Search Results

Artist:

Unidentified Artist  Search this

Sitter:

Charles Sumner, 6 Jan 1811 - 11 Mar 1874  Search this

Medium:

Albumen silver print

Dimensions:

Image/Sheet: 8.7 × 5.5 cm (3 7/16 × 2 3/16")

Mount: 10.2 × 6.2 cm (4 × 2 7/16")

Mat: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 × 11")

Type:

Photograph

Place:

United States\District of Columbia\Washington

Date:

c. 1860

Topic:

Home Furnishings\Furniture\Table  Search this

Artist's Effects  Search this

Equipment\Walking stick\Cane  Search this

Home Furnishings\Drape  Search this

Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie  Search this

Costume\Headgear\Hat\Top hat  Search this

Costume\Dress Accessory\Handkerchief  Search this

Home Furnishings\Furniture\Rug  Search this

Photographic format\Carte-de-visite  Search this

Interior\Studio\Photography  Search this

Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Muttonchops  Search this

Charles Sumner: Male  Search this

Charles Sumner: Law and Crime\Lawyer  Search this

Charles Sumner: Politics and Government\Statesman  Search this

Charles Sumner: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Lecturer  Search this

Charles Sumner: Politics and Government\US Senator\Massachusetts  Search this

Portrait  Search this

Credit Line:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Object number:

NPG.78.210

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm434a6dbe7-ddd7-4cbc-8865-f6afacc55da8

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npg_NPG.78.210

Artist:

Unidentified Artist  Search this

Sitter:

Daniel Webster, 18 Jan 1782 - 24 Oct 1852  Search this

Medium:

Albumen silver print

Dimensions:

Image/Sheet: 20.2 × 15.2 cm (7 15/16 × 6")

Mount: 25.7 × 20.6 cm (10 1/8 × 8 1/8")

Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14")

Type:

Photograph

Date:

c. 1860

Topic:

Costume\Headgear\Hat  Search this

Artist's Effects  Search this

Interior\Studio\Photography  Search this

Daniel Webster: Male  Search this

Daniel Webster: Law and Crime\Lawyer  Search this

Daniel Webster: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Massachusetts  Search this

Daniel Webster: Politics and Government\Cabinet member\Secretary of State  Search this

Daniel Webster: Politics and Government\US Senator\Massachusetts  Search this

Daniel Webster: Politics and Government\US Congressman\New Hampshire  Search this

Daniel Webster: Education and Scholarship\Orator  Search this

Portrait  Search this

Credit Line:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Object number:

NPG.79.229

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm48c9ae660-e2fe-4d7f-99f3-2287d977f3ef

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npg_NPG.79.229

Artist:

Mathew B. Brady, 1823? - 15 Jan 1896  Search this

Publisher:

E. & H. T. Anthony & Company, active 1852 - 1901  Search this

Sitter:

Thomas Francis Meagher, 3 Aug 1823 - 1 Jul 1867  Search this

Medium:

Albumen silver print

Dimensions:

Image/Sheet: 8.5 × 5.6 cm (3 3/8 × 2 3/16")

Mount: 10.2 × 6 cm (4 × 2 3/8")

Type:

Photograph

Place:

United States\New York\Kings\New York

Date:

c. 1861

Topic:

Costume\Headgear\Hat  Search this

Artist's Effects  Search this

Home Furnishings\Drape  Search this

Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache  Search this

Architecture\Column  Search this

Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Bowtie  Search this

Photographic format\Carte-de-visite  Search this

Interior\Studio\Photography  Search this

Costume\Dress Accessory\Belt  Search this

Thomas Francis Meagher: Male  Search this

Thomas Francis Meagher: Law and Crime\Lawyer  Search this

Thomas Francis Meagher: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Civil War army officer\Union army officer  Search this

Thomas Francis Meagher: Politics and Government\Politician  Search this

Portrait  Search this

Credit Line:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mrs. F.B. Wilde

Object number:

NPG.83.284.23

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4ee741a0f-5208-4f59-9799-9bdd080b20b1

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npg_NPG.83.284.23

Artist:

Mathew B. Brady, 1823? - 15 Jan 1896  Search this

Other attribution:

Mathew Brady Studio, active 1844 - 1894  Search this

Studio:

E. & H. T. Anthony & Company, active 1852 - 1901  Search this

Sitter:

Jeremiah Sullivan Black, 10 Jan 1810 - 19 Aug 1883  Search this

Medium:

Albumen silver print

Dimensions:

Image/Sheet: 8.7 × 5.3 cm (3 7/16 × 2 1/16")

Mount: 10.3 × 6.2 cm (4 1/16 × 2 7/16")

Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14")

Type:

