The papers of curator and art historian Julia P. Herzberg measure 9.4 linear feet and date from 1977-2018. Included are Herzberg's files on exhibitions and artists containing correspondence, printed material, interview transcripts, and notes and drafts by Herzberg. Artists include Wilfredo Lam, Doris Salcedo, Ana Mendieta, and Jorge Tacla among others. There is a 1.8 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes materials relating to the exhibition Catalina Parra.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of curator and art historian Julia P. Herzberg measure 9.4 linear feet and date from 1977-2018. Included are Herzberg's files on exhibitions and artists containing correspondence, printed material, interview transcripts, and notes and drafts by Herzberg. Artists include Wilfredo Lam, Doris Salcedo, Ana Mendieta, and Jorge Tacla among others.
Materials in this collection document Herzberg's career as a curator, art historian, and editor, and consist of Herzberg's curatorial and project files related to artists, exhibitions, writing, and other professional projects. Included are draft lectures, essays, and articles; bibliographies; clippings; exhibition catalogs, announcements, flyers, and posters; correspondence with artists and curators; notes; clippings; pamphlets; artist biographies and CVs; exhibition planning documents including proposals, wall texts, working checklists, and diagrams; interview transcripts; photographs, slides, and negatives; and press releases. Some of Herzberg's files, including photographs and writings, are in born-digital format.
There is a 1.8 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes materials relating to the exhibition Catalina Parra. Included are two exhibition notebooks, one for "Catalina Parra: Reconstructions" in "Catalina Parra: A Retrospective," New York: Lehman College Art Gallery, Lehman College, The City Univ. of New York, 1991 and one for "Run Away, Run Away, in Cataina Parra: It's Indisputable/Es indiscutible," Jersey City: Jersey City Museum 2001. Also included is research material, ca. 2005-2015 on artists Magdalena Fernández and Monika Weiss. Materials date from circa 1991-2015.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series.
Series 1: Writing Projects, 1998-2018 (1.1 linear feet, Box 3, 5, 6, 8)
Series 2: Artist Files, 1977-2018 (5.2 linear feet, Box 1-8)
Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1990-2017 (1.0 linear feet, Box 1, 3, 8)
Series 4: Professional Files, 2003-2014 (0.3 linear feet, Box 1, 3, 8)
Series 5: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1991-2015 (1.8 linear feet, Box 9-11)
Biographical / Historical:
Julia P. Herzberg (194?-) is a curator, art historian and editor in New York, N.Y. Herzberg specializes in Latin American contemporary art. Her work is centered on the research, scholarship, and cultural production of artistic practices within interdisciplinary global contexts. She has curated numerous exhibitions throughout North America and Latin America.
Provenance:
Donated by Julia P. Herzberg in 2018 and 2021.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that she may own in the following material: all writings by Julia P. Herzberg in the form of essays, talks, lectures, and emails.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art museum curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The interviews of curator George Gurney measure 1 linear foot and date from 1978 to 1979. Gurney conducted twenty-one interviews with sculptors and related professionals as part of the research for the exhibition, "Sculpture and the Federal Triangle," held at the National Museum of Art, October 26, 1979 through January 6, 1980.
Scope and Contents:
The interviews of curator George Gurney measure 1 linear foot and date from 1978 to 1979. Gurney conducted twenty-one interviews with sculptors and related professionals as part of the research for the exhibition, "Sculpture and the Federal Triangle," held at the National Museum of Art, October 26, 1979 through January 6, 1980. No recordings were made for interviews with Carl Paul Jennewein, Joseph Kiselewski, Bruno Mankowski, and David Kresz Rubins, but questionnaires completed by them exist.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged alphabetically as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
George Gurney is an art historian who worked as a curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. He wrote various books on American architecture including Sculpture and the Federal Triangle on the development, implementation, and demise of the architectural design of the Federal Triangle area of Washington, DC.
Provenance:
The interviews were donated to the Archives of American Art by George Gurney in 1984.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
George Gurney interviews with sculptors, 1977-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
The papers of Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington D.C. art historian and museum curator Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, measure 2.5 linear feet and date from circa 1934-1986. The papers provide scattered documentation of Breeskin's career, focusing on writings and lectures delivered in the United States and abroad, and briefly documenting her work as an art exhibition juror, as a consultant, and as a teacher of a community art course. The collection also includes papers documenting some of Breeskin's research on Loren MacIver, Mary Cassatt, and others, and is comprised of biographical material, personal and professional correspondence with artists, friends, and colleagues, manuscript and lecture notes and drafts, professional files, sound recordings, and a few photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington D.C. art historian and museum curator Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, measure 2.5 linear feet and date from circa 1934-1986. The papers provide scattered documentation of Breeskin's career, focusing on writings and lectures delivered in the United States and abroad, and briefly documenting her work as an art exhibition juror, as a consultant, and as a teacher of a community art course. The collection also includes papers documenting some of Breeskin's research on Loren MacIver, Mary Cassatt, and others, and is comprised of biographical material, personal and professional correspondence with artists, friends, and colleagues, manuscript and lecture notes and drafts, professional files, sound recordings, and a few photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as four series:
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1938-1986 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 4-6)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-1970 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Lectures, circa 1934-1981 (1 linear foot; Boxes 1-2)
Series 4: Professional Files, 1945-1984 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Biographical / Historical:
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin (1896-1986) was an art historian and museum curator in Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. She was the first woman to be named director of a major American museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Adelyn Dohme took her first museum job in the print department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she worked with Kathryn B. Child under the supervision of William Mills Ivins. She left the museum in 1920 to marry violinist Elias Breeskin, and the couple had three children before divorcing in 1930.
Following her divorce, Breeskin returned to her native Baltimore and took a position as a curator with the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 1942 she was appointed director of the museum and remained in that position until 1962. As director she gave Milton Avery and Mary Cassatt's graphics their first museum shows.
Breeskin served as commissioner for the American contingent of the Venice Biennale in 1960 and was director of the Washington Gallery of Modern Art from 1962-1964. She then became a special consultant in twentieth-century art for the Smithsonian's National Collection of Fine Art and served as the museum's curator of contemporary painting and sculpture from 1968 to 1974.
