The collection documents the history of the Cozy Inn and Restaurant in Thurmont, Maryland.
Scope and Contents:
Collection documents the management, day-to-day operations, activities, and history of the Cozy Inn business. Materials include registration records; accounting papers and other business records; correspondence, including some fan mail; internal employee newsletters; the restaurant's menus for ordinary days, and for special occasions and holidays; take-out and catering menus; recipes; placemats; handbooks for employees; internal memos and instructions about hiring procedures, employee comportment and protocol; and advertising and promotional materials. It is evident that the Cozy Inn's owners were aware of its historical significance and they saved advertising brochures from various time periods, newspaper clippings and magazine advertisements, certificates, honors and awards, photograph albums, a scrapbook, and voluminous amounts of clippings. The photographs contained in the collection are extremely rich, documenting both the physical changes in the hotel and restaurant over the years, entertainment activities, and several celebrity guests who stayed there. The collection is arranged into five series: Series 1, Administrative Files, 1885-2014, undated; Series 2, Menus, 1943-2015, undated; Series 3, Printed Advertisements and Ephemera, 1932-2014, undated; Series 4, Magazine Articles and Newspaper Clippings, 1935-2013, undated; and Series 5, Photographic Materials, 1920-2009, undated.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1, Administrative Files, 1885-2014, undated
Series 2, Menus, 1943-2015, undated
Series 3, Printed Advertisements and Ephemera, 1932-2014, undated
Series 4, Magazine Articles and Newspaper Clippings, 1935-2013, undated
Series 5, Photographic Materials, 1920-2009, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The Cozy Inn was an eighty five year old business when it closed in 2014. Located on a major highway near Gettysburg and the Catoctin Mountains, Wilbur Freeze started what was then called Camp Cozy in 1929, with just three cabins, later adding a gas station to attract tourists, and in the 1930s, he added in a small lunch counter, and eventually a full service restaurant. It is an excellent example of a 20th century business that started small and grew large, increasing the services offered over time. The Inn grew both in size and popularity, and the Freezes added entertainment attractions in order to increase business, including festivals and special offerings for various holidays. Some of the attractions were eccentric, such as hot air balloons and live animal shows.
In 1942, the presidential retreat Camp David (then known as Shangri-La) was established just six miles away. This led to the Cozy Inn becoming the headquarters for Secret Service agents, reporters and photographers during events that occurred at Camp David. Sometimes foreign dignitaries stayed there. State and local politicians such as members of the Senate, governors of states, cabinet members, and Presidents' family members, also were guests.
The Freezes were fond of boasting that they were the oldest family-run restaurant in the state. They also capitalized on their proximity to Camp David, using the fact in their advertising and naming the Inn's rooms after presidents. In 2005, they started a small Museum on the history of the Inn, its famous guests, and its connection to Camp David. They also sold souvenirs that related to that connection. They regularly hosted weddings and other events and were famous for their lavish holiday decorations. At Christmas they set up gingerbread houses, multiple Christmas trees, a miniature railroad village, etc. The Cozy Inn's restaurant cultivated a large number of repeat, loyal customers with its family atmosphere and comfort food. Some of its dishes became locally famous, like its clam chowder.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Gerald G. Freeze, 2015
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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.
The records of Seattle's avant-garde Linda Farris Gallery measure 13.4 linear feet and date from 1969-1995. The bulk of the records consist of artists' and exhibition files. Also found are gallery business correspondence, administrative files, event files, reference files, records of sales, scattered legal files, the personal papers of gallery owner Linda Farris, and printed materials.
Scope and Contents:
The records of Seattle's avant-garde Linda Farris Gallery measure 13.4 linear feet and date from 1969-1995. The bulk of the records consist of artists' and exhibition files. Also found are gallery business correspondence, administrative files, event files, reference files, records of sales, scattered legal files, the personal papers of gallery owner Linda Farris, and printed materials.
Business correspondence is with galleries, dealers, publishers, museums, and other businesses. Administrative files are varied and include advertising and promotion materials, exhibition schedules, mailing lists, guest books, a scrapbook, and gallery history.
Artists' files are found for many contemporary American artists that interested Linda Farris or were represented by the gallery. The contents of each file vary but many include photographs and slides, writings, correspondence, and printed materials. Files for Lynda Barry, Grisha Brusking, Charles Clough, Ronnie Landfield, Charles Luce, Michael Lucerno, Sherry Markovitz, Louise Nevelson, Barbara Noah, and Beverly Pepper are particularly rich. Exhibition files are for Linda Farris Gallery exhibitions and include printed materials, correspondence, loan and consignment agreements, and photographs.
Event files cover anniversary celebrations, lectures, panel discussions, and receptions. There are 17 sound cassette recordings of "Art Now" lectures and "Focus" panel discussions. Scattered reference files contain collected materials on subjects of interest to the gallery. There are scattered financial, sales, and legal files. Sales records cover 1970-1979.
Linda Farris' personal papers contain printed materials about her and the gallery and other materials concerning her professional and curatorial work outside of the gallery. There is also a transcript of an oral history with Farris and a news interview.
Printed materials include published books and magazines, clippings and exhibition catalogs and announcements.
