Search Results

Creator:

Richard York Gallery  Search this

Names:

Art Dealers Association of America  Search this

De Forest, Lockwood, 1850-1932  Search this

Goldyne, Joseph R.  Search this

Hale, Ellen Day, 1855-1940  Search this

Hill, J. W. (John William), 1812-1879  Search this

Hill, John Henry, 1839-1922  Search this

Hornby, Lester George, 1882-1956  Search this

Lozowick, Louis, 1892-1973  Search this

Lucioni, Luigi, 1900-1988  Search this

MacRae, Emma Fordyce, 1887-1974  Search this

Mapplethorpe, Robert  Search this

Marin, John, 1870-1953  Search this

Marin, John, Jr., 1915?-1988  Search this

Smith, Houghton Cranford, 1887-1983  Search this

Stella, Joseph, 1877-1946  Search this

Stevens, Will Henry, 1881-1949  Search this

Wheeler, Steve, 1912-1992  Search this

York, Richard  Search this

Extent:

89.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Scrapbooks

Photographs

Date:

circa 1865-2005

bulk 1981-2004

Summary:

The records of the Richard York Gallery, a New York gallery specializing in American art from early 1800s to 1950, measure 79.3 linear feet and date from circa 1865-2005, with the bulk of the material dating from 1981 to 2004. Three-fourths of the records are artists' artwork files, documenting the sale and consignment of nearly 6,500 works of art. The gallery's activities are also recorded through correspondence, client files, gallery invoices, inventories, business and financial records, printed materials, scrapbooks, photographic materials of artwork, and estate records for the John Marin estate and Sergio Stella estate (Joseph Stella). An addition of 10.2 linear feet, dated circa 1865 to 2005, includes artists' files arranged alphabetically containing printed material, clippings, exhibition announcements, and scattered correspondence and financial documents.

Scope and Content Note:

The records of the Richard York Gallery, a New York gallery specializing in American art from early 1800s to 1950, measure 79.3 linear feet and date from circa 1865-2005, with the bulk of the material dating from 1981 to 2004. Three-fourths of the records are artists' artwork files, documenting the sale and consignment of nearly 6,500 works of art. The gallery's activities are also recorded through correspondence, client files, gallery invoices, inventories, business and financial records, printed materials, scrapbooks, photographic materials of artwork, and estate records for the John Marin estate and Sergio Stella estate (Joseph Stella). An addition of 10.2 linear feet, dated circa 1865 to 2005, includes artists' files arranged alphabetically containing printed material, clippings, exhibition announcements, and scattered correspondence and financial documents.

Correspondence includes both incoming and outgoing correspondence with collectors, clients, galleries and museums, primarily regarding appraisals, consignments, exhibitions, general inquiries, loans, and sales. Also found are scattered transactional records, information sheets for artwork, and photographic materials. Correspondence from the mid-late 1980s is poorly represented.

The sale and consignment of nearly 6,500 pieces of artwork at the Richard York Gallery are documented through transactional records, photographic materials, correspondence, and scattered printed materials found in the Artists' Artwork Files. Artists for which there are significant quantities of materials (over 50 folders) include Joseph Goldyne, Ellen Day Hale, John Henry Hill, John William Hill, Lester George Hornby, Louis Lozowick, Luigi Lucioni, Emma Fordyce MacRae, John Marin, Joseph Stella, William Henry Stevens, and Steve Wheeler. Also included are the files of the Richard York photography collection, which contained works by Robert Mapplethorpe.

Similar to the Artists' Artwork Files, Client Files document the sale and consignment of artwork, but are arranged by artist's and client's name. Materials found are primarily from the early 1990s and include correspondence, notes, photographic materials, photocopied client information cards, and printed materials.

The Richard York Gallery represented the John Marin estate and the Sergio Stella estate (Joseph Stella). The records of the John Marin estate are primarily artwork in-take sheets from 1998 and inventory lists from 2001. The Sergio Stella Estate records include correspondence, inventories of artwork by Joseph Stella, and some photographic materials.

Sales and inventory records contain a nearly complete set of gallery invoices from 1995-2000, and 2004. Inventories includes gallery inventory lists, and inventory cards of sold artwork from 1981-1997 (bulk 1981-1991).

The business and financial records include accounting records, bank deposit records, corporate records, index cards for contacts, invoices for gallery expenses, materials related to Richard York's involvement in the ADAA, mailing lists, records of payments to consignors, receipts, shipping records, and tax records. The gallery migrated from paper records to Artbase, an artwork management system, around 2000-2002. Included are two CDs of database data and digital images from Artbase, as well as inventories of the digital file names.

Printed materials contain advertising tear sheets from 1998-2002, exhibition catalogs, magazine and newspaper clippings of reviews and announcements, and other miscellaneous printed materials. Printed materials are also found in eight scrapbooks which document the activities of the Richard York Gallery, Richard York, and the gallery's exhibitions from 1981-2002. Materials in the scrapbooks include clippings, correspondence, photographs, exhibition catalogs, announcements, and invitations.

Photographic materials includes color photographs, transparencies, digital prints, and scattered printed materials, as well as over 600 slides of artwork, primarily works of art which were sold or consigned by the gallery. Artists for which there is significant volume of transparencies include Houghton Cranford Smith and Lockwood de Forest, Sr.

Materials with dates prior to 1981 in this collection are primarily research materials for works of art, such as printed materials, correspondence, and transparencies, as well as some artwork artifacts, such as back labels.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 9 series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1975-2005 (Boxes 1-7; 6.4 linear feet)

Series 2: Artists' Artwork Files, circa 1865-2004 (Boxes 7-64; 56.85 linear feet)

Series 3: Client Files, 1965, circa 1981-circa 2004 (Box 64; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 4: Estate Records, 1983-circa 2004 (Boxes 64-65; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 5: Sales and Inventory Records, 1977-2004 (Boxes 65-70; 5.0 linear feet)

Series 6: Business and Financial Records, 1974-2005 (Boxes 70-77; 6.25 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Materials, 1980-2004 (Boxes 77-78; 1.1 linear feet)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1981-2002 (Boxes 78, 80; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographic Materials, 1977-2004 (Boxes 78-79; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 10: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1865-2005 (Boxes 81-91; 10.2 linear feet)

Historical Note:

Richard T. York (circa 1950-2003) opened his eponymous gallery in the spring of 1981 on East 65th Street in New York City. Specializing in American painting and sculpture from early 1800s to 1950, the Richard York Gallery dealt in the artwork of hundreds of artists including Albert Bierstadt, Charles Demuth, Arthur Dove, Lockwood de Forest, John Graham, Georgia O'Keeffe, John Singer Sargent, Charles Sheeler, and Steve Wheeler. It also represented the estates of artists John Marin and Joseph Stella.

Richard York passed away in April 2003, and the gallery closed in May 2004.

