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:
Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art records, 1883-1962, bulk 1885-1940. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Brown Foundation. Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
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
The papers of contemporary and folk art curator, historian, and consultant Dorothy C. Miller measure 34.6 linear feet and date from 1853-2013, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920 to 1996. The papers primarily concern Miller's private art consulting work outside of her curatorial work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Found are scattered biographical materials, extensive correspondence and subject files, and project files for her art consulting work for the Rockefeller family, Rockefeller University, Chase Manhattan Bank, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the World Trade Center, and other miscellaneous corporate and private clients. Miller's work as a trustee and committee member of various public and private boards and commissions is also represented here. Additionally, the papers contain Miller's research files on Edward Hicks and folk art, and a small number of files of her husband Holger Cahill about his work as Director of the Federal Art Project. There is a scattered documentation of Miller's early curatorial work with Holger Cahill on the First Municipal Art Exhibition (1934) held at the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center. Also found is Dorothy Miller's collection of artists' Christmas cards and photographs of Miller and others. An addition to the papers includes biographical material; family papers; correspondence; professional files; art collection and client files; printed material; and photographic material. While a small number professional files are included, the majority of the addition relates to her personal life, including correspondence with her husband Holger Cahill, and files pertaining to her personal art collection.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of contemporary and folk art curator, historian, and consultant Dorothy C. Miller measure 34.6 linear feet and date from 1853-2013, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920 to 1996. The papers primarily concern Miller's art consulting work outside of her curatorial work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York city. Found are scattered biographical materials, extensive correspondence and subject files, and project files for her art consulting work for the Rockefeller family, Rockefeller University, Chase Manhattan Bank, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and other miscellaneous corporate and private clients. Her work as a trustee and committee member of various public and private boards and commissions is also represented here. Additionally, the papers contain Miller's research files on Edward Hicks and folk art, and a small number of files related to Miller's husband Holger Cahill and his work as Director of the Federal Art Project. There is important documentation of Miller's early curatorial work with Holger Cahill on the First Municipal Art Exhibition (1934) held at the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center. Artwork includes scattered sketches and drawings enclosed with correspondence and original Christmas cards sent to Miller by various artists. Photographs of Miller date from 1926 - circa 1950.
Scattered biographical material mostly concerns Miller's education at Smith College and awards and honorary degrees that she received. Extensive correspondence and subject files document her professional and personal relationships with family, friends, colleagues, museums, art dealers and artists, as well as her research interests. Individual files may contain a mix of correspondence with, as well as about, the person or subject, compiled research documents, printed materials, and scattered photographs. Files are found for Lewin Alcopley, Alfred Barr, Betty Parsons Gallery, Cahill family members, Lee Bontecou, James Byars, Holger Cahill, Alexander Calder, Christo, Chryssa, Calvert Coggeshall, John Canaday, Maryette Charlton, Stuart Davis, Jay DeFeo, Lorser Feitelson, Arshile Gorky, Peggy Guggenheim, Grace Hartigan, Will Horwitt, Jasper Johns, Julien Levy, Pierre Matisse, Louise Nevelson, Barnett Newman, Isamu Nauchi, Georgia O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Kay Sage, Charles Sheeler, Hedda Sterne, travel, Clyfford Still, William Scharf, among many others.
Detailed records of Miller's art consulting and advisory work for the Rockefeller family include correspondence with Nelson A. Rockefeller and David Rockefeller about building their personal collections of contemporary and folk art, meeting notes and minutes, research notes and writings, and printed materials. The largest group of records concerns the writing and publication of The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection: Masterpieces of Modern Art. Miller's curatorial work for David Rockefeller and the Rockefeller University's Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Hall art collection is documented in Series 4 through curatorial files, correspondence, printed materials, photographs and slides, artists files, and design records.
Series 5 contains files relating to Miller's work as the first art consutant to the Chase Manhattan Bank and the building of the corporation's extensive collection of contemporary art. There is a draft of Miller's text for the bank's published catalog, Art At Work: Chase Manhattan Bank Collection. A smaller set of records is found in Series 6 documenting Miller's work on the Art Committee of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, including files about selecting artwork for the World Trade Center during the early 1970s. Files concerning Miller's advisory work with additional public and private clients, boards, and commissions are arranged in Series 7 and 8 and concern the Amstar Corporation, Fidelity International Bank, First National Bank of Tampa, First National City Bank, Inmont Corporation, Pepsico, United Mutual Savings Bank, the Empire State Plaza Art Commission, the Hancock Shaker Village, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Mark Rothko Foundation, the Museum of American Folk Art, and the Smith College Museum of Art.