Photographs are scattered throughout adminstrative files, exhibition files, event files, and Linda Farris' personal papers.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1975-1991, undated (Box 1; .7 linear feet)
Series 2: Administrative files, 1970-1995, undated (Box 1-2, 14; 1 linear feet)
Series 3: Artists and Exhibition files, 1969-1995, undated (Box 2-9, 15; 6.6 linear feet)
Series 4: Events files, 1971-1990, undated (Box 9, 14; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 5: Reference files, 1969-1994, undated (Box 9-10; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 6: Financial, Sales and Legal files, 1970-1995 (Box 10; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 7: Linda Farris Papers, 1972-1995 (Box 10-11; .9 linear feet)
Series 8: Printed Materials, 1970-1995 (Box 11-14; 2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Linda Farris Gallery was Seattle's leading venue for contemporary art during its twenty-five years of operation.
Linda Farris opened Gallery East in Bellevue in 1970, and a year later moved to Pioneer Square in Seattle, changing the name to Linda Farris Gallery in 1973. The gallery continued to present contemporary art there until closing in December 1995. Art dealer Linda Farris began representing a group of promising artists, all graduates of the University of Washington. Greg Kucera of the Greg Kucera Gallery noted in an article for the Seattle Weekly, "Their work could be loosely seen as a movement, complete with aesthetic interrelationships, convenient marriages, an unintelligible manifesto in the form of Dennis Evans' quirky pronouncements…" From the same article he states, "Her avant-garde gallery changed forever the nature of being an art dealer in Seattle." It was among the three or four most influential galleries in the Pacific Northwest.
The gallery held exhibitions of many nationally known contemporary artists, including Sam Francis, Louise Nevelson, and Robert Rauschenberg, as well as Northwest artists Jeffrey Bishop, Dennis Evans, Sherry Markovitz, Nancy Mee, Norie Sato, and Patti Warashina. The latter group started with the gallery and remained loyal at the time of its closing in 1995.
Art dealer, collector and free-lance curator Linda B. Farris (1944-2005), a native of San Francisco and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (1966), was an active participant in and style setter for the Seattle art world for the twenty-five years she was in business. As a member of the art community she actively supported the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington, Pilchuck Glass School, and Seattle Art Museum's Contemporary Art Council, and served on the boards of directors of Henry Art Gallery and Factory Visual Arts. Farris curated "Eight Seattle Artists" in 1981 for the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art and "Self Portraits" in 1983 for the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. She also led the movement to keep Henry Moore's "Vertebrae" from leaving Seattle, and instituted a series of talks, panel discussions, performances, and tours in her gallery, and in and around Seattle.
This note draws heavily on the Archives of American Art's West Coast Regional Collector Paul Karlstrom's collection description written upon acquisition of the papers.
Related Materials:
An oral history interview with Linda Farris conducted in 1975 by Sally Swenson, is located in the University of Washington University Libraries Digital Collections.
Provenance:
The Linda Farris Gallery records were donated to the Archives of American Art by owner Linda Farris in 1995 at the time she closed the gallery.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. 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.
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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:
Fred Uhl Ball papers, 1936-2002. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Biographical materials include address books, award certificates, curriculum vitae, calendars, identification and membership cards, memorabilia, genealogical research, and Cogslea estate guest/visitor books. The guest books include the dates, signatures, and salutations of visitors to Oakley's studios, including the shared studio space of Violet Oakley, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and Jessie Willcox Smith during the 1910s-1920s. In addition to monthly calendars, there are Line-a-Day calendars for 1924, 1929, 1935-1939, 1941 and daybook calendars for 1937, 1941, 1946.
Arrangement:
The majority of materials are arranged by document type. The latter part of the series groups calendars, studio guest books, and other documents relating to Oakley's extended family.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' research center in Washington, D.C.
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:
Violet Oakley papers, 1941-1981. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
This series holds exhibition catalogs, reviews, clippings, notes, letters of congratulations, and other items related to Polly Thayer's solo exhibitions as well as group shows. Noteworthy exhibitions include "Polly Thayer Starr: Fauna and Some Flora" (1996), which includes a visitor's book and a notebook, and "A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston 1870-1940" (2001).
Arrangement:
The exhibitions are arranged chronologically.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Polly Thayer (Starr) papers, 1846-2008, bulk 1921-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Polly Thayer (Starr) papers, 1846-2008, bulk 1921-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust
The George Grey Barnard papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
George Grey Barnard papers, circa 1860-1969, bulk 1880-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Found in this series are documents that record Barnard's activities as a collector and dealer of Medieval art and artifacts, including collecting notes; inventories; invoices from galleries and dealers; and printed material related to the artist's collections of medieval art (the Cloisters and the Abbaye/Monastery), including signs for both. Other items of note include hand drawn floor plans, one of which appears to be a rough sketch of the layout of the original Cloister, while the other more finished floor plan may be a plan for a medieval cloister (perhaps one that Barnard had purchased in Europe to reconstruct in the United States). Finally there are files related to two projects with the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., the first being the Bishop Garden to which Barnard donated an ancient cross. Barnard may have been the dealer for those who donated other medieval artifacts and architectural elements that decorated the garden. There is a second proposal for a failed project to relocate Barnard's second collection of medieval art and architectural elements to the National Cathedral initiated after the artist's death in 1937 by his son Monroe Barnard.
Barnard's "collecting notes" are found in one folder of loose notes and 13 notebooks of various sizes. These notebooks contain names of dealers, places to visit, as well as descriptions, sketches, and prices of the medieval and renaissance art and artifacts which he collected both for himself and to sell to others. Other notebooks act as shipping inventories. In most of the shipping inventory notebooks, objects are listed by case number and are identified with brief descriptions. The 1926-1928 notebook also identifies the sender, which in most cases appears to be the French galleries/dealers from whom Barnard acquired the objects. There are inventories of Barnard's collections, including a notebook that contains detailed handwritten descriptions of objects in the original Cloisters, as well as a typescript titled Descriptions of Art Objects in the Abbaye, which serves as a narrative guide to the collection. There is also a visitor's book from the Monastery (Abbaye).
