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N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records

Creator:
Ayer (N W) Incorporated.  Search this
Names:
American Telephone and Telegraph Company -- Advertisements  Search this
Cunningham & Walsh.  Search this
Hixson & Jorgenson  Search this
United Air Lines, Inc. -- Advertisements  Search this
Ayer, Francis Wayland  Search this
De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this
O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986  Search this
Extent:
270 Cubic feet (1463 boxes, 33 map-folders, 7 films)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Business records
Interviews
Oral history
Print advertising
Proof sheets
Proofs (printed matter)
Scrapbooks
Trade literature
Tear sheets
Advertisements
Date:
1817-1851
1869-2006
Summary:
Collection consists of records documenting one of the oldest advertising agencies created in Philadelphia. The company then moves to New York and expanses to international markets. During its history NW Ayer & Sons acquires a number of other advertising agencies and is eventually purchased. The largest portion of the collection is print advertisements but also includes radio and television. NW Ayer is known for some of the slogans created for major American companies.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists primarily of proof sheets of advertisements created by NW Ayer & Son, Incorporated for their clients. These materials are in series one through thirteen and consist primarily of print advertisements. There are also billboards, radio and television commercials. The advertisements range from consumer to corporate and industrial products. The majority of the advertisements were created for Ayer's New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and international offices. Printed advertisements created by Cunningham & Walsh, Hixson & Jorgensen and Newell-Emmett are also included among these materials. Researchers who are interested in records created by Ayer in the course of operating an advertising agency will find these materials in Series fourteen-nineteen.

Series fourteen consists of advertisements created by NW Ayer & Son to promote their services to potential clients.

Series fifteen are scrapbooks of some of the earliest advertisements created by the company. Series sixteen are publications. Some of the publications were created by Ayer while others were about Ayer or the advertising industry in general. Provides good background materials and puts the company in perspective. Series eighteen are the legal records. Materials relating to employees including photographs, oral histories etc. are found in series nineteen.

Series twenty is one of the smallest amounts of materials and includes information relating to the history of NW Ayer & Son.

The container lists for series one-thirteen are part of a database and are searchable. The list has been printed for the convenience of the researcher and is included in this finding aid. Series fourteen-twenty container lists are also a part of the finding aid but are not in a searchable format.

Series 1, Scrapbooks of Client Advertisements, circa 1870-1920, is arranged into three boxes by chronological date. There are two bound scrapbooks and one box of folders containing loose scrapbook pages. NW Ayer & Son compiled an assortment of their earliest ads and placed them into scrapbooks. Besides the earliest advertisements, the scrapbooks contain requests to run advertisements, reading notices and listings of papers Ayer advertised in. The early advertisements themselves range from medical remedies to jewelry to machines to clothing to education and more. Most of the advertisements in the bound scrapbooks are dated.

Series 2, Proofsheets, circa 1870-1930, NW Ayer was fond of creating scrapbooks containing proofsheets. The series contains proofsheets created between 1892 and 1930, organized into 526 boxes. For convenience of storage, access and arrangement, the scrapbooks were disassembled and the pages placed in original order in flat archival storage boxes. The proofsheets are arranged by book number rather than client name. Usually the boxes contain a listing of the clients and sometimes the dates of the advertisements to be found within the box.

Series 3, Proofsheets, circa 1920-1975, is organized into 532 oversize boxes, and contain proofsheets and tearsheets created between 1920 and 1972. Within this series, materials are arranged alphabetically by company name (occasionally subdivided by brand or product), and thereunder chronologically by date of production. Many major, national advertisers are represented, including American Telephone & Telegraph, Armour Company, Canada Dry, Cannon Mills, Carrier Corporation, Domino Sugar, Caterpillar tractor company, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Goodyear, Hills Bros. Coffee, Ladies Home Journal, National Dairy, Plymouth (Chrysler Corporation), Steinway, TV Guide, United Airlines and the United States Army. Also contained in this series are three scrapbooks of client advertisements including Canada Dry, Ford Motor, and Victor Talking Machine.

Series 4, 2001 Addendum, circa 1976-2001, is organized into ninety three oversized boxes,one folder and contains proofsheets for select Ayer clients, created between 1975 and 2001. Within this series, materials are arranged alphabetically by client name and there under chronologically by date of production. Major national advertisers represented include American Telephone & Telegraph, Avon, the United States Army, DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Mines, Dupont, TV Guide, Sealtest, Kraft Foods, Gillette, General Motors, Cannon Mills.

Series 5, Billboards, circa 1952-1956, consists of mounted and un-mounted original art/mock-ups. Twenty-two pieces of original art created as mock-ups for Texaco billboards.

Series 6, Film and Video Commercials, 1967-1970,

Series 7, Radio and Television Materials, 1933-1993, undated, is arranged into eight boxes and includes radio scripts, television scripts, and story boards for commercials.

Subseries 7.1, Scripts and storyboards for Radio and Television Commercials, dates Scripts for radio and television commercials includes title, date, length of commercial, advertising agency, client information

NW Ayer's radio and television materials mainly focus on the American Telegraph and Telephone account. Some of Ayer's materials relate to Bell Telephone Hours.

Storyboards are used in television and film to assist the director in working with crew to tell the story. To show the viewer through the use of figures, visual effects and camera angles. When directors first start thinking about their storyboard they create a story in their mind. They think of all the camera angles, visual effects and how the figures will interact in their mind. They try to create an extraordinary story in their head to attract the viewer (YOU) In order for the storyboard to be entirely effective it can't be a passive document. When done properly, a storyboard serves as a central design, meeting the needs of many team members including graphics artists, video personnel and programmers.

Another function of a storyboard is to help the team communicate during the training development process. This communication is very important in working with a large team as in the movie King, produced in 1996. Figures help the director explain to the crew how they are going to record the film and how to present it to the audience. Sometimes the director wants special effects to be added to the film, but his budget might not be that big so the director will have to change the story to fit their budget.

The Visual Effects are an important part in the storyboards it adds a special touch of creativity to your film. Camera angles are an important expects in your film because the camera angles determine where the viewing audience will look. If you want your audience to look at a certain object you must turn their attention to it by focusing on that object and maybe you might try blocking something out. Then you will have your audience's attention and you may do whatever else you have to, it could be scaring them are just surprising them or whatever you do.

Also included is talent information and log sheets relating to the storage of the commercials.

Bell Telephone Hour Program, 1942-[19??], The Bell Telephone Hour, also known as The Telephone Hour, was a five minute musical program which began April 29, 1940 on National Broadcasting Company Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television from 1959 to 1968.

Earlier shows featured James Melton and Francia White as soloists. Producer Wallace Magill restructured the format on April 27, 1942 into the "Great Artists Series" of concert and opera performers, beginning with Jascha Heifetz. Records indicate that the list of talents on the program included Marian Anderson, Helen Traubel, Oscar Levant, Lily Pons, Nelson Eddy, Bing Crosby, Margaret Daum, Benny Goodman, José Iturbi, Gladys Swarthout and .The series returned to radio in 1968-1969 as Bell Telephone Hour Encores, also known as Encores from the Bell Telephone Hour, featuring highlights and interviews from the original series.

National Broadcasting television specials sponsored by the Bell System, 1957-1987includes information relating to Science series, Bell system Theshold Series, Bell telephone hour and commercial and public sponsored programs

Series 8, Chicago Office Print Advertisements, 1954-1989, is arranged alphabetically by the name of the client in ninety boxes and six oversize folders. Clients include Illinois Bell Telephone (1955-1989), Microswitch (1969-1989), Teletype (1975-1984), John Deere (1974-1989) and Caterpillar (1966-1972) are particularly well represented. Other clients of interest include Dr. Scholl's shoes (circa 1968-1972), the Girl Scouts (1976-1980), Sunbeam Personal Products Company (1973-1981), Bell and Howell (1974-1983) and Alberto Culver shampoos (1967-1971), Honeywell, Incorporated, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Associations, Kraft, Incorporated, Sears, Roebuck and Company, and YMCA.

Series 9, Los Angeles Office Materials, 1950s-1987, include printed advertisements created by this office and information relating to the employees.

Subseries 9.1, Print Advertisements, 1977-1987, printed advertisements arranged in one box alphabetically by client. There is a sparse sampling of clients from this particular Ayer branch office. The majority of the advertisements contained within this series are from Pizza Hut (1986-1987). Also included are Computer Automation (1977-1978), State of the Art, Incorporated (1982) and Toshiba (1986).

Subseries 9.2, Personnel Files, 1950s-1970s, includes cards of employees who worked in the Los Angeles office. Information on the cards includes name, address, telephone number, birthday, date hired, departure date and why (retired, terminated, resigned, etc) and position. Not all cards have all information. There is also a photograph of the employees on the cards.

Series 10, Foreign Print Advertisements, 1977-1991, undated, NW Ayer maintained partnerships with international companies such as Sloanas Ayer in Argentina, Connaghan & May Paton Ayer in Australia, Moussault Ayer in Belgium, NW Ayer, LTD. in Canada, GMC Ayer in France, Co-Partner Ayer in Germany, Wong Lam Wang in Hong Kong, MacHarman Ayer in New Zealand, Grupo de Diseno Ayer in Spain, Nedeby Ayer in Sweden, and Ayer Barker in United Kingdom. This group of material is a small sampling of advertisements created from these International offices. It is arranged alphabetically by client. There are quite a few automobile advertisements (i.e. Audi, Fiat, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen). In addition there are numerous advertisements for various personal items from MacLean's toothpaste to Quick athletic shoes to Labello lip balm, etc. Most of the advertisements have the creator's name printed on the advertisements.

Series 11, Cunningham & Walsh, Incorporated Materials, 1915-1987, undated contains 98 boxes 11 folders materials from the New York advertising agency acquired by NW Ayer in the 1960s. The company began with Newel-Emmett, an agency of nine men which broke up in 1949. Two of the men Fred Walsh and Jack Cunningham formed this agency in bearing their names in 1950. The agency created "let your fingers for the walking campaign for American Telephone & Telegraph, Mother Nature for Chiffon, and Mrs. Olson for Folgers's coffee and let the good times roll for Kawasaki motorcycle. In 1986, NW Ayer Incorporated purchased Cunningham & Walsh Incorporated.

Subseries 11.1, Print Advertisements, 1915-1987, are contained in ninety eight boxes of primarily print advertisements arranged alphabetically by client name. Clients that are particularly well represented are Graybar (electrical implements, circa1926-1937), Johns-Manulle (circa1915-1971), Smith and Corono typewriters (circa 1934-1960), Sunshine Biscuit Company (circa 1925-1961), Texaco Company (circa 1936-1961), Western Electric (circa 1920- 1971) and Yellow Pages (circa 1936-1971). Cunningham and Walsh also represented several travel and tourism industry clients, including Cook Travel Services (circa 1951-1962), Italian Line (circa 1953-1961), Narragansett and Croft (circa 1956-1960) and Northwest Airlines (circa 1946-1955). There are photographs of Texaco advertisements dating from 1913-1962. There is also a scrapbook of advertisements from the Western Electric Company dating from 1920-1922.

Subseries 11.2, Radio and Television Advertisements, 1963-1967, consist of materials created for Western Electric. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 11.3, Company Related Materials, 1962-1986, undated include client lists, information relating to NW Ayer purchase and annual report 1962.

Series 12, Hixson & Jorgensen Materials, 1953-1971, a Los Angeles advertising company, merged with Ayer in 1969. This series is housed in one box. Within the box are four scrapbooks and folders with a hodgepodge of materials relating to advertising. Of most interest are the scrapbooks. Two scrapbooks deal with Hixson and Jorgensen's self promotion ad campaign "the right appeal gets action" (1953-1957). The other two scrapbooks contain news clippings about the company and its activities (1959-1971).

Series 13, Newell-Emmet, 1942-1957, founded in 1919 and governed in the 1940s by a partnership of nine men. The partnership broke up in 1949 when the men went their separate ways. The materials consist of print advertisements for one of client, Permutit Company, a water conditioning company. The materials are arranged in one box in chronological order.

Series 14, House Print Advertisements, 1870-1991, 16 boxes consists of advertisements or self-promotion advertisements to campaign for new clients. The series is arranged chronologically by date into fifteen boxes. Within the series are two scrapbooks containing self promotion ads from 1888-1919 and 1892-1895. Numerous house ads relate to Ayer's "Human Contact" campaign. In addition to the self promotion ads, Ayer ran advertisements expounding about particular concepts or themes for example, one month the concept would "understand" while another month would be "teamwork" and yet another would be on "imagination". Some of the self promotion ads target specific groups like Philadelphia businessmen. Other advertisements incorporate the fine arts.

Series 15, Scrapbooks, 1872-1959, relates to company events, records and news clippings about Ayer's history. The six boxes are arranged by chronological date. Two of the boxes focus solely on the death of founder F.W. Ayer (1923). Another box houses a scrapbook that showcases Ayer's annual Typography Exhibition (1931-1959). One box contains a scrapbook that specifically deals with correspondences relating to Ayer's advertising. Yet another box's contents are folders of loose pages from scrapbooks that have newspaper clippings, order forms, correspondences and other company records. In one box, a bound scrapbook houses a variety of materials relating to Ayer and advertising (i.e. newspaper clippings, competitor's advertisements, NW Ayer's advertisements, correspondences for advertisements, clippings regarding the "theory of advertising."

Series 16, Publications, 1849-2006, are housed in thirty four boxes and are arranged into three main categories.

Subseries 16.1, House Publications, 1876-1994, covers diverse topics; some proscriptive works about the Ayer method in advertising, some commemorating people, anniversaries or events in the life of the agency. Materials consist of scattered issues of the employee newsletter The Next Step 1920-1921. The materials are arranged in chronological order by date of publication. Ayer in the News, The Show Windows of an Advertising Agency, 1915, book form of advertisements published on the cover of Printer's Ink, highlighting Ayer's relations with advertisers. The Story of the States, 1916, Reprint in book form of a series of articles published in Printer's Ink for the purpose of adding some pertinent fact, progressive thought and prophetic vision to the Nationalism of Advertising highlights major businesses, manufacturer, natural resources and other qualities or attractions of each state. The Book of the Golden Celebration, 1919, includes welcome address and closing remarks by founder F. Wayland Ayer, The Next Step, 1920 employee newsletter with photographs, employee profiles, in-house jokes, etc., Advertising Advertising: A Series of Fifty-two Advertisements scheduled one time a week. Twenty-seven, thirty and forty inches, a day of the week optional with publisher, 1924

Subseries 16.2, Publications about NW Ayer, 1949-2006, includes a book first published in 1939. Includes articles, documenting events and is arranged chronologically by date of publication.

Subseries 16.3, General Publications about Advertising, 1922-1974, are arranged chronologically by date of publication and relate primarily to the history of advertising.

Subseries 16.4, Publications about Other Subjects, 1948-1964, include four books about the tobacco industry primarily the history of the American Tobacco Company and Lorillard Company from the Cunningham and Walsh library.

Series 17, Business Records, circa 1885-1990s

Subseries 17.1, Contracts, 1885-1908, undated, are arranged alphabetically and span from 1885-1908. The majority of the contracts are with newspaper and magazine publishers from around the country.

Subseries 17.2, General client information, 1911-1999, undated, including active and cancelled lists with dates, client gains, historical client list, (should move this to series 20) Ayer Plan User Guide Strategic Planning for Human Contact, undated

Subseries 17.3, Individual Client Account Information, 1950s-1990s, undated, contain information used by Ayer to create advertisements for some of its clients. American Telephone &Telegraph Corporate Case History, American Telephone &Telegraph Corporate advertisement memo, commissioned artists for DeBeers advertisements, DeBeers information relating to the creative process and photography credits, a case history for DeBeers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., The Diamond Engagement Ring, Managing Communication at all levels, DuPont publications, JC Penny Marketing Communication Plan Recommendation, Leaf, Incorporated, Saturn presentation, and USAREC oral presentation.