Miller's papers include a small group of files relating to the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP)created by her husband Holger Cahill when he was director of the FAP, Holger Cahill. A small series is devoted to Miller's work with Eleanore Price Mather researching and writing Edward Hicks: His Peaceable Kingdom and Other Paintings. A series of general research files contain miscellaneous research notes and photographs related to Miller's interests in early American art and folk art. Series 12 contains important documentation of Miller's early curatorial work with Holger Cahill on the First Municipal Art Exhibition (1934) held at the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center.
Works of art are primarily in the form of Christmas cards sent to Miller by various artists including Elise Asher, Lyonel Feininger, Bernard Karpel, and Irene Rice Pereira. A small group of photographs includes photographs of Miller from 1926-circa 1950 and a few photographs of others.
The addition includes biographical material; family papers; correspondence; professional files; art collection and client files; printed material; and photographic material. While a small number of professional files are found here, the majority of material relates to Miller's personal life, including correspondence with her husband Holger Cahill, and files pertaining to her personal art collection. Scattered correspondence, inventories, research, and notes created by curator and donor of the papers, Wendy Jeffers, are found throughout the collection. These materials date from the 1980s-2000s.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 15 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1917-1986 (Box 1; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 2: Correspondence and Subject Files, circa 1912-1992 (Boxes 1-8, OV 27; 7.2 linear ft.)
Series 3: Rockefeller Family Art Collections, circa 1949-1985 (Boxes 8-12, 25; 3.9 linear ft.)
Series 4: Rockefeller University Collection, 1923-1984 (Boxes 12-13, OV 27; 1.0 linear ft.)
Series 5: Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, 1959-circa 1985 (Boxes 13-14, 26; 1.4 linear ft.)
Series 6: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Art Committee, circa 1965-1987 (Boxes 14-15, OV 27; 0.8 linear ft.)
Series 7: Other Corporate and Private Clients, 1968-1984 (Boxes 15-16; 1.3 linear ft.)
Series 8: Other Boards, Committees and Commissions, 1925, 1949-1985 (Boxes 16-20; 3.6 linear ft.)
Series 9: Works Project Administration Federal Art Project Files, 1935-1979 (Box 20, OV 27; 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 10: Edward Hicks Catalog, 1934-1984 (Boxes 20-22; 1.5 linear ft.)
Series 11: Research Files, 1930s-1980 (Boxes 22-23; 0.8 linear ft.)
Series 12: Exhibition Files, 1932-1986 (Box 23; 0.6 linear ft.)
Series 13: Works of Art, circa 1924-circa 1982 (Boxes 23-25; 1.5 linear ft.)
Series 14: Photographs, 1926-circa 1970s (Boxes 24-25; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 15: Addition to the Dorothy C. Miller Papers, 1853-2003, bulk 1920-1996 (Boxes 28-38, OVs 39-41; 9.9 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Dorothy Canning Miller (1904-2003) worked in New York City as a highly influential curator of contemporary and folk art at the Museum of Modern Art and as the first curator of the museum. Later, she was the primary art consultant for Nelson A. Rockefeller, the Rockefeller family, Rockefeller University, Chase Manhattan Bank, and the Port Authority of and New Jersey. Dorothy Miller was also married to Holger Cahill, director of the WPA Federal Art Project.
Dorothy C. Miller was born in Hopedale, Massachusetts in 1904 and received her Bachelor of Arts from Smith College in 1925. She was first introduced to modern art through classes at the Newark Museum taught by John Cotton Dana and Holger Cahill. Miller joined the curatorial staff of the Newark Museum in 1926. The museum was one of the first to organize exhibitions of American folk art, American Primitives (1930-1931) and American Folk Sculpture (1931-1932). Miller worked with Cahill and others on the exhibition and developed a life-long interest in folk art.
After four years at the Newark Museum, Miller moved to New York city, hoping to get involved with the newly opened Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and, likely, to be with Holger Cahill, with whom she lived with on 8th Street prior to their marriage in 1938. Between 1930 and 1932 she took odd jobs and worked with Mrs. Henry Lang cataloging, researching and installing Lang's collection of Native American art Lang donated to the Montclair Art Museum. At the same time, Holger Cahill was serving as Acting Director of the Museum of Modern Art during an absence of Director Alfred H. Barr. In 1932, Cahill asked Miller to assist him with curating the American Painting and Sculpture, 1862-1932 exhibition at MoMA, and together they also curated the First Municipal Art Exhibition, 1934 at the Rockefeller Center.
In 1934, Barr hired Miller as his assistant and one year later appointed her as MoMA's first curator. Miller spent the next 35 years organizing many of this country's most important exhibitions of contemporary art and building personal relationships with new artists and photographers, as well as the collections of MoMA. Miller retired from MOMA in 1969 and focused more on her art consulting work begun in the late 1950s.