Arrangement note:
Files are grouped by material type and then arranged in chronological order.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
The George Grey Barnard papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
George Grey Barnard papers, circa 1860-1969, bulk 1880-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
The George Grey Barnard papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
George Grey Barnard papers, circa 1860-1969, bulk 1880-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Series consists of papers relating to various art and personal business matters and to certain financial matters. Some material is organized loosely into gallery and exhibition files consisting of lists, loan agreement forms, consignment receipts, shipping paperwork, and related material pertaining to galleries that represented Dehner at various points in time (including the Willard Gallery and A. M. Sachs Gallery), organizers of exhibitions (such as American Federation of Art and Associated American Artists), or particular exhibitions (including ones at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in 1962, Editions Alecto, Ltd. in 1964, and the Parsons-Dreyfuss Gallery in 1979). Other material is organized loosely into project files, consisting of printed material and notes pertaining to the Committee for the American Participation in the Triennale and to Dehner's commission for the Great Southwest Industrial Park in Atlanta, Georgia (a project which never ended up happening).
Material relating to more general art business consists of numerous handwritten and typed lists (of works, art sales, prices, exhibitions, art books donated to Skidmore College Library, etc.); visitor books for unidentified exhibitions in 1957, 1959, 1960, and 1963; shipping and delivery receipts; and handwritten documents authenticating certain David Smith works. Material relating to personal business and financial matters includes property and school tax records for Bolton's Landing; a receipt for payment by David Smith, presumably made to Dehner as part of their separation agreement; and an agreement by Dehner to sell certain sculptures by David Smith that she owned to Samuel Dorsky.
Business and financial papers are arranged in rough chronological order. Related material can be found amongst correspondence.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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:
Dorothy Dehner papers, 1920-1987 (bulk 1951-1987). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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:
Dorothy Dehner papers, 1920-1987 (bulk 1951-1987). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Records and correspondence reflecting the day-to-day operations of the gallery and business procedures. Included are leases and construction documents for the various premises occupied by the gallery such as floor plans, maintenance, transfers, renovations and restoration. Other documents include employment records and resumes, an incorporation memo, insurance documentation and appraisals, security systems, a visitors book, and orders for framing artworks.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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:
Tibor de Nagy Gallery records, 1941-1993. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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:
Tibor de Nagy Gallery records, 1941-1993. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
The records of Holly Solomon Gallery, a New York City gallery specializing in contemporary American art, measure 200.6 linear feet and 0.002 GB and date from circa 1948-2003. The gallery's activities are documented through dealer files, subject files, artists' files, inventories, sales and loan records, administrative and financial records, printed and digital materials, photographic materials of artwork and exhibitions, and sound, video, and film recordings. Also found are records of the alternative space, 98 Greene Street Loft, as well as Holly Solomon's personal papers.
Scope and Content Note:
The records of Holly Solomon Gallery, a New York City gallery specializing in contemporary American art, measure 200.6 linear feet and 0.002 GB and date from circa 1948-2003. The gallery's activities are documented through alphabetical files, dealer files, subject files, artists' files, inventories, sales and loan records, administrative and financial records, printed and digital materials, photographic materials of artwork and exhibitions, and sound, video, and film recordings. Also found are records of the alternative space, 98 Greene Street Loft, as well as Holly Solomon's personal papers.
Alphabetical files span from 1991-2000 and contain correspondence with clients, galleries, and museums, as well as related documentation regarding loans, inquiries, sales, exhibitions, and travel plans. These general files were maintained separately from the gallery's subject and artists' files but may overlap in subject matter.
The dealer files contain gallery correspondence to and from art dealers regarding inquiries on works and artists. These files are sparse and particular to the early 1980s. Subject files are mainly comprised of correspondence but also include printed materials, slides, and other related documents. Subjects include dealers, organizations, museums, clients, art fairs, travel, and projects that the gallery or Holly Solomon worked with.
Artists' files consist of correspondence, printed material, slides, photographs, and scattered inventory records, regarding the sale of artwork, as well as shipping records and insurance claims. Also included is correspondence between the gallery and the artist. There is substantial documentation on artists Kim MacConnel, Nam June Paik, Izhar Patkin, William Wegman, and Joe Zucker. Inventory records include inventory lists created by Holly Solomon Gallery as well as an art inventory card file. Inventory cards note the title, date, and size of the work as well as the dates and movements of the work, and may include a photograph. Some documents are also found in digital format in series 14, Born-digital records.
Administrative records contain general office materials such as phone messages books, staff notebooks, exhibition guest books, and business diaries, exhibition documentation, notes, and mail from prospective artists. Records primarily cover the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to business diaries, Holly Solomon also created "Dear Diary" binders which contain a collection of contact information and notes on clients and events. Some of these diaries were maintained for specific events. Some documents are also found in digital format in series 14, Born-digital records.
Sales and loan records consist of in and out sheets, consignments, and sales invoices. Also in this series are sales and loan logs and files that track the same information but from different access points, including sales by artist. Financial records document the financial activities of the galleries, apart from sales, and include shipping records, tax and insurance information, and accounting statements and reports. Also in this series are sales and loan logs and files that track the same information but from different access points, including sales by artist. Some documents are also found in digital format in series 14, Born-digital records.
