Search Results

Creator:

Smithsonian Magazine  Search this

Type:

Blog posts

Smithsonian staff publications

Interviews

Blog posts

Published Date:

Mon, 05 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Topic:

Custom RSS  Search this

See more posts:

Smithsonian Article Database

Data Source:

Smithsonian Magazine

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:posts_7f73f9e5857e94b32866f43f764b5569

Collection Creator:

Herrmann, Emil, 1888-1968  Search this

Francais, Jacques, 1923-2004  Search this

Container:

Box 96, Folder 7

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1945-06-03

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Researchers must use gloves when viewing this collection.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Collection Citation:

The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Archive, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Preservation and processing of this collection was made possible by generous support from The Herbert and Evelyn Axelrod Endowment, The Friends of Music at the Smithsonian, and Beatrice Français, widow of Jacques Français.

See more items in:

Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records

Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records / Series 4: Sale Books, Receipts and Office Files, Programs

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0872-ref1287

Creator:

Macbeth Gallery  Search this

Names:

Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943  Search this

Homer, Winslow, 1836-1910  Search this

Macbeth, Robert W. (Robert Walker), 1884-1940  Search this

Macbeth, William, 1851-1917  Search this

McIntyre, Robert G. (Robert George), b. 1885  Search this

Stuart, Gilbert, 1755-1828  Search this

Weir, Robert Walter, 1803-1889  Search this

Extent:

131.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Daguerreotypes

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Date:

1947-1948

1838-1968

bulk 1892-1953

Summary:

The Macbeth Gallery records provide almost complete coverage of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1892 to its closing in 1953. Through extensive correspondence files, financial and inventory records, printed material, scrapbooks, reference and research material, and photographs of artists and works of art, the records document all aspects of the gallery's activities, charting William Macbeth's initial intention to lease his store "for the permanent exhibition and sale of American pictures" through over sixty years of success as a major New York firm devoted to American art. The collection measures 131.6 linear feet and dates from 1838 to 1968 with the bulk of the material dating from 1892 to 1953.

Scope and Content Note:

The Macbeth Gallery records provide almost complete coverage of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1892 to its closing in 1953. The records document all aspects of the gallery's activities, charting William Macbeth's initial intention to lease his store "for the permanent exhibition and sale of American pictures" through over sixty years of success as a major New York firm devoted to American art. The collection measures 131.6 linear feet and dates from 1838 to 1968 with the bulk of the material dating from 1892 to 1953.

The gallery's correspondence files form the core of the collection and illuminate most aspects of American art history: the creation and sale of works of art, the development of reputations, the rise of museums and art societies, change and resistance to change in the art market, and the evolution of taste. Ninety-five feet of correspondence house substantial and informative letters from dozens of important American painters and sculptors, including older artists and younger contemporaries of the gallery in its later years. There are also letters from collectors, curators, other galleries, and critics.

The financial files found in the collection offer insight into the changing economic climate in which the gallery operated. They include information ranging from the details of individual sales and the market for individual artists, to consignment activities and artist commissions, to overviews of annual sales. This information is augmented by the firm's inventory records and the photographs of artwork with their accompanying records of paintings sold. The inventory records provide details of all works of art handled by the gallery, both sold and unsold, and the buyers who purchased them; the photographs of artwork include images of artwork sold with accompanying sales information.

The highlight of the gallery's printed material is the publication Art Notes. Although published only until 1930, Art Notes provides an excellent and detailed view of the gallery's exhibition schedule and the relationship of the gallery owners with many of the artists whose work they handled. It was a house organ that also provided a running commentary on events in the art world. The gallery's 19 fragile scrapbooks, maintained throughout the firm's history, provide further coverage of activities through exhibition catalogs and related news clippings. Printed material from other sources provides a frame of reference for activities in the art world from the mid-19th to the mid-20th-centuries and includes an almost complete run of the rare and important pre-Civil War art publication The Crayon.

Reference files record the interest which the gallery owners took in the work of early portrait painters and in later artists such as George Inness and Winslow Homer. Together with the immense volume of correspondence with buyers and sellers of paintings by the great portraitists and the Hudson River School found in the gallery's correspondence files, these records are still useful sources of information today and underscore the deep interest that the Macbeths and Robert McIntyre took in 18th and 19th-century American art.

The photographs of artists found here are a treasure trove of images of some of the major figures of the 19th and 20th-centuries. There are photographs of artists such as Chester Beach, Emil Carlsen, Charles Melville Dewey, Frederick Carl Frieseke, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, George Inness, Maurice Prendergast, and Julian Alden Weir, many of them original prints and the majority of them autographed.

With the exception of the "The Eight" and a few of their contemporaries, an important aspect of art history, the modernist movement, is generally represented in the Macbeth Gallery records only in a negative form as the three successive proprietors of the gallery showed very little interest in this area. Nevertheless, the collection is a highly significant source of information on many of the major and minor figures in American art in the period after 1890.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into eight series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1838-1968 (Box 1-95, 163-164, OV 165; 96.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Financial and Shipping Records, 1892-1956 (Box 96-110; 11.8 linear feet)

Series 3: Inventory Records, 1892-circa 1957 (Box 111-113; 3.0 linear feet)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1838-1963 (Box 114-119, 162; 5.0 linear feet)

Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1892-1952 (Box 120-130; 3.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Reference Files, 1839-1959 (Box 131-132; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 7: Miscellaneous Files, 1912-1956 (Box 133-134; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1880-circa 1968 (Box 135-161; 12.1 linear feet)

Historical Note:

The Macbeth Gallery was established in 1892 by William Macbeth, a Scotch-Irish immigrant who had spent ten years with the print dealer Frederick Keppel before he opened his doors to the art-buying public at 237 Fifth Avenue in New York. Despite the prevailing interest in foreign art at that time, particularly in that of the Barbizon and Dutch schools, Macbeth was determined to dedicate his gallery to "the permanent exhibition and sale of American pictures, both in oil and water colors."

Although some of the gallery's earliest exhibitions were of work by European artists, the business soon became the only gallery in continuous operation that kept American art permanently on display. In the January 1917 issue of Art Notes, Macbeth recounts those early days remembering that "The opening of my gallery......was a rash venture under the existing conditions, and disaster was freely predicted." Nevertheless, he struggled through the financial crisis of 1893 and persisted with his devotion to American art; slowly the market for his pictures grew more amenable.

Macbeth moved to more spacious quarters at 450 Fifth Avenue in 1906 and two years later undertook what was to become the major event in the gallery's early history: the 1908 exhibition of "The Eight," featuring work by Arthur B. Davies, Willam J. Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, Everett Shinn, and John Sloan. "The Eight" were an unlikely combination of social realists, visionaries and impressionists eager to challenge the dominating influence of the National Academy. The exhibition received an immense amount of publicity and instantly entered into art history as a successful assault on tradition.

Despite the splash that the exhibition made and its implications for the future of American art, nothing that the gallery did subsequently indicated that Macbeth intended to capitalize on its significance. It is true that Macbeth supported many artists later considered leaders in American art when the public would pay no attention to them because of their modernist tendencies; Arthur B. Davies, Paul Dougherty, Maurice Prendergast, Theodore Robinson, and F. Ballard Williams all held their first exhibitions at his gallery. Nevertheless, neither Macbeth nor the gallery's two successive proprietors, Robert G. McIntyre (William's nephew) and Robert Macbeth (William's son), who joined the gallery in 1903 and 1906 respectively, ever developed a true interest in modern art. The November 1930 issue of Art Notes summarizes their collective disdain for modernism, stating: "We believe that, by and large, modern art is amusing. We are heretical enough to believe that much of it was started for the amusement of its creators and that no one was more surprised than they when it was taken seriously by a certain audience to whom the bizarre and the unintelligible always makes an appeal." So while the Macbeths and McIntyre cetainly championed American artists and insisted they deserved as much recognition as the Europeans, their deepest and most abiding interest was undoubtedly the established artists of the 18th and 19th-centuries and those of the early 20th-century who continued in a more conservative style. Artists such as Emil Carlsen, Charles Harold Davis, Frederick C. Frieseke, Robert Henri, Winslow Homer, Chauncey F. Ryder, Abbot Handerson Thayer, J. Francis Murphy, A. H. Wyant were the gallery's bread and butter.

When William Macbeth died in 1917 Robert Macbeth took up the reins with the assistance of Robert G. McIntyre . Although they incorporated the business as William Macbeth, Inc., in 1918 the gallery continued to be known, as it always would be, simply as Macbeth Gallery. Macbeth and McIntyre continued to show work in the same vein as the elder Macbeth. They concentrated primarily on oil paintings at this time, having found by the 1920s that "oils are all that our gallery owners will buy," though they also exhibited an occasional group of watercolors and pastels in addition to bronzes and other sculpture by contemporary American artists such as Chester Beach and Janet Scudder.

Of the early American painters the Macbeths and McIntyre were particularly interested in colonial portraits and miniatures, especially those painted by prominent artists in the latter part of the eighteenth century such as John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully and John Trumbull. In its early years the gallery also handled the work of a few prominent American etchers including Frank W. Benson, Emil Fuchs, Daniel Garber, Childe Hassam and Chauncey F. Ryder. The print department was generally discontinued, however, in the late 1930s although the gallery continued to show prints by contemporaries such as Stow Wengenroth.

