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Oral history interview with Brooks Jackson

Interviewee:: Jackson, Brooks, gallery owner Search this

Interviewer:: Cummings, Paul Search this

Names:: Berman, Eugene, 1899-1972 Search this; Brauner, Victor, 1903-1966 Search this; Castelli, Leo Search this; Cornell, Joseph Search this; De Chirico, Giorgio, 1888- Search this; Ernst, Max, 1891-1976 Search this; Fini, Leonor, 1908-1996 Search this; Iolas, Alexandros, 1908-1987 Search this; Levy, Julien Search this; Magritte, René, 1898-1967 Search this; Matta, 1912-2002 Search this; Tchelitchew, Pavel, 1898-1957 Search this

Extent:: 1 Item (Sound recording: 1 sound tape reel ; 5 in); 38 Pages (Transcript)

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Pages; Sound recordings; Interviews

Date:: 1976 Mar. 22

Scope and Contents:: Interview of Brooks Jackson conducted 1976 Mar. 22, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Jackson speaks of his background; attending the American School of Ballet; why he stopped dancing; his recollections of Madame Hugo; Alexander Iolas' background and his memories of him; how he became interested in art; and working with Iolas. He recalls Alexander Iolas, Pavel Tchelitchew, Giorgio De Chirico, Lenore Fini, Eugene Berman, Victor Brauner, Rene Magritte, Roberto Matta, Max Ernst, Julien Levy, Leo Castelli, Joseph Cornell, and many others.

Biographical / Historical:: Brooks Jackson is an art dealer and former dancer from New York, N.Y. Co-owned and operated the Brooks Jackson Iolas Gallery in New York, N.Y.

Provenance:: These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Restrictions:: Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

Topic:: Art, American Search this; Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this; Ballet Search this

Genre/Form:: Sound recordings; Interviews

Sponsor:: Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:: AAA.jackso76

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-jackso76

Dorothy C. Miller papers

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.

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

Topic:: Artists -- United States Search this; Art, Modern -- 20th century 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

Online Media:

Oral history interview with Eleanor Ward

Interviewee:: Ward, Eleanor, 1912-1984 Search this

Interviewer:: Cummings, Paul Search this

Names:: Stable Gallery (New York, N.Y.) Search this; Cornell, Joseph Search this; Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987 Search this

Extent:: 16 Pages (Transcript)

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Pages; Sound recordings; Interviews

Date:: 1972 February 8

Scope and Contents:: An interview of Eleanor Ward conducted 1972 February 8, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Ward speaks of her family background and early interest in art; starting the Stable Gallery; the first Stable Annual Exhibition, 1953; Abstract Expressionist artists she showed; the success of the Stable Gallery's shows; her own collection; collectors; the gallery's move to 74th Street; the gallery scene in New York; finding new artists; the influence of critics; the reasons for the closing of the Stable Gallery. She recalls Joseph Cornell, Andy Warhol, and other artists.

Biographical / Historical:: Eleanor Ward (1912-1984) was an art dealer from New York, N.Y.

General:: Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 13 min.

Provenance:: This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Topic:: Art, American Search this; Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this