Printed material consists of artist clippings, gallery exhibition catalogs, press releases, posters, and miscellaneous books, magazines, and clippings regarding the gallery. Included are clippings pertaining to the Pattern and Design art movement. Photographic material includes photographs and slides documenting artists' work and gallery exhibitions. Sound, video, and film recordings include artworks created by gallery artists, performances recorded live at the gallery, and the publicity Holly Solomon, the gallery and its artists received. The work of video artist Nam June Paik is highly represented through some of his video artworks, as well as television interviews with him. Prominent artists William Wegman and Laurie Anderson are also represented through original artworks and publicity. Publicity videos include Holly Solomon herself, being interviewed for television and documentaries.
The records of 98 Greene Street Loft include a large quantity of sound, video, and film recordings of poetry readings, live music, art, and theatrical performances that took place from 1971-1973, as well as scattered paper records such as play scripts, photographs, a guest book from 1971, printed material, and posters.
Holly Solomon's personal papers consist of biographical documents, correspondence, memorabilia, printed material, motion picture film, and photographs collected by Holly Solomon throughout her life. Included are school records, letters, notes and cards from friends and artists she represented at her gallery, photographs, invitations, event fliers, and other mementos. Printed material, mostly magazines and newspapers document her accomplishments.
Sound and video recordings include recordings collected by the Holly Solomon Gallery documenting the gallery itself and the artists it represented. Recordings include artworks created by gallery artists, performances recorded live at the gallery, and the publicity Holly Solomon, the gallery and its artists received. The recordings range from before the gallery's opening in 1975 until after its closure in 2002, with most recordings coming out of the 80s and 90s. The work of video artist Nam June Paik is highly represented within the series through some of his actual video artworks, as well as through numerous documentaries and television interviews with him. Prominent artists William Wegman and Laurie Anderson are both represented through original artworks and publicity.
Born-digital records consist of documents recovered from floppy discs included in the collection.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 14 series:
Series 1: Alphabetical Files, 1991-2001 (Boxes 1-9; 8.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Dealer Files, 1980-1990 (Box 9-10; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Subject Files, circa 1975-2002 (Boxes 11-25; 15.0 linear feet)
Series 4: Artists' Files, circa 1975-2002 (Boxes 26-47; 22.0 linear feet)
Series 5: Inventory Records, 1975-2001 (Boxes 48-66, 157-162; 25.0 linear feet)
Series 6: Administrative Records, circa 1980-2003 (Boxes 67-81, OV 202; 15.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Sales and Loan Records, circa 1975-2001 (Boxes 82-87; 6.0 linear feet)
Series 8: Financial and Legal Records, circa 1969-2001 (Boxes 88-114, 191, 192; 27.7 linear feet)
Series 9: Printed Material, circa 1968-2002 (Boxes 115-135, 193-194, OV 203-222, RD 223; 23.5 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographic Material, circa 1969-2000 (Boxes 136-156, 194-196, 201, OV 224; 22.2 linear feet)
Series 11: 98 Greene Street Loft, circa 1969-1973 (Boxes 166-169, 194, FC 197-200, FC 228-236, OV 225-227; 5.6 linear feet)
Series 12: Holly Solomon Personal Papers, circa 1948-2002 (Boxes 170-182, 194, FC 237-241; 13.6 linear feet)
Series 13: Sound and Video Recordings, circa 1966-2001 (Boxes 183-190; 7.6 linear feet)
Series 14: Born-Digital Records, (ER01-ER04; 0.002 GB)
The collection has been minimally arranged into series based on the found arrangement upon receipt, assumed to be the original arrangement of the gallery. Folders have been arranged within series and general folder contents verified, but in most cases, item level arrangement has not been completed.
Historical Note:
The Holly Solomon Gallery was established in 1975 by Holly Solomon and her husband, Horace Solomon, at 392 West Broadway in New York City's SoHo area. The gallery focused on contemporary art.
The gallery represented artists such as William Wegman, Nam June Paik, Laurie Anderson, and Robert Kushner. In 1983, the gallery moved uptown to 724 Fifth Ave at 57th, but then moved again in the early 1990s back downtown to SoHo at 172 Mercer Street. After the gallery closed Holly Solomon continued to deal art from the Chelsea Hotel until her death in 2002.
Holly Solomon was born Hollis Dworken in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1934. She started college at Vassar College, and later transferred to Sarah Lawrence College where she graduated in 1955. In 1953 she married Horace Solomon. Holly Solomon was an aspiring stage actress and was enrolled at Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio shortly after moving to Manhattan. Although she was not a successful actress she and her husband began collecting art and were fans of the Pop Art movement. In 1969 the couple opened an alternative work and performance space for artists named 98 Greene Street Loft. The space provided a venue for poets, actors, and artists to work and perform. Solomon wrote and produced a five part documentary from performances at 98 Greene Street, and in 1972 it was shown at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. 98 Greene Street Loft closed in 1973. Holly Solomon was also a proponent of the Pattern and Decoration, or "P and D", art movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Many of the artists featured in her gallery were involved in the P and D movement including Robert Kushner, Kim MacConnel, Ned Smyth, and Brad Davis.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2010 by Thomas and John Solomon, Holly Solomon's sons.
Restrictions:
This collection is access restricted. Use requires written permission. Financial and Legal Records (Series 8) are closed to researchers until they can be processed to a more detailed level. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The papers of art historian, dealer, critic, and curator Katharine Kuh measure 12 linear feet and date from 1875-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930-1994. The collection documents Kuh's career as a pioneer modernist art historian and as the first woman curator of European Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues; personal business records; artwork by various artists; a travel journal; writings by Kuh and others; scrapbooks; printed material; photographs of Kuh and others; and audio recordings of Kuh's lectures and of Daniel Catton Rich reading poetry.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of art historian, dealer, critic, and curator Katharine Kuh measure 12 linear feet and date from 1875-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930-1994. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues; personal business records; artwork by various artists; a travel journal; writings by Kuh and others; scrapbooks; printed material; photographs of Kuh and others; and audio recordings of Kuh's lectures and of Daniel Catton Rich reading poetry.