In 1924 relative prosperity allowed the gallery to move uptown to 15 East Fifty-seventh Street. When the 1930s brought new financial hardship for the gallery Macbeth and McIntyre took a variety of approaches to boosting sales. In 1930 they decided to hold only group exhibitions throughout the season to the exclusion of one-man shows, and also held some special exhibitions of paintings priced at a hundred dollars each in the hope that they could tempt those "willing to take advantage of a rare chance to secure representative examples of good art at a most attractive price." A move to smaller quarters at 15 East Fifty-seventh Street in 1935 was made with the intention of concentrating their efforts on the work of fewer contemporary artists, while continuing to handle the work of the older Americans they had long supported.

When Macbeth died suddenly and unexpectedly in August 1940 following an operation for appendicitis, McIntyre continued to run the gallery with the assistance of Hazel Lewis. During the 1940s McIntyre and Lewis showed primarily contemporary art in a wide range of media including oil, watercolor, pastel, drawing and sculpture, while continuing, as always, to show the occasional group of 19th-century Americans. The great success of the gallery's later years was undeniably Andrew Wyeth whose first exhibition, held at Macbeth Gallery in 1937, resulted in the sale of all twenty-two paintings cataloged.

Although subsequent Wyeth exhibitions were also successful, McIntyre struggled financially throughout the 1940s and periodically considered liquidating the company. Although "vitally interested" in contemporary art by people such as Robert Brackman, Jay Connaway, Carl Gaertner, James Lechay, Herbert Meyer and Ogden M. Pleissner he found that, for the most part, it did not pay. McIntyre continued operations until 1953 when he decided that doing so for profit was not only a financial burden but also ran contrary to his desire to spend more time devoted to his first love, early American art. When the lease expired on 11 East Fifty-seventh Street in April 1953 McIntyre did not renew it. After closing the gallery's doors he sold art from his New York apartment and from his home in Dorset, Vermont. He officially dissolved William Macbeth, Inc., in 1957.

The history of the Macbeth Gallery is a long and distinguished one with each successive proprietor making a significant contribution to art in America. William Macbeth helped establish an audience and a market for American art when few were willing to give it serious consideration. Robert Macbeth continued to cement the gallery's reputation as one of the leading firms in New York and was instrumental in organizing the American Art Dealers Association. Robert G. McIntyre claimed in a letter to Lloyd Goodrich, dated 22 June 1945, that the thing of which he was most proud was "the share I have had in the formation of the collection of the Addison Gallery of American Art, at Andover, Massacusetts." McIntyre was widely respected in the art community as a dealer, as an adviser to curators, and as a scholar whose research and book on Martin Johnson Heade helped "rediscover" an important American artist. One of his most significant and lasting contributions to the history of art in America, however, was undoubtedly his gift of the gallery's historical records to the Archives of American Art.

Related Material:

Among the holdings of the Archives of American are a small collection of scattered Robert McIntyre's papers and 9 items of William Macbeth's papers. Macbeth Gallery exhibition catalogs are also available in the American Art Exhibition Catalog collection and the Brooklyn Museum Records, both loaned and microfilmed collections.

An extensive collection of Macbeth Gallery exhibition catalogs are also held by the Frick Art Reference Library and the Watson Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Provenance:

The bulk of the Macbeth Gallery records were donated and microfilmed in several installments between 1955 and 1966 by Robert G. McIntyre and Estate. Additional Macbeth Gallery printed material was donated by Phoebe C. and William Macbeth II, grandchildren of William Macbeth, in 1974.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Fragile original scrapbooks are closed to researchers.

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.

Topic:

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

Eight (Group of American artists)  Search this

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

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

Artists -- United States  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art, American  Search this

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

Genre/Form:

Daguerreotypes

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Macbeth Gallery records, 1838-1968, bulk 1892 to 1953. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Grant Program. Digitization of the scrapbooks was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee. Correspondence, financial and shipping records, inventory records, and printed material were digitized with funding provided by the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.macbgall

See more items in:

Macbeth Gallery records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-macbgall

Creator:

National Portrait Gallery  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2020-01-23T14:00:09.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Portraits  Search this

See more by:

NatlPortraitGallery

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

YouTube Channel:

NatlPortraitGallery

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_xlmkSiUDooA

Author:

Goodyear, W. H (William Henry) 1846-1923  Search this

Edinburgh Architectural Association  Search this

Brooklyn Museum  Search this

Physical description:

xvi, 152 p., [60] p. of plates (1 folded) : ill., plans ; 26 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Date:

1905

Topic:

Architecture, Medieval  Search this

Call number:

NA350 .G63Z

NA350.G63Z

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_347149

Author:

Brooklyn Museum  Search this

Schwartz, Marvin D  Search this

Subject:

Schenk, Jan Martense  Search this

Physical description:

39 p. illus., plans. 23 cm

Type:

Books

Place:

New York (State)

New York

Date:

1964

1964]

Topic:

Architecture, Domestic  Search this

Call number:

NA735.B74B7X

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_177030

Creator:

Youtz, Philip Newell, 1895-1972  Search this

Subject:

Pennsylvania Museum of Art  Search this

Brooklyn Museum  Search this

Topic:

Architecture  Search this

Curators -- United States  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)6903

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209032

AAA_collcode_youtphil

Theme:

Art Theory and Historiography

Architecture & Design

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209032

Creator:

Quidor, John, 1801-1881  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)5656

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208490

AAA_collcode_quidjohn

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208490

Creator:

Johnson, Una E., 1905-1997  Search this

Topic:

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

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8517

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210694

AAA_collcode_johnuna

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210694

Creator:

Halpert, Edith Gregor, 1900-1970  Search this

Subject:

American National Exhibition  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Topic:

Art, American -- Exhibitions  Search this

Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10709

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214311

AAA_collcode_halpedit

Theme:

The Art Market

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214311

Creator:

Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art  Search this

Names:

Art Institute of Chicago  Search this

Buffalo Fine Arts Academy  Search this

Corcoran Gallery of Art  Search this

Gallery of William Macbeth  Search this

M. Knoedler & Co.  Search this

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Alexander, John White, 1856-1915  Search this

Beatty, John W. (John Wesley), 1851-1924  Search this

Beaux, Cecilia, 1855-1942  Search this

Brush, George de Forest, 1855-1941  Search this

Chase, William Merritt, 1849-1916  Search this

Church, Samuel Harden  Search this

East, Alfred, Sir, 1849-1913  Search this

Hassam, Childe, 1859-1935  Search this

Homer, Winslow, 1836-1910  Search this

Saint-Gaudens, Homer, b. 1880  Search this

Thayer, Abbott Handerson, 1849-1921  Search this

Extent:

265.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Letterpress books

Museum records

Place:

Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939

Date:

1883-1962

bulk 1885-1962

Summary:

The records of the Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art measure 265.8 linear feet and date from 1883-1962, with the bulk of the material dating from 1885-1940. The collection includes extensive correspondence between the museum's founding director, John Beatty, and his successor, Homer Saint-Gaudens, with artists, dealers, galleries, collectors, museum directors, representatives abroad, shipping and insurance agents, and museum trustees. The collection also includes Department of Fine Arts interoffice memoranda and reports; loan exhibition files; Carnegie International planning, jury, shipping, and sale records; Department of Fine Arts letterpress copy books, and a copy of the original card catalog index to these records.

Scope and Contents:

The records of the Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art measure 265.8 linear feet and date from 1883-1962, with the bulk of the material dating from 1885-1940. The collection includes extensive correspondence between the museum's founding director, John Beatty, and his successor, Homer Saint-Gaudens, with artists, dealers, galleries, collectors, museum directors, representatives abroad, shipping and insurance agents, and museum trustees. The collection also includes Department of Fine Arts interoffice memoranda and reports; loan exhibition files; Carnegie International planning, jury, shipping, and sale records; Department of Fine Arts letterpress copy books, and a copy of the original card catalog index to these records.

This collection is a complete record of the museum's work, starting with the planning of the first loan exhibition in 1885 and ending with the cancellation of the International at the start of World War II in 1940. The museum's day-to-day relationships with all aspects of the contemporary art world are documented within the historical context of artists' reactions to World War I; the economic repercussions of the Great Depression on art sales and museum budgets; the ramifications of fascism on German, Italian, and European art; the impact of civil war on Spanish art; and the tensions introduced by the rise of 'radical' modernist art in Europe.

Correspondence (Series 1) is the largest series in the collection (152.5 linear feet) and is comprised of extensive correspondence between the Museum of Art and over 8700 correspondents, with over 3600 correspondents specifically related to art and artists.

Correspondents related to the art world include museum staff, artists, collectors, museums, galleries, dealers, shippers, insurance agencies, art directors, associations, societies, clubs, critics, press, and governments. These exchanges include general requests for information; requests related to the museum's exhibitions, including the International; letters regarding the museum's involvement in the events of other art organizations; loan, sales, and provenance information for specific works of art; and information regarding the events of other art organizations.

The correspondence of the museum's staff provides the greatest insight into understanding the museum's evolution into an international cultural institution. Both directors' correspondence touch on their personal opinions on art, their rationale behind policy decisions, and their understanding of the extent to which the museum's work was dependent on the good relations they maintained in the art world. Additionally, the extensive, opinionated correspondence between Saint-Gaudens' European agents and museum staff during the 1920s and 1930s provide a unique perspective on emerging art trends and the skill, growth, and personalities of individual artists.