Provenance:

The Richard York Gallery records were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2006 by Kevin Scott, the executor of Richard York's estate; and in 2015 by Lisa Bush Hankin, former gallery director.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Richard York Gallery records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Art -- Economic aspects  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Photographs

Citation:

Richard York Gallery records, circa 1865-2005, bulk 1981-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care Fund

Identifier:

AAA.richyorg

See more items in:

Richard York Gallery records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-richyorg

Creator:

Stendahl Art Galleries  Search this

Names:

Couvoisier Galleries  Search this

Demotte, inc. (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art  Search this

Wildenstein and Company (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964  Search this

Beltran-Masses, Federico, b. 1885  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Cantú, Federico, 1908-1989  Search this

Charlot, Jean, 1898-1979  Search this

De Creeft, José, 1884-1982  Search this

Eddy, Jerome  Search this

Feshin, Nikolaĭ Ivanovich, 1881-1955  Search this

Gelhaar, Emil  Search this

Genth, Lillian Mathilde, 1876-1953  Search this

Gilbert, Arthur Hill, 1894-1970  Search this

Guthrie, George B.  Search this

Hansen, Armin C. (Armin-Carl), 1886-1957  Search this

Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944  Search this

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this

Kleitsch, Joseph, 1885-1931  Search this

Knight, Aston, 1873-1948  Search this

Kronberg, Louis, 1872-1965  Search this

Laurence, Sydney, 1868-1940  Search this

Loeffler, Gisella, 1900-  Search this

Montenegro, Roberto  Search this

Mérida, Carlos, 1891-1984  Search this

Noguchi, Isamu, 1904-1988  Search this

Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949  Search this

Pach, Walter, 1883-1958  Search this

Payne, Edgar A. (Edgar Alwin), 1882-1947  Search this

Pearson, Ralph M., 1883-1958  Search this

Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this

Ritschel, William, 1864-1949  Search this

Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957  Search this

Rose, Ethel Boardman, 1871-1946  Search this

Rose, Guy, 1867-1925  Search this

Schofield, Walter Elmer, 1867-1944  Search this

Siqueiros, David Alfaro  Search this

Stendahl, Earl L.  Search this

Szecsi, Ladislas  Search this

Wendt, William, 1865-1946  Search this

Zuloaga, Ignacio, 1870-1945  Search this

Extent:

7.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gallery records

Scrapbooks

Date:

1907-1971

Summary:

The records of the Los Angeles Stendahl Art Galleries measure 7.5 linear feet and date from 1907 to 1971. The collection is comprised of administrative and financial files, correspondence, exhibition files, and subject files on numerous artists, organizations, and other art-related topics. There is one scrapbook of clippings on the artist Edgar Payne.

Scope and Contents:

The records of the Los Angeles Stendahl Art Galleries measure 7.5 linear feet and date from 1907 to 1971. The collection is comprised of administrative and financial files, correspondence, exhibition files, and subject files on numerous artists, organizations, and other art-related topics. There is one scrapbook of clippings on the artist Edgar Payne.

Administrative and financial files concern advertising, publicity, consignments, inventory, purchases, sales, leases, and biographical information on Earl Stendahl.

The bulk of the correspondence is pre-World War II and is fairly extensive. It is with artists, organizations, collectors, art historians,and galleries. Signicant correspondents include Alexander Archipenko, Federico Beltran-Masses, Alexander Calder, Federico Cantú, Jean Charlot, Couvoisier Galleries, José de Creeft, Demotte Inc., Jerome Eddy, Lillian Genthe, Arthur Hill Gilbert, George B. Guthrie, Rockwell Kent, Louis Kronberg, Gisella Loeffler, Carlos Mérida, Isamu Noguchi, Walter Pach, Diego Rivera, Waler Elmer Schofield, David Alfaro Siquieros, Ladislas Szecsi, Wildenstein & Company, and many others.

Files are found for about ten exhibitions, including Etching and Engravings by the Old Masters (1921), Airview Paintings (1930), American Landscape Art (1930), Arts of New Guinea (1964), and for exhibitions of Emil Gelhaar, Wassily Kandinsky, Sydney Laurence, and Roberto Montenegro.

Subject files are found for numerous artists, art topics, galleries, and foundations. Most of the files consist of printed materials, but there is correspondence and additional primary source material found in files for Nicolai Ivanovich Feshin, the Thomas Gilcrease Foundation, Armin Hansen, Joseph Kleitsch, Aston Knight, José Clemente Orozco, Edgar Payne, Ralph M. Pearson, Pablo Picasso, William Ritschel, Diego Rivera, Ethel B. Rose, Guy Rose, Walter Elmer Schofield, David Alfaro Siquieros, Ladislas Szecsi, William Wendt, and Ignacio Zuloaga.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 4 series.

Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1923-1957 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1923-1968 (2.0 linear feet; Box 1-3)

Series 3: Exhibition Files, circa 1921-1967 (0.4 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 4: Subject Files, 1907-1971 (4.6 linear feet; Box 3-8, OV 9)

Biographical / Historical:

Earl Stendahl established Stendahl Art Galleries in 1911 in Los Angeles, California.

Earl Stendahl (1887-1966) came to Southern California from a small town in Wisconsin. He began showing young Los Angeles artists at his downtown restaurant, The Black Cat Café. He opened his gallery in The Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard and organized shows focusing primarily on California Impressionists of the early twentieth century, including Edgar Payne, Guy Rose, William Wendt, Nicolai Fechin, and Joseph Kleitsch.

Stendahl Art Galleries also began to sell European and Latin American modern art. In 1939, Stendahl hosted one of only two non-museum exhibitions of Pablo Picasso's masterwork, Guernica, to benefit Spanish War orphans.

As early as 1935 Stendahl began promoting ancient artifacts from Mexico and Central America. Stendahl's first client for pre-Columbian art and artifacts was noted collector Walter Arensberg. Stendahl and the Arensburgs became friends and Stendahl helped the Arensburgs build one of the most significant collections in the U.S.

The galleries are currently owned by Ronald W. Dammann, Stendahl's grandson.

Provenance:

The Stendahl Art Galleries records were donated by Alfred Stendahl in 1976. An album of clippings was donated by Stendahl in 1995 via Nancy Moure.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Rights:

The Stendahl Art Galleries records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Art -- New Guinea  Search this

Hispanic American art  Search this

Landscape painting  Search this

Prints  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Genre/Form:

Gallery records

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Stendahl Art Galleries Records, 1907-1971. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund

Identifier:

AAA.stenartg

See more items in:

Stendahl Art Galleries records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-stenartg

Creator:

Weber, Max, 1881-1961  Search this

Names:

American Artists' Congress  Search this

Forum Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this

Davies, Arthur B. (Arthur Bowen), 1862-1928  Search this

Gropper, William, 1897-1977  Search this

Gross, Chaim, 1904-1991  Search this

Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943  Search this

Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this

Kroll, Leon, 1884-1974  Search this

Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970  Search this

Soyer, Raphael, 1899-1987  Search this

Zorach, William, 1887-1966  Search this

Extent:

11.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Sound recordings

Motion pictures (visual works)

Date:

1902-2008

Summary:

The papers of New York painter and sculptor Max Weber measure 11.8 linear feet and date from 1902-2008. The collection documents Weber's career as an artist through scattered biographical material; correspondence with artists, curators, universities, arts organizations, and others; exhibition and gallery files; personal business records; writings by Weber and others; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, and other printed material; photographs of Weber, exhibitions, and works of art; audio recordings and motion picture films. Also included are records maintained by Joy Weber on the exhibition and sale of Weber's work after his death.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of New York painter and sculptor Max Weber measure 11.8 linear feet and date from 1902-2008. The collection documents Weber's career as an artist through scattered biographical material; correspondence with artists, curators, universities, arts organizations, and others; exhibition and gallery files; personal business records; writings by Weber and others; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, and other printed material; photographs of Weber, exhibitions, and works of art; audio recordings and motion picture films. Also included are records maintained by Joy Weber on the exhibition and sale of Weber's work after his death.

