, including The Best of Art, Chagall at the Met, and Rufino Tamayo.

Genauer passed away in 2002 in New York City at the age of 91.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reel NG1) including 300 letters, photographs, and printed material. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Emily Genauer lent letters on reel NG1 for microfilming 1959. Constance Roche, daughter of Emily Genauer, donated additional papers in 2000 and 2003.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services 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.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Women art critics  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Essays
Lectures
Transcriptions
Speeches
Photographs
Citation:
Emily Genauer papers, circa 1920s-1990s. Archives of American art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.genaemil
See more items in:
Emily Genauer papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9fe4ef839-12c1-4272-b2a9-b443c96d360a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-genaemil
Online Media:

Dwan Gallery records, 1959-circa 1982, bulk 1959-1971

Creator:
Dwan, Virginia, 1931-  Search this
Subject:
Parker, Raymond  Search this
Reinhardt, Ad  Search this
Weber, John  Search this
Snelson, Kenneth  Search this
Flavin, Dan  Search this
Andre, Carl  Search this
Guston, Philip  Search this
Saint-Phalle, Niki de  Search this
Kienholz, Edward  Search this
Mitchell, Joan  Search this
Klein, Yves  Search this
Rauschenberg, Robert  Search this
Morris, Robert  Search this
Scarpitta, Salvatore  Search this
Smithson, Robert  Search this
LeWitt, Sol  Search this
Richenburg, Robert  Search this
Raysse, Martial  Search this
Rivers, Larry  Search this
Oldenburg, Claes  Search this
Kline, Franz  Search this
Arman  Search this
Arakawa, Shusaku  Search this
Goodnough, Robert  Search this
Anastasi, William  Search this
Dwan Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Dwan Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Slides (photographs)
Citation:
Dwan Gallery records, 1959-circa 1982, bulk 1959-1971. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- New York (State) -- New York -- Exhibitions  Search this
Art -- California -- Los Angeles -- Exhibitions  Search this
Earthworks (Art)  Search this
Minimal art  Search this
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Artists -- United States  Search this
Theme:
Art Gallery Records  Search this
Art Market  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6056
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)216037
AAA_collcode_dwangall
Theme:
Art Gallery Records
Art Market
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_216037
Online Media:

Diana Fuller papers and gallery records, 1958-2004

Creator:
Fuller, Diana Burgess, 1937-  Search this
Subject:
Wiley, William T.  Search this
De Forest, Roy  Search this
Levine, Marilyn  Search this
Holland, Tom  Search this
Brown, Joan  Search this
Fuller Goldeen Gallery  Search this
Hansen Fuller Goldeen Gallery  Search this
Hansen-Fuller Gallery  Search this
Fuller Gross Gallery  Search this
Hansen Galleries  Search this
Citation:
Diana Fuller papers and gallery records, 1958-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Theme:
Art Gallery Records  Search this
Art Market  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10403
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213779
AAA_collcode_fulldian
Theme:
Art Gallery Records
Art Market
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213779

Oral history interview with Eleanor Ward, 1972 February 8

Interviewee:
Ward, Eleanor, 1912-1984  Search this
Interviewer:
Cummings, Paul  Search this
Subject:
Cornell, Joseph  Search this
Warhol, Andy  Search this
Stable Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Eleanor Ward, 1972 February 8. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)11677
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)216503
AAA_collcode_ward72
Theme:
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_216503

Oral history interview with Eleanor Ward

Interviewee:
Ward, Eleanor, 1912-1984  Search this
Interviewer:
Cummings, Paul  Search this
Names:
Stable Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Cornell, Joseph  Search this
Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987  Search this
Extent:
56 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1972 February 8
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Eleanor Ward conducted 1972 February 8, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Ward speaks of her family background and early interest in art; starting the Stable Gallery; the first Stable Annual Exhibition, 1953; Abstract Expressionist artists she showed; the success of the Stable Gallery's shows; her own collection; collectors; the gallery's move to 74th Street; the gallery scene in New York; finding new artists; the influence of critics; the reasons for the closing of the Stable Gallery. She recalls Joseph Cornell, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, Cy Towmbly, Robert Indiana, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, and other artists.
Biographical / Historical:
Eleanor Ward (1912-1984) was an art dealer from New York, N.Y. She founded the Stable Gallery.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 13 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.ward72
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw99da82eed-2eda-4312-abd3-6e912d952e6a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-ward72
Online Media:

Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers, 1890-2008

Creator:
Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973  Search this
Subject:
Russell, Morgan  Search this
Seuphor, Michel  Search this
Summerfield, Anne  Search this
Summerfield, John  Search this
Type:
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Drawings
Citation:
Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers, 1890-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Synchromism (Art)  Search this
Painting, Abstract  Search this
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)9461
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211659
AAA_collcode_macdstan
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211659
Online Media:

Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers

Creator:
Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973  Search this
Names:
Russell, Morgan, 1886-1953  Search this
Seuphor, Michel, 1901-1999  Search this
Summerfield, Anne, 1917-  Search this
Summerfield, John, 1917-  Search this
Extent:
17.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Drawings
Date:
1890-2008
Summary:
The papers of Southern California painter Stanton Macdonald-Wright measure 17.2 linear feet and date from 1890 to 2008. The collection contains biographical material including address books and interview transcripts; correspondence with family, friends, and artists, including Morgan Russell, and his wife Suzanne Binon, Michel and Suzanne Seuphor, Ann and John Summerfield, and Bethany Wilson; contracts, correspondence, and other material related to exhibitions Macdonald-Wright participated in or that featured his works in the decades following his death; notes, drafts and manuscripts for books, and other writings; diaries and travel journals; invoices, inventories, legal and estate documents, and other personal business records; scrapbooks consisting of clippings and exhibition materials; clippings, exhibition announcements, exhibition catalogs, and other printed materials; sketches and other artwork; photographs, slides and transparencies of Macdonald-Wright, family portraits, travels, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Southern California painter Stanton Macdonald-Wright measure 17.2 linear feet and date from 1890 to 2008. The collection contains biographical material including address books and interview transcripts; correspondence with family, friends, and artists, including Morgan Russell, and his wife Suzanne Binon, Michel and Suzanne Seuphor, Ann and John Summerfield, and Bethany Wilson; contracts, correspondence, and other material related to exhibitions MacDonald-Wright participated in or that featured his works in the decades following his death; notes, drafts and manuscripts for books, and other writings; diaries and travel journals; invoices, inventories, legal and estate documents, and other personal business records; scrapbooks consisting of clippings and exhibition materials; clippings, exhibition announcements, exhibition catalogs, and other printed materials; sketches and other artwork; photographs, slides and transparencies of MacDonald-Wright, family portraits, travels, and artwork.

Biographical material consists of address books, interview transcripts, and obituary and funeral material.

Correspondence consists of letters with family, friends, and artists, including Morgan Russell, and his wife Suzanne Binon, Michel and Suzanne Seuphor, Ann and John Summerfield, and Bethany Wilson.

Exhibition files consists of contracts, correspondence, and some printed material related to exhibitions that Macdonald-Wright participated in or that has featured his works in the decades following his death. Some of the exhibitions include the Southern California Art Project, Kineidoscope film, and "Color and Myth: Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Syncronism."

Writings consist of drafts of essays, plays, and book manuscripts. There are drafts of A Treatise on Color with palettes and color wheels, The Basis of Culture, and Macdonald-Wright's autobiography Bittersweet: An Artist's Life. At the end of the series are a number of files containing photographs, printed material, and some notes that Macdonald-Wright used for various book projects.

Diaries consist of a number of diaries and travel journals. One diary was written in Paris in 1909 in which Macdonald-Wright muses over the aesthetics of art and his color theories. Five additional disbound diaries cover his life from 1939-1973. Travel diaries date from 1959-1972 and cover trips to Italy, Japan, and Hawaii.

Personal business records consists of inventory cards and lists, invoices, property records, and legal documents related to the Macdonald-Wright estate. Also included are files between the estate and various galleries, such as the Esther Robles Gallery and the Goldfield Galleries, in regards to donations of works of art during both his active career and by his estate in the years after his death.

Scrapbooks consist of a scrapbook related to exhibitions featuring MacDonald-Wright's works and scrapbooks of clipping.

Printed material includes a copy of Les Synchromistes exhibition catalog, a newspaper clipping, and The Future of Painting by Willard Wright. Artwork consists of blueprints for Macdonald-Wright's Synchrome Kineidoscope, a color and light projecting machine first envisioned by Macdonald-Wright and Morgan Russell as early as 1913 and finally completed in the late 1950s. Also included are newpaper and magazine clipping, exhibition announcements, and exhibition catalogs.

Artwork consists of a sketchbook, and a number of sketches and drawings.

Photographic material consists of photographs of Stanton Macdonald-Wright and portraits and photographs of his family. Among these photographs is a glass plate negative of his family coat-of-arms. Also included are photographs, slides and transparencies of travels to Japan and Hawaii, and of Macdonald-Wright's artwork. There are also five glass plate images of some of Macdonald-Wright's paintings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1909-2008 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1907-2005 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1941-2005 (0.2 linear feet; boxes 2-3)

Series 4: Writings, 1913-2003 (4.7 linear feet; Boxes 3-7)

Series 5: Diaries, 1909-1991 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-9)

Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1946-2006 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 9-10)

Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1910-1994 ( 0.3 linear feet; Boxes 10, 19)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1912-2002 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 10-12, 19)

Series 9: Artwork, circa 1897-1970 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 12, 19)

Series 10: Photographic Material, 1890-2004 (5.3 linear feet; Boxes 12-18, OV 20)
Biographical / Historical:
Stanton Macdonald-Wright (1890-1973) was the creator of a modernist style of painting based on pure spectral color known as chromatic abstraction or "Synchromism." He worked in New York and later primarily in Los Angeles.

