Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Additional Online Media

Catalog Data

Creator:
Ankrum Gallery  Search this
Subject:
Casey, Bernie  Search this
Caryl, Naomi  Search this
Block, Irving  Search this
Bauer, Richard  Search this
Andrews, Benny  Search this
Almaraz, Carlos  Search this
Hirshhorn, Olga  Search this
Herschler, David  Search this
Hirsch, Joseph  Search this
Groth, Bruno  Search this
Halpert, Edith Gregor  Search this
Duveneck, Frank  Search this
Feitelson, Lorser  Search this
Palm Springs Desert Museum  Search this
Lundeberg, Helen  Search this
Johnson, Buffie  Search this
Miller, Henry  Search this
Mesches, Arnold  Search this
Zev  Search this
Jackson, Suzanne  Search this
Homer, Jessie  Search this
Broderson, Morris  Search this
Ankrum, Joan  Search this
Secunda, Arthur  Search this
Schuler, Melvin  Search this
Varda, Jean  Search this
Shores, Kenneth  Search this
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden  Search this
Storm King Art Center  Search this
Staempfli Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
California Arts Council  Search this
Black Arts Council (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Krannert Art Museum  Search this
Laguna Art Museum (Laguna Beach, Calif.)  Search this
San Diego Museum of Art  Search this
Paramount Pictures  Search this
Art Dealers Association of America  Search this
Type:
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
41.5 Linear feet
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 12 series. Series 1: Correspondence, 1961-1994 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1) Series 2: Project Files, 1965-1987 (0.25 linear feet; Box 1) Series 3: Administrative Records, 1961- circa 1990s (1 linear foot; Boxes 1-2) Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1961-1991 (1 linear foot; Boxes 2-3) Series 5: Artists' Files, 1957-1994 (22.5 linear feet; Boxes 3-25, 41-42, FC 43-45) Series 6: Collector and Client Files, 1960-1994 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 25-28) Series 7: Financial Material, 1962-1990 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 28-30) Series 8: Printed Material, 1957-1994 (2 linear feet; Boxes 30-32, 41) Series 9: Scrapbook, 1960-1988 (3 folders; Box 32) Series 10: Photographs, circa 1960s-circa 1990s (0.35 linear feet; Boxes 32, 42) Series 11: Joan Ankrum Personal Papers, circa 1900-1993 (2 linear feet; Boxes 32-34, 41) Series 12: Morris Broderson Papers, 1941-1989 (7.2 linear feet; Boxes 34-42)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Summary:
The Ankrum Gallery records measure 41.5 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to circa 1990s, with the bulk of the records dating from 1960 to 1990. The papers include over 395 artists files, general gallery correspondence, project files, administrative records, exhibition files, collector and client files, financial material, printed material, 1 unbound scrapbook, and photographs. Also included are personal papers of gallery founder Joan Ankrum and her nephew, artist Morris Broderson.
Citation:
Ankrum Gallery records, circa 1900-circa 1990s, bulk 1960-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Funding:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund
Use Note:
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.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are two oral history interviews with Joan Ankrum, one conducted by Betty Hoag, April 28, 1964, and a second by Paul Karlstrom, November 5, 1997-February 4, 1998. Additionally, there is an oral history interview with Morris Broderson conducted by Paul Karlstrom, March 11-13, 1998.
Biography Note:
The Ankrum Gallery was established 1960 in Los Angeles by American film actress Joan Wheeler Ankrum and William Chalee. The gallery closed in 1989.
Joan Wheeler Ankrum and William Challee opened Ankrum Gallery on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles in 1960 with a one-man show of Ankrum's nephew Morris Broderson. With a focus on contemporary California artists, Ankrum Gallery represented over 395 artists during its 30 years in operation, including Benny Andrews, Carlos Almaraz, Richard Bauer, Irving Block, Naomi Caryl, Bernie Casey, Frank Duveneck, Lorser Feitelson, Bruno Groth, David Herschler, Jessie Homer, Suzanne Jackson, Buffie Johnson, Samella Lewis, Helen Lundeberg, Arnold Mesches, Henry Miller, Melvin Schuler, Arthur Secunda, Ken Shores, Jean Varda, and Zev. In addition, the gallery was among the earliest to exhibit the work of black artists. The gallery also held exhibitions of world artists, which included "Art of African Peoples" (1973), "Yarn Paintings of the Huichol Indians" (1973), "Five Contemporary Mexican Painters" (1977), and "Ethiopian Folk Painting" (1978). Ankrum Gallery closed in 1989.
Art dealer and gallery owner, Joan Wheeler Ankrum was an actress before establishing the Ankrum Gallery primarily to showcase the work of her deaf nephew, Morris Broderson. Born in 1913 in Palo Alto, California, she began acting at the Pasadena Playhouse where she met her first husband Morris Ankrum with whom she had two sons, David and Cary Ankrum. She married gallery co-owner and partner William Challee in 1984. She helped organize the Los Angeles Art Dealers Association and the Monday Night Art Walks on La Cienega Boulevard. She was a member of the relatively short-lived Black Arts Council. Joan Wheeler Ankrum died in 2001 at the age of 88.
Morris Broderson (1928-2011) was a deaf painter. His first one-man show was at the Stanford Museum in 1957, followed by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. By 1959 he'd won two awards from the Los Angeles County Museum, and appeared in the Whitney Museum's "Young America" show in 1960. His travels influenced his work, including the hand gestures of Kabuki art in Japan. His work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, among others. Following Joan Ankrum's death in 2001, Broderson was represented by her son David Ankrum.
Language Note:
Collection is in English
Provenance:
The Ankrum Gallery records were donated to the Archives of American Art by Joan Ankrum in 1995.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Artists -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Theme:
Art Gallery Records  Search this
Art Market  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6569
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215861
AAA_collcode_ankrgall
Theme:
Art Gallery Records
Art Market
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_215861