Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Joan T. Washburn, 2007 February 3-April 14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
The Barbara Mathes Gallery records pertaining to Rio Nero lawsuit measure 1.4 linear feet and date from 1989-1995. The records, assembled by Barbara Mathes, relate to the lawsuit Greenberg Gallery, Inc., et al. v. Patricia Bauman, et al. and the authenticity of the Alexander Calder mobile Rio Nero. The files contain correspondence, purchase and shipping records, and legal documents. The collection also includes printed material and photographs of the mobile.
Scope and Content Note:
The Barbara Mathes Gallery records pertaining to Rio Nero lawsuit measure 1.4 linear feet and date from 1989-1995. The collection, assembled by Barbara Mathes, relates to the lawsuit Greenberg Gallery, Inc., et al. v. Patricia Bauman, et al. regarding the authentication of the Alexander Calder mobile Rio Nero. The Barbara Mathes Gallery, co-owner of the mobile was a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The files contain correspondence between co-owners of the mobile, letters and accompanying legal documents from their attorney, purchase and shipment records, and invoices for legal fees. Legal documents are comprised of depositions, findings of fact, transcripts of proceedings, trial exhibits, and appeal briefs. Printed material includes clippings and magazine articles relating to the trial. The collection also contains photographs of the mobile.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as four series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1989-1995 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 2: Legal Documents, 1991-1994 (Box 2; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1993-1995 (Box 2; 1 folder)
Series 4: Photographs, 1989-1990, 1993 (Box 2; 2 folders)
Historical Note:
In 1959 Alexander Calder (1898-1976) created a black metal mobile titled Rio Nero which collector Lionel Bauman purchased from the Perls Galleries, New York City (1967). Patricia Bauman received Rio Nero from her father's estate in 1989 and consigned the mobile to the Herbert Palmer Gallery in Los Angeles and L & R Entwistle and Co., Ltd. in London. The Greenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, Missouri, purchased the mobile for $500,000 from L & R Entwistle in March 1990. The Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York; Donald Morris Gallery, Inc., Birmingham, Michigan; and John C. Stoller & Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota, each acquired a twenty-five percent share in the mobile from the Greenberg Gallery.
In May 1990, the gallery owners saw the mobile for the first time and noticed that the work neither hung properly nor moved in a manner consistent with other Calder mobiles. In December 1990, the owners asked Klaus Perls, the noted authority on Calder and the artist's primary dealer from 1955-1976, to authenticate the Rio Nero mobile. After Perls deemed the work a forgery, Patricia Bauman declined to reverse the sale and the four galleries instituted legal proceedings. The plaintiffs, Greenberg Gallery et al., contended that Patricia Bauman, or someone acting on her behalf, switched the original mobile with a forgery and then presented it to L & R Entwistle as a Calder mobile.
In April 1993, the case was tried without a jury in Washington, D. C. and the Federal District Court awarded judgment to the defendants, Patricia Bauman and L & R Entwistle. The judge presiding over the case, Judge Oberdorfer, ruled out the testimony of Klaus Perls and the plaintiffs subsequently appealed the case. In 1994, the Alexander and Louisa Calder Foundation declined to include the mobile in the catalogue raisonné on the artist. On appeal, judgment was not overturned.
Provenance:
The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Barbara Mathes in 2005.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The Eve Propp papers regarding artist Joseph Cornell date from 1966-1994 and measure 1 linear foot. This small collection documents the relationship between Eve Propp, a gallerist, and Joseph Cornell. The two maintained a friendship through frequent letters and visits. The papers consist of approximately sixty letters from Cornell to Propp from 1968-1972, letters from others, notes on Propp's visits to Cornell, printed material, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The Eve Propp papers regarding artist Joseph Cornell date from 1966-1994 and measure 1 linear foot. This small collection documents the relationship between Eve Propp, a gallerist, and Joseph Cornell. The two maintained a friendship through frequent letters and visits. The papers consist of approximately sixty letters from Cornell to Propp from 1968-1972, letters from others, notes on Propp's visits to Cornell, printed material, and photographic material.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as a single series.
