The records of New York City Kraushaar Galleries measure 106.3 linear feet and 0.181 GB and date from 1877 to 2006. Three-fourths of the collection documents the gallery's handling of contemporary American paintings, drawings, and sculpture through correspondence with artists, private collectors, museums, galleries, and other art institutions, interspersed with scattered exhibition catalogs and other materials. Also included are John F. Kraushaar's estate records; artists' files; financial ledgers documenting sales and gallery transactions; consignment and loan records; photographs of artwork; sketchbooks and drawings by James Penney, Louis Bouché, and others; and two scrapbooks.
Scope and Content Note:
The records of New York City Kraushaar Galleries measure 106.3 linear feet and 0.181 GB and date from 1877 to 2006. Three-fourths of the collection documents the gallery's handling of contemporary American paintings, drawings, and sculpture through correspondence with artists, private collectors, museums, galleries, and other art institutions, interspersed with scattered exhibition catalogs and other materials. Also included are John F. Kraushaar's estate records; artists' files; financial ledgers documenting sales and gallery transactions; consignment and loan records; photographs of artwork; sketchbooks and drawings by James Penney, Louis Bouché, and others; and two scrapbooks.
The collection reflects all activities conducted in the day-to-day administration of the business and relates to the acquisition, consignment, loan, sale, and exhibition of art by twentieth-century American artists and European artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The records document specific arrangements for loans and exhibitions, artist-dealer relations, relationships with public and private collectors, interaction with the art dealer community, and routine requests for information.
Much of the artist correspondence relates to practical arrangements for exhibitions of artwork, but in many cases also documents the development of individual artists and the effect of their relationship with the galleries on their ability to produce marketable work. Many of the artists represented in the collection also wrote lengthy letters, particularly to Antoinette Kraushaar, describing their attitudes to their work and providing insight into how that work was shaped by events in their personal lives.
The bulk of the correspondence with museums and institutions concerns practical arrangements for loans of artwork and provides detailed information about market prices and insurance values. It offers insight into the general climate of opinion toward particular artists and styles at any given time. Correspondence with other galleries and dealers also concerns loans and sales of artwork but, due to the typically cordial and cooperative nature of relations between the Kraushaars and their contemporaries, may also provide a more extensive and personal view of relationships and trends in the art dealer community. Similarly, while a portion of the correspondence with private collectors concerns routine requests for information and loans of art on approval, there is also substantive correspondence documenting the development of the artistic vision of collectors such as Preston Harrison, Elizabeth S. Navas, and Duncan Phillips.
From 1917 to the mid-1930s correspondence was handled mainly by John Kraushaar, and the bulk of that relating to European galleries and European art can be found during these years. Although there are only a handful of materials before 1926, records from the 1920s and 1930s document Kraushaar Galleries' growing commitment to American artists and the climate of the market for their work. The financial hardships of the Depression are vividly depicted in the numerous letters written during the 1930s seeking payment on accounts receivable and requesting extensions on accounts payable.
From the mid-1930s to 1968 correspondence was conducted primarily by Antoinette Kraushaar and, to some degree, by her assistants in later years. As the galleries' focus on American art increased, so did the volume of correspondence with artists, and the collection is particularly rich during the 1940s and early 1960s. In later years to 2006, most of the correspondence was conducted by Carol Pesner and gallery assistants.
The exhibition catalogs included in the collection do not represent a complete set. Those found are working copies used by the galleries in preparation for exhibitions and are often annotated with prices or insurance values. Additional exhibition catalogs can be found on the microfilm described in the Administrative Information section of this finding aid.
The majority of Kraushaar Galleries' insurance records can be found in files relating to the company Wm. E. Goodridge & Son, later known as Wm. E. Goodridge, Inc. Shipping and transportation records are generally filed under the names of the companies used for such transactions and can primarily be found under Davies, Turner & Co., Hudson Forwarding & Shipping Co., Railway Express Agency, Inc., and W. S. Budworth & Son, and to a lesser degree under American Railway Express Company, Arthur Lenars & Cie., C. B. Richard & Co., De La Rancheraye & Co., Hayes Storage, Packing & Removal Service, Inc., and Willis, Faber & Co. Ltd.
The 2008-2022 additions include correspondence similar in content and with correspondents as described above, as well as some artists' Christmas cards. However, the bulk of the additional correspondence dates from 1965-1999, with a handful of miscellaneous correspondence from 1877 to the mid-twentieth century. Also found are financial and business records including records from the closing of the John F. Kraushaar estate; over 40 ledgers providing nearly complete documentation of the gallery's sales and transactions from its establishment to 1946; incoming consignment records, including account statements and correspondence with artists, from the 1940s to 2006; and outgoing consignment and loan records from 1899-2006. The gallery's representation of its stable of artists is documented through artists' files containing printed and digital materials, exhibition catalogs and announcements, price lists, and biographical information, as well as containers of photographs and negatives of artwork. Also found is a 1933 sketchbook by James Penney, drawings and sketchbooks by Louis Bouché, and two scrapbooks.
See Appendix for a list of Kraushaar Galleries exhibitions
Arrangement:
Kraushaar Galleries generally filed all types of records together with correspondence in a combination of alphabetical and chronological files. Thus financial records, insurance records, receipts, photographs, and exhibition catalogs can be found interfiled with general correspondence in Series 1-3. A group of photographs of artwork maintained separately by Kraushaar Galleries constitutes Series 4. Series 6 was minimally processed separately from Series 1-5, and the arrangement reflects the original order of the addition for the most part.
Records in Series 1-3 were originally filed alphabetically by name of correspondent and then by month, by a span of several months, or by year. The alphabetical arrangement has been retained, but to facilitate access the collection was rearranged so that correspondence was collated by year. From 1901 to 1944 outgoing letters and incoming letters are filed separately; in 1945 some outgoing letters are filed separately, with the bulk of the material filed together as correspondence; from 1946 to 1968 incoming and outgoing letters are filed together as correspondence.
For Series 1-3 organizations or individuals represented by at least 15 letters are filed in separate file folders. All other correspondents are arranged in general files by letters of the alphabet, with selected correspondents and subjects noted in parentheses after the folder title.
Series 2 and several boxes in Series 3 contain a variety of notes and receipts received and created by Kraushaar Galleries that were originally unfoldered. The notes can be found in folders adjacent to the receipts and include handwritten notes of customer names and addresses, financial notes and calculations, catalogs of exhibitions, invitations and announcements to exhibitions frequently used as note paper, and other miscellany. Although most of the miscellaneous notes are undated, they are filed, with the receipts, at the end of the year to which they appear to relate. For the years 1929 and 1930 Kraushaar Galleries created separate alphabetical files for some of the billing statements received from other businesses. These have been filed adjacent to "Miscellaneous Notes" and "Receipts" in the appropriate years.
Kraushaar Galleries tended to file correspondence with businesses alphabetically according to the letter of the last name: for example, Wm. E. Goodridge & Son would be filed under G rather than W.
Missing Title
Series 1: Outgoing Letters, 1920-1945 (boxes 1-9; 9 linear ft.)
Series 2: Incoming Letters (boxes 10-26; 16.25 linear ft.)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1945-1968 (boxes 26-53; 27.75 linear ft.)
Series 4: Photographs, undated (box 54; 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 5: Artwork, [1926, 1938] (box 53; 2 items)
Series 6: Addition to the Kraushaar Galleries Records, 1877-2006 (boxes 55-99, 101-117, BV100; 52.3 linear feet, ER01-ER02; 0.181 GB)
Historical Note:
Charles W. Kraushaar established Kraushaar Galleries in 1885 as a small store on Broadway near Thirty-first Street in New York City. Initially the store sold artist materials, photogravures, and reproductions. Drawing on his previous experience working with William Schause, a leading dealer in European paintings, Kraushaar soon progressed to selling original watercolors, paintings, and engravings by European artists, primarily landscapes of the Barbizon School.
In 1901 Kraushaar moved the business to 260 Fifth Avenue and with the assistance of his brother, John F. Kraushaar, began adding more modern French and American painters to the inventory. Of particular interest to John Kraushaar was the group of American realists known as "The Eight," who had held a self-selected, self-organized exhibition at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908. The Eight were Arthur B. Davies, William Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, Everett Shinn, and John Sloan. Luks, whom John Kraushaar met around 1902, was probably the first major American artist represented at Kraushaar Galleries. In 1917 John Sloan was invited to hold his first one-person show at the galleries despite accusations that his exhibition at the Whitney Studio the previous year had represented a brutal depiction of life that lacked subtlety and sensitivity.
When Charles Kraushaar died suddenly in 1917, John assumed control of the galleries and soon enlisted the assistance of his daughter, Antoinette Kraushaar. Antoinette had suffered a bout of pneumonia during the influenza epidemic of 1918 that cut short her education; grooming her for a career in the galleries was a logical step. Following the end of the First World War, Kraushaar resumed his buying trips to Europe, often accompanied by Antoinette, and exhibited works by European artists such as André Derain, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Vincent Van Gogh. However, it was the increasing commitment to contemporary American artists for which the galleries would become best known. In addition to The Eight, the Kraushaars developed their inventory of American paintings and etchings with exhibitions of work by artists such as Gifford Beal, Charles Demuth, Guy Pène Du Bois, Gaston Lachaise, Jerome Myers, Charles Prendergast, and Henry Schnakenberg.
Returning from a buying trip to Europe in 1929, John Kraushaar wrote to California collector Preston Harrision on July 26 that "the prices over there, especially for modern pictures are astounding." Nevertheless, Kraushaar believed that investing in modern art would yield benefits within the next five years, and he refused to be influenced by museums and critics outside of New York who were reluctant to agree. He exhibited a healthy disrespect for museum directors in general, whom he referred to in his letters to Harrision as "dead heads" who ought to be sent to different art centers of the world in order to "get in touch with what is going on there" (March 11, 1929).
Like most of its contemporaries, Kraushaar Galleries suffered considerably during the Depression of the 1930s and struggled to collect and, in turn, pay accounts due. On October 5, 1931, John Kraushaar confessed to H. S. Southam, "Business is very bad with us, and I know that you will treat it confidentially when I tell you that I have had to sacrifice a good part of my personal holdings to provide cash for my own business." By 1934 the rent on the galleries' current location at 680 Fifth Avenue, where Kraushaar had moved in 1919, was out of all proportion to the amount of business that was being generated. In 1936, a timely move to 730 Fifth Avenue allowed the family to effect substantial economies without a disproportionate loss of business.
During the 1930s, John Kraushaar's health began to fail, and he was frequently absent from the galleries. Consequently, Antoinette Kraushaar took on greater responsibility for the operation of the business with the assistance of her brother Charles. Although Antoinette was one of few women to hold such a prominent position in the art business at that time, there is no evidence in the records to suggest that artists or customers who had been accustomed to dealing with John Kraushaar had any difficulty accepting the transition in management from father to daughter.
Nevertheless, collecting accounts remained difficult, and although business had improved by 1938 it was now stymied by the threat of war in Europe. The warmth of relations between the Kraushaars and the artists they handled, and their colleagues, was crucial to Antoinette during these years. She repeatedly expressed her gratitude for their understanding and assistance in her letters as she struggled to meet financial obligations and operate the business in her father's absence, experimenting with different strategies as she evolved an approach that would sustain the business. In a letter to Gifford Beal dated August 6, 1941, she spoke of "hellish times" and stressed, "I have learned a great many things during the past few years and hope that we are groping our way towards a working solution of our own affairs at least."
While there is no question that Antoinette Kraushaar shared her father's genuine interest in contemporary American artists, the growing commitment to these artists that was forged during these years was driven in large part by necessity. By increasing her stock of American art and adding "younger painters of promise," she was able to sell work in a much broader price range. Consequently she could reach a wider audience and increase the likelihood that the business would remain solvent. This method of business also suited her personality far more than having a very specialized inventory of highly priced work, an approach that she confessed to J. Lionberger Davis on December 3, 1940, "requires a particular kind of temperament, and frankly I neither like it nor believe in it."
Throughout her career Antoinette imbued the business with her personal style. She understood that elitism alienated art buyers of moderate income, who constituted her bread and butter, and believed strongly that the gallery environment should not be intimidating to potential customers. She corresponded at length with old and new clients alike, patiently offering advice when asked and maintaining liberal policies for those who wished to borrow artwork on approval. She also participated in events that promoted efforts to make art available to a wider audience, such as a 1951 exhibition and seminar at the Florida Gulf Coast Art Center that addressed problems of buying and selling art. She was a two-time board member of the Art Dealers Association of America and considered the organization to be an important source of support for the gallery community.
In her dealings with other commercial galleries and art institutions, Antoinette Kraushaar exhibited a strong spirit of cooperation and enthusiasm, consistently lending art to small, locally owned businesses and community organizations as well as to more established galleries and world-class museums. She also developed long and mutually beneficial associations with the art departments of many educational institutions across the country, which proved to be fertile ground for young and upcoming artists.
Antoinette Kraushaar exhibited the same honesty and fairness in dealing with artists as her father had, expressing her opinions of their work in a forthright manner and maintaining a policy of always looking at the work of any artist who came to her. She understood the inherent difficulties of dealing with living artists but relished the excitement of encouraging their work and watching them develop. On November 14, 1947, in reply to a letter from the artist Bernard Arnest, in which Arnest apologized for burdening her with his worries, she reminded him, "One of the functions of a dealer is to act as a safety valve. Didn't you know?"
Although she would not retain artists indefinitely if she felt their work had deteriorated in quality, Antoinette often stressed that she was prepared to accept little or no initial financial return on the work of artists who showed promise or whose work held a particular appeal for her. In a letter of December 30, 1940, she reassured Walt Dehner that the lack of sales from his recent exhibition would not lead her to withdraw his work from the galleries. In typically unassuming style she advised Dehner to "go on painting whatever interests you. We have found that there is no recipe for success, either artistic or material."