Dorothy Miller's most notable client was Nelson A. Rockefeller. She assisted and advised Rockefeller as he acquired a vast personal collection of modern art - some of which was later donated to MoMA. Just prior to her retirement, Miller organized a large exhibition of Rockefeller's collection. The exhibition catalog written by Miller was the basis for the book she worked on with Rockefeller up until and following his death in 1979, ultimately published as The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection: Masterpieces of Modern Art. In the preface, Rockefeller credited Miller with being one of the four people to whom he was indebted "for the understanding and endless joy I have found in the collecting of modern art in all forms."
Miller also served as the primary art consultant for projects to furnish federal spaces, including Henry Kissinger's State Department office suite, and the official Vice-Presidential residence at the Admiral's House in Washington D.C.
In 1959 Miller was invited to join the art collection committee of the Chase Manhattan Bank and served on the committee until the mid-1980s, contributing her expertise to the development of one of this country's oldest and largest corporate collections of modern and contemporary art.
Miller was also an advisor to other members of the Rockefeller family, including David Rockefeller, and assisted with developing the art collections of Rockefeller Institute/University. From 1960 through the late 1980s Miller was a member of the art committee for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANJY) and was responsible for selecting much of the artwork for the World Trade Center in the 1970s. She served on numerous boards and commissions, including the Hancock Shaker Village, the Smithsonian Institution's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Empire State Plaza in Albany, Smith College Museum of Art, and the Museum of American Folk Art. She also became a member of the Mark Rothko Foundation Board of Directors after the litigation following Rothko's death between Rothko's executors and his daughter.
In the mid-1970s Miller assisted the Whitney Museum of American with planning an exhibition and supporting catalog of the work of folk artist Edward Hicks. Although the exhibition and catalog were only partially realized in 1980, Miller and Eleanore Price Mather compiled and published a book on Hicks, Edward Hicks: His Peaceable Kingdoms and Other Paintings, published in 1983.
In 1982-1983 Miller received the Art Dealers Association Special Award, an honorary degree from Williams College, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture governor's award. In 1984 she was named honorary trustee of the Museum of Modern Art. In 1985 the Smith College Museum of Art honored her important contributions to museum connoisseurship with the exhibition Dorothy C. Miller: With An Eye to American Art.
Dorothy Miller died in 2003 at the age of 99 at her home in Greenwich, New York.
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art holds two oral history interviews with Dorothy C. Miller. The first was conducted by Paul Cummings between May 26, 1970 and September 28, 1971, and details Miller's life from childhood up to, and including, her years at the Museum of Modern Art. The second was conducted by Avis Berman on May 14, 1981 and covers Miller's relationships with Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still. Also found among the holdings of the Archives are the papers of Holger Cahill, Dorothy Miller's husband and colleague.
The Museum of Modern Art Achives holds Dorothy Miller's papers related to her curatorial work at the museum.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Dorothy C. Miller via Wendy Jeffers between 1986 and 1997, and Reid White, Executor of Miller's estate, in 2004. Two subsequent additions were donated by Wendy Jeffers in 2014 and 2015.
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.
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The 19 scrapbooks in this series are the collection's main source of Macbeth Gallery exhibition catalogs and related news clippings. Although incomplete, the scrapbooks provide fairly comprehensive coverage of the gallery's history and include material on day-to-day events at the gallery as well as important occasions such as the gallery's fortieth, fiftieth and sixtieth anniversaries, news of the art world in general and some photographs. Some of the scrapbooks also contain printed material related to art, exhibitions and events elsewhere. Many of the exhibition catalogs found here are annotated with prices and other notes. Notably missing is the catalog for the 1908 exhibition, The Eight.
See Appendix for a list of Macbeth Gallery exhibitions documented in Series 5: Scrapbooks.
Arrangement:
As some of the dates of the scrapbooks overlap, they were numbered 1-19 for clarity. The scrapbook cover for #3 is housed in Box 120, and the contents are housed in Box 122.
Appendix: Macbeth Gallery Exhibitions Documented in Scrapbooks:
This chronological list of Macbeth Gallery exhibitions is extensive, but incomplete. While an attempt has been made to establish the accuracy of the information provided here, dates and titles of exhibitions are not guaranteed to be accurate. Most of the exhibitions listed here are documented in the scrapbooks through exhibition catalogs and/or invitations, lists of artwork and news clippings. The list is annotated with AAA microfilm reel and frame numbers to assist researchers in locating material on specific exhibitions.
