Papers created by Asian art historian, curator, and collector Dr. James Francis Cahill. Includes personal and professional correspondence and project files documenting his many publications, lectures and activities in the Asian art field. Documents span his early career at the Freer Gallery of Art, where he served as curator of Chinese art from 1957-1965, and his tenure 1965-1994 as Professor of the History of Art at the University of California, Berkeley.
Scope and Content Note:
The James Cahill Papers span the years 1945 to 1996 and measures 15 linear feet. The collection includes: personal and administrative correspondence with other art historians, art dealers and collectors; lecture manuscripts and administrative material and correspondence with art museums, universities and other organizations in the Asian art community. There are also several personal letters and postcards with family friends of James and Dorothy Cahill. The folder descriptions were retained from Cahill's own folder titles and organized alphabetically within each series.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 2 series:
Series 1 -- Project Files, 1945-1996
Series 2 -- Correspondence with Individuals, 1945-1996
Biographical Note:
1926 -- Born, Fort Bragg, CA
1950 -- Receives BA degree in Oriental Languages from University of California, Berkeley
1952 -- Receives MA degree in Art History from University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor
Circa 1953 -- Holds a museum training fellowship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
1954-1955 -- Studies with Shujiro Shimada at Kyoto University in Japan on a Fulbright Scholarship
1958 -- Receives PhD in Art History from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, working principally with Max Loehr
1960 -- Publishes first and highly influential book: "Chinese Painting." In: Treasures of Asia series, Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, Switzerland 1960. Published also in French and German editions
1965 -- Leaves the Freer and Sackler Gallery to accept position as Professor of History of Art at the University of California, Berkeley
1973 -- Goes to China as member of the Chinese Archaeological Delegation, first group of art historians to visit China from the US
1976 -- Publishes first of projected five-volume series on later Chinese paintings: "Hills Beyond a River: Chinese Painting of the Yuan Dynasty"
1977 -- Visits China as chairman of Chinese Old Painting Delegation
1978 -- Publishes second of projected five-volume series on later Chinese painting: "Parting At the Shore: Chinese Painting of the Early and Middle Ming Dynasty"
1978-1979 -- Accepts appointment as Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard; delivers series of lectures titled, "The Compelling Image: Nature and Style in 17th Century Chinese Painting"
1982 -- Publishes "Barnhart-Cahill-Rogers Correspondence, 1981" (collection of correspondence published for colleagues) The Harvard lecture series: "The Compelling Image: Nature and Style in 17th Century Chinese Painting" published as a book, receives College of Art Association's Morey Prize for Best Art History book
1998-1999 -- Spends a year at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton with his wife, the art historian and artist Hsingyuan Tsao
2007 -- Former students organize 80th birthday party/symposium at Berkeley, titled: "Returning to the Shore"
2010 -- Became the 12th Recipient of the Charles Lang Freer Medal
Present -- Living in Vancouver, Canada
Related Material:
The James Cahill website, http://www.jamescahill.info/ which contains digitized versions of selected unpublished papers, correspondence and personal reminisces.
Provenance:
Gift of James Cahill.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Due to cold storage requirements, digital surrogates are prefered for access. One week's notice is required prior to access originals.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
James Cahill papers, 1945-1996. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of James Cahill, December 12th, 2001.
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
Collection Citation:
The Aschwin Lippe Collection, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Correspondence is with Asian art scholars and collectors, museums, galleries, universities, and art dealers, and includes letters, cards, and postcards received, as well as several outgoing letters from Singer. Topics of conversation include loan requests and viewings of Singer's collection; Chinese art object consultations; notices of items of interest up for auction; ongoing discussions of the disposition of Singer's collection upon his death; and publication of and edits to his collection catalog project.
The following list is selective and represents about seventy-five percent of the individuals who corresponded with Paul Singer.
Bahr, Edna H.
Barnard, Noel (The Australian National University)
Beach, Milo C. (Arthur M. Sackler Gallery)
Bernat, Paul
Brinker, Helmut H. (Fogg Art Museum)
Brundage, Avery
Bulling, Anneliese Gutkind
Bunker, Emma C.
Bush, George, President
Capon, Edmund (Victoria & Albert Museum)
Caro, Frank (C.T. Loo--gallery)
Chait, Ralph M.