Biographical material includes biographical summaries, obituaries, award certificates, and a small amount of family memorabilia. Weber's personal and professional correspondence includes discussions of exhibitions, sales, and donations of his work, as well was requests to teach, write, or lecture. Also found is correspondence with arts organizations, clubs, and committees in which he participated. A small amount of family correspondence is also included. Artists that Weber corresponded with include George Biddle, Arthur Davies, William Gropper, Chaim Gross, Marsden Hartley, Rockwell Kent, Leon Kroll, Barnett Newman, Raphael Soyer, and William Zorach, among many others. Weber also corresponded with many art historians and critics, gallery owners, and art patrons. Joy Weber's correspondence primarily concerns the exhibition, loan, sale, and authentication of her father's artwork.

Exhibition files document various solo and group exhibitions of Weber's work. Five reels of motion picture film include footage of an exhibition at the Forum Gallery in 1975. Gallery files include correspondence, inventories, sales and loan records, gallery publications, and other documentation. Most files for exhibitions and galleries were created by Joy Weber after Max Weber's death in 1961. Personal business records include documents on sales, loans, and gifts of Max Weber's artwork; scattered financial documents; and mortgage and property records. Also found are files regarding his participation in the American Artists' Congress and art juries. Weber's writings primarily concern art theory, impressions of other artists, and social and political issues. Additionally there are notes, drafts speeches, and writings by others about Weber.

Printed material is extensive and includes exhibition publications, press releases, and two published booklets written by Weber: "Art Consciousness" and "Things." Also found are news clippings, brochures, newsletters, and publications produced by art organizations, schools, and museums. Photographs include portraits and snapshots of Weber, depicting him working in his studio, participating in art juries, at art openings, and with his family. Photographs also depict installation views of exhibitions and numerous photographs of Weber's artwork. Audiovisual materials include one sound recording of a National Gallery program on Max Weber and five reels of motion picture film that include home movies and footage of an exhibition at the Forum Gallery in 1975.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 9 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1905-1995 (Box 1; 10 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1902-2007 (Box 1-5; 4.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1919-2003 (Box 5-6; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 4: Gallery Files, 1926-2005 (Box 6-7; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1906-2006 (Box 7; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 6: Writings, circa 1910s-1999 (Box 7-8; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1909-2008 (Box 8-10, 12; 2.6 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, 1930s-circa 2000 (Box 10-11; 1.1 linear feet)

Series 9: Audiovisual Material, 1954-2000 (Box 11, FC 13-17; 0.7 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Max Weber (1881-1961) was a painter and sculptor in New York City.

Weber was born in Bialystok, Russia. When he was ten years old his family moved to Brooklyn, New York. From 1898 to 1900 he attended Pratt Institute and studied theory and practice of design under Arthur Wesley Dow. After graduating he briefly taught drawing in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Duluth, Minnesota. In 1905 he moved to Paris to attend the Académie Julian, studying under Jean-Paul Laurens, and later attended classes at the Académie Colarossi and Académie de la Grande Chaumiere. In 1907 he attended Henri Matisse's studio class. The influence of Matisse and friend Henri Rousseau transformed Weber's painting style to include elements of cubism and fauvism.

Weber returned to New York in 1909, and over the next few years he frequently exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery 291. Initially his work was panned by American critics for being too modern. Despite criticism, Weber exhibited his work extensively in the 1910s and also began creating abstract sculptures. In 1914 he helped his friend Clarence H. White open the White School of Photography and taught art history there for four years. Also in 1914 his Cubist Poems were published in London. His second book of poetry Primitives was published in 1926.

In 1916 Weber married Frances Abrams. He began to explore narrative subjects in his paintings and in 1918 began carving woodblock prints. He also taught at the Art Students League for the 1919-1921 and 1926-1927 sessions. By the early 1920s he was recognized as an important American artist, serving as a leader in art organizations such as the Society of Independent Artists. In 1930 Weber became the first American modernist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.

In the 1930s Weber became more active in political and socialist causes, participating in many organizations throughout the Depression and World War II. In 1937 he became the National Chairman of the American Artists' Congress. By the 1940s, his work was widely known and influenced a new generation of American painters. He continued to exhibit extensively, received many awards, such as the Temple Gold Medal at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and often served on art juries. In 1955 he was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters and received an honorary doctorate from Brandeis University. He died in Great Neck, New York, in 1961.

Related Material:

Also found at the Archives of American Art is an Allen L. Wetmore letter from Max Weber, April 15, 1946.

Separated Material:

Material lent for microfilming in 1959 and 1969 which was not included in the 2011 donation is available on microfilm reels NY59-6 to NY59-10, N69-82 to N69-88, and N69-112.

Provenance:

Material was lent for microfilming in 1959 by Max Weber and in 1969 by Mrs. Max Weber and daughter, Joy Weber. The bulk of the microfilmed material and additional papers were donated in 2011 by Joy Weber.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

Rights:

The Max Weber papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painting, American  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Sound recordings

Motion pictures (visual works)

Citation:

Max Weber papers, 1902-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.webemax

See more items in:

Max Weber papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-webemax

Creator:

Robert Schoelkopf Gallery  Search this

Names:

Zabriskie Gallery  Search this

Andrejevic, Milet, 1925-  Search this

Aponovich, James, 1948-  Search this

Bailey, William, 1930-  Search this

Bell, Leland  Search this

Brassaï, 1899-  Search this

Cameron, Julia Margaret Pattle, 1815-1879  Search this

Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 1908-  Search this

Cornell, Joseph  Search this

Dawson, Manierre, 1887-1969  Search this

Driggs, Elsie, 1898-1992  Search this

Erlebacher, Martha Mayer  Search this

Evans, Walker, 1903-1975  Search this

Fiske, Gertrude, 1878-1961  Search this

Freund, Gisèle  Search this

Horton, William S., 1865-1936  Search this

Ito, Miyoko, 1918-1983  Search this

Lachaise, Gaston, 1882-1935  Search this

Laderman, Gabriel, 1929-  Search this

Ligare, David  Search this

Matthiasdottir, Louisa  Search this

Matulka, Jan, 1890-1972  Search this

Myers, Ethel  Search this

Nadelman, Elie, 1882-1946  Search this

Schoelkopf, Robert J., 1927-1991  Search this

Stella, Joseph, 1877-1946  Search this

Storrs, John Henry Bradley, 1885-1956  Search this

Wiesenfeld, Paul  Search this

Extent:

29 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gallery records

Illustrated letters

Photographs

Date:

1851-1991

bulk 1962-1991

Summary:

The collection comprises 29 linear feet of records that document the day-to-day administration of the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery from 1962 to 1991, with additional items predating the founding of the gallery from 1851 to 1961. The collection records artist and client relations, exhibitions, and daily business transactions through artist files, correspondence, printed matter, and photographic material.

Scope and Content Note:

The records of the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery comprise 29 linear feet of material from 1851 to 1991, with some items predating the founding of the gallery. The bulk of the records date from 1962 to 1991, providing researchers with fairly comprehensive coverage of the gallery's development and operations from its inception in 1962 until its closure in 1991. Items dated prior to 1962 relate principally to the period of transition during which Robert Schoelkopf ended his partnership with the Zabriskie Gallery and established his own business. There are also some items relating to artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

The collection consists primarily of artist files documenting relations with contemporary artists, representation of deceased artists, and other works of art handled by the gallery. It also chronicles the gallery's exhibition schedule and the day-to-day administration of the business. The types of material that can be found here include correspondence, exhibition inventories, price lists, accounting and consignment records, shipping and insurance records, printed material, and photographs.