Photograph

Place:

United States\District of Columbia\Washington

Date:

c. 1862

Topic:

Interior  Search this

Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair  Search this

Artist's Effects  Search this

Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Bowtie  Search this

Photographic format\Carte-de-visite  Search this

Interior\Studio\Photography  Search this

Architecture\Pedestal  Search this

Jeremiah Sullivan Black: Male  Search this

Jeremiah Sullivan Black: Politics and Government\Cabinet member\US Attorney General  Search this

Jeremiah Sullivan Black: Politics and Government\Cabinet member\Secretary of State  Search this

Jeremiah Sullivan Black: Law and Crime\Judge\Justice\State Supreme Court Justice\Pennsylvania  Search this

Portrait  Search this

Credit Line:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Object number:

S/NPG.79.38

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4f516fc06-0920-4aa9-919e-a8f9b2e3a4ac

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npg_S_NPG.79.38

Author:

Hill, David Octavius 1802-1870  Search this

Stevenson, Sara  Search this

Scottish National Portrait Gallery  Search this

Subject:

Hill, David Octavius 1802-1870  Search this

Adamson, Robert 1821-1848  Search this

Physical description:

220 p. : ill., ports. ; 30 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Place:

Scotland

Date:

1981

Topic:

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Calotype  Search this

Portrait photography  Search this

Portraits  Search this

Call number:

TR647.H64 S73

TR646.G72 E23

TR647.H64S73

TR646.G72E23

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_145934

Author:

Pultz, John  Search this

Scallen, Catherine B  Search this

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute  Search this

Physical description:

vii, 77 p. : ill. ; 20 x 22 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Place:

United States

Date:

1981

Topic:

Cubism--Influence  Search this

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Photography--European influences  Search this

Call number:

TR646.U6 W65

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_146362

Author:

Bannon, Anthony  Search this

Albright-Knox Art Gallery  Search this

Media Study/Buffalo  Search this

Physical description:

127 p. : ill. ; 25 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Place:

New York (State)

Buffalo

Date:

1981

Topic:

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Photographers  Search this

Call number:

TR646.U6 B219

TR646.U6B219

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_146365

Author:

Soth, Alec 1969-  Search this

Engberg, Siri  Search this

Dyer, Geoff  Search this

Soth, Alec 1969- Loneliest man in Missouri  Search this

Walker Art Center  Search this

Subject:

Soth, Alec 1969-  Search this

Physical description:

224 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm. + 1 booklet (1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 20 cm.)

Type:

Exhibitions

Pictorial works

Place:

United States

Date:

2010

C2010

Topic:

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Call number:

TR647 .S678 2010

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_954645

Interviewee:

Lee, Russell, 1903-1986  Search this

Lee, Jean  Search this

Interviewer:

Doud, Richard Keith  Search this

Names:

New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this

United States. Farm Security Administration.Historical Section.Photographs  Search this

Evans, Walker, 1903-1975  Search this

Rothstein, Arthur, 1915-1985  Search this

Vachon, John, 1914-1975  Search this

Vanderbilt, Paul  Search this

Extent:

36 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1964 June 2

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Russell and Jean Lee conducted 1964 June 2, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.

Russell speaks of his background and education; his early interest in photography; meeting Roy Stryker and Ben Shahn; early assignments with FSA covering floods and droughts in the Midwest; overcoming technical problems while traveling around; cameras he experimented with; working in small towns and rural areas; working under Roy Stryker. He recalls John Vachon, Arthur Rothstein, and Walker Evans. Jean speaks of her first association with the FSA and working under Paul Vanderbilt. Both give personal opinions of the value of the work produced by the FSA, and speak of feelings toward the rural people who were the focus of the FSA project.

Biographical / Historical:

Russell Lee (1903-1986) was a photographer with the Farm Security Administration. Jean Russell was an administrator under Paul Vanderbilt with the Farm Security Administration of Austin, Tex.

General:

Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 44 min.

Provenance:

This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Occupation:

Arts administrators -- Texas -- Austin -- Interviews  Search this

Topic:

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Documentary photography  Search this

Photographers -- Texas -- Austin -- 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.