The Archives of American Art also holds oral history interviews with Adelyn Breeskin conducted by Paul Cummings in 1974, and Julie Haifley in 1979.
Provenance:
Portions of the collection were donated to the Archives of American Art in a series of gifts from Adelyn Breeskin, 1979-1985. Material relating to Loren MacIver was donated 1979-1987 by Breeskin and Robert Frash, who had possession of Breeskin's research materials on MacIver for an exhibition on MacIver he curated in California. Letters from Georgia O'Keeffe, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, and Lawrence Calcagno, an exhibition catalog for Calcagno, and the file on Milton Avery, were donated by the National Museum of American Art on January 28, 1981. The birthday book was a gift from Breeskin's daughter, Gloria Breeskin Peck, in 2015. The sound recordings were transferred from the National Museum of American Art, circa 1984.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Art historians -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Art museum directors -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
The papers of curator Ninfa Valvo regarding the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum measure 2 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1973. The papers mostly consist of material related to the de Young Museum in the form of administration records, photographs of exhibition installations and artwork, and museum programs and calendars.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of curator Ninfa Valvo regarding the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum measure 2 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1973. The papers mostly consist of material related to the de Young Museum in the form of administration records, photographs of exhibition installations and artwork, and museum programs and calendars.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 3 series.
Series 1: Administration Records, 1934-circa 1965 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Printed Material, 1930-1973 (1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Photographs, circa 1931-circa 1965 (0.8 linear feet; Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Ninfa Valvo (1900-1993) was the curator of painting and sculpture at the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco, California, from 1931 to 1965. The de Young Museum is one of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Provenance:
The papers regarding the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum were donated by Ninfa Valvo in 1975.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Citation:
Ninfa Valvo papers regarding the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, circa 1930 to 1973. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
These records consist of departmental correspondence and office memoranda from 1976 to 1991. Files for 1984 and 1988 are missing. The records were created mostly by
Milton Sonday and Gillian Moss, and concern subjects such as exhibition loans, textile scholarship, catalogs and publications, public inquiries, the donation and acquisition
of objects, research on collections, activities in other museums, and administrative needs. The records include some files on the exhibition, "Lace," which was shown at the
Cooper-Hewitt Museum from August to November 1982.
Historical Note:
The textile collection of the Cooper Union Museum rose to preeminence with John Pierpont Morgan's 1902 donation of three significant collections of medieval European
cloth designs. Mary S.M. Gibson took charge of the museum collections as Curator in 1904, and was responsible for the general oversight of the textile department until Jean
Reed was hired as Assistant Keeper for Textiles in 1935 and Elizabeth Haynes became Keeper of Lace and Embroidery in 1937. In 1941 Reed was replaced by Alvena Vajda Secklar,
who was succeeded by Dorothy G. Shepherd in 1942, and by Lili Blumendau in 1944.
Haynes died in June 1948 and three months later Alice Baldwin Beer was hired as Keeper of Needlework. Beer became Keeper of Textiles in 1950, and at the same time Jean
E. Mailey replaced Blumendau as Assistant Keeper. Mailey resigned in 1957, and the designation KEEPER was changed to CURATOR in October 1958. Sarah Frantz was Assistant Curator
of Textiles from 1958 to 1961, and Christa C. Mayer held the post from 1961 to 1967. Milton F. Sonday of the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., became Assistant Curator in
December 1967.
In 1970 Beer retired and became Consultant for Textiles, and in fiscal year 1977 Sonday was appointed Curator of Textiles. In 1979 Beer was named Curator Emeritus, a position
she held until her death in November 1981. Textile Conservator Lucy Commoner began work in FY 1977, and the appointment of Gillian Moss as Textiles Assistant in FY 1984 led
to her assignment as Assistant Curator of Textiles in FY 1985.
This accession consists of Judith K. Zilczer's personal research correspondence with professional organizations, universities, and individuals in the art world; papers
written by Zilczer and presented at symposiums; and subject files on contemporary artists and art history.
This accession consists of records documenting the curatorial activities of Kerry Brougher, Curator and Chief Curator, 2000-2014. Materials include correspondence,
meeting notes, lecture scripts, exhibition marketing materials, and related materials.
Rights:
Restricted for 15 years, until Jan-01-2025; Transferring office; 12/14/84 memorandum, Massa to Davis; Contact reference staff for details.
These records consist of the administrative, correspondence, and exhibition files of the Department of Decorative Arts. Curator David R. McFadden and his predecessors
created most of the records, but some were compiled by assistants in the department, guest curators, and exhibition organizers. Some files were created before the department
was organized, and document exhibition research and the storage of objects that later came under the curatorial care of the department.
The administrative records contain object documentation files; staff meeting notes, memoranda, and reports; files on the work of interns and graduate students in the department;
materials documenting the museum's participation in the Decorative Arts Association (DAA); and subject files. The correspondence files contain letters exchanged by department
staff and the general public, other museums, object donors, and professional associates regarding the collections and exhibitions of the museum. The exhibition records consist
largely of files on lenders to exhibitions curated or organized by the department. In addition, the files include exhibition proposals and budgets; research files and bibliographies;
installation plans and blueprints; object checklists and photographs; publicity files and press clippings; and catalogue publication files.
These records chiefly document the administration of Janet Thorpe, Assistant Curator, 1967-1969, and Associate Curator, 1969-1973, and Catherine Lynn Frangiamore, Assistant
Curator, 1969-1974. Also, included are materials concerning Thomas E. Lennox, Assistant Curator, 1964-1967; J. Stewart Johnson, Curator, 1974-1976; and David R. McFadden,
Curator, 1978- . Records include correspondence with donors concerning gifts to the museum and with interested persons concerning the wallpaper pattern collections; materials
concerning the Carnegie Mansion, staff meetings, student intern researchers, and exhibitions; photographs; and chronological files, 1967-1974.
Historical Note:
The Department of Decorative Arts was established in 1949 to collect, preserve, exhibit, and act as an informational source for three-dimensional objects used in architectural,
residential, and personal environments. In addition, the Department maintained the museum's wallpaper pattern collections (until the creation of a separate Department of Wallpapers
in 1976).