The most prolific of the museum staff correspondents include museum directors John Beatty and Homer Saint-Gaudens, Board of Trustees president Samuel Harden Church, assistant director Edward Balken, and European agents Guillaume Lerolle , Ilario Neri, Arnold Palmer, Margaret Palmer, and Charlotte Weidler. Additional prominent staff members include Helen Beatty, Robert Harshe, Caroline Lapsley, Henry Jack Nash, John O'Connor, Charles Ramsey, George Shaw, George Sheers, August Zeller, and Fine Arts Committee members John Caldwell, William Frew, William Hyett, and John Porter.

The most prolific artist correspondents include John White Alexander, George Grey Barnard, Cecilia Beaux, Frank Benson, George de Forest Brush, William Merritt Chase, William Coffin, Bruce Crane, Andre Dauchez, Charles H. Davis, Alfred East, Ben Foster, Daniel Garber, Charles P. Gruppe, John Johansen, Johanna Hailman, John McLure Hamilton, Birge Harrison, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Laura Knight, John la Farge, Gaston la Touche, John Lavery, Henri le Sidaner, Jonas Lie, Hermon A. MacNeil, Antonio Mancini, Gari Melchers, Emile Menard, Henry R. Poore, Edward Redfield, W. Elmer Schofield, Leopold Seyffert, Lucien Simon, Eugene Speicher, Abbott Handerson Thayer, Robert Vonnoh, J. Alden Weir, Irving R. Wiles, and Ignacio Zuloaga. Other artists of note include: Edwin Austen Abbey, George Bellows, Edwin Blashfield, Frank Brangwyn, Mary Cassatt, Kenyon Cox, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Thomas Eakins, William Glackens, Robert Henri, Eastman Johnson, Rockwell Kent, Paul Manship, Henry Ranger, John Singer Sargent, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Edmund Tarbell, James McNeil Whistler, N.C. Wyeth, and Charles Morris Young.

Frequent museum collaborators include the Art Institute of Chicago, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Brooklyn Museum, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Cleveland Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Detroit Institute of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Saint Louis Museum of Fine Arts, Toledo Museum of Art, and Worcester Art Museum.

Other prolific correspondents include collectors Chauncey Blair, Andrew Carnegie, Charles Lang Freer, George Hearn, Alexander Humphreys, Roy Hunt, Mrs. B.F. Jones, Burton Mansfield, Frank Nicola, Duncan Phillips, John Stevenson, and William Stimmel; dealers and galleries M. Knoedler, William Macbeth, Central Art Gallery, Charles A. Walker, C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, Downtown Gallery, Durand-Ruel and Sons, Ehrich Galleries, Ferargil Galleries, Frank Rehn, Frederick Keppel, Haseltine Art Gallery, R.C. Vose Galleries, and W. Scott Thurber Fine Arts; insurance agent Macomber Co.; and shippers Dicksee and Co., J.W. Hampton, P. Navel/R. Lerondelle, Stedman and Wilder, and W.S. Budworth and Son.

Correspondents not specifically related to the contemporary art world include businesses, educational institutions, libraries, and the general public. These exchanges detail the daily work of the museum, including the estimates and work orders of office suppliers, contractors, printers, and etc.; programming and research inquiries of k-12 and college/university institutions; acknowledgements of the receipt of Museum of Art publications; and general public inquiries regarding museum policies, exhibitions, and the permanent collection. Companies and institutions who worked particularly closely with the museum include Alden and Harlow (architects), Detroit Publishing Co., and Tiffany and Co.

Department of Fine Arts (Series 2) consists of art and artist lists, correspondence, memoranda, notes, and reports. These files were begun under John Beatty's tenure and streamlined under Homer Saint-Gaudens' directorship to track activities directly related to the museum's interoffice affairs. File headings continued under Saint-Gaudens focus on art considered and purchased for the permanent collection, employee records, exhibition proposals and loans, Fine Arts Committee minutes, museum programming, museum publications, press releases, requests for images, and requests for general information.

Under Saint-Gaudens, the Fine Arts Committee files contain voluminous impressions of contemporary European artists, which he composed during his annual studio tours of the continent in the early 1920s and late 1930s. These informal reports provide insight into the shaping of the International and include a running commentary on historical events of the time. The Fine Arts Committee files also document the artistic and budgetary compromises that were struck, particularly during the Great Depression and early run-up to World War II.

Exhibitions (Series 3) includes correspondence with collectors, museums, galleries, dealers, shippers, and many of the artists themselves. Additional documents include catalogs, lists, planning notes, and telegrams related to 185 traveling and loan exhibitions held at the Museum of Art from 1901 to 1940. Of these, over 100 are one-artist shows and 82 are group, survey, regional, or topical shows. The one-artist exhibitions tend to showcase contemporary artists of the time. Regional shows focused on American and European art, with two shows featuring the art of Canada and Mexico. Survey themes focused on animals, children, cities, gardens, landscapes, Old Masters, and portraitures. Many of the genre shows venture into art not typically collected by the Museum of Art, including architecture, crafts, engravings, figure studies, graphic arts, illustrations, miniatures, mural decorations, oriental rugs, prints, printed books, sculpture, small reliefs, stained glass, theater models, watercolors, and wood engravings.

The most important shows organized and curated by Museum of Art staff include the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915), American Sculpture Show (1915, 1920), Applied Arts Show (1917), Original Illustrations Show (1921), Mexican Art Show (1929), Garden Club Show (1922), Industrial Art Show (1924), Pittsburgh Artists Show (1935), French Survey Show (1936), English Painting Survey Show (1937), American Paintings, Royal Academy Show (1938), and Survey of American Painting Show (1940).

Important one-artist shows include Abbot Handerson Thayer (1919), George de Forest Brush (1922), Frank W. Benson (1923), Rockwell Kent (1923, 1939), Anders Zorn (1924), John Lavery (1925), Paul Manship (1925), Mary Cassatt (1925), Laura Knight (1925), Edouard Manet (1932), Edward Hopper (1936), Winslow Homer (1922, 1936), Paul Cezanne (1936), Charles Burchfield (1937), and William Glackens (1938).

International (Series 4) is comprised of catalogs, correspondence, art and artist lists, itineraries, jury selection ballots, minutes, notes, and reports related to the planning, logistics, and promotion of the International Exhibition from 1895 to 1940. These documents were originally grouped and filed separately under John Beatty and were more rigorously streamlined under Homer Saint-Gaudens. The folder headings continued under Saint-Gaudens focus on art purchases, artists' invitations, artists' request for information, general exhibition planning, Foreign Advisory Committees, foreign governments, jury reception planning, loan requests, and touring logistics.

Letterpress books (Series 5) consist of 75 volumes that chronologically collect all of the Museum of Art's outgoing correspondence from 1896 to 1917. Volumes 1-8 contain the only copy of outgoing correspondence from 1896 to 1900. Duplicate copies of all outgoing correspondence dating from 1901 to 1917 were filed in Correspondence (Series 1) by museum staff.

Card catalogs (Series 6) also include three sets of catalogs created by the Museum of Art to track the outgoing and incoming correspondence contained in this collection. Set 1 (1895-1906) consists of the original cards. Set 2 (1907-1917) and Set 3 (1918-1940) consists of photocopies of the original cards that were merged together into one contiguous set.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into six series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1883-1962, (Boxes 1-153, OV 267; 152.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Department of Fine Arts, 1896-1940, (Boxes 153-184, OV 268; 31.6 linear feet)

Series 3: Exhibitions, 1901-1940, (Boxes 184-204; 20 linear feet)

Series 4: International, 1895-1940, (Boxes 204-234, 265-266; 30.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Letterpress Books, 1900-1917, (Boxes 235-251; 17 linear feet)

Series 6: Card Catalogs, 1895-1940, (Box 252-264; 11 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

The Carnegie Institute Museum of Art was established in 1895 by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. One of the first modern contemporary art museums in the United States, its flagship exhibition, the Carnegie International, is recognized as the longest running contemporary exhibition of international art in North America and is the second oldest in the world.

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was born in Dumfermline, Scotland and migrated to America with his family in 1848. Often regarded as the second-richest man in history behind John D. Rockerfeller, Carnegie built his industrialist fortunes in the steel industry and spent the remainder of his life in support of major philanthropic projects. By the age of 33, he had developed his personal philosophy of philanthropy, which saw it as the responsibility of the wealthy to foster educational opportunities and disseminate the ideals of high culture among all levels of society. In addition to establishing over 2500 free public libraries, in 1895, he provided the funds to build the Carnegie Institute, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Carnegie Institute originally maintained three separate departments under the auspices of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the Carnegie Museum of Art.

The Carnegie Institute was administered by a Board of Trustees selected by Carnegie, all prominent professional men of Pittsburgh. Within this group, eight men were selected to serve on the Museum of Art's Fine Arts Committee, which was initially granted the final say on gallery affairs. The first Fine Arts Committee was composed of two artists, Alfred Bryan Wall and Joseph Ryan Woodwell, and six businessmen. Among the latter group, John Caldwell, Henry Clay Frick, William Nimick Frew, and David Thompson Watson were also knowledgeable art patrons and collectors. Over time, the Fine Arts Committee's sway over gallery affairs would be measured by the dedication of its various members and tempered by the vision and authority of the Museum's directors, John Beatty and Homer Saint-Gaudens, and the Carnegie Institute Board of Trustees president, Samuel Harden Church.

