The records of Mercury Galleries measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1937 to 1943. The collection sheds light on the gallery's brief existence through correspondence, printed material including exhibition catalogs, announcements, press releases, and newspaper clippings, photographs of artwork, one transcript from a radio discussion, and flyers from WPA art tours.
Scope and Contents:
The records of Mercury Galleries measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1937 to 1943. The collection sheds light on the gallery's brief existence through printed material including exhibition catalogs, announcements, press releases, and newspaper clippings, correspondence with artists, museums, and galleries, photographs of artwork, one transcript from a radio discussion, and flyers from WPA art tours.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Mercury Galleries was established in 1938 in New York, New York, by Sidney Paul Schectman (also known as Paul Kollmer) and Bernard Braddon. The gallery exhibited contemporary drawings, paintings, and sculptures and was known for its abstract expressionist and surrealist art shows.
Cornell graduates Schectman and Braddon opened Artmart Galleries in late 1937 in the loft of a building owned by family. They priced contemporary art between $5 and $50 regardless of who created it and any artist could exhibit and sell their original work there for a fee. Artists who exhibited there included Cleo Hartwig, Stanley William Hayer, and many more. Schectman and Braddon repeated this business model at Mercury Galleries the following year, and later organized the Circuit Art Association using the same idea.
Located in close proximity to the Whitney Museum, Mercury held The Ten: Whitney Dissenters (1938), featuring artists Adolph Gottlieb, Ralph Rosenborg, Mark Rothkowitz (Rothko), Ben-Zion, Joe Solman, Nahum Tschacbasov, Lou Schanker, Louis Harris, Earl Kerkam (guest), and Ilya Bolotowsky. Schectman, Braddon, and Louis Harris (a member of The Ten) broadcast a radio discussion titled "What's Wrong with American Art," in support of the show. The exhibition catalog foreword was written jointly by Schectman, Braddon, and Rothko.
Another notable Mercury Galleries group show was Visions of Other Worlds (circa 1937-1940), with works by surrealist painters Joan Miro, Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst and others, African sculpture, and drawings by patients of psychiatric institutions in France. Schectman and Braddon were introduced to African art through visiting exhibitions and by the collector Ladislos Segy.
In addition to those mentioned above, other artists exhibited at Mercury during its short existence included Henri Matisse, Zoltan Hecht, Jackson Pollock, Salvador Dali, poet Rachel Mack Wilson, Hananiah Harari, and John Rood.
The gallery closed in 1940.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Bernard Braddon and Sidney Paul Schectman conducted by Avis Berman, October 9, 1981.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Bernard B. Braddon, co-owner of Mercury Galleries, in 1981.
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.
Mercury Galleries, 1937-1943. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
The records of the Poindexter Gallery measure 7.1 linear feet and date from 1931-1985 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1955-1978 when the gallery was active. The majority of the collection consists of artists' files documenting the gallery's relationships with its artists, including exhibitions, and containing a wide variety of materials, including photographs. Also found are the "desk files" kept by the gallery's founder, Elinor Poindexter; correspondence; and financial and legal records.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Poindexter Gallery measure 7.1 linear feet and date from 1931-1985 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1955-1978 when the gallery was active. The majority of the collection consists of artists' files documenting the gallery's relationships with its artists, including exhibitions, and containing a wide variety of materials, including photographs. Also found are the "desk files" kept by the gallery's founder, Elinor Poindexter; correspondence; and financial and legal records.
Elinor Poindexter's desk files consist of documents she kept as a reference for both her personal needs and gallery business. Correspondence is with artists, museums, colleges and universities, and art institutes. Notable correspondents include Worcester Art Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon Guggenheim Museum, Denver Art Museum, Yale University, Oberlin College, University of Arizona, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, Smithsonian Institution, and the Montana Historical Association. Additional correspondence is found throughout desk files and artists' files as well.
Artists' files are found for artists represented by the gallery, or in whom the gallery took an interest. Contents of the files vary, but may contain correspondence, photographs, sales records, exhibition files, and printed materials. There is extensive material relating to artists Richard Diebenkorn, Willem de Kooning, Giorgio Spaventa, Robert De Niro, Earl Kerkam, Franz Kline, Milton Resnick, Eleanor Dickinson, Paul Harris, Jules Olitski, among others.
The remainder of the collection consists of financial and legal files containing sales inventories and receipts, price lists, bills, loan agreements, and documents pertaining to the estate of Giorgio Spaventa, as well as photographic materials consisting of prints, negatives, slides and color transparencies of artwork.
Series 2: Correspondence, 1955-1971 (Box 1-2, 1.8 linear feet)
Series 3: Artists' Files, 1931-1983, undated (Box 2-5, 2.4 linear feet)
Series 4: Financial and Legal Files, 1955-1985 (Box 5-6, 1.0 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographic Materials, 1933-1977 (Box 6-7, 1.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Poindexter Gallery was founded in 1955 in New York City by Elinor Poindexter. The gallery specialized in sculpture, abstract, and figurative art and featured the works of such artists as Richard Diebenkorn, Jules Olitski, Nell Blaine, Willem de Kooning, Giorgio Spaventa, Franz Kline, Earl Kerkam, Milton Resnick and Robert De Niro, among others. The Poindexter Gallery closed in 1978.
Related Materials:
Among other resources relating to the Poindexter Gallery records in the Archives of American Art is an oral history with gallery owner, Elinor Poindexter, conducted by Paul Cummings on September 9, 1970.
Provenance:
The Poindexter Gallery records were donated over a period from 1968-1978 by the Poindexter Gallery via owners Elinor Poindexter and art director Harold Fondren. A 2006 accession was donated by Christie Poindexter Dennis, daughter of Elinor.
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.
A published article, "Earl Kerkam: Paintings and Drawings," by Cowles, 1973, and a transcript of an interview with Elaine de Kooning, Esteban Vicente, Hanna Vicente, and Barbara Schwartz concerning Kerkam. The interview was conducted by Cowles in Elaine de Kooning's studio, March 29, 1972.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian; East Lansing, Mich.
Provenance:
Donated 1975 by Claude C. Cowles.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Obituary, exhibition announcements, testimonials by fellow artists, bibliographical material, and articles and clippings about Kerkam.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; New York City.
Provenance:
The donor, E. Bruce Kirk, is Kerkam's son.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview of Sol LeWitt conducted 1974 July 15, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
LeWitt speaks of his studies at Syracuse University, the Tiffany Foundation award for his lithograph, odd jobs, his work for magazines and the graphics department of I. M. Pei's firm, travel in Europe, his army service, graphic design work, typography, and abstract expressionism.
He discusses his job at the Museum of Modern Art, influences upon his work, his interest in film and the photographs of Eadward Muybridge, and exhibitions at the Dwan, Daniels, and Kaymar Galleries. LeWitt comments on his change from metal to wood sculpture; conceptual, minimal and post-minimal art; series and systems; his wall drawings; torn paper and folded paper "drawings"; prints and etchings; music and books; and the exploitation of art and artists. He recalls Anthony Candido, Dan Flavin, Earl Kerkam, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Sol LeWitt (1928-2007) was a sculptor and draftsman of Italy and New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 6 min.
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 others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