In the early 1940s Antoinette Kraushaar implemented two changes to her inventory. Sensing that interest in sculpture was growing, she rearranged the space to give that medium more room and attention. The market for etchings had been declining since the late 1930s, and as she reduced this part of her inventory she also acted on her personal passion for drawings by opening a small gallery devoted to contemporary American drawings that were priced well within the range of most customers.
By the time Kraushaar Galleries moved to 32 East Fifty-seventh Street, late in 1944, American art had become the main focus of the business. While the long-standing interest in The Eight and other artists of that period continued, the galleries also handled contemporaries such as Louis Bouché, Samuel Brecher, John Heliker, Andrée Ruellan, and Karl Schrag. When John Kraushaar died in December 1946, Antoinette and Charles legally assumed control of the business. This partnership continued until 1950, when Antoinette assumed sole ownership of the gallery.
In 1955 the galleries moved uptown to smaller quarters at 1055 Madison Avenue, and Antoinette Kraushaar gave up the greater part of her print business. She was inundated with requests from artists to be allowed a chance to show her their work, and the galleries' exhibition schedule was always full. Contemporary artists she now represented included Bernard Arnest, Peggy Bacon, Russell Cowles, Kenneth Evett, William Dean Fausett, William Kienbusch, Joe Lasker, and George Rickey, and she continued to exhibit artwork by Charles Demuth, William Glackens, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, Boardman Robinson, and John Sloan.
By the late 1950s the artists of the generation that her father had promoted in the early part of the century had died, but Antoinette Kraushaar had the pleasure of seeing his faith in them come to fruition. In a letter to Ralph Wilson dated October 20, 1958, she stated with satisfaction, "The Boston Museum is taking (at long last) a deep interest in (Maurice) Prendergast, and they will probably do an important show within the next year." Her correspondence with William Glackens's son Ira in the 1960s reveals the extent to which Glackens's popularity had grown since his death in 1938, and the market for John Sloan's work had been increasing steadily since the late 1920s. In 1962 James Penney summed up Kraushaar Galleries' success in the foreword of a catalog for an exhibition of paintings and sculpture the galleries had organized with the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute at Hamilton College:
Missing Title
1854 -- Charles W. Kraushaar born
1871 -- John F. Kraushaar born
1885 -- Kraushaar Galleries established on Broadway near Thirty-first Street
1901 -- Galleries moved to 260 Fifth Avenue
1902 -- Antoinette Kraushaar born
1917 -- Charles W. Kraushaar died; John Kraushaar assumed control of the business, increasing inventory of modern American and European artists; first John Sloan exhibition
1919 -- Galleries moved to 680 Fifth Avenue
[1920] -- Antoinette Kraushaar began assisting with the business
1924 -- Maurice Prendergast died
1936 -- Galleries moved to the Heckscher Building at 730 Fifth Avenue
1938 -- William J. Glackens died
1944 -- Galleries moved to the Rolls Royce Building at 32 East Fifty-seventh Street; American art now the main focus of the business
1946 -- John Kraushaar died; Antoinette and Charles Kraushaar assumed control of the business
1948 -- Charles Prendergast died
1950 -- Antoinette Kraushaar assumed sole ownership of Kraushaar Galleries
1951 -- John Sloan died
1955 -- Galleries moved to 1055 Madison Avenue
1959 -- Carole Pesner joined Kraushaar Galleries
1964 -- Galleries extended into adjacent building
1981 -- Galleries moved to 724 Fifth Avenue
1986 -- Katherine Kaplan joined Kraushaar Galleries
1988 -- Antoinette Kraushaar retired from day-to-day management of the business
1992 -- Antoinette Kraushaar died
Appendix: List of Kraushaar Galleries Exhibitions:
The Archives of American Art does not hold a complete collection of catalogs from exhibitions held at Kraushaar Galleries; therefore the dates and titles of exhibitions provided in this appendix are inferred from a variety of sources including correspondence, notes, artists' files, and requests for advertising. Italics indicate that the exact title of an exhibition is known.
Missing Title
Jan., 1912 -- Paintings by Gustave Courbet and Henri Fantin-Latour
Apr., 1912 -- Paintings by Frank Brangwyn and Henri Le Sidaner
Jan., 1913 -- Paintings by Ignacio Zuloaga
May, 1913 -- Etchings by Seymour Haden
June, 1913 -- Paintings and Lithographs by Henri Fantin-Latour
Oct., 1913 -- Etchings by Frank Brangwyn
Jan., 1914 -- Ignacio Zuloaga
Mar., 1914 -- Paintings by Alphonse Legros
Apr., 1914 -- George Luks
May, 1914 -- Seven Modern Masterpieces including Gustave Courbet, Henri Fantin-Latour, Alphonse Legros, Matthew Maris, and James McNeill Whistler
undated, 1915 -- Paintings by John Lavery
Jan.-Feb., 1917 -- James McNeill Whistler's White Girl
Feb.-Mar., 1917 -- Paintings by Augustus Vincent Tack
Mar.-Apr., 1917 -- Paintings and Etchings by John Sloan
Summer, 1917 -- Works by French artists including A. L. Bouche, Josef Israels, Gaston La Touche, and Alphonse Legros
Oct., 1917 -- Monoprints by Salvatore Antonio Guarino
Nov., 1917 -- Etchings and Mezzotints by Albany E. Howarth
Jan., 1918 -- Recent Paintings by John Lavery
Jan.-Feb., 1918 -- Paintings and Watercolors by George Luks
Feb.-Mar., 1918 -- Paintings by Augustus Vincent Tack
Mar., 1918 -- Paintings by John Sloan
Apr.-May, 1918 -- Paintings by A. L. Bouche
May, 1918 -- War Paintings by J. Mortimer Block, Charles S. Chapman, Guy Pène Du Bois, H. B. Fuller, George Luks, W. Ritschell, John Sloan, and Augustus Vincent Tack
Oct., 1918 -- Oil Paintings by William Scott Pyle
Nov., 1918 -- Paintings by Gustave Courbet, Henri Fantin-Latour, Alphonse Legros, Edouard Manet, Antoine Vollon, James McNeill Whistler, and Ignacio Zuloaga, and bronzes by Antoine Louis Bayre, Emile Antoine Bourdelle, and Mahonri Young
Apr., 1919 -- Paintings and Monoprints by Salvatore Anthonio Guarino
Jan.-Feb., 1919 -- Decorative Panels and Other Paintings by Augustus Vincent Tack
Mar., 1919 -- Paintings and Drawings by John Sloan
May, 1919 -- Paintings by George Luks, Monticelli, and A. P. Ryder
Sept., 1919 -- Work by Jean Louis Forain
Oct., 1919 -- Etchings and Lithographs by Alphonse Legros
Jan., 1920 -- Recent Paintings by George Luks
Feb., 1920 -- Recent Paintings by John Sloan
Feb., 1920 -- Paintings by William Scott Pyle
Mar., 1920 -- Recent Paintings by Gifford Beal
Apr., 1920 -- Recent Paintings by Augustus Vincent Tack
Apr., 1920 -- Paintings by Henri Le Sidaner
Apr., 1920 -- Paintings and Drawings by Jean Louis Forain
Apr.-May, 1920 -- Paintings and Drawings by Jerome Myers
May, 1920 -- Paintings by Henrietta M. Shore
Jan., 1921 -- Paintings by French and American Artists
Jan.-Feb., 1921 -- Paintings by George Luks
Feb., 1921 -- New Paintings by Augustus Vincent Tack
Apr., 1921 -- John Sloan Retrospective
Summer, 1921 -- French and American Artists
Oct., 1921 -- Paintings of Mountford Coolidge
Oct., 1921 -- Works by Henri Fantin-Latour and Henri Le Sidaner
Nov., 1921 -- Frank Van Vleet Tompkins
Dec., 1921 -- Paintings and Bronzes by Modern Masters of American and European Art
Jan., 1922 -- Exhibition of Recent Paintings and Watercolors by George Luks
Feb., 1922 -- Paintings by Augustus Vincent Tack
Mar., 1922 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Gifford Beal
Apr., 1922 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Guy Pène Du Bois
Summer, 1922 -- Paintings by Modern Masters of American and European Art
Oct., 1922 -- Recent Paintings of the Maine Coast by George Luks
Jan., 1923 -- Exhibition of Paintings by George Luks
Feb., 1923 -- Paintings and Decorative Panels by Augustus Vincent Tack
Mar., 1923 -- Landscapes by Will Shuster
Mar., 1923 -- Paintings by Samuel Halpert
Apr., 1923 -- Marine Figures and Landscapes by Gifford Beal
Apr.-May, 1923 -- Paintings by John Sloan
May, 1923 -- Paintings by Frank Van Vleet Tompkins
June, 1923 -- Etchings by Marius A. J. Bauer
Oct., 1923 -- American Watercolors by Gifford Beal, Reynolds Beal, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, and William Zorach
Dec., 1923 -- Etchings and Lithographs by Alphonse Legros
Dec., 1923 -- Paintings, Drawings, and Pastels by Charles Adolphe Bischoff
Jan., 1924 -- Paintings by Celebrated American Artists
Mar., 1924 -- Paintings and Drawings by Guy Pène Du Bois
Apr., 1924 -- New Paintings by George Luks
May, 1924 -- Paintings by Marjorie Phillips
Summer, 1924 -- French and American Modern Artists
Oct., 1924 -- Painting, Watercolors, and Sculpture by William Zorach
Nov., 1924 -- Watercolors by Seven Americans
Dec., 1924 -- French Paintings
Jan., 1925 -- Paintings by John Sloan
Jan.-Feb., 1925 -- Maurice Prendergast Memorial Exhibition
Mar., 1925 -- Plans and Photographs of Work in Landscape Architecture by Charles Downing Lay
Apr., 1925 -- Paintings by William J. Glackens
Dec., 1925 -- Watercolors by Gifford Beal, Reynolds Beal, Carl Broemel, Richard Lahey Jerome Myers, Maurice Prendergast, Henry E. Schnakenberg, Abraham Walkowitz, and William Zorach
undated, 1926 -- Lower Broadway by W. Walcot
Feb., 1926 -- Paintings by Paul Burlin
Feb., 1926 -- Portraits of Duncan Phillips, Esq. Charles B. Rogers, Esq. & The Hon. Elihu Root Painted by Augustus Vincent Tack
Mar., 1926 -- Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings by Gifford Beal
Apr., 1926 -- John Sloan
Sept.-Oct., 1926 -- Exhibition of Etchings by C. R. W. Nevinson
Oct., 1926 -- Drawings, Etchings, and Lithographs by Nineteenth-Century French Artists
Oct., 1926 -- Paintings and Drawings by Mathieu Verdilhan
Dec., 1926 -- Exhibition of Watercolors by Gifford Beal, Reynolds Beal, Carl Broemel, Guy Pène Du Bois, Ernest Fiene, Samuel Halpert, Henry Keller, Louis Kronberg, Richard Lahey, Charles Lay, Jerome Myers, Maurice Prendergast, Henry
Dec., 1926 -- Schnakenberg, A. Walkowitz, Martha Walters, William Zorach
Jan., 1927 -- French Drawings and Prints
Feb., 1927 -- Paintings, Drawings, Etchings, and Lithographs by John Sloan
Mar., 1927 -- Gifford Beal
Mar.-Apr., 1927 -- Decorative Panels and Watercolors by Margarett Sargent
Mar.-Apr., 1927 -- Exhibition of Drawings and Lithographs of New York by Adriaan Lubbers
Apr., 1927 -- Paintings and Etchings by Walter Pach
Apr.-May, 1927 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Leopold Survage
Apr.-May, 1927 -- Etchings and Woodcuts by D. Galanis
May, 1927 -- Paintings by Guy Pène Du Bois
Summer, 1927 -- Paintings by American Artists
Summer, 1927 -- Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings by Georges Braque, Honoré Daumier, Edgar Degas, André Derain, Henri Fantin-Latour, Jean Louis Forain, Constantin Guys, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edouard Manet, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Morissot, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Odilon Redon, Segonzac, and Georges Seurat
Oct.-Nov., 1927 -- Exhibition of Etchings in Color by Bernard Boutet de Monvel
Nov., 1927 -- Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Lithographs, and Watercolors by Ernest Fiene