Subseries 17.4, Potential Clients, 1993, includes grouping has a questionnaire sent to Ayer by a potential client. Questionnaire response for Prudential Securities, 1993 Prudential Securities advertising account review, 1993.

Subseries 17.5, Financial Records, 1929-1938, includes balance sheet, 1929 May 1 Balance sheet and adjustments Consolidated statement of assets and liabilities, Expenses 191936-37 Business review and expenses, 1937 and 1938 Business review and expenses comparative statement, 1937 and 1938.

Series 18, Legal Records, circa 1911-1982, Ayer's legal records are arranged by twelve subject groupings within four boxes. The twelve groupings are advertising service agreements (circa 1918-1982), bylaws, copyright claims, correspondences, international correspondences, dissolution of trusts, stock information, agreements between partners, incorporation materials, reduction of capital, property information and miscellaneous materials. The bulk of the materials are the advertising service agreements. These agreements are between Ayer and their clients and state the services Ayer will offer and at what cost. The bylaws are Ayer's company bylaws from 1969 and 1972. The copyright claims are certificates stating Ayer's ownership over certain published materials (i.e. "Policy", Media Equalizer Model, and Don Newman's Washington Square Experiment). The correspondences relate to either the voting trust and receipts for agreement or the New York Corporation. The international correspondences are from either Ayer's Canadian office or London office. The dissolutions of trusts contains materials about the dividend trust of Wilfred F. Fry, the investment trust of Winfred W. Fry, the voting trust, and the New York corporation. The stock information has stock certificates and capital stock information. The agreements between partners (1911-1916) specify the terms between F.W. Ayer and his partners. The incorporation materials (circa 1929-1977) deal with Ayer advertising agency becoming incorporated in the state of Delaware. The reduction of capital grouping is a notification that shares of stock have been retired. The property information grouping contains property deeds and insurance policy (circa 1921-1939), a property appraisal (1934), and a bill of sale (1948). The miscellaneous grouping contains a house memo regarding a set of board meeting minutes and a registry of foreign companies in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1929-1954).

Subseries 18.1, Advertising Service Agreements, 1918-1982

Subseries 18.2, Bylaw Materials, 1969-1972

Subseries 18.3, Copyright Claims, 1962-1969

Subseries 18.4, Correspondence, 1928-1933

Subseries 18.5, International Office Correspondence, 1947-1948

Subseries 18.6, Dissolution of Trusts, 1934-1937

Subseries 18.7, Stock Information, 1934-1974

Subseries 18.8, Agreements between Partners, 1911-1916

Subseries 18.9, Incorporation Materials, 1929-1977

Subseries 18.10, Certificates of Reduction of Capital, 1937; 1975

Subseries 18.11, Property Information, 1921-1948

Subseries 18.12, Miscellaneous Materials, 1929-1977

Series 19, Personnel Records, circa 1889-2001, are arranged into eight groupings within eight boxes. The groupings are employee card files, photographs, Ayer alumni, biographies, speeches, recollections, oral histories, and miscellaneous. Typed manuscript of book A Copy Writer Speaks by George Cecil, NW Ayer, Incorporated copy head 1920s-1950s

Subseries 19.1, Employee card files, circa 1892-1915; 1929-1963, consists of index cards with the name, age, job title, date and wage increases, date of hire/fire, as well as remarks about the employee's service and/or reasons for seeking or leaving the job. Materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the employee within three boxes.

Subseries 19.2, Photographs, circa 1924-1984, undated, are housed in two boxes. The photographs grouped together by subjects i.e. personnel, company events, Ayer buildings, and miscellaneous. This grouping primarily consists of personnel photographs. Includes a glass plate negative dated 1924 of NW Ayer.

Subseries 19.3, Ayer Alumni, circa 1989-98, include employees who have left Ayer. There is a listing of Ayer "graduates" and their current job. Emeritus, Ayer's alumni newsletter 1989-1996, makes up the majority of materials in this grouping. The newsletter keeps the alumni up to date with the happenings of Ayer and what has become of former Ayer employees. Emeritus is a quarterly newsletter devoted to the activities, thoughts and feelings of Ayer alumni a body of people who consists of retirees and former employees.

Subseries 19.4, Biographical Information, circa 1889-1994, undated, prominent members of Ayer's operations had biographical sketches completed of them. This was true for the bio sketches of Robert Ervin, Louis T. Hagopian, and George A. Rink. There is a substantial file on Dorothy Dignam ("Mis Dig"), a leading woman in the advertising world from the 1930s to the 1950s. Also of interest is a video ("The Siano Man") compiled by Ayer employees to commemorate Jerry Siano's retirement from Ayer in 1994. The series is arranged alphabetically by last name.

Subseries 19.5, Speeches, circa 1919-1931; 1975, contains speeches made by Wilfred W. Fry and Neal W. O'Connor. Wilfred W. Fry had various speaking engagements connected with Ayer. Contained in this group is a sampling of his speeches from 1919 to 1931. Neal O'Connor's speech "Advertising: Who Says It's a Young People's Business" was given at the Central Region Convention for the American Association of Advertising Agencies in Chicago on November 6, 1975. The speeches are arranged alphabetically by the speaker's last name.

Subseries 19.6, Recollections, 1954-1984, undated, are arranged alphabetically by last name. These are recollections from Ayer employees about the company and its advertisements. Some recollections are specifically about certain types of advertisements, like farm equipment while others reflect on F. W. Ayer and the company.

Subseries 19.7, Oral History Interview Transcripts, 1983-1985; 1989-1991, include interviews with key NW Ayer personnel, conducted by Ayer alumnae Howard Davis, Brad Lynch and Don Sholl (Vice President creative) for the Oral History Program. The materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the interviewee.

Subseries 19.8, Oral History Interview Audio Tapes, 1985-1990, include interviews on audiotape the materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the interviewee.

Subseries 19.9, Internal Communications, 1993-1999, includes information sent to employees relating to retirements, management changes, awards won by the company, promotions, potential new accounts, free items, grand opening of Ayer Café, donation events, sponsorship programs, holiday schedules, discounts for employees from clients, Ayer joins MacManus Group.

Subseries 19.10, General Materials, 1940; 1970, includes agency directory entry including a list of the employees, 1970s, annual banquet program for the Curfew Club May 22, 1940 a group formed by the Philadelphia employee in 1938. It sponsored numerous sports, social and educational activities. Groups were formed in public speaking, music appreciation and a series of talks on Monday evenings title the modern woman. The front page was a series of talks for general interest. A list of officers, 1991, Twenty five year club membership, 1973 December 1, List of NW Ayer graduates, 1970, List of Officers, 1991 May 31, Obituary for Leo Lionni, 1999 October 17, List of photographers of advertisements, 2001

Series 20, Background and History Information, 1817-1999, undated includes a chronology, 1817-1990, quick reference timeline, 1848-1923, loose pages from a scrapbook containing examples of correspondence, envelopes, advertisements dating from 1875-1878; slogans coined by NW Ayer & Sons, Incorporated, 1899-1990, history of management, 1909-1923, articles and photographs about the building and art galleries, 1926-1976, publications about the Philadelphia building, 1929, pamphlet relating to memories of NW Ayer & Sons, Incorporated, 1930s-1950s, television history, 1940-1948, Article about the history of the company, 1950 January, pocket guide, 1982, AdWeek reports about standings for advertising agencies, information relating to Human Contact which is NW Ayer's Information relating to Human Contact, undated which is their philosophy on advertising.

Series 21, Materials Created by other Advertising Agencies, 1945-1978, undated, consists of print advertisements collected by Ayer from other major advertising companies. The companies include Doyle Dane Bernback, Incorporated, Leo Burnett Company, Grey Advertising Agency, D'Arcy Ad Agency, Scali, McCabe, Sloves, Incorporated and Erwin Wasey Company. The materials are arranged in alphabetical order by client and include products from Ralston Purina and Van Camp (Chicken of the Sea), Kellogg, American Export Lines and No Nonsense Fashions.

Series 22, 2010 Addendum of Print Advertisements, circa 1879s-1999, undated, includes material given to the Archives Center in 2010. It is organized into seventy one oversized boxes and contains proofsheets of print advertisements for select Ayer clients. These are arranged alphabetically by client name and include substantial quantities of materials from American Telephone &Telegraph (1945-1996), Bahamas Ministry of Tourism (1967-1987), Carrier (1971-1981), Citibank (1973-1991), DeBeers (1940s-1960s and1990s), Electric Companies Advertising Program [ECAP] (1942-1970s), General Motors (1989-1998), J.C. Penney (1983-1986), Newsweek (1966-1975), and Proctor and Gamble (1980s-1890s). There are also numerous other clients represented by smaller quantities of materials.

Subseries 22.1, Print Advertisements, 1930-1990, undated

Subseries 22.2, Print Advertisements on Glass Plate Negatives, 1879-1881, undated, include Cannon towels, Cheny Brothers silks, Cornish & Company organs and pianos, Enterprise Manufacturing Company, 1879 sad iron, an ad from Harper's Weekly 1881 for ladies clothing, Ostermoor & Company mattresses, Pear's soap, Porter's cough balsam, Steinway pianos.

Series 23, Microfilm of Print Advertisements, circa 1908-1985, consists of three boxes of printed advertisements for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Some of the same advertisements might also be found in series two, three and four.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into twenty-three series.

Series 1: Scrapbooks of Client Print Advertisements, circa 1870-1920

Series 2: Proofsheets, circa 1870-1930

Series 3: Proofsheets, circa 1920-1975

Series 4: 2001 Addendum, circa 1976-2001

Series 5: Billboards, circa 1952-1956

Series 6: Audiovisual Materials

Series 7: Radio and Television Materials, 1933-1993, undated

Series 8: Chicago Office Print Advertisements, 1954-1989

Series 9: Los Angeles Office Materials, 1950s-1987

Subseries 9.1: Printed Advertisements, 1977-1987

Subseries 9.2: Personnel Files, 1950s-1970s

Series 10: Foreign Print Advertisements, 1977-1991, undated

Series 11: Cunningham & Walsh Incorporated Materials, 1915-1987, undated

Subseries 11.1: Printed Advertisements, 1915-1987

Subseries 11.2: Radio and Television Advertisements, 1963-1967

Subseries 11.3: Company Related Materials, 1962-1986, undated

Series 12: Hixson & Jorgensen Materials, 1953-1971, undated

Series 13: Newell-Emmet, 1942-1957

Series 14: House Print Advertisements, 1870-1991

Series 15: Scrapbooks, 1872-1959

Series 16: Publications, 1849-2006

Subseries 16.1: House Publications, 1876-1994

Subseries 16.2: Publications about NW Ayer, 1949-1995

Subseries 16.3: General Publications about Advertising, 1922-2006

Subseries 16.4: Publications about other Subjects, 1948-1964

Series 17, Business Records, circa 1885-1990s

Subseries 17.1: Contracts, 1885-1908, undated

Subseries 17.2: General Client Information, 1911-1999, undated

Subseries 17.3: Individual Client Account Information, 1950s-1990s, undated

Subseries 17.4: Potential Clients, 1993

Subseries 17.5: Financial Records, 1929-1938

Series 18: Legal Records, circa 1911-1984

Subseries 18.1: Advertising Service Agreements, 1918-1982

Subseries 18.2: Bylaw Materials, 1969-1972

Subseries 18.3, Copyright Claims, 1962-1969

Subseries 18.4: Correspondence, 1928-1933

Subseries 18.5: International Office Correspondence, 1947-1948

Subseries 18.6: Dissolution of Trusts, 1934-1937

Subseries 18.7: Stock Information, 1934-1974

Subseries 18.8: Agreements between Partners, 1911-1916

Subseries 18.9: Incorporation Materials, 1929-1977

Subseries 18.10: Certificates of Reduction of Capital, 1937; 1975

Subseries 18.11: Property Information

Subseries 18.12: Miscellaneous Materials, 1929-1977

Series 19: Employee Materials, circa 1889-2001

Subseries 19.1: Employee Card files, circa 1892-1915; 1929-1963

Subseries 19.2: Photographs, circa 1924-1984, undated

Subseries 19.3: Alumni Publications, circa 1989-1998

Subseries 19.4: Biographical Information, circa 1889-1994

Subseries 19.5: Speeches, circa 1919-1931; 1975

Subseries 19.6: Recollections, 1954-1984, undated

Subseries 19.7: Oral History Interview Transcripts, 1983-1985; 1989-1991

Subseries 19.8: Oral History Audiotapes, 1985-1990

Subseries 19.9: Internal Communications, 1993-1999

Subseries 19.1: General Materials, 1940-2001

Series 20: History and Background Information about the Company, 1817-1999, undated

Series 21: Materials Created by other Advertising Agencies, 1945-1978, undated

Series 22: 2010 Addendum of Print Advertisements, circa 1879s-1990s, undated

Subseries 22.1: Print Advertisements, 1930-1990, undated

Subseries 22.2: Print Advertisements on Glass Plate Negatives, 1879-1881, undated

Series 23: Microfilm of Print Advertisements, circa 1908-1985
Biographical / Historical:
Founded in Philadelphia in 1869, NW Ayer & Son is one of the oldest and largest advertising agencies in America. For most of its history, it was the undisputed leader and innovator in the field of advertising. In 1876, NW Ayer & Son pioneered the "open contract", a revolutionary change in the method of billing for advertising which became the industry standard for the next hundred years. NW Ayer pioneered the use of fine art in advertising and established the industry's first art department. It was the first agency to use a full-time copywriter and the first to institute a copy department. The agency relocated to New York City in 1974. During its long history, the agency's clients included many "blue-chip" clients, including American Telephone & Telegraph, DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Mines, Ford Motor Company, Nabisco, R. J. Reynolds and United Airlines. However, in later years, the Ayer's inherent conservatism left the agency vulnerable to the creative revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, the advertising industry restructuring of the 1980s and the economic recession of the early 1990s. The agency was bought out by a Korean investor in 1993. In 1996, NW Ayer merged with another struggling top twenty United States advertising agency, Darcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, under the umbrella of the McManus Group. Ayer continues to operate as a separate, full-service agency.

Through a series of buyouts and mergers, Ayer traces its lineage to the first advertising agency founded in the United States, a Philadelphia agency begun by Volney Palmer in 1841. Palmer began his career in advertising as a newspaper agent, acting as middleman between newspaper publishers and advertisers across the country. By 1849, Palmer had founded his own newspaper, V. B. Palmer's Register and Spirit of the Press, and had developed a complete system of advertising which included securing advertising space and placing ads in scores of commercial, political, religious, scientific and agricultural journals across the country. Palmer went one step further than the "space jobbers" of the day when he began offering "advertisements carefully drawn for those who have not the time to prepare an original copy." Always an enthusiastic promoter of advertising as an incentive to trade and American economic growth, Palmer promised advertisers that "every dollar paid for advertising in country newspapers will pay back twenty-fold" and encouraged skeptical consumers that "he who wishes to buy cheap should buy of those who advertise." When Palmer died in 1863, the agency was bought by his bookkeeper, John Joy, who joined with another Philadelphia advertising agency to form Joy, Coe & Sharpe. That agency was bought out again in 1868 and renamed Coe, Wetherill & Company. In 1877, Coe, Wetherill and Company was bought out by the newly formed NW Ayer & Son.

Francis Wayland Ayer was an ambitious young schoolteacher with an entrepreneurial streak. Having worked for a year soliciting advertisements on a commission basis for the publisher of the National Baptist weekly, Francis Ayer saw the potential to turn a profit as an advertising agent. In 1869, Ayer persuaded his father, Nathan Wheeler Ayer, to join him in business, and with an initial investment of only $250.00, NW Ayer & Son was born. Notwithstanding a smallpox epidemic in Philadelphia in 1871 and the general economic depression of the early 1870s, the agency flourished. The senior Ayer died in 1873, leaving his interest in the agency to his wife, but Francis W. Ayer bought her out, consolidating his interest in the company's management. In 1877, with Coe, Wetherill & Company (the successor to Palmer's 1841 agency) on the verge of bankruptcy and heavily indebted to Ayer for advertising it had placed in Ayer publications, Ayer assumed ownership of that agency. Thus did NW Ayer lay claim to being the oldest advertising agency in the country.

