Search Results

Creator:

Nesbitt, Lowell, 1933-1993  Search this

Names:

Indiana, Robert, 1928-  Search this

Johns, Jasper, 1930-  Search this

Mitchell, Jack, 1925-  Search this

Warhol, Andy, 1928- -- Photographs  Search this

Extent:

50.2 Linear feet

0.001 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Sketchbooks

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Video recordings

Paintings

Sound recordings

Photographs

Designs

Collages

Prints

Date:

circa 1903-1993

bulk 1950-1993

Summary:

The papers of painter, photographer and sculptor Lowell Nesbitt measure 50.2 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from circa 1903-1993 (bulk 1950-1993). The collection documents Nesbitt's career through biographical material, correspondence, subject files, business and financial records, source material, artwork, photographs and audiovisual records, printed material and scrapbooks.

Scope and Contents note:

The papers of painter, photographer and sculptor Lowell Nesbitt measure 50.2 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from circa 1903-1993 (bulk 1950-1993). The collection documents Nesbitt's career through biographical material, correspondence, subject files, business and financial records, source material, artwork, printed and digital matter, photographs and audiovisual records and scrapbooks.

Biographical Material includes documentation of Nesbitt's education and other personal documents. Plans and designs for Nesbitt's properties on West Twelfth Street, New York City and Kent, New York are arranged in the series for architectural records for homes and studios

Correspondence and Subject Files are voluminous and record Nesbitt's interaction with individuals, businesses and organizations and includes personal and family correspondence in addition to correspondence relating to galleries, exhibitions, commissions he undertook and committees on which he served.

Artwork by Nesbitt includes a small collection of collages, drawings, paintings, prints and sketchbooks. Source material comprises approximately 11 linear feet of material, primarily newspaper and magazine clippings and photographs, relating to a large variety of subjects that inspired Nesbitt, such as flowers, fruits and vegetables, dogs and other animals and the studios of other artists including Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol.

Photographs are of Nesbitt, his friends, family, colleagues and his pets, as well as subjects of interest to him in his work. Also of note are twenty-seven folders of photographs taken by photographer Jack Mitchell of Nesbitt and others.

Printed Material contains publicity material and documents exhibitions of Nesbitt's work. Additional photographs and printed material are found in the Scrapbooks.

Arrangement note:

The collection is arranged as 11 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1932-1988 (Boxes 1, 40, OV 58; 1.0 linear ft.)

Series 2: Architectural Records for Homes and Studios, 1977-1992 (Boxes 1-2, 40; 1.0 linear ft.)

Series 3: Notes and Writings, 1981-1990 (Boxes 2-3; 1.0 linear ft.)

Series 4: Calendars and Addressess, 1973-1993 (Boxes 3-5; 1.25 linear ft.)

Series 5: Correspondence and Subject Files, 1940-circa 1990s (Boxes 5-12, 40, OV 51; 8.0 linear feet, ER01; 0.001 GB)

Series 6: Business and Financial Records, circa 1910-1993 (Boxes 12-14; 2.0 linear ft.)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1948-1989 (Boxes 15-16, 41-42, OVs 52, 55; 2.0 linear ft.)

Series 8: Source Material, 1965-circa 1990s (Boxes 16-26, 43-45, OV 53; 12.0 linear ft.)

Series 9: Photographs and Audiovisual Records, 1965-circa 1990s (Boxes 16-26, 43-46, OV 53, FC 76-78; 12.3 linear ft.)

Series 10: Printed Material, circa 1960s-circa 1990s (Boxes 37-39, 45, OVs 48-50, 54, 56, 60; 3.05 linear feet

Series 11: Scrapbooks, 1964-1992 (Boxes 61-75; 6.6 linear feet)

Biographical/Historical note:

Painter, photographer, and sculptor Lowell Nesbitt worked primarily in New York City.

Lowell Nesbitt was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1933. In college he studied stained glass and printmaking, graduating from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia in 1955 and attending the Royal College of Art in London from 1955 to 1956.

After serving for several years in the United States Army in the mid 1950s, Nesbitt received his first exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1958. By 1963 he had moved to New York City and by the 1970s had emerged as one of the most well known artists in the United States. Nesbitt was frequently grouped with the photo realists and was best known for more than four hundred works he created with the flower as his central theme. In addition to flowers, Nesbitt's subjects included studio interiors, dogs, fruits and vegetables, bridges and buildings in New York, and male nudes. He began experimenting with printmaking in the 1960s and produced more than a hundred original prints in the course of his lifetime, primarily in the medium of dry point engraving. In 1963 he began a series of x-ray inspired paintings and was credited with being the first artist to produce a body of work of this kind. During the same period he began a long-standing relationship with the Howard Wise Gallery in New York, a space known for it's devotion to art and new technology.

In 1969 and 1970 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration named Nesbitt the official artist of the Apollo 9 and Apollo 13 missions. In 1980 the United States Postal Service released a series of four postage stamps based on his floral paintings.

Following a major one-man show at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC in 1964, Nesbitt's work was exhibitied widely in Europe and the United States. In New York City he was represented by the Stable Gallery, the Robert Stefanotti Gallery and the Andrew Crispo Gallery. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Nesbitt taught at Towson State and Morgan State Colleges in Maryland, and the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Nesbitt was active in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society from the early 1980s until his death, serving as co-chairman on the Society's annual juried Project Rembrandt exhibition for artists with multiple sclerosis. He was also actively involved in fundraising for artists with HIV/AIDS.

Nesbitt's work is represented in many major museum collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, Baltimore Museum of Art, Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), Corcoran Gallery, Detroit Institute of Art, Hirshhorn Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and the National Gallery.

Lowell Nesbitt died in 1993 at the age of 59.

Provenance:

A portion of the papers were donated by Lowell Nesbitt in 1984 and the bulk of the papers were a bequest from Nesbitt's estate in 1994.