Dec., 1927 -- Watercolors by American Artists including Gifford Beal, Reynolds Beal, Carl Broemel, Charles Demuth, Guy Pène Du Bois, Ernest Fiene, Henry G. Keller, Richard Lahey, Charles Downing Lay, Howard Ashman Patterson, [Maurice] Prendergast, Henry E. Schnakenberg, Abraham Walkowitz, Frank Nelson Wilcox, and [William] Zorach
Dec., 1927 -- Paintings by Guy Pène Du Bois
Dec., 1927 -- Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Media by George Biddle
Jan.-Feb., 1928 -- Paintings by S. J. Peploe
Feb., 1928 -- Drawings by Henri Fantin-Latour
Feb., 1928 -- Pastels and Drawings by Margarett Sargent
Feb., 1928 -- Drawings for Balzac's Les Contes Drolatiques by Ralph Barton
Feb.-Mar., 1928 -- Sculpture by William Zorach
Mar., 1928 -- Recent Paintings by Marjorie Phillips
Mar.-Apr., 1928 -- Exhibition of Paintings by William Glackens
Apr., 1928 -- Paintings, Drawings and Lithographs by R. H. Sauter of London, England
Oct., 1928 -- Modern French Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings
Oct.-Nov., 1928 -- Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Etchings, and Lithographs by Richard Lahey
Nov., 1928 -- Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by J. D. Fergusson
Nov.-Dec., 1928 -- Paintings, Drawings and Etchings by Walter Pach
Dec., 1928 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Abraham Walkowitz
Jan., 1929 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Margarett Sargent
Jan., 1929 -- Watercolors by Rodin
Jan.-Feb., 1929 -- Exhibition of Sculpture by Arnold Geissbuhler
Feb., 1929 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Guy Pène Du Bois
Feb.-Mar., 1929 -- Paintings by Gifford Beal
Mar., 1929 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Adriaan Lubbers
Mar.-Apr., 1929 -- Exhibition of Etchings by Gifford Beal, Frank W. Benson, Childe Hassam, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and John Sloan
Apr., 1929 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Arnold Friedman
Apr., 1929 -- Sculpture by Harriette G. Miller
May, 1929 -- Paintings by Howard Ashman Patterson
May, 1929 -- Paintings by William Meyerowitz
Oct., 1929 -- Exhibition of Modern French Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings
Nov., 1929 -- Modern French and American Paintings, Watercolors, Prints, and Sculpture (at Gage Galleries in Cleveland)
Jan., 1930 -- Paintings by Paul Bartlett
Feb., 1930 -- Watercolors by Auguste Rodin
Feb.-Mar., 1930 -- Paintings by Guy Pène Du Bois
Summer, 1930 -- Paintings by American Artists
Oct., 1930 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Maurice Prendergast
Nov., 1930 -- Paintings by Ruth Jonas
Nov., 1930 -- Sculpture by Harriette G. Miller
Jan., 1931 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Richard Lahey
Jan.-Feb., 1931 -- Paintings by Erle Loran Johnson
Feb.-Mar., 1931 -- Paintings, Watercolors and Etchings by Gifford Beal
Mar., 1931 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Walter Pach
Mar.-Apr., 1931 -- Paintings, Drawings, and Etchings by Rudolf H. Sauter
May, 1931 -- Exhibition of Watercolors by John La Farge, Gifford Beal, H. E. Schnakenberg, Maurice Prendergast, Guy Pène Du Bois, Richard Lahey
Fall, 1931 -- Modern French Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings
Dec., 1931 -- Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolors by D. Y. Cameron, Joseph Gray, Henry Rushbury, Muirhead Bone, Edmund Blampied, Gwen John
Dec., 1931 -- Lithographs and Posters by H. de Toulouse-Lautrec
Jan., 1932 -- Watercolors by Pierre Brissaud
Feb., 1932 -- Paintings and Drawings by A. S. Baylinson
Mar., 1932 -- Watercolors and Pastels by French and American Artists
Apr., 1932 -- Paintings by Nan Watson
May, 1932 -- Sculpture by Behn, Bourdelle, Geissbuhler, Lachaise, Maillol, Miller, Nadelman, Renoir, Young, Zorach; Decorative Panels by Max Kuehne, and Charles Prendergast
June-Aug., 1932 -- Paintings and Watercolors by American Artists
Oct.-Nov., 1932 -- Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings by Various Artists
Jan., 1933 -- Paintings by Paul Bartlett
Jan.-Feb., 1933 -- Lithographs by Henri Fantin-Latour
Feb., 1933 -- Etchings of Dogs by Bert Cobb
Feb.-Mar., 1933 -- Paintings by American Artists
Feb.-Apr., 1933 -- Paintings by Contemporary Americans
Apr., 1933 -- Paintings by Maurice Prendergast
Oct., 1933 -- Exhibition of French Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings
Oct.-Nov., 1933 -- Drawings by Emily W. Miles
Oct.-Nov., 1933 -- Exhibition of Etchings and Lithographs
Nov., 1933 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Henry E. Schnakenberg
Dec., 1933 -- Watercolors by Gifford Beal
Jan., 1934 -- Exhibition of Drawings by Denys Wortman for "Metropolitan Movies"
Summer, 1934 -- Paintings by Gifford Beal, Reynolds Beal, Isabel Bishop, Ann Brockman, Preston Dickinson, Guy Pène Du Bois, William J. Glackens, Richard Lahey, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Harriette Miller, Maurice Prendergast, Henry E. Schnakenberg, and John Sloan
Oct.-Nov., 1934 -- Exhibition of Etchings and Lithographs
Nov.-Dec., 1934 -- Paintings by Gifford Beal
Mar., 1935 -- Complete Collection of Etchings by Mahonri Young
July-Aug., 1935 -- Paintings by American Artists including Gifford Beal, Reynolds Beal, Ann Brockman, Guy Pène Du Bois, William J. Glackens, Max Kuehne, Richard Lahey, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Harriette G. Miller, Maurice Prendergast, Henry E. Schnakenberg, John Sloan, and Abraham Walkowitz
Oct.-Nov., 1935 -- Decorative Panels by Charles Prendergast
Nov., 1935 -- Exhibition of Paintings by H. E. Schnakenberg
Mar., 1936 -- Paintings by Louis Bouché
Apr., 1936 -- Paintings by Gifford Beal
Oct.-Nov., 1936 -- Loan Collection of French Paintings
Dec., 1936 -- Monotypes in Color by Maurice Prendergast
Jan., 1937 -- Recent Watercolors by H. E. Schnakenberg
Jan., 1937 -- Paintings of Flowers by William J. Glackens
Feb., 1937 -- Etchings by John Sloan
Feb., 1937 -- A Group of American Paintings
Sept., 1937 -- A Group of Paintings by Gifford Beal, Louis Bouché, Guy Pène Du Bois, William J. Glackens, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, Theodore Robinson, John Sloan, J. Alden Weir
Oct.-Nov., 1937 -- Decorative Panels by Charles Prendergast
Dec., 1937 -- American Watercolors
Jan.-Feb., 1938 -- Paintings by Gifford Beal
Feb.-Mar., 1938 -- Drawings by William Glackens, Guy Pène Du Bois, John Sloan, Denys Wortman
Apr., 1938 -- Paintings by Louis Bouché
May, 1938 -- Paintings and Pastels by Randall Davey
Oct., 1938 -- Selected Paintings by Modern French and American Artists
Nov., 1938 -- Paintings by Guy Pène Du Bois from 1908 to 1938
Nov., 1938 -- Paintings and Sculpture by Harriette G. Miller
Dec., 1938 -- Watercolors by Prendergast, Keller, Demuth, Wilcox and Others
Jan., 1939 -- Paintings by H. H. Newton
Oct., 1939 -- French and American Paintings
Oct.-Nov., 1939 -- Drawings by William Glackens of Spanish-American War Scenes
Nov., 1939 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Russell Cowles
Jan.-Feb., 1940 -- Recent Paintings by Louis Bouché
Feb.-Mar., 1940 -- Paintings by Henry Schnakenberg
Mar.-Apr., 1940 -- Paintings by Maurice Prendergast
Apr.-May, 1940 -- Watercolors by Charles Kaeselau
May-June, 1940 -- A Group of Recent Paintings by Gifford Beal, Russell Cowles, John Koch, Henry Schnakenberg, Esther Williams, Louis Bouché, Guy Pène Du Bois, Harriette G. Miller, John Sloan, Edmund Yaghjian
Oct., 1940 -- Drawings by American Artists
Nov., 1940 -- Walt Dehner
Mar., 1941 -- John Koch
May-June, 1941 -- Watercolors and Small Paintings by Gifford Beal
Oct.-Nov., 1941 -- Recent Paintings by Russell Cowles
Nov.-Dec., 1941 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Henry E. Schnakenberg
Dec., 1941 -- Charles Prendergast
Jan., 1942 -- Paintings by Samuel Brecher
Jan.-Feb., 1942 -- Recent Paintings by Guy Pène Du Bois
Mar.-Apr., 1942 -- Recent Paintings by Louis Bouché
Mar.-Apr., 1942 -- Illustrations by Boardman Robinson Commissioned by the Limited Editions Club for Edgar Lee Masters' "Spoon River Anthology"
Dec., 1942 -- Paintings from the Period of the Last War
Feb., 1943 -- Paintings and Watercolors by William Dean Fausett
Mar., 1943 -- Paintings by John Hartell
May-July, 1943 -- Watercolors by Contemporary American Artists
Feb.-Mar., 1944 -- Samuel Brecher
Feb.-Mar., 1944 -- Paintings, Gouaches, and Drawings by Andrée Ruellan
Mar., 1944 -- Vaughn Flannery
Mar.-Apr., 1944 -- Recent Paintings by Russell Cowles
Apr.-May, 1944 -- Recent Paintings by Louis Bouché
May-June, 1944 -- Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings and Watercolors by Henry G. Keller
Oct., 1944 -- Esther Williams
Nov.-Dec., 1944 -- Paintings and Watercolors of France by Maurice Prendergast
Dec., 1944 -- William J. Glackens Sixth Memorial Exhibition
Dec., 1944 -- Kraushaar Galleries Sixtieth Anniversary Exhibition of Paintings by William J. Glackens, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, and John Sloan
Jan.-Feb., 1945 -- Paintings by Gifford Beal
Feb.-Mar., 1945 -- Paintings by Andrée Ruellan
Apr.-May, 1945 -- Charles Locke
May-June, 1945 -- William Dean Fausett
Oct., 1945 -- Paintings by John Hartell
Nov.-Dec., 1945 -- Recent Watercolors by Marion Monks Chase
Nov.-Dec., 1945 -- Gouaches by Cecil Bell
Dec., 1945 -- Memorial Exhibition of Paintings and Watercolors by Ann Brockman
undated, 1946 -- Russell Cowles
Jan.-Feb., 1946 -- Richard Lahey
Feb., 1946 -- John Koch
Feb.-Mar., 1946 -- Paintings by Ernst Halberstadt
Mar., 1946 -- Paintings of Mexico and Guatemala by Henry E. Schnakenberg
Mar., 1946 -- Iver Rose
Apr., 1946 -- Louis Bouché
Apr.-May, 1946 -- Russell Cowles
May-June, 1946 -- Paintings by Bernard Arnest, Charles Harsanyi, Irving Katzenstein, Anna Licht, James Penney, Etienne Ret, and Vernon Smith
Sept., 1946 -- Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of Boardman Robinson
Nov., 1946 -- Guy Pène Du Bois
Nov.-Dec., 1946 -- William J. Glackens Eighth Memorial Exhibition
Jan., 1947 -- Karl Schrag
Feb.-Mar., 1947 -- Sculpture by Robert Laurent
Feb.-Mar., 1947 -- Paintings by Iver Rose
Feb.-Mar., 1947 -- Recent Paintings by Vernon Smith
Apr., 1947 -- Charles Prendergast
Apr., 1947 -- Louis Bouché
Apr.-May, 1947 -- Esther Williams
Oct.-Nov., 1947 -- Anna Licht
Nov., 1947 -- William J. Glackens Ninth Memorial Exhibition, with Works by Lenna Glackens
Mar., 1948 -- Russell Cowles
Apr.-May, 1948 -- Bernard Arnest
Aug.-Sept., 1948 -- New York Paintings and Watercolors
Oct.-Nov., 1948 -- Kenneth Evett
Nov.-Dec., 1948 -- Watercolors and Pastels by Harriette G. Miller
Jan.-Feb., 1949 -- John Hartell
Sept.-Oct., 1949 -- Contemporary American Watercolors and Gouaches
Oct., 1949 -- Contemporary Paintings
Jan., 1950 -- Maurice Prendergast Retrospective of Oils and Watercolors
Jan.-Feb., 1950 -- James Penney
Feb.-Mar., 1950 -- Paintings by Karl Schrag
Mar.-Apr., 1950 -- Russell Cowles
Jan.-Feb., 1951 -- William Sommer
Feb., 1951 -- Prints and Drawings by Various Artists
Feb., 1951 -- Paintings by Louis Bouché
Mar., 1951 -- Kenneth Evett
Apr.-May, 1951 -- Paintings by Gallery Artists
May-July, 1951 -- Contemporary American Watercolors
July-Aug., 1951 -- Paintings on the Summer Theme
Sept.-Oct., 1951 -- Vaughn Flannery
Oct.-Nov., 1951 -- Recent Paintings by Gallery Artists
Nov., 1951 -- Paintings by John Koch
Nov.-Dec., 1951 -- Joe Lasker
Dec., 1951 -- Small Prints and Drawings
Jan., 1952 -- Recent Gouaches by William Kienbusch
Jan., 1952 -- John Sloan: Recent Etchings from 1944-1951, and Etchings and Drawings Selected from All Periods of His Career
Feb.-Mar., 1952 -- Andrée Ruellan