Biographical material consists of copies of Kuh's birth certificate, resumés, passports, award certificates, honorary diplomas, and address books listing information about several prominent artists and colleagues.
Four linear feet of correspondence offers excellent documentation of Kuh's interest in art history, her travels, her career at the Art Institute of Chicago, her work as a corporate art advisor, and as an author. There are letters from her mother Olga Woolf, friends, and colleagues. There is extensive correspondence with various staff members of the Art Institute of Chicago, the First National Bank of Chicago, and The Saturday Review. Also of interest are letters from artists and collectors, several of whom became life-long friends including Walter and Louise Arensberg, Cosmo Campoli, Serge Chermayeff, Richard Cox, Worden Day, Claire Falkenstein, Fred Friendly, Leon Golub, Joseph Goto, David Hare, Denise Brown Hare, Jean Hélion, Ray Johnson, Gyorgy and Juliet Kepes, Len Lye, Wallace Putnam, Kurt Seligmann, Shelby Shackelford, Hedda Sterne, and Clyfford Still. Many letters are illustrated with original artwork in various media.
There are also scattered letters from various artists and other prominent individuals including Josef Albers, George Biddle, Marcel Breuer, Joseph Cornell, Stuart Davis, Edwin Dickinson, Joseph Hirshhorn, Daniel Catton Rich, and Dorothea Tanning.
Personal business records include a list of artwork, Olga Woolf's will, inventories of Kuh's personal art collection, miscellaneous contracts and deeds of gift, receipts for the sale of artwork, files concerning business-related travel, and miscellaneous receipts.
Artwork in the collection represents a wide range of artist friends and media, such as drawings, watercolors, paintings, collages, and prints. Included are works by various artists including lithographs by David Hare and a watercolor set, Technics and Creativity, designed and autographed by Jasper Johns for the Museum of Modern Art, 1970.
Notes and writings include annotated engagement calendars, travel journals for Germany, a guest book for the Kuh Memorial gathering, and many writings and notes by Kuh for lectures and articles concerning art history topics. Of interest are minutes/notes from meetings for art festivals, conferences, and the "Conversations with Artists Program (1961). Also found are writings by others about Kuh and other art history topics.
Six scrapbooks contain clippings that document the height of Kuh's career as a gallery director and museum curator. Scrapbook 6 contains clippings about Fernand Léger, the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953.
Additional printed material includes clippings about Kuh and her interests, a comprehensive collection of clippings of Kuh's articles for The Saturday Review, exhibition announcements and catalogs, calendars of events, programs, brochures, books including Poems by Kuh as a child, and reproductions of artwork. Of particular interest are the early and exhibition catalogs from the Katharine Kuh Gallery, and rare catalogs for artists including Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Jean Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Stanley William Hayter, Hans Hofmann, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Franz Kline, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Pablo Picasso.
Photographs provide important documentation of the life and career of Katharine Kuh and are of Kuh, family members, friends, colleagues, events, residences, and artwork. Several of the photographs of Kuh were taken by Will Barnet and Marcel Breuer and there is a notable pair of photo booth portraits of Kuh and a young Ansel Adams. There are also group photographs showing Angelica Archipenko with Kuh; designer Klaus Grabe; painters José Chavez Morado and Pablo O'Higgins in San Miguel, Mexico; Kuh at the Venice Biennale with friends and colleagues including Peggy Guggenheim, Frances Perkins, Daniel Catton Rich, and Harry Winston; and "The Pre-Depressionists" including Lorser Feitelson, Robert Inverarity, Helen Lundeberg, Arthur Millier, Myron Chester Nutting, and Muriel Tyler Nutting.
Photographs of exhibition installations and openings include views of the Katharine Kuh Gallery; Fernand Léger, Man Ray, and László Moholy-Nagy at the Art Institute of Chicago; and Philip Guston, Jimmy Ernst, Seymour H. Knox, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and Mark Rothko at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. There are also photographs depicting three men posing as Léger's "Three Musicians" and the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the Art Institute of Chicago. There is a photograph by Peter Pollack of an elk skull used as a model by Georgia O'Keeffe.
Additional photographs of friends and colleagues include Ivan Albright, Alfred Barr, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Willem De Kooning, Edwin Dickinson, Marcel Duchamp, Claire Falkenstein, Alberto Giacometti, poet Robert Graves with Len Lye, Philip Johnson, Gyorgy and Juliet Kepes, Carlos Mérida, José Orozco, Hasan Ozbekhan, Pablo Picasso, Carl Sandberg, Ben Shahn, Otto Spaeth, Hedda Sterne, Adlai Stevenson, Clyfford Still, Mark Tobey, and composer Victor Young.
Photographs of artwork include totem poles in Alaska; work by various artists including Claire Falkenstein, Paul Klee, and Hedda Sterne; and work donated to the Guggenheim Museum.