Identifier:

AAA.lee64

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw97f57852d-099f-4a40-878f-c72b56598ea8

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lee64

Creator:

Bowden, Harry, 1907-1965  Search this

Names:

American Abstract Artists  Search this

Bransom, Paul, 1885-  Search this

Campbell, Charles, 1905-  Search this

Cunningham, Imogen, 1883-1976  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this

Hirsch, Hy  Search this

Hobbs, Fredric  Search this

Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966  Search this

Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963  Search this

Johnson, Robert E. (Robert Emory), 1932-  Search this

Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984  Search this

McNeil, George, 1908-1995  Search this

Onslow-Ford, Gordon  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Post, George, 1906-1997  Search this

Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967  Search this

Schevill, James Erwin, 1920-  Search this

Smith, Hassel, 1915-2007  Search this

Steichen, Edward, 1879-1973  Search this

Weston, Brett  Search this

Weston, Edward, 1886-1958  Search this

White, Minor  Search this

Extent:

2 Linear feet ((on 4 microfilm reels))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1922-1972

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence, photographs, writings, sketches, drawings, paintings, and printed material.

REELS 1880-1882: Extensive correspondence with Bowden's wife, Lois; letters from Paul Bransom, Imogen Cunningham, Hi Hirsch, Hans Hofmann, Robert Johnson, George McNeil, George Post, James Schevill, Hassel Smith, Brett Weston, and Edward Weston; notes and writings on photography and art; sketches, drawings, and paintings; business papers and business correspondence from museum and gallery directors including Edward Steichen, Fred Hobbs, Charles Campbell, Minor White, and others; catalogs, clippings, and other printed materials.

REEL 1885: Ca. 500 photographs, mostly by Bowden, including photos of George Abend, Al and Frances Bernstein, Richard and Pat Bowman, M. Carles, Walter Chabrow, Imogen Cunningham, Willem de Kooning, Vic and Jeanne Di Suvero, Loyola and Ed Fourtane, Mrs. Gibson, Grabhorn, Robinson Jeffers, Aristodemos Kaldis, Lee Krasner, Darius Milhaud, Gordon Onslow-Ford, Phylis and Bob Pauey, Jackson Pollock's studio, Otis Oldfield, George Post, Kenneth Price, Ad Reinhardt, Kenneth Rexroth, Serge Trubach, Edward and Brett Weston, Yvor Winters, Wilfred Zogbaum, and Aldous Huxley. Also included are photographs Bowden, Bowden's family, his wife, Lois, nudes, his works, and exhibits.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter and photographer; San Francisco, California. Studied with Hans Hofmann; founding member of the American Abstract Artists and was associated with the Artists' Gallery; photography influenced by Edward Weston.

Provenance:

Lois Bowden, Harry Bowden's widow, donated the greater part of this collection to the Archives of American Art via Charles Campbell of the Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco, Calif. Mr. Campbell subsequently donated 28 additional photographs.

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:

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this

Photographers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this

Topic:

Photography, Artistic -- California -- San Francisco  Search this

Painting, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.bowdharr

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw971f420b7-0757-46d2-a6bd-881c34e604e8

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-bowdharr

Creator:

Berman, Wallace, 1926-1976  Search this

Names:

Bengston, Billy Al  Search this

DeFeo, Jay, 1929-1989  Search this

Di Prima, Diane  Search this

Duncan, Robert Edward, 1919-  Search this

Fonda, Peter, 1940-  Search this

Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997  Search this

Heinecken, Robert, 1931-  Search this

Herms, George, 1935-  Search this

Hirschman, Jack, 1933-  Search this

Hopper, Dennis, 1936-  Search this

Jess, 1923-  Search this

Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this

Jordan, Patricia M., 1937-1989  Search this

Lamantia, Philip, 1927-  Search this

McClure, Michael  Search this

Meltzer, David  Search this

Miller, Henry, 1891-  Search this

Patchen, Kenneth, 1911-1972  Search this

Perkoff, Stuart Z.  Search this

Ruscha, Edward  Search this

Sherman, Donald  Search this

Wieners, John, 1934-  Search this

Extent:

5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Sound recordings

Photographs

Date:

1907-1979

bulk 1955-1979

Summary:

The Wallace Berman papers date from 1907 to 1979 (bulk 1955-1979). The collection measures 5 linear feet and presents a cursory overview of Berman's career as an assemblage artist and poet. The collection contains business correspondence, letters from other artists and writers of the Beat movement, writings by others, scattered artwork by Berman, photographs by Robert F. Heinecken, and sound recordings of poetry readings.

Scope and Content Note:

The Wallace Berman papers, 1907-1979 (bulk 1955-1979), measure 5 linear feet and present a cursory overview of Berman's career as an assemblage artist and poet. The collection is valuable not only for its documentation of the work of Wallace Berman, but for its documentation of the California beat movement of the late 1950s through the early 1970s.

Found are numerous letters, writings, poems, and other published material which portray the thoughts, attitudes, and trends popular in a prominent underground culture which eventually led to radical changes in America and American art. The collection contains business correspondence, letters from other artists and writers of the beat movement, writings by others, scattered artwork by Berman, and photographs by Robert F. Heinecken. In addition, the collection contains files for Berman's mail art publications Semina and S.M.S. Also of note is the large volume of printed material (2.7 feet), much of it in the form of books and other published material. Sound recordings include poets Michael McClure, Kenneth Patchen, David Melzer, and another unidentified writer performing their work.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into nine series which generally reflect material type.