Chang, Kwang-chih (Yale University)
Chase, Thomas W. (Freer Gallery of Art)
Cheung, Kwong-yue (The Australian National University)
Chow, Fang (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Chu, Jen-hsing (National Palace Museum)
Cleveland, Richard S. (The Saint Louis Art Museum)
Cox, Warren E.
Crawford, John M., Jr.
D'Argence, Ivon (M.H. de Young Memorial Museum)
Dohrenwend, Doris J. (The Royal Ontario Museum)
du Boulay, Anthony (Christie's, New York)
Eskenazi, J.E.
Fontein, Jan (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Fu, Marilyn (Princeton University)
Fu, Shen (Freer Gallery of Art)
Gettens, Rutherford J.
Getz, Joel
Gichner, Lawrence E.
Goepper, Roger (Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst)
Gray, Basil (British Museum)
Grisdale, Dick and Marjorie
Gyllensvard, Bo
Hathaway, Calvin S. (The Cooper Union)
Hayashi, Minao (Kyoto University)
Higuchi, T. (Kyoto University
Hippen, Will, Jr. (Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego)
Huber, Louisa G. Fitzgerald
Hsu, F. Richard (China Institute in America)
Kahane, Andrew
Keene, Manuel D.
Kelley, Clarence W. (The Dayton Art Institute)
Kimpel, Ben (Drew University)
Kuwayama, George (L.A. County Museum of Art)
Lally, James (Sotheby Park Bernet)
Lee, Sammy Yukuan (Oriental House, Ltd.)
Lee, Sherman E. (The Cleveland Museum of Art)
Levitan, Kit Carson Bennett
Little, Stephen (The Cleveland Museum of Art; Asian Art Musuem of San Francisco)
Loehr, Max (Fogg Art Museum)
Loekl, Greta Schreyer
Loh, Pichon P.Y. (Upsala College)
Maeda, Robert J. (Brandeis University)
Mackay, Colin J. D. (Sotheby's, London)
Marumoto, Shinichi (Kadansha Publishers)
Matsumoto, Helen L.
Mino, Yutaka
Mowry, Robert D. (The Asia Society)
Neill, Mary Gardner (Yale University Art Gallery)
Poor, Richard (University of Minnesota)
Proctor, Patty (Royal Ontario Museum)
Ravenal, Richard S. (Asian Gallery)
Rawson, Jessica (The British Museum)
Reynolds, Valrae (The Newark Museum)
Riddell, Sheila
Rockefeller, John D., 3rd
Rockefeller, Mrs. John D. (Blanchette)
Sackler, Arthur M.
Sackler, Jill
Sackler, Marietta Lutze
Scott, Hugh (U.S. Senate)
Schloss, Ezekiel
Shangraw, Clarence F. (Asian Art Museum of San Francisco)
Shen, Yusen
Sickman, Laurence (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art)
Singer, Erwin
So, Jenny
Spelman, Ruth (C.W. Post Center)
Sullivan, Michael (Univ. Of Malaya in Singapore)
Swann, Peter C. (Museum of Eastern Art, Oxford)
Thote, Alain
Trousdale, William (U.S. National Museum)
Trubner, Henry (The Royal Ontario Museum)
Tsang, Shu-ping Teng (National Palace Museum)
Tsiang, Katherine R.
Tung, Tom Wu (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Umehara, Sueji
Vannotti, Franco
Veit, Willibald
Wardwell, Allen (The Asia Society)
Washburn, Gordon B. (The Asia Society)
Waterbury, Florance
Watson, William (Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Univ. Of London)
Whitfield, Roderick (Princeton University)
Wilson, Marc F. (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art)
Wu, Tung (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Ziebold, Thomas O. (Braddock Services Inc.)
Woodward, Hiram W., Jr. (The Walters Art Gallery)
Yuey, Joe
Arrangement:
The bulk of the files are arranged alphabetically by correspondent or corresponding institution. Numerous copies made after the receipt of the collection are of select letters and postcards and have not been further sorted.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Collection Citation:
The Paul Singer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
The papers of Cleveland museum director and art historian Sherman E. Lee measure 10.3 linear feet and date from 1947-1997. The records document Lee's extensive career as an art historian, curator and expert on Asian art, director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, writer, educator, and consultant. His papers include scattered biographical materials, correspondence, writings, travel files, committees and organizations files, consulting files, teaching files, personal business records, printed material, photographs, and one pencil drawing.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Cleveland museum director and art historian Sherman E. Lee measure 10.3 linear feet and date from 1947-1997. The records document Lee's extensive career as an art historian, curator and expert on Asian art, director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, writer, educator, and consultant. His papers include scattered biographical materials, correspondence, writings, travel files, committees and organizations files, consulting files, teaching files, personal business records, printed material, photographs, and one pencil drawing.