The collection is a valuable source of information on twentieth-century American art history, focusing primarily on early-twentieth-century modernists as well as an important group of American realist painters and sculptors from the latter half of the century. The collection illuminates, in detail, the developing market for these schools and, in the case of the latter group, provides personal insights from artists on the realist perspective.

The records also document the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery's significant contribution to the resurgence of interest in fine art photography during the 1960s and 1970s as reflected in an increase in the value of works by important American photographers such as Walker Evans.

Much of the outgoing correspondence from the gallery consists of copies of letters written by Robert Schoelkopf, with additional business being handled by assistant staff and, from the mid-1970s, Schoelkopf's wife, Laura Jane Schoelkopf. The records offer insight into the personalities of the Schoelkopfs and how their congenial and candid management style influenced their relationships with the contemporary artists they represented.

Arrangement:

Originally the collection was organized as one large file arranged alphabetically by folder title, with titles ranging from names of artists to general subject headings such as "Correspondence." During processing it became clear that the gallery delineated operations into three main functions: artist relations, client-dealer relations, and exhibitions. Consequently the collection is arranged as three main series based on these areas of concern. A small group of miscellaneous photographs of artists constitutes an additional series at the end of the collection.

Originally paper records throughout the collection were generally arranged chronologically, although this order was not strictly adhered to. Frequently, correspondence and memoranda were attached to related records going back several years. To preserve the relationship between such documents, records stapled together in this way have been left together. They are arranged in reverse chronological order and filed in the folder corresponding to the primary date (i.e., the date of the first and most recent paper in the group). Researchers should be aware that date ranges provided on folders refer to the primary dates of documents contained therein and that some items in the folder may predate that range. Otherwise, the general chronological scheme has been retained throughout the collection, with undated material placed at the beginning of the appropriate file.

Printed material is arranged in chronological order, with undated material at the beginning of the folder, and may include press releases, exhibition announcements, exhibition catalogs, posters, clippings from newspapers, magazines, and journals, and other publicity material. Large amounts of printed material are broken down into several discrete folder units.

The most consistent labeling system for photographic material apparent throughout the collection was title of work of art. The majority of images are not dated with a printing date or the date that the work of art was produced, and although many of them have a processing number, these are by no means consistent and there are no master lists that can be used to interpret them. Consequently, images are arranged primarily by media type and then alphabetically by title. Untitled images are placed at the beginning of a media group; "the" in a title is ignored. Exceptions to this method are addressed in the appropriate series descriptions.

Files labeled "Photographs of Works of Art" will typically include any or all of the following: black-and-white copy prints, black-and-white transparencies, color transparencies, slide transparencies, Polaroid prints, color snapshots, contact sheets, and separation sheets. Often the same image will be duplicated in several different formats. Any notes on photographic material found in or on the original folder in which the material was filed have been preserved with the material or transcribed onto a sheet of acid-free paper that either encloses or is placed directly before the item to which the information applies.

The designation "General" indicates that a file may contain any or all of the types of material outlined above.

Series 1: Artist Files, 1851-1991, undated (Boxes 1-23; 23 linear ft.)

Series 2: General Business Files, 1960-1991, undated (Boxes 24-28; 4.74 linear ft.)

Series 3: Group Exhibition Files, 1960-1988, undated (Boxes 28-29; 1 linear ft.)

Series 4: Photographs of Artists, undated (Box 29; 0.25 linear ft.)

Historical Note:

Robert Schoelkopf, Jr., was born in Queens, New York, in 1927. He graduated from Yale College in 1951 with a bachelor of arts degree and then taught briefly at his alma mater while conducting graduate research in art history. Schoelkopf began his career in commercial art in 1957 as an independent dealer of American painting and sculpture and became a member of the Art Dealers Association of America in 1958. In 1959 he formed a partnership with Virginia Zabriskie, of the Zabriskie Gallery in New York, which lasted until 1962. The gallery exhibited late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century American painting, together with contemporary painting of a somewhat conservative style.

In 1962 Schoelkopf signed a three-year lease for the fourth floor of a building at 825 Madison Avenue in New York, where he opened the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery. From the outset, Schoelkopf aimed to specialize in American painting of the nineteenth and twentieth century and sculpture of all schools. He predicted a burgeoning market for the Hudson River School in particular, believing that American painting was increasingly perceived as being worthy of serious attention. In a letter dated January 3, 1963, Schoelkopf congratulated John Spencer for his decision to collect nineteenth-century American paintings for the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, assuring him that "progressive chauvanism [ sic] will operate to elevate prices in American painting. Every year more colleges teach Art History, and soon they shall have reached the level of sophistication and development where they will be obliged (for face) to offer tuition in specifically American art - hitherto neglected of academicians.... I and many other dealers have plans for exhibitions of nineteenth-century American painting, especially the Hudson River School."

Schoelkopf's instincts regarding the Hudson River School were undoubtedly correct, and consequently nineteenth-century American painters formed a permanent mainstay of his inventory. He is perhaps remembered more, however, for his dedication to reviving interest in lesser-known American painters from the turn-of-the-century who were impressionist or modernist in style. Schoelkopf developed something of a reputation for unearthing forgotten talent that, while sometimes mediocre or inconsistent, was occasionally exceptional and certainly worthy of note. He was committed to reinstalling Joseph Stella in the pantheon of major American artists, representing Stella's estate from 1963 to 1971 and holding regular exhibitions of the artist's work from 1962 on. In 1969 the gallery held the first New York exhibition of the paintings of Manierre Dawson, who was subsequently acclaimed by the critics for his important and innovative contributions to modernism. In 1970 Schoelkopf began showing the work of Jan Matulka, an artist whose work had been neglected since the 1930s, and his enthusiastic representation of the Matulka estate paved the way for a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1979.

Schoelkopf's interest in turn-of-the-century artists also extended to sculptors such as John Flannagan, Ethel Myers, Elie Nadelman, and John Henry Bradley Storrs, and he directed considerable energy to furthering Gaston Lachaise's reputation as an artist of major stature. When Lachaise died at the peak of his career in 1935, his estate was left to his wife, Isabel, and in 1957 to Isabel's son, Edward. When Edward died shortly thereafter, John B. Pierce, Jr., a nephew of Isabel Lachaise, was appointed trustee of the estate and formed the Lachaise Foundation. In 1962 Pierce entered an agreement with Robert Schoelkopf and Felix Landau to represent Lachaise's sculpture on the East and West Coasts, respectively. In this capacity Schoelkopf helped to launch a major retrospective of the artist's work at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1964 and a traveling exhibition that began circulating in 1967.

The gallery's other major commitment was to painting and sculpture by contemporary American realists, many of whom worked in a figurative style and explored elements of allegory and classical mythology in their work, presenting landscapes, still lifes, and portraits from a realist perspective. The bulk of the gallery's exhibitions were, in fact, of work by contemporary artists, including metaphysical still-life painter William Bailey, colorist Leland Bell, figurative painter Martha Mayer Erlebacher, landscape and narrative painter Gabriel Laderman, and Icelandic artist Louisa Matthiasdottir. William Bailey was one of the gallery's most commercially successful artists, and his first one-person exhibition in New York was held there in 1968. Demand for Bailey's paintings often far exceeded his output, and by the late 1970s Schoelkopf invariably sold out his exhibitions and had compiled a lengthy waiting list for his work.