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:

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

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

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

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

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Video recordings

Paintings

Sound recordings

Photographs

Designs

Collages

Prints

Citation:

Lowell Nesbitt papers, circa 1903-1993 (bulk 1950-1993). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.nesblowe

See more items in:

Lowell Nesbitt papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-nesblowe

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2020-04-20T13:59:25.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

See more by:

americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_D-p96np-Pw4

Creator:

Richardson, Edgar Preston, 1902-1985  Search this

Richardson, Constance Coleman, 1905-2002  Search this

Subject:

Rutledge, Anna Wells  Search this

Simper, Fred  Search this

McDermott, John Francis  Search this

Speck, Walter  Search this

Stevens, William B.  Search this

Fredericks, Marshall M.  Search this

Castano, Giovanni  Search this

Soria, Regina  Search this

Lynes, Russell  Search this

Frankenstein, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor)  Search this

Hardy, Jeremiah Pearson  Search this

Pleasants, J. Hall (Jacob Hall)  Search this

Garrison, Eve Josephson  Search this

Bishop, Isabel  Search this

Allston, Washington  Search this

Woolfenden, William E. (William Edward)  Search this

Ripley, Sidney Dillon  Search this

Morse, John D.  Search this

Watkins, Franklin Chenault  Search this

Lewis, W. S. (Wilmarth Sheldon)  Search this

Marsh, Reginald  Search this

Sheeler, Charles  Search this

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo  Search this

Bostick, William A.  Search this

Jungwirth, Irene G. (Irene Gayas)  Search this

Oliver, Andrew  Search this

Simpson, Corelli C. W.  Search this

Andrews, Wayne  Search this

Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold  Search this

Middeldorf, Ulrich Alexander  Search this

Spark, Victor D. (Victor David)  Search this

Fleischman, Lawrence A. (Lawrence Arthur)  Search this

Sellers, Charles Coleman  Search this

Heil, Walter  Search this

Lee-Smith, Hughie  Search this

Bouché, Louis  Search this

Moser, Liselotte  Search this

Flexner, James Thomas  Search this

Vose, Robert C. (Robert Churchill)  Search this

Cohn, Harold  Search this

Aram, Siegfried F.  Search this

Mast, Gerald  Search this

Krentzin, Earl  Search this

Groce, George C.  Search this

Peale, Charles Willson  Search this

Culver, Charles B. (Charles Beach)  Search this

Wedda, John  Search this

Boyd, Julian P. (Julian Parks)  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia  Search this

Wyeth, Andrew  Search this

Hopper, Edward  Search this

Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich)  Search this

Rockefeller, John D.  Search this

Copeland, Lammot du Pont  Search this

Freeman, Michael W.  Search this

Allen, Joseph  Search this

Peale family  Search this

Castano Galleries  Search this

Historical Society of Pennsylvania  Search this

Macbeth Gallery  Search this

Archives of American Art  Search this

Philadelphia Museum of Art  Search this

National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.)  Search this

National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)  Search this

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this

White House (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum  Search this

Type:

Photographs

Manuscripts

Interviews

Diaries

Transcripts

Sketches

Lectures

Place:

Detroit (Mich.)

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Painting, American  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Romanticism in art  Search this

Art -- History -- Study and teaching  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10104

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212990

AAA_collcode_richedga

Theme:

Diaries

Art Theory and Historiography

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_212990

Creator:

National Museum of the American Indian  Search this

Type:

Symposia

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2015-11-10T18:58:03.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Native Americans;American Indians  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianNMAI

Data Source:

National Museum of the American Indian

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianNMAI

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_JF_1jCRT28M

Interviewee:

Taubman, A. Alfred, 1924-2015  Search this

Interviewer:

Berman, Avis, 1949-  Search this

Subject:

Hoffmann, Josef Franz Maria  Search this

Lichtenstein, Roy  Search this

Acquavella, William R.  Search this

Pei, I. M.  Search this

Meier, Richard  Search this

Art Collectors: A Project in Partnership with the Center for the History of Collecting in America at The Frick Collection  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Michigan  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)21662

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)398168

AAA_collcode_taubma13

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_398168

Creator:

Machen, William H. (William Henry), 1832-1911  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7957

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210125

AAA_collcode_machwill

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210125

Creator:

Haass, Lillian Henkel, 1879-1960  Search this

Subject:

Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8875

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211060

AAA_collcode_haaslill

Theme:

The Art Market

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211060

Creator:

Cranbrook Foundation  Search this

Subject:

Bach, Oscar Bruno  Search this

Booth, George G. (George Gough)  Search this

Billington, Cecil  Search this

Bradford, Francis Scott  Search this

Cheney, Sheldon  Search this

Childs, M. W.  Search this

Gimpel, René  Search this

Kahn, Albert  Search this

Karbel, Mario  Search this

Kirk, Arthur Neville  Search this

Kirshmayer, I.  Search this

Lorch, Emil  Search this

Lyle, John M. (John McIntosh)  Search this

McEwen, Katherine  Search this

Milles, Carl  Search this

Player, Cyril Arthur  Search this

Scripps family  Search this

American Federation of Arts  Search this

Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this

Society of Arts and Crafts (Boston, Mass.)  Search this

Society of Arts and Crafts (Detroit, Mich.)  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7538

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209697

AAA_collcode_cranfoun

Theme:

Art Materials, Techniques, and Studio Art Education

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209697

Creator:

Ferry, W. Hawkins, 1913-1988  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Societies, etc. -- Michigan -- Detroit  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8110

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210281

AAA_collcode_ferrw

Theme:

The Art Market

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210281

Creator:

Dent, Herbert C. (Herbert Crowley), 1860-  Search this

Subject:

Davis, Charles H. (Charles Harold)  Search this

Topic:

Decorative arts  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10367

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213685

AAA_collcode_dentherb

Theme:

Ephemera, Miscellany, and General Art Related

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213685

Creator:

Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this

Subject:

De Kooning, Elaine  Search this

Greene, Balcomb  Search this

Hirsch, Joseph  Search this

Johnson, Lester  Search this

Katz, Alex  Search this

Kaupelis, Robert  Search this

Koch, John  Search this

Lawrence, Jacob  Search this

Neel, Alice  Search this

Wilson, John  Search this

Bell, Leland  Search this

Cunningham, Ben  Search this

Bearden, Romare  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)11087

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214308

AAA_collcode_diacross

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214308

Creator:

Booth, John L.  Search this

Subject:

Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)16008

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)305976

AAA_collcode_bootjohn

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_305976

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

Interviewee:

Taubman, A. Alfred  Search this

Interviewer:

Berman, Avis  Search this

Names:

Art Collectors: A Project in Partnership with the Center for the History of Collecting in America at The Frick Collection  Search this

Acquavella, William R.  Search this

Hoffmann, Josef Franz Maria, 1870-1956  Search this

Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997  Search this

Meier, Richard, 1934-  Search this

Pei, I. M., 1917-  Search this

Extent:

2 Items (Sound recording: 2 sound files (2 hr., 28 min.), digital, wav)

53 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

2013 June 6 - July 13

Scope and Contents:

An oral history interview with A. Alfred Taubman 2013 June 6-July 13, conducted by Avis Berman, for the Archives of American Art and the Center for the History of Collecting in America at the Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection.

