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1440 early American portrait artists, (1663-1860) : (preliminary volume) / compiled by the New Jersey Historical Records Survey Project, Division of Professional and Service Projects, Research and Records Section, Work Projects Administration ; sponsor...

Creator:
New Jersey Historical Records Survey Project  Search this
Names:
Bolton, Theodore, b. 1889  Search this
Extent:
ix, 305 leaves ; 27 cm (27 cm.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1940
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
Newark, N.J. : The Historical Records Survey, 1940.
General:
At head of title: American portrait inventory.
Original typewritten copy, heavily corrected and annotated.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives by Louis Cohen of the Argosy Book Shop in May 1958. Mr. Cohen included a note: "This copy of '1440' came to Argosy Book Shop from the library of Harry M. Bland. The pencil handwriting on opp. p. 23 appears to be that of Theodore Bolton."
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Portrait painters -- United States  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.newjersh
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f2d98d91-23a9-4535-8e54-47fc3792eb73
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-newjersh

Adja Yunkers letter to William McNaught relating to Mark Rothko

Creator:
McNaught, William  Search this
Names:
Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this
Yunkers, Adja, 1900-1983  Search this
Extent:
3 Pages
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Date:
1982 June 17
Scope and Contents:
A handwritten letter from Adja Yunkers to William McNaught of the Archives of American Art, in which Yunkers describes his encounters with Mark Rothko shortly before Rothko's suicide.
Provenance:
Adja Yunkers was asked by William McNaught, New York Regional Collector for the Archives of American Art, to be interviewed as part of the Archives of American Art's Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project in the early 1980s. Yunkers sent this letter in lieu of an interview.
Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
Occupation:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.mcnawill
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ca3520e9-862d-4aa2-883d-756f8659ff1d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-mcnawill

Alfred Jonniaux papers

Creator:
Jonniaux, Alfred, b. 1882  Search this
Names:
Vose Galleries of Boston  Search this
Extent:
5.3 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Date:
1893-1969
Scope and Contents:
Biographical accounts, correspondence, business records (1936-1968), art works, photographs, a photograph album, printed material, and 2 scrapbooks document the life and career of Alfred Jonniaux.
Biographical material consists of a membership card to The Bath Club (1930) and 3 biographical accounts. Correspondence includes letters between Jonniaux, his family, his clients, and his dealers, the Vose Galleries, discussing his work and exhibitions (1915-1967). Business records include 9 address books, business cards, check stubs, a customs form, insurance forms for the shipment of paintings, receipts for art supplies (1936-1967), a fee schedule for portraits, a price list (1961), and a lease for his New York studio. Art works consist of 32 drawings and 11 sketchbooks.
Photographs (1893-1964) show Jonniaux, members of his family, friends, his portraits, and the works of others. An album also contains photographs of his works. Printed material includes clippings (1938-1969) and exhibition announcements and catalogs (1943-1962). Two scrapbooks contain clippings (1921-1964), exhibition announcements and catalogs (1931-1959), and 4 letters discussing his work (1951-1955).
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait painter. Born in Brussels, Belgium. Following study at the Academie des Beaux Arts, Brussels, and as a draftsman in Paris, Jonniaux began his career as a portraitist in London. He immigrated to the United States during World War II, becoming a citizen in 1946. During his first ten years in America, he established studios in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. His exhibitions led to many portrait commissions from leading figures in all spheres of American life.
Provenance:
Donated by art dealer David J. Carlson of Carlson Gallery, San Francisco, California.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Portrait painters -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Portrait painting, American  Search this
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Identifier:
AAA.jonnalfr
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9cdc143c4-845e-4cfd-ad01-a2a13c87455c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-jonnalfr

Allen L. Wetmore letter from Max Weber

Creator:
Wetmore, Allen L.  Search this
Names:
Inness, George, 1825-1894  Search this
Weber, Max, 1881-1961  Search this
Extent:
1 Item ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1946 April 15
Scope and Contents:
A three-page letter to Westmore [sic] from Weber regarding Weber's copy of the George Inness painting, "Autumn Landscape," owned by Wetmore. Weber discusses his trip to Paris, 1905-1906, and his decision to devote his time to painting.
Provenance:
Donated 1978 by Gail Freihofer, daughter of Allen Wetmore.
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 -- United States  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.wetmalle
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b6f216b4-ac1a-4300-bf4f-cd9166690af0
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-wetmalle

Aloysius G. Weimer research material

Creator:
Weimer, Aloysius G., b. 1899  Search this
Names:
Couper, William, 1853-1942  Search this
Covey, Arthur Sinclair, 1877-1960  Search this
Currier, J. Frank (Joseph Frank), 1843-1909  Search this
Heuermann, Magda, 1858-1962  Search this
Learned, Arthur G. (Arthur Garfield), b. 1872  Search this
Leigh, William Robinson, 1866-1955  Search this
Mayer, Louis, 1869-1969  Search this
Reynolds, Wellington Jarard, b. 1869  Search this
Sharp, Joseph Henry, 1859-1953  Search this
Extent:
23 Items ((on 3 partial microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1933-1942
Scope and Contents:
Materials regarding American artists in Munich, Germany.
Reel X2: Typescript of Weimer's PhD. dissertation submitted to University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1940, entitled "The Munich Period in American Art."
Reels 1285 & 3480: 22 letters received by Weimer in response to his research inquiries for his dissertation, including letters from Arthur Covey, William Couper, Arthur Garfield Learned, Magda Heuermann, Louis Mayer, William Robinson Leigh, Joseph Henry Sharp, and Wellington Jarard Reynolds; and one clipping on William Couper.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian; Michigan.
Provenance:
6 letters were inadvertently not microfilmed on reel 1285. These were later microfilmed, along with a clipping, on reel 3480.
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 -- United States  Search this
Art historians -- Michigan  Search this
Topic:
Expatriate painters -- Germany -- Munich  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.weimaloy
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9db1cc944-a2ab-46be-8a46-b521d99dc33b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-weimaloy

Anna M. Whistler diary in the New York Public Library

Creator:
Whistler, Anna Mathilda McNeill, 1804-1881  Search this
Names:
Whistler, James McNeill, 1834-1903  Search this
Extent:
1 Volume ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Volumes
Date:
1843-1848
Scope and Contents:
Included in Whistler's diary are entries about her son, the painter James McNeill Whistler.
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1956 by the Archives of American Art with other art-related papers in the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library. Included in the microfilming project were selected papers of the Art Division and the Prints Division.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Expatriate painters -- Great Britain -- London  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.whisanna
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw902f84238-6eca-4184-bf91-7cc4ccb54346
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-whisanna

Arthur Burdett Frost and Arthur Burdett Frost, Jr. sketchbooks

Creator:
Frost, A. B. (Arthur Burdett), 1851-1928  Search this
Frost, Arthur Burdett, 1887-1917  Search this
Names:
Frost, A. B. (Arthur Burdett), 1851-1928  Search this
Reed, Henry M.  Search this
Extent:
0.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Date:
1877-1905
Scope and Contents:
Four sketchbooks including two, 1877 and circa 1885, by Arthur Burdett Frost and two, 1902-1905, by his son Arthur Burdett Frost, Jr.
Biographical / Historical:
Arthur Burdett (A.B.) Frost (1851-1928), was an American illustrator, graphic artist and comics writer. He was also well known as a painter. Frost's son, Arthur Burdett Frost, Jr. (1887-1917), was not as well known, but was an early painter of color abstractions.
Provenance:
Donated 2017 by Mrs. Henry M. Reed, wife of art historian Henry M. Reed.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketchbooks
Identifier:
AAA.frosartb
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b3fcaf94-c6dd-4eff-bcea-942c2da06e51
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-frosartb

Arthur J. Hall Smith correspondence with Charles K. Steiner

Creator:
Steiner, Charles K.  Search this
Names:
Cassatt, Mary, 1844-1926  Search this
Degas, Edgar, 1834-1917  Search this
Kainen, Jacob  Search this
Moore, Bruce, 1905-1980  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Extent:
13 Items
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
2007-2011
Scope and Contents:
Seven letters from Arthur J. Hall Smith to Charles K. Steiner and two letters from Steiner to Smith while Steiner was the director of the Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas, and Smith was living in Paris, France. They write about various artists including Jacob Kainen, Mary Cassatt, Edward Degas, Bruce Moore, and Mark Tobey among others and works of art. Included with the April 16, 2007 letter to Steiner are two photographs of Smith and two slides of his works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles K. Steiner is an artist and museum consultant in Fort Smith, Arkansas and former museum director. Arthur J. Hall Smith (1929-2013) was a painter.
Provenance:
Donated 2014 by Charles Steiner, who was friend's with artist Arthur J. Hall.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Arts administrators -- Arkansas  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.steichar
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d4b1d875-0174-415e-a2d4-6f44768a9cca
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-steichar

Barnett Newman papers

Creator:
Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970  Search this
Names:
Kootz Gallery (N.Y.)  Search this
Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-1979 -- Photographs  Search this
Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this
Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980  Search this
Tomlin, Bradley Walker, 1899-1953  Search this
Zarnower, Teresa -- Photographs  Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1943-1971
Scope and Contents:
REEL 3481: Six letters from Bradley Walker Tomlin, 1948-1952, and 15 from Mark Rothko, 1945-1950; catalogs with introductions by Newman, and other writings; catalogs, announcements and clippings on Newman, 1943-1971; a photograph of Newman at the opening of "The Intrasubjectives" at Kootz Gallery, 1949; and a photograph of Peggy Guggenheim with Polish artist Teresa Zarnower, ca. 1950.
UNMICROFILMED: Thirty letters from Clyfford Still, 1946-1956, addressed to Barnett and Annalee Newman. The letters were written during the period Still was teaching at the California School of Fine Art in San Francisco. He writes of his alienation from the New York and California art world, Clement Greenberg, the Bauhaus aesthetic, and his CSFA colleagues, including Ad Reinhardt, and his rift with Mark Rothko.
Biographical / Historical:
Barnett Newman (1905-1970) was a painter and writer in New York.
Provenance:
Donated by Mrs. Barnett Newman, 1976-1994.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Painters  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.newmbarn
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a271ad29-77fb-4e53-be1f-50453a98a8d3
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-newmbarn

Bass Otis receipt

Creator:
Otis, Bass, 1784-1861  Search this
Extent:
1 Item ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1831
Scope and Contents:
Bass Otis receipt for portrait of Benjamin Ferris, 1831.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait painter and lithographer.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1988 by the Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Portrait painters -- United States  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.otisbass
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a22b5135-8bde-4668-a895-1084320dd7b3
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-otisbass

Benjamin Kopman papers

Creator:
Kopman, Benjamin, b. 1887  Search this
Names:
Buck, Claude, 1890-1974  Search this
Russman, Felix, 1888-1962  Search this
Tofel, Jennings, 1891-1959  Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
[ca.1903]-1958
Scope and Contents:
Art work by various artists; photographs of Kopman, his family and one of his works; reproductions of works; and exhibition catalogs.
Art works consist of an oil sketch of mice eating, probably by Claude Buck (1903); prints by Felix Russman, Jennings Tofel, James S. Hulme, Claude Buck, M. Rosenbloom, and unidentified artists; a sketch by Claude Buck of his father, W.R. Buck; an unidentified pencil sketch of a workman using a grindstone and a print of the same subject. Photographs show works by Kopman and an unidentified artist, and Kopman and his family in Haddam, Connecticut (1920). Other materials include reproductions of work by Kopman and Claude Buck, an exhibition catalog, Introspective Art, and an Emil Carlsen Memorial Exhibition catalog.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, etcher, lithographer, illustrator, sculptor, writer; b. Dec. 25, 1887, Vitebsk, Russia; emigrated to U.S. in 1903; d. Dec. 3, 1965, Teaneck, N.J. Kopman's wife, Grace, was the sister of artist Claude Buck. Buck and Kopman were friends and fellow-students at the National Academy of Design. Emil Carlsen was one of their teachers. Kopman, Buck, Abraham Harriton and Jennings Tofel formed the "Introspective" group of subjectivist painters.
Related Materials:
Benjamin Kopman papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Donated 1990 by Diana V. Link, daughter of Benjamin Kopman.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.kopmbenj
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a9ba5f2e-0c7c-4b8c-8fc0-d531fe945a4a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-kopmbenj