Function:: Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) -- New York

Genre/Form:: Sound recordings; Interviews

Identifier:: AAA.ward72

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-ward72

Katharine Kuh papers

Creator:: Kuh, Katharine Search this

Names:: Albright-Knox Art Gallery Search this; Art Institute of Chicago -- Faculty Search this; Biennale di Venezia Search this; Katharine Kuh Gallery (Chicago, Ill.) Search this; Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984 Search this; Albers, Josef Search this; Albright, Ivan, 1897-1983 Search this; Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964 Search this; Arensberg, Louise S. (Louise Stevenson), 1879-1953 Search this; Arensberg, Walter, 1878-1954 Search this; Arp, Jean, 1887-1966 Search this; Barnet, Will, 1911- Search this; Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981 Search this; Biddle, George, 1885-1973 Search this; Breuer, Marcel, 1902- Search this; Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976 Search this; Campoli, Cosmo Search this; Chagall, Marc, 1887- Search this; Chavez Morado, José, 1909-2002 Search this; Chermayeff, Serge, 1900- Search this; Cornell, Joseph Search this; Cox, Richard Search this; Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964 Search this; Day, Worden, 1916-1986 Search this; De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997 Search this; Dickinson, Edwin Walter, 1891- Search this; Dubuffet, Jean, 1901- Search this; Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968 Search this; Elizabeth, Queen of Great Britain, II, 1926- Search this; Ernst, Jimmy, 1920-1984 Search this; Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997 Search this; Feitelson, Lorser, 1898-1978 Search this; Friendly, Fred W. Search this; Giacometti, Alberto, 1901-1966 Search this; Golub, Leon, 1922-2004 Search this; Goto, Joseph, 1920- Search this; Grabe, Klaus Search this; Graves, Robert, 1895-1985 Search this; Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898- Search this; Guston, Philip, 1913-1980 Search this; Hare, David, 1917- Search this; Hare, Denise Browne Search this; Hayter, Stanley William, 1901-1988 Search this; Hirshhorn, Joseph Search this; Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966 Search this; Hélion, Jean, 1904-1987 Search this; Inverarity, Robert Bruce, 1909-1999 Search this; Johns, Jasper, 1930- Search this; Johnson, Philip, 1906-2005 Search this; Johnson, Ray, 1927- Search this; Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944 Search this; Kepes, Gyorgy, 1906-2001 Search this; Kepes, Juliet Search this; Klee, Paul, 1879-1940 Search this; Kline, Franz, 1910-1962 Search this; Knox, Seymour H., 1898-1990 Search this; Le Corbusier, 1887-1965 Search this; Lundeberg, Helen, 1908-1999 Search this; Lye, Len, 1901-1980 Search this; Léger, Fernand, 1881-1955 Search this; Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969 Search this; Millier, Arthur, 1893- Search this; Moholy-Nagy, László, 1895-1946 Search this; Motherwell, Robert Search this; Mérida, Carlos, 1891-1984 Search this; Nutting, Muriel Leone Tyler, b. 1892 Search this; Nutting, Myron Chester, 1890-1972 Search this; O'Higgins, Pablo, 1904- Search this; Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949 Search this; Ozbekhan, Hasan, 1921-2007 Search this; Perkins, Frances Search this; Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973 Search this; Putnam, Wallace, 1899-1989 Search this; Ray, Man, 1890-1976 Search this; Rich, Daniel Catton, 1904-1976 Search this; Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970 Search this; Sandberg, Carl Search this; Seligmann, Kurt, 1900-1962 Search this; Shackelford, Shelby Search this; Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969 Search this; Spaeth, Otto, d. 1966 Search this; Sterne, Hedda, 1916- Search this; Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965 Search this; Still, Clyfford, 1904- Search this; Tanning, Dorothea, 1910-2012 Search this; Tobey, Mark Search this; Winston, Harry Lewis Search this; Woolf, Olga Search this; Young, Victor Search this

Photographer:: Pollack, Peter, 1909-1978 Search this

Extent:: 12 Linear feet

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Illustrated letters; Resumes; Travel diaries; Minutes; Calendars; Visitors' books; Photographs; Paintings; Awards; Drawings; Sound recordings; Collages; Scrapbooks; Lithographs; Prints; Wills; Watercolors; Poetry; Lecture notes; Lectures; Sales records

Date:: 1875-1994; bulk 1930-1994

Summary:: The papers of art historian, dealer, critic, and curator Katharine Kuh measure 12 linear feet and date from 1875-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930-1994. The collection documents Kuh's career as a pioneer modernist art historian and as the first woman curator of European Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues; personal business records; artwork by various artists; a travel journal; writings by Kuh and others; scrapbooks; printed material; photographs of Kuh and others; and audio recordings of Kuh's lectures and of Daniel Catton Rich reading poetry.

Scope and Content Note:: The papers of art historian, dealer, critic, and curator Katharine Kuh measure 12 linear feet and date from 1875-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930-1994. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues; personal business records; artwork by various artists; a travel journal; writings by Kuh and others; scrapbooks; printed material; photographs of Kuh and others; and audio recordings of Kuh's lectures and of Daniel Catton Rich reading poetry.