1.5 cu. ft. (1 record storage box) (1 document box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1968-1978
Descriptive Entry:
The papers document the administration of Elaine Evans Dee, Curator, 1968- , and Xenia Cage, Museum Technician, 1968-1980. They include general correspondence, mostly
inquiries regarding the collections, photograph orders, and job applications; and materials concerning exhibitions and The American Federation of Arts committee meetings,
1972-1978.
Historical Note:
The Department of Drawings and Prints was established in 1946. It is responsible for the care, storage, cataloging, and study of its holdings. It also provides information
on drawing and print collections.
This accession consists of records documenting the curatorial activities of Kerry Brougher, Curator, Chief Curator, and Director of Arts and Programs, 2000-2014. Topics
include exhibitions, facilities, departmental management, policies, and Smithsonian Institution-wide arts initiatives. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, reports,
meeting materials, exhibition checklists, architectural drawings, notes, organizational charts, planning documents, and related materials. Some materials were created within
the Curatorial Department, the Programs Department, or the Office of the Director of Arts and Programs.
Rights:
Restricted for 15 years, until Jan-01-2027; Transferring office; 12/14/1984 memorandum, Massa to Davis; Contact reference staff for details.
This accession consists of records documenting the research and development of the exhibition "Visual Music: 1905-2005." The bulk of the materials were created by Judith
Zilczer, Curator of Paintings, 1992-2003, with a smaller amount of material created by Kerry Brougher, Curator and Chief Curator, 2000-2014. Zilczer continued to work on the
project after her retirement. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, prospectuses, grant proposals, checklists, notes, research materials, and related materials.
Rights:
Restricted for 15 years, until Jan-01-2020; Transferring office; 12/14/1984 memorandum, Massa to Davis; Contact reference staff for details.
1.5 cu. ft. (1 record storage box) (1 document box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Floor plans
Date:
1982-2014
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of records documenting the administration of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The bulk of the materials were created by Kerry Brougher,
Curator, Chief Curator, Director of Arts and Programs, and Deputy Director, 2000-2014, as well as Acting Director, 2007-2009, and Interim Director, 2013-2014. Smaller amounts
of records were created by James Demetrion, Director, 1984-2001, and Richard Koshalek, Director, 2009-2013. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, budgets, reports,
policies, meeting materials, organizational charts, floor plans, and related materials. Some materials were created within the Programs/Curatorial Department, the Office of
the Director of Arts and Programs, and the Office of the Deputy Director.
Rights:
Restricted for 15 years, until Jan-01-2030; Transferring office; 8/31/1982 memorandum, Bain to Kirkpatrick; Contact reference staff for details.
The papers of volunteer curatorial assistant Eliot Bartlett measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1981. The papers include correspondence, financial material, writings, photographic material, and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of volunteer curatorial assistant Eliot Bartlett measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1981. The papers include correspondence, financial material, writings, photographic material, and printed material.
Correspondence consists of letters concerning Bartlett's art-related activities and his interest in various artists including Mary Ogden Abbott, Amy Cross, George Dergalis, Lilian Westcott Hale, and Arthur J. Stone. Financial material includes four receipts and price lists. Writings includes a docent speech for an exhibition. Photographic matieral consists of a single slide of the painting Tulips by Amy Cross. Printed material includes clippings, exhibition and auction announcements, catalogs and programs.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Eliot Fitch Bartlett (1918-1992) was a volunteer curatorial assistant at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts during the 1970s.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by Eliot Fitch Bartlett.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
The Janet Kardon papers measures 6.7 linear feet and date from 1905, and circa 1950-1995, with the bulk of the records dating from 1975-1991. Papers include exhibition files, professional records, legal records, photographs, printed material, and some audiovisual material. The collection primarily documents Kardon's work on various exhibitions during her time at the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA) and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania.
Scope and Contents:
The Janet Kardon papers measures 6.7 linear feet and date from 1905, and circa 1950-1995, with the bulk of the records dating from 1975-1991. Papers include exhibition files, professional records, legal records, photographs, printed material, and some audiovisual material.
The collection primarily documents Kardon's work on various exhibitions during her time at the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA) and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania. The files include photographs of artwork, correspondence, audiovisual material, some insurance information, photographs of exhibitions, printed material, and ephemera. Notable people represented include David Salle, Robert Mapplethorpe, Alice Aycock, and Red Grooms.
Professional records consist of papers related to Kardon's administrative duties while at ICA, PCA, and the American Craft Museum, as well as a few panels and review boards that Kardon served on. The records consist of correspondence, printed material, a resume, audiovisual material, and some artist files.
Printed Material consists of clippings and periodicals, artist books, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and event pamphlets.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 3 series.
Series 1: Exhibition Files, circa 1950-circa 1995
Series 2: Professional Files, 1970-1993
Series 3: Printed Material, 1905, 1967-1991
Biographical / Historical:
Art museum director and curator Janet Kardon, curated multiple exhibitions at the Philadelphia College of Art and then served as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, before her appointment as director of the American Craft Museum in New York City.
Kardon received her B.S. in education from Temple University in 1955, and her M.A. in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966. In 1984 she received an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Moore College of Art.
Kardon was a lecturer at Gwynedd Mercy College (1967) and the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA), from 1968 to 1975, and was hired by the PCA in 1975 as director of exhibitions. While at PCA, Kardon curated fifteen exhibitions including Labryinth (1975) Time (1977), Projects for PCA (1976-1978), and Artists' Sets and Costumes (1977). In 1979 Kardon accepted a position at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania (ICA).
During her decade-long career at ICA, Kardon curated twenty-three exhibitions including Urban Encounters: Art Architecture Audience (1980), Machineworks: Vito Acconci, Alice Aycock, Dennis Oppenheim (1981), Red Grooms' Philadelphia Cornucopia and Other Sculptopictoramas (1982), Siah Armajani (1985), David Salle (1986), and Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment (1988). Kardon's traveling Mapplethorpe exhibition made national headlines in 1990 when Ohio prosecutors charged ICA Director Dennis Barre with obscenity due to the graphic nature of Mapplethorpe's photographs. Kardon was brought into court as an expert on the topic of photographic art and curation. The charges were ultimately dropped.