Both Nathan Wheeler and Francis Wayland Ayer began their careers as schoolteachers, and one of their legacies was a commitment to the cause of education: correspondence schools and institutions of higher learning were historically well-represented among Ayer clients. Just after World War I, the agency was heralded as "co-founder of more schools than any citizen of this country" for its conspicuous efforts to advertise private schools. Well into the 1960s, an "Education Department" at Ayer prepared advertisements for over three hundred private schools, camps and colleges, representing almost half the regional and national advertising done for such institutions. In fact, to its clients Ayer presented advertising itself as being akin to a system of education. In 1886, Ayer began promoting the virtues of the Ayer way advertising with the slogan, "Keeping Everlastingly at It Brings Success."

The agency's goals were simple: "to make advertising pay the advertiser, to spend the advertiser's money as though it were our own, to develop, magnify and dignify advertising as a business." Initially, Ayer's fortunes were tied to newspapers, and the agency began to make a name for itself as compiler and publisher of a widely used American Newspaper Annual. During the first years, Ayer's singular goal was "to get business, place it [in newspapers] and get money for it"; after several years as an independent space broker, however, Francis Ayer resolved "not to be an order taker any longer." This decision led NW Ayer and Son to a change in its mode of conducting business which would revolutionize the advertising industry: in 1876, Ayer pioneered the "open contract" with Diggee & Conard, Philadelphia raised growers and agricultural suppliers. Prior to the open contract, NW Ayer & Sons and most agencies operated as "space-jobbers," independent wholesalers of advertising space, in which the opportunities for graft and corrupt practices were virtually unlimited. In contrast, the open contract, wherein the advertiser paid a fixed commission based on the volume of advertising placed, aligned the advertising agent firmly on the side of the advertiser and gave advertisers access to the actual rates charged by newspapers and religious journals. The open contract with a fixed commission has been hailed by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker as one of the "three great landmarks in advertising history." (The other two were Lasker's own development of "reason-why" advertising copy and J. Walter Thompson's pioneering of sex appeal in an advertisement for Woodbury's soap.) Although the transition to the open contract did not happen overnight, by 1884, nearly three-quarters of Ayer's advertising billings were on an open contract basis. Since Ayer was, by the 1890s, the largest agency in America, the switch to direct payment by advertisers had a significant impact on the advertising industry, as other agencies were forced to respond to Ayer's higher standard. Just as important, the open contract helped to establish N W Ayer's long-standing reputation for "clean ethics and fair dealing" -- a reputation the agency has guarded jealously for over a century. The open contract also helped to establish Ayer as a full service advertising agency and to regularize the production of advertising in-house. From that point forward, Ayer routinely offered advice and service beyond the mere placement of advertisements. Ayer set another milestone for the industry in 1888, when Jarvis Wood was hired as the industry's first full-time copywriter. Wood was joined by a second full time copywriter four years later, and the Copy Department was formally established in 1900. The industry's first Art Department grew out of the Copy Department when Ayer hired its first commercial artist to assist with copy preparation in 1898; twelve years later Ayer became the first agency to offer the services of a full time art director, whose sole responsibility was the design and illustration of ads.

Ayer's leadership in the use of fine art in advertising has roots in this period, but achieved its highest expression under the guidance of legendary art director Charles Coiner. Coiner joined Ayer in 1924, after graduating from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Despite early resistance from some clients, Coiner was adamant that "the use of outstanding palette and original art forms bring a greater return in readership, in impact and prestige for the advertiser." To this end, Coiner marshaled the talents of notable painters, illustrators and photographers, including N.C. Wyeth and Rockwell Kent (Steinway), Georgia O'Keefe (Dole), Leo Lionni (DuPont), Edward Steichen (Steinway, Cannon Mills), Charles Sheeler (Ford), and Irving Penn (DeBeers). Coiner believed that there was a practical side to the use of fine art in advertising, and his success (and Ayer's) lay in the marriage of research and copywriting with fine art, an arrangement Coiner termed "art for business sake." Coiner's efforts won both awards and attention for a series completed in the 1950s for the Container Corporation of America. Titled "Great Ideas of Western Man" the campaign featured abstract and modern paintings and sculpture by leading U.S. and foreign artists, linked with Western philosophical writings in an early example of advertising designed primarily to bolster corporate image. In 1994, Charles Coiner was posthumously named to the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Fame, the first full time art director ever chosen for that honor.

Coiner and fellow art director Paul Darrow also created legendary advertising with the "A Diamond Is Forever" campaign for DeBeers; ads featured the work of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and other modernist painters. The "A Diamond is Forever" tagline was written in 1949 by Frances Gerety, a woman copywriter at Ayer from 1943 to 1970. In 1999, Ad Age magazine cited "A Diamond is Forever" as the most memorable advertising slogan of the twentieth century.

Coiner also earned respect for his volunteer government service during World War II; he designed the armbands for civil defense volunteers and logos for the National Recovery Administration and Community Chest. As a founding member of the Advertising Council in 1945, Ayer has had a long-standing commitment to public service advertising. In the mid-1980s, Ayer became a leading force in the Reagan-era "War on Drugs". Lou Hagopian, Ayer's sixth CEO, brokered the establishment of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a media coalition which generated as much as a million dollars a day in donated advertising space and time to prevent the use and abuse of illegal drugs. Famous names appear among NW Ayer's clientele from the very earliest days of the agency. Retailer John Wanamaker, Jay Cooke and Company, and Montgomery Ward's mail-order business were among the first Ayer clients. The agency has represented at least twenty automobile manufacturers, including Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Plymouth, and Rolls-Royce. Other major, long-term clients through the years have included American Telephone & Telegraph, Canada Dry, Cannon Mills, Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Kellogg's, R. J. Reynolds, Steinway and Sons, United Airlines, and the United States Army. By the time of Ayer's hundredth anniversary in 1969, some of these companies had been Ayer clients for decades if not generations, and the longevity of those relationships was for many years a source of Ayer's strength.

But the advertising industry began to change in the late 1960s and 1970s, due in part to a "creative revolution." Small advertising agencies won attention with provocative copywriting and art direction that more closely resembled art than advertising. Advances in market research allowed clients to more narrowly tailor their advertising messages to distinct groups of consumers, and this led to a rise in targeted marketing which could more readily be doled out to specialized small agencies than to larger, established firms like NW Ayer & Son. The civil rights and anti-war movements also contributed to increasing public skepticism with the values of corporate America, and by extension, with some national advertising campaigns. Older, more conservative firms like Ayer were hard pressed to meet these new challenges.

About 1970, in an effort to meet these challenges and to establish a foothold on the West Coast, Ayer bought out two smaller agencies--Hixson & Jorgenson (Los Angeles) and Frederick E. Baker (Seattle). The agency relocated from Philadelphia to New York City in 1974 in an attempt both to consolidate operations (Ayer had operated a New York office since the 1920s) and to be closer to the historic center of the advertising industry. Riding the wave of mergers that characterized the advertising industry in the late 1980s and 1990s, Ayer continued to grow through the acquisition of Cunningham & Walsh in 1986 and Rink Wells in 19xx.

During this transitional period, Ayer received widespread acclaim for its work for the United States Army, which included the widely recognized slogan "Be All You Can Be". Ayer first acquired the Army recruitment account in 1967 and with help from its direct marketing arm, the agency was widely credited with helping the Army reach its recruitment goals despite an unpopular war and plummeting enlistments after the elimination of the draft in 1973. Ayer held the account for two decades, from the Vietnam War through the Cold War, but lost the account in 1986 amid government charges that an Ayer employee assigned to the account accepted kickbacks from a New York film production house. Despite Ayer's position as the country's 18th largest agency (with billings of $880 million in 1985), the loss of the agency's second largest account hit hard.

NW Ayer made up for the loss of the $100 million dollar a year Army account and made headlines for being on the winning end of the largest account switch in advertising history to date, when fast food giant Burger King moved its $200 million dollar advertising account from arch-rival J. Walter Thompson in 1987. Burger King must have had drive-thru service in mind, however, and Ayer made headlines again when it lost the account just eighteen months later in another record-breaking account switch. Another devastating blow to the agency was the loss of its lead position on the American Telegraph and Telephone account. Ayer pioneered telecommunications advertising in 1908, when the agency was selected to craft advertising for the Bell System's universal telephone service. Despite valiant efforts to keep an account the agency had held for most of the twentieth century, and for which they had written such memorable corporate slogans as American Telephone &Telegraph "The Voice with a Smile" and "Reach Out and Touch Someone", the agency lost the account in 1996.

After a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the late 1980s, the economic recession of the early 1990s hit Madison Avenue hard, and Ayer was particularly vulnerable. Despite the agency's long history and roster of "blue-chip" clients, Ayer was not known for cutting-edge creative work. Moreover, though the agency had offices overseas, Ayer had never built a strong multinational presence, and many of the smaller international offices were sold during the financial turmoil of the 1980s. This left a real void in the new climate of global marketplace consolidation. By about 1990, earnings were declining (although Ayer was still among the top twenty United States agencies in billings), and the agency was suffering from client defections, high management turnover, expensive real estate commitments and deferred executive compensation deals, all fallout of the high-flying 1980s. This was the atmosphere in 1993, when W.Y. Choi, a Korean investor who had already assembled a media and marketing empire in his homeland, began looking for an American partner to form an international advertising network. Jerry Siano, the former creative director who had recently been named Ayer's seventh CEO, was in no position to refuse Choi's offer of $35 million to buy the now floundering agency. The infusion of cash was no magic bullet, however. Choi took a wait-and-see approach, allowing his partner Richard Humphreys to make key decisions about Ayer's future, including the purging of senior executives and the installation of two new CEOs in as many years.

The agency's downward trend continued with the loss of another longtime client, the DeBeers diamond cartel in 1995. Adweek reported that Ayer's billings fell from $892 million in 1990 to less than $850 million in 1995. Several top executives defected abruptly, and the agency failed to attract major new accounts. Ayer was facing the loss not merely of revenue and personnel, but the loss of much of the respect it once commanded. Ayer remained among the twenty largest U.S. agencies, but an aura of uncertainty hung over the agency like a cloud. A new CEO was appointed, and Mary Lou Quinlan became the agency's first woman CEO in 1995. A year later, Ayer and another struggling top twenty agency, D'arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, combined as part of the McManus Group of companies. In 1998, the McManus Group had worldwide billings of more than $6.5 billion.

Under the McManus Group, Ayer was able to expand its international operations and begin to rebuild a stronger global presence. Several important new clients were won in 1997 and 1998, including Avon, General Motors, Kitchenaid, several Procter & Gamble brands and, most notably, Continental Airlines worldwide accounts. Born in the nineteenth century, Ayer may be one of a very few advertising agencies to successfully weather the economic and cultural transitions of both the twentieth and twentieth first centuries. Ayer was eventually acquired by the Publicis Groupe based in Paris, France which closed down the N.W. Ayer offices in 2002.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)

Hills Bros. Coffee Incorporated Records (AC0395)
Provenance:
The collection was donated by N W Ayer ABH International, April 15, 1975 and by Ayer & Partners, October 30, 1996.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must use microfilm copy. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.

Technical Access: Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire; listening to audio discs requires special arrangement. Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
Rights:
Publication and production quality duplication is restricted due to complex copyright, publicity rights, and right to privacy issues. Potential users must receive written permission from appropriate rights holders prior to obtaining high quality copies. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Advertising agencies  Search this
advertising  Search this
Genre/Form:
Business records -- 1840-2000
Interviews -- 1980-2000
Oral history -- 1980-1990
Print advertising
Proof sheets
Proofs (printed matter)
Scrapbooks -- 1840-1990
Trade literature
Tear sheets
Advertisements
Citation:
NW Ayer & Sons, incorporated Advertising Agency Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0059
See more items in:
N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8920ed035-d211-4a58-9047-b31fa79464bd
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0059
Online Media:

Reuben Tam papers, 1931-2006

Creator:
Tam, Reuben  Search this
Subject:
Andrews, Dorothy  Search this
Nesjar, Carl  Search this
Kienbusch, William  Search this
Solomon, Hyde  Search this
Alan Gallery (Charles Alan)  Search this
Coe Kerr Gallery  Search this
Brooklyn Museum of Art  Search this
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation  Search this
Downtown Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture  Search this
Type:
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Poems
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Watercolors
Drawings
Citation:
Reuben Tam papers, 1931-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Educators -- Hawaii  Search this
Educators -- Maine  Search this
Educators -- New York (State)  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Theme:
Asian American  Search this
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8481
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210657
AAA_collcode_tamreub
Theme:
Asian American
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210657
Online Media:

Reuben Tam papers

Creator:
Tam, Reuben  Search this
Names:
Alan Gallery (Charles Alan)  Search this
Brooklyn Museum of Art  Search this
Coe Kerr Gallery  Search this
Downtown Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation  Search this
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture  Search this
Andrews, Dorothy, 1918-2008  Search this
Kienbusch, William, 1914-1980  Search this
Nesjar, Carl, 1920-2015  Search this
Solomon, Hyde, 1911-  Search this
Extent:
9.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Poems
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Watercolors
Drawings
Date:
1931-2006
Summary:
The papers of landscape painter and educator Reuben Tam measure 9.2 linear feet and date from 1931 to 2006. The papers document his career as a painter in New York, Maine, and Hawaii through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, art organizations, schools, and galleries; diaries, poetry, and other writings; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, other printed material; photographs; artwork, including seventeen sketchbooks; and eight scrapbooks.

There is a 1.1 linear foot unprocessed addition to the collection donated in 2020 that includes 34 sketchbooks, circa 1940-1974, by Tam from his time in New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Alaska and Canada.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of landscape painter and educator Reuben Tam measure 9.2 linear feet and date from 1931 to 2006. The papers document his career as a painter in New York, Maine, and Hawaii through biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, art organizations, schools, and galleries; diaries, poetry, and other writings; exhibition catalogs, news clippings, other printed material; photographs; artwork, including seventeen sketchbooks; and eight scrapbooks. There is a 1.1 linear foot unprocessed addition to the collection donated in 2020 that includes 34 sketchbooks, circa 1940-1974, by Tam from his time in New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Alaska and Canada.

Biographical material includes school documents, records of his tenure as an instructor at the Brooklyn Museum of Art School, artwork consignment and sales records, and slides and accompanying audio cassette recording of the "Reuben Tam Show" about his work as an artist on Monhegan Island, Maine.

Correspondence is with family, fellow artists, including William Kienbusch and Hyde Solomon, as well as art organizations, schools, and museums, such as Brooklyn Museum of Art School, Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Maine Coast Artists group, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is correspondence with the three galleries which represented his work: Downtown Gallery, Alan Gallery, and Coe Kerr Gallery.

The collection includes five bound diaries as well as diary entries written by Reuben Tam on loose sheets of paper, primarily documenting the 1940s. Other writings include drafts of poetry, one notebook, miscellaneous notes, and essays by others.

Printed material consists of school publications, exhibition catalogs and announcements for solo and group shows, brochures, flyers, magazines, bulletins, and news clippings. Eight scrapbooks found in this collection also include newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, as well as event invitations, membership cards, and letters, documenting 40 years of Reuben Tam's career.