From 1896 to 1921, John Wesley Beatty (1851-1924) served as the first director of the Museum of Art. A native Pittsburgher and an accomplished silver engraver, illustrator, and painter, Beatty attended the Royal Bavarian Academy in Munich and upon his return to America, made a living as an artist. He also taught at the Pittsburgh School of Design for Women and co-founded a small school of art with fellow local artist George Hetzel. In 1890, while serving as the secretary of the Pittsburgh Art Society, he became the primary organizer of a loan exhibition to be displayed at the opening of the Carnegie Free Library in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. In 1895, when the Carnegie Institute trustees began discussing the possibility of a similar loan exhibition for the opening of their new institution, Beatty was contacted and eventually enlisted to take on the task. Upon the success of that exhibition, he was invited to direct the gallery's affairs and served as the Museum of Art's director until his retirement.

Beatty was an enthusiastic supporter of Impressionism, Realism, Tonalism, Symbolism, and the critically acclaimed contemporary art of the 1890s. He also shared Carnegie's vision for the Museum of Art and believed in the educational and uplifting role aesthetic beauty could provide to the general public. Pursuant to the stated goals of Andrew Carnegie, under Beatty's direction the museum began to purchase important contemporary works to add to its chronological collection of "Old Masters of tomorrow" and almost immediately began planning the first of its Internationals.

The Internationals were viewed as the primary means of showcasing the Museum of Art's selection of the best in contemporary American and European painting, thereby elevating its role as an influential cultural institution on a national and international level. Juried monetary prizes would be awarded to the two best works by American artists, additional awards would be offered to artists of all nationalities, and the Museum of Art's purchases for the year would be selected from the exhibition. Certain artists and collectors were tapped to serve as unofficial representatives of the Museum of Art at home and abroad, among them John White Alexander, William Coffin, I.M. Gaugengigl, Walter Shirlaw, and Edmund Tarbell. Many of the most prominent Pittsburgh art collectors were also asked to lend works to the exhibition. While details of the jury and artist selection process, number of representatives, exhibition show dates, and amount and total number of prizes would change over the years, the planning template was set and would remain the same for future Internationals.

Beatty continued to rely on a stable of close friends and confidantes to help smooth over relations with artists, dealers, shipping agents, and galleries alike, relying heavily on John White Alexander and W. Elmer Schofield, in addition to artists Thomas Shields Clarke, Walter Gay, Robert Henri, Frank D. Millet, and critic Charles M. Kurtz. Over time, many of the artists who served on International juries or Foreign Advisory Committees also became reliable friends and advocates of the International, including Edwin Austen Abbey, Edmond Aman-Jean, Edwin Howland Blashfield, William Merritt Chase, Charles Cottet, Kenyon Cox, Charles Harold Davis, Alfred East, Ben Foster, Charles Hopkinson, John la Farge, Gari Melchers, Leonard Ochtman, Irving R. Wiles, and Robert W. Vonnoh.

From 1896 to 1921, the Museum of Art held twenty-one Internationals, with the only exceptions coming in 1906 (construction of the Hall of Architecture, Hall of Sculpture, and Bruce Galleries), 1915 (deference to the San Francisco Panama-Pacific International), and 1916-1919 (World War I). During these years, the scope and administration of the International slowly expanded, though not without growing pains. At the turn of the century, new modernist styles of art that were appearing in galleries across Europe had not yet entered major American museums and the Carnegie Museum of Art maintained this trend. The museum's generally conservative selection policies, combined with criticism regarding the timing of the exhibition and the jury selection process, led to increasingly tense relations with artists, and were only partially resolved by changes made to the format of the International. In spite of these challenges, the Carnegie International retained its reputation as a preeminent venue for contemporary art and awarded top prizes to John White Alexander, Cecilia Beaux, George W. Bellows, Frank W. Benson, Andre Dauchez, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Thomas Eakins, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, John Lavery, Henri le Sidaner, Edward W. Redfield, W. Elmer Schofield, Edmund C. Tarbell, Abbot Handerson Thayer, Dwight W. Tryon, and J. Alden Weir.

In addition to the International, Carnegie's mission of bringing cultural and educational opportunities to Pittsburgh was a central priority of the museum's daily operations. Beatty cultivated relationships with fellow museum directors, which allowed for the easy co-ordination and planning of traveling exhibitions benefiting the city. The museum developed educational programs for children and adults, including lectures, gallery talks, Saturday morning classes, fine art extension classes, guided tours, and outreach to local schools. As popular Pittsburgh art societies and clubs formed, the museum also provided meeting and exhibition spaces for groups such as the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, the Art Society of Pittsburgh, the Art Students League, the Garden Club of Allegheny County, and the Junior League.

After more than 25 years of service, Beatty made the decision to retire and put out an informal call for candidates. Being the right man at the right time, in 1921, Homer Schiff Saint-Gaudens (1880-1958) became the Museum of Art's second director.

The only child of American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his wife and artist, Augusta Fisher Homer, Saint-Gaudens frequently traveled abroad and grew up in the company of his parents' wide circle of friends, many of them artists, poets, writers, and performers who frequented the Cornish Artists' Colony. More intimate friends of the family included former students, assistants, and colleagues, the architect Stanford White, and successful artist-couples who resided near the family's Cornish, New Hampshire home, among them Louise and Kenyon Cox, Maria and Thomas Dewing, Florence and Everett Shinn, and Emma and Abbott Thayer.

Homer Saint-Gaudens attended the preparatory school Lawrenceville, graduated from Harvard in 1903, married the artist and suffragist Carlota Dolley (1884-1927) in 1905, and remarried to Mary Louise McBride (n.d.-1974) in 1929. He began his professional career as a journalist and worked as assistant editor of The Critic (1903) and managing editor of Metropolitan Magazine (1905). During those years, he was introduced to a number of the Ash Can school artists, wrote articles on contemporary art, and honed his abilities as a writer. In 1907, Saint-Gaudens took a break from professional editing and began a second career as the stage manager for Maude Adams, the most highly paid and successful stage actress of her day, with a yearly income of over one million dollars at the peak of her popularity. Working in theater and as Adams' manager for over ten years, Saint-Gaudens learned the ins and outs of event promotion and logistics, media coverage, and maintaining diplomatic relations through compromise, ideal skills he would later use in organizing the Carnegie Internationals.

With the United States' entry into World War I, Saint-Gaudens served as the chief of the U.S. Army's first camouflage unit and was awarded the Bronze Star. After his discharge, he managed Adams' 1918 final season and simultaneously helped his mother organize a major retrospective of his father's sculptures. While organizing a section of his father's work for the 1921 International, he was invited to step into the position of assistant director of the Carnegie Museum of Art, and was promoted to the directorship upon John Beatty's retirement.

Throughout his tenure, Saint-Gaudens was able to call upon long-standing family friendships with artists and art patrons to the museum's benefit. His connections to the art world can clearly be seen in his first major stand-alone exhibition, the Garden Club Show (1922). In this, he enlisted the aid of Elizabeth Alexander, wife of John White Alexander, and Johanna Hailman, artist and wife of John Hailman, who reached out to their circle of artists and art collecting friends in search of works appropriate for the show. Their efforts, combined with the relationships Beatty had established with museum directors, galleries, and dealers, as well as Saint-Gaudens' own friendships with Kenyon Cox, Thomas Dewing, Barry Faulkner, and Gari Melchers, resulted in an assemblage of 150 paintings of note. Coming immediately upon the heels of the 1922 International, the show was a resounding success. The exhibition's opening attracted over 300 delegates of the Garden Club of America and the entirety of Pittsburgh high society, settling any concerns regarding his leadership abilities.

As director of the Museum of Art, Saint-Gaudens instituted measures intended to streamline the Internationals and improve diplomatic relations with artists. Though the basic format of the juried exhibition remained the same, his solutions to the complaints many artists raised with the artist invitation, art selection, and jury systems reformed the International's reputation at a critical time. Though he was naturally inclined to appreciate the art and artists he had grown up with, Saint-Gaudens understood the immediate necessity of introducing modernist contemporary art into the museum's exhibitions and galleries. He circumvented the conservative Fine Arts Committee's resistance to the accolades of European modernists by choosing the tamest of the new 'radical' works. Eventually, he balanced the Internationals with a mix of conservative, moderate, and advanced works that appealed to a large range of audiences and increased the status and diversity of the Internationals.

To aid in his reformation of the International, Saint-Gaudens formalized a team of European agents who worked year round to scout artists' studios, recommend suitable art and artists, navigate local politics, arrange local transportation and logistics, and maintain cordial relations with artists abroad. In the spring, Saint-Gaudens would travel to Europe to meet with his agents in person, tour the most promising studios, and meet with artists personally. His team was headed by Guillaume Lerolle, who shared Saint-Gaudens' distinction of being the son of a well regarded national artist, Henry Lerolle. Like Saint-Gaudens, Lerolle was able and willing to call upon longstanding family friendships and networks on behalf of the Museum of Art. The other core members of the team were Ilario Neri (Italy), Arnold Palmer (England), Margaret Palmer (Spain), and Charlotte Weidler (Germany).