Benjamin West collection

Creator:
West, Benjamin, 1738-1820  Search this
Names:
Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848  Search this
Boydell, John, 1719-1804  Search this
Livingston, Robert R., 1746-1813  Search this
Spilsbury, Jonathan, fl. 1766-1823  Search this
Extent:
0.3 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1771-circa 1879
Summary:
This collection measures 0.3 linear feet and consists of 19 items dated 1771-circa 1879, relating to expatriate painter Benjamin West. West, who settled in London and was renowned for his portraits and his paintings of historical events, was the first internationally known American painter. The collection provides scattered documentation of West's activities including during the time of his appointment as historical painter to King George III, and contains letters from West, artwork including 2 engravings of the artist, 2 pages of West's accounts, and a ticket to a lecture at the Royal Academy of Art.
Scope and Content Note:
This collection measures 0.3 linear feet and consists of 19 items dated 1771-circa 1879, relating to expatriate painter Benjamin West. West, who settled in London and was renowned for his portraits and his paintings of historical events, was the first internationally known American painter. The collection provides scattered documentation of West's activities including during the time of his appointment as historical painter to King George III, and contains scattered letters from West, two engravings of the artist, prints, and ephemera.

Twelve letters are written to prominent politicians such as John Adams and Robert R. Livingston, Jr., the U.S. Minsister in Paris, close friend and portraitist John Green, and others. There are two pages of accounts documenting West's association with John Boydell. In 1786, Boydell, an alderman for the City of London and a publisher of books, illustrations and engravings, launched an ambitious project to commission the best artists in England, including West, to provide illustrations for an edition of Shakespeare's plays. Also found is a ticket to a lecture at the Royal Academy of Art.

Artwork includes two engravings of West, a print of his birthplace, a print of a late 18th century portrait of West by Jonathan Spilsbury, and an ink drawing after Benjamin West of John Singleton Copley's son and daughter, circa 1879.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series.
Biographical Note:
Expatriate painter Benjamin West (1738-1829) was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania and worked in Pennsylvania and New York before settling in London as a portrait painter and historical painter to King George III. West initially studied with local artist William Williams in Pennsylvania and began painting portraits in Pennsylvania and New York in the 1750s. Around 1760 he traveled to Italy to study art and then settled in London as a portrait painter and remained in Europe for the rest of his life. He received many commissions under the patronage of George III and in 1772 was appointed historical painter to the King.

A leader in neoclassicism and a mentor to many young English and American artists including John Constable, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, and John Singleton Copley, West became the first American artist to receive international recognition. Among his best-known works are Death of General Wolfe (1770) and Penn's Treaty with the Indians (1772). In these, and other historical paintings, he maintained the compositional elements of neoclassicism but departed from tradition by painting historical figures in the clothing of their period, rather than in classical attire.

West was a co-founder of the Royal Academy of Arts with Sir Joshua Reynolds, and served as the Academy's president from 1792-1815.

Benjamin West died in London in 1820.
Provenance:
The Benjamin West collection was acquired through gifts and purchases from various sources between 1955 and 1981. Nine letters and 2 engravings were donated by Charles Feinberg, 1955-1958; 2 additional letters were lent by Feinberg for microfilming in 1967 and subsequently purchased by AAA in 1968. Account book pages were purchased from Walter R. Benjamin Autographs, circa 1960, and one letter was purchased from Charles Hamilton Autographs, Inc., in 1963. A wood engraving was transferred from the National Portrait Gallery Library in 1981; the sources of an ink drawing and a print are unknown.
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:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Expatriate artists -- England -- London  Search this
Citation:
Benjamin West collection, 1771-circa 1879. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.westbenj
See more items in:
Benjamin West collection
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw982d2967e-fa4c-4780-b418-5c975ba51f9c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-westbenj
Online Media:

Benjamin West collection from the Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College

Creator:
West, Benjamin, 1738-1820  Search this
Extent:
1 Item (partial microfilm reel)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1775-1819
Scope and Contents:
Papers and drawings selected from collections at Swarthmore College's Friends Historical Library, mainly regarding West's life and painting activities in England. Included are: 15 letters between West and various individuals refering to his paintings, requesting to see his collection and business matters; hand drawn diagrams for King's Chapel at Windsor Castle designating the placement, subjects and measurements for a cycle of paintings; account lists kept by Mrs. West documenting daily expenditures and various social engagements; and 212 drawings of religious and classical subjects, as well as landsape, figural and animal studies.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter Born in Pennsylvania, moved to London, where his studio became a center for expatriate Americans.
Provenance:
Microfilmed in 1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. The papers are from several collections at Friends Historical Library.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Expatriate painters -- England  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.westbenc
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw922f3c11a-35e6-4119-8aa6-a37437c996d9
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-westbenc

Benjamin West selected papers from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Creator:
West, Benjamin, 1738-1820  Search this
Names:
Copley, John Singleton, 1738-1815  Search this
Dillwyn, George, 1738-1820  Search this
Galt, John, 1779-1839  Search this
Lawrence, Thomas, Sir, 1769-1830  Search this
Northcote, James, 1746-1831  Search this
Smith, Anne M. H.  Search this
West, Elizabeth Shewell  Search this
Extent:
5 Items (partial microfilm reels)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Date:
1755-1819
Scope and Contents:
REEL P20 (fr.679): Memorandum by Anne M. Smith, 1855 Mar. 27, concerning Benjamin West's "Death of Socrates" and "View of Conestoga Creek."
REEL P23 (fr. 85, 108-157, 218-233): Portrait of West engraved by H. Meyer (?), from an original by T. Lawrence for the British Gathering of Contemporary Portraits, published by T. Cadell and W. Lavier, London, April 15, 1815; estate papers, 1814-1819, relating to Hannah West; card of admission for Mrs. Holland to see "Elgin Marbles" at Burlington House, May 1814; letters from West to George Dillwyn, John Singleton Copley, Peter Thomson, George William West, Mr. Rawle, Joseph Wharton, James Northcote, Sarah Robeson, and to the American Academy of the Fine Arts, about his portrait of Sir Thomas Lawrence, undated and 1772-1819; a letter to Mrs. West from Henry Sulger, Aug. 15, 1774, about West's picture of Christ; and an extract of a letter from Elizabeth West to Dr. Edwards, Jan. 7, 1798, reporting the death of her nephew.
REEL P24 (fr.34-38) : Biographical sketches of West, circa 1805, from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's "Quaker Scrapbook," v. 2.
REELS P24 (fr. 527-627) & P25 (fr. 465-541): Correspondence, speeches, financial statements, catalogs, etc., of Benjamin West, 1788-1819, compiled by John Galt for his volume on "The Life, Studies, and Works of Benjamin West, Esq.", published in 1820.
REEL P25: Sketchbooks, 1790-1807; travelling expenses, 1807; account books and financial papers, 1790-1804 and 1810-1811; and a list of subscribers to the print of "The Death of Lord Nelson."
REEL 4560: Papers relating to West from HSP's Gilpin Collection (Collection (#704), including an account book with London Banker, 1790-1804, and 1810-1811; and a sketchbook and loose drawings, 1755-1819.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter. Born in Pennsylvania, moved to London, where his studio became a center for expatriate Americans.
Provenance:
Material on reel P25 microfilmed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for the Archives of American Art, 1955. Material on reel 4560 lent for microfilming in 1991 by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. [Account book and one sketchbook are filmed on both reels].
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Reel 4560: Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Expatriate painters -- England  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketchbooks
Identifier:
AAA.westbenj3
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93e9d20ed-17a9-4da6-bcd0-0fec3d5666b3
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-westbenj3

Charles Allen Munn collection relating to Charles Willson Peale, John Trumbull and Benjamin West

Creator:
Munn, Charles Allen, 1859-1924  Search this
Names:
Peale, Charles Willson, 1741-1827  Search this
Trumbull, John, 1756-1843  Search this
West, Benjamin, 1738-1820  Search this
Extent:
1 Microfilm reel (70 items on 1 microfilm reel)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1788-1917
Scope and Contents:
The microfilmed Charles Allen Munn collection relating to Charles Willson Peale, John Trumbull and Benjamin West contain a diary of Charles Willson Peale (1788-1789); letters, an account book (1816), and a letter book (1809-1810) of John Trumbull; and a brief manuscript autobiography of Benjamin West.

The Charles Willson Peale papers include a diary kept in Philadelphia and Annapolis (May 30, 1788-May 5, 1789). Peale writes about working on his drawing machine "for taking perspective views;" people sitting for portraits; techniques in painting; repairing pictures; travel conditions between Philadelphia and Annapolis; the operation of his Philadelphia Museum; recipes for preserving birds and animals; business and travel expenses; experiments in making bifocals; social activities; and acquaintances.

John Trumbull papers include correspondence, accounts, and a corrected proof of an original manuscript of a description of Trumbull's pictures. The Benjamin West papers consist of an undated autobiography.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Allen Munn (1859-1924) was an editor, publisher, and art patron in New York, New York.

Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) was a painter, inventor, and naturalist known for his portraits of leading figures in the American Revolution, and for founding the Peale Museum (later the Philadelphia Museum), one of the first major museums in the United States.

John Trumbull (1756-1843) was a painter known for his paintings depicting the leaders and events of the American Revolution.

Benjamin West (1738-1820) was an American painter known for his historical and religious paintings. He was historical painter to the court for George III and Surveyor of the King's Pictures, as well as the second President of the Royal Academy. Many American artists traveled to London to study under him, including Charles Willson Peale and John Trumbull.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds the Charles Willson Peale diaries and exhibition announcement, 1765-1826; the John Trumbull collection, 1790-[ca. 1800]; Papers from John Trumbull's paint box, 1794-[ca. 1830]; Theodore Sizer research material on John Trumbull, 1790-1952; and the Benjamin West collection, 1771-circa 1879. Also found at the Archives of American Art are the microfilmed Mary Jane Peale and Peale family selected papers, circa 1815-1897; microfilmed selected Peale family papers, 1803-1854; microfilmed selected papers from the Peale-Sellers collection, circa 1767-1904; microfilmed Augusta Barker papers, 1875-1887; microfilmed John Trumbull papers, 1787-1843; the microfilmed Canning collection of papers relating to John Trumbull, 1799; the microfilmed John Trumbull collection at the Gilcrease Institute, 1820-1831; microfilmed Benjamin West selected papers from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1755-1819.