Biographical material consists of copies of Kuh's birth certificate, resumés, passports, award certificates, honorary diplomas, and address books listing information about several prominent artists and colleagues.

Four linear feet of correspondence offers excellent documentation of Kuh's interest in art history, her travels, her career at the Art Institute of Chicago, her work as a corporate art advisor, and as an author. There are letters from her mother Olga Woolf, friends, and colleagues. There is extensive correspondence with various staff members of the Art Institute of Chicago, the First National Bank of Chicago, and The Saturday Review. Also of interest are letters from artists and collectors, several of whom became life-long friends including Walter and Louise Arensberg, Cosmo Campoli, Serge Chermayeff, Richard Cox, Worden Day, Claire Falkenstein, Fred Friendly, Leon Golub, Joseph Goto, David Hare, Denise Brown Hare, Jean Hélion, Ray Johnson, Gyorgy and Juliet Kepes, Len Lye, Wallace Putnam, Kurt Seligmann, Shelby Shackelford, Hedda Sterne, and Clyfford Still. Many letters are illustrated with original artwork in various media.

There are also scattered letters from various artists and other prominent individuals including Josef Albers, George Biddle, Marcel Breuer, Joseph Cornell, Stuart Davis, Edwin Dickinson, Joseph Hirshhorn, Daniel Catton Rich, and Dorothea Tanning.

Personal business records include a list of artwork, Olga Woolf's will, inventories of Kuh's personal art collection, miscellaneous contracts and deeds of gift, receipts for the sale of artwork, files concerning business-related travel, and miscellaneous receipts.

Artwork in the collection represents a wide range of artist friends and media, such as drawings, watercolors, paintings, collages, and prints. Included are works by various artists including lithographs by David Hare and a watercolor set, Technics and Creativity, designed and autographed by Jasper Johns for the Museum of Modern Art, 1970.

Notes and writings include annotated engagement calendars, travel journals for Germany, a guest book for the Kuh Memorial gathering, and many writings and notes by Kuh for lectures and articles concerning art history topics. Of interest are minutes/notes from meetings for art festivals, conferences, and the "Conversations with Artists Program (1961). Also found are writings by others about Kuh and other art history topics.

Six scrapbooks contain clippings that document the height of Kuh's career as a gallery director and museum curator. Scrapbook 6 contains clippings about Fernand Léger, the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953.

Additional printed material includes clippings about Kuh and her interests, a comprehensive collection of clippings of Kuh's articles for The Saturday Review, exhibition announcements and catalogs, calendars of events, programs, brochures, books including Poems by Kuh as a child, and reproductions of artwork. Of particular interest are the early and exhibition catalogs from the Katharine Kuh Gallery, and rare catalogs for artists including Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Jean Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Stanley William Hayter, Hans Hofmann, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Franz Kline, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Pablo Picasso.

Photographs provide important documentation of the life and career of Katharine Kuh and are of Kuh, family members, friends, colleagues, events, residences, and artwork. Several of the photographs of Kuh were taken by Will Barnet and Marcel Breuer and there is a notable pair of photo booth portraits of Kuh and a young Ansel Adams. There are also group photographs showing Angelica Archipenko with Kuh; designer Klaus Grabe; painters José Chavez Morado and Pablo O'Higgins in San Miguel, Mexico; Kuh at the Venice Biennale with friends and colleagues including Peggy Guggenheim, Frances Perkins, Daniel Catton Rich, and Harry Winston; and "The Pre-Depressionists" including Lorser Feitelson, Robert Inverarity, Helen Lundeberg, Arthur Millier, Myron Chester Nutting, and Muriel Tyler Nutting.

Photographs of exhibition installations and openings include views of the Katharine Kuh Gallery; Fernand Léger, Man Ray, and László Moholy-Nagy at the Art Institute of Chicago; and Philip Guston, Jimmy Ernst, Seymour H. Knox, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and Mark Rothko at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. There are also photographs depicting three men posing as Léger's "Three Musicians" and the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the Art Institute of Chicago. There is a photograph by Peter Pollack of an elk skull used as a model by Georgia O'Keeffe.