In 1989 Kardon became the director of the American Craft Museum.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Janet Kardon in 2005.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Art museum directors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Janet Kardon papers, 1905, circa 1950-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Waddy, Ruth G. (Ruth Gilliam), 1909-2003 Search this
Extent:
26.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Interviews
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Date:
1928-2018
Summary:
The papers of African American artist, curator, and arts administrator Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery measure 26.1 linear feet and date from 1929-2019. The papers relate to Montgomery's career and involvement in the African American art scene in California and Washington, D.C. The collection includes biographical materials consisting of calendars and appointment books, certificates and awards, records regarding Montgomery's personal art collection, resumes and biographies, and other personal records; correspondence with colleagues and friends such as Benny Andrews, Willis Bing Davis, Edmund Barry Gaither, Eugene Grigsby, Dele Jegede, Samella Lewis, Nzegwu Nkiru, and A.M. Weaver; professional activity files documenting Montgomery's career as a consultant, curator, member, and volunteer for a myriad of organizations including the American Association for State and Local History, National Conference of Artists, and the Oakland Museum; and research files and notes on African and African American arts and history, Black media, Black photographers, the museum profession, and the artists Betye Saar, Lois Mailou Jones, Nike Davies-Okundaye, Romare Bearden, Ruth Waddy, Sam Gilliam, and Sargent Johnson. Also included are files regarding Montgomery's career as an artist containing material on the Brandywine Workshop, interviews with Floyd Coleman and for The Historymakers, sales and consignment records, and other material; printed and documentary material consisting of art reproductions, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and posters regarding Montgomery and other African American artists; artwork by Montgomery, including student sketchbooks, and others; photographic material of Montgomery, friends and colleagues, events, personal snapshots, and works of art; and unidentified audiovisual material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of artist, curator, and arts administrator Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery measure 26.1 linear feet and date from 1929-2019. The papers relate to Montgomery's career and involvement in the African American art scene in California and Washington, D.C. The collection includes biographical materials consisting of calendars and appointment books, certificates and awards, records regarding Montgomery's personal art collection, resumes and biographies, and other personal records; correspondence with colleagues and friends such as Benny Andrews, Willis Bing Davis, Edmund Barry Gaither, Eugene Grigsby, Dele Jegede, Samella Lewis, Nzegwu Nkiru, and A.M. Weaver; professional activity files documenting Montgomery's career as a consultant, curator, member, and volunteer for a myriad of organizations including the American Association for State and Local History, National Conference of Artists, and the Oakland Museum; and research files and notes on African and African American arts and history, Black media, Black photographers, the museum profession, and the artists Betye Saar, Lois Mailou Jones, Nike Davies-Okundaye, Romare Bearden, Ruth Waddy, Sam Gilliam, and Sargent Johnson. Also included are files regarding Montgomery's career as an artist containing material on the Brandywine Workshop, interviews with Floyd Coleman and for The Historymakers, sales and consignment records, and other material; printed and documentary material consisting of art reproductions, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and posters regarding Montgomery and other African American artists; artwork by Montgomery, including student sketchbooks, and others; photographic material of Montgomery, friends and colleagues, events, personal snapshots, and works of art; and unidentified audiovisual material.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1967-2015 (1.0 linear feet; Box 1, OV 27)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1963-2014 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 2-4)
Series 3: Professional Activity Files, 1963-2017 (7.6 linear feet; Boxes 4-11)
Series 4: Research Files and Notes, 1928-2018 (4.0 linear feet; Boxes 11-16)
Series 5: Files Regarding Montgomery's Career as an Artist, 1970-2016 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 16-17)
Series 6: Printed and Documentary Materials, 1964-2018 (7.2 linear feet; Boxes 17-23, 26, OVs 27-29, 31-34
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1957-2006 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 23, 26, OV 30)
Series 8: Photographic Materials and Moving Images, circa 1965-2017 (3.0 linear feet; Boxes 23-27, OV 27)
Series 9: Unidentified Audiovisual Materials, circa 1990s (1 folder; Box 25)
Biographical / Historical:
Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery (1930- ) is an African American artist, curator, and arts administrator in California and Washington, D.C.
Montgomery was born in New York and moved to Harlem in New York City after the divorce of her parents, Oliver and Carmelite Thompson. Upon graduating from Seward Park High School in 1951, Montgomery worked painting faces on dolls and statues. In 1955, she married Ulysses "Jim" Montgomery and moved to Los Angeles. In California she began working for jewelry designer Thomas Usher while attending Los Angeles City College. She continued her education at California College of the Arts (California College of Arts and Crafts) where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1969. During the late 1960s, Montgomery began curating exhibitions. From 1971 to 1976, she was curator for Rainbow Sign Gallery in Berkeley. Other roles Montgomery held were as the national exhibits workshop coordinator at the American Association for State and Local History and as program development consultant at the African American Museums Association. From 1976 to 1979, she was art commissioner for the city of San Francisco.
Montgomery moved to Washington, D.C. in 1980 to serve as the community affairs director for Howard University's WHMM-TV station. She then began working for the United States Information Agency (USIA) as a program officer in their Arts America program in the early 1980s. In her role, she worked to promote cross-cultural exchanges through art, specializing in American exhibitions touring abroad. Montgomery retired from the USIA in 2008.
As an artist, Montgomery gained recognition for her work in printmaking and metalworking. She was the recipient of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities fellowship in 2012 and an Excellence in the Arts Award from the Brandywine Print Workshop in 2004. Due to her diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in the 1990s, Montgomery had to stop working with metal but continued her printmaking work.
Provenance:
The Evangeline J. Montgomery papers were donated in 2019 by Evangeline J. Montgomery, as part of the Archives' African American Collecting Initiative funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
The papers of sculptor, painter and printmaker Worden Day (1916-1986) measure 3.5 linear feet and date from circa 1935-1992. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographic material, sketchbooks, and audiovisual material.
There is a 1.0 linear foot additon, circa 1951-1992, donated in 2020 containing further papers of Worden Day.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor, painter and printmaker Worden Day (1916-1986) measure 3.5 linear feet and date from circa 1935-1992. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographic material, sketchbooks, and audiovisual material.