Series 1: Eve Propp papers regarding Joseph Cornell, 1966-1994 (1 linear foot; Box 1)
Biographical / Historical:
Eve Propp befriended artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) while operating a short lived gallery in New York, N.Y. She visited him at his home on Wednesdays from 1969-1970. She now resides in upstate New York.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Joseph Cornell papers. The bulk of Cornell's source material resides in the Joseph Cornell Study Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum, along with his library and record collection.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives of American Art in 2017 by Eve Propp.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Assemblage artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Citation:
Eve Propp papers regarding Joseph Cornell, 1966-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The records of Bridgehampton, New York's Clayton-Liberatore Gallery measure 3.9 linear feet and date from 1889 to 1980. The collection comprises administrative records that include photographs of artwork and former gallery owner Marie Sterner, and business records for galleries, museums, and arts institutions; artist's files containing records for artwork and exhibitions by over 80 artists including George Bellows, T. Victor Hall, Childe Hassam, Russell Iredell, William J. Scott, Augustus Vincent Tack, Hilda Taylor, and others; and printed materials consisting of art reproductions, books and booklets, clippings, and exhibition catalogs. Many of the files throughout the collection contain material created by Marie Sterner and the Marie Sterner Gallery.
Scope and Contents:
The records of Bridgehampton, New York's Clayton-Liberatore Gallery measure 3.9 linear feet and date from 1889 to 1980. The collection comprises administrative records that include photographs of artwork and former gallery owner Marie Sterner, and business records for galleries, museums, and arts institutions; artist's files containing records for artwork and exhibitions by over 80 artists including George Bellows, T. Victor Hall, Childe Hassam, Russell Iredell, William J. Scott, Augustus Vincent Tack, Hilda Taylor, and others; and printed materials consisting of art reproductions, books and booklets, clippings, and exhibition catalogs. Many of the files throughout the collection contain material created by Marie Sterner and the Marie Sterner Gallery.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as three series.
Series 1: Administrative Records, 1921-1980 (Box 1; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 2: Artist's Files, 1920-1968 (Boxes 1-3, OV 6; 2.1 linear feet)
Series 3: Printed Materials, 1889-1977 (Boxes 3-5; 1.0 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Clayton-Liberatore Gallery operated in Bridgehampton, Long Island, New York. The gallery's owner, Leonard Clayton, was the founder of the Leonard Clayton Gallery in New York City. Clayton took over the Marie Sterner Gallery and later ran the gallery with his niece, Mary C. Liberatore, under the name Clayton-Liberatore Gallery. The gallery represented artists such as Childe Hassam, Augustus Vincent Tack, and Hilda Taylor among others.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Marie Sterner and Marie Sterner Gallery papers, 1913-1951, and [Exhibition installation at the Leonard Clayton Gallery] / Edward Heim, photographer, 1921.
Provenance:
The Clayton-Liberatore Gallery records were donated from 1979 to 1981 by Mary C. Liberatore of the Clayton-Liberatore Gallery.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The Callicoon Fine Arts records measure 7.0 linear feet and 2060 gigabytes. Included are artist files, exhibition records, administrative records, financial records, correspondence, printed materials, press clippings, and audiovisual material documenting the gallery's activities.
Biographical / Historical:
Callicoon Fine Arts was a contemporary art gallery active from 2009 to 2021. Owned and directed by Photios Giovanis, the gallery was named after the upstate New York town where it got its start in May of 2009. In 2011, the gallery relocated to New York City's Lower East Side.
Provenance:
Donated in 2021 by Photios Giovanis, Callicoon Fine Arts gallery owner.