Scrapbook 1, 1892-1901
Dec. 7-21, 1892 -- Water Colors by American Artists (NMc1: 273-275)
Jan.23-Feb.11, 1893 -- Landscapes in Oil (NMc1: 276-277)
Feb. 27-Mar. 18, 1893 -- Landscapes in Oil by William Keith (NMc1: 278-279)
Mar. 20-Apr. 8, 1893 -- Watercolors by Dutch Artists (NMc1: 281-282)
Nov. 8-29, 1893 -- Second Annual Exhibition of Watercolors by American Artists (NMc1: 283-285)
Dec. 2-16, 1893 -- Drawings in Watercolors and in Black and White by C. R. Grant and Wilson De Meza (NMc1: 287-290)
Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 1894 -- Pictures and Sketches by Anton Mauve (NMc1: 291-292, 311-313)
Feb. 6-17, 1894 -- Paintings by Henry W. Ranger (NMc1: 295-296)
Jan. 21-Feb. 2, 1901 -- Pictures and Portraits by Wilbur A. Reaser (NMc1: 385)
Feb. 25-Mar. 9, 1901 -- Frederick Ballard Williams (NMc1: 394-395)
Feb. 4-16, 1901 -- Landscapes by Alexander H. Wyant and George Inness (NMc1: 390-391)
May 9-31, 1901 -- Paintings by Arthur B. Davies (NMc1: 400-402)
Nov. 29-Dec. 14, 1901 -- Watercolors, Color Prints from Wood Blocks and Etchings Printed in Color by Helen Hyde (NMc1: 405-406)
Scrapbook 2, 1893-1898
Primarily news clippings.
Scrapbook 3, 1902-1910
Feb. 3-15, 1902 -- Private Collection of American Pictures (NMc1: 2-5)
Mar. 17-29, 1902 -- Some Phases of London When the Lamps Are Lighted, Done in Pastel by Fernand Lungren (NMc1: 10-13)
Mar. 31-Apr. 5, 1902 -- Group of Pictures by Sidney Starr (NMc1: 13)
Apr. 1-12, 1902 -- Pictures by Robert Henri (NMc1: 15-16)
Apr. 14-26, 1902 -- Drawings by Jane Erin Emmet (NMc1: 21-22)
Apr. 28-May 11, 1902 -- Landscapes by W. L. Lathrop (NMc1: 20)
Jan 19-31, 1903 -- Drawings and Sketches by Homer D. Martin, 1836-1897 (NMc1: 27)
Jan. 27-Feb. 11, 1905 -- Pictures by William Sartain (NMc1: 37-39)
Feb. 23-Mar. 8, 1905 -- Paintings by Arthur B. Davies (NMc1: 62-64)
May 1-6, 1905 -- Oil Paintings by American Artists from the Macbeth Gallery (at the Galleries of George D. Brodhead, Rochester, NY) (NMc1: 69-72)
Jan 29-Feb. 10, 1906 -- Abbot H. Thayer and Gladys Thayer (NMc1: 77-78)
Feb. 19-Mar. 3, 1906 -- Pictures by Charles H. Davis (NMc1: 79-80)
Mar. 10-24, 1906 -- Stephen Parrish (NMc1: 81-82)
Nov. 9-24, 1906 -- A Group of American Paintings (NMc1: 91-92)
Jan. 11-26, 1907 -- Paintings by William Sartain (NMc1: 100-101)
Feb. 1-16, 1907 -- Paintings by Paul Dougherty (NMc1: 105-106)
Feb. 23-Mar. 9, 1907 -- Paintings by Charles H. Davis (NMc1: 107-108)
Mar. 11-23, 1907 -- Portraits by Ellen Emmet (NMc1: 112-113)
Mar. 28-Apr. 3, 1907 -- Paintings by William Keith (NMc1: 115-117)
Nov. 11-23, 1907 -- Paintings by Augustus Vincent Tack (NMc1: 124-125)
Nov. 27-Dec. 12, 1907 -- Paintings by John La Farge (NMc1: 127-131)
Jan. 6-18, 1908 -- Paintings by Jerome Myers (NMc1: 133-134)
Jan. 20-Feb. 1, 1908 -- Paintings by Paul Dougherty (NMc1: 137-138)
Feb. 3-15, 1908 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Arthur B. Davies, William J. Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice B. Prendergast, Everett Shinn, John Sloan (NMc:142-143 Catalog missing from scrapbook)
Feb. 19-Mar. 7. 1908 -- Forty Selected Paintings by Living American Artists (NMc1: 147-149)
Mar. 11-24, 1908 -- Paintings by a Group of American Artists (Deceased), Copley to Whistler (NMc1: 151-152)
1908 -- Kwaunon Meditating on Life by John La Farge (NMc1: 155)
Nov. 10-25, 1908 -- Paintings by Howard Pyle (NMc1: 158-159)
Nov. 27-Dec. 10, 1908 -- Paintings by Charles Melville Dewey (NMc1: 161-162)
Dec. 15-31, 1908 -- Bronzes by a Group of American Artists (NMc1: 165-166)
Jan. 7-21, 1909 -- Forty Selected Paintings by Living American Artists (NMc1: 168-169)
