The Emily A. Francis papers, circa 1910s-1969, measure 10 linear feet and include organizational records of Contemporary Arts and affiliated member organization, Collectors of American Art, Inc., founded and directed by Emily A. Francis in 1929 and 1937, respectively. The collection consists of biographical material, foundation and board materials, correspondence, artist files, gallery files, exhibition files, membership materials, business and financial material, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The Emily A. Francis papers, circa 1910s-1969, measure 10 linear feet and include organizational records of Contemporary Arts and affiliated member organization, Collectors of American Art, Inc., founded and directed by Emily A. Francis in 1929 and 1937, respectively. The collection consists of biographical material, foundation and board materials, correspondence, artist files, gallery files, exhibition files, membership materials, business and financial material, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork, and photographs.
Biographical materials include personal financial material and documents relating to Francis' emigration from New Zealand in 1916. Foundation and board materials document the founding and continuing business of Contemporary Arts and Collectors of American Art, Inc. through board books, meetings minutes, by-laws, and articles of incorporation. Correspondence is with New York and international artists, as well as members, institutions, galleries, and board members; and artist files consist of correspondence, scattered photographs, exhibition materials, and consignment and loan agreements. Among the artists featured extensively in correspondence and artist files are Edward Betts, Virginia Cuthbert, Charles Logasa, and Sam Middleton.
Contemporary Arts gallery files document gallery activities through consignment and loan files to institutions and galleries, inventory records, sign-in registers, and event files. Exhibition files include loan agreements, exhibition price lists, and exhibition catalog mock-ups, as well as scattered correspondence. The files also include membership registers, member bulletin mock-ups, and other membership files, as well as financial ledgers with sales and artist accounts, leases and legal documents, receipts and invoices, and other business and financial material. Exhibition announcements and catalogs, member bulletins and annual reports, "The Bulletin of the Collectors of American Art, Inc.," and other printed material, are also included. Fifteen scrapbooks contain clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs relating to Contemporary Arts and Collectors of American Art, Inc. Extensive artwork consists of a charcoal sketch, paintings and paint sketches, and original prints, including woodcuts and serigraphs. Photographs are of Emily A. Francis and others, gallery installation views, events, and artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 12 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1921-1966 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Foundation and Board Materials, 1928-1969 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1924-1964 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
Series 4: Artist Files, 1933-1964 (0.3 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 5: Contemporary Arts Gallery Files, 1930-1966, undated (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1931-1965 (0.8 linear feet; Box 5)
Series 7: Membership Materials, 1935-1966, undated (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 5-6)
Series 8: Business and Financial Material, 1928-1966 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 6-7)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1931-1966, undated (Boxes 7-8)
Series 10: Scrapbooks, 1931-1962 (1.2 linear feet; Box 8-9, 13-14)
Series 11: Artwork, 1940-1962, undated (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 10-12)
Series 12: Photographs, circa 1910s - circa 1960s (0.1 linear feet; Boxes 10, 12)
Biographical / Historical:
Emily A. Francis (1879-1966) (also known as Emily Jacobs) was the director of the Contemporary Arts gallery (also known as Contemporary Arts, Inc.) in New York, which she founded in 1929 and incorporated into a membership organization in 1931.
Inspired by the American Art-Union (1839-1851), she organized the Collectors of American Art, Inc. in 1937, which was associated with the gallery and initially called the Painting of the Month Club. Contemporary Arts held group shows and selected original artist prints and paintings to distribute annually to Collectors of American Art, Inc. paying members, which began at $5.00 per year. The stated mission of Collectors of American Art, Inc. was "to encourage production and distribution of Fine Art in America." Contemporary Arts sponsored painters and sculptors and exhibited their works in annual traveling exhibitions to universities and art centers across the country, as well as internationally; held regular Monday evening open house receptions for artists to exhibit their paintings and sculptures and chat with the public; and held monthly "Meet the Artist" parties for high schoolers to talk with the artists. Francis was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and first visited the United States in 1913, emigrating in 1916. She remained director of Contemporary Arts and Collectors of American Art, Inc. until her death in New York City in 1966, at the age of 87.
Provenance:
Donated in 1965 by Emily A. Francis and in 2023 by Peter Van Doren, a client of Francis.
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 directors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of Washington, D.C. art historian, librarian, author, educator, and art consultant Marchal Landgren measure 15.3 linear feet and date from 1881 to circa 1982, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930 to 1975. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings and notes, professional and organization files, research projects' files, scattered personal business records, printed materials, two clippings scrapbooks, photographical materials, and scattered artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Washington, D.C. art historian, librarian, author, educator, and art consultant Marchal Landgren measure 15.3 linear feet and date from 1881 to circa 1982, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930 to 1975. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings and notes, professional and organization files, research projects' files, scattered personal business records, printed materials, two clippings scrapbooks, photographical materials, and scattered artwork.
Biographical material includes address cards, an appointment book, curriculum vitaes, genealogical materials, and military records. Correspondence is with artists, clients, colleagues, museums, and universities, and is predominantly professional in nature. Correspondents include Albert E. Gallatin, George Gershwin, Ira Glackens, Sidney Laufman, Elliot Orr, Candido Portinari, and Carl Sprinchorn, among others.