From 1922 to 1940, the Museum of Art held seventeen Internationals, with the exceptions coming in 1932 (Great Depression) and 1940 (World War II). After a brief period of change, growth, and experimentation in the early 1920s, the museum eventually settled on a routine of planning the Internationals, arranging for traveling exhibitions, and expanding upon the most popular of their educational programs. In addition to those programs put into place under Beatty's tenure, Saint-Gaudens paved the way for a revamped lecture series featuring visiting critics and traveled as a visiting lecturer himself.

During the 1930s, financial difficulties and increasing political tensions in Europe presented ample challenges to the diplomatic skills of Saint-Gaudens and his agents, and they found themselves increasingly forced to navigate through political minefields presented by the fascist ideologies of Germany and Italy, the chaos of the Spanish civil war, and the eventual outbreak of World War II in Europe. In spite of these challenges, under Saint-Gaudens' direction, the museum remained true to Andrew Carnegie's vision. The International was expanded to accept on average over sixty additional works of art, and at its peak, included art from twenty-one countries. Beginning in 1927, top prizes and recognition were awarded to Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Andre Derain, Raoul Dufy, Karl Hofer, Rockwell Kent, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Edouard Vuillard.

Works by Arthur B. Davies, Charles Hawthorne, Edward Hopper, Augustus John, Oskar Kokoschka, Leon Kroll, Ernest Lawson, and William Orpen were added to the museum's permanent collection. And, as under Beatty's tenure, many of the artists selected to serve on the Jury of Award became advocates and friends of the museum, including Emil Carlsen, Anto Carte, Bruce Crane, Charles C. Curran, Daniel Garber, Charles Hopkinson, Laura Knight, Jonas Lie, Julius Olsson, Leopold Seyffert, Lucien Simon, Eugene Speicher, Maurice Sterne, Gardner Symons, Horatio Walker, and Charles H. Woodbury.

The monumental task of establishing the Carnegie Institute Museum of Art and the Carnegie International has left an archival record that is unique and unparalleled in documenting its relations with every aspect of the contemporary art world from the turn of the century through the first forty years of the twentieth century.

Provenance:

The Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art records were loaned for microfilming in 1966 and later donated to the Archives of American Art in 1972. A small addition of corrrespondence was donated in 2017 by Elizabeth Tufts Brown.

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.

Topic:

Art -- Economic aspects  Search this

World War, 1914-1918  Search this

Art museums -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh  Search this

Depressions -- 1929  Search this

Art, Modern -- Exhibitions  Search this

Fascism  Search this

World War, 1939-1945  Search this

Museum directors  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Letterpress books

Museum records

Citation:

Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art records, 1883-1962, bulk 1885-1940. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.carninst

See more items in:

Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-carninst

Advertiser:

Procter & Gamble Company  Search this

Artist:

Postgate, Margaret J.  Search this

Author:

Postgate, Margaret J.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Procter & Gamble Company  Search this

Leyendecker, J. C., 1874-1951  Search this

Smith, Jessie Willcox, 1863-1935  Search this

Elliott, Elizabeth Shippen Green  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (b&w, 20.5 x 15 cm.)

Container:

Box 4, Folder 14 (1926)

Type:

Archival materials

Print advertising

Place:

Japan

Date:

1926

Scope and Contents:

Text includes: Ivory Soap Sculpture / A monkey mask from Japan. Copied from a real Japanese mask in the Brooklyn Museum. Lesson No. 18 by Margaret Postgate. Advertisement disguised as a magazine article.

Local Numbers:

Ivorydata4 548

0207910538 (Scan No.)

General:

Published July 1926

Restrictions:

Unrestricted research use on site by appointment. Reproduction restrictions due to copyright.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Soap sculpture  Search this

Monkeys  Search this

Children -- Targeted advertising  Search this

Genre/Form:

Print advertising

Collection Citation:

Ivory Soap Collection, 1883-1998, undated; Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Procter & Gamble.

See more items in:

Ivory Soap Advertising Collection

Ivory Soap Advertising Collection / Series 1: Ivory Soap Products Advertisements / Advertisements

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0791-ref2102

Interviewee:

Roberts, Laurance P.  Search this

Interviewer:

Brown, Robert F.  Search this

Names:

American Academy in Rome  Search this

Brooklyn Museum  Search this

New York State Council on the Arts  Search this

Extent:

2 Items (sound cassettes (2 hr., 22 min.))

67 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1985 July 26-29

Scope and Contents:

An interview with Laurance P. Roberts conducted 1985 July 26-29, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.

Roberts speaks of his education at Princeton University; his first employment as a cataloger working on the John G. Johnson Collection for the Philadelphia Museum of Art; studying in China in the 1930s; working as Curator of Near and Far Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum (1934-1938) and then becoming Director there (1938-1942); his years as Director of the American Academy in Rome (1946-1959); writing a report advocating the establishment of the New York State Council on the Arts and Humanities for Governor Nelson Rockefeller; writing a guide to Japanese art museums and a dictionary of Japanese artists; living in Italy.

Biographical / Historical:

Laurance P. Roberts (1907-2002) was an art historian and art administrator in New York, Rome, and Philadelphia.

General:

Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 22 min.

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.

Occupation:

Art historians -- Interviews  Search this

Topic:

Museum directors -- Interviews  Search this

Museum curators -- Interviews  Search this

Function:

Art museums -- New York (State) -- Brooklyn

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.robert85

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-robert85

Creator:

Lowenthal, Milton  Search this

Lowenthal, Edith  Search this

Names:

Brooklyn Museum  Search this

Avery, Milton, 1885-1965  Search this

Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964  Search this

De Creeft, José, 1884-1982  Search this

Gross, Chaim, 1904-1991  Search this

Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000  Search this

Miller, Henry, 1891-1980  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia , 1887-1986  Search this

Rattner, Abraham  Search this

Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965  Search this

Weber, Max, 1881-1961  Search this

Extent:

4.4 Linear feet ((on 5 microfilm reels))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Date:

1940-1989

Scope and Contents:

Biographical material; correspondence and greeting cards; writings; business records; printed material about the Lowenthal collection, exhibitions, and artists, photographs; scrapbooks; and sound recordings.

REEL 4904, frames 1-114: Thirty-nine greeting cards from artists, illustrated with original prints, drawings, and off-set reproductions. Included are 20 from Jose de Creeft and Lorrie Goulet, 8 from Abraham and Esther Rattner, 4 each from Chaim Gross and Milton and Sally Avery, 2 from Max Weber, and 1 from Jacob Lawrence.

REELS 4904 (fr. 126-end) - 4908: Biographical material includes a resume and transcripts for Edith Lowenthal, an obituary of Isadore Lowenthal, M.D., Milton's father, and clippings related to the Lowenthals. General correspondence, 1947-1991, is primarily with museums, university galleries, and publishers regarding loans and gifts of art work, contributions, lectures, travel, and permissions to reproduce for publication. In addition, there are a correspondence file, 1963-1990, with the Brooklyn Museum, regarding loans, contributions, and conservation work, and correspondence from artists, including letters, greeting cards, and announcements from Stuart Davis, Jacob Lawrence, Josef Presser, Abraham Rattner, Charles Sheeler, Max Weber, and others.

Writings and notes by Milton Lowenthal are about the role of the art collector, his thoughts on works of art and artists, and drafts of letters. Writings by others include Henry Miller's "The Rattner Portfolio" and Elizabeth McCausland's proposal for a Marsden Hartley catalog raisonne. Material relating specifically to the Lowenthal Collection includes lists, valuations, collection exhibition records, documentation of gifts, financial records, receipts, clippings, catalogs, and a 2 v. index of acquisitions. A file containing memorabilia relating to Stuart Davis includes clippings, an address book, printed materials, and notes.

Printed materials include clippings about artists, collectors, and other art related issues and exhibitions, exhibition announcements, and catalogs. Photographs are of artists and works of art. Files relating to the "Friends of the Whitney", ca. 1956-1961, include correspondence, by-laws, annual and other reports, statements, and catalogs of loan exhibitions. Scrapbooks (4 v.), 1942-1953, contain letters and greeting cards (many illustrated) from friends, artists and associates, clippings, exhibition announcements, and catalogs about artists, museums, and exhibitions.

Unmicrofilmed material consists of negatives, slides, and transparencies of works of art and 3 phonograph albums (78 r.p.m) of a radio interview with art collectors and a recording of a school performance by Stuart Davis' son.

Biographical / Historical:

Art collectors, benefactors of the Brooklyn Museum; New York, N.Y. Mr. Lowenthal was a lawyer whose clients included Stuart Davis.

Provenance:

Donated 1993 by Louis M. Bernstein, Mrs. Lowenthal's nephew, except for illustrated greeting cards on reel 4904, frames 1-114, which were received as a loan for microfilming.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Greeting cards  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Identifier:

AAA.lowemilt

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lowemilt

Creator:

Rosenblum, Walter, 1919-2006  Search this

Extent:

38.7 Linear feet ((7,396 negatives, with black-and-white study prints))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

ca. 1945-1976

Summary:

The Walter Rosenblum Collection is comprised of 7,396 silver gelatin negatives taken by noted photographer Walter Rosenblum (1919-2006) for New York art galleries, collectors and artists between 1945 and 1976. The collection reflects the art of his time and is particularly strong in American and European avant-garde, surreal and abstract works.