Taubman speaks of growing up in Pontiac; Michigan, his love of drawing; attending the University of Michigan; his early interest in architecture; collecting stamps; his father's involvement with farming; importance of learning drawing; his experiences with dyslexia; moving to Detroit and having kids; collecting artwork; meeting artists and dealers; his involvement with the Detroit Institute of Arts; financial troubles in Detroit; Detroit history; Josef Hoffmann furniture; his time in jail; Sotheby's financial trouble and selling works of art; his children and grandchildren; his houses; displaying artwork; his interest in sculpture; the competition of collecting; sculptures in shopping malls; his friendship with Roy and Dorothy Lichtenstein; collecting artwork and working with William R. Acquavella; his time owning Sotheby's and its impact on collecting; missing out on purchasing a blue period Picasso; collecting in depth and types of work he doesn't often collect; Russian artwork; Ms. Taubman's collecting interests; his time on the board of the Whitney Museum of American Art; working with I.M. Pei; commissioning Richard Meier to build a house; and changes that he brought to Sotheby's. Taubman also recalls Carlos Lopez, Reva Kolodney, Barbara Fleischman, Bill Poplack, Richard Bellamy, Leo Castelli, Green Gallery, Henry Geldzahler, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark di Suvero, James Rosenquist, OK Harris Gallery, Antoine Poncét, Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Detroit Institute of Arts, Coleman Young, Richard Gerstl, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Michael Graves, Jean Arp, John Chamberlain, College for Creative Studies, Sam Sachs, Arman, Crutchfield, Paul von Ringelheim, Roy Lichtenstein, Seymour Evans, Richard Feigen, Illeana Sonnabend, Larry Gagosian, Pablo Picasso, Niarchos, Balthus, Edward Hopper, Marsha Miro, Tom Armstrong, I.M. Pei, Vincent Ponte, and Richard Meier.

Biographical / Historical:

Interviewee A. Alfred Taubman (1924-2015) was an art collector, entrepreneur, and philanthropist in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Interviewer Avis Berman (1949- ) is an art historian and author in New York, New York.

Related Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds the papers of A. Alfred Taubman.

Provenance:

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

Restrictions:

This transcript is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Sound recording: ACCESS RESTRICTED; written premission required.

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Michigan  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by Barbara Fleischman.

Identifier:

AAA.taubma13

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-taubma13

Creator:

Gertrude Kasle Gallery (Detroit, Mich.)  Search this

Names:

Universal Limited Art Editions (Firm)  Search this

Bontecou, Lee, 1931-  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this

Dine, Jim, 1935-  Search this

Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011  Search this

Goodman, Brenda Joyce, 1943-  Search this

Goodnough, Robert, 1917-  Search this

Goodyear, John L., 1930-  Search this

Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903-1974  Search this

Grosman, Tatyana, 1904-1982  Search this

Guston, Philip, 1913-1980  Search this

Hartigan, Grace  Search this

Jenkins, Paul, 1923-2012  Search this

Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this

Kasle, Gertrude, 1917-  Search this

Motherwell, Robert  Search this

Natkin, Robert, 1930-  Search this

Nesbitt, Lowell, 1933-1993  Search this

Oldenburg, Claes, 1929-  Search this

Pollock, Charles C.  Search this

Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008  Search this

Schmidt, Julius, 1923-  Search this

Shapiro, Babe  Search this

Tall, Bill  Search this

Todd, Mike, 1935-  Search this

Tworkov, Jack  Search this

Extent:

8.1 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Interviews

Photographs

Sound recordings

Date:

1949-1999

bulk 1964-1983

Summary:

The records of the Gertrude Kasle Gallery of Detroit measure 8.1 linear feet and date from 1949-1999, with the bulk of records dating from 1964-1983. The collection documents the establishment and operations of this contemporary American art gallery and consists of artists files, business and administrative files, exhibition files, photographic materials, and interviews and lectures in the form of sound recordings.

Scope and Content Note:

The records of the Gertrude Kasle Gallery of Detroit measure 8.1 linear feet and date from 1949-1999, with the bulk of the records dating from 1964-1983. The collection documents the establishment and operations of this contemporary American art gallery and consists of artists files, business and administrative files, exhibition files, photographic materials, and interviews and lectures in the form of sound recordings.

The bulk of the records consist of Artists' Files that document the professional and personal relationships Kasle fostered with the artists represented by the gallery, including sales and exhibitions. The files contain a wide variety of materials and the amount of documentation for each artist also varies. Typically the files contain personal and business correspondence, sales documentation, exhibition photographs, photographs of works of art, family photographs, photographs of the artist, exhibition announcements and catalogs, other printed materials, greeting cards, and other documents. Some of the artists well-represented in the files include Lee Bontecou, Wilhem De Kooning, Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Brenda Goodman, Robert Goodnaugh, John Goodyear, Adolph Gottlieb, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Ray Johnson, Robert Motherwell, Robert Natkin, Lowell Nesbitt, Claes Oldenburg, Charles Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Julius Schmidt, Babe Shapiro, Michael Todd, and Jack Tworkov. Additional general information about exhibitions is found in Series 3, Exhibition Files and additional photographs are filed in Series 4, Photographic Material.

Gallery and personal business and administrative files house documents relating to the founding and incorporation of the gallery and general operations, as well as some of Gertrude Kasle personal business files. Also found in this series are files related to fine art prints and the gallery's business relationship with Universal Limited Art Editions.

Scattered exhibition files are found for a few of the gallery's exhibitions and also include general exhibition related files, such as clippings, announcements, guest lists, and schedules. Most of the information about the gallery's exhibitions is found in the Artists Files. Photographs and slides are found throughout the collection, particularly in the Artists Files, but Series 4, Photographic Materials houses an extensive collection of slides documenting art work by artists represented by the gallery. There is also an autographed photograph portrait of Lowell Nesbitt.