Restrictions:
This collection is temporarily closed to researchers due to archival processing. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The papers of New York multimedia artist and educator Paul Ramírez Jonas, measure 6.3 linear feet and 19.73 GB and date from circa 1989-2014. The collection documents the work of this social practice artist through correspondence, exhibition and project files, and professional files, and provides relatively thorough coverage of Ramírez Jonas's work and development to late mid-career.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York multimedia artist and educator Paul Ramírez Jonas, measure 6.3 linear feet and 19.73 GB and date from circa 1989-2014. The collection documents the work of this social practice artist through correspondence, exhibition and project files, and professional files, and provides relatively thorough coverage of Ramírez Jonas's work and development to late mid-career.
Correspondence and personal files include greeting cards and postcards sent to Ramírez Jonas from individuals and galleries, and includes the artist's file arrangement lists documenting his organization of the records prior to donation to the Archives of American Art. Extensice email correspondence remains unprocessed.
Exhibition files provide a comprehensive survey of Ramírez Jonas's participation in group and solo exhibitions over more than two decades. Files include correspondence, notes, sketches, and printed, photographic and digital material for multiple exhibitions, and record Ramírez Jonas's relationships with gallery owners as well as the evolution and execution of many installations.
Project files provide a relatively comprehensive record of over two decades of projects, including large scale public art installations and smaller, more intimate projects, that trace evolving themes in Ramírez Jonas's work. Files include correspondence, architect's plans and schematic drawings, artist notes, financial and contractual records, printed and digital material, and photographs.
Professional files document other professional activities in which Ramírez Jonas was involved, such as boards and committees, conferences, panels, and seminars. Also found are a few files relating to teaching appointments, including documentation of his Combined Media Class at Hunter College.
Arrangement:
Prior to donation, Ramírez Jonas organized the bulk of his archives chronologically and thereafter into three categories which he titled "Shows," "Work," and "Other." This core arrangement has been maintained in the series Exhibition Files (Shows), Project Files (Work) and Professional Files (Other). A few additional files that did not fall into these three categories are arranged at the beginning of the collection as Series 1: Correspondence and Personal Files.
Series 1: Correspondence and Personal Files, 1991-circa 2014 (0.25 linear feet; Box 1, 2.20 GB; ER10)
Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1990-2009 (3.05 linear feet; Boxes 1-4, OV 7, 14.99 GB; ER01-ER05)
Series 3: Project Files, 1990-2014 (2.4 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, OVs 8-9, 2.54 GB; ER06-ER09)
Series 4: Professional Files, circa 1989-2014 (0.6 linear feet; Box 6, OV 8)
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Ramírez Jonas (1965-) is a multimedia artist and educator in New York, New York.
Ramírez Jonas was born in Pomona, California and raised in Honduras. He earned a BA in Studio Art and an MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1989. As a social practice artist Ramírez Jonas explores definitions of art and the public and seeks to engage active audience participation in much of his work. He uses pre-existing texts, models, and materials in work ranging from monumental sculpture to smaller and more intimate projects involving drawings, textiles, musical instruments, video and performance art, and other media.
Ramírez Jonas has had an ongoing association with Creative Time, a public arts organization in New York City which funded, amongst other projects, his 2010 project Key to the City, in which he replaced locks around the city with new locks that could be opened with keys he distributed. Keys have had an important role in Ramírez Jonas's work; his Taylor Square park project in Cambridge, for example, juxtaposes the locked gates of the public space with 5000 keys he distributed to the public to be duplicated endlessly, as a symbol of "this relationship between public space and the public."
Ramírez Jonas is an educator who has taught at institutions including the Rhode Island School of Design and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He is currently an Associate Professor at Hunter College, City University of New York.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2015 and 2017 by Paul Ramírez Jonas.
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:
Educators -- New York (State) -- Brooklyn Search this
Multimedia artists -- New York (State) -- Brooklyn Search this
An interview with Matthew Marks conducted 2006 August 2, by James Wechsler for the Archives of American Art, at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York, NY.