Photographs are of Reuben Tam, Tam with friends and family, and artwork. One photograph album contains photographs from Tam's visits to Maine from 1946 to 1948, and includes photographs of fellow artists Hyde Solomon, Carl Nesjar, Dorothy Andrews, and William Kienbusch. Artwork in the collection includes prints, drawings, and watercolors as well as seventeen large sketchbooks documenting the coastal landscape of Monhegan Island, Maine.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1934-1993 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1931-2006 (Box 1-4; 3.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Diaries, 1932-1974 (Box 4-5; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, 1939-1987 (Box 5; 7 folders)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1935-1997 (Box 5-6, 9; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1930-1990 (Box 6-7, 9; 1.0 linear foot)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1936-1975 (Box 7, 9-10, OV 11; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1938-1978 (Box 7-8; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 9: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1940-1974 (Box 12, OV13; 1.1 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Reuben Tam (1916-1991) was a landscape painter and educator in New York, Maine, and Hawaii. Tam was born in Kapaa, Hawaii, in 1916. He received a degree in education in 1937 from the University of Hawaii and was briefly a public school teacher before attending graduate courses at the California School of Fine Arts. In 1941 he moved to New York and took courses in art history and philosophy at the New School for Social Research and Columbia University. Tam became affiliated with the Downtown Gallery in 1945 and was a prolific exhibitor in national and regional shows, winning critical praise as an abstract landscape painter. In 1948 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and first exhibited in the National Academy's annual exhibition in 1947.

Tam was an instructor at the Brooklyn Museum of Art School from 1946 to 1974. While there he taught advanced studies in painting and was chairman of the graduate painting department. He also served as a visiting professor at Oregon State University, Haystack, and Queens College, CUNY.

Beginning in 1948, Tam and his wife, Geraldine, spent summers at their home and studio on Monhegan Island, Maine. Tam's work was deeply influenced by coastal landscapes both in Maine and in his native Hawaii. In 1981 he and his wife moved back to Kapaa, Hawaii, where he continued to paint and exhibit his new works until his death in 1991.
Related Materials:
Reuben Tam papers, 1958-1966, are also located at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Scrapbooks were lent for microfilming in 1970 by Reuben Tam and were subsequently donated in 2009 along with additional papers by Geraldine King Tam, Reuben Tam's widow. 34 additional sketchbooks were donated in 2020 by the Geraldine King Tam Trust, via Cindy King, trustee and niece of Geraldine King Tam.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- Maine  Search this
Painters -- Hawaii  Search this
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Educators -- Hawaii  Search this
Educators -- Maine  Search this
Educators -- New York (State)  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Poems
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Watercolors
Drawings
Citation:
Reuben Tam papers, 1931-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.tamreub
See more items in:
Reuben Tam papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9cf2f8a4b-e9dd-4583-8b33-f5ac639c6ce0
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-tamreub
Online Media:

Ella Fitzgerald Papers

Creator:
Fitzgerald, Ella, 1917-1996  Search this
Producer:
Decca (recording company).  Search this
Verve Records (Firm)  Search this
Granz, Norman  Search this
Performer:
Jazz at the Philharmonic (Musical group)  Search this
Musician:
Betts, Keter, 1928-  Search this
Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this
Gillespie, Dizzy, 1917-1993  Search this
Pass, Joe, 1929-1994  Search this
Peterson, Oscar, 1925-  Search this
Names:
Goodman, Benny (Benjamin David), 1909-1986  Search this
Arranger:
Riddle, Nelson  Search this
Extent:
50 Cubic feet (92 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Awards
Videocassettes
Audiotapes
Programs
Sound recordings
Manuscripts
Phonograph records
Photographs
Posters
16mm motion picture film
Clippings
Contracts
Greeting cards
Date:
circa 1935-1996
Summary:
Ella Fitzgerald, often called the "First Lady of Song," was one of the 20th century's most important musical performers. The collection reflects her career and personal life through photographs, audio recordings, and manuscript materials.
Scope and Contents:
The Ella Fitzgerald Papers document the performing and personal life of the "First Lady of Song." The collection contains music manuscripts, sheet music, photographs, scripts, correspondence, clippings, business records, sound recordings and video. The bulk of the materials reflect Fitzgerald's career as a singer and performer. The collection comprises materials found in Ella Fitzgerald's home at the time of her death.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into 10 series.

Series 1: Music Manuscripts and Sheet Music, 1919-1973

Suberies 1.1: Television Shows

Series 2: Photographs, 1939-1990

Subseries 2.1: Ella Fitzgerald Performing Alone

Subseries 2.2: Ella Fitzgerald Performing With Others

Subseries 2.3: Publicity

Subseries 2.4: Ella Fitzgerald With Family, Colleagues, and Friends

Subseries 2.5: Ella Fitzgerald Candid Photographs

Subseries 2.6: Performing Venues

Subseries 2.7: Photographs From Friends and Fans

Series 3: Scripts, 1957-1981

Series 4: Correspondence, circa 1960-1996

Series 5: Business Records, 1954-1990

Series 6: Honorary Degrees and Awards, 1960-1996

Series 7: Concert Programs and Announcements, 1957-1992, undated

Series 8: Clippings, 1949-1997

Subseries 8.1: Magazine Articles, 1949-1997

Subseries 8.2: Newspapers, circa 19650-circa 1990

Series 9: Emphemera, 1950-1996

Subseries 9.1: Album Jackets

Subseries 9.2: Miscellaneous

Series 10: Audiovisual, 1939-1995

Subseries 10.1: Sound Discs: Test Pressings, Transcription Discs, and Performer Copies, 1939-1979

Subseries 10.2: Commercial Sound Recordings, 1956-1961

Subseries 10.3: Demonstration Sound Discs: Other Artists

Subseries 10.4: Sound Tapes, 1938-1996

Subseries 10.5: Videotapes, 1967-1999

Subseries 10.6: Reference Tape Cassettes (for 1/4" open reel originals)
Biographical / Historical:
Born in Newport News, Virginia on April 25th, 1918, Ella Fitzgerald was sent to an orphanage in Yonkers, New York at the age of six. In 1934, she was discovered as a singer in New York's famed Apollo Theater Amateur Contest. This led to a stint with drummer Chick Webb's Band, with whom she recorded her first big hit, "A -tisket A-tasket" in 1938.

After Webb died in 1939, Fitzgerald took over leadership of the band for three years, during which time they were featured on a live radio series. She then embarked upon a solo career, which included recording for Decca Records, and in 1946, she began a pivotal association with producer Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic series, which brought her a large international following.

In 1956, Fitzgerald left Decca Records to join Granz's newly formed Verve label. Among her notable Verve recordings were a series of "songbooks" featuring the work of major American composers such as Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Harold Arlen as well as classic collaborations with Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Fitzgerald's toured and performed extensively and her immense popularity also led to appearances on television, in movies, and in commercials and magazine ads.

Despite increasing health problems, Fitzgerald continued to tour, perform and record into her seventies with musicians such as guitarist Joe Pass, arranger-producer Quincy Jones, and pianist Oscar Peterson. Throughout her life, Fitzgerald was active in charitable work with particular emphasis on the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the Ella Fitzgerald and Harriette E. Shields Child Care Centers.

Ella Fitzgerald was admired and honored world-wide. In addition to receiving more than a dozen Grammy awards, she was awarded numerous honorary degrees and many states and cities had commemorative Ella Fitzgerald days. Fitzgerald was a Kennedy Center honoree in 1979 and Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Club named her "Woman of the Year" in 1982.

The "First Lady of Song" died on June 17, 1996, of complications from diabetes.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center

Benny Carter Collection, 1928-2000 (AC0757)

Charismic Productions Records of Dizzy Gillespie, 1940s-1993 (AC0979)

Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program Collection, 1992-2012 (AC0808)

Milt Gabler Papers, 1927-2001 (AC0849)

Tad Hershorn Collection, 1956-1991 (AC0680)

Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection, circa 1910- circa 1970 (AC0491)
Separated Materials:
"The National Museum of American History, Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds Ella Fitzgerald artifacts including costumes and clothing.

"
Provenance:
The collection was donated by the Fitzgerald 1989 Trust, Richard Rosman, trustee on April 14, 1997. The Ella Fitzgeral Charitable Foundation is the successor to the Fitzgerald 1989 Trust.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Only reference copies of audiovisual materials can be used.
Rights:
The Archives Center can provide reproductions of some materials for research and educational use. Copyright and right to publicity restrictions apply and limit reproduction for other purposes. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Jazz  Search this
Genre/Form:
Awards
Videocassettes
Audiotapes
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Sound recordings -- 1930-1990
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Citation:
Ella Fitzgerald Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0584
See more items in:
Ella Fitzgerald Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8b30d86b3-2935-49c8-b13c-faf206402d9c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0584
Online Media:

Exhibitions

Collection Creator:
Midtown Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Extent:
4 Linear feet
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1932-1982, undated
Scope and Contents note:
The Exhibitions series includes schedules and information about traveling shows, which were usually group exhibitions built around themes; these records are arranged chronologically. The majority of the records in this series consist of files on particular exhibitions, including both traveling shows and exhibitions held at Midtown Galleries; these records are arranged alphabetically by exhibition title. See the Appendix for .

See Appendix for a chronological list of Midtown Galleries exhibitions documented in Series 2.
Arrangement note:
The series is organized into two subsseries:

Missing Title

2.1: Schedules and General Correspondence, 1932-1982, undated

2.2: Midtown Galleries Exhibition Files, A-Z, 1934-1982, undated
Appendix: List of Midtown Galleries Exhibitions Documented in Series 2:
This list was compiled from announcements and catalogs produced by Midtown Galleries. A few of these were not included with the Midtown Galleries records, but were microfilmed in the mid-1960s as part of an Archives of American Art project to microfilm exhibition catalogs at a number of art libraries. Microfilm reel and frame numbers for these items are indicated in parentheses (reel: frames) immediately following the title. Most are part of Series VII: Printed Matter, and are microfilmed in chronological order; those marked with an asterisk (*) are part of the 1997 addition (5438: 713-838 and 889-932).

DateExhibitionNov. 1-15, 1932 -- Paintings by Bertram Goodman

Dec. 5-29, 1932 -- Paintings by Saul [Berman]

Nov. 7-22, 1933 -- Paintings by Marko Vukovic

Jan. 2-17, 1934 -- Recent Paintings of Nantucket by Margaret Wendell Huntington

Jan. 22-Feb.3, 1934 -- Paintings by Miron Sokole

April 2-17, 1934 -- Watercolors by Eleanor Hine

April 18-May 5, 1934 -- Paintings by Ary Stillman

Oct. 15-27, 1934 -- Paintings by Arthur L. Esner

Dec. 5-22, 1934 -- New York Night, Paintings by Eugene C. Fitsch

Jan. 14-26, 1935 -- Water Colors by E. Helen Young

Feb. 18-March 15, 1935 -- Paintings by Saul [Berman]

March 7-23, 1935 -- Drawings and Etchings by Isabel Bishop

April 1-19, 1935 -- Four Recent Guggenheim Fellows (Paintings by Francis Criss, Frank Mechau, Jr., and Doris Rosenthal, and Sculptures by Oronzio Maldarelli)

April 16-29, 1935 -- Feminanities, Paintings by Minna Citron

May 1-19, 1935 -- Doris Rosenthal (N442:537-538)

Dec. 26-Jan. 9, 1936 -- Vermont Farms by Margaret W. Huntington

Dec. 26-Jan. 12, 1936 -- Paintings of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania by Maurice Freedman

Feb. 11-29, 1936 -- Paintings by Isabel Bishop

April 10-25, 1936 -- Watercolors by Eugenie Schein

May 11-25, 1936 -- Paintings by Vincent Spagna

Oct. 14-31, 1936 -- Paintings by Martha Simpson

Dec. 8-24, 1936 -- Watercolors by Betty Pierson-Parsons

Dec. 13-24, 1936 -- American Print Makers Tenth Anniversary Annual Exhibition of Etchings, Lithographs, Woodcuts

Feb. 1-15, 1937 -- Doris Rosenthal

March 22-April 10, 1937 -- Paintings by Paul Cadmus

April 12-24, 1937 -- Paintings by Edith Nagler

April 19-May 3, 1937 -- Watercolors of Mexico by Eugenie Schein

Oct. 5-18, 1937 -- Vincent Spagna (Br15:527-529)

Oct. 19-Nov. 4, 1937 -- Paintings by Minna Citron

Nov. 5-22, 1937 -- Paul Mommer (Br15:533-535)

Nov. 23-Dec. 6, 1937 -- Paintings by Mary Hutchinson

Nov. 23-Dec. 6, 1937 -- Contemporary American Artists (Br15:536)

Dec. 7-20, 1937 -- Herbert Ferber (Br15:539-541)

Dec. 21-Jan. 3, 1938 -- Paintings by Alfred Kraemer

Jan. 4-17, 1938 -- Paintings by M. Azzi Aldrich

Feb. 8-26, 1938 -- Paintings and Drawings of Mexico by Doris Rosenthal

Sept. 16-Oct. 3, 1938 -- Paintings by Margit Varga

Nov. 21-Dec. 10, 1938 -- Paintings and Drawings by Zoltan Sepeshy

Dec. 8-24, 1938 -- Water Colors by Betty P. Parsons

Dec. 12-30, 1938 -- Water Colors of Bucks County by Lionel S. Reiss

Dec. 27-Jan. 14, 1939 -- Paintings by Jacob Getlar Smith

Jan. 17-Feb. 4, 1939 -- Paintings and Drawings by Isabel Bishop

Feb. 6-20, 1939 -- Paintings by Vincent Drennan

March 7-25, 1939 -- Paintings by Miron Sokole

March 27-April 15, 1939 -- Paintings of Mexico by Doris Rosenthal

April 17-May 6, 1939 -- Recent Paintings by Waldo Peirce

Sept. 26-Oct. 14, 1939 -- Paintings by Maurice Freedman

Oct. 17-Nov. 2, 1939 -- Paintings by Vincent Spagna

Nov. 3-20, 1939 -- Paintings by Minna Citron

Nov. 21-Dec. 9, 1939 -- Paintings by Frederic Taubes

Dec. 9-24, 1939 -- Water Colors by Betty P. Parsons

Jan. 3-20, 1940 -- Paintings by Emlen Etting

Feb. 20-March 9, 1940 -- Paintings by Paul Meltsner

March 19-April 6, 1940 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Bernardine Custer

Nov. 11-30, 1940 -- Paintings by Fletcher Martin

Dec. 2-21, 1940 -- Paintings by Simka Simkhovitch

Feb. 3-22, 1941 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Zoltan Sepeshy

March 3-22, 1941 -- Paintings by Doris Rosenthal

April 14-May 3, 1941 -- Paintings by Waldo Peirce

July 22-Aug. 22, 1941 -- Dealers Show American Art

Nov. 3-22, 1941 -- Pastels by Gladys Rockmore Davis

Nov. 25-Dec. 13, 1941 -- Water Colors by Betty P. Parsons

Dec. 15-Jan. 3, 1942 -- Paintings of the Tennessee Valley by Minna Citron

Jan. 6-24, 1942 -- Paintings by Jacob Getlar Smith

Jan. 26-Feb. 14, 1942 -- Watercolors by Zoltan Sepeshy

March 3-21, 1942 -- Tenth Anniversary Loan Exhibition, Works of Art by Midtown Artists Borrowed Back for this event from the Permanent Collections of Leading American Museums and Collectors

March 31-April 18, 1942 -- Watercolors by Waldo Peirce

April 27-May 16, 1942 -- Paintings by Vincent Spagna

May 18-June 6, 1942 -- Drawings by Isabel Bishop

Jan. 4-29, 1943 -- Watercolors by Jacob Getlar Smith

Feb. 8-March 6, 1943 -- Paintings of Mexico by Doris Rosenthal

March 5-27, 1943 -- Water Colors, Drawings and Prints by Contemporary American Artists at MacMurray College, courtesy of Midtown Galleries

March 29-April 17, 1943 -- Drawings by Minna Citron

April 19-May 15, 1943 -- Paintings by Gladys Rockmore Davis

May 17-June 4, 1943 -- Sculpture, Water Colors and Drawings by Herbert Ferber

Oct. 19-Nov. 6, 1943 -- Watercolors of the United States by Dong Kingman

Nov. 9-27, 1943 -- Ceramic Sculpture by Lilian Swann Saarinen

Nov. 23-Dec. 11, 1943 -- Drawings, Pastels, and Paintings by Doris Rosenthal

Jan. 25-Feb. 12, 1944 -- Paintings by William Thon

Feb. 5-21, 1944 -- Paintings by Mary E. Hutchinson

March 21-April 15, 1944 -- Paintings of the Ballet Backstage by Gladys Rockmore Davis

April 17-May 6, 1944 -- Paintings by Miron Sokole

May 9-27, 1944 -- Paintings by Waldo Peirce

May 29-June 17, 1944 -- Water Colors of the Stage Door Canteen and Other Home Front Activities by Bernardine Custer

Nov. 13-Dec. 2, 1944 -- Watercolors by Dong Kingman

Dec. 5-23, 1944 -- The Road to Paris, Gouaches by Emlen Etting

Dec. 26-Jan. 13, 1945 -- New York Harbor in Wartime by Julien Binford

Dec. 28-Jan. 15, 1945 -- Paintings by Fletcher Martin

Jan. 15-Feb. 3, 1945 -- Paintings, Gouaches and Drawings by Philip Guston

May 1-19, 1945 -- Paintings of Guatemala by Doris Rosenthal

Oct. 16-Nov. 3, 1945 -- Watercolors by Dong Kingman

Nov. 6-Dec., 1945 -- The Peirce Children Grow Up, Paintings by Waldo Peirce

Jan. 8-26, 1946 -- Memorial Exhibition of Paintings and Watercolors by Renee Lahm

Feb. 3, 1946 -- Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Painting, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia

Feb. 19-March 9, 1946 -- Paintings by Henry Billings

April 23-May 11, 1946 -- Paintings by William Thon

Oct. 22-Nov. 9, 1946 -- Moods of Children, Paintings by Gladys Rockmore Davis

Oct. 6-26, 1946 -- Upjohn Collection of Contemporary American Paintings, Delaware Art Center, Wilmington, Delaware

Nov. 19-Dec. 7, 1946 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Zoltan Sepeshy

Feb. 2-March 1, 1947 -- Paintings by Isabel Bishop

Feb. 11-March 1, 1947 -- Paintings by Maurice Freedman

March 11-29, 1947 -- Watercolors by Dong Kingman

March 12-30, 1947 -- Recent Oil Paintings by Emlen Etting

April 1-26, 1947 -- 15th Anniversary Exhibition, Painting and Sculpture by Members of the Midtown Group of American Artists

April 2-20, 1947 -- Recent Oil Paintings by Fred Nagler

April 13-26, 1947 -- Upjohn Collection of Contemporary American Paintings, Stockwell Memorial Library, Albion College, Albion, Michigan

April 29-May 16, 1947 -- Paintings by Lenard Kester

May 12-28, 1947 -- Upjohn Collection of Contemporary American Painting, Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, Davenport, Iowa

Sept. 2, 1947 -- Upjohn Collection of Contemporary American Painting, Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee

Oct. 5-25, 1947 -- Upjohn Collection of Contemporary American Painting, Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Illinois

Oct. 14-Nov. 1, 1947 -- Paintings by William Palmer

Dec. 8-29, 1947 -- Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Painting, The Burpee Art Gallery, Rockford, Illinois

Jan. 27-Feb. 16, 1948 -- Paintings by Henry Koerner

Feb. 1, 1948 -- Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Painting, Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas

March 2-20, 1948 -- Watercolors by Dong Kingman

March 7-28, 1948 -- Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Painting, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

March 22-April 3, 1948 -- American Art, A Multiple Exhibition arranged by The Association of Dealers in American Art, and Held in Their Galleries

April 6-24, 1948 -- Paintings and Gouaches by Maurice Freedman

April 11-25, 1948 -- Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Painting, Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana

May 6-23, 1948 -- Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Painting, Dallas Health Museum, Dallas, Texas

May 11-29, 1948 -- Paintings and Mural Sketches by Emlen Etting

June 5-28, 1948 -- Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Painting, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Arts and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri

July 6-29, 1948 -- Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Painting, Kenosha Historical and Art Museum, Kenosha, Wisconsin

Oct. 5-23, 1948 -- Paintings by Lenard Kester

Jan. 4-22, 1949 -- Watercolors of Italy by William Thon

Jan. 25-Feb. 12, 1949 -- Paintings by Henry Koerner

Feb. 21-March 12, 1949 -- Paintings by Cecile Belle

March 15-April, 1949 -- Paintings and Drawings by Anatol Shulkin

April 5-23, 1949 -- Watercolors by Dong Kingman

May 3-21, 1949 -- Paintings by Isabel Bishop

June 3-26, 1949 -- Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Painting, E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, California

Oct. 4-22, 1949 -- Paintings in Gouache by Fred Meyer

Oct. 25-Nov. 19, 1949 -- Paintings by Gladys Rockmore Davis

Nov. 22-Dec. 17, 1949 -- Paintings by Paul Cadmus, 1938-1949

Jan. 10-28, 1950 -- Non-Realistic and Objectionable Portraits of American Artists by Isabella Howland (drawings)

Jan. 31-Feb. 18, 1950 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Zoltan Sepeshy

Feb. 28-March 18, 1950 -- Drawings and Water Colors, Paris - Honolulu, by Emlen Etting

March 9-20, 1950 -- The Art Department of Northeast Missouri State Teachers College Presents... Contemporary American Artists, Midtown Galleries, New York City

March 21-April 15, 1950 -- Paintings and Gouaches by Henry Koerner

April 18-May 6, 1950 -- Paintings of Italy by William Thon

May 9-27, 1950 -- Recent Watercolors by Dong Kingman

Oct. 31-Nov. 25, 1950 -- Twenty-one Paintings in Casein and Ink by William C. Palmer

Nov. 28-Dec. 23, 1950 -- Recent Paintings by Fred Nagler

Jan. 2-29, 1951 -- Mobile Art Association Presents Contemporary Artists Circuited by Midtown Galleries

Feb. 6-24, 1951 -- Paintings by Miron Sokole

March 6-31, 1951 -- Paintings and Drawings by Henry Koerner

April 3-21, 1951 -- The Dance, Paintings and Drawings by Emlen Etting

May 1-26, 1951 -- 10 Year Retrospective Exhibition of Watercolors by Dong Kingman

Oct. 9-27, 1951 -- Watercolors and Oil Paintings by William Thon

Nov. 6-Dec. 1, 1951 -- 100 Drawings by Henry Koerner

Jan. 8-26, 1952 -- Oil Paintings by William Palmer

Feb. 5-25, 1952 -- Paintings by Maurice Freedman

Feb. 20-23, 1952 -- Paintings and Drawings by Doris Rosenthal Presented by Haygood Lasseter Interiors, Miami, through courtesy of Midtown Galleries, New York City

May 6-24, 1952 -- Paintings of the West Indies by Doris Rosenthal

June 4-28, 1952 -- 20 Years of the Midtown Galleries, A Pictorial Survey of Twenty Years' Activity in the Promotion of Outstanding Contemporary American Art

Nov. 5-29, 1952 -- Paintings by Henry Koerner

March 31-April 25, 1953 -- Paintings of Spain by Gladys Rockmore Davis

April 28-May 23, 1953 -- Paintings by Cecile Belle

Oct. 20-Nov. 7, 1953 -- Paintings by Margit Varga

Nov. 17-Dec. 5, 1953 -- Paintings by Zoltan Sepeshy

Dec. 14-Jan. 9, 1954 -- Paintings by William Palmer

Feb. 9-27, 1954 -- Dong Kingman's Water Colors

April 6-May 1, 1954 -- Recent Paintings and Drawings by Henry Koerner

May 4-29, 1954 -- Watercolors by William Thon

Sept. 20, 1954 -- Art In Interiors

Oct. 19-Nov. 6, 1954 -- Paintings by Robert Vickrey

Nov. 16-Dec. 4, 1954 -- Recent Paintings by Emlen Etting

Dec. 7-31, 1954 -- Recent Paintings by William Thon

Jan. 25-Feb. 12, 1955 -- Paintings of Mexico by Doris Rosenthal

Feb. 23-March 19, 1955 -- Paintings by Henry Koerner

April 12-May 7, 1955 -- Paintings and Lithographs by Robert Sivard

May 10-June 4, 1955 -- Watercolors and Drawings by Dong Kingman

Oct. 25-Nov. 19, 1955 -- Paintings and Drawings by Isabel Bishop

Nov. 22-Dec. 17, 1955 -- Paintings by William Thon

Feb. 21-March 10, 1956 -- Paintings and Gouaches by Maurice Freedman

March 13-31, 1956 -- Paintings by Cecile Belle

April 3-21, 1956 -- Recent Paintings by Miron Sokole

May 8-June 2, 1956 -- Watercolors by Dong Kingman

Sept. 25-Oct. 17, 1956 -- 5th Annual Exhibition, Art In Interiors

Nov. 20-Dec. 15, 1956 -- Paintings of Bali by Gladys Rockmore Davis

Dec. 26-Jan. 19, 1957 -- Paintings by Zoltan Sepeshy

Jan. 22-Feb. 16, 1957 -- Paintings of Mexico by Doris Rosenthal

Feb. 19-March 9, 1957 -- Paintings and Drawings by Emlen Etting

March 12-30, 1957 -- Paintings by Henry Koerner

May 7-June 8, 1957 -- 25th Anniversary Loan Exhibition, Lent by American Museums and Collectors

Nov. 12-30, 1957 -- Paintings by Betty Parsons

Dec. 3-28, 1957 -- Paintings by William Palmer

Dec. 31-Jan. 25, 1958 -- Paintings by Fred Nagler

Feb. 18-March 15, 1958 -- Paintings by Henry Koerner

March 18-April 12, 1958 -- Watercolors by Dong Kingman

April 15-May 10, 1958 -- Paintings by William Thon

May 13-31, 1958 -- Paintings by Annette Bartle

Oct. 28-Nov. 15, 1958 -- Paintings by Robert Sivard

Nov. 18-Dec. 6, 1958 -- Paintings by Robert Vickrey

Jan. 27-Feb. 21, 1959 -- Paintings by Ernest Fiene

Feb. 24-March 14, 1959 -- Paintings by Jason Schoener

March 17-April 4, 1959 -- Paintings by Waldo Peirce

April 14-May 2, 1959 -- Sculpture by Raimondo Puccinelli

May 5-23, 1959 -- Annual Good Drawing Exhibition by Distinguished American Draughtsmen

Sept. 29-Oct. 21, 1959 -- Th Annual Exhibition, Art In Interiors

Nov. 17-Dec. 5, 1959 -- Paintings by Maurice Freedman

Dec. 8-26, 1959 -- Paintings by William Palmer

Jan. 5-30, 1960 -- Paintings by Henry Koerner

March 1-26, 1960 -- Paintings by Waldo Peirce

March 29-April 23, 1960 -- Paintings and Watercolors by William Thon

May 3-28, 1960 -- Paintings by Isabel Bishop

Sept. 20-Oct. 19, 1960 -- The Annual Exhibition, Art In Interiors

Oct. 25-Nov. 19, 1960 -- Paintings by Robert Vickrey

Nov. 22-Dec. 10, 1960 -- Paintings by Annette Bartle

Dec. 12-Jan. 6, 1960 -- Paintings by William Palmer

Dec. 13-Jan. 7, 1961 -- Paintings by Jason Schoener

Jan. 10-Feb. 4, 1961 -- Recent Paintings by Emlen Etting

Feb. 28-March 18, 1961 -- Drawings by Henry Koerner

March 21-April 15, 1961 -- Paintings by Zoltan Sepeshy

April 18-May 13, 1961 -- Watercolors by 5: William Thon, Jason Schoener, Robert Vickrey, Edward Betts, Fred Nagler

Sept. 27-Oct. 18, 1961 -- 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Art In Interiors

Jan. 16-Feb. 3, 1962 -- Oh, Fearful Wonder of Man, Recent Paintings and Drawings by Henry Koerner

March 21-April 7, 1962 -- Barabbas

April 10-May 5, 1962 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Robert Vickrey

June 5-July 6, 1962 -- Oil Paintings and Watercolors by William Thon

Nov. 23-Dec. 15, 1962 -- 30th Anniversary Loan Exhibition, Loans from American Museums and Collectors

Dec. 19-Jan. 5, 1963 -- Recent Paintings and Drawings by Henry Koerner

Jan. 8-Feb. 2, 1963 -- Oil Paintings, Nos. 1 through 25, Paintings of Maine, California, Greece, etc., Gouaches by Jason Schoener

March 5-30, 1963 -- Four Distinguished American Painters: William Thon, Robert Vickrey, Jason Schoener, Edward Betts

April 2-27, 1963 -- 30 Years of Religious Painting by Fred Nagler

April 30-May 18, 1963 -- Forms in Light, 1959-1963, Recent Paintings by Henry Billings

Oct. 8-26, 1963 -- Recent Paintings by Annette Bartle

Oct. 29-Nov. 16, 1963 -- Recent Paintings by Maurice Freedman

Nov. 26-Dec. 21, 1963 -- Recent Paintings by William Palmer

Feb. 18-March 14, 1964 -- Paintings and Drawings by Siegfried Reinhardt

March 17-April 11, 1964 -- Paintings and Drawings by William Thon

April 21-May 9, 1964 -- Drawings, Watercolors, and Welded Sculpture by Nathan Cabot Hale

Oct. 6-31, 1964 -- Paintings of Maine by Midtown's Maine Artists (Hans Moller, Edward Betts, William Thon, Waldo Peirce, and Jason Schoener)

Nov. 10-Dec. 5, 1964 -- Paintings by Hans Moller

Dec. 8-26, 1964 -- Twenty Five Years of Drawing by Emlen Etting

Jan. 4-22, 1966 -- Paintings from the Greek Islands by Emlen Etting

Jan. 25-Feb. 12, 1966 -- Paintings of Greece by Jason Schoener

Feb. 15-March 12, 1966 -- Recent Paintings by Robert Sivard

March 15-April 2, 1966 -- Recent Paintings by Annette Bartle

April 5-30, 1966 -- Paintings and Watercolors by William Thon

Sept. 11-Oct. 7, 1966 -- Midtown Galleries Exhibition at Charleston Art Gallery, Charleston, W. Va.

Sept. 7-Oct. 22, 1966 -- Paintings of Maine by Midtown's Maine Artists (Hans Moller, William Thon, Edward Betts, Waldo Peirce, and Jason Schoener)

Oct. 25-Nov. 12, 1966 -- Flowers in Art, Paintings and Watercolors

Nov. 8-Dec. 3, 1966 -- Paintings by Siegfried Reinhardt

Dec. 6-31, 1966 -- Small Paintings by Major Artists (Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, William Palmer, Robert Vickrey, Emlen Etting, Doris Rosenthal, Robert Sivard, Edward Betts, Jason Schoener, Roy Moyer, Waldo Peirce, Hans Moller, Charles Coiner, Maurice Freedman, Fred Nagler, etc.)

Jan. 4-28, 1967 -- Recent Paintings by Hans Moller

March 14-April 1, 1967 -- 35th Anniversary Exhibition, A Documentary Presentation of Midtown Galleries' 35 Years of Varied Activities in Behalf of the Contemporary American Artist

April 4-29, 1967 -- Paintings by Isabel Bishop

May 9-June 3, 1967 -- Watercolors by Four Distinguished American Painters (William Thon, Hans Moller, Jason Schoener, Edward Betts)

Oct. 3-28, 1967 -- Recent Paintings of France by Robert Sivard

Oct. 31-Nov. 25, 1967 -- Recent Paintings by Roy Moyer

Nov. 28-Dec. 16, 1967 -- Watercolors by Four (William Thon, Edward Betts, Jason Schoener, Hans Moller)

Dec. 12-Jan. 6, 1968 -- Paintings by William Palmer

Jan. 7-28, 1968 -- Group Exhibition at the Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts, Inc., Columbus, Ga., Courtesy of Midtown Galleries

Jan. 16-Feb. 10, 1968 -- Recent Paintings of the Scottish Highlands by Charles Coiner

Feb. 13-March 9, 1968 -- Recent Sculpture by Fred Meyer

March 1-April 6, 1968 -- Retrospective Selection of Drawings and Prints, Including Loans from Public and Private Collections, 1907-1968

April 9-May 4, 1968 -- Paintings of Ireland by William Thon

May 7-31, 1968 -- Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings by Nathan Cabot Hale

Oct. 15-Nov. 9, 1968 -- Recent Paintings by Edward Betts

Nov 12-Dec. 7, 1968 -- Elections: Waldo Peirce, 1938-1968

Dec. 10, 1968-Jan. 4, 1969 -- Watercolors by 4 Members of the Midtown Group Noted for their Work in this Medium (William Thon, Edward Betts, Jason Schoener, Hans Moller)

Feb. 4-March 1, 1969 -- Paintings by Jason Schoner

April 1-26, 1969 -- Recent Paintings by Ethel Magafan

April 29-May 24, 1969 -- Paintings by Robert Vickrey

Oct. 7-Nov. 1 Hans, 1969 -- Watercolors by Five Distinguished American Painters (William Thon, Moller, Ethel Magafan, Jason Schoener, and Edward Betts)

Nov. 5-29, 1969 -- Paintings by Richard Mayhew

Dec. 2-27, 1969 -- Recent Paintings by William Palmer

Jan. 6-24, 1970 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Maurice Freedman

Feb., 1970 -- 38th Anniversary Exhibition

March 3-28, 1970 -- Paintings of Mykonos, Etc. by Margit Varga

Sept. 29-Oct. 24, 1970 -- Watercolors and Pastels of Monhegan, Maine, by Hans Moller

Jan. 19-Feb. 13, 1971 -- Recent Paintings by Stephen Etnier

Feb. 16-March 13, 1971 -- Thirty-Ninth Anniversary Exhibition

March 16-April 10, 1971 -- Paintings by Richard Mayhew

April 13-May 8, 1971 -- Paintings by Charles Coiner

May 21-June 5, 1971 -- Earth, Sea and Sky: Naturescapes by Eight Artists, Squibb Gallery, Courtesy of Midtown Galleries

Sept. 28-Oct. 23, 1971 -- Paintings by Emlen Etting

Oct. 26-Nov. 20, 1971 -- Bishop, Cadmus, Vickrey*

Nov. 23-Dec. 18, 1971 -- Paintings by William Thon

Dec. 21-Jan. 15, 1972 -- Paintings by Maurice Freedman

Jan. 18-Feb. 12, 1972 -- Paintings of Latin America by Jason Schoener

Feb. 15-March 11, 1972 -- Fortieth Anniversary Exhibition (In Tribute to the Memory of Alan D. Gruskin)

March 14-April 8, 1972 -- Paintings of Maine and California by Edward Betts

May 9-June 3, 1972 -- Flowers in Art (Paintings by Waldo Peirce, William Palmer, Emlen Etting, Roy Moyer, Maurice Freedman, Hans Moller, Charles Coiner, Julien Binford, Robert Vickrey)

Oct. 24-Nov. 18, 1972 -- Waldo Peirce Memorial Exhibition, Paintings of the Last Two Decades

Oct. 3-21, 1972 -- Drawings by Eight Important Contemporary American Artists (Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Emlen Etting, Ethel Magafan, Richard Mayhew, Hans Moller, William Palmer, William Thon)

Nov. 21-Dec. 16, 1972 -- Paintings by Robert Vickrey

Dec. 19-Jan. 13, 1973 -- Religious and Figurative Paintings by Fred Nagler

March 6-31, 1973 -- Recent Paintings by Hans Moller

April 3-28, 1973 -- Paintings by Ethel Magafan

June 5-22, 1973 -- New Talent Festival

Oct. 2-27, 1973 -- Sculpture and Drawings by Nathan Cabot Hale

Oct. 30-Nov. 24, 1973 -- Recent Paintings of England, Scotland and Wales by Charles Coiner

Jan. 8-Feb. 2, 1974 -- A Selection of Drawings and Prints by Isabel Bishop

Feb. 5-March 2, 1974 -- 42nd Anniversary Exhibition, Paintings of the Thirties

March 5-30, 1974 -- Paintings by Richard Mayhew

April 2-27, 1974 -- Flowers by Julien Binford

June 4-15, 1974 -- New Talent Festival

Oct. 1-26, 1974 -- Terra Cottas and Bronzes by Fred Meyer

Oct. 29-Nov. 23, 1974 -- Paintings and Prints by Robert Sivard

Nov. 26-Dec. 21, 1974 -- Paintings by William Palmer

Jan. 7-25, 1975 -- Recent Paintings by Robert Vickrey

Jan. 28-Feb. 22, 1975 -- Paintings and Gouaches by Jason Schoener

Feb. 25-March 22, 1975 -- Watercolor Paintings by William Thon

March 25-April 12, 1975 -- Paintings by Maurice Freedman

Oct. 6-31, 1975 -- Religious Paintings by Fred Nagler at Saint Peter's Gallery, New York City (in cooperation with Midtown Galleries)

Oct. 28-Nov. 22, 1975 -- Paintings by Emlen Etting

Dec. 23-Jan. 17, 1976 -- Richard Mayhew*

Jan. 20-Feb. 14, 1976 -- Paintings by Ethel Magafan

March 16-April 10, 1976 -- Paintings by Edward Betts

April 13-May 10, 1976 -- Selected Works by Paul Cadmus

May 11-28, 1976 -- American Landscapes (William Palmer, Charles Coiner, Robert Vickrey, Waldo Peirce, William Thon, Jason Schoener)

June 1-18, 1976 -- New Talent Festival

Sept. 28-Oct. 23, 1976 -- Paintings of The Hamptons by Margit Varga

Oct. 26-Nov. 20, 1976 -- Paintings by Stephen Etnier

Nov. 2-20, 1976 -- Illustrations by Isabel Bishop for "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

Nov. 23-Dec. 18, 1976 -- Paintings by Robert Vickrey

Dec. 28-Jan. 22, 1977 -- On Loan from a Private Collection, "Seven Deadly Sins" and "Subway Symphony" by Paul Cadmus

Jan. 25-Feb. 19, 1977 -- 45th Anniversary Exhibition

Feb. 22-March 19, 1977 -- Paintings of Artists and Writers in Paris by Robert Sivard

March 22-April 16, 1977 -- Paintings and Watercolors by William Thon

April 19-May 14, 1977 -- Paintings by Maurice Freedman

May 17-June 4, 1977 -- New Talent and Guest Exhibition (Mary L. Buckley, Ruth Cobb, David Cobb Kupferman, Meyer Tannenbaum)

Nov. 1-26, 1977 -- Paintings by Waldo Peirce

Nov. 29-Dec. 24, 1977 -- Paintings by William Palmer

Feb. 28-March 25, 1978 -- Paintings of England, Scotland, Maine by Jason Schoener

March 28-April 22, 1978 -- Drawings and Serigraphs by Gregorio Prestopino

April 25-May 20, 1978 -- Terra Cottas and Bronzes by Fred Meyer

Oct. 31-Dec. 2, 1978 -- Paintings by Charles Coiner

Nov. 28-Dec. 16, 1978 -- Watercolors of Paris Shops, Dublin Pubs, etc. by Robert Sivard

Dec. 5-30, 1978 -- Drawings and Etchings by Isabel Bishop

Jan. 9-Feb. 3, 1979 -- The Seasons (Paintings by William Palmer, Paul Cadmus, William Thon, Hans Moller, Edward Betts, Emlen Etting, Gregorio Prestopino, Richard Mayhew, Maurice Freedman, Waldo Peirce, Jason Schoener, Charles Coiner)

Feb. 6-March 3, 1979 -- Recent Paintings by Stephen Etnier

Oct. 9-Nov. 3, 1979 -- Paintings by Maurice Freedman

Nov. 6-Dec. 1, 1979 -- Watercolors by Gregorio Prestopino

Dec. 4-29, 1979 -- Paul Cadmus, A Small Intimate Retrospective on the Occasion of His Seventy-fifth Birthday

Feb. 5-March 1, 1980 -- Drawings by Emlen Etting

March 4-29, 1980 -- Paintings of Summer in Maine by Jason Schoener

April 29-May 24, 1980 -- Paintings by Bruce Currie

Nov. 4-29, 1980 -- Paintings by Stephen Etnier

Dec. 2-Jan. 3, 1981 -- Paintings by William Thon

Jan. 6-31, 1981 -- Paintings by Ethel Magafan

Feb. 3-28, 1981 -- Watercolors by Ruth Cobb

March 3-28, 1981 -- Paintings by Robert Sivard

Sept. 8-Oct. 3, 1981 -- Self Portraits *

Oct. 6-31, 1981 -- A Fifty Year Drawing Retrospective and Recent Paintings by Isabel Bishop

Dec. 1-Jan. 9, 1982 -- William Palmer: Painting 50 Years

Jan. 19-Feb. 27, 1982 -- Retrospective Exhibition of Selected Paintings, 1932-1982, by Maurice Freedman

March 2-27, 1982 -- Retrospective Exhibition by Margit Varga

March 30-April 24, 1982 -- Midtown Galleries Golden Anniversary, Selected Work by Gallery Artists

April 27-May 22, 1982 -- New Bronzes and Terra Cottas by Fred Meyer

Oct. 5-20, 1982 -- Ruth Cobb: A Selection of Watercolors *

Nov. 2-27, 1982 -- A Twenty Year Retrospective Exhibition by Edward Betts

Jan. 4-29, 1983 -- Recent Paintings and Sculpture by Artists Associated with Midtown Galleries since the Thirties and Forties *

Feb. 1-26, 1983 -- Isabel Bishop: An Intimate Exhibition of Work of the Past Five Years

July 10-Aug. 4, 1983 -- Selected Works of Contemporary American Artists from the Midtown Galleries, New York City [at Fairfield University] *

Oct. 4-30, 1983 -- Paintings, Drawings and Prints by Bernarda Bryson Shahn

Nov. 1-26, 1983 -- Jason Schoener: The Artist's Travels *

Nov. 29-Dec. 31, 1983 -- Paul Cadmus: Drawings, Prints, Photographs, 1924-1983 *

Jan. 10-Feb. 4, 1984 -- Emlen Etting: 50 Years of Paintings and Drawings *

Feb. 7-March 3, 1984 -- Ethel Magafan: Oils and Watercolors *

April 10-May 5, 1984 -- Charles Coiner *

Dec. 10, 1985-Jan. 8, 1986 -- Three Figurative Artists: Paul Cadmus, Isabel Bishop, Bernarda Bryson Shahn *

May 6-June 8, 1986 -- William Palmer: The Early Years, 1926-1940 *

Dec. 9, 1986-Jan. 17, 1987 -- Isabel Bishop: Early Drawings *

June 7-July 7, 1987 -- Julien Binford: Fifty Years of Painting *

Dec. 8, 1987-Jan. 31, 1988 -- Paul Cadmus: 50th Anniversary Exhibition *

March 2-April 9, 1988 -- Painting America: Mural Art in the New Deal Era (in association with Janet Marqusee Fine Arts) *

Nov. 11-Dec. 30, 1989 -- Walt Kuhn *

Feb. 22-April 7, 1990 -- Close Encounters: The Art of Paul Cadmus, Jared French, and George Tooker *

Oct. 12-Nov. 24, 1990 -- Jack Levine: An Overview, 1930-1990 *

Feb. 6-March 7, 1992 -- The Midtown Flower Show *

Oct. 13-Nov. 14, 1992 -- Robert Kushner: IV Seasons *

Oct. 13-Nov. 14, 1992 -- Isabel Bishop: Walking Pictures *

Nov. 18-Dec. 21, 1992 -- Walt Kuhn: People and Performances *

March 25-April 25, 1993 -- Bernarda Bryson Shahn: Images and Ideas *

Sept. 9-Oct. 9, 1993 -- Michael Berget: A Delicate Balance *

Sept. 9-Oct. 9, 1993 -- Lee Jackson: The Figure in Light and Motion *

Jan. 19-Feb. 26, 1994 -- Cynthia Knott: Horizons *

Sept. 21-Nov. 5, 1994 -- Paul Tchelitchev: A Reevaluation *

Nov. 11-Dec. 30, 1994 -- Paul Cadmus: Still Lifes, Portraits, Tableaux

Jan. 12-Feb. 25, 1995 -- Jacob Lawrence: An Overview, Paintings from 1936-1994 *

March 2-April 8, 1995 -- Robert Kushner: Mille Fleurs, a Cornucopia of New Paintings *

Below is a list of exhibitions for which the year or date is unknown.

DateExhibitionundated -- Solo Exhibitions, A - Z (by artist)

Jan. 27-Feb. 10 -- Paintings by M. Azzi Aldrich

Nov. 23-Dec. 9 -- Paintings by M. Azzi Aldrich

April 17-May 6 -- Paintings by Saul Berman

Nov. 9-28 -- Paintings by Julien Binford

March 7-23 -- Drawings and Etchings by Isabel Bishop

Oct. 3-15 -- Paintings by Isabel Bishop

Feb. 15-March 4 -- Paintings by Homer Boss

April 18-30 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Homer Boss

Oct. 24-Nov. 17 -- Paintings and Drawings by Paul Cadmus

April 16-29 -- Feminanities, Paintings by Minna Citron

April 27-May 13 -- Paintings by Minna Citron

Dec. 14-25 -- Paintings by Adelaide De Groot

June 8-21 Other -- Exhibition of Drawings of the Philadelphia Stage Door Canteen and Recent Drawings by Emlen Etting

Oct. 23-Nov. 11 -- Paintings and Gouaches by Maurice Freedman

Dec. 26-Jan. 12 -- Paintings of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania by Maurice Freedman

Feb. 1-14 -- Watercolors by Ethel Katz

Oct. 13-31 -- Watercolors by Dong Kingman

Oct. 14-Nov. 1 -- Dong Kingman's Watercolors

undated -- Watercolors by Dong Kingman

June 6-23 -- Building the New York World's Fair, Gouaches and Oil Paintings by Renee Lahm

March 23-April 15 -- New York Murals by Edward Laning

May 22-June 9 -- Drawings of War in Italy by Edward Laning

Oct. 19-Nov. 4 -- Sculpture by Oronzio Maldarelli

Oct. 29-Nov. 17 -- Sculptures in Hammered Metal by Oronzio Maldarelli

March 18-31 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Joseph Margulies

June 2-21 -- Drawings by Fletcher Martin

April 20-May 9 -- Oils, Water Colors, Lithographs, and Drawing by Paul R. Meltsner

April 30-May 18 -- Oils, Tempera, and Lithographs by Paul R. Meltsner

May 24-June 10 -- Oil Paintings and Water Colors by Paul Meltsner

May 14-29 -- Watercolors by Thalia Millett

May 7-27 -- Watercolors by Kaname Miyamoto

May 1-16 -- Paintings by Paul Mommer

Oct. 2-18 -- Paintings by Paul Mommer

Oct. 13-31 -- Paintings by Paul Mommer

Nov. 1-16 -- Paintings by Paul Mommer

May 12-31 -- Paintings by Fred Nagler

Oct. 18-31 -- Paintings by Fred Nagler

Jan. 4-29 -- Iowa Landscapes, Paintings and Watercolors by William C. Palmer

March 24-April 12 -- Recent Wash Drawings by William C. Palmer

Sept. 25-Oct. 14 -- Paintings and Drawings by William Palmer

Dec. 12 -- Paintings by William Palmer

Dec. 3-16 -- Watercolors by Betty Pierson-Parsons

Feb. 15-March 1 -- Paintings and Sculpture by Alzira Peirce

Oct. 4-17 -- Paintings by Alzira Peirce

Jan. 7-25 -- Paintings by Waldo Peirce

March 3-29 -- Paintings, Watercolors, Prints by Waldo Peirce

Aug. 30-Sept. 25 -- Six Year Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Waldo Peirce

Nov. 16-Dec. 5 -- Paintings by Waldo Peirce

Nov. 14-Dec. 9 -- Paintings and Drawings by Siegfried Reinhardt

Dec. 12-30 -- Watercolors by Lionel S. Reiss

Nov. 2-14 -- Water Scenes of New York by Saul [Berman]

April 10-25 -- Watercolors by Eugenie Schein

Nov. 1-19 -- Paintings by Anatol Shulkin

Sept. 28-Oct. 12 -- Paintings by Martha Simpson

Jan. 18-Feb. 5 -- Paintings by Jacob Getler Smith

April 9-27 -- Drawings and Watercolors by Jacob Getlar Smith

Dec. 27-Jan. 14 -- Watercolors by Jacob Getlar Smith

Jan. 11-28 -- Paintings by Miron Sokole

Dec. 10-23 -- Gouaches by Miron Sokole

March 2-16 -- Paintings by Isaac Soyer

May 3-21 -- Paintings by Isaac Soyer

March 2-20 -- Paintings by Frederic Taubes

Nov. 27-Dec. 22 -- Recent Paintings by William Thon

undated -- Paintings and Watercolors by William Thon

Feb. 27-March 10 -- Watercolors of Mexico by Edward Valentine

March 22-April 9 -- Sculpture by Arline Wingate

Jan. 14-26 -- Water Colors by E. Helen Young

Group Exhibitions, date or year unknown

DateExhibitionundated -- Group Exhibitions

Feb. 27-March 26 -- Cooperative Exhibition of Contemporary American Art

May 4-31 -- Peggy de Salle Presents Little Gallery's 20th Anniversary: Four Nationally Known Artists, Courtesy Midtown Galleries (Isabel Bishop, Stephen Etnier, Zoltan Sepeshy, William Thon)

June 24-July 30 -- Three Painters from the Midtown, Watercolors, Drawings, Pastels at United Virginia Bank Gallery, Norfolk, Va. (Hans Miller, Jason Schoener, William Thon)

July 31-Aug. 13 -- Contemporary American Artists Associated with Midtown Galleries of New York, Four Fountains, Southampton
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Midtown Galleries records, 1904-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
AAA.midtgall, Series 2
See more items in:
Midtown Galleries records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92e10a9e6-2add-4396-b7d9-a39cfb0dfb25
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-midtgall-ref4370

Elmer Bischoff papers, 1914-1990

Creator:
Bischoff, Elmer Nelson, 1916-1991  Search this
Subject:
Staempfli Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
University of California, Berkeley  Search this
Type:
Collages
Drawings
Watercolors
Interviews
Citation:
Elmer Bischoff papers, 1914-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
New Deal  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6686
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208811
AAA_collcode_biscelme
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
New Deal
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208811
Online Media:

Emily Genauer papers, circa 1920-1990

Creator:
Genauer, Emily, 1910-2002  Search this
Subject:
Davis, Stuart  Search this
Wright, Frank Lloyd  Search this
Tamayo, Rufino  Search this
Carnegie, Dorothy  Search this
Chagall, Marc  Search this
Dalí, Salvador  Search this
Graham, Martha  Search this
Guggenheim, Harry Frank, 1890-1971  Search this
Still, Clyfford  Search this
Pereira, I. Rice (Irene Rice)  Search this
Aronson, David  Search this
Bishop, Isabel  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Essays
Lectures
Transcriptions
Speeches
Photographs
Citation:
Emily Genauer papers, circa 1920-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women art critics  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8202
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210373
AAA_collcode_genaemil
Theme:
Women
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210373
Online Media:

Erle Loran papers

Creator:
Loran, Erle, 1905-1999  Search this
Names:
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco  Search this
Friends of Ethnic Art  Search this
San Francisco Art Institute  Search this
University of California, Berkeley -- Faculty  Search this
Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988  Search this
Cézanne, Paul, 1839-1906  Search this
Dasburg, Andrew, 1887-1979  Search this
Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994  Search this
Haley, John, 1905-1991  Search this
Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943  Search this
Hatfield, Dalzell, 1893-1963  Search this
Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966  Search this
Levinson, Harry  Search this
Sabean, Samuel  Search this
Schaefer, Bertha, 1895-1971  Search this
Still, Clyfford, 1904-  Search this
Wilke, Ulfert, 1907-1987  Search this
Extent:
12.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Watercolors
Sketches
Photographs
Writings
Date:
1912-1999
Summary:
The papers of California painter, writer, and teacher Erle Loran measure 12.6 linear feet and date from 1912 to 1991. Found are biographical materials; two linear feet of personal and professional correspondence; personal business records; writings which include extensive drafts and notes for Loran's book Cezanne's Composition; over 400 items of artwork that include watercolors, drawings, charcoal, and pastel studies; printed materials; photographs of Loran, family, and friends, and artwork; and one audio recording of a lecture by Loran on Cezanne.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of California painter and teacher Erle Loran measure 12.6 linear feet and date from 1912 to 1991. Found are biographical materials; two linear feet of personal and professional correspondence; personal business records; writings which include extensive drafts and notes for Loran's book Cezanne's Composition; over 400 items of artwork that include watercolors, drawings, charcoal, and pastel studies; printed materials; photographs of Loran, family, and friends, and artwork; and one audio recording of a lecture by Loran on Cezanne.

Biographical materials include biographical sketches, curriculum vita, a will, notes and a notebook, and an appointment book for 1987. Also found is an anniversary invitation, a certificate from the University of California, and the Pepsi-Cola award for 1948.

Two linear feet of correspondence is with artists, critics, galleries, and universities. Correspondents inlcude Romare Bearden, Andrew Dasburg, Clement Greenberg, John Haley, Dalzell Hatfield, Hans Hofmann, Harry Levinson (president of Permanent Pigments), Sam Sabean, Bertha Schaefer, Clyfford Still, and Ulfert Wilke. There is also correspondence with the University of California.

Personal business records include exhibition files, price and consignment lists, teaching materials, University of California Press records, and records relating to the publication of his book on Cézanne. Some of these records also document Loran's involvement with the Fine Arts Museum, Friends of Ethnic Arts, and the San Francisco Art Institute. In addition, there are records related to Loran's role in a donation of forty-five paintings by Hans Hofmann to the University Art Center. Also found are materials related to Loran's activities as an art collector including sales receipts, auction catalogs, and photographs of artwork owned by Loran.

Writings by Loran include a complete manuscript version of Cézanne's Composition along with additional notes and drafts, and numerous other short essays on Cézanne's life and art. Loran's other writings include essays about Hans Hofmann, Marsden Hartley, symbology in abstract art, and contemporary art.

Loran's career as an artist is extensively documented by four linear feet of original artwork, mostly preliminary sketches. The work demonstrates a variety of techniques including watercolor, pastel, pencil, pen, gouache, and oil sketches. Content includes landscapes, portraits, fantasy scenes, urban scenes, and rural scenes.

Printed materials include extensive newsclippings from seven decades, exhibition announcements, and exhibition catalogs. Photographs are of Loran, his second wife Clyta, the Loran family, friends and colleagues, artwork, and source materials. Also found within the papers is an audio recording on cassette of a lecture by Loran on Cézanne.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 8 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1930s-1990s (Box 1; 0.25 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1912-1992 (Boxes 1-3; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1930s-1992 (Box 3; 0.25 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, 1921-1999 (Boxes 3-4; 1.25 linear feet)

Series 5: Artwork, 1920s-1980s (Boxes 4-8, 13-14; 4.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1925-1999 (Boxes 8-10, 14; 2.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographs, 1910s-1990s (Boxes 10-12, 14; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 8: Audio Recording, 1982 (Box 12; 1 folder)
Biographical Note:
California painter, writer, and teacher Erle Loran was born on October 2, 1905 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended the Minneapolis School of Art and graduated in 1926. That same year, Loran won the Paris Prize from the Chaloner Foundation which enabled him to study in France for the next three years. Here, he immersed himself into the world of Paul Cezanne. He lived for two years in Cézanne's studio, meeting many who knew Cezanne, including painter Emile Bernard, and art dealer Ambroise Vollard. This experience was critical to the development of Loran's artistic vision and his later writings and lectures about Cézanne.

In 1929, Loran returned to the United States, and published the article "Cézanne's Country" in The Arts in 1930. He then spent the early 1930s in Minnesota, after returning to Minneapolis to be treated for tuberculosis. There, Loran began to paint in a regionalist style, producing landscapes and scenes of life in rural Minnesota. In 1931, Loran was given his first one-man show at the Kraushaar Gallery in New York. During the depression, Loran began teaching art and was given painting commissions as part of the federal arts programs of the WPA.

Loran moved to California in 1937 and accepted a position as professor in the art department at the University of California, Berkeley. There he taught until retiring in 1973, serving as the department's chair in the 1950s. He established a program to invite east coast artists to teach at the university, and participants included Conrad Marca-Relli and Milton Resnick. Loran's students included Jay DeFeo, Richard Diebenkorn, and Sam Francis. In 1941 Loran began to write the synthesis of his research and interpretations about Cézanne's work, culminating in his pioneering book Cézanne's Composition published in 1943 by the University of California Press.

During this period Loran associated himself with modernist Hans Hofmann. Loran's early paintings were lyrical abstractions in primary colors; however, his style constantly changed with the times. Watercolor was Loran's medium of choice because it lent itself to his often-remote plein air locations, such as the ghost towns of California and Nevada. With John Haley and Worth Ryder he formed the "Berkeley Group," whose paintings consisted of scenes of the California and southwestern landscape painted in flat, open areas of color. During the war, painting in the open became increasingly difficult and Loran transitioned from plein-air painting to studio work. Shortly thereafter he began to focus his painting on abstraction.

Loran's artwork during the 1950s consisted primarily of abstractions based on natural forms like crystal and driftwood. In 1955, he spent six weeks studying with Hans Hofmann, whom he later called, along with Cézanne, a second "great father figure." In 1960, he was instrumental in securing a gift of forty-five paintings by Hans Hofmann for Berkeley's University Art Center. In the late 1960s, his work became a fusing of Op, Pop, and Hard Edge. From this he moved to figurative painting and later to geometric designs and symbols.

Loran continued to paint throughout the rest of his life in a variety of styles, including nudes, abstractions, and landscapes. Besides being an artist and a teacher, Loran was also a lifelong collector of ethnic art who specialized in African, Asian, Native American, and pre-Columbian tribal art. Many works from his collection are presently housed at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Loran died in 1999 in Berkeley, at the age of 93.
Related Material:
Found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Erle Loran conducted by Herschel Chipp, June 18, 1981, and a 1981 interview with Erle and Clyta Loran in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Interviews With Artists collection. Also found is a letter from Loran to Richard Wattenmaker, 1975.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel 906) including photographs of artwork by Erle Loran and two clippings of reproductions of Loran's artwork. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Erle Loran lent the Archives of American Art materials for microfilming and donated papers in 1975. In 1999 Mrs. Ruth Schora-Loran, Loran's widow, donated additional material, including artworks.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- California -- Berkeley  Search this
Painters -- California -- Berkeley  Search this
Topic:
Art, Abstract  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- Berkeley  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this
Genre/Form:
Watercolors
Sketches
Photographs
Writings
Citation:
Erle Loran Papers, 1912-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.loraerle
See more items in:
Erle Loran papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw925cee8b4-a8f7-4f7f-b704-bf23331c4f25
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-loraerle
Online Media:

Lucy R. Lippard papers

Creator:
Lippard, Lucy R.  Search this
Names:
Addison Gallery of American Art  Search this
Alliance for Cultural Democracy  Search this
Art Workers Coalition  Search this
Heresies Collective, Inc.  Search this
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Political Art Documentation/Distribution (Organization)  Search this
Printed Matter, Inc.  Search this
Studio International (Firm)  Search this
University of Colorado -- Faculty  Search this
Women's Caucus for Art  Search this
Andre, Carl, 1935-  Search this
Chicago, Judy, 1939-  Search this
Darboven, Hanne  Search this
Edelson, Mary Beth  Search this
Hammond, Harmony  Search this
Henes, Donna  Search this
Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this
Judd, Donald, 1928-  Search this
LeWitt, Sol, 1928-2007  Search this
Pearson, Henry, 1914-2006  Search this
Stevens, May  Search this
Extent:
88.9 Linear feet
0.454 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Sound recordings
Interviews
Photographs
Date:
1930s-2010
bulk 1960-1990
Summary:
The papers of New York and New Mexico writer, art critic, and curator, Lucy R. Lippard, measure 88.9 linear feet and 0.454 GB and date from the 1930s to 2007, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1990s. Over half of the collection consists of correspondence files documenting Lippard's professional relationships with artists, writers, galleries, art institutions, and political organizations, and her interest in conceptual and minimalist art, feminism and political activism. Also found are Lippard's notes and writings including sound recordings and interviews, teaching and exhibition files, printed and digital material, several works of art, and photographs of artwork and artists. Scattered throughout the collection are a small number of records concerning Lippard's personal life. An addition of 3.0 linear feet donated 2015 includes subject files on feminist and conceptual art as well as land use, development, and local politics and history in New Mexico.

There is a 35.4 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2015, 2021 and 2023 that incudes research files (press clippings, notes, correspondence, ephemera) related to the publications 'Lure of the Local' and 'Undermining' are a significant portion. In addition there are approximetley numerous notebooks ranging from 1965-1996, containing notes and daily tasks. Printed material and ephemera includes promotional materials for talks and public engagements, as well as press clippings of reviews and other news items featuring Lippard. Another significant portion of the addition is labeled "miscellaneous professional correspondence." Materials date from circa 1965-2010.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York and New Mexico writer, art critic, and curator, Lucy R. Lippard, measure 70.5 linear feet and 0.454 GB and date from the 1930s to 2007, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1990s. Over half of the collection consists of correspondence files documenting Lippard's professional relationships with artists, writers, galleries, art institutions, and political organizations, and her interest in conceptual and minimalist art, feminism and political activism. Also found are Lippard's notes and writings including sound recordings and interviews, teaching and exhibition files, printed and digital material, several works of art, and photographs of artwork and artists. Scattered throughout the collection are a small number of records concerning Lippard's personal life. An addition of 3.0 linear feet donated 2015 includes subject files on feminist and conceptual art as well as land use, development, and local politics and history in New Mexico.

A small amount of biographical material comprises resumes and an address book.

Correspondence files document all aspects of Lippard's professional life including her relationships with artists such as Carl Andre, Judy Chicago, Hanne Darboven, Ray Johnson, Sol LeWitt, and Henry Pearson; feminist artists including Mary Beth Edelson, Harmony Hammond, Donna Henes, and May Stevens; political and art-related activist groups such as Alliance for Cultural Democracy, Art Workers Coalition, Political Art Documentation/Distribution, Printed Matter, and Women's Caucus for Art; galleries and museums including Addison Gallery of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art, and publishers including Art International and Art Forum. The series also traces the development of Lippard's involvement in activist causes including censorship and the rights of artists, Central America and the impact of U.S. policy on the region, and equality and reproductive rights for women, as well as her interest in conceptual and minimalist art. The series includes scattered artwork and photographs of artists.

Writings are primarily by Lippard and include correspondence, manuscript drafts, extensive notes, and publication records for some of her best-known books such as The Graphic Work of Philip Evergood (1966), Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object (1973), Eva Hesse (1976), Ad Reinhardt (1985), and Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America (1990), as well as essays for publications such as Art Forum and Studio International and contributions to exhibition catalogs. Also found are edited transcripts from conferences, symposia and interviews conducted by and of Lippard, some audio recordings of interviews and symposia, including an interview with Donald Judd, and notes and typescripts for lectures and speeches.