The American Philosophical Society holds the Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 and the Peale family papers, 1705-1898. The Library of Congress holds the John Trumbull papers, 1786-1841; Princeton University Manuscripts Division holds the John Trumbull Collection, 1768-1842; Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library holds the John Trumbull papers, 1800-1842; Yale University Manuscripts and Archives Repository holds the John Trumbull papers, 1750-1961. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania holds assorted Benjamin West collections; Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library holds the Benjamin West papers, 1762-1829.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1968 by Fordham University Library.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- United States  Search this
Painters -- England  Search this
Art patrons -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Painting  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.munnchar
See more items in:
Charles Allen Munn collection relating to Charles Willson Peale, John Trumbull and Benjamin West
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9449f4926-00c8-4c16-97d5-1cec03f36595
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-munnchar

Chris K. Ishii papers

Creator:
Ishii, Chris K., 1919-2001  Search this
Extent:
23 Items
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Date:
[ca. 1940] - 1999
Scope and Contents:
Newpaper articles (1944-1997), original drawings of illustrations for "Gourmet" magazine, photocopies of propaganda leaflets distributed by U.S. Intelligence in the Burma, China, India theatre during World War II, photographs of Ishii at work in his studio, and slides.
Biographical / Historical:
Los Angeles, California, and New York painter, animator, and illustrator Chris Ishii (1919-2001) attended the Chouinard School of Art (now Cal Arts) in Los Angeles and upon graduation worked for Walt Disney Studios. Prior to World War II he furnished art and designs for FantasiaThe Reluctant Dragon and Dumbo.

Ishii was interned at Granada (Colorado) Concentration Camp and in 1943 joined the U.S. Army Intelligence Service (1943-1946). During the war he illustrated propaganda leaflets for the Burma, China, and India theatre. After leaving California for New York worked for United Productions of America (UPA) before becoming an independent animator. In 1951 he traveled to Paris on the GI Bill to study at the Académie Julian with Fernand Léger. He designed and directed countless commercials, and industrial, educational, live-action, and feature films.

Ishii also worked on James Thurber's A Unicorn in the Garden, Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline and Academy Award winning Gerald McBoing Boing, and on several Mr. Magoo short subjects. One of his animations, the Snow White sequence, appeared in Woody Allen's Annie Hall.

Ishii died in Westchester County, New York, on November 6, 2001.
Provenance:
Donated 2001 by Chris K. Ishii and his daughter, Naka Ishii. Additions are expected.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Animators  Search this
Illustrators -- United States  Search this
Painters -- United States  Search this
Topic:
World War, 1939-1945  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Identifier:
AAA.ishichri
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9cc08a3a3-daef-40a6-a044-184cbc3d4032
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-ishichri

Correspondence

Collection Creator:
Cummings, Thomas Seir, 1804-1894  Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1981-1983
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
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:
Thomas Seir Cummings papers, circa 1824-1983, bulk circa 1824-1894. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Thomas Seir Cummings papers
Thomas Seir Cummings papers / Series 1: Thomas Seir Cummings Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9bfcc8ce6-38ea-4c34-b769-5de6f14b7bab
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-cummitho-ref3
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Downtown Gallery records

Creator:
Downtown Gallery  Search this
Names:
American Folk Art Gallery  Search this
Boris Mirski Gallery (Boston, Mass.)  Search this
Ernest Brown & Phillips  Search this
Our Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Breinin, Raymond, 1910-  Search this
Broderson, Morris, 1928-2011  Search this
Brook, Alexander, 1898-1980  Search this
Burlin, Paul, 1886-1969  Search this
Cahill, Holger, 1887-1960  Search this
Carlen, Robert, 1906-1990  Search this
Cikovsky, Nicolai, 1894-  Search this
Coleman, Glenn O., 1887-1932  Search this
Crawford, Ralston, 1906-1978  Search this
Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964  Search this
Demuth, Charles, 1883-1935  Search this
Doi, Isami, 1903-1965  Search this
Dole, William, 1917-  Search this
Dove, Arthur Garfield, 1880-1946  Search this
Felix Landau Gallery  Search this
Fredenthal, David, 1914-1958  Search this
Garbisch, Edgar  Search this
Guglielmi, Louis, 1906-1956  Search this
Halpert, Edith Gregor, 1900-1970  Search this
Halpert, Samuel, 1884-1930  Search this
Harnett, William Michael, 1848-1892  Search this
Hart, George Overbury, 1868-1933  Search this
Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943  Search this
Karfiol, George  Search this
Karolik, Maxim  Search this
Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953  Search this
Lane, William H.  Search this
Laurent, Robert, 1890-1970  Search this
Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000  Search this
Lea, Wesley  Search this
Levi, Julian E. (Julian Edwin), 1900-1982  Search this
Levine, Jack, 1915-2010  Search this
Lewandowski, Edmund, 1914-  Search this
Marin, John, 1870-1953  Search this
Morris, George L. K., 1905-  Search this
Nakian, Reuben, 1897-1986  Search this
O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986  Search this
Osborn, Robert Chesley, 1904-1994  Search this
Pascin, Jules, 1885-1930  Search this
Pattison, Abbott L. (Abbott Lawrence), 1916-1999  Search this
Pippin, Horace, 1888-1946  Search this
Pollet, Joseph C., 1897-1979  Search this
Rattner, Abraham  Search this
Rockefeller, Abby Aldrich  Search this
Saklatwalla, Beram K.  Search this
Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969  Search this
Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965  Search this
Siporin, Mitchell, 1910-1976  Search this
Spencer, Niles, 1893-1952  Search this
Stasack, Edward  Search this
Steichen, Edward, 1879-1973  Search this
Steig, William, 1907-  Search this
Stella, Joseph, 1877-1946  Search this
Stieglitz, Alfred, 1864-1946  Search this
Storrs, John Henry Bradley, 1885-1956  Search this
Tam, Reuben  Search this
Tannahill, Robert Hudson  Search this
Tseng, Yu-ho, 1924-  Search this
Varian, Dorothy, 1895-1985  Search this
Walters, Carl, 1883-1955  Search this
Webb, Electra Havemeyer  Search this
Weber, Max, 1881-1961  Search this
Wilde, Isabel Carleton, 1877?-1951  Search this
Zajac, Jack, 1929-  Search this
Zerbe, Karl, 1903-1972  Search this
Zorach, Marguerite, 1887-1968  Search this
Zorach, William, 1887-1966  Search this
Photographer:
Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984  Search this
Bry, Doris  Search this
Karfiol, Bernard, 1886-1952  Search this
Klein, Carl  Search this
Maya, Otto  Search this
Newman, Arnold, 1918-2006  Search this
Ray, Man, 1890-1976  Search this
Reynal, Kay Bell, 1905-1977  Search this
Siegel, Adrian  Search this
Sunami, Soichi, 1885-1971  Search this
Valente, Alfredo  Search this
Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964  Search this
Yavno, Max  Search this
Extent:
109.56 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Video recordings
Photographs
Motion pictures (visual works)
Date:
1824-1974
bulk 1926-1969
Summary:
The records of the Downtown Gallery date from 1824 to 1974 (bulk 1926-1969) and measure 109.56 linear feet. The records present a comprehensive portrait of a significant commercial gallery that operated as a successful business for more than forty years, representing major contemporary American artists and engendering appreciation for early American folk art. There is an unprocessed addition to this collection dating circa 1970 of a single financial/legal document.
Scope and Content Note:
The Downtown Gallery records constitute 109.56 linear feet on 167 reels of microfilm. The records are dated 1824 to 1974 with bulk dates from 1926 to 1969. There is an unprocessed addition to this collection dating circa 1970 of a single financial/legal document.

The Downtown Gallery was established in 1926 as Our Gallery and operated under the name Downtown Gallery from 1927 until 1973. Nineteenth-century material consists of items acquired by Edith Gregor Halpert for research purposes or to document works of art in the gallery's inventory. The few records postdating the closing of the gallery relate to the estate of Edith Gregor Halpert.

The extensive records of the Downtown Gallery present a comprehensive portrait of a significant commercial gallery that operated as a successful business for more than forty years, representing major contemporary American artists and engendering appreciation for early American folk art. Edith Halpert, the gallery's founder and director, was an influential force in the American art world for a large part of the twentieth century.

Personal papers are intermingled with the business records of the Downtown Gallery. Many of the artists represented by the gallery were Halpert's personal friends, and over the years she developed social relationships and friendships with many clients. These relationships are reflected by the contents of the records, especially the correspondence, some of which is purely personal. In addition, there are a small number of letters from relatives, photographs of Halpert's family, home and friends, and limited information about her country house and personal finances.

The Downtown Gallery records consist largely of correspondence with collectors, including Edgar and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Preston Harrison, Mr. and Mrs. Maxim Karolik, William H. Lane, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Beram K. Saklatwalla, Robert Tannahill, and Electra Havemeyer Webb; with dealers, including robert Carlen, Landau Gallery, Leicester Galleries, Mirski Gallery, and Isabel Carleton Wilde; and with large numbers of curators and museum directors, including many affiliated with university museums. In addition, there is correspondence concerning routine gallery business and administrative affairs.

Artist files and an extensive series of notebooks (American Folk Art Gallery notebooks, artist notebooks, and publicity notebooks) compiled by gallery staff contain a wide variety of material and are a rich source of information about individual artists and the Downtown Gallery's exhibition history.

Business records include exhibition records, stock records, sales records, transit records, financial records, lists of artwork and clients, legal documents, minutes, insurance records, research files, and architectural plans.

Writings by Edith Gregor Halpert consist of articles on American folk art, speeches, and short stories; also included are her school notebooks and "Daily Thoughtlets" compiled at age seventeen. All writings by other authors are on art subjects, and most are texts or introductions for exhibition catalogs.

Among the miscellaneous records are biographical material on Edith Gregor Halpert and Samuel Halpert, works of art by Edith Gregor Halpert and other artists, artifacts, and audiovisual materials. The artifacts include wooden weather vane molds and supporting documentation as well as awards presented to Halpert. Audiovisual materials are 16-mm motion picture films of the Westinghouse Broadcasting Corporation television series, America: The Artist's Eye, produced between 1961 and 1963 in association with Jensen Productions. An additional 16-mm motion picture film includes "tails out" footage of Charles Sheeler at home and at work, circa 1950. A copy of the program about Sheeler, along with the "tails out" material, is also on videocassette. In addition, there is a sound recording of a talk on collecting given by Halpert's client, folk art collector Maxim Karolik, in 1962.

Printed matter consists of items produced by the Downtown Gallery, including exhibition catalogs, checklists, invitations, announcements, and press releases. There are also news clippings about Halpert, the Downtown Gallery, and the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection; other art-related clippings are arranged topically. Miscellaneous printed matter not produced by the Downtown Gallery includes newsletters, press releases, publications of art organizations, and reproductions of artwork. A selection of twenty-five volumes from the personal library of Edith Gregor Halpert has been retained.

The photographs series includes images of people: Edith Gregor Halpert, family, friends, also many images of her dog, Adam, and views of her country home in Newtown, Connecticut. Other photographs of people include portraits of artists, most of whom were affiliated with the Downtown Gallery. There are also photographs of works of art (with a large number of black-and-white negatives, 35-mm color slides, and glass plate negatives) and of exhibitions, of the exterior and interior of the Downtown Gallery, and of an award presented to Halpert.

See Appendix B for a chronological list of Downtown Gallery exhibitions.
Arrangement:
It is not certain how well arranged the files were while still the property of the gallery, though Halpert's background as an efficiency expert and her talents as an organizer suggest that the gallery's records were well maintained. It is clear, however, that much of the original order has been lost; Halpert is known to have removed files, including many records concerning the Harnett-Peto controversy.