Jan. 22-Feb. 4, 1909 -- Paintings by Henry W. Ranger (NMc1: 171-172)
Feb. 5-18, 1909 -- Paintings by Paul Dougherty (NMc1: 176
Feb. 19-Mar. 4, 1909 -- Arthur B. Davies (NMc1: 178)
Mar. 5-Mar. 18, 1909 -- Paintings by Charles H. Davis, N.A. (NMc1: 183-184)
Mar. 19-Apr. 1, 1909 -- A Group of Figure Subjects by Blendon Campbell, Charles W. Hawthorne, Robert Henri, George Luks, Kenneth Miller (NMc1: 186-187)
Apr. 2-15, 1909 -- Paintings by Louis Loeb (NMc1: 188-189)
Apr. 16-29, 1909 -- Paintings by a Group of Boston Artists (NMc1: 191-192)
May 10-22, 1909 -- Paintings by American Artists from the Macbeth Galleries, New York [at Findlay Art Co., Kansas City, MO] (NMc1: 195-197)
Nov. 18-Dec. 4, 1909 -- Paintings by Albert P. Lucas (NMc1: 203-205)
Dec. 7-24, 1909 -- Watercolors and Pastels by American Artists (NMc1: 207-210)
Dec 7-24, 1909 -- Second Annual Exhibition of Bronzes by American Sculptors (NMc1: 211-212)
Jan. 6-19, 1910 -- Sixteen Paintings of the Cornish Coast by Paul Dougherty (NMc1: 213-215)
Jan. 20-Feb. 2, 1910 -- Paintings by Mary Curtis Richardson of San Francisco (NMc1: 218-220)
Jan. 20-Feb. 2, 1910 -- First Exhibition of Paintings by Ben Foster (NMc1: 216-218)
Feb 3-16, 1910 -- Landscapes and Figures by Frederick Ballard Williams (NMc1: 227-229)
Feb. 3-16, 1910 -- Spanish Paintings by F. Luis Mora (NMc1: 225-227)
Feb. 17-Mar. 2, 1910 -- The Fur Jacket by J. McNeill Whistler (NMc1: 231-232)
Feb. 17-Mar. 2, 1910 -- Paintings by William Sartain (NMc1: 233-235)
Mar. 3-16, 1910 -- Fourteen Landscapes by Charles H. Davis (NMc1: 237-239)
Mar. 3-16, 1910 -- Recent Portraits by Cecilia Beaux (NMc1: 239-240)
Mar. 17-30, 1910 -- Paintings by Hermann Dudley Murphy (NMc1: 244-246)
Mar. 17-30, 1910 -- Figure Paintings by Charles W. Hawthorne (NMc1: 242-244)
Mar. 31-Apr. 13, 1910 -- Paintings of Baily's Island by Frederick J. Waugh (NMc1: 249-251)
Mar. 31-Apr. 13, 1910 -- Nineteen Landscapes by Chaucey F. Ryder (NMc1: 247-249)
Apr. 14-27, 1910 -- George B. Luks (NMc1: 253-255)
Apr. 30-May 14, 1910 -- The Woman's Art Club of New York, Exhibition of Works in Oil and Sculpture (NMc1: 259-262)
Scrapbook 4, 1907-1913
Primarily news clippings.
Scrapbook 5, 1910-1915
Nov. 3-16, 1910 -- Recent Paintings by Charles W. Hawthorne (NMc2: 1-2)
Nov. 17-30, 1910 -- The Navajo Country in Watercolors by Frederick J. McComas (NMc2: 4-6)
Dec. 6-24, 1910 -- Watercolors, Pastels and Small Bronzes (NMc2: 7-14)
Jan. 5-18, 1911 -- Portraits by Ellen Emmet (NMc2: 15-16)
Jan. 19-Feb. 1, 1911 -- Paintings by Henry B. Snell (NMc2: 17-24)
Feb. 2-22, 1911 -- A Group of Thirty Selected Paintings (NMc2: 25-28)
Feb. 23-Mar. 8, 1911 -- A Group of Forty Selected Paintings (NMc2: 29-32)
Mar. 9-22, 1911 -- Paintings by Charles H. Davis, Paul Dougherty, Daniel Garber, William Sartain, F. Ballard Williams (NMc2: 33-35)
Mar. 23-Apr. 5, 1911 -- A Group of Paintings by Ben Foster, Albert L. Groll, Leonard Ochtman, Chauncey F. Ryder, Gardner Symons (NMc2: 36-38)
Apr. 8-22, 1911 -- The Woman's Art Club of New York, Exhibition of Works in Oil and Sculpture (NMc2: 39-42)
Nov. 16-29, 1911 -- Landscapes, Marines and Wood Interiors by Robert Henri (NMc2: 45-48)
Dec. 6-30, 1911 -- Small Bronzes by American Sculptors (NMc2: 49-52)
Dec. 2-15, 1913 -- Second Exhibition by the Society of Men Who Paint the Far West (NMc2: 172-176)
Jan. 1914 -- Drawings of Game Birds by Frank W. Benson (NMc2: 179-180)
Jan. 6-19, 1914 -- Paintings by Emil Carlsen, Paul Dougherty, Frederick C. Frieseke, Childe Hassam, Willard L. Metcalf, Kenneth H. Miller, J. Alden Weir (NMc2: 179, 181-183)