Additional photographs of friends and colleagues include Ivan Albright, Alfred Barr, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Willem De Kooning, Edwin Dickinson, Marcel Duchamp, Claire Falkenstein, Alberto Giacometti, poet Robert Graves with Len Lye, Philip Johnson, Gyorgy and Juliet Kepes, Carlos Mérida, José Orozco, Hasan Ozbekhan, Pablo Picasso, Carl Sandberg, Ben Shahn, Otto Spaeth, Hedda Sterne, Adlai Stevenson, Clyfford Still, Mark Tobey, and composer Victor Young.

Photographs of artwork include totem poles in Alaska; work by various artists including Claire Falkenstein, Paul Klee, and Hedda Sterne; and work donated to the Guggenheim Museum.

Four audio recordings on cassette are of Katharine Kuh's lectures, including one about assembling corporate collections, and of Daniel Catton Rich reading his own poetry. There is also a recording of the Second Annual Dialogue between Broadcasters and Museum Educators.

Arrangement:: The collection is arranged as 9 series. Undated correspondence, artwork, and photographs of individual artists are arranged alphabetically. Otherwise, each series is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1945-1992 (Box 1; 16 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1908-1994 (Boxes 1-5, 13-14, OV 15; 4.0 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1941-1989 (Box 5; 19 folders)

Series 4: Artwork, 1931-1986 (Boxes 5, 13-14, OVs 15-23; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1914-1994 (Boxes 5-7; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1935-1953 (Box 7; 8 folders)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1916-1992 (Boxes 7-10, 13, OV 22; 3.0 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, 1875-1993 (Boxes 10-13; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 9: Audio Recordings, 1977 (Box 12; 1 folder)

Biographical Note:: Katharine Kuh (1904-1994) worked primarily in the Chicago area as an modern art historian, dealer, critic, curator, writer, and consultant. She operated the Katharine Kuh Gallery from 1935-1943 and was the first woman curator of European and Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Katharine Kuh (née Woolf) was born on July 15, 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of the three daughters of Olga Weiner and Morris Woolf, a silk importer. In 1909, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois. While traveling with her family in Europe in 1914, Katharine contracted polio, causing her to spend the next decade in a body brace. During this time of restricted movement, she developed an interest in art history through the collecting of old master prints.

After her recovery, Katharine Woolf attended Vassar College where one of her professors, Alfred Barr, encouraged her to study modern art. She graduated from Vassar in 1925 and received a master's degree in art history from the University of Chicago in 1929. Later that year, she moved to New York to pursue a Ph.D. in Renaissance and medieval art at New York University.

In 1930, Katharine Woolf returned to Chicago and married businessman George Kuh and began to teach art history courses in the suburbs of Chicago. After divorcing George Kuh in 1935, she opened the Katharine Kuh Gallery, the first gallery devoted to avant-garde art in Chicago. It was also the first gallery to exhibit photography and typographical design as art forms, and featured the work of Ansel Adams, Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Wassily Kandinsky, Fernand Léger, and Man Ray, among others. From 1938 to1940, Kuh was the Visiting Professor of Art at the University School of Fine Arts, San Miguel, Mexico.

After the Katharine Kuh Gallery closed in 1943, Kuh was hired by museum director Daniel Catton Rich to fill a position in public relations at the Art Institute of Chicago. During the following years, Kuh edited the museum's Quarterly publication, took charge of the museum's Gallery of Interpretive Art, and began a long term relationship with Rich. In 1946, Kuh was sent on a special mission for the U. S. Office of Indian Affairs to make a detailed study of Native American totemic carvings in Alaska.

In 1949, Kuh persuaded Mr. and Mrs. Walter Arensberg of Los Angeles to exhibit their collection of modern art, creating the first post-war exhibition of modern art in Chicago. She published her first book Art Has Many Faces in 1951, and in the following year, she began writing art criticism for The Saturday Review. In 1954, Kuh was appointed the first woman curator of European Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute. She assembled the American contribution for the Venice Biennale in 1956 and during these years, Kuh helped acquire many of the works of modern art currently in the museum's collection.