Included are biographical material consisting of resumes and an address book. Correspondence is with colleagues, curators, and museum directors including Will Barnet, Carl Zigrosser, May Sarton, Dorothy Dehner, Louise Bourgeois, Sue Fuller, among others. Writings by Day are about sculpture and painting, among them four unpublished manuscripts "Pop Art as an American Cultural Phenomenon," "What is a Print," "The Found Dimension- Aspects in the Development of Modern American Sculpture," and "New Expressions of Woodcut," and reviews for exhibitions written by Day for Art News. Also found in the collection are printed materials; scrapbooks; photographs of Day, her works and photograph albums; and three sketchbooks. Audiovisual material is arranged with biographical material and includes a taped interview on audio cassette with Day and one reel of motion picture film (also available as digital files), "Printmakers," presented by United States Information Service, 1961, showing American printmakers Mauricio Lasansky, Day, Karl Schrag, Seong Moy and Gabor Petredi at work and students in the School of Graphic Arts at the State University of Iowa, founded by Lasansky. Also arranged with biographical material is a file relating to an exhibition on the work of painter Vaclav Vytlacil organized by Day in 1975 at the Montclair Art Museum containing correspondence; letter fragments from Alex Minewski; writings by Vytlacil regarding his career and work with Hans Hofmann; an audio cassette; photographs of Vytlacil, Hofmann teaching in Munich, Ed and Isabell Rupprecht, Ernest Thurn, Betty Foster, and Alice Fish at the Hofmann School of Fine Arts, Munich; and the exhibition catalog.
There is a 1.0 linear foot additon, circa 1951-1992, donated in 2020 containing further papers of Worden Day.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as eight series
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1960-1986 (Box 1, FC6; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1953-1977 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 3: Writings, 1955-1985 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1949-1983 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1940-1984 (Boxes 1, 4; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographic Material, 1935-1986 (Boxes 2-3; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Sketchbooks, 1960-1986 (Boxes 3, 5; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 8: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1951-1992 (Box 7; 1.0 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Worden Day (1916-1986) was a sculptor, painter, printmaker and curator in Montclair, New Jersey. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Day graduated from Randolph-Macon College in 1934. She then moved to New York City, and over the next few decades, studied drawing with Maurice Sterne and George Grosz; drawing, painting, and printmaking with William Von Schlegell, Harry Sternberg, Hans Hofmann, Will Barnet, and Vaclav Vytlacil at the Art Students League; and etching with Stanley William Hayter at the New School for Social Research. After earning her M.A. from New York University in 1966, Day taught as an instructor and lecturer in color theory, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, design, collage, American art history, modern art theory, and women artists. Her written reviews and essays were featured in publications such as Art News, Art Voices, and Impressions, and she had solo exhibitions throughout the United States, including at the Smithsonian Institution, Baltimore Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and Montclair Art Museum.
Provenance:
The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art from 1972-1983 by Worden Day. Additional material was donated in 2017 by Constance Duhamel, Day's friend. Additional material was donated in 2020 by the Maier Museum of Art at Randoph College via Constance Duhamel.
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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Landscape painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
The papers of art historian, curator, and professor Robert Rosenblum measure 38.3 linear feet and 1.17 GB and date from circa 1927 to 2009, with the bulk dating from 1950 to 2006. They include biographical material, extensive personal and professional correspondence; lectures, writings, and writing project files by Rosenblum and others; exhibition files; research reference files; teaching files; personal business records; printed and digital material; photographs; and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art historian, curator, and professor Robert Rosenblum measure 38.3 linear feet and 1.17 GB and date from circa 1927 to 2009, with the bulk dating from 1950 to 2006. They include biographical material, extensive personal and professional correspondence; lectures, writings, and writing project files by Rosenblum and others; exhibition files; research reference files; teaching files; personal business records; printed and digital material; photographs; and artwork.
Biographical materials include Rosenblum's bibliography and resume materials, various school related ephemera and diplomas, a transcript of an interview with Amy Newman for Artforum, and a digital video recording of a Josef Levi interview. Extensive personal and professional correspondence is with friends, family, colleagues, publishers, museums, and others. Some of the correspondents include Melvin Becraft, the Guggenheim, Harry Abrams, Inc., Hilton Kramer, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the National Museum of American Art. Also found are numerous postcards.
Lectures, writings, and writing project files document Rosenblum's prolific writing and speaking career, and include notes, copies, and manuscript drafts of lectures, articles, catalog essays, and books, as well as additional materials related to the writings and the publication of books, such as as correspondence, editing feedback, photographs, and lists of photographs. There are manuscript, notes, and other materials related to many of Rosenblum's notable books, including Transformations in Late Eighteenth-Century Art, Paintings in the Musee D'Orsay, 19th-Century Art, The Dog in Art, Ingres, Modern Painting and the Northern Tradition, and others. Also found are Rosenblum's dissertation and other student writings. There is also a series containing writings by or about others, such as students and colleagues.
Rosenblum planned and facilitated numerous exhibitions that are well-documented within the exhibition files, including French Painting, 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution (1974), 1900: Art at the Crossroads (2000), Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People (2001), Best in Show: Dogs in Art from the Renaissance to the Present (2006), and Citizens and Kings: Portraits in the Age of Revolution, 1760-1830 (2007), among many others. Contents of each exhibition file vary considerably but often include correspondence, lists of artwork, proposals, notes, catalog drafts and outlines (see also series 3), and printed materials. There are a few sound cassettes, including a recorded interview with James Rosenquist with transcripts. Also included are digital photographs of Norman and Irma Braman Collection exhibition.
Research reference files cover a wide variety of art related topics, but are arranged within a separate series because they are not related to specific named projects as are the files in Series 3. These files contain research notes, bibliographies, and syllabi kept by Rosenblum presumably for a variety of publications, research interests, and teaching references.
Teaching files and class notes document Rosenblum's professorial career at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, University of Michigan, Yale College, and Yale University, and include a variety of course materials.
Personal business records consist of various financial and legal documents, expense and income records, publishing and speaking contracts, and royalties received.