Mar.-Apr., 1952 -- Bernard Arnest
Apr.-May, 1952 -- Recent Sculpture by Robert Laurent
May, 1952 -- Recent Paintings by Contemporary American Artists
May-June, 1952 -- Watercolors by Joseph Barber, Edward Christiana, Walt Dehner, Sidney Eaton, Wray Manning, and Woldemar Neufeld
July-Aug., 1952 -- Color Prints (Woodcuts, Etchings, and Lithographs) by Eleanor Coen, Caroline Durieux, Max Kahn, Tom Lias, Woldemar Neufeld, James Penney, George Remaily, Ann Ryan, and Karl Schrag
Nov., 1952 -- Karl Schrag
Dec., 1952-Jan. 1953 -- Eight Oregon Artists
Jan., 1953 -- Charles Prendergast Memorial Exhibition
Jan.-Feb., 1953 -- John Hartell
May, 1953 -- John Heliker
June, 1953 -- Humbert Alberizio, Vaughn Flannery, William Kienbusch, George Rickey, Andrée Ruellan, and Karl Schrag
Sept., 1953 -- Works by Gifford Beal, Kenneth Evett, Tom Hardy, John Koch, and James Lechay
Sept.-Oct., 1953 -- Paintings by Glackens, Lawson, Prendergast, Sloan
Oct.-Nov., 1953 -- Paintings by E. Powis Jones
Oct.-Nov., 1953 -- Recent Works by John Koch
Nov., 1953 -- Kenneth Evett: Drawings from Greek Mythology
Nov.-Dec., 1953 -- Recent Metal Sculptures by Tom Hardy
Nov.-Dec., 1953 -- Pastels, Drawings and Prints by Peggy Bacon
Nov.-Dec., 1953 -- Recent Paintings by Ralph Dubin
Feb.-Mar., 1954 -- Russell Cowles
Mar.-Apr., 1954 -- James Penney
Nov.-Dec., 1954 -- Tom Hardy: Metal Sculptures
Jan., 1955 -- Mobiles, Machines, and Kinetic Sculpture by George Rickey
Jan.-Feb., 1955 -- James Lechay
Feb., 1955 -- Mobiles by George Rickey
Feb.-Mar., 1955 -- Drawings, Etchings, and Lithographs by John Sloan (with a selection of prints by artists whose work influenced him in his early years: Rembrandt, Hogarth, Goya, Rops, Daumier, Rowlandson and others, to mark the publication of John Sloan: A Painter's Life by Van Wyck Brooks)
Mar.-Apr., 1955 -- Jane Wasey
Apr., 1955 -- Recent Work by Joe Lasker
May-June, 1955 -- Sculpture and Drawings by Contemporary American Artists
Jan., 1956 -- Carl Morris
Jan.-Feb., 1956 -- John Laurent
Feb.-Mar., 1956 -- William Kienbusch
Mar., 1956 -- Andrée Ruellan
Mar.-Apr., 1956 -- Karl Schrag
Apr.-May, 1956 -- John Heliker
May, 1956 -- Monotypes by Maurice Prendergast
Oct., 1956 -- The Eight
Jan.-Feb., 1957 -- Paintings by John Hartell
Apr., 1957 -- James Penney
Apr.-May, 1957 -- John Heliker
May-June, 1957 -- Fourteen Painter-Printmakers (American Federation of Arts exhibition)
June-July, 1957 -- 20th Century American Artists
Nov., 1957 -- William Glackens and His Friends (based on the book by Ira Glackens)
Nov., 1957 -- Marguerite Zorach
Jan., 1958 -- Gouches, Drawings and Small Glyphs by Ulfert Wilke
Jan.-Feb., 1958 -- Tom Hardy
Feb.-Mar., 1958 -- John Koch
Feb.-Mar., 1958 -- Still Life Exhibition with Works by William J. Glackens and Maurice Prendergast
Feb.-Mar., 1958 -- Cecil Bell
Mar., 1958 -- Karl Schrag
Mar., 1958 -- Carl Morris
Mar.-Apr., 1958 -- Louis Bouché
Apr., 1958 -- Paintings and Drawings by Joe Lasker
Apr.-May, 1958 -- Paintings and Drawings by Walter Feldman
Apr.-May, 1958 -- Sculpture by Henry Mitchell
May-June, 1958 -- Works in Casein and Gouache by Bernard Arnest, William Kienbusch, Carl Morris, and Karl Schrag
July, 1958 -- Still Life Paintings and Watercolors by American Artists
Oct.-Nov., 1958 -- Kenneth Evett
Nov., 1958 -- Elsie Manville
Nov.-Dec., 1958 -- John Laurent
Jan., 1959 -- Kinetic Sculpture by George Rickey
Jan.-Feb., 1959 -- Bernard Arnest
Mar., 1959 -- Karl Schrag
Mar.-Apr., 1959 -- Paintings by Joe Lasker
Apr.-May, 1959 -- Henry Mitchell
Sept.-Oct., 1959 -- Robert Searle
Oct.-Nov., 1959 -- Russell Cowles
Nov., 1959 -- Caseins and Paintings by William Kienbusch
Dec., 1959 -- Paintings by Vaughn Flannery
Feb., 1960 -- James Lechay
Apr., 1960 -- Landscapes by John Sloan
Apr.-May, 1960 -- John Guerin
May-June, 1960 -- Drawings and Small Sculpture by Gallery Artists
Oct., 1960 -- Ainslie Burke
Oct.-Nov., 1960 -- Leon Goldin
Nov.-Dec., 1960 -- Ulfert Wilke
Jan., 1961 -- Leonard DeLonga
Jan., 1961 -- Kenneth Evett
Jan.-Feb., 1961 -- Walter Feldman
Feb.-Mar., 1961 -- Watercolors and Pastels by Early Twentieth-Century American Artists
Mar., 1961 -- Paintings by Ralph Dubin
Mar.-Apr., 1961 -- James Penney
Apr.-May, 1961 -- John Koch
June, 1961 -- Works by Humbert Albrizio, Bernard Arnest, Cecil Bell, Louis Bouché, Ralph Dubin, Kenneth Evett, Walter Feldman, John Hartell, John Heliker, William Kienbusch, John Koch, Robert Laurent, James Lechay, Elsie Manville, Henry Mitchell, James Penney, George Rickey, Andrée Ruellan, Henry E. Schnakenberg, Karl Schrag, Jane Wasey, and Marguerite Zorach
Sept., 1961 -- Works by Contemporary Americans
Oct., 1961 -- George Rickey: Kinetic Sculpture
Oct.-Nov., 1961 -- Carl Morris
Nov.-Dec., 1961 -- Peggy Bacon
Dec., 1961 -- Selected Works by Twentieth-Century Americans
Jan., 1962 -- Polymer Resin and Sumi Ink Paintings by Kenneth Evett
Jan.-Feb., 1962 -- Louis Bouché
Feb.-Mar., 1962 -- Karl Schrag
Mar., 1962 -- Marguerite Zorach
Apr., 1962 -- John Laurent
Apr.-May, 1962 -- Sculpture by Tom Hardy
May-June, 1962 -- Drawings by Contemporary American Artists
July-Aug., 1962 -- Group Exhibitions - Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture by 20th Century American Artists
Oct., 1962 -- Bernard Arnest
Feb., 1963 -- William Kienbusch
Feb.-Mar., 1963 -- John Guerin
Mar., 1963 -- John Hartell
Sept.-Oct., 1963 -- Andrée Ruellan
Oct.-Nov., 1963 -- Ainslie Burke
Nov., 1963 -- Walter Feldman
Dec., 1963 -- Drawings by John Koch
Dec., 1963 -- Paintings by Contemporary Americans
Jan., 1964 -- Leonard DeLonga
Jan.-Feb., 1964 -- Joe Lasker
Feb.-Mar., 1964 -- Leon Goldin
Mar., 1964 -- Paintings by Ralph Dubin
Apr., 1964 -- Carl Morris
Apr.-May, 1964 -- Paintings and Drawings by John Heliker
Oct.-Nov., 1964 -- Louis Bouché
Nov.-Dec., 1964 -- Karl Schrag
Dec., 1964 -- Kenneth Evett
Feb., 1965 -- Russell Cowles
Feb.-Mar., 1965 -- James Lechay
Mar.-Apr., 1965 -- James Penney
Apr.-May, 1965 -- Gifford Beal
Feb., 1966 -- Dennis Leon
Feb.-Mar., 1966 -- Henry Schnakenberg
Mar.-Apr., 1966 -- John Hartell
Apr., 1966 -- Elsie Manville
Oct., 1966 -- Contrasts - Early and Late Works by Selected Contemporaries
Oct.-Nov., 1966 -- Tom Hardy
Nov.-Dec., 1966 -- Francis Chapin
Dec., 1966-Jan., 1967 -- Karl Schrag: Etchings and Lithographs
Jan.-Feb., 1967 -- Leonard DeLonga
Feb.-Mar., 1967 -- Carl Morris
Mar.-Apr., 1967 -- Ainslie Burke
Apr.-May, 1967 -- John Heliker: Paintings, Drawings, and Watercolors
May-June, 1967 -- William Glackens
Oct., 1967 -- Kenneth Callahan
Oct.-Nov., 1967 -- John Laurent
Jan.-Feb., 1968 -- Dennis Leon
Feb.-Mar., 1968 -- Robert La Hotan
Apr., 1968 -- John Guerin
Apr.-May, 1968 -- Leon Goldin
Sept.-Oct., 1968 -- Contemporary Sculpture and Drawings
Oct.-Nov., 1968 -- Karl Schrag
Nov.-Dec., 1968 -- James Lechay: Portraits and Landscapes
Dec., 1968-Jan., 1969 -- Group Exhibition
Jan., 1969 -- Elsie Manville
Mar., 1969 -- Kenneth Evett
Apr.-May, 1969 -- James Penney
Sept.-Oct., 1969 -- New Works by Contemporary Artists
Oct.-Nov., 1969 -- John Hartell: Exhibition
Nov., 1969 -- Peggy Bacon
Dec., 1969 -- Selected Examples by American Artists 1900-1930
Jan., 1970 -- Leonard DeLonga
Feb., 1970 -- Joe Lasker
Mar., 1970 -- Group Exhibition
Mar.-Apr., 1970 -- Dennis Leon
Apr.-May, 1970 -- Jerome Myers
Oct.-Nov., 1970 -- Tom Hardy
Jan.-Feb., 1971 -- Jane Wasey
Mar.-Apr., 1971 -- Kenneth Callahan
Oct., 1971 -- Ainslie Burke
Nov.-Dec., 1971 -- Karl Schrag
Feb.-Mar., 1972 -- John Koch
Mar.-Apr., 1972 -- Robert La Hotan
Apr.-May, 1972 -- Leon Goldin
May-June, 1972 -- Selected Works by 20th Century Americans
Sept.-Oct., 1972 -- Gallery Collection: American Watercolors and Drawings
Oct.-Nov., 1972 -- John Hartell
Nov.-Dec., 1972 -- Peggy Bacon
Dec., 1972 -- 20th Century Americans
Jan., 1973 -- Leonard DeLonga
Feb., 1973 -- Carl Morris
Mar., 1973 -- James Lechay
Mar.-Apr., 1973 -- Russell Cowles: Landscape Paintings
Apr.-May, 1973 -- Jerome Witkin
May-June, 1973 -- Kenneth Evett: Watercolors
Oct.-Nov., 1973 -- Kenneth Callahan
Jan., 1974 -- Joe Lasker
Jan.-Feb., 1974 -- Bernard Arnest
Feb.-Mar., 1974 -- Concetta Scaravaglione
Oct., 1974 -- Ainslie Burke
Oct.-Nov., 1974 -- James Penney
Jan., 1975 -- Tom Hardy
Jan.-Feb., 1975 -- Karl Schrag
Feb.-Mar., 1975 -- Robert La Hotan
Mar.-Apr., 1975 -- William Kienbusch
Apr., 1975 -- Elsie Manville
Apr.-May, 1975 -- Gifford Beal
Oct.-Nov., 1975 -- John Hartell
Nov., 1975 -- Daniel O'Sullivan
Mar., 1976 -- Jerome Witkin
May, 1976 -- Linda Sokolowski
Sept.-Oct., 1976 -- Joe Lasker, Illustrations from Merry Ever After
Oct., 1976 -- Leonard DeLonga
Nov.-Dec., 1976 -- Kenneth Callahan
Jan., 1977 -- James Lechay
Mar., 1977 -- Karl Schrag
Mar.-Apr., 1977 -- David Cantine
Oct.-Nov., 1977 -- John Hartell
Nov.-Dec., 1977 -- Ainslie Burke
Feb., 1978 -- Robert La Hotan
Apr., 1978 -- Elsie Manville
Oct., 1978 -- Tom Hardy
Oct.-Nov., 1978 -- Jerome Witkin
Jan.-Feb., 1979 -- Joe Lasker
Feb., 1979 -- Kenneth Evett
Feb.-Mar., 1979 -- Karl Schrag
Mar.-Apr., 1979 -- Carl Morris
Apr.-May, 1979 -- Linda Sokolowski
Oct.-Nov., 1979 -- Daniel O'Sullivan
Feb.-Mar., 1980 -- Kenneth Callahan
Mar., 1980 -- Ainslie Burke
Oct., 1980 -- John Hartell
Jan., 1981 -- Leonard DeLonga
Feb., 1981 -- James Lechay
Feb.-Mar., 1981 -- Robert La Hotan
Mar.-Apr., 1981 -- Jerry Atkins
Apr.-May, 1981 -- Ben Frank Moss
Jan.-Feb., 1982 -- Jerome Witkin
Feb.-Mar., 1982 -- Elsie Manville
Mar.-Apr., 1982 -- Karl Schrag
Apr.-May, 1982 -- Linda Sokolowski
May-June, 1982 -- David Cantine
Sept.-Oct., 1982 -- Kenneth Callahan
Oct.-Nov., 1982 -- Joe Lasker
Nov.-Dec., 1982 -- Daniel O'Sullivan
Jan.-Feb., 1983 -- William Kienbusch: Memorial Exhibition
Feb.-Mar., 1983 -- Jerry Atkins
Mar.-Apr., 1983 -- John Hartell
Apr.-May, 1983 -- John Heliker
May-June, 1983 -- Kenneth Evett
Oct., 1983 -- Concetta Scaravaglione
Oct.-Nov., 1983 -- Ben Frank Moss
Nov.-Dec., 1983 -- Russell Cowles
Dec., 1983-Jan., 1984 -- 20th Century Americans
Jan.-Feb., 1984 -- Marguerite Zorach: Paintings at Home and Abroad
Feb.-Mar., 1984 -- Robert La Hotan
Mar., 1984 -- David Smalley
Apr., 1984 -- Carl Morris
May, 1984 -- Karl Schrag
July, 1984 -- Drawings by 20th Century Americans
July-Aug., 1984 -- Collages and Drawings by Joseph Heil
Aug.-Sept., 1984 -- Drawings and Prints by Tom Hardy
Sept.-Oct., 1984 -- James Penney: Memorial Exhibition
Oct.-Nov., 1984 -- Paintings and Drawings by Leon Goldin
Nov.-Dec., 1984 -- Isabelle Siegel
Dec., 1984-Jan., 1985 -- Group Exhibition: Contemporary American Paintings and Sculpture
Jan.-Feb., 1985 -- James Lechay
Feb.-Mar., 1985 -- Ainslie Burke
Mar., 1985 -- Karen Breunig
Apr., 1985 -- Kenneth Callahan
Oct., 1985 -- Elsie Manville
Oct.-Nov., 1985 -- William Glackens
Jan.-Feb., 1986 -- Linda Sokolowski
Feb.-Mar., 1986 -- Jerry Atkins
Apr.-May, 1986 -- Jane Wasey
Oct.-Nov., 1986 -- John Hartell
Nov.-Dec., 1986 -- Karl Schrag
Feb.-Mar., 1987 -- Kenneth Evett
Apr.-May, 1987 -- Ben Frank Moss
May-June, 1987 -- David Smalley
Oct.-Nov., 1987 -- Isabelle Siegel
Feb.-Mar., 1988 -- Karen Breunig
Mar.-Apr., 1988 -- Leon Goldin
Sept.-Oct., 1988 -- Elsie Manville
Oct.-Nov., 1988 -- James Lechay
Jan.-Feb., 1989 -- Karl Schrag
Feb.-Mar., 1989 -- Linda Sokolowski
Jan.-Feb., 1990 -- Kenneth Callahan: Works of the Fifties
Jan.-Feb., 1990 -- Gifford Beal: Watercolors
Mar., 1990 -- Robert La Hotan: Recent Paintings
Mar.-Apr., 1990 -- Sonia Gechtoff: New Paintings
May-June, 1990 -- David Smalley: Recent Sculpture
May-June, 1990 -- Andrée Ruellan: Sixty Years of Drawing...