A year following Daniel Catton Rich's 1958 resignation from the Art Institute of Chicago, Kuh also resigned and pursued a career in New York as an art collection advisor, most notably for the First National Bank of Chicago. In 1959, Kuh was made art critic for The Saturday Review, and she continued to publish books, including The Artist's Voice in 1962, Break-Up: The Core of Modern Art in 1965, and The Open Eye: In Pursuit of Art in 1971.

Katharine Kuh died on January 10, 1994 in New York City.

Provenance:: The Katharine Kuh papers were donated in several installments from 1971 to 1989 by Katharine Kuh and in 1994 by her estate. Artwork was donated in 1995 by Kuh's former employer, the Art Institute of Chicago.

Restrictions:: Authorization to quote, publish or reproduce requires written permission until 2019. Contact the Archives of American Art Reference Services department for additional information.

Rights:: The Katharine Kuh 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, Abstract -- United States Search this; Art, American Search this; Art festivals Search this; Women museum curators -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this; Women art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Authors -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this; Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this; Art galleries, Commercial -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this; Women art historians -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this; Women art dealers -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this; Women art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this; Women art critics -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this

Genre/Form:: Illustrated letters; Resumes; Travel diaries; Minutes; Calendars; Visitors' books; Photographs; Paintings; Awards; Drawings; Sound recordings; Collages; Scrapbooks; Lithographs; Prints; Wills; Watercolors; Poetry; Lecture notes; Lectures; Sales records

Citation:: Katharine Kuh papers, 1875-1994, bulk 1930-1994. 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.kuhkath

See more items in:: Katharine Kuh papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-kuhkath

Robert Schoelkopf Gallery records

Creator:: Robert Schoelkopf Gallery Search this

Names:: Zabriskie Gallery Search this; Andrejevic, Milet, 1925- Search this; Aponovich, James, 1948- Search this; Bailey, William, 1930-2020 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

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Belle Krasne Ribicoff papers

Creator:: Ribicoff, Belle Krasne, 1924- Search this

Names:: Storm King Art Center Search this; Wadsworth Atheneum Search this; Albee, Edward, 1928- Search this; Arp, Jean, 1887-1966 Search this; Ashton, Dore Search this; Bailey, William, 1930-2020 Search this; Bazaine, Jean, 1904-2001 Search this; Benn, Ben, 1884- Search this; Bloom, Claire, 1931- Search this; Chelimsky, Oscar Search this; Cornell, Joseph Search this; D'Harnoncourt, Rene, 1901-1968 Search this; De Vries, Peter, 1910-1993 Search this; Dorazio, Piero, 1927- Search this; Dorazio, Virginia Dortch Search this; Ferren, John, 1905-1970 Search this; Fitzsimmons, James, 1919-1985 Search this; Foote, Horton Search this; Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011 Search this; Geist, Sidney Search this; Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903-1974 Search this; Graham, John, 1887-1961 Search this; Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994 Search this; Greene, Balcomb, 1904-1990 Search this; Holty, Carl, 1900-1973 Search this; Kazan, Elia Search this; Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923- Search this; Krautheimer, Richard, 1897- Search this; Lamos, Mark Search this; Lebrun, Rico, 1900-1964 Search this; Matisse, Pierre, 1900-1989 Search this; Morris, George L. K., 1905-1975 Search this; Parsons, Estelle Search this; Pearlstein, Philip, 1924- Search this; Ribicoff, Abraham, 1910-1998 Search this; Richardson, Edgar Preston, 1902-1985 Search this; Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff Search this; Rosenborg, Ralph M., 1913-1992 Search this; Roszak, Theodore, 1907-1981 Search this; Saarinen, Eero, 1910-1961 Search this; Salpeter, Harry Search this; Shapiro, Karl Jay, 1913- Search this; Skinner, Cornelia Otis, 1901- Search this; Smith, David, 1906-1965 Search this; Soby, James Thrall, 1906-1979 Search this; Travers, P. L.(Pamela Lyndon), 1899-1996 Search this; Valentin, Curt, 1902-1954 Search this; Van Doren, Mark, 1894-1972 Search this; Yunkers, Adja, 1900-1983 Search this

Extent:: 1.6 Linear feet

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Sketches; Drafts (documents); Photographs; Prints; Illustrated letters; Postcards; Christmas cards

Date:: 1942-circa 2010; bulk 1945-2004

Summary:: The papers of Belle Krasne Ribicoff measure 1.6 linear feet and date from 1942-circa 2010, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1945-2004. Papers include biographical materials; correspondence with artists, art historians, writers, museum directors, and others; individual files relating to Belle and Irving Ribicoff's art collection and the Friends of Abe Ribicoff's campaign for the United States Senate; artwork; printed material, e.g., clippings, announcements, exhibition catalogues, brochures; and photographs. The collection documents Ribicoff's career as an arts editor, critic, and her involvement in civic and arts organizations for the State of Connecticut.