The papers also include a variety of printed materials, photographs, student sketches by Rosenblum, and an unidentified collage.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1927-2006 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, 1.00 GB; ER02)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1927-2006 (4.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-5)
Series 3: Lectures, Writings, and Writing Project Files, 1940-2006 (13.5 linear feet; Boxes 5-16, OV 39-41, 0.063 GB; ER01)
Series 4: Writings by Others, circa 1954-2006 (2.9 linear feet; Boxes 16-19)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, circa 1965-circa 2006 (5.2 linear feet; Boxes 19-24, 0.109 GB; ER03)
Series 6: Research Files, circa 1927-2006 (2.9 linear feet; Boxes 24-27)
Series 7: Teaching Files and Class Notes, 1955-2006 (4.3 linear feet; Boxes 27-31)
Series 8: Personal Business Records, 1951-2009 (4.4 linear feet; Boxes 31-36)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1927-2009 (2.4 linear feet; Boxes 36-38)
Series 10: Photographs, circa 1950s-circa 2000 (0.3 linear feet; Box 38, OV 41)
Series 11: Artwork, circa 1940s-circa 1980s (0.1 linear feet; Box 38)
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Rosenblum (1927-2006) was an art historian, curator, and professor who worked primarily in New York City.
Rosenblum received his B.A. from Queens College, his M.A. from Yale, and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Art at New York University in 1956. He spent a year teaching art at the University of Michigan before becoming an associate professor at Princeton, ultimately accepting a Professor of Fine Arts position at NYU in 1966, where he spent the rest of his professorial career interspersed with visiting professorships at Oxford University and Yale University. Rosenblum was named Henry Ittleson, Jr. Professor of Modern European Art at NYU in 1976, and received the Frank Jewett Mather Award for Distinction in Art Criticism in 1981. After being appointed Stephen and Nan Swid Curator of 20th-Century Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1996, Rosenblum went on to curate such exhibitions as 1900: Art at the Crossroads (2000) and Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People (2001). Prior to this appointment, he was one of the organizers of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's French Painting, 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution (1974). He received a Distinguished Teaching Award from NYU in 2005, and continued to curate, lecture, teach, and write.
Rosenblum was a prolific author, and his seminal works include: Cubism and Twentieth-Century Art (1959), Transformations in Late Eighteenth-Century Art (1967), Modern Painting and the Northern Romantic Tradition: Friedrich to Rothko (1975), and 19th-Century Art (co-authored with H.W. Janson, 1984).
Rosenblum married Jane Kaplowitz in 1978. He died in New York City in 2006.
Provenance:
The papers were donated in multiple accessions by Robert Rosenblum between 1986 and 2003, and by his widow, Jane Kaplowitz between 2010 and 2013.
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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings and electronic media with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of Cleveland museum director and art historian Sherman E. Lee measure 10.3 linear feet and date from 1947-1997. The records document Lee's extensive career as an art historian, curator and expert on Asian art, director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, writer, educator, and consultant. His papers include scattered biographical materials, correspondence, writings, travel files, committees and organizations files, consulting files, teaching files, personal business records, printed material, photographs, and one pencil drawing.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Cleveland museum director and art historian Sherman E. Lee measure 10.3 linear feet and date from 1947-1997. The records document Lee's extensive career as an art historian, curator and expert on Asian art, director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, writer, educator, and consultant. His papers include scattered biographical materials, correspondence, writings, travel files, committees and organizations files, consulting files, teaching files, personal business records, printed material, photographs, and one pencil drawing.
Correspondence is with friends, scholars, editors, collectors, dealers, art societies and organizations, and other
museums. Writings consist of articles, lectures, book reviews by Lee and scattered writings by others. Writing project files contain correspondence with publishers, contracts, and printed material relating to the publication of Lee's writings. Travel files document numerous trips to Asian and European countries and include travel diaries, photographs, and lists of works of art viewed. There are files concerning Lee's membership and involvement with various committees, museums, and arts organizations. Consulting files mostly focus on Lee's work advising John D. Rockefeller III on the purchase of art, and with the Permanent Public Areas Advisory Committee of Cleveland, Ohio. Teaching files document classes he taught at Case Western Reserve and Harvard. Personal business records mostly concern Lee's personal art collection. Also found among the papers are general clippings, photographs of Lee and of artwork, and one pencil drawing.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 12 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1947-circa 1983 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1, 11)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1953-1996 (1.5 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1962-1983 (1.7 linear feet; Box 2-4)
Series 4: Writing Project Files, 1958-1997 (1.0 linear feet; Box 4-5)
Series 5: Travel Files, 1959-1994 (1.8 linear feet; Box 5-7)
Series 6: Committees and Organization Files, 1971-1997 (1.8 linear feet; Box 7-8)
Series 7: Consulting Files, 1960-1993 (1.1 linear feet; Box 8-9)
Series 8: Teaching Files, 1963-1977 (0.1 linear feet; Box 9)
Series 9: Personal Business Records, 1958-1995 (0.3 linear feet; Box 9)
Series 10: Printed Material, 1962-1987 (0.9 linear feet; Box 10-11)
Series 11: Photographs, circa 1952-1993 (0.2 linear feet; Box 10-11)
Series 12: Artwork, circa 1960s (1 folder; Box 10)
Biographical / Historical:
Sherman Emery Lee (1918-2008) was an recognized expert on Asian art and director of the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1958-1983.
Born in Seattle, Washington in 1918, Sherman E. Lee grew up in New York and received degrees from American University and a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Lee began his art career as a curator at the Detroit Institute of Art and Seattle Art Museum. During World War II, he served with the U. S. Navy and was transferred to the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section in Japan. After the war he continued working as a civilian advisor on the preservation of Japanese artworks.
Sherman Lee accepted a position as curator of Oriental art at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1952 and became director in 1958, where he remained until 1983. During his long tenure there, he built one of this country's most remarkable collections of Asian art, transforming the museum from a regional presence to one of national significance. In 1973 Lee was chosen as Chairman of the Art and Archeology Delegation to the People's Republic of China, jointly sponsored by the Committee on Scholarly Communication of the People's Republic of China and the Scientific and Technical Association of the People's Republic of China.
Lee wrote or co-wrote a number of books including A History of Far Eastern Art (1964) and numerous articles for journals, magazines, and newspapers. He was the recipient of many honorary degrees, awards, and honors including the Order of the Sacred Treasure from Japan and Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur. He taught art history courses at the Case Western Reserve University and Harvard and was consultant to John D. Rockefeller III and the Cleveland Permanent Public Advisory Committee. He retired to North Carolina where he taught at the University of North Carolina and was advisor to the University's Ackland Art Museum.