Correspondence is with friends, scholars, editors, collectors, dealers, art societies and organizations, and other
museums. Writings consist of articles, lectures, book reviews by Lee and scattered writings by others. Writing project files contain correspondence with publishers, contracts, and printed material relating to the publication of Lee's writings. Travel files document numerous trips to Asian and European countries and include travel diaries, photographs, and lists of works of art viewed. There are files concerning Lee's membership and involvement with various committees, museums, and arts organizations. Consulting files mostly focus on Lee's work advising John D. Rockefeller III on the purchase of art, and with the Permanent Public Areas Advisory Committee of Cleveland, Ohio. Teaching files document classes he taught at Case Western Reserve and Harvard. Personal business records mostly concern Lee's personal art collection. Also found among the papers are general clippings, photographs of Lee and of artwork, and one pencil drawing.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 12 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1947-circa 1983 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1, 11)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1953-1996 (1.5 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1962-1983 (1.7 linear feet; Box 2-4)
Series 4: Writing Project Files, 1958-1997 (1.0 linear feet; Box 4-5)
Series 5: Travel Files, 1959-1994 (1.8 linear feet; Box 5-7)
Series 6: Committees and Organization Files, 1971-1997 (1.8 linear feet; Box 7-8)
Series 7: Consulting Files, 1960-1993 (1.1 linear feet; Box 8-9)
Series 8: Teaching Files, 1963-1977 (0.1 linear feet; Box 9)
Series 9: Personal Business Records, 1958-1995 (0.3 linear feet; Box 9)
Series 10: Printed Material, 1962-1987 (0.9 linear feet; Box 10-11)
Series 11: Photographs, circa 1952-1993 (0.2 linear feet; Box 10-11)
Series 12: Artwork, circa 1960s (1 folder; Box 10)
Biographical / Historical:
Sherman Emery Lee (1918-2008) was an recognized expert on Asian art and director of the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1958-1983.
Born in Seattle, Washington in 1918, Sherman E. Lee grew up in New York and received degrees from American University and a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Lee began his art career as a curator at the Detroit Institute of Art and Seattle Art Museum. During World War II, he served with the U. S. Navy and was transferred to the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section in Japan. After the war he continued working as a civilian advisor on the preservation of Japanese artworks.
Sherman Lee accepted a position as curator of Oriental art at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1952 and became director in 1958, where he remained until 1983. During his long tenure there, he built one of this country's most remarkable collections of Asian art, transforming the museum from a regional presence to one of national significance. In 1973 Lee was chosen as Chairman of the Art and Archeology Delegation to the People's Republic of China, jointly sponsored by the Committee on Scholarly Communication of the People's Republic of China and the Scientific and Technical Association of the People's Republic of China.
Lee wrote or co-wrote a number of books including A History of Far Eastern Art (1964) and numerous articles for journals, magazines, and newspapers. He was the recipient of many honorary degrees, awards, and honors including the Order of the Sacred Treasure from Japan and Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur. He taught art history courses at the Case Western Reserve University and Harvard and was consultant to John D. Rockefeller III and the Cleveland Permanent Public Advisory Committee. He retired to North Carolina where he taught at the University of North Carolina and was advisor to the University's Ackland Art Museum.
Lee was married to his wife Ruth for sixty-nine years. The two met in college and had three daughters and one son. Lee died July 9, 2008 at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Provenance:
Sherman E. Lee donated his papers to the Archives of American Art in 1997.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Conract Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Sherman E. Lee papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and
scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Conract Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Sherman E. Lee papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and
scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Sherman E. Lee papers, 1947-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Conract Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Sherman E. Lee papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and
scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Sherman E. Lee papers, 1947-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Conract Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Sherman E. Lee papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and
scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Sherman E. Lee papers, 1947-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Conract Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Sherman E. Lee papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and
scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Sherman E. Lee papers, 1947-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund
