The Dilexi Gallery records measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1959 to 1969. The collection sheds light on the gallery's operations through correspondence with artists, museums, and other galleries; several artist and exhibition files; and some photographs and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The Dilexi Gallery records measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1959 to 1969. The collection sheds light on the gallery's operations through correspondence with artists, museums, and other galleries; several artist and exhibition files; and some photographs and printed material.
Artist files consist of price lists, resumes, loan records, financial documents, and some printed material. Two photographs and one slide of Jess Collin's artwork, a photograph of Leslie Kerr, and one unknown subject are also present. Correspondence files shed light on gallery sales, exhibitions, and loans of artwork; the careers and personal lives of artists, including Jess Collins, Roy De Forest, Tony DeLap, Norman Kantor, and Wilfrid Zogbaum; and the gallery's relations with other museums and galleries, in particular, Walter Hopps and Irving Blum of Ferus Gallery. Exhibition files include insurance documents, press releases, price lists, and artist instructions; items related to the exhibition, Second International Exhibition of Pilot Galeries (1966), include catalog drafts, shipping information, memos, press releases, and some printed ephemera. The bulk of correspondence related to the Second International Exhibition of Pilot Galeries and Dilexi Gallery's G. O. P. Show (1964) can be found in the collection's correspondence files. Also included are three oversized Dilexi exhibition posters for artists Richard Shaw, William Dubin, and Fred Martin; and one advertising poster by Ron Nagle.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the records are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
The Dilexi Gallery was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1958 by ethnomusicologist and musician James Newman. The gallery exhibited a wide range of artists in various media, from abstract expressionists to portraitists. From 1962 to 1963, the gallery operated a satellite location in Los Angeles overseen by Rolf Nelson. From its beginning, Dilexi had a loose association with Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, sharing artists, interests, and exhibitions until Ferus' closing in 1966. Artists frequently shown at Dilexi included Hassel Smith, Charles Ross, Roy De Forest, Tony Delap, Sidney Gordin, Wilfrid Zogbaum, and Deborah Remington. Newman closed his gallery in 1969, at which point he started the Dilexi Foundation to support non-traditional artists' projects, happenings, performances, and films.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview, 1974 May 13, with Dilexi Gallery founder and director James Newman.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1974 by James Newman, the founder and director of the Dilexi Gallery.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- California
Citation:
Dilexi Gallery Records, 1959-1969. 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.
Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Archives Center Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