Lee was married to his wife Ruth for sixty-nine years. The two met in college and had three daughters and one son. Lee died July 9, 2008 at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Provenance:
Sherman E. Lee donated his papers to the Archives of American Art in 1997.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Conract Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The papers of contemporary and folk art curator, historian, and consultant Dorothy C. Miller measure 34.6 linear feet and date from 1853-2013, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920 to 1996. The papers primarily concern Miller's private art consulting work outside of her curatorial work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Found are scattered biographical materials, extensive correspondence and subject files, and project files for her art consulting work for the Rockefeller family, Rockefeller University, Chase Manhattan Bank, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the World Trade Center, and other miscellaneous corporate and private clients. Miller's work as a trustee and committee member of various public and private boards and commissions is also represented here. Additionally, the papers contain Miller's research files on Edward Hicks and folk art, and a small number of files of her husband Holger Cahill about his work as Director of the Federal Art Project. There is a scattered documentation of Miller's early curatorial work with Holger Cahill on the First Municipal Art Exhibition (1934) held at the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center. Also found is Dorothy Miller's collection of artists' Christmas cards and photographs of Miller and others. An addition to the papers includes biographical material; family papers; correspondence; professional files; art collection and client files; printed material; and photographic material. While a small number professional files are included, the majority of the addition relates to her personal life, including correspondence with her husband Holger Cahill, and files pertaining to her personal art collection.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of contemporary and folk art curator, historian, and consultant Dorothy C. Miller measure 34.6 linear feet and date from 1853-2013, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920 to 1996. The papers primarily concern Miller's art consulting work outside of her curatorial work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York city. Found are scattered biographical materials, extensive correspondence and subject files, and project files for her art consulting work for the Rockefeller family, Rockefeller University, Chase Manhattan Bank, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and other miscellaneous corporate and private clients. Her work as a trustee and committee member of various public and private boards and commissions is also represented here. Additionally, the papers contain Miller's research files on Edward Hicks and folk art, and a small number of files related to Miller's husband Holger Cahill and his work as Director of the Federal Art Project. There is important documentation of Miller's early curatorial work with Holger Cahill on the First Municipal Art Exhibition (1934) held at the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center. Artwork includes scattered sketches and drawings enclosed with correspondence and original Christmas cards sent to Miller by various artists. Photographs of Miller date from 1926 - circa 1950.
Scattered biographical material mostly concerns Miller's education at Smith College and awards and honorary degrees that she received. Extensive correspondence and subject files document her professional and personal relationships with family, friends, colleagues, museums, art dealers and artists, as well as her research interests. Individual files may contain a mix of correspondence with, as well as about, the person or subject, compiled research documents, printed materials, and scattered photographs. Files are found for Lewin Alcopley, Alfred Barr, Betty Parsons Gallery, Cahill family members, Lee Bontecou, James Byars, Holger Cahill, Alexander Calder, Christo, Chryssa, Calvert Coggeshall, John Canaday, Maryette Charlton, Stuart Davis, Jay DeFeo, Lorser Feitelson, Arshile Gorky, Peggy Guggenheim, Grace Hartigan, Will Horwitt, Jasper Johns, Julien Levy, Pierre Matisse, Louise Nevelson, Barnett Newman, Isamu Nauchi, Georgia O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Kay Sage, Charles Sheeler, Hedda Sterne, travel, Clyfford Still, William Scharf, among many others.
Detailed records of Miller's art consulting and advisory work for the Rockefeller family include correspondence with Nelson A. Rockefeller and David Rockefeller about building their personal collections of contemporary and folk art, meeting notes and minutes, research notes and writings, and printed materials. The largest group of records concerns the writing and publication of The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection: Masterpieces of Modern Art. Miller's curatorial work for David Rockefeller and the Rockefeller University's Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Hall art collection is documented in Series 4 through curatorial files, correspondence, printed materials, photographs and slides, artists files, and design records.
Series 5 contains files relating to Miller's work as the first art consutant to the Chase Manhattan Bank and the building of the corporation's extensive collection of contemporary art. There is a draft of Miller's text for the bank's published catalog, Art At Work: Chase Manhattan Bank Collection. A smaller set of records is found in Series 6 documenting Miller's work on the Art Committee of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, including files about selecting artwork for the World Trade Center during the early 1970s. Files concerning Miller's advisory work with additional public and private clients, boards, and commissions are arranged in Series 7 and 8 and concern the Amstar Corporation, Fidelity International Bank, First National Bank of Tampa, First National City Bank, Inmont Corporation, Pepsico, United Mutual Savings Bank, the Empire State Plaza Art Commission, the Hancock Shaker Village, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Mark Rothko Foundation, the Museum of American Folk Art, and the Smith College Museum of Art.
Miller's papers include a small group of files relating to the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP)created by her husband Holger Cahill when he was director of the FAP, Holger Cahill. A small series is devoted to Miller's work with Eleanore Price Mather researching and writing Edward Hicks: His Peaceable Kingdom and Other Paintings. A series of general research files contain miscellaneous research notes and photographs related to Miller's interests in early American art and folk art. Series 12 contains important documentation of Miller's early curatorial work with Holger Cahill on the First Municipal Art Exhibition (1934) held at the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center.
Works of art are primarily in the form of Christmas cards sent to Miller by various artists including Elise Asher, Lyonel Feininger, Bernard Karpel, and Irene Rice Pereira. A small group of photographs includes photographs of Miller from 1926-circa 1950 and a few photographs of others.
The addition includes biographical material; family papers; correspondence; professional files; art collection and client files; printed material; and photographic material. While a small number of professional files are found here, the majority of material relates to Miller's personal life, including correspondence with her husband Holger Cahill, and files pertaining to her personal art collection. Scattered correspondence, inventories, research, and notes created by curator and donor of the papers, Wendy Jeffers, are found throughout the collection. These materials date from the 1980s-2000s.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 15 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1917-1986 (Box 1; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 2: Correspondence and Subject Files, circa 1912-1992 (Boxes 1-8, OV 27; 7.2 linear ft.)
Series 3: Rockefeller Family Art Collections, circa 1949-1985 (Boxes 8-12, 25; 3.9 linear ft.)
Series 4: Rockefeller University Collection, 1923-1984 (Boxes 12-13, OV 27; 1.0 linear ft.)