Feb. 10-Mar. 2, 1925 -- Water Colors of Egypt and Jerusalem by Taber Sears (NMc3: 126, 129-130)
Feb. 10-Mar.2, 1925 -- The New England Year in Paintings by Charles H. Davis (NMc3: 126-128)
Mar. 3-23, 1925 -- Paintings by E. W. Redfield (NMc3: 131-133)
Mar. 24-Apr. 13, 1925 -- Paintings by Daniel Garber (NMc3: 135-138)
Apr. 14-May 4, 1925 -- Recent Paintings by Robert Henri (NMc3: 140-143)
Apr. 14-May 4, 1925 -- C. W. Hawthorne: Watercolors of Bermuda (NMc3: 139)
Oct. 13-26, 1925 -- Collection of American Masters Loaned for Exhibition (NMc3: 152-154)
Oct. 27-Nov. 16, 1925 -- Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by the Late William Sartain (NMc3: 155-158)
Nov. 7-23, 1925 -- Paintings by Contemporary American Artists Loaned by the Macbeth Galleries, New York, Engaged by the Muncie Art Students' League, Muncie, Indiana (NMc3: 147-148)
Nov. 17-Dec. 7, 1925 -- Paintings by DeWitt and Douglass Parshall (NMc3: 159-162)
Dec. 4-31, 1925 -- Easel Paintings by American Artists, Loaned by Macbeth Galleries to the Springfield Art Association (NMc3: 205, 207)
Dec. 8-Jan. 4, 1926 -- Watercolors by Distinguished American Artists (NMc3: 163-166)
Jan. 5-25, 1926 -- Recent American Portraits (NMc3: 168, 172-173)
Jan. 5-18, 1926 -- American Society of Miniature Painters, 27th Annual Exhibition (NMc3: 168-171)
Jan. 26-Feb. 15, 1926 -- Paintings by Jonas Lie (NMc3: 176-179)
Jan. 26-Feb. 15, 1926 -- First Exhibition of Paintings by John Huffington (NMc3: 176, 180-181)
Feb. 7-Mar. 17, 1926 -- Exhibition of Oil Paintings by American Artists Lent by the Macbeth Galleries to the Utica Public Library Art Gallery (NMc3: 205-206)
Feb. 16-Mar. 8, 1926 -- New Paintings by Charles W. Hawthorne (NMc3: 186-189)
Feb. 16-Mar. 8, 1926 -- Chauncey F. Ryder (NMc3: 184)
Jan. 18-31, 1927 -- Watercolors by John Lavalle of Boston (NMc3: 253-255)
Jan. 22-Feb. 7, 1927 -- Crapo Gallery Opening Exhibition: Thirty Paintings by Thirty Artists assembled by Macbeth Gallery at Swain School, New Bedford, Mass. (NMc3: 245-249)
Feb. 1-14, 1927 -- Recent Paintings by Frank W. Benson (NMc3: 259-262)
Feb. 2-14, 1927 -- American Society of Miniature Painters, 28th Annual Exhibition (NMc3: 253, 256-258)
Feb. 8-26, 1927 -- Works by American Artists Selected by the Associated Dealers in American Paintings, Inc. at Anderson Galleries (Macbeth Gallery one of nine participants (NMc3: 263, 265-271)
Feb. 15-28, 1927 -- New Paintings by Chauncey F. Ryder (NMc3: 278-281)
Mar. 1-14, 1927 -- Watercolors by Aiden L. Ripley (NMc3: 282, 286)
Mar. 1-14, 1927 -- Paintings by a Group of Members of the Guild of Boston Artists (NMc3: 282-285)
Mar. 15-28, 1927 -- Paintings by Malcolm Parcell (NMc3: 287-290)
Mar. 15-28, 1927 -- Recent Pastels of Chartres by Carl Schmidt (NMc3: 287)
Mar. 29-Apr. 18, 1927 -- Thirty-fifty Anniversary Exhibition, Retrospect and Prospective (NMc3: 291-294)
Apr. 19-May 9, 1927 -- Frank A. Brown, Watercolors (NMc3: 296, 302-303)
Aug. 22-Sept. 5, 1927 -- American Art Exhibition arranged for Eastern Long Island by the Macbeth Gallery at Southampton, NY (NMc3: 297-301)
Oct. 18-29, 1927 -- American Art Exhibition, Art League of Fort Worth, Assembeled by the Macbeth Gallery (NMc3: 304, 306-311)
Oct. 18-31, 1927 -- Etchings by Walter Raymond Duff (NMc3: 313-315)
Oct. 18-31, 1927 -- Paintings by Max Bohm (NMc3: 313-315)
Nov. 1-14, 1927 -- Yankee Whalers by Clifford W. Ashley (NMc3: 316-317)
Scrapbook 11, November 1927-June 1930
Nov. 15-28, 1927 -- Paintings of Mallorca by Bernhard Gutmann (NMc3: 319-320)
Nov. 15-28, 1927 -- Paintings of Flowers by Carle J. Blenner (NMc3: 319, 321)
Nov. 29-Dec. 12, 1927 -- The Bathers , Paintings by William S. Horton (NMc3: 322-325)