Four audio recordings on cassette are of Katharine Kuh's lectures, including one about assembling corporate collections, and of Daniel Catton Rich reading his own poetry. There is also a recording of the Second Annual Dialogue between Broadcasters and Museum Educators.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series. Undated correspondence, artwork, and photographs of individual artists are arranged alphabetically. Otherwise, each series is arranged chronologically.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1945-1992 (Box 1; 16 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1908-1994 (Boxes 1-5, 13-14, OV 15; 4.0 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1941-1989 (Box 5; 19 folders)
Series 4: Artwork, 1931-1986 (Boxes 5, 13-14, OVs 15-23; 1.7 linear feet)
Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1914-1994 (Boxes 5-7; 1.7 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1935-1953 (Box 7; 8 folders)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1916-1992 (Boxes 7-10, 13, OV 22; 3.0 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1875-1993 (Boxes 10-13; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 9: Audio Recordings, 1977 (Box 12; 1 folder)
Biographical Note:
Katharine Kuh (1904-1994) worked primarily in the Chicago area as an modern art historian, dealer, critic, curator, writer, and consultant. She operated the Katharine Kuh Gallery from 1935-1943 and was the first woman curator of European and Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Katharine Kuh (née Woolf) was born on July 15, 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of the three daughters of Olga Weiner and Morris Woolf, a silk importer. In 1909, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois. While traveling with her family in Europe in 1914, Katharine contracted polio, causing her to spend the next decade in a body brace. During this time of restricted movement, she developed an interest in art history through the collecting of old master prints.
After her recovery, Katharine Woolf attended Vassar College where one of her professors, Alfred Barr, encouraged her to study modern art. She graduated from Vassar in 1925 and received a master's degree in art history from the University of Chicago in 1929. Later that year, she moved to New York to pursue a Ph.D. in Renaissance and medieval art at New York University.
In 1930, Katharine Woolf returned to Chicago and married businessman George Kuh and began to teach art history courses in the suburbs of Chicago. After divorcing George Kuh in 1935, she opened the Katharine Kuh Gallery, the first gallery devoted to avant-garde art in Chicago. It was also the first gallery to exhibit photography and typographical design as art forms, and featured the work of Ansel Adams, Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Wassily Kandinsky, Fernand Léger, and Man Ray, among others. From 1938 to1940, Kuh was the Visiting Professor of Art at the University School of Fine Arts, San Miguel, Mexico.
After the Katharine Kuh Gallery closed in 1943, Kuh was hired by museum director Daniel Catton Rich to fill a position in public relations at the Art Institute of Chicago. During the following years, Kuh edited the museum's Quarterly publication, took charge of the museum's Gallery of Interpretive Art, and began a long term relationship with Rich. In 1946, Kuh was sent on a special mission for the U. S. Office of Indian Affairs to make a detailed study of Native American totemic carvings in Alaska.
In 1949, Kuh persuaded Mr. and Mrs. Walter Arensberg of Los Angeles to exhibit their collection of modern art, creating the first post-war exhibition of modern art in Chicago. She published her first book Art Has Many Faces in 1951, and in the following year, she began writing art criticism for The Saturday Review. In 1954, Kuh was appointed the first woman curator of European Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute. She assembled the American contribution for the Venice Biennale in 1956 and during these years, Kuh helped acquire many of the works of modern art currently in the museum's collection.
A year following Daniel Catton Rich's 1958 resignation from the Art Institute of Chicago, Kuh also resigned and pursued a career in New York as an art collection advisor, most notably for the First National Bank of Chicago. In 1959, Kuh was made art critic for The Saturday Review, and she continued to publish books, including The Artist's Voice in 1962, Break-Up: The Core of Modern Art in 1965, and The Open Eye: In Pursuit of Art in 1971.
Katharine Kuh died on January 10, 1994 in New York City.
Provenance:
The Katharine Kuh papers were donated in several installments from 1971 to 1989 by Katharine Kuh and in 1994 by her estate. Artwork was donated in 1995 by Kuh's former employer, the Art Institute of Chicago.
Restrictions:
Authorization to quote, publish or reproduce requires written permission until 2019. Contact the Archives of American Art Reference Services department for additional 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.
The records of the Long Point Gallery measure 7.1 linear feet and date from 1959 to 1999, bulk 1976 to 1998. The collection documents the history of the gallery through administrative records, guest books, correspondence, exhibition files, artists' files, financial records, printed material, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Long Point Gallery measure 7.1 linear feet and date from 1959 to 1999, bulk 1976 to 1998. The collection documents the history of the gallery through administrative records, guest books, correspondence, exhibition files, artists' files, financial records, printed material, and photographic materials.
Administrative records consist of legal documents, contracts, mailing lists, price lists, membership files, correspondence, meeting minutes, gallery history, projects files, and one videocassette of the Long Point Gallery dinner filmed by Renate Ponsold Motherwell in 1993. Guest books document the signatures and salutations of attendees at gallery exhibitions. Correspondence is with artists, organizations, and gallery customers. Exhibition files contain correspondence, press releases, articles, and exhibition announcements. Artists' files consist of news clippings, exhibition records, price lists, and correspondence. Financial records contain bills, receipts, deposits, financial reports, gallery sales, and records for the transport of artwork. Printed material includes news clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, press releases, obituaries, publications, souvenirs, and posters signed by the artists. Photographic materials include slides and printed photographs of artwork, artists, exhibitions, parties, and candid moments. Overall the collection documents the activities of artist members, including Varujan Boghosian, Fritz Bultman, Carmen Cicero, Sideo Fromboluti, Edward Giobbi, Budd Hopkins, Rick Klauber, Leo Manso, Robert Motherwell, Paul Resika, Judith Rothschild, Sidney Simon, Nora Speyer, Tony Vevers, Robert Beauchamp, Paul Bowen, Gilbert Franklin, Dimitri Hadzi, Renate Ponsold, and Michael Mazur.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 8 series.