Series 5: Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, 1959-circa 1985 (Boxes 13-14, 26; 1.4 linear ft.)
Series 6: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Art Committee, circa 1965-1987 (Boxes 14-15, OV 27; 0.8 linear ft.)
Series 7: Other Corporate and Private Clients, 1968-1984 (Boxes 15-16; 1.3 linear ft.)
Series 8: Other Boards, Committees and Commissions, 1925, 1949-1985 (Boxes 16-20; 3.6 linear ft.)
Series 9: Works Project Administration Federal Art Project Files, 1935-1979 (Box 20, OV 27; 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 10: Edward Hicks Catalog, 1934-1984 (Boxes 20-22; 1.5 linear ft.)
Series 11: Research Files, 1930s-1980 (Boxes 22-23; 0.8 linear ft.)
Series 12: Exhibition Files, 1932-1986 (Box 23; 0.6 linear ft.)
Series 13: Works of Art, circa 1924-circa 1982 (Boxes 23-25; 1.5 linear ft.)
Series 14: Photographs, 1926-circa 1970s (Boxes 24-25; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 15: Addition to the Dorothy C. Miller Papers, 1853-2003, bulk 1920-1996 (Boxes 28-38, OVs 39-41; 9.9 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Dorothy Canning Miller (1904-2003) worked in New York City as a highly influential curator of contemporary and folk art at the Museum of Modern Art and as the first curator of the museum. Later, she was the primary art consultant for Nelson A. Rockefeller, the Rockefeller family, Rockefeller University, Chase Manhattan Bank, and the Port Authority of and New Jersey. Dorothy Miller was also married to Holger Cahill, director of the WPA Federal Art Project.
Dorothy C. Miller was born in Hopedale, Massachusetts in 1904 and received her Bachelor of Arts from Smith College in 1925. She was first introduced to modern art through classes at the Newark Museum taught by John Cotton Dana and Holger Cahill. Miller joined the curatorial staff of the Newark Museum in 1926. The museum was one of the first to organize exhibitions of American folk art, American Primitives (1930-1931) and American Folk Sculpture (1931-1932). Miller worked with Cahill and others on the exhibition and developed a life-long interest in folk art.
After four years at the Newark Museum, Miller moved to New York city, hoping to get involved with the newly opened Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and, likely, to be with Holger Cahill, with whom she lived with on 8th Street prior to their marriage in 1938. Between 1930 and 1932 she took odd jobs and worked with Mrs. Henry Lang cataloging, researching and installing Lang's collection of Native American art Lang donated to the Montclair Art Museum. At the same time, Holger Cahill was serving as Acting Director of the Museum of Modern Art during an absence of Director Alfred H. Barr. In 1932, Cahill asked Miller to assist him with curating the American Painting and Sculpture, 1862-1932 exhibition at MoMA, and together they also curated the First Municipal Art Exhibition, 1934 at the Rockefeller Center.
In 1934, Barr hired Miller as his assistant and one year later appointed her as MoMA's first curator. Miller spent the next 35 years organizing many of this country's most important exhibitions of contemporary art and building personal relationships with new artists and photographers, as well as the collections of MoMA. Miller retired from MOMA in 1969 and focused more on her art consulting work begun in the late 1950s.
Dorothy Miller's most notable client was Nelson A. Rockefeller. She assisted and advised Rockefeller as he acquired a vast personal collection of modern art - some of which was later donated to MoMA. Just prior to her retirement, Miller organized a large exhibition of Rockefeller's collection. The exhibition catalog written by Miller was the basis for the book she worked on with Rockefeller up until and following his death in 1979, ultimately published as The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection: Masterpieces of Modern Art. In the preface, Rockefeller credited Miller with being one of the four people to whom he was indebted "for the understanding and endless joy I have found in the collecting of modern art in all forms."
Miller also served as the primary art consultant for projects to furnish federal spaces, including Henry Kissinger's State Department office suite, and the official Vice-Presidential residence at the Admiral's House in Washington D.C.
In 1959 Miller was invited to join the art collection committee of the Chase Manhattan Bank and served on the committee until the mid-1980s, contributing her expertise to the development of one of this country's oldest and largest corporate collections of modern and contemporary art.
Miller was also an advisor to other members of the Rockefeller family, including David Rockefeller, and assisted with developing the art collections of Rockefeller Institute/University. From 1960 through the late 1980s Miller was a member of the art committee for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANJY) and was responsible for selecting much of the artwork for the World Trade Center in the 1970s. She served on numerous boards and commissions, including the Hancock Shaker Village, the Smithsonian Institution's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Empire State Plaza in Albany, Smith College Museum of Art, and the Museum of American Folk Art. She also became a member of the Mark Rothko Foundation Board of Directors after the litigation following Rothko's death between Rothko's executors and his daughter.
In the mid-1970s Miller assisted the Whitney Museum of American with planning an exhibition and supporting catalog of the work of folk artist Edward Hicks. Although the exhibition and catalog were only partially realized in 1980, Miller and Eleanore Price Mather compiled and published a book on Hicks, Edward Hicks: His Peaceable Kingdoms and Other Paintings, published in 1983.
In 1982-1983 Miller received the Art Dealers Association Special Award, an honorary degree from Williams College, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture governor's award. In 1984 she was named honorary trustee of the Museum of Modern Art. In 1985 the Smith College Museum of Art honored her important contributions to museum connoisseurship with the exhibition Dorothy C. Miller: With An Eye to American Art.
Dorothy Miller died in 2003 at the age of 99 at her home in Greenwich, New York.
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art holds two oral history interviews with Dorothy C. Miller. The first was conducted by Paul Cummings between May 26, 1970 and September 28, 1971, and details Miller's life from childhood up to, and including, her years at the Museum of Modern Art. The second was conducted by Avis Berman on May 14, 1981 and covers Miller's relationships with Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still. Also found among the holdings of the Archives are the papers of Holger Cahill, Dorothy Miller's husband and colleague.
The Museum of Modern Art Achives holds Dorothy Miller's papers related to her curatorial work at the museum.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Dorothy C. Miller via Wendy Jeffers between 1986 and 1997, and Reid White, Executor of Miller's estate, in 2004. Two subsequent additions were donated by Wendy Jeffers in 2014 and 2015.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