With the exception of the letters in Series 1, each series is arranged chronologically. The original arrangement of the letters has been maintained, with a chronological arrangement of miscellaneous business letters and an alphabetical arrangement of the letters from Berman's more prominent colleagues.

Missing Title

Series 1: Letters, 1957-1979, undated (box 1, 0.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Notes from Interview, 1967 (box 1, 1 folder)

Series 3: Writings by Others, 1972, undated (box 1, 6 folders)

Series 4: Artwork, 1956-1976 (box 1, 4 folders)

Series 5: Semina, 1955-1967 (boxes 1-2, 26 folders)

Series 6: S. M. S., 1968 (box 2, 1 folders)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1907-1976 (boxes 2-5, 2.7 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, 1956-1976 (box 5, 6 folders)

Series 9: Sound Recordings, 1962-1965 (box 5, 6 folders)

Biographical Note:

Wallace Berman was born in 1926 in Staten Island, New York. In the 1930s, his family moved to the Jewish district in Los Angeles. After being expelled from high school for gambling in the early 1940s, Berman immersed himself in the growing West Coast jazz scene. During this period, he briefly attended the Jepson Art School and Chouinard Art School, but departed when he found the training too academic for his needs.

In 1949, while working in a factory finishing antique furniture, he began to make sculptures from unused scraps and reject materials. By the early 1950s, Berman had become a full-time artist and an active figure in the beat community in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Many art historians consider him to be the "father" of the California assemblage movement. Moving between the two cities, Berman devoted himself to his mail art publication Semina, which contained a sampling of beat poetry and images selected by Berman.

In 1963, permanently settled in Topanga Canyon in the Los Angeles area, Berman began work on verifax collages (printed images, often from magazines and newspapers, mounted in collage fashion onto a flat surface, sometimes with solid bright areas of acrylic paint). He continued creating these works, as well as rock assemblages, until his death in 1976.

Provenance:

The Wallace Berman papers were donated by Tosh Berman, Wallace Berman's son, in 1992.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy. Use of 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.

Occupation:

Assemblage artists  Search this

Topic:

Works of art  Search this

Poets  Search this

Collage  Search this

Art -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area  Search this

Assemblage (Art)  Search this

Beat generation  Search this

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Sound recordings

Photographs

Citation:

Wallace Berman papers, 1907-1979 (bulk 1955-1979). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.bermwall

See more items in:

Wallace Berman papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw973f521c3-2c7a-47d5-8b9a-c53bf766ee89

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-bermwall

Creator:

Robert Schoelkopf Gallery  Search this

Names:

Zabriskie Gallery  Search this

Andrejevic, Milet, 1925-1989  Search this

Aponovich, James, 1948-  Search this

Bailey, William, 1930-2020  Search this

Bell, Leland  Search this

Brassaï, 1899-  Search this

Cameron, Julia Margaret Pattle, 1815-1879  Search this

Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 1908-  Search this

Cornell, Joseph  Search this

Dawson, Manierre, 1887-1969  Search this

Driggs, Elsie, 1898-1992  Search this

Erlebacher, Martha Mayer  Search this

Evans, Walker, 1903-1975  Search this

Fiske, Gertrude, 1878-1961  Search this

Freund, Gisèle  Search this

Horton, William S., 1865-1936  Search this

Ito, Miyoko, 1918-1983  Search this

Lachaise, Gaston, 1882-1935  Search this

Laderman, Gabriel, 1929-  Search this

Ligare, David  Search this

Matthiasdottir, Louisa  Search this

Matulka, Jan, 1890-1972  Search this

Myers, Ethel  Search this

Nadelman, Elie, 1882-1946  Search this

Schoelkopf, Robert J., 1927-1991  Search this

Stella, Joseph, 1877-1946  Search this

Storrs, John Henry Bradley, 1885-1956  Search this

Wiesenfeld, Paul  Search this

Extent:

29 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gallery records

Illustrated letters

Photographs

Date:

1851-1991

bulk 1962-1991

Summary:

The collection comprises 29 linear feet of records that document the day-to-day administration of the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery from 1962 to 1991, with additional items predating the founding of the gallery from 1851 to 1961. The collection records artist and client relations, exhibitions, and daily business transactions through artist files, correspondence, printed matter, and photographic material.