Stanton Macdonald-Wright was born in 1890 in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1900 the family moved to Santa Monica, California where they ran a seaside hotel. A few years later he took courses at the Art Students League in Los Angeles, studying under Warren T. Huges. His older brother was Willard Huntington Wright, a respected art critic who wrote Modern Painting: Its Tendency and Meaning (1915), upon which he collaborated with his younger brother Stanton, and The Future of Painting (1923), and later became a detective novelist under the name S. S. Van Dine.

At the age of seventeen, Stanton Macdonald-Wright married his first wife and moved to Paris where he immersed himself in European art and studied at the Sorbonne, the Académie Julian, the École des Beaux-Arts, and the Académie Colarossi. While in Europe he also befriended fellow American painter Morgan Russell and the two artists began working closely together. They studied with Canadian painter Percyval Tudor-Hart between 1911 and 1913 and were deeply influenced by their teacher's color theory, which connected the qualities of color to those of music. Together Macdonald-Wright and Russell developed a style of painting based on color and named it "Synchromism." They introduced their work in 1913 at the Der Neue Kuntsalon in Munich and in Paris at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune. These exhibitions helped to establish Synchromism as an major influence in modern art well into the 1920s.

Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Morgan Russell returned to the United States eager to promote their work and theory. It was not long before the two separated, but both continued to work in the Synchromist style. Together, they held one more Synchromist exhibition in New York in 1916 which received significant critical support. Macdonald-Wright also participated in the prestigious 1916 "Forum Exhibition of Modern American Painters" in New York and exhibited his work at Alfred Stieglitz's famed 291 gallery in New York in 1917. Yet, financial success evaded him.

Macdonald-Wright moved to Santa Monica in 1918, where he taught and served as director of the Los Angeles Art Students League. In 1924 he published his instructive Treatise on Color. In 1927 he organized another joint exhibition with Morgan Russell at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where he also exhibited five years later. He exhibited at the Oakland Art Gallery, the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, Alfred Stieglitz's An American Place gallery in New York, and the Stendahl Galleries in Los Angeles. From 1935 to 1942 Macdonald-Wright served as director of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project for Southern California, followed by a faculty position at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles where he taught for sixteen years.

In the late 1950s, Macdonald-Wright completed the Synchome Kineidoscope, a color and light projecting machine first envisioned by Macdonald-Wright and Morgan Russell as early as 1913.

Macdonald-Wright traveled extensively throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, spending time in Hawaii, Italy, and Japan. Macdonald-Wright married three times and died in California in 1973, at the age of 83.

This biographical note draws heavily on the Archives of American Art's West Coast Regional Collector Paul Karlstrom's collection description written upon acquisition of the papers.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds several collections related to the Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers. There is an oral interview of Stanton Macdonald-Wright conducted 1964 Apr. 13-Sept. 16, by Betty Hoag. There are also Stanton Macdonald-Wright Letters to Alan and Fanny Leslie, the Stanton Macdonald-Wright Collection of photographs, Stanton Macdonald-Wright Letters to Morgan Russell, Walter Houk Letters from Stanton Macdonald-Wright, and an Oral History of Stanton Macdonald-Wright by Jeanne M. Marshall for the Voice of America Conducted in 1967.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reels LA 1 and LA 5) including a brochure on the Santa Monica Library murals and six photographs of the panels while in Macdonald-Wright's studio. There is also a 1939 exhibition catalog for "Southern California Art Project" a master's thesis on Macdonald-Wright by Dori Jean Watson (1957), and one scrapbook of photographs, clippings, and other printed materials dating from circa 1910-1964. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Stanton Macdonald-Wright first loaned materials to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1964. David Nellis, a gallery owner, gave the Archives the artist's unpublished autobiography in 1978. The bulk of the Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by his widow, Jean Macdonald-Wright, in 2 installments in 1995 and then in 2019 as a bequest.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services 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.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Topic:
Synchromism (Art)  Search this
Painting, Abstract  Search this
Genre/Form:
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Drawings
Citation:
Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers, 1890-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.macdstan
See more items in:
Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92754d264-a987-4a95-9b40-39727bfd1bc6
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-macdstan
Online Media:

Roy Joseph Zalesky Collection

Object Name:
Roy Joseph Zalesky Collection
Subject:
Journalism  Search this
ID Number:
COLL.PHOTOS.000106
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Photographic History
Photography
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-80d6-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1854062

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