Writings include miscellaneous published and unpublished writings and drafts by Marchal Landgren primarily those not associated with his major research projects. These include various articles written for magazines and journals, manuscript drafts, research notes, and notebooks. There is also a file of writings by others that includes the John Mitchell Gallery Notes.
Professional and organizational files document Landgren's positions and work for educational institutions and arts organizations, including the American Abstract Artists Group, Art Students League of New York, Association of Artists Equity of Washington D. C., Contemporary Arts, D. C. Public Library, Library Journal, New York City Municipal Art Committee, Old Print Shop, Inc., and the University of Maryland, among others. These files also contain correspondence, perhaps the most notable found in the file on the American Abstract Artists Group which includes letters from Josef Albers, Eleanor de Laittre, Sidney Geist, Balcomb Greene, Hananiah Harari, and Harry Holtzman.
Well over one-half of the collection consists of files for Landgren's ongoing research projects on numerous artists and photographers, Latin American art, as well as his bibliographic reference projects. The bulk of the files cover his research, writing, and curatorial work on Robert Loftin Newman. Files are also found for Berenice Abbott, Milton Avery, George Constant, George Collins Cox, Aline Fruhauf, Eugene Higgins, William Morris Hunt, John Kane, Charles Logasa, Elliot Orr, and Albert Pinkham Ryder, among many others.
Personal business records include personal and general expense documentation and scattered exhibition price lists. Printed materials include clippings, exhibition catalogs, and miscellaneous published articles and essays. There are two scrapbooks of clippings.
There are photographs, slides, and negatives of images of Landgren, other artists and notable figures in the art world, and of artwork. Of note is a portrait photograph of Juliana Force by Cecil Beaton, one photograph by Berenice Abbott, "Barclay Street Ferry", and 14 taken by George C. Cox of Rudyard Kipling, Clyde Fitch, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Madame Fanny Janauschek, Donald G. Mitchell, and others.
The papers also include scattered artwork, including holiday cards illustrated by artists, and sketches and drawings by other artists.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 10 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, circa 1890-circa 1981 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1930-circa 1982 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1932-circa 1982 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
Series 4: Professional and Organizational Files, circa 1910-circa 1977 (3.4 linear feet; Boxes 3-6)
Series 5: Research Projects' Files, 1881-circa 1982 (6.9 linear feet; Boxes 6-13, 15)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, circa 1934-circa 1982 (0.4 linear feet; Box 13)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1927-circa 1981 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 13-14)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, circa 1931-circa 1979 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 14-15)
Series 9: Photographic Materials, circa 1930s-circa 1978 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 14-15)
Series 10: Artwork, circa 1930s-circa 1940s (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 14-15)
Biographical / Historical:
Marchal E. Landgren (1907-1983) was an art historian, librarian, educator, author, and art consultant, active in New York and Washington, D. C.
As associate director and board member of Contemporary Arts, Inc. in New York, Landgren established a program for providing artists with their first solo exhibition in New York, including those of John Kane and Mark Tobey. In 1932, he directed the exhibition schedule at the New School for Social Research; and in 1935, Landgren served as the director of art activities for the New York City Municipal Art Committee where he facilitated many exhibitions over the course of five years, including Recent Paintings by Boris Aronson at Babcock Galleries in 1938.
Working as a freelance art consultant, researcher, and author, Landgren organized numerous exhibitions between 1932 and 1950 of the work of Milton Avery, George C. Cox, Elliot Orr, Robert Loftin Newman, and Albert Pinkham Ryder. He also edited several arts publications, including the Old Print Shop Portfolio, John Mitchell Gallery Notes, and arts manuscripts for Oxford University Press.
In 1939, Landgren was selected by the New York World's Fair Commision to prepare historical notes on Latin American art for the exhibition catalogs of the Latin American art exhibition. After the Fair, he continued his research on this topic and wrote several articles, as well as lecturing on Latin American painting at the Art Students League of New York, the Newark Art Club, and the National Education Association at the Boston Museum.
After serving in the U. S. Army Air Force during World War II, Landgren moved to Washington, D. C. in 1950 and began work as the arts division readers' advisor for the D. C. Public Library. For seventeen years, he built up the library's general collection of art books and created extensive files of art exhibition catalogs.
In 1967, he took a position as a bibliographic consultant for the fine arts department at the University of Maryland. He became director of the University's art gallery and of the art department museum training program. During his tenure at the University of Maryland, Landgren conducted graduate seminars in art history, edited and published exhibition catalogs, and organized exhibitions, including The Late Landscapes of William Morris Hunt in 1976.
Landgren was a visiting scholar at the Smithsonian Institution's National Collection of Fine Arts and curated an exhibition of paintings by Robert Loftin Newman held there from 1973 to 1974 and at the Tennessee Fine Arts Center in 1974.
Marchal Landgren authored two books: Years of Art: The Story of the Art Students League of New York (Robert M. McBride and Company, 1940), and Robert Loftin Newman (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974). He was a regular reviewer of art books for the Library Journal from 1958 to 1972, and contributed reviews to Trend, Magazine of Art, and other journals. He was awarded a research grant by the American Council of Learned Societies in 1963 for his study of George C. Cox and did a great deal of research in American art and American art institutions for an unfinished manuscript. He also worked on a bibliography of art literature which he never completed.
Provenance:
The Marchal Landgren papers were donated by Landgren in 1974, and by the Landgren estate via David Huddle in 1983.
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.