In its early years the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery contributed considerably to the development of interest in fine art photography that fostered an increasingly lucrative market for photographic prints during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1965 Schoelkopf began incorporating photography into the gallery's exhibition schedule and, in the spring of 1974, opened a gallery dedicated to photography on the second floor at 825 Madison Avenue. Between 1965 and 1979 Schoelkopf's was the only serious New York gallery dealing in painting and sculpture that also regularly exhibited photography as fine art. His interests lay primarily in antiquarian photography and the work of nineteenth-century and twentieth-century masters including Eugéne Atget, Mathew Brady, James Robertson, and Carleton Watkins. Schoelkopf organized shows examining specific photographic processes, the photogravure and the cyanotype, and presented surveys of genres such as portrait and landscape photography. In 1967 he held the first exhibition in many years of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron, an important figure in the history of Victorian photography, timing it to coincide with a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that focused on Cameron as one of four Victorian photographers.

Schoelkopf also handled the work of several influential contemporaries, most notably Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, and Gisèle Freund. The gallery held Freund's first exhibition in the United States in 1975 and was, for a time, the only place in New York where one could see and purchase prints by Cartier-Bresson. Schoelkopf began exhibiting Evans's work in 1966 and regularly thereafter, including a 1971 exhibition that coincided with a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.

In the fall of 1976 the second-floor gallery space was turned over to Marcuse (Cusie) Pfeifer, then the gallery's director, who planned to use it to show the work of young photographers in a gallery under her own name. Schoelkopf continued to hold several photography exhibitions a year in the fourth-floor gallery but decided to concentrate primarily on nineteenth-century masters.

In March 1971 a fire in the building at Madison Avenue resulted in substantial water damage to the gallery space. Although very little of the inventory was destroyed, the incident forced Schoelkopf to close until September. This temporary loss of revenue compounded with a nationwide recession cut into Schoelkopf's financial resources and left him questioning his commission policy and his level of commitment to contemporary work in all media. A letter to artist Adolph Rosenblatt dated May 3, 1971, records how Schoelkopf had become increasingly disenchanted with "all contemporary work" and would begin taking 40 percent commission on sales, instead of 33.3 percent. "Beside the matter of enthusiasm is the matter of economics," Schoelkopf remarked, "and the last year and a half have been really dreadful for the art business."

This difficult period was followed immediately by more prosperous times. January 1973 proved to be the gallery's most successful month to date, encouraging Schoelkopf to purchase a house in Chappaqua, New York, later that year. In November 1974 Schoelkopf wrote to Anthony D'Offay that business "is as slow as it has ever been, but what sales we make are big ones" and revealed that auctions had, at that point, become his primary avenue for trade.

Around 1975 Schoelkopf's wife of eleven years, Laura Jane Schoelkopf, began working in the gallery. Although seemingly dubious of the work at first, she became a considerable asset to the business and reputedly complemented her husband's relationship with the gallery's contemporary artists through her warmth and hospitality, qualities often noted by artists who corresponded regularly with the couple.

The financial instability that characterized the 1970s undoubtedly influenced Schoelkopf's decision to cease exhibiting photography in 1979. By 1978 however, his investment in early-twentieth-century art appeared to be paying off. Jan Matulka, Joseph Stella, and John Henry Bradley Storrs had all been represented in exhibitions at major museums, and sales of their work had increased considerably. Gaston Lachaise's reputation continued to grow, and the traveling exhibition still circulated, garnering far more interest than had originally been anticipated.

Although contemporary artists continued to take up the largest portion of the gallery's changing exhibitions, Schoelkopf's interest in contemporary work was growing more conservative, tending toward a narrower focus on the narrative and allegorical. By 1979 he no longer exhibited contemporary sculpture, admitting to a lack of enthusiasm for the work of any of the current figurative sculptors and a dislike of all contemporary abstract work. In a letter to Lillian Delevoryas, dated March 17, 1982, he confessed, "With age has come a hardening of the aesthetic arteries perhaps. What we have been showing is realism, but getting tighter all the time."

In April 1984 the gallery was moved to 50 West Fifty-seventh Street, and, during the years that followed, the Schoelkopfs pared down the number of contemporary artists they represented, handling only those to whom they felt most strongly committed while continuing to specialize in nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century American painting and sculpture. As the gallery approached its thirtieth anniversary, Schoelkopf's achievements were considerable. He had operated a successful New York gallery for almost three decades, rejuvenated the reputations of several important American artists, and was respected by artists and clients alike for the integrity, intelligence, and humor with which he conducted his business affairs. In 1987 he had been appointed to the board of trustees of the Williamstown Regional Art Conservation Laboratory. By this time he was also a member of the advisory board to the National Academy of Design, and in 1988 he became a co-trustee of the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

In March 1990, Robert Schoelkopf was diagnosed with leukemia and underwent a regimen of cancer treatment that resulted in a brief remission by the summer. Schoelkopf returned to work temporarily, but by 1991 his condition had worsened and he died in April of that year. Having known for some time that her husband's prognosis was poor, Laura Jane Schoelkopf had apparently decided that she would not continue the gallery in the event of his death. With the help of the youngest of their two sons, Andrew, she settled final accounts and assisted the gallery's contemporary artists in finding representation elsewhere before closing the business in August 1991.

Provenance:

Twenty-seven linear feet of records were donated to the Archives of American Art by Laura Jane Schoelkopf, Robert Schoelkopf's widow, and the Coe Kerr Gallery in 1991 and 1992. An additional gift of 3.4 linear feet was donated by Laura Jane Schoelkopf in 1996. The collection was reduced slightly during processing.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Robert Schoelkopf Gallery records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Works of art  Search this

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Realism in art  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Gallery records

Illustrated letters

Photographs

Citation:

Robert Schoelkopf Gallery records, 1851-1991, bulk 1962-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.robeschg

See more items in:

Robert Schoelkopf Gallery records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-robeschg

Creator:

Miller, Dorothy Canning, 1904-2003  Search this

Names:

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Chase Manhattan Bank -- Art collections  Search this

Federal Art Project  Search this

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden  Search this

Mark Rothko Foundation  Search this

Municipal Art Exhibition (1st : 1934 : New York, N.Y.)  Search this

PepsiCo, Inc.  Search this

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey -- Art collections  Search this

Rockefeller University  Search this

Smith College -- Students  Search this

Smith College. Museum of Art  Search this

World Trade Center (New York, N.Y.) -- Art collections  Search this

Asher, Elise, 1914-  Search this

Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981  Search this

Bontecou, Lee, 1931-  Search this

Byars, James Lee  Search this

Cahill, Holger, 1887-1960  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Canady, John  Search this

Charlton, Maryette  Search this

Christo, 1935-  Search this

Chryssa, 1933-  Search this

Coggeshall, Calvert, 1907-1990  Search this

Copley, Alfred L.  Search this

Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964  Search this

DeFeo, Jay, 1929-1989  Search this

Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956  Search this

Feitelson, Lorser, 1898-1978  Search this

Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948  Search this

Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-  Search this

Hartigan, Grace  Search this

Hicks, Edward, 1780-1849  Search this

Horwitt, Will  Search this

Johns, Jasper, 1930-  Search this

Karpel, Bernard, 1911-1986  Search this

Levy, Julien  Search this

Mather, Eleanore Price, 1910-  Search this

Matisse, Pierre, 1900-1989  Search this

Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988  Search this

Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970  Search this

Noguchi, Isamu, 1904-1988  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia , 1887-1986  Search this

Pereira, I. Rice (Irene Rice), 1902-1971  Search this

Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this

Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008  Search this

Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967  Search this

Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979 -- Art collections  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Sage, Kay  Search this

Scharf, William, 1927-  Search this

Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965  Search this

Sterne, Hedda, 1910-2011  Search this

Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980  Search this

Extent:

34.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Sketches

Christmas cards

Drawings

Date:

1853-2013

bulk 1920-1996

Summary:

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:

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 Dorothy C. Miller papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Artists -- United States  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Exhibitions  Search this

Art museum curators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Corporations -- Private collections  Search this

Art -- Private collections  Search this

Folk art  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Sketches

Christmas cards

Drawings

Citation:

Dorothy C. Miller papers, 1853-2013, bulk 1920-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Identifier:

AAA.milldoro

See more items in:

Dorothy C. Miller papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-milldoro

Creator:

Watson, Forbes, 1880-1960  Search this

Names:

Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Pepsi-Cola Company  Search this

Public Works of Art Project  Search this

Red Cross  Search this

United States. Dept. of the Treasury. Section of Fine Arts  Search this

United States. Dept. of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture  Search this

United States. Public Buildings Administration. Section of Fine Arts  Search this

Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984  Search this

Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981  Search this

Beal, Gifford, 1879-1956 -- Photographs  Search this

Brancusi, Constantin, 1876-1957  Search this

Bruce, Edward, 1879-1943  Search this

Citron, Minna Wright, 1896-1991  Search this

Coleman, Glenn O., 1887-1932  Search this

Dows, Olin, 1904-1981  Search this

Genthe, Arnold, 1869-1942  Search this

Glackens, Ira, 1907-1990  Search this

Klonis, Stewart, 1901-1989  Search this

Kroll, Leon, 1884-1974 -- Photographs  Search this

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953  Search this

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953 -- Photographs  Search this

Mangravite, Peppino, 1896-  Search this

Manship, Paul, 1885-1966  Search this

Marsh, Reginald, 1898-1954 -- Photographs  Search this

Matisse, Henri, 1869-1954  Search this

Morgenthau, Henry, 1891-1967  Search this

Pène Du Bois, Guy , 1884-1958  Search this

Ray, Man, 1890-1976  Search this

Rowan, Edward Beatty, 1898-1946  Search this

Saint-Gaudens, Homer, b. 1880 -- Photographs  Search this

Shimin, Symeon, 1902-  Search this

Sterne, Maurice, 1878-1957  Search this

Tucker, Allen, 1866-1939  Search this

Watson, Nan, 1876-1966  Search this

Weber, Max, 1881-1961  Search this

Zorach, William, 1887-1966  Search this

Photographer:

Gallatin, A. E. (Albert Eugene), 1881-1952  Search this

Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965  Search this

Extent:

13.92 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Notes

Photographs

Drafts (documents)

Scrapbooks

Place:

United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945

New York N.Y. -- Buildings, structures, etc., Photographs

Date:

1840-1967

bulk 1900-1960

Summary:

The papers of New York City art critic, writer, and lecturer Forbes Watson date from 1840-1967 with the bulk of materials dating from 1900-1960 and measure 13.92 linear feet. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, business records relating to the Arts Publishing Corporation, records documenting Watson's work for the Public Works of Art Project and the Section of Painting and Sculpture, reference files, an exhibition file from the Pepsi-Cola Company's Third Annual Exhibition, writings and notes, ten scrapbooks and loose pages, printed materials, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of New York City art critic, writer, and lecturer Forbes Watson date from 1840-1967 with the bulk of materials dating from 1900-1960 and measure 13.92 linear feet. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, business records relating to the Arts Publishing Corporation, records documenting Watson's work for the Public Works of Art Project and the Section of Painting and Sculpture, reference files, an exhibition file from the Pepsi-Cola Company's Third Annual Exhibition, writings and notes, ten scrapbooks and loose pages, printed materials, and photographs.

Biographical material includes Watson's Harvard diploma, documents concerning his service with the Red Cross in World War II, biographical accounts, and obituaries.

Correspondence is primarily with colleagues and includes scattered letters from Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Ira Glackens, Allen Tucker, and Max Weber. Other letters are from artists, art historians, and museum curators. A notebook contains shorthand drafts of letters from Watson.

Business records include personal business records consisting of various tax and stock records. The Arts Publishing Corporation records concern Watson's tenure as editor of The Arts magazine and contains a contract, correspondence, financial records, stockholders reports, press releases, a scrapbook, and issues of The Arts. Also included are business records pertaining to the Art in Federal Buildings, Inc..

The U.S. Treasury Department file is the largest series and documents Watson's federal employment as technical director, chief advisor, and consultant for Treasury Department's public art programs - the Public Works of Art Project and the Section of Painting and Sculpture. The files contain correspondence, financial reports, prospectuses, exhibition files, typescripts, clippings, exhibition catalogs, miscellaneous printed material, and photographs, and a scrapbook. The files contain a record of Watson's and other federal administrators' interactions with many artists during the Depression Era. Correspondence is primarily between Watson and Edward Bruce, Olin Dows, Henry and Elinor Morgenthau, and Edward B. Rowan. Found are scattered letters from artists including Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Paul Manship, and William Zorach, among many others. There are exhibition files for "Art for Bonds," "Army at War," and "War Against Japan." There are also photographs of U. S. Treasury Department events including a radio broadcast by John Dewey, Robert La Follette, Jr., and Sumner Welles.

Documents from the Pepsi-Cola Company's Third Annual Exhibition at the National Academy of Design contains a prospectus, an exhibition catalog and artists' statements.

Artist/Patron files contain reference material concerning painters, sculptors, photographers, dancers, composers, authors, art collectors, art dealers, and museum administrators. Files may include writings, notes, artworks, exhibition catalogs and other printed materials. Of particular note are photographs, which include portrait photographs of artists and of artists in their studios. Notable photographers include Ansel Adams, Arnold Genthe, Man Ray, photographs of New York City by Charles Sheeler and a photo of Henri Matisse by A. E. Gallatin. Files for Nan Watson, Symeon Shimin, and Glenn O. Coleman contain artworks. A file for Constantin Brancusi contains legal documents concerning U. S. Customs vs. Brancusi.

Art and Architecture files consist of reference material including photographs and notes concerning miscellaneous unattributed art works, American architecture, and furnishings.

Notes and writings consist of miscellaneous notes and typescripts of lectures and published articles, and notebooks.

Nine scrapbooks and loose scrapbook pages contain clippings of articles written by Watson, lists, and exhibition announcements and catalogs. Additional printed material includes clippings, copies of the Hue and Cry newspaper, exhibition announcements and catalogs, press releases, calendars of events, brochures for the Art Students League, book catalogs, published books, and miscellaneous printed material.

Photographs are of Forbes Watson; family members including his wife, painter Nan Watson; and members of the Art Students League including Peggy Bacon, Minna Citron, Stewart Klonis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Reginald Marsh. There are also photographs of juries for the Carnegie Institute International Exhibitions that include colleagues Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Gifford Beal, Guy Pene DuBois, Leon Kroll, Henri Matisse, Homer Saint-Gaudens, and Maurice Sterne.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 11 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1902-1960 (Box 1; 4 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1913-1960 (Box 1; 33 folders)

Series 3: Business Records, 1920-1944 (Box 1-3, 14, 22; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 4: U. S. Treasury Department File, 1926-1945 (Box 3-6, 14, 17, 22, OV 21; 3.4 linear feet)

Series 5: File for Pepsi-Cola Company's Third Annual Exhibition "Paintings of the Year," 1946 (Box 6; 5 folders)

Series 6: Artist/Patron Files, 1840-1967 (Box 6-9, 15, OV 21; 2.8 linear feet)

Series 7: Art and Architecture File, 1929-1930 (Box 9; 35 folders)

Series 8: Notes and Writings, 1875-1950 (Box 9-10, 22; 1.3 linear feet)

Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1904-1951 (Box 9, 11, 14, BV 18, BV 19, BV 20; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 10: Printed Material, 1900-1961 (Box 10, 12-13, 16-17, 22; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 11: Photographs, 1900-1950 (Box 13, 22; .4 linear feet)

All material is arranged chronologically, with the exception of the Artist/Patron Files which are arranged alphabetically.

Biographical Note:

Forbes Watson (1879-1960) worked primarily in New York City and Washington, D.C. as an art critic, writer, lecturer, and consultant to the U. S. Treasury Department's Public Works of Art Project and Section of Painting and Sculpture (Section of Fine Arts).

Forbes Watson was born on November 27, 1879 in Boston, the son of stockbroker John Watson and his wife Mary. Watson grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, attending the Phillips Academy in Andover, and graduating from Harvard University in 1902. After a brief period of freelance writing, he was hired by The New York Evening Post as an art critic in 1911 and worked there until 1917. In 1910, he married Agnes, professionally known as painter Nan Watson.

During World War I, Watson served with an American volunteer ambulance unit with the French army, later working with the American Red Cross in Paris. After the war, he moved back to New York City and worked as art critic for The World, from the early 1920s until 1931 and as editor of The Arts magazine from 1923-1933. Watson also lectured at the Art Students League, and at various universities and arts organizations.

In 1933, Watson moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as technical director of the U. S. Treasury Department's short-lived Public Works of Art Project. In October 1934, Watson was employed as Chief Adviser to the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture (later renamed the Section of Fine Arts) and later as Consultant to the Secretary's Office of the Treasury. During World War II, he organized various traveling exhibitions including "Art for Bonds" that promoted the sale of war bonds. Watson retired in 1946 and lived in Gaylordsville, Connecticut.

Watson was the author of numerous essays and reviews, and several books including American Painting Today and Winslow Homer, a biography of the noted American artist. With Edward Bruce, he produced a pictorial volume Art in Federal Buildings, Vol. I: Mural Designs. At his death he was working on his autobiography.

Forbes Watson died on May 31, 1960 in New Milford, Connecticut.

Provenance:

The Forbes Watson papers were donated by Watson's widow, Nan Watson, in 1961. An additional folder of material was donated in 2018 by the Museum of Modern Art via Michelle Elligott, Chief of Archives, Library and Research.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Forbes Watson papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Occupation:

Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art and state  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Art publishing  Search this

Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Architecture, New York State, New York -- Photographs  Search this

Architecture -- New York, N.Y. -- Photographs  Search this

New Deal, 1933-1939  Search this

World War, 1939-1945 -- Art and the war  Search this

Authors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Federal aid to the arts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Notes

Photographs

Drafts (documents)

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Forbes Watson papers, 1840-1967, bulk 1900-1960. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.watsforb

See more items in:

Forbes Watson papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-watsforb

Creator:

Swetzoff Gallery  Search this

Names:

Boghosian, Varujan  Search this

Boyce, Richard, 1920-  Search this

Conner, Bruce  Search this

Eshoo, Robert  Search this

Hillsmith, Fannie, 1911-2007  Search this

Kepes, Gyorgy, 1906-2001  Search this

Ohashi, Yutaka, 1923-1989  Search this

Pineda, Marianna, 1925-1996  Search this

Redon, Odilon, 1840-1916  Search this

Stewart, Reba, 1930-1971  Search this

Swetzoff, Hyman Wulf, 1920-1968  Search this

Tovish, Harold, 1921-2008  Search this

Zóbel, Fernando  Search this

Extent:

18.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Scrapbooks

Gallery records

Photographs

Date:

1941-1968

Summary:

The records of the Boston, Massachusetts Swetzoff Gallery measure 18.6 linear feet and date from 1941 to 1968. Materials include administrative files, scattered general correspondence, named files, exhibition files, financial records, printed material, a scrapbook of printed material, photographs, and the personal papers of Hyman Swetzoff.

Scope and Contents:

The records of the Boston, Massachusetts Swetzoff Gallery measure 18.6 linear feet and date from 1941 to 1968. Materials include administrative files, scattered general correspondence, named files, exhibition files, financial records, printed material, a scrapbook of printed material, photographs, and the personal papers of Hyman Swetzoff.

Administrative records include twenty day books, mailing lists, leases, and shipping records. Correspondence is scattered but includes holiday cards and general correspondence between other institutions, galleries, and clients. Named files are a mix of artist, subject, and client files and relate to Gallery's relationships with artists, buyers and clients, and institutions and galleries. Files may include correspondence from or about the named individual. Substantial materials are found for Varujan Boghosian, Richard Boyce, Bruce Connor, Robert Eshoo, Fannie Hillsmith, Gyorgy Kepes, Yutaka Ohashi, Marianna Pineda, Odilon Redon, Reba Stewart, Harold Tovish, and Fernando Zóbel.

Exhibition files document exhibitions at the Swetzoff Gallery, events at other galleries for which Swetzoff loaned works, and for larger art fairs and exhibitions in which the gallery participated. Financial records include artist account ledgers, appraisals, consignments, accounts receivable and payable, price lists, receipts, records of purchases, sales statements, and other general financial records. Ledgers may include artist name, title of work of art, buyer, and price.

Printed material is scattered and includes some exhibition material and clippings. There is one scrapbook of printed materials. Photographs are of artists, gallery employees, installations, and of works of art.

The Hyman Swetzoff papers include biographical material of Swetzoff and his family, correspondence, business records, writings, photographs, and artwork.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 9 series.

Series 1: Administrative Files, 1949-1968 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1951-1965 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 3: Named Files, 1949-1968 (8.4 linear feet; Boxes 3-12, OV 20-21)

Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1946-1966 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 12-13)

Series 5: Financial Records, 1941-1968 (3.4 linear feet; Boxes 12-16)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1949-1968 (0.3 linear feet; Box 16)

Series 7: Scrapbook, 1948-1950 (0.3 linear feet; Box 16)

Series 8: Photographs, 1950s-1960s (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 16-17)

Series 9: Hyman Swetzoff Papers, 1950-1968 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 17-19)

Biographical / Historical:

The Swetzoff Gallery operated in Boston, Massachusetts from the late-1940s to 1968.

Brothers Hyman and Seymour Swetzoff opened the Frameshop Gallery in Boston around 1948. Later, they expanded the business to include the sale of art and renamed the business Swetzoff Gallery. Hyman took sole-ownership of the gallery, which he ran until he was murdered by an unknown assailant in 1968.

The Swetzoff Gallery worked with many artists, dealers, galleries, and collectors including Albert Alcalay, Hyman Bloom, Varujan Boghosian, Richard Boyce, James Ensor, Robert Eshoo, Fannie Hillsmith, Gyorgy Kepes, Elie Nadelman, Yutaka Ohashi, Bradley Phillips, Marianna Pineda, Reba Stewart, Jean Tock, and Hugh Townley among many others.