Scope and Content Note:: The papers of Belle Krasne Ribicoff measure 1.6 linear feet and date from 1942-circa 2010, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1945-2004. Papers include biographical materials; correspondence with artists, art historians, writers, museum directors, and others; individual files relating to Belle and Irving Ribicoff's art collection and the Friends of Abe Ribicoff's campaign for the United States Senate; artwork; printed material, e.g., clippings, announcements, exhibition catalogues, brochures; and photographs. The collection documents Ribicoff's career as an arts editor, critic, and her involvement in civic and arts organizations for the State of Connecticut.

Biographical materials include documentation of the Buttenweiser Prize awarded to Belle Krasne by the Art History Departmental Honors at Vassar College in 1945 and curriculum vitae.

Correspondence, primarily incoming letters consists of letters, postcards, draft versions, and copies of e-mails. Belle Krasne Ribicoff was friends with many artists; their letters focus on daily activities, work, and the art world. Among the correspondents are Oscar and Eleanor Chelminsky, Joseph Cornell, Piero and Virginia Dorazio, John and Rae Ferren, Helen Frankenthaler, James Fitzsimmons, Adolph Gottlieb, John Graham, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Modell, George L.K. Morris, Philip Pearlstein, Eero Saarinen, David Smith, and Adja Yunkers. There is substantial correspondence from Ben Benn, Sidney Geist, Leon Hartley, Ralph Rosenborg, and Theodore Roszak. Also found are love letters to Belle Krasne Ribicoff from Jean Bazaine. Many of the artists' letters are illustrated. Of note, are a letter from Carl Holty to J.B. Neumann and an artist's statement written by Adolph Gottlieb.

Ribicoff had a professional and personal relationship with a number of prominent writers, actors, and other individuals known for their work in the arts, such as Edward Albee, Claire Bloom, Peter DeVries, Horton Foote, Elia Kazan, Mark Lamos, Estelle Parsons, Karl Shapiro, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and P.L. Travers. There are letters from museum directors, art historians, and other well-known cultural figures, such as Dore Ashton, Clement Greenberg, Balcomb Greene, Rene d'Harnoncourt, Pierre Matisse, E. P. Richardson, Andrew C. Ritchie, Harry Salpeter, Curt Valentin, and Mark Van Doren. Also found are files of holiday cards, many original artwork; letters to Ribicoff upon her departure from Art Digest; letters from representatives at Storm King Art Center Museum and the Wadsworth Atheneum; and letters from unidentified correspondents.

The Ribicoff collection relates to the personal art collection of Belle and Irving Ribicoff; materials document the purchase and sale of artwork and the lending of artwork for exhibitions. There is a file of petition letters sponsored by the Friends of Abe Ribicoff campaign for the United States Senate.

Original artwork includes prints by Jean Arp and Adja Yunkers and pencil sketches of Sarai Ribicoff by William Bailey. Printed material consists of news clippings; a periodical; exhibition announcements; brochures; an offprint of an article by Cleve Gray; and miscellaneous printed material.

Photographs contain black and white photographs of Belle Krasne Ribicoff, Ben and Velida Benn, Richard Krautheimer, and of the jurors attending the Carnegie International exhibition (circa 1954), including Jean Bazaine, Rico Lebrun, Eric Newton, and James Thrall Soby.