Scope and Content Note:

The records of the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery comprise 29 linear feet of material from 1851 to 1991, with some items predating the founding of the gallery. The bulk of the records date from 1962 to 1991, providing researchers with fairly comprehensive coverage of the gallery's development and operations from its inception in 1962 until its closure in 1991. Items dated prior to 1962 relate principally to the period of transition during which Robert Schoelkopf ended his partnership with the Zabriskie Gallery and established his own business. There are also some items relating to artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

The collection consists primarily of artist files documenting relations with contemporary artists, representation of deceased artists, and other works of art handled by the gallery. It also chronicles the gallery's exhibition schedule and the day-to-day administration of the business. The types of material that can be found here include correspondence, exhibition inventories, price lists, accounting and consignment records, shipping and insurance records, printed material, and photographs.

The collection is a valuable source of information on twentieth-century American art history, focusing primarily on early-twentieth-century modernists as well as an important group of American realist painters and sculptors from the latter half of the century. The collection illuminates, in detail, the developing market for these schools and, in the case of the latter group, provides personal insights from artists on the realist perspective.

The records also document the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery's significant contribution to the resurgence of interest in fine art photography during the 1960s and 1970s as reflected in an increase in the value of works by important American photographers such as Walker Evans.

Much of the outgoing correspondence from the gallery consists of copies of letters written by Robert Schoelkopf, with additional business being handled by assistant staff and, from the mid-1970s, Schoelkopf's wife, Laura Jane Schoelkopf. The records offer insight into the personalities of the Schoelkopfs and how their congenial and candid management style influenced their relationships with the contemporary artists they represented.

Arrangement:

Originally the collection was organized as one large file arranged alphabetically by folder title, with titles ranging from names of artists to general subject headings such as "Correspondence." During processing it became clear that the gallery delineated operations into three main functions: artist relations, client-dealer relations, and exhibitions. Consequently the collection is arranged as three main series based on these areas of concern. A small group of miscellaneous photographs of artists constitutes an additional series at the end of the collection.

Originally paper records throughout the collection were generally arranged chronologically, although this order was not strictly adhered to. Frequently, correspondence and memoranda were attached to related records going back several years. To preserve the relationship between such documents, records stapled together in this way have been left together. They are arranged in reverse chronological order and filed in the folder corresponding to the primary date (i.e., the date of the first and most recent paper in the group). Researchers should be aware that date ranges provided on folders refer to the primary dates of documents contained therein and that some items in the folder may predate that range. Otherwise, the general chronological scheme has been retained throughout the collection, with undated material placed at the beginning of the appropriate file.

Printed material is arranged in chronological order, with undated material at the beginning of the folder, and may include press releases, exhibition announcements, exhibition catalogs, posters, clippings from newspapers, magazines, and journals, and other publicity material. Large amounts of printed material are broken down into several discrete folder units.

The most consistent labeling system for photographic material apparent throughout the collection was title of work of art. The majority of images are not dated with a printing date or the date that the work of art was produced, and although many of them have a processing number, these are by no means consistent and there are no master lists that can be used to interpret them. Consequently, images are arranged primarily by media type and then alphabetically by title. Untitled images are placed at the beginning of a media group; "the" in a title is ignored. Exceptions to this method are addressed in the appropriate series descriptions.

Files labeled "Photographs of Works of Art" will typically include any or all of the following: black-and-white copy prints, black-and-white transparencies, color transparencies, slide transparencies, Polaroid prints, color snapshots, contact sheets, and separation sheets. Often the same image will be duplicated in several different formats. Any notes on photographic material found in or on the original folder in which the material was filed have been preserved with the material or transcribed onto a sheet of acid-free paper that either encloses or is placed directly before the item to which the information applies.

The designation "General" indicates that a file may contain any or all of the types of material outlined above.

Missing Title

Series 1: Artist Files, 1851-1991, undated (Boxes 1-23; 23 linear ft.)

Series 2: General Business Files, 1960-1991, undated (Boxes 24-28; 4.74 linear ft.)

Series 3: Group Exhibition Files, 1960-1988, undated (Boxes 28-29; 1 linear ft.)

Series 4: Photographs of Artists, undated (Box 29; 0.25 linear ft.)

Historical Note:

Robert Schoelkopf, Jr., was born in Queens, New York, in 1927. He graduated from Yale College in 1951 with a bachelor of arts degree and then taught briefly at his alma mater while conducting graduate research in art history. Schoelkopf began his career in commercial art in 1957 as an independent dealer of American painting and sculpture and became a member of the Art Dealers Association of America in 1958. In 1959 he formed a partnership with Virginia Zabriskie, of the Zabriskie Gallery in New York, which lasted until 1962. The gallery exhibited late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century American painting, together with contemporary painting of a somewhat conservative style.