Oct., 1990 -- Isabelle Siegel
Nov., 1990 -- Leon Goldin
Jan.-Feb., 1991 -- Karl Schrag
Feb.-Mar., 1991 -- Joe Lasker
Apr., 1991 -- Ainslie Burke
Nov.-Dec., 1991 -- Linda Sokolowski: Oils, Collages, Monotypes
Dec., 1991-Jan., 1992 -- Elsie Manville: Small Works on Paper
Mar., 1992 -- Tabitha Vevers
May-June, 1992 -- Sonia Gechtoff
Oct.-Nov., 1992 -- James Lechay
Nov.-Dec., 1992 -- Karl Schrag
Mar., 1993 -- Leon Goldin: Works on Paper
Apr.-May, 1993 -- Robert La Hotan
Oct., 1993 -- David Smalley: Sculpture Inside and Out
Oct., 1993 -- Andrée Ruellan: Works on Paper 1920-1980
Mar.-Apr., 1994 -- Kenneth Evett: Travels: Themes and Variations (Watercolors of Italy, Greece, Arizona, Maine and California)
Mar.-Apr., 1994 -- Tabitha Vevers
Oct.-Nov., 1994 -- Linda Sokolowski
Nov.-Dec., 1994 -- Karl Schrag
Jan.-Feb., 1995 -- Langdon Quin
Mar.-Apr., 1995 -- Robert La Hotan
Sept.-Oct., 1995 -- Sonia Gechtoff
Jan.-Feb., 1996 -- Elsie Manville: Paintings and Works on Paper
Oct.-Nov., 1996 -- Karl Schrag: A Self Portrait Retrospective, 1940-1995
Jan.-Feb., 1997 -- Joe Lasker: Paintings and Watercolors
Mar.-Apr., 1997 -- Tabitha Vevers
Oct.-Nov., 1997 -- James Lechay
Feb.-Mar., 1998 -- Linda Sokolowski: Canyon Suite: Works from the Southwest
Mar.-Apr., 1998 -- Leon Goldin: Paintings on Paper
Sept.-Oct., 1998 -- Sonia Gechtoff: Mysteries in the Sphere
Oct.-Nov., 1998 -- Langdon Quin: Recent Paintings
Nov.-Dec., 1998 -- John Gill
Jan.-Feb., 1999 -- Robert La Hotan
Feb.-Mar., 1999 -- Ann Sperry: Where Is Your Heart
Nov.-Dec., 1999 -- Kathryn Wall
Jan.-Feb., 2000 -- Elsie Manville
Sept.-Oct., 2000 -- Joe Lasker
Oct.-Nov., 2000 -- James Lechay
Oct.-Nov., 2000 -- Tabitha Vevers
May-June, 2001 -- Kenneth Callahan: Drawings
Dec., 2001-Jan., 2002 -- Sur La Table: A Selection of Paintings and Works on Paper
Jan.-Feb., 2002 -- Karl Schrag: Theme and Variations II: The Meadow
undated, 2003 -- Ann Sperry
Jan.-Feb., 2003 -- Andrée Ruellan: Works on Paper from the 1920s and 1930s
Oct.-Nov., 2003 -- Joe Lasker: Muses and Amusements
Nov.-Dec., 2003 -- Tabitha Vevers
Mar.-Apr., 2004 -- Leon Goldin: Five Decades of Works on Paper
May-July, 2004 -- Anne Frank: A Private Photo Album
Jan.-Feb., 2005 -- John Gill: Ceramics
Sept.-Oct., 2005 -- Karl Schrag: The Painter of Bright Nights
Related Material:
An untranscribed oral history interview with Antoinette Kraushaar was conducted for the Archives of American Art by Avis Berman in 1982, and is available on five audio cassettes at the Archives' Washington D.C. research facility.
Separated Material:
In addition to the records described in this finding aid, the following materials were lent to the Archives for filming in 1956 and are available on microfilm reels NKR1-NKR3 and for interlibrary loan: a book of clippings from 1907 to 1930, primarily of exhibition reviews; loose clippings and catalogs of exhibitions from 1930 to 1946; and a group of photographs and clippings relating to George Luks and other artists. These materials were returned to Kraushaar Galleries after microfilming.
Provenance:
53.5 linear feet of records were donated to the Archives of American Art by Kraushaar Galleries in three separate accessions in 1959, 1994, and 1996. Katherine Kaplan of Kraushaar Galleries donated an additional 38.4 linear feet in 2008-2009 and an additional 8.4 linear feet in 2012-2017 and 6.0 linear feet in 2022.
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. A fragile original scrapbook is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Katherine Kaplan Degn, Kraushaar Galleries. 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.
The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection.
Scope and Content Note:
The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection. Personal papers also include personal photographs.
Artists files, the largest and most extensive series, consist of a wide variety of documents, including biographical materials, correspondence with or related to the artist, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales and expense invoices, clippings, price lists, and photographs of the artist, exhibitions, and artwork. The files reflect Parsons's close personal relationships with certain artists, particularly Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnett Newman. Extensive documentation is also found for Forrest Bess, William Congdon, Paul Feeley, Thomas George, Alexander Liberman, Seymour Lipton, Richard Pousette-Dart, Jesse Reichek, and Jack Youngerman. Historians and researchers will find these files to be an invaluable resource both in tracing Betty Parsons's role in promoting Abstract Expressionism and researching individual artists.
Exhibition files primarily document the gallery's infrequent group or themed exhibitions. Of particular note are the files on The Ideographic Picture, which was organized by Barnett Newman and included his work, as well as that of Pietro Lazzari, Boris Margo, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Theodoros Stamos, and Clyfford Still. Price lists, artist biographies and exhibition schedules are housed in the general exhibition files. Loan exhibition files provide documentation of artwork borrowed by other galleries or institutions for exhibitions, as well as shows outside of the gallery that were organized by Betty Parsons. Also found are gallery exhibition guest books, and announcements and catalogs.
Gallery correspondence is primarily with galleries and dealers, museums, arts organizations, and collectors. Scattered letters from artists are also found, although the bulk of the artists' correspondence is filed in the Artists Files. Also found here are memoranda and letters between Betty Parsons and her staff that contain detailed information concerning Parsons's schedule and gallery activities. Similar correspondence is found amongst the correspondence files within the series Betty Parsons papers.
Appraisal and conservation files include correspondence, appraisal invoices, forms, and appraisal requests and other information from the Art Dealers Association of America, and conservation invoices and reports. The majority of the appraisal records contain information about the specific works of art, including artist, title, date, current owner and the estimated value at the time of the request. Conservation records document conservation treatments undertaken by outside conservators to gallery stock.
Sales, purchases, stock and inventory are well documented in the sales and inventory records. The records provide detailed information about individual sales, prices of individual pieces of artwork, consignments, and loans. Most sales records also include detailed information about the buyer and are a valuable resource for provenance research. Files documenting the general administration, routine business operations, and financial transactions (not individual sales) of the gallery are housed in the general business and financial records. These records include ledgers, receipts, tax records, and banking records. There is some limited information about works of art scattered amongst the receipts and in the "in/out slips" files. Legal records house general legal documents and those concerning specific lawsuits. Of particular note is the file detailing the lawsuit between Betty Parsons and Sidney Janis over the fifth floor of 24 West 57th Street.
The remainder of the collection consists of Betty Parsons's personal papers which document her career prior to opening her own gallery, her work as an artist, and her personal art collection.
Some information about Parsons's work prior to opening her own gallery is found in the early curatorial files she retained from her curatorial and administrative work at the Wakefield Gallery and the Mortimer Brandt Gallery. Clippings, correspondence, announcements, exhibition lists and exhibition files are found. For both positions, she kept only the exhibition files for a small group of exhibitions organized around a specific theme, the most notable being the exhibition of Pre-Columbian Sculpture at the Wakefield Gallery.
Biographical materials include copies of her biography, family genealogies, photographs of Parsons, interviews with Colette Roberts and WYNC radio, memberships, photographs, and ephemera, including a collection of programs and invitations from events that she attended. Throughout her life Parsons gave generously of her time to various cultural and charitable institutions and was awarded for her contributions. There are also a number of files that document her speaking engagements, her participation as a juror in numerous juried exhibitions, charitable work, and awards that she received.
Parsons's personal correspondence files reflect how deeply Parsons's life was intertwined with the gallery. There are letters from museum directors, dealers, artists seeking representation, and personal letters from artists with whom she had close personal relationships, most notably Larry Bigelow, Alexander Calder, William Condon, and Ad Reinhardt. There are also letters from the English artist Adge Baker, with whom Parsons was romantically involved. Correspondence also includes several files of postcards and Christmas cards.
Pocket diaries and engagement calendars, spanning from 1933-1981, record social engagements, meetings, vacations, and telephone numbers. Also found are circa two linear feet of notebooks and sketchbooks, many of which are annotated with addresses, poetry, journal entries, and other observations of people, places, and travels. Writings by others include writings about Betty Parsons or the Betty Parsons Gallery, such as Lawrence Alloway's unpublished typescript titled "An American Gallery" and other topics.
Printed material consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs, art magazines, and newspaper and magazine clippings about Betty Parsons, her family and acquaintances, artists, and other art related topics, coupled with a miscellaneous selection of clippings, and a video recording, on topics that presumably captured Parsons's attention.
Personal art work records document Betty Parsons's career as an artist through inventories, group and solo exhibitions files, price lists, appraisals, sales and consignment invoices. Photographs are primarily reproductions of her works of art, although there are scattered photographs of exhibition installations.
Betty Parsons's private art collection files document her extensive personal collection of art that included works by Jackson Pollock, Agnes Martin, Romare Bearden, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, in addition to Amlash sculpture from ancient Persia and primitive sculpture from New Hebrides. These files include inventories, lists, exhibition records, sales and purchase invoices, and photographs. There are also files for donations and loans from Parsons's personal collection to museums and fund raising auctions for several non-profit institutions.
Finally, the personal financial records provide information about the Parsons's family finances and her personal financial success as an art dealer. In addition to her own investments, Parsons inherited shares in family investments through the estates of her parents, J. Fred Pierson, Jr. and Suzanne Miles Pierson, and younger sister, Emily Rayner. Real estate files include correspondence, utility bills, receipts, area maps, and land plots for houses in Sheepscot, Maine and St. Maartens, Netherlands Antilles. Tax returns, ledger worksheets, receipts, banking statements, deposit slips, and cancelled checks are among the other financial records.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series. Many of the series are further divided into subseries.
Missing Title
Series 1: Artists Files, 1935-1983 (19.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-18, 51, 55-56, OVs 53, 65)
Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1941-1983 (2.9 linear feet; Boxes 18-21, 51, 55, OVs 54, 66)
Series 3: Correspondence Files, 1941-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 21-24, 52, 56)
Series 4: Appraisal Files, 1954-1983 (0.7 linear feet; Box 24)
Series 5: Sales and Inventory Records, 1946-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 25-28, 51)
Series 6: General Business and Financial Records, 1946-1983 (9.3 linear feet; Boxes 28-38, 51, 56)
Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers, 1916-1991 (21 linear feet; Boxes 38-51, 55-64, OVs 65-67)
Historical Note:
Betty Parsons (1900-1982) was one of the leading art dealers in New York City specializing in modern art, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists, and an abstract painter and sculptor in her own right. She opened Betty Parsons Gallery in 1946 at 15 E. 57th St., later moving to 24 W. 57th St.
The history of the Betty Parsons Gallery is inextricably bound to the life and experiences of its founder. Betty Parsons was born Betty Bierne Pierson on January 31, 1900 in New York City. She enjoyed a privileged childhood, which included vacation homes in Newport and Palm Beach. Her only formal education was a five-year stint at the prestigious Chapin School from 1910-1915, where she met many of the women who would become life-long friends and supporters. In the spring of 1920, she married Schuyler Livingston Parsons from one of New York's oldest families. The marriage ended after only three years and the couple traveled to Paris where they could obtain a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. She retained her married surname and purchased a house on the rue Boulard in Paris, where she remained for ten years, pursuing studies in painting and sculpture.