Correspondence (Series 1) is arranged chronologically, and Artist Files (Series 2) is arranged alphabetically. The remaining series are organized into subseries that reflect either a function or specific record type, and the arrangement of each is explained in the detailed series descriptions. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

The Downtown Gallery records are arranged into eight series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1926-1974, undated (Boxes 1-22; 22 linear ft.; Reels 5488-5545)

Series 2: Artist Files, A - Z, 1917-1970, undated (Boxes 23-27; 5 linear ft.; Reels 5545-5558)

Series 3: Notebooks, 1835, 1874, circa 1880-1969, undated (Boxes 28-59; 32.5 linear ft.; Reels 5558-5603)

Series 4: Business Records, 1925-1974, undated (Boxes 60-94, OV 95, OV 96, OV 97; 34.5 linear ft.; Reels 5603-5636)

Series 5: Writings, 1917-1968, undated (Box 98; 1 linear ft.; Reels 5636-5638)

Series 6: Miscellaneous Material, circa 1835, 1883, 1913-1970, undated (Boxes 99-101, 103, OV 102, OV 104, FC 120-124; 3.25 linear ft.; Reels 5638-5639)

Series 7: Printed Matter, 1824-1865, 1920-1969, undated (Boxes 105-108; 4 linear ft.; Reels 5640-5647)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1880-1960s, undated (Boxes 109-118, OV 119, MGP 4; 8.75 linear ft.; Reels 5647-5654)
Historical Note:
As a very young woman, Edith Gregor Halpert (1900-1970) attended art school sporadically while pursuing a business career that began in advertising and included work as a personnel manager and efficiency expert. She continued her business career after marrying artist Samuel Halpert (1884-1930) in 1918 and eventually became a highly paid executive with an investment firm. Well-invested bonuses provided the capital for Halpert to open her own business.

In November 1926, Halpert and business partner Berthe (Bea) Kroll Goldsmith opened Our Gallery at 113 West 13th Street for the purpose of promoting a group of progressive American artists, many of whom were friends of Edith and Samuel Halpert. The following year, at the suggestion of William Zorach, the gallery changed its name to Downtown Gallery--emphasizing its Greenwich Village location, unique for the time--and the name survived despite relocation to midtown Manhattan (to 43 East 51st Street in 1940, to 32 East 51st Street in 1945, and to the Ritz Tower Concourse at 465 Park Avenue in 1965).

The Downtown Gallery specialized in contemporary American art. An early gallery brochure states: "The Downtown Gallery has no prejudice for any one school. Its selection is driven by quality--by what is enduring--not by what is in vogue." Some of the artists affiliated with the Downtown Gallery from its early years were Stuart Davis, "Pop" Hart, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Charles Sheeler, Max Weber, and William and Marguerite Zorach. In its original location, the gallery served as a place where artists (many of whom lived and worked in the neighborhood), collectors, and others interested in American art met in the evenings for coffee, conversation, and sometimes lectures or other formal programs. Holger Cahill (1887-1960) entered into a partnership with Halpert and Goldsmith in 1929 when they founded the American Folk Art Gallery, the first ever of its kind; the American Folk Art Gallery opened on the second floor of the Downtown Gallery in 1931. Folk art was an important feature of the gallery throughout its history, though the name American Folk Art Gallery does not appear to have been used consistently. Because the profit margin was high and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller bought avidly for her growing collection, folk art revenues subsidized contemporary art exhibitions and helped the gallery survive the Depression. The Daylight Gallery, also run by Halpert and Goldsmith, opened in 1930 in a separate structure behind the main gallery, and continued until the Downtown Gallery moved to East 51st Street in 1940. Its purpose was to exhibit painting and sculpture to best advantage in a gallery designed to diffuse light perfectly and to demonstrate how works of art may be used as architectural embellishments in a modern building. Other subsidiary galleries operated by the Downtown Gallery were the John Marin Room, opened in 1950 and run by John Marin, Jr., and the Ground-Floor Room, 1951, "dedicated to the adventurous, less experienced collector willing to gamble on his taste and ours."

From the beginning, Halpert endeavored to hold prices at reasonable levels; she employed aggressive marketing and advertising techniques learned from her career in business and banking, offering extended payment plans without interest to buyers of modest means. She recognized the value of placing representative works by Downtown Gallery artists in important art museums and public collections, even if a price reduction was necessary to achieve this goal.

After purchasing Goldsmith's share of the business in 1935, Halpert, needing to earn a profit, reorganized the gallery as a more overtly commercial venture. The roster of artists was reduced to twelve. Those eliminated tended to be younger artists, most of whom were supported by WPA work. Eventually, the roster expanded; new additions were usually artists not based in New York, whom Halpert learned of through her work as an adviser to the WPA Federal Art Project. Halpert had long courted Alfred Stieglitz's artists, and in the years following his death in 1946 a number of them affiliated with the Downtown Gallery. Another change was that the Downtown Gallery no longer represented only living American artists; the gallery began handling a number of estates, most notably that of Arthur Dove. In 1953, the roster of Downtown Gallery artists shifted dramatically when Halpert entered into an agreement with Charles Alan. Alan had been hired in 1945 with the understanding that he was being trained to run the Downtown Gallery upon Halpert's retirement five years in the future. Eight years later, it became apparent that Halpert was not going to retire; without consulting the artists, she transferred representation of all artists who had joined the Downtown Gallery since 1936 to the newly established Alan Gallery.

Exhibitions at the Downtown Gallery included both solo exhibitions and group shows usually built around a theme; most lasted about a month. Annual exhibitions (sometimes titled anniversary exhibitions) opened the exhibition season each fall and showcased the gallery's artists. The Downtown Gallery's Christmas show, a long-standing event that encouraged purchases of original art for holiday gift giving, was eagerly anticipated as it featured fine artwork at very reasonable prices. Between 1927 and 1935, the Downtown Gallery was the site of the American Print Makers Society annual exhibitions. During its forty-seven years in operation, the Downtown Gallery organized many important, influential exhibitions. American Ancestors (1931) presented American folk art as the precursor to and direct influence on the contemporary art featured by the Downtown Gallery. The title was used for a number of subsequent exhibitions and became a synonym for folk art. American Folk Art Sculpture: Index of American Design, Federal Art Project (1937) featured drawings by WPA artists recording objects that documented America's material culture and artistic heritage. Along with the Index of American Design drawings, the exhibition included a number of the original sculptures from the Downtown Gallery's inventory and borrowed from folk art collector Abby Aldrich Rockefeller.

William Harnett: "Nature-Vivre" (1939) reintroduced the nineteenth-century artist whose trompe l'oeil paintings had been collected by Halpert over a period of years expressly for this purpose. Between 1947 and 1949, a controversy ensued over paintings--some of which had been sold by the Downtown Gallery--with the signature of William Harnett but discovered by San Francisco Chronicle art critic Alfred Frankenstein to be the work of Harnett's student, John Peto. Halpert had purchased the questionable pieces in good faith, completely unaware of the added signatures, and she defended her attributions, despite evidence to the contrary. Frankenstein publicized his discovery widely; while neither Halpert nor the Downtown Gallery were named directly, their identity was apparent to his well-informed readers. The situation was further inflamed when additional articles by Frankenstein failed to include new evidence favorable to Halpert and the Downtown Gallery.

Another major exhibition was American Negro Art, 19th and 20th Centuries (1941-1942), the first show of its kind held at a commercial gallery. Held at the Downtown Gallery, the exhibition was sponsored by a committee of prominent citizens including Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Archibald MacLeish, A. Philip Randolph, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Among its aims were to raise money for the Negro Art Fund, to promote museum acquisitions of work by black artists, and to encourage galleries to represent the living participants. In addition to providing its facilities, the Downtown Gallery donated all sales commissions to the Negro Art Fund and added Jacob Lawrence to its roster of artists.

Edith Gregor Halpert played important roles in a number of exhibitions and major art projects that were not connected with the Downtown Gallery. She served as organizer and director of the First Municipal Exhibition of American Art, Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1929. Beginning in 1932, Halpert was extensively involved with Radio City Music Hall arts projects. She conceived, organized, and handled publicity for the First Municipal Art Exhibition (also known as the Forum Exhibition) sponsored by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and held at Radio City Music Hall in 1934. As an adviser to the WPA Federal Art Project, Halpert spent the summer of 1936 in Washington, D.C., developing its Exhibition and Allocation Program, which registered works of art arriving from regional project centers and selected pieces for traveling exhibitions that circulated throughout the country. In 1937, she formed the Bureau for Architectural Sculpture and Murals, a central clearinghouse from which architects could review and select work by artists and sculptors experienced in working in architectural settings. Halpert served as curator of the art section of the American National Exhibition, sponsored by the United States Information Agency and the U.S. Department of Commerce; she traveled to the Soviet Union with the exhibition, installed the show, and gave daily gallery talks in Russian. In 1952, to promote art history, Halpert established the Edith Gregor Halpert Foundation. Its activities included assisting universities to fund scholarships for the study of contemporary American art and championing the rights of artists to control the sale and reproduction of their work. For her "outstanding contribution to American art," Halpert received the Art in America Award in 1959. She also received a USIA Citation for Distinguished Service in 1960, and the University of Connecticut awarded her its First Annual International Silver Prize for "distinguished contribution to the arts" in 1968.

In addition to being an art dealer, Edith Gregor Halpert was also a collector of contemporary American art and American folk art. For many years, Halpert and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., discussed a gift of a substantial number of paintings to form the nucleus of a new wing to be called the Gallery of 20th-Century American Art. After numerous disagreements and misunderstandings by both parties, the plan was abandoned. While negotiations were still in progress, the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection was exhibited in two installments, 1960 and 1962, at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. During the following two years, portions of her collection traveled to Santa Barbara, Honolulu, and San Francisco. Other exhibitions, drawn completely from the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection, include American Modernism: The First Wave, Painting from 1903-1933, presented at Brandeis University Museum of Art, 1963; Six Decades of American Art, shown at Leicester Galleries, London, 1965; Image to Abstraction, held at Amon Carter Museum, 1967; and Edith Halpert and the Downtown Gallery, exhibited at the University of Connecticut, 1968. The Edith Gregor Halpert Collection was eventually sold at auction by Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 1973.

Dr. Dianne's Tepfer's dissertation (1989) on Edith Gregor Halpert was an invaluable resource in arranging and describing the records of Downtown Gallery; her chronology was consulted often in constructing this Historical Note.

1900 -- born Edith Gregoryevna Fivoosiovitch to Gregor and Frances Lucom Fivoosiovitch, Odessa, Russia

1906 -- arrived in New York City with recently widowed mother and older sister; family name changed to Fivisovitch

1916 -- employed as a comptometer operator at Bloomingdale's department store; studied drawing with Leon Kroll and Ivan Olinsky at the National Academy of Design; further shortened name to Fein

1916-1917 -- attended life drawing and anatomy classes taught by George Bridgeman at the Art Students' League; employed in foreign and advertising offices, R. H. Macy department store

1917 -- met artist Samuel Halpert at John Weichsel's People's Art Guild

1917-1918 -- employed as advertising manager, Stern Brothers department store

1918-1919 -- employed as systematizer (efficiency expert), investment firm of Cohen, Goldman

1918 -- married Samuel Halpert

1919-1920 -- employed as systematizer, investment firm of Fishman & Co.; attended writing courses, Columbia University

1921-1925 -- employed as personnel manager, systematizer, and head of correspondence at investment banking firm of S. W. Strauss & Co.; eventually appointed to the board of directors

1924 -- first exposed to folk art at the home of sculptor Elie Nadelman

1925 -- visited Paris with Samuel Halpert (June-September)

1926 -- visited Ogunquit, Maine, with Samuel and was further exposed to antiques and folk art; other summer guests included artists Stefan Hirsch, Bernard Karfiol, Walt Kuhn, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Robert Laurent, Katherine Schmidt, Niles Spencer, and Marguerite and William Zorach; opened Our Gallery, devoted to modern American art, at 113 West 13th Street with business partner Berthe Kroll Goldsmith

1927 -- separated from Samuel, who moved to Detroit to teach at the Society for Arts and Crafts; changed name of Our Gallery to Downtown Gallery, at the suggestion of William Zorach

1928 -- Abby Aldrich Rockefeller first visited the Downtown Gallery; published George O. "Pop" Hart: 24 Selections from His Work by Holger Cahill, first of a projected series of ten Downtown Gallery monographs

