The papers of New York art dealers and gallery owners Otto and Ilse Gerson measure 3 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1980. This collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition files, artists' files, collectors' files, business records, inventory and stock records, printed materials, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York art dealers and gallery owners Otto and Ilse Gerson measure 3 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1980. This collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, exhibition files, artists' files, collectors' files, business records, inventory and stock records, printed materials, and photographs.
Biographical material consists of Otto and Ilse Gerson's naturalization certificates and Ilse Gerson's will.
Correspondence includes a mixture of personal and professional letters. There are a few scattered letters between Otto and Ilse Gerson as well as correspondence with clients, museums, dealers, and artists. Notable correspondents include art dealer Curt Valentin and the artist Gerhard Marcks. There is also correspondence with the Dina Vierny Gallery in Paris, France.
There is a small number of files on the Joseph Mallord William Turner exhibition at Gerson Gallery in 1960 which include correspondence, loan forms, and printed material.
Artists' files contain correspondence, estimates, inventories, sales records, and printed material for art work by five different artists such as Jacques Lipchitz, David Smith, and Fritz Wotruba.
Collectors' files include correspondence, invoices, photographs, and other material related to purchases by various art collectors.
Business records consist of purchase and sales records, audit reports, balance sheets, certificates of authenticity, a sales ledger, and legal documents regarding the business conducted by Fine Arts Associates and Otto Gerson Gallery, and legal agreements and contracts related to the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery merger.
Inventory and stock records include assorted art inventories, a stock book, and stock cards for artists.
Printed material includes a few Gerson Gallery exhibition catalogs and clippings of exhibition reviews.
Photographs consists of a few snapshots of Otto and Ilse Gerson and images of gallery installations.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1933-1973 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1937-1980 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Turner Exhibition Files, 1960-1961 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 4: Artists' Files, 1950-1966 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 5: Collectors' Files, 1956-1966 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 6: Business Records, circa 1945-1964 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 7: Inventory and Stock Records, 1946-1965 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1951-1962 (0.1 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1945-circa 1960 (2 folders; Box 3)
Biographical / Historical:
Otto Gerson was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States, where he met and married Ilse Goehler in 1939. They both became U.S. citizens and together they rose to prominence as art dealers in New York City, circa 1940-1962, bringing works by noted post-war European (and some American) artists to the American market.
The Gersons also owned and operated galleries in New York, including Fine Arts Associates and Gerson Gallery. The Gerson Gallery was located at 41 East 57th Street in New York City and later merged with another gallery to form the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery around 1963, shortly after Otto Gerson's death.
Provenance:
The Otto and Ilse Gerson papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1984 by Indian Head Bank North on behalf of Otto and Ilse Gerson.
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:
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Charles Rand Penney Papers, 1923-1994, bulk 1945-1994. 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 Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Charles Rand Penney Papers, 1923-1994, bulk 1945-1994. 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. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that she may own in the following material: photographs taken by Rudy Burckhardt.
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:
Rudy Burckhardt papers, 1934-2015. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The Jane Wade papers regarding art dealer and New York gallery owner Curt Valentin, measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1903-1971. This small collection consists of papers donated by former Curt Valentin Gallery employee Jane Wade, which provide scattered documentation of Valentin's life and exhibitions at the Buchholz Gallery (renamed Curt Valentin Gallery in 1951) including biographical material, correspondence from artists Valentin represented, writings and notes, lists documenting clients, exhibitions held, and artwork by Picasso sold by the gallery, clippings of obituaries for Valentin, and a complete set of Buchholz Gallery exhibition catalogs from 1937-1948.
Scope and Contents:
The Jane Wade papers regarding art dealer and New York gallery owner Curt Valentin, measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1903-1971. This small collection consists of papers donated by former Curt Valentin Gallery employee Jane Wade, which provide scattered documentation of Valentin's life and exhibitions at the Buchholz Gallery (renamed Curt Valentin Gallery in 1951) including biographical material, correspondence from artists Valentin represented, writings and notes, lists documenting clients, exhibitions held, and artwork by Picasso sold by the gallery, clippings of obituaries for Valentin, and a complete set of Buchholz Gallery exhibition catalogs from 1937-1948.
Valentin's biographical material is in German and includes his baptismal certificate, a report book from Hamburg University, a letter of recommendation from Commetersche Kunsthandlung, a 1937 permit authorizing Valentin to buy and sell the work of German artists outside Germany, and his 1950 passport.