Series 1: Administrative Records, 1976-1999 (1.5 linear ft.; Box 1-2)
Series 2: Guest Books, 1986-1998 (7 folders; Box 2)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1979-1998 (0.8 linear ft.; Box 2-3)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1959-1998, bulk 1972-1998 (0.6 linear ft.; Box 3-4)
Series 5: Artists' Files, 1963-1997 (0.8 linear ft.; Box 4)
Series 6: Financial Records, 1976-1998 (0.8 linear ft.; Box 5)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1972-1998 (0.8 linear ft.; Box 5-6, OV 8)
Series 8: Photographic Materials, 1972-1998 (1.5 linear ft.; Box 6-7)
Biographical / Historical:
Long Point Gallery (est. 1977, closed 1998) was a cooperative art gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The gallery operated in the American Legion building during the summer seasons as an artist cooperative. Members contributed financially, as well as artistically, enabling the promotion and preparation of exhibitions throughout the summer. The founding members were Varujan Boghosian, Fritz Bultman, Carmen Cicero, Sideo Fromboluti, Edward Giobbi, Budd Hopkins, Rick Klauber, Leo Manso, Robert Motherwell, Paul Resika, Judith Rothschild, Sidney Simon, Nora Speyer, and Tony Vevers. Later in the gallery's history Robert Beauchamp, Paul Bowen, Gilbert Franklin, Dimitri Hadzi, Renate Ponsold, and Michael Mazur also became members. Some notable friends of the gallery were Nassos Daphnis, Jack Tworkov, and Myron Stout. The gallery's first director was Rick Librizzi.
The Long Point Gallery gained a reputation for showing progressive, expressionist and abstract paintings and sculptures that veered away from the traditional tourist scenes of Cape Cod. During the 1980's, Provincetown was becoming a popular tourist destination, which caused real estate values to climb. Fortunately, members of the cooperative were able to afford the rising costs and remain in Provincetown allowing the gallery to become a fixture within the community. The gallery often held dual exhibits featuring two artists who presented their artwork individually. Other exhibitions include "Homeric Themes" (1987), "Myth & Ritual" (1989), "From the Studio Wall" (1990), "A Long Point Portfolio" (1991), "Keyworks" (1991), "Those Lovely Golden Thighs" (1991), and "A Story to Tell" (1996). Members also represented the Long Point Gallery in exhibitions at the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC), the Cape Museum of Fine Arts (CMFA), the Archives of American Art, and exhibitions in Europe. For over 20 years, the Long Point Gallery was the site of art exhibitions, poetry readings, musical performances, and parties until its closing in 1998.
In 1998, the American Legion building was sold at a price that was too high for the gallery to continue in the same location. The advanced ages and deaths of a few members prior to the sale of the building contributed to the members' decision to dissolve the gallery, which was under the direction of Rosalind Pace at the time of closing.
Provenance:
Donated in 1999 and 2013 by the Long Point Gallery via Rosalind Pace, former Director.
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.
Function:
Artist-run galleries -- Massachusetts
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Visitors' books
Video recordings
Citation:
Long Point Gallery records, 1959-1999, bulk 1976-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The records of the Bowery Gallery, a non-profit, artist-run, cooperative gallery, measure 3.1 linear feet and 0.684 GB and date from 1969-2008. Business records, letters, exhibition files, guest registers, printed and digital material and photographs document the gallery's activities and artists.
Scope and Content Note:
The records of the Bowery Gallery, a non-profit, artist-run cooperative gallery in New York City, measure 3.1 linear feet and and 0.684 GB date from 1969-2008. Business records, letters, exhibition files, guest registers, printed material and photographs document the gallery's activities and artists.
An additional 0.4 linear feet of Bowery Gallery records dated circa 2002-2008 were accessioned in 2008 and remain unprocessed except for a digital copy of an audiovisual recording of the gallery's inaugural exhibition (October 31, 1969), which is included in Series 3. This accretion contains minutes and other business records, exhibition schedules, exhibition announcements, and Bowery Artists Tribute, Volume 1 (2008).
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series:
Series 1: Business Records, 1969-2002 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 4: Guest Registers, 1976-2001 (Boxes 1-2; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1969-2001 (Boxes 2-4; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1997-1999 (Box 3; 0.1 linear feet)
Historical Note:
In 1969, eighteen artists founded the Bowery Gallery as a non-profit, artist-run cooperative gallery in New York City. The gallery's original mission was to promote contemporary art and artists during a time when abstract art and pop art dominated. In 1991, Bowery Gallery began sponsoring an annual national competition and juried show for artists working in two-dimensional media.
Provenance:
Donated 2003 and 2008 by the Bowery Gallery via Barbara Grossman, and Lynda Caspe, founding members of the Bowery Gallery, and Marylou Schuck. Grossman maintained the Gallery records.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. 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.
Function:
Artist-run galleries -- New York (State)
Genre/Form:
Video recordings
Visitors' books
Photographs
Citation:
Bowery Gallery records, 1969-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
55 Mercer Artists, Inc. records, 1939-2007, bulk 1970-2007, measure 5.1 linear feet. The records, which are incomplete with sizeable gaps, consist of administrative records, exhibition files, artists' files, financial records, scrapbooks, guest books, and printed material that document one of the most successful and long lived artist run cooperative galleries in SoHo. The only item pre-dating 55 Mercer Artists, Inc. is a 1939 newspaper clipping in the artists' files.