Sound recordings are of interviews and lectures. Interviews are with Tatyana Grosman, Lowell Nesbitt, Paul Jenkins, and Bill Tall. There are recorded lectures by Paul Jenkins and Jack Tworkov. The sound recordings are on both audio cassette reel to reel tapes. Transcripts are not available.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 5 series:

Series 1: Artists Files, 1949-1999 (Boxes 1-5, OV 11; 5.1 linear feet)

Series 2: Gallery and Personal Business and Administrative Files, 1961-1995 (Boxes 6-7, OV 12; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1963-1976 (Box 7; 7 folders)

Series 4: Photographic Materials, 1953-1985 (Boxes 7, 10; 18 folders)

Series 5: Sound Recordings, 1966-1971 (Boxes 7-9; 7 folders)

Historical Note:

Gertrude Kasle was born in New York City on December 2, 1917, and began her life-long career in the art world very early, taking art classes in high school and Saturday classes at the Art Students League. She began her formal studies in art education at New York University (NYU) and later transfered to the University of Michigan. Kasle interrupted her studies during World War II to devote herself to family work while her husband served as a military chaplain. The family returned to Detroit in 1947 and she began classes at the Society of Arts and Crafts. After raising her three children, she enrolled in Wayne State University in 1955, completing her degree in 1962.

While a student in Detroit, Kasle was active in the Friends of Modern Art group at the Detroit Institute of Art, and became Vice President. In 1962, she was approached by Detroit businessman Franklin Siden to help him open a gallery where she would have a one-third partnership. During the first year of Siden Gallery's operations, Kasle introduced Detroit to the work of many notable contemporay American artists, such as Larry Rivers, Grace Hartigan, Robert Goodnough, and Robert Natkin.

Her tenure with the Siden Gallery was short-lived and by 1964 she left and began to contemplate her next move. Several of the artists she had represented at Siden Gallery encouraged her to open her own gallery. Local art critic Joy Hakanson Colby who worked for the Detroit News interviewed Kasle and claimed that Kasle was "looking for gallery space". Responding to the article, the Fischer Building offered Kasle a very attractive lease in the "New Center" area of downtown Detroit that would later become known as the city's gallery center, housing several prominent galleries.

With the help of her husband and son, she opened the doors of the Gertrude Kasle Gallery on April 10, 1965. The opening exhibition featured Larry Rivers, Grace Hartigan, Robert Goodnough, Irving Kreisberg, and Manousher Yektai. Kasle's goal was to introduce the city of Detroit to the foremost contemporary artists in the country, some already well-established such as Wilhelm De Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Robert Motherwell, Lowell Nesbitt, Claes Oldenburg, Charles Pollock, Larry Rivers, and Jack Tworkov, as well as others just becoming known, such as Jim Dine. Through group and one-man shows, the Gertrude Kasle Gallery represented contemporary painting, mixed media, and sculpture, focusing primarily on the Abstract Expressionist movement. The gallery also fostered many local Detroit artists, giving them their first shows, including Al Loving and Brenda Goodman.

During her earlier tenure with the Siden Gallery Kasle had worked with Tatyana Grosman of Universal Limited Art Editions which produced original prints of contemporary artists including Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jim Dine. In her own gallery, Kasle continued her business relationship with Grosman and fine art print publishers, allowing the gallery access to many artists that were previously unattainable.

For eleven years the Gertrude Kasle Gallery operated as a thriving contemporary art gallery, forming the nucleus for the growing Detroit modern and avant garde art scene during the sixties and seventies. Although financially the gallery was not as successful as hoped, it provided a cultural forum for artists and Detroit art enthusiasts to convene, learn, and celebrate. In April, 1976 the gallery closed. When asked why she was closing the gallery, Gertrude Kasle said, "Because the need for a gallery like mine isn't as great as it was in the 1960's. Today the public respects and understands more about creative innovation in contemporary art." (Hakanson Colby, March, 1976) Although the gallery formally closed, Kasle continues to work as a art consultant and live in Detroit.

This historical note relies heavily on the essays written by Gertrude Kasle's son, Stephen available on the Gertrude Kasle Gallery website.

Related Material:

Also available at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Gertrude Kasle conducted by Dennis Barrie on July 24, 1975.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 1976 and 1982 by Mrs. Gertrude Kasle. A third accession was donated by the Cincinnati Art Museum in 2002.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Use 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 galleries, Commercial -- Michigan -- Detroit  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Photographs

Sound recordings

Citation:

The Gertrude Kasle Gallery records, 1949-1999 (bulk 1964-1983). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.gertkasl

See more items in:

Gertrude Kasle Gallery records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-gertkasl

Creator:

Ferry, W. Hawkins  Search this

Extent:

1 Reel (400 items (on 1 microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Reels

Date:

1947-1973

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence and administrative materials emanating from Ferry's work with the Detroit Metropolitan Art Association and the Friends of Modern Art of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Also included are: letters from dealers and artists from whom Ferry purchased works of art; photographs; and clippings.

Biographical / Historical:

Art collector; Michigan. Born 1914.

Provenance:

Lent for microfilming 1973 by W. Hawkins Ferry.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Topic:

Art -- Societies, etc. -- Michigan -- Detroit  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.ferrw

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-ferrw

Creator:

Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold, 1880-1958  Search this

Names:

Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this

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

Bode, Wilhelm von, 1845-1929  Search this

Colenbrander, H. T. (Herman Theodoor), 1871-1945  Search this

Ford, Edsel, 1893-1943  Search this

Heise, Carl Georg, 1890-1979  Search this

Hofstede de Groot, C. (Cornelis), 1863-1930  Search this

McIlhenny, John  Search this

Mellon, Andrew W. (Andrew William), 1855-1937  Search this

Morgan, Anne Tracy, 1873-1952  Search this

Sarre, Maria  Search this

Wills, Helen, 1905-1998  Search this

Extent:

6.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Prints

Photographs

Diaries

Place:

Germany -- Politics and government -- 1918-1933

Date:

1853-1977

Summary:

The papers of art historian and museum director Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner measure 6.9 linear feet and date from 1853 to 1977. Found within the collection are biographical materials, including information on the Lepsius and Valentiner families; correspondence with family, friends, art collectors, and art historians; seven diaries; additional writings and notes; printed materials; three clippings scrapbooks; artwork in the form of prints and woodcuts; and photographs of Valentiner and his family and friends, including two photograph albums.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of art historian and museum director Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner measure 6.9 linear feet and date from 1853 to 1977. Found within the collection are biographical materials, including information on the Lepsius and Valentiner families; correspondence with family, friends, art collectors, and art historians; seven diaries; additional writings and notes; printed materials; three clippings scrapbooks; artwork in the form of prints and woodcuts; and photographs of Valentiner and his family and friends, including two photograph albums.

