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Catalog Data

Creator:
Catherine Viviano Gallery  Search this
Names:
American Academy of Arts and Letters  Search this
American Federation of Arts  Search this
Art Club of Chicago  Search this
Art Institute of Chicago  Search this
Barnes Foundation  Search this
Brooklyn Museum  Search this
Carnegie Institute  Search this
City Art Museum of St. Louis  Search this
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center  Search this
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts  Search this
Des Moines Art Center  Search this
Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this
Fogg Art Museum  Search this
Harvard University  Search this
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden  Search this
Los Angeles County Museum  Search this
Mary Washington College  Search this
Massachusetts Institute of Technology  Search this
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston  Search this
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston  Search this
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
Philadelphia Art Alliance  Search this
Santa Barbara Museum of Art  Search this
University of Virginia  Search this
Wadsworth Atheneum  Search this
Walker Art Center  Search this
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts  Search this
World House Galleries  Search this
Yale University. Art & Architecture Library  Search this
Afro, 1912-1976  Search this
Ashton, Dore  Search this
Baker, Richard Brown  Search this
Bareiss, Walter  Search this
Barker, Walter  Search this
Birolli, Renato, 1905?-1959  Search this
Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911-1979  Search this
Broderson, Robert M, 1920-  Search this
Callery, Mary, 1903-1977  Search this
Chaet, Bernard  Search this
Cox, Jan, 1919-1980  Search this
Dorazio, Piero, 1927-  Search this
Dorazio, Virginia Dortch  Search this
Dubuffet, Jean, 1901-  Search this
Dudensing, F. Valentine, 1892-1967  Search this
Eisendrath, William N., 1903-  Search this
Ernst, Dallas  Search this
Faison, S. Lane (Samson Lane), 1907-2006  Search this
Fleischman, Barbara  Search this
Fleischman, Lawrence A. (Lawrence Arthur), 1925-1997  Search this
Genauer, Emily, 1910-2002  Search this
Giacometti, Alberto, 1901-1966  Search this
Glasco, Joseph, 1925-1996  Search this
Goodhue, Bertram Grosvenor, 1869-1924  Search this
Graves, Morris, 1910-2001  Search this
Guerrero, José, 1914-  Search this
Göpel, Barbara  Search this
Göpel, Erhard  Search this
Hirschhorn, Joseph  Search this
Lerner, Abe, 1908-  Search this
Ludgin, Earle, 1898-1981  Search this
Mabe, Manabu  Search this
Manrique, César, 1920-  Search this
McCray, Porter A., 1908-2000  Search this
Meltzer, Doris, 1908-1977  Search this
Menil, Dominique de  Search this
Miller, Stephen Robeson  Search this
Minguzzi, Luciano, 1911-  Search this
Miró, Joan, 1893-  Search this
Morlotti, Ennio, 1910-1992  Search this
Moyens, H. Marc  Search this
Myers, John Bernard  Search this
Ossorio, Alfonso, 1916-1990  Search this
Perlin, Bernard, 1918-  Search this
Price, Vincent, 1911-1993  Search this
Pulitzer, Joseph, 1913-1993  Search this
Rathbone, Perry Townsend, 1911-2000  Search this
Ribicoff, Belle Krasne, 1924-  Search this
Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979  Search this
Rosenthal, Bernard M.  Search this
Sage, Kay  Search this
Seeger, Stanley J.  Search this
Shapiro, Meyer  Search this
Stout, George L. (George Leslie)  Search this
Tanning, Dorothea, 1910-2012  Search this
Valentin, Curt, 1902-1954  Search this
Van Veen, Stuyvesant  Search this
Viviano, Catherine, 1899-1992  Search this
Wakabayashi, Kazuo  Search this
Yunkers, Adja, 1900-1983  Search this
Extent:
11.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Notes
Date:
1930-1990
bulk 1949-1978
Summary:
The records of the Catherine Viviano Gallery measure 11.6 linear feet and date from 1930-1990, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1949-1978. Established in New York City in 1949, the gallery specialized in contemporary painting and sculpture primarily by American and European artists. The collection consists of artists' files; correspondence with artists, collectors, dealers, museum directors, curators, and publishers; business records; printed material; and photographs of artwork and artists. Also included are records relating to Catherine Viviano's activities as a private dealer and consultant after she closed the gallery in 1970.