Arrangement:: The collection is arranged into 7 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1945, circa 2010 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 2: Belle Krasne Ribicoff Correspondence, 1942-2007 (Boxes 1, 3; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 3: The Ribicoff Collection, 1949-1988 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Friends of Abe Ribicoff Campaign, 1968 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 5: Artwork, circa 1950s-1978 (Box 1, OV 4; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1948-2000 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographs, 1945-circa 2007 (Boxes 1-2; 0.1 linear feet)

Biographical Note:: Belle Krasne Ribicoff (b. 1924) lives in Hartford, Connecticut and has served as an arts editor, critic, and university administrator.

Ribicoff was born and raised in New York City. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in art history from Vassar College in 1945. After a brief stint with an advertising agency in New York, Ribicoff became Assistant Editor at Magazine of Art (1946-1947), where she developed an interest in contemporary art. She served as editor for such publications as Art News (1948-1949), Art Digest (1949-1954), and Craft Horizons (1954-1955).

In 1955, she married Irving S. Ribicoff (1915-1994), an attorney and moved to Hartford, Connecticut. The Ribicoffs' had two daughters, Dara (b. 1956) and Sarai (1957-1980).

Ribicoff has held various positions at the University of Hartford: Development Director at the Hartford School of Art (1980-1981), Development Liaison to the Office of President (1982-1988), and Associate Vice President for Public Affairs (1980-1983). Belle Krasne Ribicoff has served as a professional volunteer for educational and cultural organizations in Connecticut; she has been involved in efforts to make the arts a part of the school curriculum. She was Vice-President of the Hartford Board of Education (1961-1967; 1965-1971) and was Chairman of the State of Connecticut's Commission on the Arts (1965-1971). Ribicoff is a Life Director at the Hartford Stage Company and a Life Regent at the University of Hartford. She is a Sterling Fellows at Yale University and sits on the President's Advisory Committee at Vassar College.

Belle Krasne Ribicoff has received recognition for her professional and public service contributions by a number of institutions. In 1954, she received the Frank Jewett Mather Award for critical writing from the College Art Association. Other honors have included: Charter Oak Leadership Medal for Distinguished Service (1968), the University of Hartford Medal for Distinguished Service (1995), and the Spirit of Vassar award for outstanding commitment and service to Vassar or another community (2005).

Related Material:: Also found at the Archives of American Art is Belle Krasne's letter to Philip Pavia, May 14, 1954 on microfilm reel 3470.

Provenance:: The collection was donated by Belle Krasne Ribicoff to the Archives of American Art in 2008.

Restrictions:: Use of original material requires an appointment.

Letters from Jean Bazaine to Belle Krasne Ribicoff and sketches of Sarai Ribicoff by William Bailey are access restricted. Their use requires written permission.

Rights:: The Belle Krasne Ribicoff 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:: Editors Search this; Art critics Search this

Topic:: Art -- Collectors and collecting Search this; Art, American Search this

Genre/Form:: Sketches; Drafts (documents); Photographs; Prints; Illustrated letters; Postcards; Christmas cards

Citation:: Belle Krasne Ribicoff papers, 1942-circa 2010 bulk 1945-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:: AAA.krasbell2

See more items in:: Belle Krasne Ribicoff papers

Archival Repository:: Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-aaa-krasbell2