Biographical materials include certificates, membership cards, a curriculum vitae, and genealogical information on the Valentiner and Lepsius families.

Correspondence includes letters in German from Valentiner's parents, siblings, extended family members, and his wife and daughter. General correspondence includes letters and cards in German and English from art historian mentors and peers, including Wilhelm von Bode, Cornelius Hofstede de Groot, Carl Heise, and Herman Colenbrander, as well as art collectors and friends, including John McIlhenny, Andrew Mellon, Edsel Ford, Maria Sarre, and Helen Wills Moody Roark.

Seven diaries dated 1910-1939 were written in German, some of which also contain sketches, photographs, and other enclosures. Additional writings and notes consist of autobiographical writings, numerous essays, lectures, and monographs on Italian and Dutch art and artists, and reports and lectures on exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Lecture seminar notes appear to have been written while Valentiner was a student in Germany, and materials related to Arbeitsrat für Kunst date from the period after Valentiner's military service when he served as a chairman to the newly formed Working Council for the Arts, prior to his return to America in 1921.

Printed material includes bulletins, exhibition catalogs, clippings, and three clippings scrapbooks, which document Valentiner's professional career in New York and Detroit.

Photographic materials are of Wilhelm Valentiner, his immediate and extended family members, and his friends. Photos of Valentiner are from his youth, military service in Germany, and his personal and professional career in the U.S. Photographs of friends include art scholars, collectors, and family friends, including Maria Sarre, Helen Wills Moody Rorke, and Anne Morgan, the daughter of Pierpoint Morgan. There are also a handful of reproductions of artwork used as scholarly references in his writings. The two photo albums focus on Valentiner's family and friends from his youth in Germany, and Valentiner with family members later in his life.

Artwork in the collection consists of prints from a page in a German book, a bookplate, and two woodcuts by unidentified artists.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 8 series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1853-1976 (8 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1860-1974 (3.4 linear feet; Box 1-4)

Series 3: Diaries, 1910-1939 (7 folders; Box 3)

Series 4: Writings and Notes, 1890-1970 (1.7 linear feet; Box 4-6, 9)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1915-1977 (0.2 linear feet; Box 6)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1908-1933 (0.4 linear feet; Box 6, 9)

Series 7: Photographic Materials, 1840-1970 (0.8 linear feet; Box 6-8)

Series 8: Artwork, 1890-1960 (3 folders; Box 8)

Biographical / Historical:

Art historian and museum director Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner (1880-1958) lived in New York City, N.Y., Detroit, Michigan, and Raleigh, North Carolina and was known for his leadership and collection development during his tenure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Valentiner was born in Karlsruhe, Germany to Karl Wilhelm Valentiner, a professor of astronomy at Heidelberg University, and his wife, Anna Lepsius Valentiner. The youngest of four children, Valentiner attended the University of Leipzig and continued studies in art history at the University of Heidelberg, where he received his doctorate in 1905 under the mentorship of Henry Thode. His relationship with Thode and with fellow students Edwin Redslob and Hermann Voss would eventually lead to lifelong friendships with a network of European scholars and historians, including Wilhelm von Bode and Cornelius Hofstede de Groot.

Upon von Bode's recommendation to J.P. Morgan, then President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Valentiner joined the staff of the Metropolitan in 1908 as the curator for Decorative Arts. In 1913, he founded the journal Art in America, where he would remain as editor until 1931. At the onset of World War I, Valentiner returned to Germany to enlist and served until the war's end, at which point he spent a brief period working at the Kaiser Friedrich Museum and participated in the Arbeitsrat für Kunst, a new group that questioned the traditional relationship between artists and established art institutions. Though shortlived, his participation as a chairmen for the Working Council for the Arts introduced him to leading German artists and architects, including Walter Gropius, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Käthe Kollwitz, and Lyonel Feininger. At this time, he also met his future wife, Cecelia Odefay, who he married in 1919.

In 1921, Valentiner returned to the U.S. and was asked to serve as a collecting advisor to the Detroit Institute of Arts. In 1924, he was appointed the Institute's director, a position he held until his retirement in 1944. During his tenure, he oversaw the opening of a new wing, the first acquisition of pre-Columbian and African art, the strengthening of Chinese and Islamic art collections, significant acquisitions of European Modernists, and the development of the museum's education and conservation divisions.

In 1937, Valentiner founded the Art Quarterly journal for the College Art Association, which he edited until 1949. After his retirement from the Institute, Valentiner was called from retirement to serve as director for the Los Angeles County Museum and the Getty Museum in California, and the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Valentiner died from complications of pneumonia in 1958.

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Mary E. Adams letters from Wilhelm Valentiner and an oral history interview with Mary and Clinton Adams conducted by Paul Karlstrom, April 24, 1998. The North Carolina Museum of Art also holds papers of Wilhelm Valentiner, most of which are also available at the Archives on microfilm reels D31 and 2140-2144.

Separated Materials:

In 1981 and earlier, the Archives microfilmed the William R. Valentiner papers that were on deposit from the North Carolina Museum of Art onto reels D31 and 2140-2144. The papers were returned to the North Carolina Museum of Art, but the microfilm is still available for use at the Archives research centers and for interlibrary loan.

Reel D31 includes diary entries, 1914-1957, describing Valentiner's service in the German army, 1914-1918, with the War Information Office in Berlin, the overthrow of the monarchy and German politics, relations between Germany and Russia and communist activity in Germany, the administration of Berlin museums and radical artists' activities, his work with the L.A. County Museum, Detroit Institute of Fine Arts, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and private collectors, impressions of friends, including Henry Ford, Carl Hamilton, the Hohenzollerns, Franz Marc, Rainer Maria Rilke, Walter Rathenau, Helen Wills, Benjamin Altman, J. Pierpont Morgan, and recollections of women art collectors, including Mrs. August Belmont, Rita Lydig, and Mrs. Leonard Thomas. A very small portion of the filmed materials may be found among the Valentiner papers at the Archives, but most of the materials were returned to the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Loaned materials on reels 2140-2144 consist of 26 diaries, 1904-1958; autobiographical writings; manuscripts and lectures by Valentiner; correspondence with family, friends, authors, museums, galleries, and dealers, including Harry Bertoia, Charles Culver, Lyonel and Julia Feininger, Walter Gropius, Paul and Mary Weschler, and Morris Graves; and a scrapbook containing clippings, drafts of speeches, and invitations.