Scope and Contents note:
The records of the Catherine Viviano Gallery measure 11.6 linear feet and date from 1930-1990, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1949-1978. Established in New York City in 1949, the gallery specialized in contemporary painting and sculpture primarily by American and European artists. The collection consists of artists' files; correspondence with artists, collectors, dealers, museum directors, curators, and publishers; business records; printed material; and photographs of artwork and artists. Also included are records relating to Catherine Viviano's activities as a private dealer and consultant after she closed the gallery in 1970. Artists' files include biographical material; artists' statements; correspondence; sales and expense reports; lists and notes; guest lists; writings by others; receipts, invoices, and statements; printed material, including press releases, exhibition announcements, brochures, catalogues, clippings; and photographs of artwork and artists. Included are extensive files on Afro Basaldella, Renato Birolli, Robert Broderson, Anselmo Franesconi, Joseph Glasco, Manabu Mabe, César Manrique, Luciano Minguzzi, Ennio Morlotti, Bernard Perlin, Daniel Rice, and Bernard Rosenthal. There are also files on Jan Cox, Kay Sage, and Kazuo Wakabayashi. Correspondence comprises the largest series in the collection and consists of general correspondence; correspondence with museums, galleries, and art-related institutions in the United States; and correspondence with museums, galleries, and art-related institutions abroad. Letters focus on routine business matters, e.g., appraisals and sales, acquisitions, and organizing exhibitions at the Catherine Viviano Gallery and other venues. General correspondence includes letters between Catherine Viviano and artists and their family members. Among the correspondents are: Mary Callery, Bernard Chaet, Piero and Virginia Dorazio, Jean Dubuffet, Dallas Ernst, Karl Fortress, Alberto Giacometti, Henry Sage Goodwin, Morris Graves, José Guerrero, Earle Ludgin, Joan Miro, Alfonso Ossorio, Dorothea Tanning, Stuyvesant Van Veen, Adja Yunkers and his wife, Dore Ashton, among others. Also found is Viviano's correspondence with clients, many of whom were prominent collectors, e.g., Richard Brown Baker, Carl and Joan Fisher, Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman, Joseph Hirschhorn, Marc Moyens, Vincent Price, Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., Nelson Rockefeller, Stanley Seeger, and Frederick and Dorothy Zimmerman. Of interest, are letters from Elizabeth Bishop inquiring about the purchase of a work of art from the gallery. Included are letters from art historians, museum directors, curators, representatives at other art-related institutions, and publishers including Walter Bareiss, Walter Barker, Dominque De Menil, Valentine Dudensing, William Eisendrath, S. Lane Faison, Emily Genauer, Bertram Goodhue, Erhard and Barbara Göpel, James Laughlin, Porter McCray, Abram Lerner, Doris Meltzer, Stephen Robson Miller, John Bernard Myers, Perry Rathbone, Belle Krasne Ribicoff, Meyer Shapiro, George Stout, and Curt Valentin. Correspondence with museums, galleries, and art-related institutions in the United States contains letters between Viviano and museum directors, curators, dealers, artists, and collectors pertaining to loans, shipping and delivery of artwork, appraisals and sales, and acquisitions. Files include substantive correspondence with the American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Federation of the Arts, Art Institute of Chicago, Arts Club of Chicago, the Barnes Foundation, Bristol Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Bundy Art Gallery, Carnegie Institute, City Art Museum of St. Louis, Cleveland Museum of Art, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Denver Art Museum, Des Moines Art Center, Detroit Institute of Arts, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Art Museum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, Museum of Modern Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, University of Nebraska Art Galleries, University of Virginia, Mary Washington College, Wadsworth Atheneum, Walker Art Center, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Atkins Museum of the Fine Arts, World House Gallery, and Yale University Art Library. Correspondence with museums, galleries, and art-related institutions abroad primarily concerns the lending of artwork for exhibitions, acquisition and sales; also included are letters requesting biographical information on artists. Letters between Catherine Viviano and representatives of Max Beckmann Gesellschaft Archiv and Galerie Gunther Franke contain provenance-related information on Beckmann's work. Business records document the routine business operations of the gallery. Printed material includes an incomplete run of Catherine Viviano Gallery exhibition catalogues; invitations and announcements from other galleries and institutions; and miscellaneous printed material. Photographs include three images of miscellaneous artwork used for art reference.
Arrangement note:
Records are generally arranged by material type and in chronological order thereafter. Artists' files and correspondence files are arranged in alphabetical order and materials within the folders are arranged chronologically The collection is arranged as 5 series: Missing Title Series 1: Artists' Files, 1945-1986 (Boxes 1-3; 3.5 linear feet) Series 2: Correspondence, 1939-1985 (Boxes 3-6; 5.5 linear feet) Series 3: Business Records, 1949-1972 (Boxes 10-11; 1.0 linear feet) Series 4: Printed Material, 1930-1990 (Boxes 11-13; 1.6 linear feet) Series 5: Photographs (1948-1954), undated (Box 14; 1 folder)
Biographical/Historical note:
Catherine Viviano (1889-1992) opened her gallery in 1949 on 42 East 57th Street in New York City. Specializing in contemporary American paintings and sculpture, the gallery featured younger American and European artists, e.g., Robert Broderson, Carlyle Brown, Jan Cox, Joseph Glasco, Peter Lanyon, Manabu Mabe, César Manrique, Bernard Perlin, Joseph Rollo, Bernard Rosenthal, and Kay Sage, among others. The gallery was also notable for introducing the work of Italian artists, who had been cut off from the American art scene during World War II, including Afro Basaldella and his brother Mirko Basaldella, Renato Birolli, Leonardo Cremonini, and Luciano Minguzzi. Born in Italy in 1899 and raised in Chicago, Catherine Viviano came to New York in the early 1930's to work at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, where she remained for sixteen years before founding the Catherine Viviano Gallery. In 1970, Catherine Viviano closed the gallery, though she continued to work from her home as an art dealer and consultant. She died of a stroke at the age of ninety-two in 1992.
Related Archival Materials note:
Among the other resources relating to Catherine Viviano Gallery in the Archives of American Art are the Kay Sage papers, 1925-circa 1985, bulk 1950-1965.
Provenance:
The Catherine Viviano Gallery records were donated in 2003 on behalf of Margaret Viviano, Catherine Viviano's sister, by her grandnephew, Peter C. Salerno, who had Power of Attorney for Margaret Viviano.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers 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.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- New York (State)  Search this
Topic:
Women art dealers  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Sculpture  Search this
Painting  Search this
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State)
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Notes
Citation:
Catherine Viviano Gallery records, 1930-1990, bulk 1949-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.cathvivi
See more items in:
Catherine Viviano Gallery records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9c8eeb213-b1d5-43e4-8478-bc79ba634773
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-cathvivi