Oral history interview with Dennis Adrian

Interviewee:: Adrian, Dennis, 1937- Search this

Interviewer:: Silverman, Lanny Search this

Names:: Akron Art Museum Search this; Art Institute of Chicago Search this; Chicago Art and Artists: Oral History Project Search this; Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource Search this; Madison Art Center Search this; Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago, Ill.) Search this; New York University Search this; Portland Art Museum (Or.) Search this; University of Chicago -- Students Search this; Acconci, Vito, 1940- Search this; Achilles, Rolf Search this; Alloway, Lawrence, 1926-1990 Search this; Anderson, Jeremy, 1921-1982 Search this; Artner, Alan G. Search this; Barnes, Robert, 1934- Search this; Baum, Don, 1922- Search this; Brown, Roger, 1941-1997 Search this; Carlson, Victor I. Search this; Castelli, Leo Search this; Conner, Bruce, 1933-2008 Search this; Coplans, John Search this; Cornell, Joseph Search this; Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de, 1510-1554 Search this; Dubuffet Search this; Florsheim, Lillian H. Search this; Frumkin, Allan Search this; Garver, Thomas H. Search this; Golub, Leon, 1922-2004 Search this; Guston, Philip, 1913-1980 Search this; Hanson, Philip, 1943- Search this; Hoffman, Rhona, 1934- Search this; Ito, Miyoko, 1918-1983 Search this; Kind, Phyllis, 1933-2018 Search this; Leaf, June, 1929- Search this; Lee, Sherman E. Search this; Maxon, John, 1916- Search this; Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969 Search this; Newman, Muriel Kallis Steinberg Search this; Nicholson, Natasha, 1945- Search this; Parker, Dorothy, 1893-1967 Search this; Pearlstein, Philip, 1924- Search this; Petlin, Irving, 1934-2018 Search this; Ramberg, Christina Search this; Rossi, Barbara, 1940- Search this; Schulze, Franz, 1927-2019 Search this; Sleigh, Sylvia Search this; Spero, Nancy, 1926-2009 Search this; Swinton, Tilda Search this; Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002 Search this; Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987 Search this; Westermann, H. C. (Horace Clifford), 1922- Search this; Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900 Search this; Wiles, Bertha Harris, 1896- Search this

Extent:: 4 Items (Sound recording: 4 sound files (4 hr., 18 min.), digital, wav); 173 Pages (Transcript)

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Pages; Interviews; Sound recordings

Date:: 2015 October 8-9

Scope and Contents:: An interview with Dennis Adrian conducted 2015 October 8-9, by Lanny Silverman, for the Archives of American Art's Chicago Art and Artists: Oral History Project, at Adrian's home in Seaside, Oregon.; Adrian speaks of growing up in Astoria; traveling to Chicago and New York; Cannon Beach; aging and getting older; his origins; curators and curating; visual sensibilities; the Portland Public Library; opera; his parents, grandparents, and family; Finnish sensibility and humor; Portland Art Museum and classes for children; curator as voyeur; credit and accomplishments; hands on experiences; Artforum; art history; attending University of Chicago; homosexuality and coming out; looted European masterworks; Botticelli; exposure to real art; connoisseurship; collectors and collecting; a Robert Louis Stevenson letter; violin making; growing into yourself; Chicago; war; New York University; Frumkin Gallery; New York; the art world; Madison Art Center; Akron Art Museum; friendship and role models; Art Institute of Chicago; meeting Mies van der Rohe; meeting idols; education; Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Monster Roster; traveling; Chicago art politics; writing and critics; Eurocentric curators; Chicago as an undervalued city; Dog Day Afternoon; discovering art; New York sightings; and experiences running into artists. Adrian also recalls Roger Brown, Ruth Horwich, Gilda Buchbinder, Don Baum, Sherman Lee, Victor Carlson, Peter Voulkos, Lawrence Alloway, Rhona Hoffman, Allan Frumkin, June Leaf, Leon Golub, Jeremy Anderson, Robert Barnes, Tom Garver, Bruce Conner, Natasha Nicholson, H. C. Westermann, Franz Schulze, Bertha Harris Wiles, Muriel Newman, Aaron James Spire, Lillian Florsheim, John Maxon, Greg Knight, P.B. Maryan, Philip Pearlstein, Sylvia Sleigh, Nancy Spero, Irving Petlin, John Coplans, Alan Artner, Alice Shaddle, Phyllis Kind, Andy Warhol, Joseph Cornell, Tilda Swinton, Leo Castelli, Philip Guston, Dubuffet, Pussy Pepke, Bumpy Rogers, Barbara Rossi, Christina Ramberg, Philip Hanson, Miyoko Ito, Mark Jackson, Rolf Achilles, and Vito Acconci.

Biographical / Historical:: Dennis Adrian (1937- ) is an art critic, educator, and curator in Chicago, Illinois. Lanny Silverman (1947- ) is a curator at the Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Provenance:: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Occupation:: Art critics -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Interviews Search this

Topic:: Art, American -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this; Art -- Collectors and collecting Search this; Art -- History Search this; Art -- Study and teaching Search this; Art thefts -- Europe Search this; Curators -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Interviews Search this; Educators -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Interviews Search this; Homosexuality Search this