Provenance:

From 1972 to 1977, Valentiner's papers were gathered from various sources by historian Margaret Sterne who was researching and writing a biography of Valentiner. Sterne died just prior to publication and the papers were sorted by Archives' staff and returned to the lender when known. After publication of the biography, the bulk of the papers were returned to their respective lenders (primarily the University of North Carolina) and the remaining papers were sorted and accessioned by the Archives. Donors are listed as unknown or anonymous.

Restrictions:

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

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

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

Art historians -- Michigan -- Detroit  Search this

Museum directors -- Michigan -- Detroit  Search this

Topic:

Art museums -- United States  Search this

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

Art, Dutch  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Art, Italian  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Prints

Photographs

Diaries

Citation:

Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner papers, 1853-1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.valewilh

See more items in:

Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-valewilh

Creator:

Waltensperger, Charles E., 1871-1931  Search this

Names:

Académie des beaux-arts (France) -- Students  Search this

Gérôme, Jean Léon, 1824-1904  Search this

Extent:

1.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Sketches

Date:

1893-1931

Summary:

This small collection of scattered papers of painter and illustrator Charles E. Waltensperger measures 1.2 linear feet and dates from 1893-1931. Papers include biographical material, scattered correspondence between family members, sales records, engagement diaries, notes, sketches of the human form, printed material, and photographs of Waltensperger, his family, colleagues, and travel scenes.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of painter and illustrator Charles E. Waltensperger date from 1893-1931 and measure 1.2 linear feet. Biographical material includes passports and membership cards, including one for the Scarab Club. Letters are generally from members of the Waltensperger family discussing travels. One letter from Waltensperger briefly mentions his studies at the Académie des Beaux Arts and his instructor, Jean-Léon Gérôme, "who is perhaps the best that ever happened. He is very severe and no fancy stuff goes with him." Business records consists primarily of receipts, but also include account books documenting sales. Also found within the papers are annotated engagement diaries, notebooks that contain addresses, notes about art, and annonated sketches, and miscellaneous notes. There is one folder of Waltensperger's artwork consisting of sketches of the human form. Printed material including clippings and exhibition catalogs relating to Waltensperger and others. Photographs found here are of Waltensperger, his family and friends, and scenes from his travels.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 8 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1905-1931 (Box 1; 2 folders)

Series 2: Letters, 1899-1931 (Box 1; 19 folders)

Series 3: Business Records, 1925-1931 (Box 1; 4 folders)

Series 4: Engagement Diaries, 1914-1931 (Box 1; 6 folders)

Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1913-1931 (Box 1; 8 folders)

Series 6: Artwork, circa 1890-circa 1930 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1896-1931 (Box 1; 19 folders)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1890-circa 1930 (Box 1, 2; 25 folders)

Biographical Note:

Charles E. Waltensperger was born on April 10, 1871 in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Emily and Fred Waltensperger, a merchant.

Waltensperger studied art at the Julius Melchers School with fellow students Joseph Kraemer, Myron Barlow, and Fred Leipziger. While working as an elevator operator for the Detroit Free Press, Waltensperger made sketches of the passengers. This attracted the attention of publisher William E. Quinby, who was so impressed with his drawings that he paid Waltensperger's tuition at the school of the Detroit Museum of Art.

During the early 1890s, Waltensperger exhibited his work in a competition at the Detroit Institute of Arts and was awarded a James E. Scripps scholarship that financed his art studies for two years in Europe. He studied both at the Académie des Beaux Arts under Jean-Léon Gérôme, and at the Académie Julian in Paris in 1893. Upon his return to the United States, Waltensperger was employed as a commercial artist and worked as an illustrator for the Detroit Free Press. He also illustrated books written by M. Quad, the pseudonym of humorist Charles Bertrand Lewis.

Waltensperger later established his own studio and turned his interest to creating oil paintings, primarily of Dutch interiors. He traveled extensively in Europe and in New England. He was a member of a group of Detroit artists known as the Hopkin Club that held exhibitions at the Old Detroit Museum of Art before they established the Scarab Club.

Waltensperger never married and during the last five years of his life, ill health forced him to curtail his travels. He died of a heart attack on December 12, 1931 in Detroit.

Provenance:

The Charles E. Waltensperger papers were donated in 1973 by the artist's brother, George Waltensperger, through Mrs. Beverly Bassett who was conducting a survey of Michigan artists. In 1979, two photographs and two letters were donated.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Use 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:

Illustrators -- Michigan -- Detroit  Search this

Painters -- Michigan -- Detroit  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Sketches

Citation:

Charles E. Waltensperger papers, 1893-1931. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.waltchar

See more items in:

Charles E. Waltensperger papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-waltchar

Creator:

Richardson, Edgar Preston, 1902-1985  Search this

Richardson, Constance, 1905-  Search this

Names:

Archives of American Art  Search this

Castano Galleries (Boston, Mass.)  Search this

Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum  Search this

Historical Society of Pennsylvania  Search this

Macbeth Gallery  Search this

National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.)  Search this

National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)  Search this

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this

Philadelphia Museum of Art  Search this

White House (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

Peale family  Search this

Allen, Joseph  Search this

Allston, Washington, 1779-1843  Search this

Andrews, Wayne  Search this

Aram, Siegfried F.  Search this

Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988  Search this

Bostick, William A.  Search this

Bouché, Louis, 1896-1969  Search this

Boyd, Julian P. (Julian Parks), 1903-  Search this

Castano, Giovanni, 1896-1978  Search this

Cohn, Harold  Search this

Copeland, Lammot du Pont  Search this

Culver, Charles B. (Charles Beach), 1908-1967  Search this

Fleischman, Lawrence A. (Lawrence Arthur), 1925-1997  Search this

Flexner, James Thomas, 1908-2003  Search this

Frankenstein, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1906-1981  Search this

Fredericks, Marshall M., 1908-1998  Search this

Freeman, Michael W.  Search this

Garrison, Eve Josephson, 1903-2003  Search this

Groce, George C., 1899-  Search this

Hardy, Jeremiah Pearson, 1800-1889  Search this

Heil, Walter, 1890-1973  Search this

Hopper, Edward, 1882-1967  Search this

Jungwirth, Irene G. (Irene Gayas), 1913-  Search this

Krentzin, Earl, 1929-  Search this

Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953  Search this

Lee-Smith, Hughie  Search this

Lewis, W. S. (Wilmarth Sheldon), 1895-1979  Search this

Lynes, Russell, 1910-1991  Search this

Marsh, Reginald, 1898-1954  Search this

Mast, Gerald, 1908-1971  Search this

McDermott, John Francis, 1902-  Search this

Middeldorf, Ulrich Alexander, 1901-  Search this

Morse, John D., 1906-  Search this

Moser, Liselotte, 1906-1983  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia , 1887-1986  Search this