Provenance:

The records of the Swetzoff Gallery were donated by Sidney Swetzoff in 1968.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Rights:

The Swetzoff Gallery records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Art, American -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Gallery records

Photographs

Citation:

Swetzoff Gallery records, 1941-1968. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund

Identifier:

AAA.swetgall

See more items in:

Swetzoff Gallery Records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-swetgall

Creator:

American Art Association  Search this

Names:

American Watercolor Society  Search this

Blakeslee Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919  Search this

Crocker, William H.  Search this

Kirby, Thomas Ellis, 1846-1924  Search this

Millet, Francis Davis, 1846-1912  Search this

Parsons, Alfred, 1847-1920  Search this

Extent:

27.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sales records

Photographs

Drawings

Prints

Sketches

Date:

circa 1853-1929

bulk 1885-1922

Summary:

The American Art Association records measure 27.8 linear feet and date from circa 1853-1929, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1885-1922. The records include auction and sales files, general financial and legal files, inventory and stock records, client files, printed materials, photographic materials, artwork, and the personal papers of founder Thomas Ellis Kirby.

Scope and Contents:

The American Art Association records measure 27.8 linear feet and date from circa 1853-1929, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1885-1922. The records include auction and sales files, general financial and legal files, inventory and stock records, client files, printed materials, photographic materials, artwork, and the scattered personal papers of founder Thomas Ellis Kirby.

Auction files contain a wide variety of materials regarding auction schedules, auctions, gallery sales, and estate sales. The files primarily contain correspondence, sales statements and ledgers, estate inventories and appraisals, and photographs. Of interest is a handwritten letter from Andrew Carnegie concerning the Second Prize Fund Exhibition.

Records of sales are documented in named files, sales ledgers, client account books, and Blakeslee Gallery sales ledgers. Files are found for specific art collections and estates. Sales ledgers list sales transactions of the Association by collection, department, genre, or named auction and provide the most detailed sales information, often noting title or subject, size, owner, lot number, date, purchaser, and price, and sometimes an index of artists. Other ledgers document consignment and exhibition sales, as well as sales conducted by other galleries or auction houses, both in the United States and in Europe. Exhibition sales documented include those of Alfred Parsons and Frank Millet in 1903, the American Watercolor Society in 1902, and the American Painters and Illustrators in 1905, and others. Client account books provide itemized costs accrued by individuals or estates over the course of a sale or purchase. Many of the ledgers contain name indexes.

General financial and legal files primarily consist of cash and expense ledgers documenting daily, monthly, and yearly costs and expenses related to the production of auction and sales catalogs, costs associated with leasing spaces and equipment, shipping and crating, employee sales commissions, art department expenses, book department expenses, and other costs. Legal files contain scattered forms and contractual documents, as well as correspondence and documents related to two lawsuits.

Inventory and stock records document the Association's inventory through a series of stock books and inventory cards that include sales and provenance information.

Client files consist of cards divided into clients interested in art and clients interested in books. They also include some information on specific client sales and purchases. Also found are numerous client address books. Printed materials include auction catalogs, clippings, and newspapers.

Photographs depict works of art and materials sold and collected. Of interest is a collection of cabinet photographs of French artists collected when the American Art Association was actively involved in the auction sales of thousands of paintings by French artists. Also found are four photo albums depicting auction items for a 1907 auction, prepared for the American Art Association by William H. Crocker. Several unsigned prints, sketches, and drawings are found in the artwork series.

Thomas Ellis Kirby's scattered personal papers include an address book, scattered family and biographical materials, correspondence with clients and associates, writings and speeches, legal material, auction records, and photographs.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 9 series. Folder titles have been retained from the original records, and occasionally devised for clarity.

Series 1: Auctions, circa 1885-1922 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, BV23-24)

Series 2: Sales, circa 1884-1923 (8.1 linear feet; Boxes 2-6, 20-21, BV25-39)

Series 3: General Financial and Legal Files, circa 1883-1923 (9.3 linear feet; Boxes 6-11, BV40-62)

Series 4: Inventory and Stock Records, circa 1887-circa 1922 (0.8 linear feet; Box 11, BV63-65)

Series 5: Client Files, circa 1895-circa 1922 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 11-13)

Series 6: Printed Materials, circa 1853-1923 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 13-14, 21)

Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1885-circa 1922 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 14-15, 21-22)

Series 8: Artwork, circa 1888-circa 1900 (0.1 linear feet; Boxes 15, 22)

Series 9: Thomas Ellis Kirby Personal Papers, circa 1861-1929 (3.6 linear feet; Boxes 15-19)

Biographical / Historical:

The American Art Association was an art gallery and auction house based in New York City, New York, formed in 1883 by James F. Sutton, R. Austin Robertson, and Thomas E. Kirby. It was the first auction house in the United States.

The Association was founded to promote American art and exhibit the work of American artists in its American Art Galleries in New York City. In its first year of operation, the Association exhibited Thomas B. Clarke's collection of American paintings as a benefit for the National Academy of Design. After the successful management of the public sale of the George I. Seney art collection in 1885, with Thomas E. Kirby as auctioneer, the Association continued conducting auctions and managing estate sales. Austin Robertson died in 1892 and Sutton became a special partner in 1895. In 1912 Kirby's son, Gustavus T. Kirby, joined the Association as a general partner and later also acquired Sutton's interest and became a full partner. The Association was sold in 1923 to Cortlandt Field Bishop, and merged with the Anderson Auction Company to form the American Art Association-Anderson Galleries, Inc, in 1929. The firm was taken over by Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., in 1938.

Provenance:

A portion of the American Art Association records were donated in 1968 by Thomas Ellis Kirby's daughter, Mrs. Thomas B. Waller. The remaining records were donated by the American Antiquarian Society in 1978 and 1993.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Rights:

The American Art Association records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Occupation:

Auctioneers  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Economic aspects  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- Economic aspects  Search this

Art, French  Search this

Art dealers  Search this

Art auctions  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Auctions  Search this

Artists -- France -- Photographs  Search this

Art -- Societies, etc. -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Artists -- United States  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sales records

Photographs

Drawings

Prints

Sketches

Citation:

American Art Association Records, circa 1853-1929, bulk circa 1885-1922. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund.

Identifier:

AAA.amerarta

See more items in:

American Art Association Records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-amerarta

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-01-16T14:39:49.000Z

YouTube Category:

People & Blogs  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

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americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_6Loer27MWTY

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-01-16T14:48:36.000Z

YouTube Category:

People & Blogs  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

See more by:

americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_dLaTQlwYxes

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-01-16T14:51:17.000Z

YouTube Category:

People & Blogs  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

See more by:

americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_dwmZZZoU_gs

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-01-16T14:50:13.000Z

YouTube Category:

People & Blogs  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

See more by:

americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_e-mzSLQL1nk

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-01-16T14:38:25.000Z

YouTube Category:

People & Blogs  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

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americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_f-7AKv9xqxk

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-01-16T14:16:45.000Z

YouTube Category:

People & Blogs  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

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americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_hAvYSTWl33g

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-01-16T13:14:11.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

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americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_kZsscMOKtTc

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2013-09-30T18:48:58.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

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americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_-TPZcoKjby8

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2012-01-06T01:28:57.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

See more by:

americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_0ahcGFdsL5Q

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

Interviews

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2012-12-03T20:39:07.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

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americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_1BtEJqvhosw

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2013-09-30T18:46:09.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

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americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_1h7PCKb-3DY

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2013-07-29T17:06:18.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

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americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_2Ie1rrBMSKI