Valentin's correspondence is primarily with artists and includes letters from Ben-Zion, Reg Butler, Alexander Calder, Jan Cox, Lyonel Feininger, John Flannagan, Barbara Hepworth, Karl Knaths, Gerhard Marcks, André Masson, Henry Moore, Clifford Odets, Carl Pickhardt, Alton Pickens, John Piper, Kurt Roesch, and Graham Sutherland. There are also photocopies of three letters in German from Georg Kolbe. Many of the letters are substantial and provide details about the artists and their work. Also found are a letter vouching for Valentin's loyalty to the United States from Alfred Barr, and two 1942 letters from France from art dealer Henry Kahnweiler, containing news of European artists including Picasso and André Masson.
Jane Wade's correspondence extends to her time working for Otto Gerson at Fine Arts Associates, and includes letters from some of the artists whose work was handled by Curt Valentin, including Alexander Calder, Lois Dailey, and Henry Moore. There are also thirteen letters and telegrams from David Smith, with some responses from Jane Wade and Otto Gerson, which document exhibitions and details of his artist-dealer relationship with Gerson and include sketches of his sculpture with information about prices. Also found in Wade's correspondence are letters from Gertrude Lennart and Marino Marini. Lennart describes the last days of Valentin's life as she accompanied him on a visit to Marini in Italy in August 1954.
There are three folders of condolence letters written upon Valentin's death, from artists, museum and gallery professionals, and other colleagues and friends.
Writings and notes include two appreciations of Valentin written after his death by André Masson and Henry Moore, and a sheet of notes written by John Flannagan with an accompanying note entitled "Some of Johns' thoughts...."
Printed material is comprised of news clippings of obituaries and reviews of a memorial exhibition for Valentin, in addition to a complete set of bound exhibition catalogs for Buchholz Gallery from 1937-1948. Also found is a bound collection of 1929 exhibition catalogs for Galerie Alfred Flechtheim.
Artwork includes a Christmas card from Valentin designed by an artist whose name is illegible; a print by Gerhard Marcks; and a colored pencil sketch of "127 Evil Eye II" on Curt Valentin letter head, with an address on the Rue de Seine written beside it.
Photographs include two of Valentin in his gallery and two of an unidentified woman, possibly Jane Wade, in the gallery; a folder of photographs of Valentin's apartment showing his art collection; a photo of a Robert Osborn cartoon about Valentin; and a photo of "Portrait of Curt Valentin" by Jacques Lipchitz.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as a single series.
Series 1: Jane Wade Papers Regarding Curt Valentin, 1903-1971 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Biographical / Historical:
Born in Germany in 1902, modern art dealer Curt Valentin immigrated to the United States in 1937 where he opened the Buchholz Gallery on West Forty-sixth Street in New York city. After two years he moved the gallery to West Fifty-seventh Street and in 1951 it was renamed the Curt Valentin Gallery.
Valentin's first job was with Alfred Flechtheim, the leading dealer in modern art in Berlin at that time. In 1934 he began working with Karl Buchholz in Hamburg, selling modern art classified as degenerate by the Nazi government from the rear of Buchholz's bookstore. In 1937 Valentin was granted a permit from the Reichskammer der bildenden Kunste in Berlin to purchase and sell German artwork outside of Germany. He left Germany that same year with a number of pictures and came to the United States.
Valentin was a widely respected dealer who specialized in modern paintings, sculpture, and prints, and handled the work of major artists including Alexander Calder, John Flannagan, Gerhard Marcks, Marino Marini, and Henry Moore.
Valentin died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 52, while visiting Mario Marini in Italy in 1954.
Jane Wade was employed as Valentin's assistant and continued to help run the Curt Valentin Gallery after his death, until it closed in 1955. She then worked for Otto Gerson at Fine Arts Associates, where she helped to handle the works of some of the artists previously represented by Valentin.
Related Materials:
The bulk of Curt Valentin's papers are held by the Museum of Modern Art Archives.
Provenance:
The Jane Wade papers were donated by Jane Wade in 1976. The catalogs of exhibitions organized by Curt Valentin were donated in 1977 by Jane Wade. In 2018 the two collections were merged and named the Jane Wade papers regarding Curt Valentin.
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.
Occupation:
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
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:
Robert Schoelkopf Gallery records, 1851-1991, bulk 1962-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation.