Biographical / Historical:
Matthew Marks (1962-) is a gallerist in New York, NY, and Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
This interview is access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its Oral History Program interviews available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. Quotation, reproduction and publication of the recording is governed by restrictions. If an interview has been transcribed, researchers must quote from the transcript. If an interview has not been transcribed, researchers must quote from the recording. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The Andrea Rosen Gallery records measure 189.5 linear feet and date from circa 1990-2017. Included are administrative files, artists files, press files, exhibition files, correspondence, financial records, and photographs, including a snapshot series taken by Andrea Rosen. A portion of the material is in digital format.
Arrangement:
The collection is currently arranged as 12 series.
Biographical / Historical:
Andrea Rosen Gallery (est. 1990) is an art gallery in New York that exhibits contemporary art. The Gallery is owned and run by Andrea Rosen.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2019 by the Andrea Rosen Gallery and Andrea Rosen, gallery owner.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archvies' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The donor has retained all intellectural property rights, including copyright, that they may own. Snapshots series: Authorization to quote or reproduce for the purposes of publication requires written permission from the donor. Researchers must also sign a Researcher Reproduction Understanding form prior to viewing. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State)
Citation:
Andrea Rosen Gallery records, circa 1990-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of art dealer and gallerist Niel Lovisco measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1942 to 1989. The collection contains material relating to art galleries owned or directed by Niel Lovisco, including the Lovisco Gallery, the Bearskin Neck Gallery, and the Art Center Gallery, and consists of printed material, gallery records, Art Inview records, and a subject file on William Meyerowitz and Theresa Bernstein.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art dealer and gallerist Niel Lovisco measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1942 to 1989. The collection contains material relating to art galleries owned or directed by Niel Lovisco, including the Lovisco Gallery, the Bearskin Neck Gallery, and the Art Center Gallery in New York, and consists of printed material, gallery records, Art Interview records, and a subject file on William Meyerowitz and Theresa Bernstein.
Printed material includes clippings regarding Niel Lovisco. Gallery records contain correspondence, checklists, announcements, publicity releases, clippings, and a few snapshots (1946-1978) of material related to galleries owned and/or operated by Lovisco. The Art Inview records consist of a carbon copy of the organization's constitution. The subject file on William and Theresa Bernstein Meyerowitz contains exhibition checklists, clippings, publicity information, and a letter to Lovisco's wife Sophie from Theresa (1983).
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Niel Lovisco (1900-1981) was an art dealer and gallerist active in Rockport and Gloucester, Massachusetts and New York, New York. In the 1920s, Lovisco ran "The Catacombs," a combination art gallery-tea room in New York City's Greenwich Village. He later operated the Bearskin Neck Art Gallery in Rockport, Massachusetts (1946-1949), the Art Center Gallery in New York, New York (1950s), and the Lovisco Gallery, located in New York, New York (1957-1973), and later, Gloucester, Massachusetts (1973-1979).
Provenance:
The Niel Lovisco papers were donated in 1989 by Sophie Lovisco, widow of Niel Lovisco.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art dealers -- Massachusetts -- Rockport Search this
Art dealers -- Massachusetts -- Gloucester Search this
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Gallery owners -- Massachusetts -- Rockport Search this
Gallery owners -- Massachusetts -- Gloucester Search this
Citation:
Niel Lovisco papers, 1942-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Four black and white snapshots of Frank and Margareta Rehn with their friend, Margaret Hedborg and her baby Svea. Photographs were taken by Carl Erik Hedborg, Hedborg's husband and Svea's father, in Magnolia, Massachusetts, August 1947.
Biographical / Historical:
Frank K.M. Rehn (1886-1956) owned and operated Rehn Galleries in New York, NY.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Frank K.M. Rehn Galleries records, 1858-1969.
Provenance:
Donated in 2020 by Svea Bogan, daughter of Carl Erik and Margaret Hedborg.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
