REEL N736: Five volumes of the Sunday art pages of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1922-1935.
REELS 3094-3096: Biographical data; correspondence with Samuel Reyburn, President of Lord and Taylor, concerning an exhibition of modern French decorative art; letters from Eugene Speicher and others and one from Rockwell Kent, 1946, discussing his relationship with Robert Henri; a transcript from the New York School Art League broadcast "Meet the Artist" in which Read discusses portrait painting; notes, lectures and articles; 4 scrapbooks containing biographical data, letters, exhibition invitations and catalogs from Portraits, Inc. and other galleries, clippings, her articles for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Smith College memorabilia and photographs; photographs of portraits, Read, her friends and family; and lecture announcements.
Biographical / Historical:
Art critic for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and gallery director of Portraits, Inc., Portrait Center of America, New York, N.Y.
Related Materials:
Materials of Helen Appleton Read, 1922-1972, are also located at Smith College.
Provenance:
Material on reels 3094-3096 donated by Helen Read Trent, Read's daughter, 1975. Scrapbooks on reel N736 lent for microfilming by Helen Appleton Read, 1967. Read subsequently donated them to Smith College.
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:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Gallery directors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Leonard Bocour conducted 1978 June 8, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Bocour speaks of his early interest in art; early influences on him, especially Emil Ganso; studying at the Art Students League; his beginning in the paint business; artists he became acquainted with including Leon Kroll, Eugene Speicher, Milton Avery, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko; the growth of his business, Bocour Artist Colors; technical changes in his product; the early use of acrylic paint; and his philosophies of collecting art work.
Biographical / Historical:
Leonard Bocour (1910-1993) was an art collector and paint manufacturer of New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 4 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Paint industry and trade -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Correspondence, mostly dated prior to 1912; a journal kept by Mrs. Speicher covering a European tour in the 1920's; account books; photographs; and clippings.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait, figure, landscape, and still life painter and draftsman; New York, N.Y.
Related Materials:
Eugene E. Speicher papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Correspondence, sketchbooks, diaries, writings, printed material, photographs, and scrapbooks.
REEL 1033: Letters, including 2 from George Bellows and 17 from Eugene Speicher.
REELS 1118-1119: Biographical data and certificates; correspondence with many American artists; a European diary, 1909; writings, lectures and notes by and about Rosen; records of his paintings; sketches and sketchbooks; scrapbooks; exhibition catalogs, clippings and art school catalogs; and reproductions of portraits of Rosen.
REEL 1130: Photographs of Rosen as a young man, teaching and working, and with friends. Other photographs include the Carnegie Institute Jury, 1931; Rosen's friends, many of whom are American artists at Woodstock; Seminole Indians and a mural in Florida; and people and houses in Texas.
Photographs of artists include George Bellows, Ernest Blumenschein, Dennis Burlingame, Jo Cantine, John Carroll, Konrad Cramer, Andrew Dasburg, Randall Davey, Buckminster Fuller, Wendell Jones, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Henri E. Le Sidaner, Jonas Lie, Eugene D. Ludins, Ethel Magafan, Henry Mattson, Henry McFee, Paul Nash, Homer Saint-Gaudens, Judson Smith, Eugene Speicher, John Striebel, and Carl Walters.
Biographical / Historical:
Landscape painter, printmaker, instructor; Woodstock, N.Y. Studied at the National Academy of Design with Chase and DuMond. Associate Member and Academician, National Academy of Design. Painted murals for the United States Post Offices in Beacon and Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and Palm Beach, Fla.
Provenance:
Material on reel 1033 lent for microfilming by Katherine Rosen Warner, Rosen's daughter, 1975. Other material donated by Warner, 1975.
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:
Landscape painters -- New York -- Woodstock Search this
Topic:
Artists -- United States -- Photographs Search this
Landscape painting -- New York (State) Search this
Mural painting and decoration -- 20th century -- Florida -- Palm Beach -- Photographs Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- Woodstock Search this
Biographical material; files on Alexander Brook, Charles Burchfield, George Luks, Peppino Mangravite, Henry Lee McFee, Maurice Prendergast, Eugene Speicher, Theodoros Stamos, and others whose work Root collected, containing correspondence, catalogs, checklists, clippings, receipts, and notes; correspondence with Harris K. Prior and Joseph Trovato of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Lydia Powell, William Roerick, Carl Zigrosser, galleries, dealers, and museum officials; inventories, correspondence, notes, catalogs, and clippings relating to Root's collection; writings; diaries; sketches by Root; files on the Utica Art Society; and photographs of Root, his home, his art collection and exhibitions.
