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Summary:
Correspondence, printed material, photographs, business records and a diary.
REEL 103: Clippings, 1929-1932, on exhibitions and activities of the Little Gallery, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, directed by Rowan (microfilm title: Little Gallery).
REEL 1208: Photographs used to publicize exhibitions at the Little Gallery, including 183 photographs of works of art, the Little Gallery Junior Art Club, Grant Wood, and William Herbert Dunton at work.
REEL D141-D142: Correspondence; a diary; business records of the Little Gallery, the Stone City Art Colony and Art School, and the Section of Fine Arts; photographs, including two of The Little Gallery, five of the Stone City Colony and Art School, six of Rowan and three of his paintings, and two photos showing Grant Wood, David McCosh, Arnold Pyle, Adrian Dornbush, and Marvin Cone; and catalogs, clippings and publications, including "A Report on Iowa Art Under Public Works of Art Jan. 20, 1934, under the direction of Grant Wood" containing reproductions of work, several clippings, a 2 p. report "three weeks after the beginning of work" and 2 p. typed "Notes" signed by Wood with a photograph attached.
Among the correspondents are Oscar Bluemner, Chaim Gross, Waldo Peirce, Henry Varnum Poor, Eleanor Roosevelt, Forbes Watson, and Grant Wood.
Citation:
Edward Beatty Rowan papers, 1929-1946. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
35mm microfilm reels 103, D141-D142 and 1208 available for use at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Biography Note:
Gallery director, painter, sculptor, teacher; Falls Church, Va. and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Founder and director of The Little Gallery, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1928-1934. The gallery was concerned with promoting education in the community. Because of his success with the Little Gallery, in 1931 he was chosen by the American Federation of Arts to be the director of a new experimental art center in Cedar Rapids. Rowan was affiliated with the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard before going to Cedar Rapids and served as Chief, Public Buildings Administration, 1930's-1940's.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
Donated by Mrs. Edward Rowan, 1963.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