Financial constraints forced Parsons to return to the United States in 1933. She first traveled west to California, but it was her return to New York in 1935 that marked the start of her career as an art dealer. Her first opportunity to connect with the New York art world came after a successful exhibition of her watercolors at the Midtown Galleries where the owner, Alan Gruskin, noted Parson's faithful and wealthy group of supporters and offered her work installing exhibitions and selling paintings on commission. Her work for the Midtown Galleries led to a second position in the Park Avenue gallery of Mary Sullivan, one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art. Here, Parsons learned the business of running a gallery. By 1940 Parsons was ready to take on more independent responsibility and agreed to manage a gallery within the Wakefield Bookshop. In this job, she exercised full curatorial control by selecting artists and organizing exhibitions. She championed then unknown contemporary American artists and the gallery's roster soon included Saul Steinberg, Hedda Sterne, Alfonso Ossorio, Joseph Cornell, Walter Murch, and Theodore Stamos. Although the majority of the exhibitions were solo shows, there were a few group shows and themed exhibitions, such as Love in Art (1941) and Ballet in Art (1942). Under Parson's direction, the gallery hosted an important exhibition of Pre-Columbian sculpture, curated by Barnett Newman.
When the owners of the Wakefield Bookshop decided to close the gallery late in 1944, Mortimer Brandt, a dealer who specialized in Old Master paintings and drawings, offered her a position as head of the newly created contemporary section of his gallery. Many of the artists who had shown with Parsons at the Wakefield Gallery followed her to her new gallery, where they were joined by Ad Reinhardt, Boris Mango, and Hans Hofmann. While the exhibitions garnered attention from the press and the interest of contemporary artists, the contemporary section was not a financial success and Brandt opted to close his gallery in 1946.
Using $1000 of her own money and an additional borrowed $4000, Parsons sublet the space that previously housed Mortimer Brandt's contemporary section, on the fifth floor of 15 East 57th Street, and opened the Betty Parsons Gallery.
In many respects the early years of the Betty Parsons Gallery were the most vital, as it was during the period of 1947-1951 that the gallery became linked with the Abstract Expressionists and the history of post-WWII American Art. In an unpublished history of the gallery, noted art critic Lawrence Alloway stated that the significance of the gallery's early exhibitions ranks with Durand-Ruel's Impressionists exhibitions or Kahnweiler's shows of the Cubists. Betty Parsons Gallery quickly became one of the most prestigious galleries in New York City associated with new American Art of all styles. Her close friend Barnett Newman organized the gallery's inaugural exhibition of Northwest Coast Indian Art and he soon began to exhibit his own work at the gallery. When Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery closed, Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, and Mark Rothko joined Parsons' growing stable of artists. Although Parsons continued to promote and exhibit many of the artists whom she had previously discovered, these four artists dominated this period. Newman, Pollock, Still, and Rothko worked closely together, holding themselves apart from the other artists somewhat. They were actively involved in the curatorial process and often hung their own shows. For these artists, the exhibition itself was an artistic act of creation.
Parsons provided a supportive environment and allowed her artists enormous freedom in planning and designing their exhibitions. She was not, however, an aggressive salesperson. During this early period the gallery ledgers document sales to an impressive array of museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as important collectors such as Edward Root and Duncan Phillips. Nevertheless, the art that the gallery promoted was not yet widely accepted. Sales were few, prices were low and the business would not turn a profit for several years. Meanwhile, there was mounting pressure from Pollock, Newman, Still, and Rothko to drop some of the other artists from Parsons' stable and focus all resources on them. They wanted to be promoted to a larger audience and have their work sold at higher prices, but Parsons enjoyed discovering new artists and did not want to be restricted in this endeavor. The year 1951 marks the last time that Pollock's drip paintings or the monumental works of Newman, Rothko or Still were shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery.
In the following years the Betty Parsons Gallery continued to attract a diverse group of talented artists. Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Tuttle, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jack Youngerman had their first New York exhibitions at the Betty Parsons Gallery. Parsons opened Section Eleven in 1958, a short-lived annex to the main gallery, so that she could promote younger, less well-known artists. It closed in 1960 due to the administrative difficulties in running two essentially separate galleries.
In 1962, Sidney Janis, another prominent art dealer, started proceedings to evict Parsons from the floor that they shared on 15 East 57th Street. The Betty Parsons Gallery moved to 24 West 57th Street in 1963, where it remained until it closed in 1983, following Parsons' death the preceding year. Throughout the gallery's history, Parsons continued to promote faithful artists such as Hedda Sterne and Saul Steinberg, who had been with her from the beginning and to seek out new talent, both for her main gallery and for other venues, such as the short-lived Parsons-Truman Gallery, which she opened in 1974 with former Parsons Gallery director Jock Truman to show works on paper by emerging artists.
In addition to being an art dealer, Betty Parsons was a respected artist and collector. With her connoisseur's eye and connections, Parsons amassed an impressive private collection of art. She bought her first piece while an art student in Paris in the 1920s, a small gouache by Zadkine, but did not begin acquiring works in earnest until she was established as an art dealer. Partial inventories of her personal collection show that the majority of her collection contained works by artists associated with the gallery. Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Ad Reinhardt, Agnes Martin, and Kenzo Okada were among the artists represented. Many were gifts from the artists, such as an ink drawing by Jackson Pollock, inscribed "For Betty." Selections from her collection appeared in small museums across the United States, including a traveling exhibition organized by Fitch College, New York, in 1968. In her role as a promoter of contemporary American art, Parsons lent generously from her collection, particularly to the federal Art in the Embassies Program. Throughout her life she also donated works to a variety of museums, most notably, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark.
Parsons frequently claimed that her desire to pursue a career as an artist stemmed from a visit to the Armory Show when she was thirteen. In her late teens, after pressuring her father for art lessons, she studied with the sculptor Gutzon Burglum of Mount Rushmore fame. In Paris, she continued her studies first with Antoine Bourdelle, whose sculptures she had admired at the Armory Show, and later with Ossip Zadkine. The first exhibition of her work, figurative watercolors and sculptures, took place in Paris in 1927. As she matured as an artist, her art became more abstract. Her late works were painted wood sculptures that she pieced together from wood that she found near her studio in Long Island. Parsons's work was exhibited in more than thirty solo exhibitions, including, Betty Parsons; Paintings, Gouaches and Sculpture, 1955-1968, at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. During her lifetime, she would not allow her works to be shown in her own gallery. Shortly after she died of a stroke in 1982, In Memoriam, Betty Parsons: Late Sculptures, opened at the Betty Parsons Gallery.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews with Betty Parsons, June 4-9, 1969, by Paul Cummings, and June 11, 1981 by Gerald Silk.
Separated Material:
Some of the material originally loaned for microfilming in 1968 and 1969 was not included in later donations and can be viewed on microfilm reels N68/62-N68/74 and N69/105-N69/106. Loaned materials are not described in the container listing in this finding aid.
Provenance:
The gallery donated some records in 1974, many of which had been loaned earlier for microfilming. The bulk of the collection was donated in 1984 and 1986 by William Rayner and Christopher Schwabacher, executors of the Estate of Betty Parsons. Additional material was donated by William Rayner in 1998 and Christopher Schwabacher in 2017. Additional material was donated in 2018 by the Lee Hall estate via Carolyn Crozier and Deborah Jacobson, co-executors. Hall was Parsons's biographer and had the material in her possession at the time of Parsons's death. An additional photograph of Parons and Marie Carr Taylor by Henri Cartier-Bresson was donated in 2021 by Mary Carpenter, who inherited the photograph from her mother, Nan Thorton Jones, who received it as a gift from Taylor.
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 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:
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Henry Tyler Hopkins conducted 1980 Oct. 24-1980 Dec. 17, by Wesley Chamberlin, for the Archives of American Art.
Hopkins speaks of his childhood and family background in Idaho; his education in Idaho and at the Art Institute of Chicago; his U.S. Army service as a photographer; the influence upon him of the early abstract expressionists; moving to California and getting involved in the museum community; working as a curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and developing its collection of modern works; becoming the director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the value of art appreciation over art entertainment; problems with corporate and federal support; the psychological aspects of Jackson Pollack's work; pop art; the Bay area art scene; and the role of art museums. He recalls Shirley and Walter Hopps, Ed Ruscha, Joe Goode, Larry Bell, Ed Bereal, Ron Miyashiro, Jackson Pollack, Joseph Cornell, Billy Al Bengston, Kenny Price, Robert Irwin, William Copley, Franz Kline, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Henry Hopkins (1928-2009) was a director of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' 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.
United States -- Social conditions -- California -- San Francisco
Date:
1929-1973
Scope and Contents:
UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence; photographs; engagement calendars; printed and manuscript material; catalogues; business material.
Reel NDA 3: Two notebooks containing names and addresses of San Francisco and Bay area artists interested in being employed on the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP); payroll data; artists submitting work ideas; reports of artists; record of sketches and paintings submitted by Bay area artists, Dec. 1933-Jan. 1934; report of the Regional Committee of PWAP (Region 15)--Northern California discussing the work executed for the Project in Northern California, Nevada, Utah, and Hawaii; and miscellaneous correspondence.
Biographical / Historical:
Director of the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, Calif., 1933-196 and the Region 15--Northern California, Nevada, and Utah--director of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP).
Provenance:
Mrs. Leyland Stevens, daughter of Walter Heil, donated the papers in 1974. In 1983, 2 engagement calendars and 5 items of correspondence were found at the M.H. De Young Museum and turned over to the Archives. In 1964, Lewis Ferbrache loaned some material for microfilming on reel NDA 3; originals were returned to Lewis Ferbrache after microfilming.
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.
Occupation:
Art historians -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Museum directors -- California -- San Francisco Search this
These records document the governance and programmatic activities of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (MAI) from its inception in 1904 until its sublimation by the Smithsonian Institution in 1990. The types of materials present in this collection include personal and institutional correspondence, individual subject files, minutes and annual reports, financial ledgers, legal records, expedition field notes, research notes, catalog and object lists, publications, clippings, flyers, maps, photographs, negatives and audio-visual materials. These materials span a varied range of subjects relating to the activities of the museum which are more fully described on the series level.
Scope and Contents:
These records document the governance and programmatic activities of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (MAI) from its inception in 1904 until its sublimation by the Smithsonian Institution in 1990. The types of materials present in this collection include personal and institutional correspondence, individual subject files, minutes and annual reports, financial ledgers, legal records, expedition field notes, research notes, catalog and object lists, publications, clippings, flyers, maps, photographs, negatives and audio-visual materials. These materials span a varied range of subjects relating to the activities of the museum which are more fully described on the series level.
Arrangement:
The MAI, Heye Foundation records have been arranged into 21 series and 50 subseries:
Series 1: Directors, 1908-1990 (1.1: George Gustav Heye, 1863-1962, 1.2: Edwin K. Burnett, 1943-1960, 1.3: Frederick Dockstader, 1950-1976, 1.4: Alexander F. Draper, 1972-1977, 1.5:Roland W. Force, 1963-1990, 1.6: George Eager, Assistant Director, 1977-1990)
Series 2: Board of Trustees, 1916-1990 (2.1: Board of Trustee Minutes, 1916-1990, 2.2: Individual Board Correspondence, 1943-1990, 2.3: Subject Files, 1917-1990)
Series 3: Administrative, 1916-1989 (3.1: Subject Files, 1904-1991, 3.2: Personnel, 1956-1991, 3.3: Legal, 1900-1989, 3.4: Task Force, 1976-1986, 3.5: George Abrams, 1980-1991)
Series 4: Financial, 1916-1990 (4.1: Ledgers, 1900-1962, 4.2: Correspondence, 1905-1985, 4.3: Subject Files, 1916-1990)
Series 5: Expeditions, 1896-1973Series 6: Collectors, 1872-1981Series 7: Registration, 1856-1993Series 8: Collections Management, 1937-1988Series 9: Curatorial, 1963-1990 (9.1: Curatorial Council, 1973-1990, 9.2: Gary Galante, 1979-1991, 9.3: Mary Jane Lenz, 1974-1994, 9.4: James G. E. Smith, 1963-1990, 9.5: U. Vincent Wilcox, 1968-1984, 9.6: Anna C. Roosevelt, 1973-1988)
Series 10: Exhibits, 1923-1991 (10.1: MAI Exhibits, 1923-1990, 10.2: Non-MAI Exhibits, 1937-1991)
Series 11: Public Programs, 1935-1990Series 12: Publications, 1904-1994 (12.1: Annual Reports, 1917-1989, 12.2: Publications by MAI, 1904-1990, 12.3: Publications by Other Sources, 1881-1990, 12.4: Administration, 1920-1988, 12.5: Archival Set of Official Publications, 1907-1976)
Series 13: Public Affairs, 1938-1991Series 14: Development, 1927-1991 (14.1: Administration, 1979-1990, 14.2: Donors, 1978-1990, 14.3: Fundraising, 1973-1990, 14.4: Grants, 1970-1990, 14.5: Subject Files, 1976-1990)
Series 15: Other Departments, 1914-1990 (15.1: Archives, 1914-1990, 15.2: Conservation, 1972-1989, 15.3: Education, 1921-1990, 15.4: Indian Information Center, 1977-1989, 15.5: Museum Shop, 1947-1989, 15.6: Photography, 1918-1990, 15.7: Physical Anthropology, 1919-1956)
Series 16: Huntington Free Library, 1926-1991Series 17: Museum Relocation, 1969-1992 (17.1: Subject Files, 1979-1990, 17.2: American Museum of Natural History, 1980-1987, 17.3: Dallas, Texas, 1984-1987, 17.4: Smithsonian Institution, 1979-1990, 17.5: U.S. Custom House, 1977-1990, 17.6: Other Locations, 1974-1987)
Series 18: MediaSeries 19: PhotographsSeries 20: Miscellaneous, 1837-1990Series 21: Oversize, 1873-1972 (21.1: Maps, 1873-1975, 21.2: Miscellaneous, 1884-1982)
History of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation:
The Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation was established by wealthy collector George Gustav Heye in 1908. Heye began collecting American Indian artifacts as early as 1897 and his collection rapidly increased over the next several years. Based in New York, Heye bought collections and documentary photographs, sponsored expeditions, and traveled and collected items himself. In addition, once MAI was established he sponsored numerous expeditions across the Western Hemisphere, including North American, Canada, South America and Central America.