Nov. 29-Dec. 12, 1927 -- Sidewalks of New York, Chalk Drawings by H. Devitt Welsh (NMc3: 326-327)
Dec. 13-31, 1927 -- Joint Exhibition of Paintings by Daniel Garber and Stanley Woodward (NMc3: 328)
Jan. 3-23, 1928 -- Recent Paintings by Jonas Lie (NMc3: 329-330)
Jan. 24-Feb. 13, 1928 -- Watercolors by John Lavalle (NMc3: 332-334)
Jan. 24-Feb. 13, 1928 -- Walter Ufer: Pictures from Taos (NMc3: 332, 334)
Jan. 24-Feb. 6, 1928 -- American Society of Miniature Painters, 29th Annual Exhibition (NMc3: 337-340)
Feb. 7-21, 1928 -- Small Pictures of Mountain and Sea by Jay Connaway (NMc3: 342)
Feb. 14-27, 1928 -- The Canadian Rockies by Belmore Brown (NMc3: 342-343)
Feb. 14-27, 1928 -- Sculpture by Gleb Derujinsky (NMc3: 342-344)
Feb. 21-Mar. 5, 1928 -- Watercolors of Venice, Spain and Brittany by Frank A. Brown (NMc3: 351-356)
Feb. 21-Mar. 10, 1928 -- Works by American Artists Selected by the Associated Dealers in American Paintings, Inc., at Anderson Galleries; Macbeth Gallery one of sixteen participants (NMc3: 346-352)
Feb. 25-Mar. 17, 1928 -- The Macbeth-Milch Circuit Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings at Grand Rapids Art Gallery (NMc3: 385-387)
Feb. 28-Mar. 12, 1928 -- Paintings by Frank L. Schenk, 1856-1927 (NMc3: 357-358)
Mar. 20-Apr. 2, 1928 -- Lanscapes of Italy by A. Sheldon Pennoyer (NMc3: 366, 368)
Mar. 20-Apr. 9, 1928 -- Recent Landscapes, Switzerland and Other Subjects by Carl Lawless (NMc3: 366-367)
Apr. 2-15, 1928 -- Water Colors by Earl Winslow (NMc3: 355)
Apr. 10-30, 1928 -- St. Ives by Hayley Lever (NMc3: 369)
Apr. 29-May 20, 1928 -- The Macbeth-Milch Circuit Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings at the University of Wyoming (NMc3: 385-386)
Spring, 1928 -- American Painting for Home Decoration (NMc3: 370-377)
Oct. 16-29, 1928 -- The Canadian Rockies in Watercolors by J. Olaf Olson (NMc3: 389-392)
Nov. 7-24, 1928 -- Etchings by Sears Gallagher (NMc3: 393)
Nov. 13-26, 1928 -- Sand Dunes and Flowers by Frederick Lowell (NMc3: 393-394)
Nov. 26-Dec. 17, 1928 -- Etchings by Carlton T. Chapman (NMc3: 395)
Nov. 27-Dec. 10, 1928 -- Portraits by Ernest L. Ipsen (NMc3: 396-397)
Dec. 4-31, 1928 -- Etchings by Margery A. Ryerson (NMc3: 395)
Dec. 11-24, 1928 -- Landscapes in Watercolor and Gouache by H. Anthony Dyer and Character Studies in Watercolor and Pastel by Nancy Dyer (NMc3: 398-400)
Jan. 2-14, 1929 -- Figures and Landscapes by the Late J. Alden Weir, 1852-1929 (NMc3: 401-402)
Jan. 15-28, 1929 -- Paintings by H. Dudley Murphy; Watercolors by Nellie Littlehale Murphy (NMc3: 404-405)
Jan. 15-28, 1929 -- Portraits by William James (NMc3: 406-407)
Feb. 4-18, 1929 -- Twenty-five Etchings by Harold Denison (NMc3: 410, 416-417)
Feb. 5-18, 1929 -- Paintings by Emil Carlsen and Dines Carlsen (NMc3: 408-409)
Mar. 5-18, 1929 -- Marine Paintings by Stanley W. Woodward (NMc3: 419-423)
Mar. 19-Apr. 1, 1929 -- Watercolors by Frederick C. Frieseke (NMc3: 424-425)
Mar. 19-Apr. 1, 1929 -- Pastels of Louisiana by Will H. Stevens (NMc3: 424)
Apr. 1929 -- Paintings by Childe Hassam (NMc3: 433-438)
Apr. 2-15, 1929 -- Paintings by Arthur Meltzer (NMc3: 431)
Apr. 2-15, 1929 -- Watercolors by Earle B. Winslow (NMc3: 431)
June, 1929 -- Old Mill Afternoon by Childe Hassam, Ainslie Galleries, Inc., Detroit in collaboration with Macbeth Gallery (NMc3: 465-467)
Oct. 1-14, 1929 -- Portraits in Oil and Pastel by Paul Swan (NMc3: 472-473)
Oct. 15-28, 1929 -- Exhibitions from the Summer Colonies: No. 1, Lyme (NMc3: 476-477)
Oct. 19-29, 1929 -- Milch-Macbeth Exhibition of Prints and Paintings by American Artists at the High Museum under the auspices of the Atlanta Art Association (NMc3: 462)
Oct. 20-Nov. 11, 1929 -- Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by John Huffington (NMc3: 476-479)
Nov. 12-25, 1929 -- Exhibition from the Summer colonies: No. 2, Selections from the North Shore Arts Association of Gloucester (NMc3: 480-481)
Nov. 26-Dec. 3, 1929 -- Recent Landscapes by Charles H. Davis (NMc3: 482-483)
Dec. 10-Dec. 23, 1929 -- Watercolors by J. Olaf Olson (NMc3: 484-486)
Dec. 24-Jan. 6, 1930 -- Exhibitions from the Summer Colonies: No. 3, Mystic (NMc3: 487-488)
Jan. 7-20, 1930 -- Paintings of Wyoming Days and Nights by Ogden N. Pleissner (NMc3: 490, 492)
Jan. 21-Feb. 3, 1930 -- Landscapes by Aldro T. Hibbard (NMc3: 490-491)
Feb. 8-21, 1938 -- Vermont in Watercolors by Stanford Stevens (NMc4: 541-542)
Feb. 8-21, 1938 -- Modern American Interior: Prizewinning Design and Selected Drawings from a Competition Sponsored by James H. Blauvet and Associates, Interior Designers (NMc4: 543)
Feb. 23-Mar. 7, 1938 -- Herbert Dickens Ryman (NMc4: 546)
Mar. 1-14, 1938 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Anne Goldthwaite (NMc4: 546-547)
Mar. 8-21, 1938 -- Recent Watercolors of Woodstock, Charleston, New England by John W. Taylor (NMc4: 548-549)
Mar. 22-Apr. 11, 1938 -- Jon Corbino (NMc4: 554-561)
Apr. 12-25, 1938 -- Paintings by Ohio Artists (NMc4: 580-571)
Apr. 26-May 9, 1938 -- Paintings by Furman Joseph Finck (NMc4: 572-573)
May-June 1938 -- Winslow Homer: Watercolors and Early Oils from the Estate of Mrs. Charles S. Homer and Other Sources (NMc4: 574-579)
Oct. 4-28, 1938 -- Opening Exhibition (NMc4: 581)
Nov. 1-23, 1938 -- Dale Nichols, Watercolors and Tempera of Alaskan Subjects (NMc4: 582-583)
Nov. 29-Dec. 19, 1938 -- Sea Island Country Watercolors by Horace Day (NMc4: 584)
Jan. 10-30, 1939 -- Herbert Meyer (NMc4: 588-589)
Feb. 7-27, 1939 -- American Watercolors Past and Present (NMc4: 592-597
Mar. 7-Apr. 3, 1939 -- Monhegan by Jay Connaway (NMc4: 602-603)
Apr. 5-24, 1919 -- Oils and Watercolors by Ogden M. Pleissner (NMc4: 606-607)
May 2-22, 1939 -- Paintings by Francis Chapin, Antonio P. Matino, and Moses Soyer and Drawings by Jon Corbino (NMc4: 609-611)
Fragile original scrapbooks are closed to researchers. For more information, please contact Reference Services.
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:
Macbeth Gallery records, 1838-1968, bulk 1892 to 1953. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Grant Program. Digitization of the scrapbooks was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee. Correspondence, financial and shipping records, inventory records, and printed material were digitized with funding provided by the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Exhibition records of the Contemporary Study Wing of the Finch College Museum of Art, 1943-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program. Funding for the digitization of two motion picture films was provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee, and for the remaining sound and video recordings from the Smithsonian's Collection Care Pool Fund. Funding for the digitization of the collection, not including audiovisual materials, was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
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:
Leo Castelli Gallery records, circa 1880-2000, bulk 1957-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the partial digitization of this collection was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Grace F. Thorpe Collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.