1929 -- initiated divorce proceedings in Detroit; founded the American Folk Art Gallery, the first of its kind, with business; partners Berthe Kroll Goldsmith and Holger Cahill; served as organizer and director of the First Municipal Exhibition of American Art, Atlantic City

1930 -- divorce granted; present at the death of Samuel Halpert; opened the Daylight Gallery in a separate structure behind the Downtown Gallery specially designed to display works of art under optimal conditions; published Max Weber by Holger Cahill, second (and last) of the Downtown Gallery monographs

1931 -- opened the American Folk Art Gallery on second floor of the Downtown Gallery

1932 -- purchased house in Newtown, Connecticut; became extensively involved with Radio City Music Hall arts projects

1934 -- conceived, organized, and handled publicity for the First Municipal Art Exhibition, also called the Forum Exhibition, sponsored by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and held at Radio City Music Hall

1935 -- bought Goldsmith's share of the business and, as sole owner, reorganized the gallery

1936 -- served as adviser to WPA Federal Art Project, charged with developing the Exhibition and Allocation Program

1937 -- formed Bureau for Architectural Sculpture and Murals

1939 -- organized Nature-Vivre; exhibition of paintings by the rediscovered William Harnett, rekindling interest in trompe l'oeil painting

1940 -- Downtown Gallery moved to 43 East 51st Street; cataloged and installed the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Collection of American Folk Art at Williamsburg, Virginia

1941 -- American Negro Art, 19th and 20th Centuries

1945 -- Downtown Gallery moved to 32 East 51st Street; hired Charles Alan as assistant director

1946 -- Downtown Gallery began representing former Alfred Stieglitz artists Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, and Georgia O'Keeffe

1947-1949 -- embroiled in controversy over paintings with the signature of William Harnett but discovered to be the work of Harnett's student John Peto

1950 -- opened the John Marin Room, operated by John Marin, Jr.

1951 -- opened the Ground-Floor Room, for works by new artists

1952 -- established the Edith Gregor Halpert Foundation

1953 -- transferred representation of newer Downtown Gallery artists to the Alan Gallery

1954 -- published The ABCs for Collectors of Contemporary Art by John I. H. Baur

1959 -- traveled to Moscow as curator of the art section, "American National Exhibition," and gave daily gallery talks in Russian; received Art in America Award

1960 -- exhibited selections from the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; awarded USIA Citation for Distinguished Service and the Merit Award Emblem

1962 -- second exhibition of the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection at the Corcoran Gallery of Art; began discussions, ultimately abandoned, for the transfer and installation of a large gift of paintings from the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection to a special wing of the Corcoran Gallery of Art

1963 -- American Modernism: The First Wave, Painting from 1903-1933, an exhibition based entirely on the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection, Brandeis University Museum of Art

1965 -- Downtown Gallery moved to smaller quarters, Ritz Tower Concourse, 465 Park Avenue; open by appointment only; Six Decades of American Art, from the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection, Leicester Galleries, London

1967 -- Image to Abstraction, an exhibition based entirely on the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

1968 -- the Downtown Gallery ceased to be the exclusive representative of Abraham Rattner, Ben Shahn, Georgia O'Keffe, and Max Weber, and the estates of Stuart Davis, and Marguerite and William Zorach were withdrawn from the gallery; Edith Halpert and the Downtown Gallery exhibition at the Museum of Art, the University of Connecticut; awarded the First Annual International Silver Prize medal for "distinguished contribution to the arts," University of Connecticut

1970 -- died, New York City

1970-1973 -- the Downtown Gallery continued limited operation under the direction of niece, Nathaly Baum

1972-1978 -- the Downtown Gallery records donated to the Archives of American Art by Nathaly Baum, executor of the Edith Gregor Halpert estate

1973 -- Sotheby Parke-Bernet auction sale of the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection

1997-1999 -- arrangement, description, and microfilming of Downtown Gallery records and publication of this finding aid funded by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, Inc.
Appendix B: Chronological List of Downtown Gallery Exhibitions:
Below is a chronological listing of Downtown Gallery exhibitions, culled from catalogs and checklists, invitations and announcements, press releases, newspaper reviews, advertisements, lists compiled by gallery staff, and The Archives of American Art Collection of Exhibition Catalogs (1979). Exhibition titles indicated on the announcement or used in a published review sometimes differ from the title of the corresponding exhibition catalog or printed checklist. Catalogs or announcements for most shows will be found with the printed matter produced by the Downtown Gallery (Series 7.1), in the publicity notebooks (Series 3.3.), and/or with artist files (Series 2). Microfilm reel and frame number(s) are noted in parentheses for catalogs or exhibition announcements recorded in The Archives of American Art Collection of Exhibition Catalogs that are not among the Downtown Gallery records.

Undated -- Jan. 24-Feb. 12: American Landscapes: Paintings and Water Colors Mar. 3-28 [1964?]: Abraham Rattner: New Paintings, 1961-1963 June: Art for 13,000,000 Sept. 17-27: Abraham Rattner: Stained Glass Window Designed for the De Waters Art Center, Flint, Michigan

1926 -- Nov. [6-?}: Opening Exhibition: Small Works by Leading American Contemporary Artists Dec. [4-?]: The Christmas Exhibition, $10-50

1927 -- Jan. 8-Feb. 4: American Marines Jan. 8-Feb. 4: Print Room Selection Nov. 26-Dec. 9: Frank Osborn: Sculpture Lamps Nov. 26-Dec. 9: Stuart Davis May [10-?]: Portfolio Selection, $5-25 Dec. 10-31: American Print Makers Exhibition Nov. 3-23: "Pop" Hart: One-Man Show Oct. 13-Nov. 3: Ogunquit Exhibition: Summer Work by 12 Ogunquit Residents Mar. 1-19: George C. Ault: Water Colors and Drawings Feb. [5-?]: George Overbury "Pop" Hart Apr. [11-?]: Spring Exhibitions: Pictures Suggestive of the Season Mar. 21-Apr. 9: Walt Kuhn Lighographs: `New Trapeze Ladies'

1928 -- Feb. 14-Mar. 4: Walt Kuhn: Recent Works Jan. 24-Feb. 12: 75 Years of American Landscapes Mar. 6-25: Samuel Halpert: Recent Work Dec. 10-31: American Print Makers 2nd Annual Exhibition Jan. 3-22: Joseph Pollett: Recent Paintings and Watercolors Oct. 7-28: Paris by Americans Oct. 29-Nov. 17: Max Weber: New Lithographs, $10-50 Nov. 19-Dec. 8: George C. Ault: Paintings, $30-300 Apr. 23-May 13: May Flowers May 19-June 13: Art for Everybody, $10-50 Mar. 26-Apr. 15: Ernest Fiene: Lithographs Apr. 2-22: Marguerite Zorach: Paintings and Drawings

1929 -- Nov. [19-?]: Glenn Coleman: Temperas June 3-14: Oils, Sculpture, Water Colors, Monotypes, Drawings, Pottery May [14-?]: Joseph Pollet: Watercolors May [14-?]: Lithographs by A. Walkowitz Mar. 26-Apr. 14: José Orozco: Paintings of New York City Apr. 23-May 14: Walt Kuhn: Loan Paintings Feb. 12-Mar. 23: Stefan Hirsch: Paintings Mar. 4-Apr. 14: Duncan Ferguson: Sculpture Jan. 21-Feb. 10: Drawings by 8 American Artists (Hart, Karfiol, Kuhn, Pascin, Walkowitz, Weber, M. Zorach, and W. Zorach) Jan. 2-20: Ann Goldthwaite: Recent Work Dec. 10-31: American Print Makers 3rd Annual Exhibition Oct. 29-Nov. 17: Joseph Pollet: Recent Paintings Oct. 7-28: Americans Abroad (Davis, Fiene, Ganso, Hart, Hirsch, Pascin, and Wilenchick)

1930 -- Oct. [25-?]: Reuben Nakian: Sculpture Nov. 18-Dec. 16: Glenn Coleman: Paintings Sept. 30-Oct. 25: Summer Landscapes, 1930: Paintings by American Contemporary Artists Summer: Important Painting and Sculpture by Leading American Artists in the Daylight Gallery May 26-July 1: Small Painting, Sculpture, and Drawings by Leading American Contemporary Artists, $100 or Less Apr. 19-May 10: Daylight Gallery Opening Exhibition Oct. [25-?]: Julia Kelly: Painting Apr. [8-?]: Ben Shahn: Paintings and Drawings Mar. 11-30: Wood Gaylor: Paintings Feb. [11-?]: Marguerite Zorach: Recent Paintings of New England and New York Jan. 28-Feb. 15: 33 Moderns: The Downtown Gallery Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture, Watercolors, Drawings, and Prints by 33 American Contemporary Artists [at the Grand Central Galleries] Jan. [25-?]: Stuart Davis: Recent Paintings Dec. 8-31: American Print Makers 4th Annual Exhibition Jan. [2-?]: Abraham Walkowitz: Heads and Flowers May [10-?]: "Pop" Hart: Paintings from Africa and Europe

1931 -- Jan. 3-25: Jules Pascin Memorial Exhibition Jan. [27-?]: William Zorach: New Sculpture Feb. [14-?]: Joseph Pollett: Paintings Feb. 2-16: Isabella Howland: Paintings Dec. 14-31: American Ancestors: Masterpieces by Little Known and Anonymous American Painters, 1790-1890 Mar. 16-30: 7 Masters of Water Color (Demuth, Dickinson, Hart, Marin, Sheeler, Walkowitz, Zorach) Apr. [29-?]: Peggy Bacon: Caricature Portraits Mar. 31-Apr. 9: Stuart Davis: Recent Paintings Nov. [18-?]: Charles Sheeler: Recent Paintings May 12-31: Flowers: Paintings in Oil and Water Color by American Contemporary Artists Oct. 5-25: `Artists' Models,' Figure Paintings by Leading Contemporary American Artists June 2-22: Paintings, Water Colors, Drawings, Sculpture by Leading Contemporary American Artists Oct. 28-Nov. 17: Karl Knaths: Paintings Dec. 7-31: American Print Makers 5th Annual Exhibition

1932 -- May 31-June 30: Paintings and Sculpture by Outstanding American Artists Dec. 28-Jan. 14: William Zorach: Spirit of the Dance in Original Plaster Dec.: Christmas Exhibition: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture, $10-100 Feb. 20-Mar. 3: Peggy Bacon: Recent Paintings (N433: 515) Jan. 5-18: American Modern Art [arranged by the Downtown Gallery at Knoedler & Co., Inc., Chicago] Oct. 4-22: Prelude to the Season: New Paintings and Sculpture by American Contemporaries Dec. 9-31: Carl Walters: Sculpture and Pottery in Ceramic Jan. 5-24: Alexander Brook: Recent Paintings Jan. [24-?]: Paintings by Contemporary American Painters Feb. 23-Mar. 7: Wood Gaylor: Recent Paintings Oct. 4-22: Bernard Sanders: Graphics Dec. 5-31: American Print Makers 6th Annual Exhibition Feb. [24-?]: Winter in Maine: Recent Watercolors by William Zorach Mar. 22-Apr. 3: Joseph Pollet: Recent Paintings Nov. 18-Dec. 9: Stefan Hirsch: Recent Work--New York and Mexico Apr. 5-17: The Passion of Sacco-Vanzetti: Gouaches by Ben Shahn Apr. 19-May 15: Pictures of New England by a New Englander: Recent Paintings of Dogtown, Cape Ann, Mass., by Marsden Hartley [errata slip stapled to cover of the copy filmed on Br10: 660-663 indicates the dates were changed to Apr. 26-May 15, 1932] May 17-29: 3 Painters: Baum, Botkin, Schultz Oct. 25-Nov. 13: Dorothy Varian: Recent Paintings