In 1962 Schoelkopf signed a three-year lease for the fourth floor of a building at 825 Madison Avenue in New York, where he opened the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery. From the outset, Schoelkopf aimed to specialize in American painting of the nineteenth and twentieth century and sculpture of all schools. He predicted a burgeoning market for the Hudson River School in particular, believing that American painting was increasingly perceived as being worthy of serious attention. In a letter dated January 3, 1963, Schoelkopf congratulated John Spencer for his decision to collect nineteenth-century American paintings for the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, assuring him that "progressive chauvanism [ sic] will operate to elevate prices in American painting. Every year more colleges teach Art History, and soon they shall have reached the level of sophistication and development where they will be obliged (for face) to offer tuition in specifically American art - hitherto neglected of academicians.... I and many other dealers have plans for exhibitions of nineteenth-century American painting, especially the Hudson River School."

Schoelkopf's instincts regarding the Hudson River School were undoubtedly correct, and consequently nineteenth-century American painters formed a permanent mainstay of his inventory. He is perhaps remembered more, however, for his dedication to reviving interest in lesser-known American painters from the turn-of-the-century who were impressionist or modernist in style. Schoelkopf developed something of a reputation for unearthing forgotten talent that, while sometimes mediocre or inconsistent, was occasionally exceptional and certainly worthy of note. He was committed to reinstalling Joseph Stella in the pantheon of major American artists, representing Stella's estate from 1963 to 1971 and holding regular exhibitions of the artist's work from 1962 on. In 1969 the gallery held the first New York exhibition of the paintings of Manierre Dawson, who was subsequently acclaimed by the critics for his important and innovative contributions to modernism. In 1970 Schoelkopf began showing the work of Jan Matulka, an artist whose work had been neglected since the 1930s, and his enthusiastic representation of the Matulka estate paved the way for a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1979.

Schoelkopf's interest in turn-of-the-century artists also extended to sculptors such as John Flannagan, Ethel Myers, Elie Nadelman, and John Henry Bradley Storrs, and he directed considerable energy to furthering Gaston Lachaise's reputation as an artist of major stature. When Lachaise died at the peak of his career in 1935, his estate was left to his wife, Isabel, and in 1957 to Isabel's son, Edward. When Edward died shortly thereafter, John B. Pierce, Jr., a nephew of Isabel Lachaise, was appointed trustee of the estate and formed the Lachaise Foundation. In 1962 Pierce entered an agreement with Robert Schoelkopf and Felix Landau to represent Lachaise's sculpture on the East and West Coasts, respectively. In this capacity Schoelkopf helped to launch a major retrospective of the artist's work at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1964 and a traveling exhibition that began circulating in 1967.

The gallery's other major commitment was to painting and sculpture by contemporary American realists, many of whom worked in a figurative style and explored elements of allegory and classical mythology in their work, presenting landscapes, still lifes, and portraits from a realist perspective. The bulk of the gallery's exhibitions were, in fact, of work by contemporary artists, including metaphysical still-life painter William Bailey, colorist Leland Bell, figurative painter Martha Mayer Erlebacher, landscape and narrative painter Gabriel Laderman, and Icelandic artist Louisa Matthiasdottir. William Bailey was one of the gallery's most commercially successful artists, and his first one-person exhibition in New York was held there in 1968. Demand for Bailey's paintings often far exceeded his output, and by the late 1970s Schoelkopf invariably sold out his exhibitions and had compiled a lengthy waiting list for his work.

In its early years the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery contributed considerably to the development of interest in fine art photography that fostered an increasingly lucrative market for photographic prints during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1965 Schoelkopf began incorporating photography into the gallery's exhibition schedule and, in the spring of 1974, opened a gallery dedicated to photography on the second floor at 825 Madison Avenue. Between 1965 and 1979 Schoelkopf's was the only serious New York gallery dealing in painting and sculpture that also regularly exhibited photography as fine art. His interests lay primarily in antiquarian photography and the work of nineteenth-century and twentieth-century masters including Eugéne Atget, Mathew Brady, James Robertson, and Carleton Watkins. Schoelkopf organized shows examining specific photographic processes, the photogravure and the cyanotype, and presented surveys of genres such as portrait and landscape photography. In 1967 he held the first exhibition in many years of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron, an important figure in the history of Victorian photography, timing it to coincide with a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that focused on Cameron as one of four Victorian photographers.

Schoelkopf also handled the work of several influential contemporaries, most notably Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, and Gisèle Freund. The gallery held Freund's first exhibition in the United States in 1975 and was, for a time, the only place in New York where one could see and purchase prints by Cartier-Bresson. Schoelkopf began exhibiting Evans's work in 1966 and regularly thereafter, including a 1971 exhibition that coincided with a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.