From 1908 to 1917 Heye housed his artifacts on temporary loan at the University of Pennsylvania's University Museum, Pennsylvania, in lofts on East 33rd Street in New York City, and at other depositories. In 1917, the collections moved from his apartment to their permanent museum location at Audubon Terrace, at 155th Street and Broadway in New York City. The museum, containing ethnographic and archaeological collections from North, Central and South America, opened to the public in 1922. Less than ten years later, Heye completed a storage facility in the Pelham Bay area of the Bronx, known as the Research Branch. Heye served as Chairman of the Board and Museum Director until his death in 1957. After growing concern about the financial and other management of the collections came to a head, the museum became part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1989 and in 1994 opened exhibit space in the U.S. Customs House at Bowling Green near New York City's Battery Park. The Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland later opened in 1999 and the main Washington, DC museum opened in 2004.
Please visit the following links for more information about the history of the museum; History of the Collection, Collections Overview, and Significance of the Collection. Moreover, for information about how the museum currently cares for and exhibits the collection, please see the Conservation department and recent entries regarding Exhibitions and Conservation on the NMAI Blog. In addition, see portions of the NMAI Archive Center's collections highlighted in the SIRIS Blog.
Related Materials:
In 2004, the Huntington Fee Library, once part of the MAI/Heye Foundation, was transferred to the Cornell University Library Rare Book and Manuscript Collection. While this collection mainly contained books, it also contained a significant amount of archival materials. The Huntington Free Library's Native American Collection contains outstanding materials documenting the history, culture, languages, and arts of the native tribes of both North and South America, as well as contemporary politics and human rights issues are also important components of the collection. Further information about the collection and links to finding aids can be found here: rmc.library.cornell.edu/collections/HFL_old.html.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadcast materials from the collection must be requested from the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation Records, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
California Palace of the Legion of Honor Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Thomas Carr Howe and Robert Neuhaus, 1987 Sept 25. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Museum directors -- California -- Interviews Search this
Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
2 Sound cassettes (Sound recordings (ca. 3 hrs.))
93 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound cassettes
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1989 June 15
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Josine Ianco-Starrels conducted 1989 June 15, by Ruth Gurin Bowman for the Archives of American Art, Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project. Ianco-Starrels recounts her youth in Bucharest, Romania; WWII and her family's fleeing to Palestine; her father Marcel Ianco's affiliation with the Dadaists in Zurich; her first marriage that brought her to New York in 1950; studying at the Art Students League; her second marriage to Herbert Kline, a documentary filmmaker; her involvement with the Lytton Center of the Visual Arts and the beginning of her curatorial career; working at California State University, Los Angeles as gallery director; her teaching career; her interest in Los Angeles artists including Jack Zajack, Lorser Feitelson, Helen Lundeberg, Felix Landau, Joyce Treiman, Betty Saar, Joan Brown, and others; curating and programs at the Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park and later at the Long Beach Museum; her views on community and access to local galleries; and her relationship with artists and the art community.
Biographical / Historical:
osine Ianco-Starrels (1926-2019) was a curator and gallery administrator in Los Angeles, California. Born 1926 in Bucharest, Romania. Josine Ianco-Starrels was curator of the Lytton Center of the Visual Arts (1961-1969), Associate Professor, Art Gallery Division at California State University, Los Angeles (1969-1975), Director of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park (1975-1984), and Senior Curator at the Long Beach Art Museum (1987-1990). Ianco-Starrels died at the age of 92 at her home in Rogue City, Oregon.
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. Funding for this interview was provided by the Margery and Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Communal Fund of New York.
Correspondence, writings, notes, photographs, catalogs, printed material, and scrapbooks.
REELS 1713-1715: 285 letters; drafts and notes for lectures, critical works, and radio talks; paper relating to the design of the "Contemporary American Art" exhibit at the New York's World Fair; a curriculum vitae; essays by other individuals, including Jules Lansner and Anne Fremantle; photographs of Bear's art works; exhibition catalogs and announcements; clippings; periodicals; and printed material.
REEL 1286: Three scrapbooks of clippings, including articles written by Bear while director of the Denver Art Museum and Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Museum director, critic, author, and artist; Santa Barbara, Calif.; b. 1905; d. 1952; full name: Donald Jeffries Bear.
Provenance:
Lent and donated by Esther Bear, widow of Bear.
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.
The papers of art historian and museum educator Ruth Bowman are dated 1936-2006, bulk 1963-1999, and measure 26.7 linear feet and 21.99 GB. Professional correspondence and subject files document Bowman's relationships with colleagues and reflect her interests, activities including curatorial work, and accomplishments as a museum educator. Writings and related research materials include her thesis,"Thomas Pollock Anshutz, 1851-1912" (M.A., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1971), and unfinished projects. Also found are interviews conducted by Bowman with a wide range of individuals for a variety of purposes.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art historian and museum educator Ruth Bowman are dated 1936-2006, bulk 1963-1999, and measure 26.7 linear feet and 21.99 GB. Professional correspondence and subject files document Bowman's relationships with colleagues and reflect her interests, activities including curatorial work, and accomplishments as a museum educator. Writing and related research materials include her thesis, "Thomas Pollock Anshutz, 1851-1912" (M.A., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1971), and unfinished projects. Also found are interviews conducted by Bowman with a wide range of individuals for a variety of purposes.
Biographical materials consist of certificates, resumes, and a few photographs of Ruth Bowman. Correspondence concerns Bowman's professional activities and interests. Among the most frequent correspondents are: American Association of Museums, Craft and Folk Art Museum (Los Angeles), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art.
Writings by Ruth Bowman, published and unpublished, include a thesis and articles about Thomas Pollock Anshutz, catalogs for American Federation of Arts and The Newark Museum exhibitions, lectures, as well as articles about museum education and visual arts programs. Research relates to her writings about Anshutz, and to unrealized projects concerning Anshutz, Cézanne, Eakins, Picasso, and other subjects. Also found are two brief writings about Bowman.
Subject files--general subjects, artists' files, Ruth Bowman activities, and "Sunrise Semester"--contain the majority of Bowman's professional correspondence along with printed material, writings, photographs, and sound recordings. Among the most thoroughly documented general subjects are: The Brooklyn Museum's Trustees Retreat, Canadian Museums Association, a 1981 Craft Symposium, International Network for the Arts, Long Beach Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "Museum Directors' Forum", New York University Art Collection, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Council for the Arts. Artists' files are comprised mainly of printed material with a small amount of correspondence and some photographs. The Les Levine file consists of the first issue of Art-Rite featuring a brief article about Levine on its cover; Thomas Wilfred's file includes information about Lumia. Ruth Bowman activities include lectures, radio and television appearances, and participation in professional events. "Sunrise Semester," a collaboration between CBS television and New York University, offered early morning courses for college credit. Ruth Bowman was the instructor for "20th Century American Art," which is documented by general information, scripts, and sound recordings of all 46 classes.
Interviews conducted by Bowman are with English museum administrators and educators; people knowledgeable about a controversial proposal for an Annenberg Fine Arts Center at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; guests on KUSC radio shows "Sounds of Seeing" and "Live from Trump's"; and guests on the WNYC radio program "Views on Art." Interviews with miscellaneous individuals include Josef Albers, Hans Burkhardt, Carl Holty, Isamu Noguchi, and Helen Farr Sloan. Bowman interviewed a dozen American abstract artists, including Ilya Bolotowsky, Rosalind Bengelsdorf Browne, Burgoyne Diller, John Ferren, Carl Holty, Harry Holtzman, Ibram Lassaw, Jacques Lipchitz, Alice Mason, George McNeil, George L. K. Morris, and Ad Reinhardt for a thesis on the subject, but eventually wrote on a different topic. Two interviews with Bowman were conducted by Duncan MacDonald and an unidentified interviewer.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 5 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1964-1984 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1963-1996 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Related Research, 1942-1999 (Boxes 1-3; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Subject Files, 1936-2006 (Boxes 3-12, 26; 9.6 linear feet)
Series 5: Interviews, 1963-1989 (Boxes 12-25; 9.2 linear feet, ER01-ER70; 21.99 GB)
Biographical / Historical:
Ruth Bowman (b. 1923) is an art historian and museum educator who worked in New York City and Los Angeles. She is known for her interest in using new communications technology for museum education, discovering Arshile Gorky's long forgotten murals at Newark Airport, and expertise in the work of Thomas Anshutz.
A graduate of Bryn Mawr College (B.A. 1944), where she had studied art history and classical archaeology, Ruth Bowman began a museum career in New York as an assistant curator at the Jewish Museum in the early 1960s. From 1963-1974 Ruth Bowman served as curator of the York University Art Collection and was involved in its transition to the Grey Art Gallery and Study Center. Bowman wrote her master's thesis on Philadelphia artist Thomas Pollock Anshutz and received a degree from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University in 1971. During this same period, she was a staff lecturer at The Museum of Modern Art and taught art history in divisions of New York University. She was the instructor for a "Sunrise Semester" 20th century American art course broadcast nationally on CBS.
In 1974 Bowman and her family moved to California and she began an association with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as Director of Education. She attended summer courses in arts administration at Harvard University (1975) and similar training provided by the British Arts Council (1976). She taught at University of California Santa Barbara, as well as at California State University at Fullerton and Long Beach. Bowman was active in the Council of the American Association of Museums (vice president), the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles (vice president), and has served as a consultant to several museums and a corporate collection.
Ruth Bowman with her friend Harry Kahn (1916-1999) developed a collection of self-portraits by 20th century American artists, which she donated to the National Portrait Gallery in 2002. Mrs. Bowman is the widow of R. Wallace Bowman and currently resides in New York City.
Provenance:
Donated by Ruth Bowman in 2004.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
Research material including correspondence, writings and notes, photographs, and printed material on Cezanne, Thomas Eakins, and Picasso: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Ruth Bowman. 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.
Occupation:
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of New York City and Berlin, Germany based multi-media and conceptual artist Matt Mullican measure 27.8 linear feet and date from circa 1968-2017. The collection consists of biographical material, including a few interview transcripts; correspondence; over 100 notebooks; gallery and exhibition files; project and commission files; personal business records; printed material; and photographs. The notebooks document nearly five decades of Mullican's work process and illustrate his material and conceptual explorations. Large sequences of gallery and exhibition files, as well as project and commission files comprise the remaining bulk of the collection, providing detailed documentation of his professional career, particularly from the 1980s-2000s.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York City and Berlin, Germany based multi-media and conceptual artist Matt Mullican measure 27.8 linear feet and date from circa 1968-2017. The collection consists of biographical material, including a few interview transcripts; correspondence; over 100 notebooks; gallery and exhibition files; project and commission files; personal business records; printed material; and photographs. The notebooks document nearly five decades of Mullican's work process and illustrate his material and conceptual explorations. Large sequences of gallery and exhibition files, as well as project and commission files comprise the remaining bulk of the collection, providing detailed documentation of his professional career, particularly from the 1980s-2000s.
Biographical material includes address books, high school and college ephemera, papers and photographs relating to Mullican's family, identification cards, interview transcripts, a resume, and a few writings.
The small amount of correspondence arranged in Series 2 is with friends, artists, colleagues, fans, and museum professionals. Notable correspondents include artist Lawrence Weiner and museum director Kasper König. Additional professional correspondence is located in the Gallery and Exhibition Files, as well as the Project and Commission Files.
Over 100 notebooks document nearly five decades of Mullican's work process and artistic explorations from the time he was a student up to the present.
A large sequence of gallery and exhibition files encompass a variety of material documenting Mullican's extensive solo and group exhibition history throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan.
Extensive project and commission files contain documentation of international public and corporate commissions, academic engagements, performances, publishing projects, print editions, illustrations, grants, residencies, and other project based artwork. Public and corporate commissions include artworks and installations for banks, airports, office complexes, university buildings, public transit stations, and other spaces.
Personal business records relate to bookkeeping and sales, donations, inventories, publication, copyright, supplies, invoicing, recommendations, residences, storage of works, and studio administration.
Printed material includes announcements, posters, articles, reviews, exhibition catalogs, and periodicals related to Mullican's career.
One folder of photographs documents Mullican, his family, and installations of his work at various venues and exhibitions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as eight series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1968-2002 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1986-2000s (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Notebooks, circa 1968-2017 (7.2 linear feet; Box 1-8)
Series 4: Gallery and Exhibition Files, 1985-2000s (6.1 linear feet; Box 9-13, OV and RD 23-25)
Series 5: Project and Commission Files, 1980-2000s (10.3 linear feet; Box 14-19, OV and RD 26-43)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1978-2000s (1.7 linear feet; Box 19-21)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1971-2000s (1.5 linear foot; Box 21-22, RD 44)
Series 8: Photographs, 1980s-1990s (1 folder; Box 22)
Biographical / Historical:
Matt Mullican (1951- ) is a multi-media and conceptual artist working in New York City and Berlin, Germany. Born in Santa Monica, he is the son of abstract surrealist painters Lee Mullican and Luchita Hurtado Mullican. Educated at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in the early 1970s, and mentored by John Baldessari, Mullican moved to New York City after earning his BFA and became associated with the "Pictures Generation" artists, including friends Troy Brauntuch, Jack Goldstein, James Welling, and Robert Longo. His multi-disciplinary practice encompasses drawing, painting, collage, video, installation, and performance under hypnosis as his alter ego, 'That Person.' Through these media, Mullican explores systems of knowledge, the construction of reality, as well as meaning, language, and signs. Throughout his career, Mullican has participated in international solo and group exhibitions, and has undertaken dozens of public and corporate commissions.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives of American Art in 2014-2017 by Matt Mullican.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of born-digital records requires advance notice.