Scope and Contents:

It was while pursuing his career as a photographer and teacher that Walter Rosenblum supplemented his income by doing freelance work for major artists and galleries, and collectors in the New York City area between 1945 and 1970. In 1976, Rosenblum gave these photographic negatives documenting art works to the Smithsonian.

The collection measures 38.7 linear feet. It is comprised of 7,396 silver gelatin 4x5 negatives. Duplicate 8 x 10 archival study prints were made from the negatives for preservation purposes.

The photographs document American and European art, primarily from the late 19th and 20th centuries. Galleries, dealers and collectors represented include: ACA Galleries, Armand G. Erpf, Contemporaries, Davis Gallery, E. V. Thaw & Co., Grace Borgenicht Gallery, Inc., Graham Gallery, Dorsky Galleries, New Gallery, Norbert Schimmel, Nordness Gallery, Osborne Gallery, Peter Deitsch Gallery, Pierre Matisse Gallery, Robert Elkon Gallery, Roko Gallery, Rose Fried Gallery, Schaeffer Gallery, and Samuel Josefowitz.

Among the American artists whose works are represented are: Samuel M. Adler, Milton Avery, Ernest Barlach, Leonard Baskin, Dorothy Block, Zevi Blum, Elaine and William De Kooning, Burgoyne Diller, Camilo Egas, Philip Evergood, Lyonel Feininger, Arshile Gorky, Harry Gottlieb, William Gropper, Chaim Gross, Marsden Hartley, Milton Hebald, Carl Holty, Doris Klein, David Levine, Alfred Maurer, C. Robert Perrin, Jackson Pollock, Herman Rose, Mark Rothko, Alfred Russell, JoAnne Schneider, Sarai Sherman, Aaron Shikler, Burton Silverman, Joseph Solmon, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, Peter Takal, and Charles Albert White. There is one box of photographic portraits of artists.

The Collection also documents many European artists whose works were being shown in New York. Among them: Balthus, Gustave Courbet, Edgar Degas, Eugene Delacroix, Jean Dubuffet, Albert Giacometti, George Groz, Vassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Fernand Leger, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Piet Mondrian, Jules Pascin, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissaro, Odilon Redon, Yves Tanguy, Jacques Villon and Edouard Vuillard.

Arrangement:

The collection has been arrranged into three series:

Series 1: Photographs of artist's works (25.75 linear feet.) (53 binders)

Series 2: Photographic portraits (.9 linear feet) (2 binders)

Series 3: Gallery installation views (.4 linear feet) (1 binder)

Biographical / Historical:

Walter A. Rosenblum (1919-2006) was a documentary and art photographer whose works are represented in more than forty collections worldwide, including the Center for Creative Photography, International Center for Photography, J. Paul Getty Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.

His involvement with photography began in his teenage years, when he joined the newly founded Photo League in New York City, where he met Lewis Hine and studied with Sid Grossman, Eliot Elisofon and Paul Strand. He remained active in the Photo League as chair of the exhibition committee, as editor of its journal Photo Notes, and served as president of the League from 1941 to 1948.

In the 1940s, as a professional photographer, he worked on staff for the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and during World War II, served as a highly decorated combat photographer. After the war, he was appointed by the Unitarian Service Committee to cover the extensive relief work in Europe, and later, the Mexican migrant workers in Texas.

Upon return to the United States, he also began a forty year career in teaching at Brooklyn College (1947 through 1986), where he was instrumental in developing a Master of Fine Arts program in photography, one of the first to be offered in this country. He also taught at Yale Summer School of Music and Art in New Haven, Connecticut (between 1952 and 1978) and was an adjunct instructor at the Cooper Union school in New York City (from 1956-1965).

Rosenblum was a member of the board of directors of the Photographers' Forum and a founding member of the Society for Photographical Education. In 1998, Walter and his wife Naomi were awarded the Infinity Award for Lifetime Achievement at the International Center for Photography. "In Search of Pitt Street," an award-winning film about Rosenblum's life and work was produced by Daedalus Productions, Inc. in 2000.

Provenance:

The collection was originally created by Walter Rosenblum. In June 1976, he gave the collection to the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Later that year, with the permission of the photographer, the collection was transferred to the Photograph Archives of the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum).

Restrictions:

Researcher may use study prints on file in the Photograph Archives, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Advance appointments are required. Original negatives are stored off-site in cold storage and are not accessible to the public.

Rights:

Copyright to photographs from the Walter Rosenblum Collection is held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Requests for permission to reproduce photographs from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Photograph Archives. Certain works of art, as well as photographs of those works of art, may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy or publicity rights, or other interests not owned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It is the applicant's responsibility to ascertain whether any such rights exist, and to obtain any other permission necessary to reproduce and publish the image.

Topic:

Artists -- United States -- Portraits -- Photographs  Search this

Sculpture, American  Search this

Art, European -- Photographs  Search this

Painting, American  Search this

Art, American -- Photographs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

Walter Rosenblum Collection, Photograph Archives, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Sponsor:

Funding for the re-housing, preservation, and digitization of the collection was provided by Smithsonian Research Resource funds, the Smithsonian Womens' Committee and the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

SAAM.Photo.ROS

See more items in:

Walter Rosenblum photographs

Archival Repository:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Research and Scholars Center

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-saam-photo-ros

Creator:

Drewes, Werner, 1899-1985  Search this

Names:

Richard York Gallery  Search this

Smithsonian Institution  Search this

Boccia, Edward, 1921-2012  Search this

Drewes, Maria  Search this

Eldred, Thomas  Search this

Feininger, T. Lux  Search this

Fitz-Gerald, Clark B. (Clark Battle), 1917-2004  Search this

Hélion, Jean, 1904-1987  Search this

Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944  Search this

Marcks, Gerhard  Search this

Osver, Arthur, 1912-2006  Search this

Schrag, Karl  Search this

Urban, Albert  Search this

Extent:

15.76 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Prints

Photographs

Sketchbooks

Scrapbooks

Diaries

Date:

1838-2015

bulk 1890-1990

Summary:

The papers of painter, printmaker, designer, and teacher, Werner Drewes, measure 15.76 linear feet and date from 1838-2015, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1890s-1990s. The papers document Drewes' life and career through biographical and family material; correspondence with family members, artists, galleries, and art institutions and organizations; scattered teaching notes and writings including a diary; catalogs and inventories of artwork; three scrapbooks; printed material; 38 sketchbooks, loose sketches, and prints; and photographs of Drewes, his family, friends and colleagues, exhibitions, travels, and works of art. Also found are scattered papers of Drewes' second wife, Maria Drewes.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of painter, printmaker, designer, and teacher, Werner Drewes, measure 15.76 linear feet and date from 1838-2015, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1890s-1990s. The papers document Drewes' life and career through biographical and family material; correspondence with family members, artists, galleries, and art institutions and organizations; scattered teaching notes and writings including a diary; catalogs and inventories of artwork; three scrapbooks; printed material; 38 sketchbooks, loose sketches, and prints; and photographs of Drewes, his family, friends and colleagues, exhibitions, travels, and works of art. Also found are scattered papers of Drewes' second wife, Maria Drewes.

Biographical material documents Drewes' family history through family trees and biographical notes made by family members, and also includes 3 of Drewes' passports, some student and military records, resumés, and a partial interview transcript.

Correspondence is with family members; artists including Ed Boccia, Thomas Eldred, T. Lux Feininger, Clark Fitzgerald, Wassily Kandinsky, Jean Helion, Gerhard Marcks, Arthur Osver, Karl Schrag, and Albert Urban; and galleries and art organizations and institutions such as Richard York Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, and others. Correspondence also relates to the Drewes estate, as well as to loans, exhibitions and sales of artwork.

Notes and writings include a diary kept by Drewes between 1918-1920 in Europe, a "love letter" in verse form written by Drewes to his first wife, Margaret, some teaching notes and notes on design, and 2 essays about Drewes written by others.

Catalogs and inventory records provide comprehensive documentation of the artwork Drewes created over the course of his career. Entries include titles, assigned numbers, subjects, dimensions, media used, and sketches or photos of artwork.

Three scrapbooks provide scattered documentation of Drewes' life and career, and include clippings from the 1920s and 1930s, and a scrapbook created by Maria Drewes for her husband's memorial service.

Printed material includes event announcements and exhibition catalogs, as well as news clippings tracing Drewes' career from the 1920s to the 1980s.

Artwork consists of greeting cards made by Drewes, as well as 38 sketchbooks and numerous loose sketches in pencil, ink, watercolor, and crayon.

Photographic material includes vintage family photographs, prints, negatives, slide tranparencies, and 8 glass plate negatives, of Drewes, his family and friends, events including exhibitions and travels, and artwork.

Found in Maria Drewes' papers are correspondence, 17 diaries primarily documenting travels with Werner Drewes, two scrapbooks with designs for jewelry, and photos of family, friends and jewelry.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1838-1980s (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 1, 16)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1878-2004 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 16)

Series 3: Notes and Writings, 1922-2002 (0.5 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 4: Catalogs and Inventory Records, circa 1919-circa 1980s (2.3 linear feet; Boxes 2-6)

Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1920s-1985 (3 folders; Box 5)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1897-2015 (1 linear feet; Boxes 5-6)

Series 7: Artwork and Sketchbooks, circa 1890s-2002 (3.67 linear feet; Boxes 6-9, 16-17)

Series 8: Photographic Material, circa 1890s-2000 (5.53 linear feet; Boxes 9-14, 17, MGP 2)

Series 9: Mary (Maria) Louise Lischer Drewes Papers, 1930s-1980s (1 linear foot; Box 15)

Many of the records were assigned color-coded alpha-numeric labels prior to donation. In series where these labeling systems predominate, material has been arranged according to those systems and all previously assigned labels are indicated in the Container Listing. Many folder titles are taken from the original labels. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

The collection is arranged as 9 series.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter, printmaker and designer Werner Drewes (1899-1985) was born in Canig, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1930. A student of the Bauhaus, and a prolific artist and teacher, Drewes worked with many kinds of media and produced numerous woodcuts, etchings, oils, watercolors, drawings and collages over the course of his life.

Drewes served for two years on Germany's Western Front during World War 1, before studying at the Bauhaus, Weimar, from 1921-1922. He then traveled throughout Europe, Asia and North and South America with his wife Margaret before returning to Germany in 1927 and enrolling at the Bauhaus, Dessau. During his time there Drewes forged his artistic ideas from the radical influences of renowned architects and artists including Lyonel Feininger, Johannes Itten, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Oscar Schlemmer, and learned the Bauhaus teaching approach that would serve him throughout his career. In 1930 Drewes, Margaret, and their 2 young sons emigrated to the United States and settled in New York City where Drewes attended the Art Students League. From 1935-1936 he taught drawing and printmaking at the Brooklyn Museum School as an employee of the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project (WPA FAP). In 1936 he became a founding member of American Abstract Artists and the following year joined the American Artists' Congress and became an American citizen. From 1937-1940 he taught painting and printmaking at Columbia University.

In the early 1940s Drewes taught at the Master Institute in Riverside Museum, New York City, and worked as a technical supervisor for the Graphic Art Division of the FAP. From 1944-1945 he worked at Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17 improving his intaglio technique and then teaching design, printmaking and photography at Brooklyn College. In 1946 he taught design at the Institute of Design in Chicago before being appointed Professor of Design at the School of Fine Arts of Washington University in Saint Louis, where he continued to teach until his retirement in 1965.

Following Margaret's death in 1959, Drewes married jewelry designer and fellow professor of Washington University, Mary (Maria) Louise Lischer in 1960. On Drewes' retirement he and Maria moved to Pennsylvania where he continued to paint, focusing primarily on still lifes and landscapes. He moved to Washington in 1972 and published his American Indians portfolio, before finally setting in Reston, Virginia, where the Rose Catalog of his prints was published and where he lived as a working and exhibiting artist until his death in 1985.

In October 1984 a comprehensive retrospective, Sixty-Five Years of Printmaking, was held at the then named Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art. Drewes' work can be found in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, New York Public Library, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Provenance:

The Werner Drewes papers were donated in 2005 by Werner Drewes' sons Wolfram U. Drewes, Harald D. Drewes, and Bernard W. Drewes. 4 additional items were donated by Karen Seibert, Drewes granddaughter, in 2015. Some material had been previously loaned for microfilming in 1979, and was subsequently included in the 2005 gift.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

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:

Painters -- Virginia -- Reston  Search this

Designers -- Virginia  Search this

Printmakers -- Virginia -- Reston  Search this

Topic:

Educators -- Virginia  Search this

Transcripts  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Interviews  Search this

Greeting cards  Search this

Genre/Form:

Prints

Photographs

Sketchbooks

Scrapbooks

Diaries

Citation:

Werner Drewes papers, 1838-2015, bulk 1890-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.drewwern

See more items in:

Werner Drewes papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-drewwern

Creator:

Dreier, Dorothea A., 1870-1923  Search this

Names:

Cooperative Mural Workshop  Search this

Women's Trade Union League of America  Search this

Bartlett, Agnes Willard  Search this

Bartlett, Mary F.  Search this

Bartlett, Maud W.  Search this

Davis, Charles H. (Charles Harold), 1856-1938  Search this

Dreier, Ethyl Eyre Valentine  Search this

Dreier, Katherine Sophie, 1877-1952  Search this

Dreier, Mary E. (Mary Elisabeth), 1875-1963  Search this

Forbes, Rebecca  Search this

Gogh, Elisabeth du Quesne van, 1859-1936  Search this

Kuhn, Walt, 1877-1949  Search this

Mahan, Ellen Kuhn  Search this

Robins, Margaret Dreier  Search this

Robins, Raymond, 1873-1954  Search this

Schetter, Charlotte  Search this

Shirlaw, Walter, 1838-1909  Search this

Extent:

2.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pamphlets

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Broadsides

Date:

1881-1941

bulk 1887-1923

Summary:

The papers of artist and art patron Dorothea A. Dreier measure 2.6 linear feet and date from 1881-1941, with the bulk of the material dating from 1887-1923. The papers document the life and work of Dorothea Dreier and also contain the papers of and about members of her immediate family, particularly her sisters, Mary and Katherine Dreier, and Margaret Dreier Robins. Found are correspondence, printed materials, legal and financial records, photographs, and one sketchbook by Dreier.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of the painter Dorothea A. Dreier measure 2.6 linear feet and date from 1881 to 1941, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1887-1923. These papers document not only her life and work as an artist, but also the activities of her distinguished family in the realms of social reform, women's suffrage, and politics, through correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, broadsides, exhibition catalogs, publications, photographs, ephemera, a sketchbook, and legal and financial records.

Biographical materials include official documents, childhood writings, notes, ephemera, membership cards, invitations, programs, notes, lists, and legal and financial records.

Measuring 1.2 linear feet, correspondence is the largest and most extensive series and consists of letters from family and close friends as well as business correspondence. Although the letters in this series span from 1881-1925, a large number stem from Dorothea's 1913-1916 stay at Saranac Lake for treatment of her tuberculosis.

Family correspondents consist of members of Dorothea's immediate family as well as more distant relations, including those who resided in her parent's native Germany. Letters from her sisters Mary E. Dreier, and Margaret (Gretchen) Dreier Robins, her sister-in-law Ethyl Eyre Valentine Dreier and brother-in-law Raymond Robins provide some insight into the varied social reform and political movements, such as women's suffrage and the Bull Moose Party, with which they were allied. Additionally both Mary and Margaret were active in the Women's Trade Union League, Margaret having served as the League's president from 1907-1922. Therefore their correspondence is a rich resource for scholars interested in women's history and the history of the Progressive Era in the United States.

Due to their shared interest in the arts, her sister Katherine S. Dreier's letters provide information about her own work as an artist, particularly when she was studying abroad, exhibitions in which she participated or visited, and the Cooperative Mural Workshop, a combination art school and workshop that she ran from 1914-1917 with Walt Kuhn, with substantial financial help from Dorothea.

Additionally through her Brooklyn neighborhood, art classes, and support of numerous social causes, Dorothea had a large circle of friends. Frequent correspondents include the Bartlett sisters, Agnes, Mary, and Maud, Rebecca Forbes, Ellen Kuhn Mahan, and Charlotte Schetter. Notable art world correspondents include Vincent van Gogh's sister Elisabeth du Quesne van Gogh, the American Tonalist landscape painter Charles Harold Davis and Dreier's painting instructor and close friend, the painter Walter Shirlaw.

Printed materials reflect the varied interests and activities of Dorothea Dreier and select members of her immediate family through exhibition announcements, catalogs, including a numbered copy of the The Dorothea A. Dreier Exhibition from the memorial exhibition of her work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1925, newspaper clippings relating to her career, the activities of other members of the Dreier family, art and politics; as well as pamphlets, broadsides, brochures and blank postcards.

Photographs include both studio portraits and informal snapshots of Dorothea and Katherine Dreier; group photographs including Dorothea; travel photographs, many of which appear to have been taken in the Netherlands; and photographs of Teddy Roosevelt giving a speech at a railway station. Artworks include a sketchbook by Dreier, five sketchbooks by friend and teacher, Walter Shirlaw, and an unidentified artist, a pencil drawing by Shirlaw, an engraving by Huquier and an etching by Ernest D. Roth.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 5 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1884-1923 (Box 1; 0.75 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1881-1925 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Printed Material, 1883-1916 (Boxes 2-3; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 4: Photographs, circa 1900-1923 (Box 3; 7 folders)

Series 5: Artwork, circa 1885-1941 (Boxes 3-4; 9 folders)

Biographical Note:

Dorothea A. Dreier was born on December 8, 1870, in Brooklyn, New York to German immigrant parents. The second of five children in a close knit, socially progressive family, her siblings include the social reformers and suffragettes Mary E. Dreier and Margaret Dreier Robins. However she was closest to her youngest sister, Katherine S. Dreier, fellow artist, patron of modern art and cofounder of the Société Anonyme, an organization dedicated to the promotion of modern art in the United States. Her sole brother, H. Edward Dreier, followed his father into business and managed the family investments.