In the fall of 1976 the second-floor gallery space was turned over to Marcuse (Cusie) Pfeifer, then the gallery's director, who planned to use it to show the work of young photographers in a gallery under her own name. Schoelkopf continued to hold several photography exhibitions a year in the fourth-floor gallery but decided to concentrate primarily on nineteenth-century masters.

In March 1971 a fire in the building at Madison Avenue resulted in substantial water damage to the gallery space. Although very little of the inventory was destroyed, the incident forced Schoelkopf to close until September. This temporary loss of revenue compounded with a nationwide recession cut into Schoelkopf's financial resources and left him questioning his commission policy and his level of commitment to contemporary work in all media. A letter to artist Adolph Rosenblatt dated May 3, 1971, records how Schoelkopf had become increasingly disenchanted with "all contemporary work" and would begin taking 40 percent commission on sales, instead of 33.3 percent. "Beside the matter of enthusiasm is the matter of economics," Schoelkopf remarked, "and the last year and a half have been really dreadful for the art business."

This difficult period was followed immediately by more prosperous times. January 1973 proved to be the gallery's most successful month to date, encouraging Schoelkopf to purchase a house in Chappaqua, New York, later that year. In November 1974 Schoelkopf wrote to Anthony D'Offay that business "is as slow as it has ever been, but what sales we make are big ones" and revealed that auctions had, at that point, become his primary avenue for trade.

Around 1975 Schoelkopf's wife of eleven years, Laura Jane Schoelkopf, began working in the gallery. Although seemingly dubious of the work at first, she became a considerable asset to the business and reputedly complemented her husband's relationship with the gallery's contemporary artists through her warmth and hospitality, qualities often noted by artists who corresponded regularly with the couple.

The financial instability that characterized the 1970s undoubtedly influenced Schoelkopf's decision to cease exhibiting photography in 1979. By 1978 however, his investment in early-twentieth-century art appeared to be paying off. Jan Matulka, Joseph Stella, and John Henry Bradley Storrs had all been represented in exhibitions at major museums, and sales of their work had increased considerably. Gaston Lachaise's reputation continued to grow, and the traveling exhibition still circulated, garnering far more interest than had originally been anticipated.

Although contemporary artists continued to take up the largest portion of the gallery's changing exhibitions, Schoelkopf's interest in contemporary work was growing more conservative, tending toward a narrower focus on the narrative and allegorical. By 1979 he no longer exhibited contemporary sculpture, admitting to a lack of enthusiasm for the work of any of the current figurative sculptors and a dislike of all contemporary abstract work. In a letter to Lillian Delevoryas, dated March 17, 1982, he confessed, "With age has come a hardening of the aesthetic arteries perhaps. What we have been showing is realism, but getting tighter all the time."

In April 1984 the gallery was moved to 50 West Fifty-seventh Street, and, during the years that followed, the Schoelkopfs pared down the number of contemporary artists they represented, handling only those to whom they felt most strongly committed while continuing to specialize in nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century American painting and sculpture. As the gallery approached its thirtieth anniversary, Schoelkopf's achievements were considerable. He had operated a successful New York gallery for almost three decades, rejuvenated the reputations of several important American artists, and was respected by artists and clients alike for the integrity, intelligence, and humor with which he conducted his business affairs. In 1987 he had been appointed to the board of trustees of the Williamstown Regional Art Conservation Laboratory. By this time he was also a member of the advisory board to the National Academy of Design, and in 1988 he became a co-trustee of the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

In March 1990, Robert Schoelkopf was diagnosed with leukemia and underwent a regimen of cancer treatment that resulted in a brief remission by the summer. Schoelkopf returned to work temporarily, but by 1991 his condition had worsened and he died in April of that year. Having known for some time that her husband's prognosis was poor, Laura Jane Schoelkopf had apparently decided that she would not continue the gallery in the event of his death. With the help of the youngest of their two sons, Andrew, she settled final accounts and assisted the gallery's contemporary artists in finding representation elsewhere before closing the business in August 1991.