1933 -- Jan. 17-Feb. 4: Bernard Karfiol: Paintings and Drawings Mar. 21-Apr. 8: Major Works by Distinguished American Artists Feb. [28-?]: Watercolors by Stuart Davis Feb. 27-Mar. 18: Reuben Nakian: Sculpture Portraits of 10 Artists Feb. 7-25: Yasuo Kuniyoshi: Recent Paintings Oct. 3-14: American Ancestors, 2nd Exhibition: Masterpieces by Little Known and Anonymous American Artists: 1720-1870 May 23-June 30: Paintings and Sculpture: Recent Works by Leading American Contemporaries, at $100 May 2-20: Ben Shahn: The Tom Mooney Case Apr. 11-29: Nicolai Cikovsky: Recent Paintings Nov. 14-Dec. 14: Drawings and Rare Prints by "Pop" Hart Dec. 5-31: American Print Makers 7th Annual Exhibition Oct. 24-Nov. 11: Painting and Sculpture by Leading Contemporaries

1934 -- Jan. 23-Feb. 10: Alexander Brook: Recent Paintings Feb. 13-Mar. 3: Babe Ruth by Reuben Nakian Jan. 3-20: Ernest Fiene: Painter of the American Scene Dec. 13-31: Practical Manifestations in American Art Apr. 3-21: Katherine Schmidt: Paintings Apr. 25-May 12: Stuart Davis: Recent Paintings Dec. [3-?]: Group Show Mar. 13-31: Recent Paintings by Joseph Pollet Oct. 1-14: Hamilton Easter Field Art Foundation Collection of Paintings and Sculpture Oct. 23-Nov. 3: Marguerite Zorach: Paintings and Drawings May 15-June 15: Paintings and Sculpture: Selected Works by Leading American Contemporaries, Extraordinary Values at $100 Dec. 3-29: American Print Makers 8th Annual Exhibition Feb. 20-Mar. 3: Recent Work by Peggy Bacon Nov. 20-Dec. 8: Peggy Bacon: `Off with Their Heads,' Caricature Portraits of 38 Contemporary American Celebrities Nov. 6-17: American Drawings: Recent Work by Charles Sheeler, John Marin, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Charles Locke, Stuart Davis, Alexander Brook

1935 -- May 1-18: Nakian: The New Deal in Portraiture Apr. 13-28: Reuben Nakian: Portrait Heads of the Present Administration May 21-June 14: Paintings and Sculpture by Leading American Artists Dec.: Carl Walters: Ceramic Sculpture and Pottery Mar. 12-30: Exhibition of 14 Paintings by 14 American Contemporaries Feb. 20-Mar. 9: Nicolai Cikovsky: Recent Paintings Apr. 10-27: Watercolor and Pastels by 14 American Artists Dec. 2-28: American Print Makers 9th Annual Exhibition Nov.: Ernest Fiene: Paintings Nov. [5-?]: American Folk Art: Recently Acquired Paintings and Sculpture Jan. 16-Feb. 2: Charles Burchfield and Charles Sheeler Dec. 11-28: Anne Goldthwaite: Murals of the South Jan. 16-Feb. 9: Bernard Karfiol: Watercolors and Drawings Oct. 22-Nov. 9: Opening Exhibition: Important Recent Painting and Sculpture May 21-June 14: $100 Exhibition: Extraordinary Values for Discriminating Collectors

1936 -- Oct. [28-?]: Tenth Anniversary Exhibition: American Art, 1800-1936 Dec. 13-24: American Print Makers 10th Anniversary Annual Exhibition (N428:304-305) Dec.: Christmas Gift Show Dec.: Ceramics by Carl Walters Feb. [25-?]: Watercolors by William Zorach Mar. 17-Apr. 4: Yasuo Kuniyoshi: Paintings May [5-?]: Joseph Pollet: Paintings May 26-June 12: Paintings and Sculpture: Recent Work by Leading American Contemporaries, Extraordinary Values at $100 Apr. 14-May 2: Portraits by 6 Contemporary and Early American Artists Jan. 30-Feb. 15: American Birds in Sculpture, 1785-1935 Jan. 6-25: Alexander Brooke: Paintings Dec. 2-31: Vital Statistics

1937 -- Dec. 7-31: Christmas Exhibition: Fine Works of Art as Original Gifts through June 25: Paintings and Sculpture, 1800-1937 Oct. 5-23: Paintings by 12 Younger Artists Oct. 19-Nov. 6: Fall Exhibition May 18-June 5: Joseph Steig: Watercolors May 5-29: Major Examples by Major Artists Apr. 13-May 1: Children in American Folk Art, 1725-1865: Children's Art, Their Portraits, and Their Toys Apr. [10-?]: Contemporary Americans Sept. 28-Oct. 9: American Folk Art Sculpture: Index of Design, WPA Federal Art Project Sept.: Drawings by the Index of American Design Oct. 20-Nov. 10: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art from the Downtown Gallery of New York, Sponsored by the Atlanta Georgian and Sunday American at the High Museum of Art Mar. 9-27: The 1920s: Oils, Sculpture, Watercolors, and Drawings by 18 American Contemporaries Mar. 30-Apr. 10: Younger Artists Nov.: Dorothy Varian: Paintings Feb. 9-27: American Dogs: Recent Portraits in Oil of Champion Dogs by Fenelle and Paintings and Sculpture Portraying Dogs of the Period 1820-1860 from the American Folk Art Gallery Jan. [15-?]: David Fredenthal Feb.: Group Show

1938 -- Oct. 4-22: Americans at Home: 32 Painters and Sculptors Sept. 4-22: Folk Art Apr. [27-?]: David Fredenthal: Paintings May 25-June 17: Art for the Summer House, $15-100 Apr. 5-23: Preston Dickinson, 1891-1930: 13 Pastels Dec. 6-30: Christmas Exhibition Mar. 16-Apr. 2: Paintings by Americans: New Paintings by Karfiol, Kuniyoshi, Sheeler, and Recent Oils by Marin and O'Keeffe Nov. [15-?]: Louis Guglielmi: Paintings Feb. 15-Mar. 5: 50 American Watercolors and Pastels, 1800-1938 Dec. 6-30: Carl Walters: Ceramic Sculpture Jan. 18-Feb. 15: American Genre Paintings, 1785-1887 Nov. 2-20: John Stenvall: Paintings Jan. 5-22: Isabella Howland: 25 Sculpture Heads Jan. 25-Feb. 11: Nicolai Cikovsky: Paintings Nov. 1-12: American Ancestors: Masterpieces in American Folk Art, 1720-1860 Nov. [2-?]: Georgia O'Keeffe: Paintings

1939 -- Oct. 3-14: Paintings on Velvet, 1800-1840 Feb. [14-?]: Nathaniel Kaz: Sculpture Nov. 7-25: Contemporary American Genre: 27 Painters and Sculptors Mar. [7-?]: Katherine Schmidt: Paintings May [8-?]: Group Show Jan. 24-Feb. 11: Yasuo Kuniyoshi: Paintings Dec. 6-30: Carl Walters: Ceramic Sculpture Jan. [24-?]: Jack Levine: Paintings Mar. 28-Apr. 15: William Steig: Sculpture June 7-30: American Art, Past and Present Apr. 18-May 16: William Harnett: `Nature-Vivre' Oct. [17-?]: John Marin: 20 Drawings Jan. 4-21: Important New Paintings by American Artists: Cikovsky, Karfiol, Marin,, O'Keeffe, Sheeler, and Varian Dec. 6-30: Christmas Exhibition: Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture, $100 or Less May [16-?]: Raymond Breinin: Paintings

1940 -- Jan. [3-?]: Mitchell Siporin: Paintings Jan. [23-?]: Rainey Bennett: Paintings Dec. 2-21: Charles Sheeler: `Power,' 6 Original Paintings Commissioned for Reproduction in the December 1940 Issue of Fortune(N433:550 551) Mar. [25-?]: Yasuo Kuniyoshi: Lithographs Mar. [25-?]: Group Show: Paintings Feb. [20-?]: Julien Levi: Paintings Mar. [18-?]: Gallery Group Dec. [9-?]: Christmas Exhibition Oct. 17-Nov. 16: Opening Exhibition [43 East 51st Street] May 13-24: Artist's Fund Exhibition Apr. 23-May 11: Review of the Season: Paintings by Leading American Artists

1941 -- Dec. 9-Jan. 3, 1942: American Negro Art: 19th and 20th Centuries Sept. 16-Oct. 11: American Folk Sculpture: Weather Vanes in Metal and Wood: 18th and 19th Centuries [?]-June 27: Summer Exhibition and William Harnett May 6-30: What Is Wrong with This Picture? Nov. 13-Dec. 6: Yasuo Kuniyoshi: Recent Paintings (Br10: 699-700) Nov. 11-Dec. 6: Bernard Karfiol Oct. 21-25: American Folk Art Sale Oct. 7-Nov. 1: New Examples by Leading American Artists Apr. 8-26: Spring: New Paintings by Outstanding Americans Feb. 25-Mar. 22: Masterpieces in American Folk Art Jan. 7-Feb. 1: The Painter Looks at Music Feb. 4-21: 13 American Paintings

1942 -- Oct. 13-31: Paintings, Cartoons, Photographs of the St. Louis Post Office Murals by Mitchell Siporin and Edward Millman Dec. 22-Jan. 9, 1943: Inter-American Folk Arts, 1700-1900: Paintings and Sculpture by Little Known and Anonymous Artists of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Mexico, Peru, U.S.A. Jan. 7-24: Watercolors and Drawings by Leading American Artists Feb. 3-28: Julian Levi Mar. 3-28: Battles & Symbols of the U.S.A.: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by American Folk Artists Apr. 7-May 2: Spring Exhibition: New Paintings and Newly Discovered Paintings by William M. Harnett Apr. 7-May 2: American Folk Art May 5-29: Yasuo Kuniyoshi: Retrospective Loan Exhibition, 1921-1941 (Br10: 703-705) June 10-26: Paintings, Sculpture, Drawings by Leading American Artists Sept. 22-Oct. 10: Opening Exhibition: New Paintings and Sculpture

1943 -- Jan. 12-30: Breinin: Recent Paintings (D55: 77) Mar. 2-27: William Zorach: Selected Sculpture (D57: 632-634) Mar. 31-Apr. 24: Spring Exhibition and American Folk Art June 8-25: Summer Exhibition: American Art Oct. 5-30: 18th Annual Exhibition: American Art Oct. 27-Nov. 20: Recent Paintings in Encaustic by Karl Zerbe Nov. 23-Dec. 11: Demuth, Dickinson, "Pop" Hart, Pascin

1944 -- Nov. 14-Dec. 2: Ben Shahn: Paintings in Tempera (Br10: 707-708) Feb. 1-12: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture Apr. 11-May 6: Spring: New Important Paintings & Sculpture by Leading Americans Feb. 15-Mar. 11: Horace Pippin May 31-June 30: Summer Exhibition May 9-27: William Zorach Oct. 3-28: 19th Annual Exhibition: American Art Sept. 13-30: American Folk Art from the Collection of Mrs. Isabel C. Wilde

1945 -- Jan. 3-20: Suba: First One-Man Exhibition of Paintings Mar. 6-31: Julian Levi Feb. 13-Mar. 3: George L. K. Morris: Paintings, 1944 and 1945, and Sculpture, 1934-1945 (Br10: 712-714) May 1-26: 19th Annual Spring Exhibition Apr. 3-28: Yasuo Kuniyoshi: New Paintings and Drawings Oct. 15-Nov. 3: Loan Exhibition Oct. 15-Nov. 3: 20th Anniversary [opening of new quarters on East 51st Street] Dec. 4-29: Christmas Exhibition Nov. 6-Dec. 1: 20th Annual Exhibition: American Art Dec. 4-29: Jacob Lawrence: John Brown, A Series of 22 Paintings in Gouache

