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Catalog Data

Creator:
ACA Galleries  Search this
Subject:
Valente, Alfredo  Search this
Soyer, Raphael  Search this
Soyer, Moses  Search this
Refregier, Anton  Search this
Pickens, Alton  Search this
Gropper, William  Search this
Hirsch, Joseph  Search this
Mumford, Lewis  Search this
Young, Art  Search this
Weber, Max  Search this
Newman, Arnold  Search this
Baron, Herman  Search this
Olds, Elizabeth  Search this
Abbott, Berenice  Search this
Gwathmey, Robert  Search this
McCausland, Elizabeth  Search this
Cahill, Holger  Search this
Burliuk, David  Search this
Dondero, George A. (George Anthony)  Search this
Evergood, Philip  Search this
American Contemporary Art Gallery  Search this
Type:
Writings
Photographs
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
1 Linear foot
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series: Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1930s-1960s (Box 1; 0.25 linear feet) Series 2: Writings and Notes, 1938-circa 1960s (Box 1; 8 folders) Series 3: Printed Material, 1939-1960 (Box 2; 4 folders) Series 4: Photographs, circa 1930s-circa 1960s (Box 2; 0.25 linear feet) Series 5: Herman Baron Personal Papers, circa 1910s, 1940s-1960s (Box 2-3; 0.3 linear feet)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Summary:
The scattered records of the ACA (American Contemporary Art) Galleries date from 1917 through 1963 and include writings by founder Herman Baron, artists Philip Evergood and Anton Refregier, and art critic Elizabeth McCausland; printed materials; and photographs of Baron, ACA artists, art collectors, works of art, and exhibitions. Correspondence is with David Burliuk, Philip Evergood, William Gropper, Lewis Mumford, Moses Sawyer, Max Weber, and others. Also found is a small group of Herman Baron's personal papers.
Citation:
The ACA Galleries records, 1917-1963. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
This site provides access to the records of ACA Galleries in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2010. The records have been scanned in their entirety, and total 1439 images.
Funding:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
Use Note:
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.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds the Herman Baron papers, dating from 1937-1967 which were donated by Syracuse University, George Arents Research Library in 1984. Some exhibition catalogs may be found here.
Biography Note:
Herman Baron, Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Adolf Dehn founded the American Contemporary Art (ACA) Galleries on August 16, 1932. Located at 1269 Madison Avenue in New York City, the galleries' first show featured watercolorist Hy Cohen. Baron encouraged freedom of expression and did not censor the artworks displayed in his gallery. As a result, the gallery became an outlet for generally unknown and socially conscious artists, including the Social Realists.
Born in Lithuania in 1892, Herman Baron immigrated to the United States as a child. He served in World War I and later attended New York University. Baron founded and edited Glazier's Journal (later Glass Digest ) in 1924 as the first journal for the professional glazing trade. Additionally, he wrote short stories and plays for American Hebrew and Young Israel .
In response to economic issues facing the art market during the depresssion of 1930s, ACA Galleries organized relief efforts to financially support their artists. During this period, the gallery became closely allied with militant artists' organizations and some of the more politically radical artists. In 1935, the ACA Galleries and Herman Baron hosted the first meeting of the American Artists' Congress in the gallery space.
The ACA Galleries featured exhibitions of works by artists David Burliuk, Stuart Davis, Philip Evergood, William Gropper, Robert Gwathmey, Joe Jones, Rockwell Kent, Lee Krasner, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Lewis Mumford, Louise Nevelson, Alton Pickens, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, Max Weber, Art Young, and others. Baron also organized exhibitions of many artists employed by or associated with the Works Progress Administration of the federal arts program. Due to the progressive nature of the works of art found in the ACA Galleries, Herman Baron came under considerable criticism during the McCarthy Era. Baron was condemned by Representative George A. Dondero for supporting "un-American" sympathies and was forced often to defend his gallery and artists.
For years the gallery focused on artists rights and supporting the work of artists, rather than a profit. In the 1950s, a shift occurred when Baron's nephew Sidney Bergen initiated professional business practices and transformed the gallery into a profitable venture. Now located at 529 West 20th Street in New York City, ACA Galleries continues to promote and support various social causes.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
Ella Baron, widow of the ACA Galleries' founder Herman Baron, donated the records to the Archives of American Art in 1965 and 1966.
Digitization Note:
This site provides access to the records of ACA Galleries in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2010. The records have been scanned in their entirety, and total 1,439 images.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
World War, 1914-1918  Search this
Politics in art  Search this
Theme:
New Deal  Search this
Art Gallery Records  Search this
Art Market  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8772
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210955
AAA_collcode_acagall
Theme:
New Deal
Art Gallery Records
Art Market
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210955