Provenance:

Twenty-seven linear feet of records were donated to the Archives of American Art by Laura Jane Schoelkopf, Robert Schoelkopf's widow, and the Coe Kerr Gallery in 1991 and 1992. An additional gift of 3.4 linear feet was donated by Laura Jane Schoelkopf in 1996. The collection was reduced slightly during processing.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Works of art  Search this

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Realism  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Function:

Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State)

Genre/Form:

Gallery records

Illustrated letters

Photographs

Citation:

Robert Schoelkopf Gallery records, 1851-1991, bulk 1962-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.robeschg

See more items in:

Robert Schoelkopf Gallery records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9773faf46-baaa-4d12-8e4f-cc58adc2787a

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-robeschg

Editor:

Njami, Simon 1962-  Search this

O'Toole, Sean 1968-  Search this

Issuing body:

Goethe-Institut South Africa  Search this

Physical description:

333 pages illustrations (some color), portraits 28 x 22 cm

Type:

Interviews

Entretiens

Interview

Photobooks

History

Livres de photographies

Place:

Africa

Afrique

Date:

2019

21st century

21e siècle

Topic:

Photography--History  Search this

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Photographers  Search this

Photography  Search this

Photographie artistique  Search this

Photographie  Search this

Photographie--Histoire  Search this

Photographes  Search this

art photography  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1146017

Photographer:

Brandt, Nick 1966-  Search this

Writer of supplementary textual content:

Brandt, Nick 1966-  Search this

Owuor, Yvonne Adhiambo  Search this

Everett, Percival  Search this

Editor:

Barth, Nadine 1964-  Search this

Host institution:

Fahey/Klein Gallery  Search this

Atlas Gallery (London, England)  Search this

Custot Gallery (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)  Search this

Oslo Negativ, Det Gamle Biblioteket (Oslo, Norwary)  Search this

Source Photographica (Melbourne, Australia)  Search this

Edwynn Houk Gallery  Search this

Polka Galerie (Paris, France)  Search this

Physical description:

166 pages illustrations (some color), portraits 33 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Pictorial works

Portraits

Ouvrages illustrés

Expositions

Photography of animals

Photography, Artistic

Exhibition catalogs

Illustrated works

Place:

Africa, East

Afrique orientale anglophone

Date:

2021

Topic:

Wildlife photography  Search this

Animals  Search this

Portrait photography  Search this

East Africans  Search this

Human-animal relationships  Search this

Environmental degradation  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1159500

Author:

Muluneh, Aïda 1974-  Search this

Boutmans, Eddy 1948-  Search this

Njami, Simon 1962-  Search this

Physical description:

141 pages illustrations (some color) 25 cm

Type:

Books

Date:

2009

Topic:

Documentary photography  Search this

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Photographie documentaire  Search this

Photographie artistique  Search this

documentary photography  Search this

art photography  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1117956

Author:

Zack, Tanya  Search this

Photographer:

Lewis, Mark (Photographer),)  Search this

Writer of foreword:

Prabhala, Achal  Search this

Physical description:

xvi, 344 pages colour illustrations, map 23 cm

Type:

Pictorial works

Place:

South Africa

Johannesburg

Johannesburg (South Africa)

Date:

2022

Topic:

Informal sector (Economics)  Search this

Entrepreneurship  Search this

Photography, Artistic  Search this

PHOTOGRAPHY / Photoessays & Documentaries  Search this

HISTORY / Africa / South / Republic of South Africa  Search this

Social conditions  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1158818

Author:

Amarillo Art Center  Search this

Huntington Art Gallery (University of Texas at Austin)  Search this

Physical description:

[28] p. : ill., maps ; 30 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Date:

1981

C1981

Topic:

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Architectural photography  Search this

Travel photography  Search this

Voyages and travels--Pictorial works  Search this

Call number:

TR646.U6 A39

TR646.U6A39

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_142114

Author:

Coppola, Regina  Search this

University of Massachusetts at Amherst University Gallery  Search this

Subject:

Axelrod, Jane  Search this

Physical description:

31 p. : ill. ; 22 x 28 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Date:

1987

C1987

Topic:

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Infrared photography  Search this

Call number:

TR646.U62A443 1987X

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_361882

Author:

Loti, Pierre 1850-1923  Search this

Gaudichon, Bruno  Search this

Quella-Villéger, Alain 1955-  Search this

Musée Sainte-Croix  Search this

Société des antiquaires de l'Ouest (Poitiers, France)  Search this

Subject:

Loti, Pierre 1850-1923  Search this

Physical description:

99 p. : ill. ; 20 x 22 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Date:

1985

1985]

Topic:

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Travel photography  Search this

Call number:

TR647.L8188 G3 1985

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_550054

Author:

Wylie, Charles  Search this

Murphy, Erin K  Search this

Dallas Museum of Art  Search this

Snite Museum of Art  Search this

Subject:

Doherty, Willie  Search this

Physical description:

96 p. : chiefly col. ill. ; 23 x 26 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Place:

Northern Ireland

Date:

2009

C2009

Topic:

Photography, Artistic  Search this

Landscape photography  Search this

Video art  Search this

Installations (Art)  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_921812