1946 -- Dec. 3-31: Christmas Exhibition Sept. 4-21: Masterpieces in American Folk Art: Recently Discovered Examples Sept. 24-Oct. 19: 21st Annual Exhibition: New Paintings by Leading American Artists June: New Important Paintings by Leading Americans July 2-Aug. 30: Summer Exhibition: Recent Paintings and Sculpture... Combined with a Selection of Important American Folk Art Mar. 26-Apr. 13: Paul Burlin May 7-25: 6 Artists Out of Uniform: New Post-War Paintings by 6 Important Americans Jan. 29-Feb. 16: Stuart Davis Retrospective Exhibition: Gouaches, Watercolors, Drawings, 1912-1941 (N126: 369-370)

1947 -- Apr. 1-26: Spring 1947 Apr. 29-May 17: Boston/New York: First Exchange Exhibition [Boston portion at Downtown Gallery and New York portion at Boris Mirski Gallery, Boston] Feb. 4-Mar. 1: Important New Drawings Mar. 4-29: William Zorach Jan. 7-25: Arthur Dove Nov. 11-29: Niles Spencer Dec. 2-27: Christmas Exhibition Sept. 23-Oct. 18: 22nd Annual Exhibition Sept. 3-20: 20th-Century American Watercolors Aug. 12-29: Exhibition of American Folk Art: Recent Acquisitions June 10-Aug. 8: American Art, 1800-1947 and American Folk Art May 20-June 7: National Parks: A Fortune Portfolio

1948 -- Sept. 28-Oct. 23: 23rd Annual Exhibition Sept. 8-28: The American Family: Folk Paintings, 1750-1850 Aug. 10-Sept. 2: Marin - New York (N126: 407-408) June 29-Aug. 6: Art for the 8,060,000 May 10-20: Mexican Folk Art Apr. 13-May 1: William Harnett Centennial Exhibition Mar. 22-Apr. 3: American Art: A Multiple Exhibition Arranged by the Association of Dealers in American Art [Downtown Gallery participating] Jan. 20-Feb. 7: Paintings by Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jack Levine, John Marin, Ben Shahn Dec. 7-31: Christmas 1948 Nov. 16-Dec. 14: Jacques Maroger: Recent Paintings (N126: 411-412) undated: American Art... 20th Century Image to Abstraction [Amon Carter Museum; entire exhibition drawn from the collections of Edith Gregor Halpert and the Downtown Gallery] Dec. 7-31: William Zorach

1949 -- Nov. 15-Dec. 3: Reuben Tam Dec. 6-24: Christmas Exhibition May 10-28: Mexican Folk Art July 6-29: Art and/or Money Sept. 7-24: Important Paintings and Sculpture by Little Known and Unknown Artists of the 18th and 19th Century Oct. 3-22: 24th Annual Exhibition Mar. 15-Apr. 2: Paul Burlin Apr. 5-23: The Artist Speaks Apr. 25-10: 26 Teenage Artists Presented by Seventeen Magazine May 3-21: Arthur G. Dove: Watercolors, 1929-1946 (N126: 424) Sept. 7-24: American Folk Art

1950 -- Apr. 25-May 13: In 1950... Jan. 23-28: Creative Art for Commerce Dec. 5-23: Christmas Exhibition Oct. 24-Nov. 11: Jacob Lawrence (D56: 298-300) May 16-June 2: A Museum Collection: American Folk Sculpture Apr. 4-22: Yasuo Kuniyoshi Sept. 26-Oct. 21: 25th Annual Exhibition: New Paintings and Sculpture June: Art for 13,000,000 Jan. 31-Feb. 18: Ralston Crawford Dec. 27-Jan. 27, 1951: John Marin Mar. 14-Apr. 1: In 1940... Feb. 21-Mar. 11: Aquamedia

1951 -- Dec. 11-29: Christmas Exhibition May 1-19: Newcomers: Paintings by Artists from 15 States Nov. 20-Dec. 8: O. Louis Guglielmi Apr. 3-28: Spring 1951 Oct. 2-27: 26th Annual Exhibition: New Paintings and Sculpture by Leading American Artists July 10-Aug. 17: Summer Exhibition: American Art Sept. 5-22: Contemporary American Drawings June 12-29: Masterpieces in American Folk Art Mar. 13-31: Charles Sheeler: Paintings, 1949-1951 Feb. 20-Mar. 1: William Zorach: Sculpture, 1947-1951

1952 -- Oct. 28-Nov. 15: Niles Spencer Oct. 14-Nov. 15: The Ground-Floor Room 2nd Annual Exhibition Dec. 9-27: Stuart Davis and Yasuo Kuniyoshi Mar. 11-29: Ben Shahn: Paintings (D56: 1075-1076) Mar. 4-20: Recent Arrivals Jan. 2-26: John Marin: Oils and Watercolors June 3-27: Art for the 67% May 12-29: Lithographs, Woodcuts, Theorems, Serigraphs, and Other Prints by Leading American Artists Apr. 22-May 10: Arthur G. Dove Apr. 1-19: Spring '52 Oct. 1-25: 27th Annual Exhibition Nov. 18-Dec. 16: Shop for Art Early at the Downtown Gallery Sept. 9-27: American Amateur Art of 100 Years Ago July 1-Aug. 1: Pertaining to Summer: An Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Leading American Artists

1953 -- Jan. 7-Feb. 14: Performance: A New Series of Paintings in Tempera by Jacob Lawrence Feb. 17-Mar. 7: Celebrating the Tercentenary of New York, MDCLIII - MCMLIII: Paintings of New York by Leading American Artists Apr. 21-May 9: David Aronson May 12-29: 8 Younger Artists Mar. 10-28: Paul Burlin Mar. 31-Apr. 18: Reuben Tam Nov. 17-Dec. 7: Art in the Office Dec. 8-31: Art Gems for Christmas Sept. 22-Oct. 17: 28th Annual Exhibition: Recent Paintings and Sculpture Oct. 20-Nov. 14: Yasuo Kuniyoshi: Ink Paintings

1954 -- Sept. 14-Oct. 2: Artists of Chicago May 25-June 25: Summer 1954 Nov. 9-20: Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture: A Benefit Exhibition by Its Faculty and Visiting Artists for the Scholarship Fund Oct. 5-30: 29th Annual Exhibition: New Paintings and Sculpture Nov. 23-Dec. 24: Christmas Exhibition Apr. 6-May 1: Dove and Demuth: Watercolor Retrospective May 4-22: American Folk Art: Painting and Sculpture Feb. 2-27: International Exhibition: American, Belgian, British, Canadian, French, Italian, Mexican Painters under 40 Mar. 2-31: Stuart Davis: Recent Paintings

1955 -- Mar. 20-Apr. 23: Georgia O'Keeffe May 24-June 11: Gallery Purchases: Contemporary Art Apr. 26-May 21: Spring 1955 Sept. 13-Oct. 1: Painters of Los Angeles June 14-30: Gallery Purchases: American Folk Art Nov. 1-26: Arthur Dove: Collages Oct. 4-29: 30th Annual Exhibition Dec. 28-Jan. 21, 1956: William Zorach: A Selection, 1914-1955

1956 -- May 1-26: Bernard Karfiol: The Figure (N126L529-531) May 29-June 29: Spring 1956 Sept. 5-29: Americans in Europe Oct. 9-Nov. 3: 31st Annual Exhibition Nov. 6-Dec. 1: Stuart Davis: Exhibition of Recent Paintings, 1954-1956 Dec. 4-22: 31st Annual Christmas at the Downtown Gallery Jan. 31-Feb. 25: The Recurrent Image Apr. 3-28: Charles Sheeler: Selections from the Collection of the William H. Lane Foundation Feb. 28-Mar. 24: Arthur Dove: Paintings

1957 -- Dec. 31-Jan. 25, 1958: 32nd Annual Exhibition [?]-May 4: Spring Exhibition Dec. 9-21: Art Our Children Live With: A Loan Exhibition of American Art Jan. 8-Feb. 7: Max Weber Feb. 12-Mar. 2: New Acquisitions: Wm. M. Harnett (1848-1892) Feb. 12-Mar. 2: American Folk Art: Paintings and Sculpture Mar. 2-30: New Mexico as Painted by Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, John Marin, Georgia O'Keeffe, John Sloan May 7-31: Important Drawings by Leading American Artists June 4-28: Summer 1957 Oct. 7-Nov. 2: Group Show Nov. 5-27: Last Judgments by Abraham Rattner (D203: 76) Nov. 25-Dec. 7: 32nd Annual Christmas at the Downtown Gallery

1958 -- Sept. 30-Oct. 11: Arthur Dove: Watercolors June 9-27: 100 Church Street, `Portrait of a Building' by 10 American Artists May 20-June 7: Charles Demuth Apr. 29-May 10: Spring 1958 Mar. 5-Apr. 19: Charles Sheeler Jan. 28-Feb. 21: C. S. Price Dec. 8-27: 33rd Annual Christmas Exhibition Nov. 11-Dec. 6: Max Weber: The Figure in Retrospect, 1906-1958 Oct. 14-Nov. 8: 33rd Annual Exhibition

1959 -- Dec. 8-24: Ben Shahn: Silk-Screen Prints Dec. 29-Jan. 23, 1960: New Acquisitions Oct. 20-Nov. 14: 34th Annual Exhibition Nov. 17-Dec. 5: 34th Annual Christmas at the Downtown Gallery Sept. 22-Oct. 17: The Dial and the Dial Collection: A Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture & Graphics by 30 American Artists Apr. 29-June 2: Spring 1959 Apr. 7-25: Robert Osborn Mar. 3-28: Ben Shahn Jan. 6-31: New Acquisitions: American Folk Art Painting and Sculpture

1960 -- Feb. 23-Mar. 19: Gallery Group Mar. 22-Apr. 9: Jack Zajac Mar. 11-[?]: Signs & Symbols, U.S.A., 1760-1960 Jan. 21-Feb. 20: 7 Artists in Hawaii Dec. 5-24: Robert Osborn: Paintings and Drawings from `The Vulgarians' Nov. 8-Dec. 3: Abraham Rattner Dec. 5-24: 35th Annual Christmas at the Downtown Gallery through June 30: Summer 1960 Oct. 11-Nov. 5: 35th Annual Exhibition Apr. 19-may 7: Tseng Yu-Ho May 10-June 4: Stuart Davis

1961 -- June 13-30: Selections 1961 May 16-June 9: Spring 1961 Dec. 4-23: 36th Annual Christmas at the Downtown Gallery Sept. 12-Oct. 7: New Acquisitions Feb. 15-Mar. 11: Aquamedia in American Art Jan. 25-Feb. 11: Yasuo Kuniyoshi Apr. 11-May 2: Gallery Group Mar. 15-Apr. 8: Alfred Duca Jan. 9-Feb. 6: New Acquisitions

1962 -- Nov. 3-28: Robert Osborn Dec. 3-22: 37th Annual Christmas at Downtown Gallery May 22-June 15: 36th Annual Spring Exhibition: The Figure Apr. 24-May 19: Stuart Davis Oct. 16-Nov. 10: 37th Anniversary Exhibition Sept. 25-Oct. 13: American Roots: Folk Art in Painting and Sculpture Feb. 27-Mar. 17: Robert Osborn: Clowns and Non-Clowns Jan. 9-27: Tseng Yu-Ho: 18 Dsui Paintings Mar. 27-Apr. 21: Abstract Painting in America, 1903-1923 Mar. 10-31: Max Weber Memorial Exhibition