Of all the Dreier sisters, Dorothea is the least well-known and there is scant information about her artistic career. It appears that she began her formal art training with John Twachtman and William Merritt Chase, although accounts disagree as to whether it took place at the Art Students League or the National Academy of Design. In 1904 Dorothea and her sister Katherine began studying with the painter Walter Shirlaw, with whom they developed a close friendship. Both sisters also traveled abroad frequently as the family maintained close ties with their German relatives and they combined these visits with trips to museums and galleries throughout Europe where they studied the works of the Old Masters as well as more contemporary artists. As evidenced by her series of oil paintings of Dutch weavers of 1908, Dorothea was greatly influenced by Van Gogh's early paintings of rural Dutch peasant life and she spent long periods abroad living and painting in Laren, The Netherlands. Her later paintings depicted landscapes, both in The Netherlands and the Adirondacks, as well as a series of New York street scenes.

Unfortunately, during a 1913 sojourn in Laren, Dorothea contracted tuberculosis. She remained at Saranac Lake, a renowned treatment center in the Adirondacks from late December 1913 to sometime in 1916. During her convalescence, Dorothea remained actively involved in the arts as she continued to paint and draw and supported her sister Katherine's work at the Cooperative Mural Workshop, a short-lived combination art school and workshop that focused on the decorative arts.

In 1920, Dorothea supported Katherine's decision to champion modern art and made generous financial contributions toward the establishment of the Société Anonyme, where Dorothea's first solo exhibition took place in 1921. This was her only solo exhibition prior to her untimely death in 1923. In the spring of 1925, Christian Brinton of the Brooklyn Museum of Art organized a memorial exhibition for which Katherine Dreier privately published a limited edition catalogue.

Related Material:

The papers of Katherine S. Dreier related to the Société Anonyme Archives are located at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.

The Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute of Harvard University holds the papers of Mary E. Dreier

Provenance:

The bulk of the collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 1959 by Mrs. Peter Voorhees, Dorothea A. Dreier's neice. Additional materials were donated in 2007 by Theodore and Barbara Dreier, Dreier's great-nephew and great-neice.

Restrictions:

The bulk of this collection has been digitized and is available online via the Archives of American Art's website.

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.

Topic:

Women -- Suffrage  Search this

Suffragists  Search this

Women painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Pamphlets

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Broadsides

Citation:

Dorothea A. Dreier papers, 1881-1941, bulk 1887-1923. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.dreidoro

See more items in:

Dorothea A. Dreier papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-dreidoro

Creator:

Stern, Louis E., 1886-1962  Search this

Names:

Ben-Gurion, David, 1886-1973  Search this

Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985  Search this

Gross, Chaim, 1904-1991  Search this

Rubin, Reuven, 1893-  Search this

Rubinstein, Artur, 1887-  Search this

Stern, Isaac, 1920-  Search this

Extent:

0.8 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Place:

Israel -- History

Date:

1897-1978

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence, writings, art work, photographs and printed material relating to Stern's art collection and his relationships with Marc Chagall and family, and with Reuvin and Esther Rubin.

Correspondence is with museums and dealers concerning Stern's collection, 1917-1978; correspondence with and greeting cards from Marc Chagall and family, 1942-1961; and correspondence with Reuven Rubin while Rubin was living in Israel and Rumania during the post World War II era, undated and 1946-1961, much of it concerning the establishment of Israel as a state and the war with the Arab states following World War II.

Writings consist a debate text, c. 1909, and a published speech "Russia Today," 1924, by Stern, and a poem, in French, "Esprit" by Henry Brigul ?. Financial material includes a notebook, 1924-1928, "Catalogue of Original Etchings," listing titles, date of purchase, and price, arranged by artist, and a list of works in Stern's collection used for probate of his estate, 1962. Art work, 1944-1962, includes 2 sketches and 2 greeting cards by Rubin, greeting cards by Chaim Gross, and 1 bookplate designed by Chagall.

Photographs and slides are of Stern and his collection, ca. 1897-1962; one of a reception in Tel Aviv attended by Stern, David Ben-Gurion, Arthur Rubinstein, and Isaac Stern; one of Reuven Rubin, 1946; 2 of Chagall, one with Stern, 1957; and 23 stereo slides of Stern, Miss Foster, Alice, and Stern's collection taken in his apartment. Printed material consists of 18 clippings, 1925-1963; an exhibition catalog for Rubin, 1955; an exhibition announcement for Chagall, 1957; 2 exhibition catalogs for the Stern collection, 1962-1964; a copy of "Brandt vs. Pennsylvania Steel" and related clippings concerning the first court decision won by Stern, 1916.

Biographical / Historical:

Art collector, attorney; New York, N.Y. Born in Balta, Russia, Stern joined his father in America ca. 1900, and earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1909. An avid patron of the arts, Stern's collection was notable for its illustrated artists' books, prints, sculpture, ancient and primitive objects, and paintings, in particular his many works by Marc Chagall. Upon his death, his collection was given to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, his art library to Rutgers, and other additional items to the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Modern Art.

Provenance:

Donated 1991 by Andrew Pincus, whose mother was Stern's half sister; his father, Bernard, was the executor of Stern's estate. Microfilmed 1994 with funding provided by the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949  Search this

Jewish artists  Search this

Greeting cards  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.sterloui

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-sterloui

Creator:

Society of American Graphic Artists  Search this

Names:

Society of American Etchers  Search this

Arms, John Taylor, 1887-1953  Search this

Extent:

6.4 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 6 reels))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1916-1992

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence; biographical material on artists; reports; financial records; photographs; slides; scrapbooks, and printed material.

REELS N68-107 - N68-112: Correspondence and sales data concerning foreign and American exhibitions; biographical data on participating artists; membership correspondence; lists, financial data, and treasurers' reports; exhibition catalogs; and clippings.

UNMICROFILMED (6.4 ft.): Correspondence concerning political ramifications of print shows in Prague, 1939, and Venice, 1940, arrangements for the first exchange show with the Royal British Society of Etchers and Painters, including letters from Malcom Osborne, 1953, and business matters; presidential reports by John Taylor Arms; biographical sketches of Society members; photographs and slides; scrapbooks; and printed material, including reproductions of art, brochures, exhibition announcements, form letters to members, newsletters, 1974-1992, exhibition catalogs for Annual and other exhibitions, 1944-1992, and printed material on special events.

Biographical / Historical:

Art society; New York, N.Y. Est. 1915. Founded in cooperation with the Brooklyn Museum as The Brooklyn Society of Etchers. In 1921, the organization moved to Manhattan and changed its name to The Society of American Etchers; in 1947, it expanded to include lithographers and woodcutters, with a subsequent change of name to The Society of American Etchers, Gravers, Lithographers and Woodcutters. Since 1951 known as The Society of American Graphic Artists.

Provenance:

Material on reels N68-107 to N68-112 lent for microfilming 1969 by Society of American Graphic Artists. Unmicrofilmed material donated 1979 and 1995 by the Society.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Occupation:

Engravers  Search this

Lithographers  Search this

Printmakers  Search this

Topic:

Graphic arts -- Societies, etc. -- United States  Search this

Prints -- Exhibitions  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.sociamga

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-sociamga

Interviewee:

Smithson, Robert  Search this

Interviewer:

Cummings, Paul  Search this

Names:

Dwan, Virginia  Search this

Extent:

59 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1972 July 14-19

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Robert Smithson conducted 1972 July 14-19, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art at 799 Greenwich Street in New York on July 14 and 19 1972. Smithson speaks of growing up in Passaic, New Jersey; primary and high school; high school art education; going to New York Museums; writing and its impact on art work; the Artists Gallery; the Art Students League; his time in the army; the Cedar Bar; Quicksand; the Museum of Modern Art; art education; Sam Smithson; his father; traveling the U.S.; Brooklyn Museum School; impact of the Museum of Natural History; moving to New York; visiting Europe; psychology; show at the George Lester Gallery; the Broken Circle; Dallas-Fort Worth Airport; crystalline structures; meeting William Carlos Williams; cosmology; Enantiomorphic Chambers; mapping; painting and drawing; the Dwan Gallery; getting married; Aerial Art; earthworks; sculpture; the Cryosphere; Alogon; Rome; stratas; nonsites; When Attitudes Become Form; Attitudes; mining sites and quarries; light and reflection; the Spiral Jetty; coordination of large works; documentation; selection of sites; Gyrostasis; weather's impact and seasonal change of the Spiral Jetty; confines of the gallery and museum; mirrors; landscapes; artist materials; art education; traveling; art and vacations; documenta; Smithson also recalls Federica Beer-Monti , Hugh Stix , Danny Donohue, Joe Levin, Charlie Hasloff, John Cassavetes , Alan Brilliant, Irving Sandler, Barnett Newman, Richard Bellamy,John Groth, Lawrence Alloway, T. S. Elliot, Donald Judd, William Carlos Williams, Jackson Pollock, William Burroughs, Ad Reinhardt, Dan Flavin, Virginia Dwan, Rosalind Krauss, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Robert Smithson (1938-1973) was a sculptor well known for his earthworks.

General:

Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr.

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.

Restrictions:

Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

Occupation:

Conceptual artists -- Interviews  Search this

Topic:

Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Environmental artists -- Interviews  Search this

Sculptors -- Interviews  Search this

Art -- Philosophy  Search this

Function:

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

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.smiths72

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-smiths72