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:
Conceptual artists -- Germany -- Berlin -- Interviews Search this
Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Topic:
Artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Martha Longenecker conducted 2008 July 29, by Jo Lauria, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Longenecker's home and studio, in La Jolla, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Martha Longenecker (1920- 2013) was an artist and founder of Mingei International Museum of World Folk Art in La Jolla, California. Jo Lauria (1954- ) is an independent curator and arts writer in Sherman Oaks, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 SD memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 12 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 administrators.
Topic:
Ceramicists -- California -- Interviews Search this
Museum directors -- California -- Interviews Search this
Interview of Thomas Carr Howe and Robert Neuhaus, conducted by Peter Fairbanks and Paul Karlstrom for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution in San Francisco, CA, on September 25, 1987.
Carr and Neuhaus, both former directors of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, speak of the San Francisco art scene in the 1930s, with emphasis on museums, patronage, and collecting; their backgrounds and schooling; the Panama-Pacific Exhibition; art galleries in the 1930s; the museum staff at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in the 1930s; and the art climate in the Bay Area. Carr and Neuhaus also recall the McAgys, Grace Morley, Clyfford Still, Alma Spreckels, the Crockers, the Gettys, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Carr and Neuhaus were former directors of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, in the 1930s. Howe was Assistant Director, 1931-1939, and Director, 1939-1968. Neuhaus was Director of Education, 1938-1940; he establishedd a gallery in 1941, Robert Neuhaus Services, which remained opened for about six months. Artists represented included Clyfford Still, George Post, and Joseph Raphael.
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.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Museum directors -- California -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
REEL D34: Material collected by Stevens, in answer to his requests for information for his projected book, "Autobiography of Modern Artists." Included are letters, notes, photographs, articles, exhibition annoucements, clippings and biographical data. Included among the photos are Alson Clark, Leon Dabo, John Flanagan by Ording, Lillian Genth by Haeseler, H. Siddons Mowbray by Rockwood, and Adolf A. Weinman by De Witt Ward, ca. 1905-1910.
REEL 3472: A letter to Stevens, from Fernand Harvey Lungren, Jan. 9-15, 1911, describing his art background, his work in the Southwest, California, and the desert, and his hope to show Stevens his paintings in Toledo.
Biographical / Historical:
Museum director; Toledo, Ohio. Stevens was the first director of the Toledo Museum of Art.
Provenance:
Donated 1954 & 1976 by the Toledo Museum of Art.
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.
California State University, Long Beach Search this
Extent:
17.1 Linear feet
6.88 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Interviews
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Date:
1960s-2014
Summary:
The papers of writer, art historian, and curator Constance Glenn measure 17.1 linear feet and 6.88 GB and date from the 1960s to 2014. The material documents Glenn's career through correspondence, writings, book project files, exhibition documentation, professional records, research files, printed and digital material, and some photographs. Also well documented is Glenn's tenure as Museum Director and educator at California State University, Long Beach.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of writer, art historian, curator and museum director Constance Glenn measure 17.1 linear feet and 6.88 GB and date from the 1960s to 2014. The papers consist of material related to Glenn's writings and book projects, curated exhibitions, professional associations, research, involvement with California State University, Long Beach, and printed and digital material. Exhibition openings, panel discussions, and interviews are present in the format of sound and video recordings. Also included are correspondence, photographs, and a small series related to Glenn's interest and experience in art collecting, including price lists, inventories, and provenance records.
Series 2: Correspondence, 1972-2014 (Box 1-2, 0.8 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1981-2011 (Box 2-4, 2 linear feet)
Series 4: Book Projects, 1984-1999 (Box 4-6, 2.5 linear feet)
Series 5: Artist Files, 1976-2005 (Box 6-7, 1 linear feet, ER02-ER05; 2.54 GB)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1979-2003 (Box 7-10, 2.1 linear feet, ER06-ER07; 3.53 GB)
Series 7: Professional Files, 1979-2007 (Box 11-12, 1.3 linear feet)
Series 8: California State University, Long Beach, Files, 1975-2001 (Box 12-13, 1.8 linear feet, ER08; 0.051 GB)
Series 9: Art Inventory and Sales Records, circa 1960s-1980s (Box 13-14, 1 linear feet)
Series 10: Printed Material, 1960s-2014 (Box 14-15, 1.8 linear feet)
Series 11: Photographs, circa 1960s-2000s (Box 16-17, 2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Constance Glenn (1933-) is an art historian, writer, and curator in California. Glenn was the founding director of the University Art Museum at California State University, Long Beach. She received her Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Kansas in 1955, and completed her Masters of Arts in Fine Art from California State University as she simultaneously founded the University Art Museum at CSULB in 1973. During her career at CSULB, the University Art Museum grew from a small gallery-sized exhibition space to a nationally-celebrated contemporary art museum. Glenn also founded the Graduate Certificate Program in Museum Studies at CSULB, and taught art history and museum studies courses at the university.
Exhibitions curated by Glenn include Frances Benjamin Johnson: Women of Status and Station (1979); Eric Fischl: Scenes Before the Eye (1986-1987); James Rosenquist: Time Dust/The Complete Graphics (1962-1992); The Great America Pop Art Store: Multiples of the Sixties (1997); and Candida Hofer: Architecture of Absence (2004). In addition, Glenn served as a consulting curator for A Happening Place (2003), curated by Cheryl Harper for the Gershman Y in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
As an art historian and writer, Glenn participated in lectures and panel discussions as well as published essays, articles, and books. Glenn was an editor and feature writer for Antiques & Fine Art, Angeles Magazine, and Architectural Digest; contributed biographical articles to the Dictionary of Art and Encyclopedia Americana; and was involved with professional associations such as the J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts, Art/LA, Association of Art Museum Directors, and the Archives of American Art.
Glenn was married to art dealer Jack Glenn (1933-2014).
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Constance Glenn in 2016.
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.
Constance Glenn papers, 1960s-2014. 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.
California State University, Long Beach files document Constance Glenn's tenure as an educator and museum director at CSULB. Glenn helped found the university's museum, the University Art Museum, in 1973 as she was completing her M.A. in Fine Art. She initiated CSULB's Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, and taught courses on art and museum studies. The papers mostly include administrative records such as correspondence, performance review files, and resumes. Also included are research files and manuscript drafts that were compiled for an M.A. thesis regarding art collector Marcia Weisman. Glenn served as a supervisor for this project.
Collection 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.
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:
Constance Glenn papers, 1960s-2014. 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 papers of painter, printmaker, and sculptor Peter Krasnow (1886-1979) and his wife, writer Rose Krasnow (1885-1984), measures 6.9 linear feet and date from 1914 to 1984. Papers include biographical materials, a sound recording, correspondence, essays, poetry, short stories, notes, transcripts of lectures and radio talks, five diaries of Peter Krasnow, personal business records, exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings, magazines, five sketchbooks, sketches and drawings in multiple media, prints, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter, printmaker, and sculptor Peter Krasnow (1886-1979) and his wife, writer Rose Krasnow (1885-1984), measures 6.9 linear feet and date from 1914 to 1984. Papers include biographical materials, a sound recording, correspondence, essays, poetry, short stories, notes, transcripts of lectures and radio talks, five diaries of Peter Krasnow, personal business records, exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings, magazines, five sketchbooks, sketches and drawings in multiple media, prints, and photographs.
Biographical materials include documentation of Rose Krasnow's service as a member of the Army Air Forces Ground Observer Corps, programs and other materials from various memorial services, a sound recording with commentary on a Peter Krasnow exhibition, and documentation of a project to publish Rose Krasnow's poetry.
Correspondence consists of Peter and Rose Krasnow's personal and professional correspondence as well as a small amount of third party correspondence. Personal correspondence with friends and family involves health, work, daily events, and other life updates. Professional correspondence with art dealers, curators, gallery and museum directors, collectors, and colleges and universities concerns exhibitions, sales, loans, and donations of artwork. Primary correspondents include Leslie Burton and Harriet Blades, Dan Budnik, Grace Clements, Conrad Crocker, Dudley Howe, Lilly Weil Jaffe, Grace L. McCann Morley, Dale and Elaine Owen, Aimée Brown Price, Ernest and Ina Raboff, Irving Stone, and Edward Weston. There are also numerous scattered letters from artists, writers, curators, critics, museums, arts associations, and Jewish organizations.
Writings and notes are by Peter Krasnow, Rose Krasnow, and others. Writings by Peter Krasnow include a draft autobiography, essays, lectures on wood sculpture, typescripts, notes, and writings on art. Writings by Rose Krasnow include essays, plays, poetry, and short stories. Writings by others consist of essays, lectures, notes, plays, poetry, short stories, and typescripts. Other writers include Grace Clements, Fidel Danieli, Robert DeLuce, Alfred S. Drake, and Philip Noer. There are also five handwritten personal diaries by Peter Krasnow.
Personal business records include Rose Krasnow's bank book from 1980, Peter Krasnow's naturalization certificate and passport, an inventory of paintings on index cards, tax applications for the Peter Krasnow Arts Foundation, materials relating to Peter Krasnow's estate and the purchase of his artwork, and various receipts.
Printed materials include exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings, bound books, magazines and journals, a Chicago Society of Artists block print calendar, and two printed posters from Peter Krasnow's exhibit at the Galerie Pierre in 1934.
Artwork is mostly by Peter Krasnow, and includes five sketchbooks, sketches and drawings, watercolors, preliminary studies in oil, and prints.
Photographs include personal photographs, photographs of major sculpture projects in progress, and artwork. Personal photographs are of Peter and Rose, family members, and friends, as well as a few scattered images of landscapes and architecture, possibly travel photographs. There are also photographs of Edward and Flora Weston. There are three photograph albums, one contains images of Krasnow's relief sculptures for the Sinai Temple's Kohn Chapel. Two photograph albums were compliled by Susan Ehrlich for Peter and Rose Krasnow. Also found are photographs of works of art. Some of the photographs in the papers were taken by Dan Budnik.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, circa 1942-1983 (Boxes 1, 6; 7 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1930-1984 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1916-1980 (Boxes 1-2; 1.3 linear feet)
Series 4: Diaries, circa 1955-1968 (Box 2-3; 5 folders)
Series 5: Personal Business Records, circa 1914-1982 (Box 3; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Materials, circa 1922-1981 (Boxes 3-4 and OV 9; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1918-1980 (Boxes 4-6 and OV 7-8, 10; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 8: Sketchbooks, circa 1918-1973 (Box 5; 5 folders)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1914-1981 (Boxes 5-6; 0.6 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Peter Krasnow (1886-1979) was a painter, sculptor, and printmaker who lived and worked primarily in Southern California. His wife, Rose Krasnow (1885-1984), was a prolific writer of poems, short stories, and plays.
Peter Krasnow was born on August 20, 1886 in the Ukraine, Russia to Jewish parents. His father's work as an interior designer inspired Krasnow's interest in art.
In 1907, Krasnow emigrated to the United States, first living in Boston. He moved to Chicago in 1908 to attend the Art Institute of Chicago, where he met his future wife, Rose Bloom. To support himself during his studies, Krasnow worked as a security officer and performed other manual jobs. He graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1916 and married Rose that same year.
The Krasnows moved to New York in 1919. In New York, Krasnow experienced some artistic success, participating in group and solo exhibitions at the Whitney Studio Club. During this time period, Krasnow often painted city scenes using a dark color palette.
In 1922, the Krasnows moved to Los Angeles, California. Krasnow built a studio near Glendale in 1923, on land purchased from photographer and friend Edward Weston. The studio also served as the Krasnows' main residence for the rest of their lives. In 1923 in Los Angeles, Krasnow exhibited with the Group of Independent Artists, which included Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Boris Deutsch, Nick Brigante, Ben Berlin, and other noteworthy artists. During his first years in California, Krasnow mostly created watercolor paintings, including a series of landscapes, using a lighter color palette than his earlier works. In the 1920s, Krasnow also accepted commissions for carved wood reliefs at the Temple Emmanu-El in San Francisco and the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.
Krasnow received a grant in 1931, and he and Rose temporarily relocated to the Dordogne region of France, where they lived until 1934. During this time, Krasnow painted a series of watercolors and paintings of the French landscape. Before returning to the United States, Krasnow exhibited these landscapes at the Galerie Pierre.
After returning to California, Krasnow began creating carved wood sculptures, which he named 'demountables,' often using wood from trees on his property. Krasnow created these sculptures to celebrate the organic shapes inherent in wood.
In 1934, Krasnow returned to painting, this time creating bright, colorful, geometric designs which often incorporated symbolism from his Jewish heritage. Krasnow focused on these paintings through the remaining years of his life. In 1977, Krasnow received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Peter Krasnow died on October 30, 1979 in Los Angeles. Rose Krasnow died five years later, in 1984.
Provenance:
The Peter and Rose Krasnow papers were donated in several increments between 1976 and 1998 by Peter Krasnow, the Estate of Peter Krasnow, and the Peter and Rose Krasnow Foundation.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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.
An interview of Constance Glenn conducted 1995 July 14, by Maudette Ball, for the Archives of American Art, Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project, at California State University, in Long Beach.
Biographical / Historical:
Constance Glenn (1933- ) is a museum director from Long Beach, Calif.
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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Topic:
Museum directors -- California -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for this interview was provided by the Margery and Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Communal Fund of New York.
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
An interview of Kenneth Donahue conducted 1981 March18-April 17, by Ruth Bowman, for the Archives of American Art.
Donahue speaks of his early interest in museums; his education at the University of Louisville; his work at the Museum of Modern Art, the Frick and Ringling Museums, and as assistant director at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; some exhibitions and acquisitions by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Kenneth Donahue (1915-1985) was a museum director and art historian of Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 6 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 11 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 5 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' 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.