Oliver, Andrew, 1906-  Search this

Peale, Charles Willson, 1741-1827  Search this

Pleasants, J. Hall (Jacob Hall), 1873-1957  Search this

Ripley, Sidney Dillon, 1913-2001  Search this

Rockefeller, John D., 1906-  Search this

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

Rutledge, Anna Wells  Search this

Sellers, Charles Coleman, 1903-  Search this

Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965  Search this

Simper, Fred, 1914-  Search this

Simpson, Corelli C. W.  Search this

Soria, Regina, 1911-  Search this

Spark, Victor D. (Victor David), 1898-1991  Search this

Speck, Walter, 1895-  Search this

Stevens, William B.  Search this

Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold, 1880-1958  Search this

Vose, Robert C. (Robert Churchill), 1911-1998  Search this

Watkins, Franklin Chenault, 1894-1972  Search this

Wedda, John  Search this

Woolfenden, William E. (William Edward), 1918-1995  Search this

Wyeth, Andrew, 1917-2009  Search this

Extent:

28.7 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Manuscripts

Interviews

Diaries

Transcripts

Sketches

Lectures

Place:

Detroit (Mich.)

Date:

1814-1996

bulk 1921-1996

Summary:

The papers of art historian E. P. Richardson measure 28.7 linear feet and date from 1814-1996, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-1996. Within the papers are scattered biographical materials; acquisition files for Richardson's personal art collection; professional and personal correspondence with colleagues, art historians and critics, artists, museums, galleries, and dealers; numerous writings, including manuscripts and research files for his published books, articles, and lectures; general research notebooks and files compiled by Richardson on a wide variety of art-related topics and artists; professional and committee files; as well as a smaller amount of Constance C. Richardson's papers.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of art historian E. P. Richardson measure 28.7 linear feet and date from 1814-1996, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-1996. Within the papers are scattered biographical materials; acquisition files for Richardson's personal art collection; professional and personal correspondence with colleagues, art historians and critics, artists, museums, galleries, and dealers; numerous writings, including manuscripts and research files for his published books, articles, and lectures; general research notebooks and files compiled by Richardson on a wide variety of art-related topics and artists; professional and committee files; as well as a smaller amount of Constance C. Richardson's papers.

Biographical materials include certificates, awards, and honorary degrees, membership information, personal and family photographs, a few sketches, and a transcript of an oral history Interview with E.P. Richardson conducted by the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1982.

There are acquisitions files for the Richardsons' personal art collection that invoices, photographs, correspondence with galleries and collectors, appraisals, price lists, and artwork examination forms.

Correspondence is with colleagues, art dealers, collectors, museums and museum curators, foreign scholars, organizations, galleries, artists, art historians and critics, publishers, editors, librarians, friends, and family. Topics regard purchasing art for various collections, consultations about art and collecting including authentications and attributions, publishing, general art history, lectures, and personal matters, among other topics. There is correspondence with the Archives of American Art, Castano Galleries, Lawrence Fleischman, James Thomas Flexner, Alfred V. Frankenstein, George Croce, Walter Heil, Earl Krentzin, Wilmarth Lewis, Russel Lynes, John Francis McDermott, Philadelphia Museum of Art, J. Hall Pleasants, Anna Rutledge, Charles Sellers, Smithsonian Institution, Regina Soria, Victor Spark, William Stevens, Robert Vose, William Woolfenden, and many others. Scattered correspondence with artists is with Isabel Bishop, Louis Bouche, William Bostick, Eve Garrison, Edward Hopper, Irene Jungwirth, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Hughie Lee-Smith, Reginald Marsh, Gerald Mast, Georgia O'Keefe, Charles Sheeler, Walt Speck, and John Wedda, among many others. The greatest extent of correspondence is with Andrew Wyeth, Harold Cohn, and Frederick Simper. There is also personal correspondence with family and friends, and between E.P. and Constance Richardson.

E.P. Richardson's prominence as an art historian, writer, and expert on collecting is well documented through his prolific writings. Materials include drafts, notes, typescripts, and outlines for articles, exhibition catalog essays, and lectures. Also found are research files and publishing documentation for Richardson's books, including Washington Allston: A Study of the Romantic Artist in America (1948), Painting in America (1956), Charles Willson Peale and his World (1983), and American Romantic Painting (1944). There are also miscellaneous notes and four diaries. Two of the diaries comment on the social and cultural life of Detroit; the authenticity of paintings; Richardson's reflections on contemporary American painting, thoughts about museums, dealers, artists, and art historians (especially Wilhelm R. Valentiner); and travel.

Notebooks compiled by Richardson on a wide variety art-related topics cover nearly six decades. There are also numerous research files organized Richardson about individual artists and art history. And, the art collector files contain reference materials about art collectors and their collections including Lamont du Pont Copeland, Michael W. Freeman, Nelson Rockefeller, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Allen, and the Marquis de Somerlous. There are three index card file boxes containing bibliographic data on published books and articles.

Professional and committee files document Richardson's professional and consulting work for the Art Quarterly, Detroit Institute of Arts, National Collection of Fine Arts, the National Portrait Gallery, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the John D. Rockefeller III collection, Winterthur Museum, the White House, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Constance C. Richardson's papers include business and professional correspondence with various institutions, most extensively with the Macbeth Gallery. In addition, there is a smaller amount of personal correspondence, photographs and slides of her artworks, printed materials, two illustrated notebooks on her work, and miscellaneous notes. Also included is Constance's artist palette.

Biographical / Historical:

Art historian, museum director, and writer E. P. (Edgar Preston) Richardson (1902-1985) served as director of the Detroit Institute of Arts (1945-1962) and Winterthur Museum (1963-1966). He was also a board member of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1966-1977 and, in 1954, co-founded the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

E. P. Richardson was born in 1902 in Glens Falls, New York and died in Philadelphia in 1985. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1925 and studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for the three years following graduation. In 1930 he became educational secretary at the Detroit Institute of Arts, was quickly named assistant director in 1933, and served as director from 1945 to 1962. He left Detroit to take the position of director of the Winterthur Museum, where he remained until 1966. Richardson married Constance Coleman in 1931. Born in Berlin, Germany in 1905, Constance Coleman Richardson was an award-winning and widely exhibited realist style painter of American landscapes. She gave up painting in the 1960s and died in 2002.