A small number of files document Lippard's teaching work during the 1970s and 1980s, primarily at the University of Colorado, Boulder where she taught several courses and seminars.

Exhibition files document Lippard's involvement with exhibitions she helped to organize or curate such as A Different War: Vietnam in Art (1989-1991) 557,087 and 955,000 (1969, 1970), 2,972, 453 (1971) c.7,500 (1973-1974) and those for which she wrote catalog contributions.

Printed material includes a collection of articles written by Lippard and a small amount of material concerning events, such as speaking engagements, in which Lippard was involved. Other printed material reflects Lippard's wide range of artistic, political and activist interests and documents exhibitions and performances and the activities of art-related and political groups. Material includes many exhibition catalogs, announcements, invitations, printed posters, news clippings, journal articles, brochures, pamphlets and other publications.

Artwork includes sixteen items by unidentified artists, including two by children. Photographs consist primarily of photographs of works of art in addition to a small number of photos of exhibition installations.

There is a 35.4 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2015, 2021 and 2023 that incudes research files (press clippings, notes, correspondence, ephemera) related to the publications 'Lure of the Local' and 'Undermining' are a significant portion. In addition there are approximetley numerous notebooks ranging from 1965-1996, containing notes and daily tasks. Printed material and ephemera includes promotional materials for talks and public engagements, as well as press clippings of reviews and other news items featuring Lippard. Another significant portion of the addition is labeled "miscellaneous professional correspondence."Materials date from circa 1965-2010.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nine series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1960s-circa 1980s (Box 1; 2 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1950s-2006 (Boxes 1-28, 51, OVs 54-63; 28.8 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1930s-1990s (Boxes 28-41, 51-52, OVs 64-66; 13.24 linear feet, ER01; 0.454 GB)

Series 4: Teaching Files, 1966-1993 (Boxes 41, 52; 0.76 linear feet)

Series 5: Exhibitions, 1960s-1990s (Boxes 42-45, 52, OVs 67-68; 4.2 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1940s-2007 (Boxes 45-49, 52, OVs 69-77; 5.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork and Ephemera, circa 1960s-circa 1990s (Boxes 50, 53; 4 folders)

Series 8: Photographs, 1950s-circa 1990s (Boxes 50, 53, OV 71; 1.0 linear foot)

Series 9: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1965-2010, (Boxes 78-113; 35.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
New York and New Mexico writer and art critic, Lucy R. Lippard, is the curator of numerous exhibitions and the author of over twenty-four books and other writings that trace the emergence of minimalist and conceptual art and document Lippard's commitment to feminism and political activism.

Born in New York City in 1937, Lippard earned a B.A. from Smith College in 1958 and an M.A. in 1962 from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. In the 1960s she began writing art criticism for the journals Art International and Artforum. In 1966 she curated the landmark exhibition Eccentric Abstraction at the Fischbach Gallery in New York City. Lippard then curated the first of four defining conceptual art exhibitions that became known as her "numbers" shows, each titled after the populations of the cities in which they took place, with catalogs in the form of a set of 10 x 15 cm index cards. Opening at the Seattle Art Museum in 1969, 557,087 was followed by 955,000 in Vancouver, Canada, a few months later. 2,972,453 was held at the Centro de Arte y Comunicacíon in Buenos Aires in 1971 and c.7500 opened in Valencia, California, in 1973-1974 before traveling to several other venues in the United States and Europe.

Lippard's first book, The Graphic Work of Philip Evergood was published in 1966, followed by Pop Art the same year, and a collection of her early essays, Changing, in 1971. Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object (1973) and From the Center: Feminist Essays on Women's Art (1976) documented the emergence of conceptual art and the early years of feminist art respectively. In 1976 Lippard published her seminal book on the life and work of Eva Hesse.

Between 1977 and 1978 Lippard lived on a farm in Devon, England, and worked on a novel, The First Stone, about the role of politics in the lives of three generations of women. During her walks across the English countryside she became interested in landscape art and conceived of her book Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory which was subsequently published in 1983. Other books include Get the Message?: A Decade Of Art For Social Change (1984), Ad Reinhardt (1985), and Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America (1990). Lippard has also written regular columns on art and politics for the Village Voice, In These Times and Z Magazine, and has been a contributing editor of Art in America.

Lippard was radicalized during a trip to Argentina in 1968 when she was invited to be a juror at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. On her return to the United States she became heavily involved in anti-war activities and the Art Workers Coalition. She is a co-founder of several feminist and artist organizations including the feminist collective Heresies, which produced Heresies: A Feminist Journal on Art and Politics from 1977-1992, Ad Hoc Women Artists, Alliance for Cultural Democracy, Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America, Women's Action Coalition, and Women's Art Registry. In 1976 she was a founder of Printed Matter, a New York nonprofit dedicated to producing artists' publications. She also worked closely with Franklin Furnace, an artist-run space devoted to the promotion of artists' books, installation art, and video and performance art, and served on the organization's International Committee.

Lippard has been a visiting professor at the School of Visual Arts, the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the University of Queensland, Australia, and was Eminent Artist in Residence at the University of Wyoming Department of Art in 2015. She has received honorary doctorates in fine arts from Maine College of Art, the Massachusetts College of Art, Moore College of Art, San Francisco Art Institute, and others, and awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants in criticism, the Smith College Medal, the ArtTable Award for Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts, and the Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies Award for Excellence.

Lippard has lived in New Mexico since 1992 and works as a freelance writer and speaker.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Lucy Lippard conducted in 2011 March 15, by Sue Heinemann, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts project, funded by a grant from the A G Foundation.
Provenance:
Lucy R. Lippard donated her papers in several increments between 1972-1995, 2006, 2015, 2021 and 2023.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. 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:
Curators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Artists -- Political activity  Search this
Art criticism  Search this
Feminism and art  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Women art critics  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this
Conceptual art  Search this
Minimal art  Search this
Women museum curators  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Photographs
Citation:
Lucy R. Lippard papers, 1930s-2007, bulk 1960s-1990s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.lipplucy
See more items in:
Lucy R. Lippard papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9101c6a69-dde9-42ed-94cc-d03650c249ed
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-lipplucy
Online Media:

Phil Paradise papers

Creator:
Paradise, Philip Herschel, 1905-1997  Search this
Extent:
7.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Moving images
Date:
1922-1994
Summary:
The papers of painter and author Phil Paradise measure 7.1 linear feet and date from 1922 to 1994. The papers document Paradise's career as a watercolorist and writer through correspondence with family, colleagues, and art institutions; journals, manuscripts, notes and other writings; awards, interviews, inventories and other professional records; newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and other printed material; prints, sketches and other artwork; and photographs and slides of artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and author Phil Paradise measure 7.1 linear feet and date from 1922 to 1994. The papers document Paradise's career as a watercolorist and writer through correspondence with family, colleagues, and art institutions; journals, manuscripts, notes and other writings; awards, interviews, inventories and other professional records; newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and other printed material; prints, sketches and other artwork; and photographs and slides of artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as six series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1958-1990 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 2: Writings, 1934-1994 (3.7 linear feet; Boxes 2-6)

Series 3: Professional Activity Files, 1930-1990 (0.4 linear feet; Box 6, FC 8)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1922-1990 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 6-7)

Series 5: Artwork, 1930-1986 (0.1 linear feet; Box 7)

Series 6: Photographic Material, 1959-1986 (0.7 linear feet; Box 7)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and author Phil Paradise (1905-1997) was born in Ontario, Oregon, and was active in Santa Barbara, California. He completed his studies at the Chouinard Institute in Los Angeles. Paradise worked primarily as a watercolorist and was a member of the National Academy of Design, the American Watercolor Society, and the California Watercolor Society.
Provenance:
The papers were donated in multiple installations by Phil Paradise between 1990 and 1995.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- Santa Barbara  Search this
Watercolorists -- California -- Santa Barbara  Search this
Authors -- California -- Santa Barbara  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Moving images
Citation:
Phil Paradise papers, 1922-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.paraphil
See more items in:
Phil Paradise papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93c90eedf-9546-47f4-8976-f484e4693639
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-paraphil

Professional Activity Files

Collection Creator:
Paradise, Philip Herschel, 1905-1997  Search this
Extent:
0.3 Linear feet (Box 6, FC 8)
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1930-1990
Scope and Contents:
Professional material consists of awards, video interviews with Paradise, correspondence and promotional material regarding one of his novels, inventories of artwork, and some financial material.
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Phil Paradise papers, 1922-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.paraphil, Series 3
See more items in:
Phil Paradise papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw97c4d4fed-309e-4b82-b264-bdb6b340a6d1
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-paraphil-ref86

Article Interview with Ted Mills

Collection Creator:
Paradise, Philip Herschel, 1905-1997  Search this
Container:
Box 6, Folder 11
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
undated
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Phil Paradise papers, 1922-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Phil Paradise papers
Phil Paradise papers / Series 3: Professional Activity Files
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9dea8dd16-9561-4d9a-9030-aac4e42373f1
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-paraphil-ref88

Announcements and Exhibition Catalogs

Collection Creator:
Barnet, Will, 1911-2012  Search this
Container:
Box 28, Folder 19-23
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
undated
1930s-1980s
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Will Barnet papers, 1897, 1929-2016. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Will Barnet papers
Will Barnet papers / Series 8: Addition to the Will Barnet Papers / 8.7: Printed Material
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw960ff33d3-119b-4f52-b343-ea113a0ecf83
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-barnwill-ref663

Art Students League Publications

Collection Creator:
Barnet, Will, 1911-2012  Search this
Container:
Box 29, Folder 10-15
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1929
1930s-1990s
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Will Barnet papers, 1897, 1929-2016. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Will Barnet papers
Will Barnet papers / Series 8: Addition to the Will Barnet Papers / 8.7: Printed Material
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw94993dddb-93ab-444f-9e51-e8f2ebaf79d4
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-barnwill-ref665

Thompson -- Marianapolis Prepatory School

Former owner:
Ream, Norman  Search this
Collection Collector:
Marchand, Richard  Search this
Extent:
4 Slides (photographs)
Type:
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Postcards
Place:
Marianapolis Preparatory School (Thompson, Connecticut)
United States of America -- Connecticut -- Windham County -- Thompson
Varying form:
Also known as Carolyn Hall and the Ream Estate.
General:
001: Marianapolis Preparatory School, Thompson, Connecticut. Postcard circa 1930-1990.

002: Marianapolis Preparatory School, Thompson, Connecticut. Postcard circa 1930-1990.

003: Main entrance to Carolyn Hall, Thompson, Conn. Publ. by Jeweler Shaw, Putnam, Conn. circa 1930-1990.

004: Carolyn Hall, Thompson, Conn. Publ. by Jeweler Shaw, Putnam, Conn. circa 1930-1990.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Connecticut -- Thompson  Search this
Mansions  Search this
Campuses  Search this
Gates  Search this
Climbing plants  Search this
Driveways  Search this
Porte-cocheres  Search this
Lawns  Search this
Edging  Search this
Genre/Form:
Postcards
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Richard Marchand historical postcard collection.
Identifier:
AAG.MAR, File CT124
See more items in:
Richard Marchand historical postcard collection (35mm slides)
Richard Marchand historical postcard collection (35mm slides) / Connecticut
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6668720f0-3da0-4c0a-9a3f-d5898a86d410
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-mar-ref1317

Middlebury -- The Chateau

Owner:
Middlebury College  Search this
Architect:
Mills, James Lange  Search this
Collection Collector:
Marchand, Richard  Search this
Extent:
1 Slides (photographs)
Type:
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Postcards
Place:
The Chateau (Middlebury, Vermont)
United States of America -- Vermont -- Addison County -- Middlebury
General:
Postcard circa 1930-1990.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Vermont -- Middlebury  Search this
School grounds  Search this
Universities and colleges  Search this
Flagpoles  Search this
Lawns  Search this
College campuses  Search this
Climbing plants  Search this
Shrubs  Search this
Genre/Form:
Postcards
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Richard Marchand historical postcard collection.
Identifier:
AAG.MAR, File VT010
See more items in:
Richard Marchand historical postcard collection (35mm slides)
Richard Marchand historical postcard collection (35mm slides) / Vermont
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6c64e68ad-e0f6-458a-b1c7-8cc8cbe54c0a
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-mar-ref1801

John Davis Hatch papers, 1790-1995

Creator:
Hatch, John Davis, 1907-1996  Search this
Subject:
Peale, Rembrandt  Search this
Browne, Henry Kirke  Search this
Bluemner, Oscar  Search this
Clark, Ezra  Search this
Callahan, Kenneth  Search this
Cropsey, Jasper Francis  Search this
Cranch, John  Search this
Darley, Felix Octavius Carr  Search this
Davies, Arthur B. (Arthur Bowen)  Search this
Granger, C. H.  Search this
Guy, Seymour J.  Search this
Harvey, George W.  Search this
Hatch, Olivia Stokes  Search this
Henry, Edward Lamson  Search this
Inman, Henry  Search this
McNeill, Lloyd  Search this
Scott, Julian  Search this
Trumbull, John  Search this
Vanderlyn, John  Search this
University of Oregon  Search this
St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)  Search this
Type:
Essays
Reviews (documents)
Photographs
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Notes
Lectures
Sketches
Citation:
John Davis Hatch papers, 1790-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painting, American  Search this
Drawing, American  Search this
Art, American  Search this
Artists -- United States  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Art, American -- Study and teaching  Search this
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7681
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209844
AAA_collcode_hatcjohn
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209844
Online Media:

Lucy R. Lippard papers, 1930s-2010, bulk 1960-1990

Creator:
Lippard, Lucy R.  Search this
Subject:
Chicago, Judy  Search this
Andre, Carl  Search this
Stevens, May  Search this
Pearson, Henry  Search this
Darboven, Hanne  Search this
Henes, Donna  Search this
Hammond, Harmony  Search this
LeWitt, Sol  Search this
Edelson, Mary Beth  Search this
Judd, Donald  Search this
Johnson, Ray  Search this
Art Workers Coalition  Search this
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Alliance for Cultural Democracy  Search this
Studio International (Firm)  Search this
University of Colorado  Search this
Political Art Documentation/Distribution (Organization)  Search this
Printed Matter, Inc.  Search this
Addison Gallery of American Art  Search this
Women's Caucus for Art  Search this
Heresies Collective, Inc.  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Photographs
Citation:
Lucy R. Lippard papers, 1930s-2010, bulk 1960-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Artists -- Political activity  Search this
Art criticism  Search this
Feminism and art  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Women art critics  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this
Conceptual art  Search this
Minimal art  Search this
Women museum curators  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7895
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210062
AAA_collcode_lipplucy
Theme:
Women
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210062
Online Media:

Charles Schucker Papers, 1934-2001

Creator:
Schucker, Charles L., 1908-1998  Search this
Subject:
Louis, Morris  Search this
Louzonis, Valerie Velasquez  Search this
Katonah Museum of Art  Search this
Pratt Institute  Search this
Yaddo (Artist's colony)  Search this
Federal Art Project (Ill.)  Search this
Type:
Sketchbooks
Photographs
Drawings
Video recordings
Citation:
Charles Schucker Papers, 1934-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8579
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210758
AAA_collcode_schuchar
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210758
Online Media:

Charles Pollock papers, 1875-1994

Creator:
Pollock, Charles C. (Charles Cecil), 1902-1988  Search this
Subject:
Pollock, Jackson  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Sketches
Cartoons (humorous images)
Citation:
Charles Pollock papers, 1875-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Painters -- France -- Paris  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Expatriate painters -- France -- Paris  Search this
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8942
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211128
AAA_collcode_pollchar
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211128
Online Media:

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