1963 -- Mar. 12-Apr. 16: Signs & Symbols * U.S.A., 1780-1960 May 7-[?]: Max Weber Dec. 2-21: 38th Annual Christmas at Downtown Gallery June 11-July 3: Summer 1963 Apr. 9-May 3: Spring 1963 Jan. 8-Feb. 2: John Marin Oct. 1-26: 38th Anniversary Exhibition Oct. 29-Nov. 16: Ben Shahn: Retrospective Exhibition, Paintings and Drawings, 1901-1958 Oct. 29-Nov. 16: Homage to e. e. cummings Oct. 29-Nov. 16: Gallery Group Aug. 6-Sept. 15: Loan Exhibition from the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection [Santa Barbara Museum of Art] Nov. 7-Dec. 8: Loan Exhibition from the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection [Honolulu Academy of Arts] Sept. 9-14: Visual Art by Performing Artists Dec. 3-Jan. 7, 1964: American Signs and Symbols

1964 -- Sept. 9-Oct. 3: 20th Century American Drawings Oct. 6-31: 39th Anniversary Exhibition Dec. 1-24: 39th Annual Christmas at the Downtown Gallery Jan. 11-Feb. 9: Loan Exhibition from the Edith Gregor Halpert Collection [California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco] Jan. 28-Feb. 21: George L. K. Morris Mar. 3-28: Supplement to the Rattner Exhibition May 12-June 5: New York City: Paintings, 1913-1963, by American Artists

1965 -- Jan. 5-23: Charles Sheeler and Yasuo Kuniyoshi Nov. 30-Dec. 18: Warner Brothers Co. Mural by Willard Cummings and Emilio A. Serio Mar. 23-Apr. 17: John Storrs Sept. 8-Oct. 2: A Gallery Survey of American Art [inaugural show, Ritz Tower Concourse, 465 Park Avenue] Nov. 3-20: Edward Stasack Nov. 30-Dec. 18: 40th Annual Christmas at the Downtown Gallery

1966 -- Nov. 5-Dec. 12: Morris Broderson Oct. 18-Nov. 12: 41st Anniversary Exhibition: Contemporary American Art Mar. 1-26: Balthus: New Paintings, 1963-1966 May 3-27: Charles Sheeler Sept. 20-Oct. 8: "Popular Art" in America, 18-19th Century

1967 -- Apr. 18-May 13: John Storrs Mar. 15-Apr. 8: Arthur Dove Nov. 7-25: O. Louis Guglielmi Sept. 26-Oct. 21: 42nd Anniversary Exhibition Feb. 14-Mar. 11: George L. K. Morris Jan. 10-Feb. 14: William Zorach: The Last Decade Dec.: Gallery Group

1968 -- Sept. 10-Oct. 5: 43rd Anniversary Exhibition

1969 -- Mar.: The Performing Arts
Related Material:
Berman, Avis. Pioneers in American Museums: Edith Halpert. Museum News 54, no. 2 (November/December 1975): 34-37, 61-64.

Bragazzi, Olive. The Story Behind the Rediscovery of William Harnett and John Peto by Edith Halpert and Alfred Frankenstein. American Art Journal 15, no. 3 (Spring 1984): 51-65.

Tepfer, Diane. Edith Gregor Halpert and the Downtown Gallery/Downtown, 1926-1940: A Study in American Art Patronage. Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1989.

Edith Gregor Halpert, interview by Harlan Phillips, 1962-1963. Oral History Program, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Edith Gregor Halpert, interview by Harlan Phillips, January 20, 1965. New Deal and the Arts Project, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Edith Gregor Halpert, lecture delivered at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, October 19, 1959, on the 1959 American National Art Exhibition in Moscow. Tape-recorded by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, and transcribed by the the Downtown Gallery staff.

In addition, the Archives of American Art has among its collections personal papers and oral history interviews of artists and collectors associated with the Downtown Gallery. Researchers are advised to conduct a name search in the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS).
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (ND-1- ND-71), the mojority of which was subsequently donated. Loaned materials not donated at a later date remain with the lender and are not described in the container listing of this finding aid.
Provenance:
Between 1957 and 1967, the Downtown Gallery loaned portions of its records to the Archives of American Art for microfilming. Because the microfilming was done in increments, the material was not always filmed in logical sequence, and overlapping and duplication of records occurred. Since files loaned for microfilming were, for the most part, still working records used to conduct ongoing gallery business, their contents changed and shifted over time. After Edith Halpert's death in 1970, the records of the Downtown Gallery were received by the Archives of American Art, 1972-1978, as a gift from her niece and executor, Nathaly Baum. In addition to the previously microfilmed material, the gift includes correspondence, inventories and sales records, financial records, photographs, and printed matter, as well as artifacts.One additional document received 2016 by Karen Freeman, daughter of Arthur H. Freeman, who did business at L.D. Landau and Co. Freeman represented halpert as an insurance agent.
Restrictions:
The microfilm of this collection has been digitized and is available online via the Archives of American Art website.
Rights:
The Downtown Gallery records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 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. Prior to publishing information regarding sales transactions, researchers are responsible for obtaining written permission from both artist and purchaser involved. If it cannot be established after a reasonable search whether an artist or purchaser is living, it can be assumed that the information may be published sixty years after the date of sale.
Topic:
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Fraktur art  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States  Search this
Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Printmakers -- United States  Search this
Sculptors -- United States  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Painters -- United States  Search this
Artists -- United States  Search this
Weather vanes  Search this
Chalkware  Search this
Figureheads of ships  Search this
Folk art -- United States  Search this
Folk artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Video recordings
Photographs
Motion pictures (visual works)
Citation:
Downtown Gallery records, 1824-1974, bulk 1926-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.downgall
See more items in:
Downtown Gallery records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-downgall
Online Media:

Eakins and photography reconsidered / by Robert R. Newlen

Creator:
Newlen, Robert R.  Search this
Names:
Eakins, Thomas, 1844-1916  Search this
Extent:
69 Pages ((on 1 partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
Thesis (M.A.)-American University, Washington, D.C., 1979.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert R. Newlen was an art historian from Washington, D.C.
Provenance:
Donated by Newlen, 1979.
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 -- United States  Search this
Photographers -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Art and photography  Search this
Motion study  Search this
Photography, Artistic  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.newlrobe
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a0dd9cff-7c88-4341-b667-1015b72173bc
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-newlrobe

Ed Colker papers

Creator:
Colker, Ed, 1927-  Search this
Names:
Atelier Desjobert  Search this
Haybarn Press  Search this
United States. Army  Search this
Barnet, Will, 1911-2012  Search this
Johnson, J. Curtis  Search this
Konner, Melvin  Search this
Norris, Kathleen, 1947-  Search this
Pease, Deborah  Search this
Takaezu, Toshiko  Search this
Walker, Jeanne Murray  Search this
Extent:
3.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Date:
1944-2020
Summary:
The papers of painter, printmaker, educator and administrator Ed Colker are dated 1944-2020 and measure 3.4 linear feet. Colker's painting, printmaking, and Haybarn Press, as well as his career as an art teacher and university administrator, are documented through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, subject files, printed material, and photographs. There is a 0.2 linear ft. addition to the collection donated in 2020 that includes lists of works of art, exhibition information, letters to Colker, talks and lecutres by Colker, printed material and miscellany.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, printmaker, educator and administrator Ed Colker are dated 1944-2020 and measure 3.4 linear feet. Colker's painting, printmaking, and Haybarn Press, as well as his career as an art teacher and university administrator, are documented through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, subject files, printed material, and photographs. There is a 0.2 linear ft. addition to the collection donated in 2020 that includes lists of works of art, exhibition information, letters to Colker, talks and lecutres by Colker, printed material and miscellany.

Biographical materials include official letters regarding Colker's performance in the Army, caricatures of him, diplomas, resume, awards, and certificates.

Correspondence, mainly professional in nature with a few scattered personal letters, concerns Colker's academic and artistic work, Haybarn Editions, exhibitions, projects, and various interests. Poet correspondents are J. Curtis Johnson, Kathleen Norris, Deborah Pease, and Jeanne Walker; translators include Melvin Konner and others.

Interviews with Ed Colker, conducted between 1982 and 2008 for various purposes, are preserved as 1 sound cassette and published transcripts. Also found are 1 sound cassette, 1 videocassette, and a published transcript of interviews Colker conducted with Will Barnet and Toshiko Takaezu in 1981 and 1994 respectively.

Among Colker's writings are the published versions of several articles and the manuscript of an unpublished one; two proposed books for students of design and typography; lectures delivered to students (3 videocassettes), miscellaneous writings, notes, and 1 videocassete of readings by artists from one of Colker's Haybarn Press poetry portfolios.

Subject files document many of Colker's professional interests, activities, projects, and relationships. Also of note are files about Haybarn Press.

The bulk of the printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, and school catalogs. Almost all is about or mentions Colker, or features reproductions of his work. Of note is the first and only issue of Re-Art: A Reflection of Current Ideas on the Arts (1954), published by Colker and Gene Feldman.

Photographs are of Colker and his family; Colker at events related to his artistic, academic, and publishing activities; artwork by Colker, and his work as reproduced in Haybarn Editions. Also found are an exterior view of the barn studio and one of printers working at Desjobert Press.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1946-circa 2011 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 2: Correspondence,1954-2011 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 3: Interviews, 1981-2008 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, 1961-1990s (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Subject files, 1952-2013 (Boxes 2-3; 1.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material,1944-2011 (Box 3; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1960s-2010 (Box 4; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 8: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1963-2020 (Box 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Ed Colker (b. 1927) is a painter, printmaker, educator, and administrator who has worked in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City. Colker founded the not-for-profit fine art publisher Haybarn Press. He is married to artist Elaine Galen and resides in Mt. Kisco, NY.

After high school, Colker was awarded a scholarship and began his art education at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Arts. He interrupted his studies to serve in the U.S. Army (1944-1946). He graduated in 1949, by which time the school had become the Philadelphia Museum School of Art; today it is the University of the Arts. He taught art in the Philadelphia area before moving to New York City in 1956. Later, Colker earned degrees from New York University (B.S. Ed, 1964; M.A., 1985).

Colker taught art and design courses at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Cornell University, Pratt Institute, and Philadelphia College of Art. By the 1980s, he had become an administrator as well as a professor. Throughout his academic career, Colker published and lectured widely, served as a visiting artist, acted as a consultant, and participated in professional organizations. He occasionally organized exhibitions and served on exhibition juries.

Since 1960, under the imprints Editions du Grenier, Haybarn Editions, and Haybarn Press, Colker has published limited edition books, portfolios, broadsides, individual pages, and folders of poetry. Most are accompanied by Colker's etchings and lithographs inspired by the texts. Haybarn Press, under the Ambor Edition imprint, also produced four portfolios with text and drawings by Elaine Galen, 1996-2008. From its inception, the work of Haybarn Press has been featured in many exhibitions of book arts. Colker also participated in group shows throughout the United States and enjoyed solo exhibitions of his paintings and prints. Haybarn Press productions and Colker's prints and paintings are in the permanent collections of Brown University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, New York Public Library, University of Arizona Museum of Art, and others.

Now retired from university administration and teaching, Colker continues to operate Haybarn Press and occasionally serves as an exhibition juror and visiting artist.
Provenance:
Donated by Ed Colker in 1991, 2013 and 2020.
Restrictions:
Use of original material 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.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- United States  Search this
Painters -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Printmakers -- United States  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Printing  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Transcripts  Search this
Design  Search this
Educators -- United States  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Identifier:
AAA.colked
See more items in:
Ed Colker papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9677cefb0-ea6d-4565-b7ac-2fe91567811e
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-colked

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