While at the Detroit Institute of Arts, E. P. Richardson co-founded the Archives of American Art with Lawrence Fleischman, and served as the Archives' first director. Richardson was also art advisor to John D. Rockefeller III for over ten years, editor of Art Quarterly from 1938 to 1967, and a member of various boards, including the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Arts Commission, and the National Portrait Gallery. He authored numerous books including ones on artists Washington Allston and Charles Willson Peale, and The Way of Western Art: American Romantic Painting (1939), Painting in America: The Story of Four Hundred and Fifty Years (1956), A Short History of Painting in America (1963), and American Art, an Exhibition of the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3d (1976).

Related Materials:

Related collections among the holdings of the Archives of American Art include an interview with E.P. Richardson dated February 6, 1978 conducted by Linda Downs; and several miscellaneous manuscripts that include an E.P. Richardson Letter to Rockwell Kent, June 15 1959; E.P. Richardson letters to Lawrence Arthur Fleischman, May 13, 1962 and August 22 1954; and a Yasuo Kunioshi letter to E.P. Richardson, July 25 1948.

Additional E.P. Richardson papers are found at the Detroit Institute of Arts and in the archives of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum.

Separated Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel D46) including E.P. Richardson's research material on Jeremiah P. Hardy. These materials are housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

Edith Wilkinson first donated a letter to E. P. Richardson from herself in 1957. E.P. Richardson donated papers to the Archives of American Art in 1958 and 1960 and lent materials for microfilming in 1961. Addition material was donated by Constance Richardson in 1985, and by Martha Fleischman in 2003.

Restrictions:

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

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Authors -- Michigan -- Detroit  Search this

Art historians -- United States  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Painting, American  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Romanticism in art  Search this

Art -- History -- Study and teaching  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Manuscripts

Interviews

Diaries

Transcripts

Sketches

Lectures

Citation:

Edgar P. Richardson papers, 1814-1996, bulk 1921-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.richedga

See more items in:

E.P. (Edgar Preston) and Constance Richardson papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-richedga

Creator:

Cole, Thomas, 1801-1848  Search this

Names:

Adams, William Althorpe, 1797-1878  Search this

Ainsley, Samuel James, 1806-1874  Search this

Alexander, Francis, 1800-1880  Search this

Allen, Theodore, fl. 1800-1850  Search this

Allston, Washington, 1779-1843  Search this

Ashton, Thomas B., fl. 1835-1850  Search this

Bennet, Edwin Thomas  Search this

Bloodgood, S. DeWitt (Simeon DeWitt), 1799-1866  Search this

Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878  Search this

Carey, Edward L., 1806-1845  Search this

Childs, Cephas Grier, 1793-1871  Search this

Clark, Lewis Gaylord, 1808-1873  Search this

Cummings, Thomas Seir, 1804-1894  Search this

Dexter, Franklin, 1793-1857  Search this

Dunlap, William, 1766-1839  Search this

Durand, Asher Brown, 1796-1886  Search this

Gilmor, Robert, 1774-1848  Search this

Greene, George Washington, 1811-1883  Search this

Ingham, Charles Cromwell, 1796-1863  Search this

Leslie, Charles Robert, 1794-1859  Search this

Mason, Jonathan, 1795-1884  Search this

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872  Search this

Morton, John Ludlow, 1792-1871  Search this

Pratt, Henry Cheever, 1803-1880  Search this

Reed, Luman, d. 1836  Search this

Ridner, John P.  Search this

Spencer, Mark  Search this

Sturges, Jonathan, 1802-1874  Search this

Town, Ithiel, 1784-1844  Search this

Townsend, Isaiah  Search this

Trego, Charles B., 1794-1874  Search this

Van Rensselaer, William P.  Search this

Ver Bryck, Cornelius, 1813-1844  Search this

Wadsworth, Daniel, 1771-1848  Search this

Ward, Samuel Gray  Search this

Weir, Robert Walter, 1803-1889  Search this

Wright, Ambrose  Search this

Extent:

7 Microfilm reels

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Microfilm reels

Sketchbooks

Date:

1821-1863

Scope and Contents:

Notebooks; sketchbooks; drawings; letters; manuscript poems; catalogs; paintbrushes.

REEL D40: ca. 575 drawings.

REEL D6: Letters, manuscript poems, catalogs and a sketchbook dated March 10, 1832.

REEL D39: 2 v. of notebooks; 1825, and 18 v. of sketchbooks, 1827-1847. Cole sketches mainly in New York State, The White Mountains, England, Italy, and Catskill, N.Y.

REELS ALC 1- ALC 4: Correspondence with Cole, including letters from friends, family, artists, and others; journals; notes; essays; lectures; poetry; clippings; and financial records.

Correspondents include: William Althorpe Adams, Samuel James Ainsley, Francis Alexander, Theodore Allen, Washington Allston, Thomas B. Ashton, Edwin T. Bennet, Simeon D. Bloodgood, William C. Bryant, Edward L. Carey, Cephas G. Childs, Lewis G. Clark, Thomas S. Cummings, Franklin Dexter, William Dunlap, Asher B. Durand, Robert Gilmor, George W. Greene, Charles C. Ingham, Charles R. Leslie, Jonathan Mason, Samuel F. B. Morse, John L. Morton, Henry C. Pratt, Luman Reed, John P. Ridner, Jonathan Sturges, Ithiel Town, Isaiah Townsend, Charles B. Trego, William P. Van Rensselaer, Cornelius Ver Bryck, Daniel Wadsworth, Samuel Ward, Robert W. Weir, Ambrose Wright, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter; Catskill, N.Y. Cole lived most of his life in New York City even though he studied abroad. He was elected member of National Academy in 1826.

Provenance:

Material on reels D6, D39, D40 lent for microfilming 1961 by the Detroit Institute of Art. Material on reels ALC 1-ALC 4 lent for microfilming 1964 by the New York State Library. Paintbrushes were discovered 1964 by S.J. Fishburne, Albany Institute restorer, in basement of Cole's house. He turned them over to the Institute's director, Janet MacFarlane, who donated them to AAA, 1965.

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:

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Topic:

Landscape painting -- New York (State)  Search this

Hudson River school of landscape painting  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Identifier:

AAA.colethom

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-colethom