Scope and Contents:
55 Mercer Artists, Inc. records, 1939-2007, bulk 1970-2007, measure 5.1 linear feet. The records, which are incomplete with sizeable gaps, consist of administrative records, exhibition files, artists' files, financial records, scrapbooks, guest books, and printed material that document one of the most successful and long lived artist run cooperative galleries in SoHo. The only item pre-dating 55 Mercer Artists, Inc. is a 1939 newspaper clipping in the artists' files.
Administrative records include correspondence, records of board committees, exhibition schedules, membership and mailing lists, and minutes. Exhibition files consist of slides and photographs of installations and individual works of art, small amounts of correspondence, notes, and lists of works shown.
Artists' files consist of various combinations of correspondence, resumes, printed material, photographs and slides of art work of members and guest artists. Many artists are represented by just an item or two; files for Corliss Cavaliere, Peter Charlap, Joan Gardner, Irene Gennaro, Jon Gregg, Ethelyn Honig, and Lisa Ingram are more substantial.
The majority of financial records concern membership dues, rent and exhibition fees received. Also included are sporadic banking records, paid bills, treasurers' reports, insurance information and tax records. Eight scrapbooks include exhibition announcements, publicity, reviews, miscellaneous printed material, photographs, and slides.
Guest books consist of 22 volumes and loose pages that record gallery visitors, many of whom offered comments about the shows. Exhibition titles and dates are noted on the page for the day of each opening reception.
Among the printed materials are exhibition announcements, catalogs, and publicity produced by 55 Mercer Artists, Inc.; copies of every exhibition announcement, catalog, and press release issued have not survived. Also found are articles about or mentioning 55 Mercer Artists, Inc., exhibition reviews, advertisements and event listings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Series 1: Administrative Records, circa 1970-2007 (Box 1; 0.4 linear ft.)
Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1971-2007 (Box 1; 0.4 linear ft.)
Series 3: Artists' Files, 1939, 1973-2006 (Boxes 1-2; 0.6 linear ft.)
Series 4: Financial Records, 1973-2006 (Boxes 2-3; 0.8 linear ft.)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1977-1987 (Box 3; 0.3 linear ft.)
Series 6: Guest Books, 1972-2007 (Boxes 3-5; 1.7 linear ft.)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1973-2007 (Box 5, OV 6; 0.9 linear ft.)
Biographical / Historical:
55 Mercer Artists, Inc., an artist-run alternative to commercial galleries, was founded as 55 Mercer Gallery - also known as 55 Mercer Street Gallery and 55 Mercer - in December 1969. The earliest of a second wave of co-operative galleries in New York City, it was one of the most successful and the longest-lived.
Many of the founders and early members were active in the Art Workers' Coalition, a group formed to address artists' rights issues and promote the overhaul of the museum and gallery system to remove profit motives from art. Tom Parker, an artist friend acting on behalf of group members who aspired to open a co-operative gallery, rented the third floor of 55 Mercer Street. He reserved a room to use as a studio and sublet the remainder to the co-op. Two large galleries of nearly equal size were separated by a small, open office area, a layout that led to a tradition of tandem solo exhibitions or one large group show. The open, spare and worn space especially appealed to sculptors and attracted those who worked in large scale with recycled materials.
The inaugural exhibition in early 1970 was a group show of the ten founding members: Alice Adams, Martin Bressler, Don Cole, Gloria Greenburg, Stan Kaplan, Christy Park, Stephen Rosenthal, L. Shreve Stevenson, and Merrill Wagner; during the first year, each member also had a solo exhibition. With haphazard arrangements and no publicity or gallery guide listings, reviews were not forthcoming. Nevertheless, by the end of its first year the gallery had established a reputation as a space "of artists, by artists, and for artists" and over the years presented some of the best exhibitions in SoHo. Membership was fluid. No particular style or philosophy was ever dominant, and members found unity in their focus on quality, antipathy to commercial galleries and insistence on freedom for member and guest artists alike.
By the start of its second season, the gallery had the attention of critics and reviews were appearing regularly in art periodicals. When the co-operative gallery Ours closed at the end of 1970, Janet Fish, Diane Karol, Paul Tschinkel, and Frank Lincoln Viner were invited to join. With larger membership came the need for a definite exhibition schedule and greater organization. Over the next few years, meetings began to occur more frequently. By the mid 1970s the gallery began to receive funding from sources such as the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Officially incorporated as 55 Mercer Street Artists, Inc. in 1977, the organizations by-laws specified: "The corporation is a not-for-profit corporation whose purpose is to provide a facility for artists who seek to introduce their work to the public. The corporation maintains an exhibition space which it makes available for this purpose, both for its artists members, and for visiting artists. In addition, the corporation presents performances, discussions, workshops and other art-related events for the general public." A board of directors composed of artist members managed the affairs of the corporation assisted by a Membership Committee, Grants Committee, and Selection Committee that chose and scheduled exhibitions,
Trustees began managing the building after the owner of the 55 Mercer Street died, and 55 Mercer Artists, Inc. received an eviction notice in early 2007. Legal representation was obtained and a loophole discovered, but declining membership and the poor physical condition of the facilities eventually prompted a decision to relocate. Some members chose to join other galleries. A core group of about a dozen 55 Mercer artists found a suitable space in Long Island City; after reorganizing as an artist-initiated not-for-profit gallery, they reopened in 2008 as M55 Mercer Art.
Provenance:
Donated in 2007 by 55 Mercer Street Artists, Inc. via Ethelyn Honig.
Restrictions:
Use of original material 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.
Function:
Artist-run galleries -- New York (State)
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Visitors' books
Citation:
55 Mercer Artists, Inc. records, 1939-2007, bulk 1970-2007. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