Biographical / Historical:
Art collector and instructor; Clinton, N.Y. Collector of predominately American avant-garde art. Taught art at Hamilton College. Edward is the son of Elihu Root.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming by the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1981.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Director, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. 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.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
Correspondence of director Wilbur D. Peat. Many of the letters are from well-known artists of the 1920s and 1930s relating to their contributions to an exhibition of American paintings which Peat was assembling in 1932-1933. [Microfilm title: The Herron Museum of Art]
Correspondents include: Dewey Albinson, A. S. Baylinson, Wenona Day Bell, Thomas H. Benton, George Biddle, Peter Blume, Ernest Blumenschein, C. Curry Bohm, Adolphe Borie, George H. Borst, Robert Brackman, Samuel Brecher, Alexander Brook, Charles E. Burchfield, Varaldo J. Carian, Mrs. E. F. Carpenter, John Carroll, Nicolai Cikovsky, Antonio Cirino, Charles Val Clear, Max B. Cohen, John S. Curry, Randall Davey, Charles H. Davis, Edwin Dickinson, Paul Dougherty, Susan M. Eakins, Henry S. Eddy, Virginia B. Evans, Jerry Farnsworth, Ernest Fiene, John K. Fitzpatrick, John F. Folinsbee, Anton P. Fabrick, Charlotte Gailor, Daniel Garber, Robert F. Gilder, William J. Glackens, John R. Grabach, Charles T. Greener, Charles P. Gruppe,
Eugene Higgins, Edward Hopper, Bernard A. Hunger, Henry G. Keller, Fanny M. King, Georgina Klitgaard, Leon Kroll, Max Kuehne, Georges La Chance, Luigi Lucioni, Reginald Marsh, Henry E. Mattson, Henry Lee McFee, Miriam McKinnie, Clarence Millet, Ross E. Moffett, Francis Mora, Frederick Mulhaupt, Jerome Myers, Watson Nayland, Warren Newcombe, Waldo Peirce, Van Dearing Perrine, Robert Philipp, Abraham Phillips (Tromka), Majorie Phillips, Paul A. Plaschke, Edward Redfield, Doel Reed, Charles Rosen, Edward B. Rowan, Olive Rush, Chauncey Ryder, Eugene F. Savage, Henry Schnakenberg, Zoltan Sepeshy, Edward Sewall, Leopold Seyffert, Nan Sheets, Simka Simkhovitch, Clyde J. Singer, Judson Smith,
Eugene Speicher, Francis Speight, Maurice Sterne, Alfred Stieglitz (letter written on the back of Peat's letter to Georgia O'Keeffe and written for her), Elizabeth O'Neill Verner, Ferdinand E. Warren, Frederick Judd Waugh, Max Weber, Lois Wilcox, Arnold Wiltz, Grant Wood, and Harold Holmes Wrenn.
Biographical / Historical:
The John Herron Art Institute became the Indianapolis Museum of Art ca. 1969-1970. Peat was director 1929-1965.
Other Title:
Herron Museum of Art [microfilm title, reel D131]
Provenance:
Donated 1962 by the John Herron Museum of Art.
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.
Letters to Brauner, mainly from artists invited to participate in exhibitions arranged by Brauner at Cornell University. Prominent correspondents include: Giffford Beal, George Bellows, Frank Benson, Karl Bitter, Edith Burroughs, Emil Carlson, John Carlson, Charles Caffin, Arthur Crisp, Randall Davey, Paul Dougherty, Daniel Garber, Lillian Genth, William Glackens, Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, Charles Hopkinson, Henry Hubbell, John Johansen, William Sargent Kendall; Leon Kroll, Jonas Lie, William Macbeth, William Mason, Gari Melchers, Willard Metcalf, Leonard Ochtman, Bela Lyon Pratt, Maurice Prendergast, A. Phimister Proctor, Edward Redfield, William Ritschel, Walter Sargent, Eugene Speicher, Robert Spencer, D. W. Tryon, C. Howard Walker, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Judd Waugh, and others.
Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically.
Biographical / Historical:
Olaf Brauner (1869-1947) was a portrait painter, occasional sculptor, and first professor of art at Cornell University.
Provenance:
The donor, Erling Brauner, is Olaf Brauner's son.
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.
The scattered papers of painter Ernest Lawson measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1907 to 1967. The papers consist of family correspondence with daughter Margaret, and between Margaret and her mother Ella Lawson; a dismantled scrapbook containing exhibition announcements, catalogs, and clippings; and a 1937 photograph of a group of artists at a dinner at the Salmagundi Club honoring Lawson along with a photograph of a work of art by Lawson signed by the numerous artists attending the dinner, including Victor C. Anderson, George Elmer Browne, Gordon Grant, Eugene Higgens, Ivan G. Olinsky, Eugene Speicher, Guy Wiggens, and Keith Shaw Williams, among others.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers of painter Ernest Lawson measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1907 to 1967. The papers consist of family correspondence with daughter Margaret, and between Margaret and her mother Ella Lawson; a dismantled scrapbook containing exhibition announcements, catalogs, and clippings; and a 1937 photograph of a group of artists at a dinner at the Salmagundi Club honoring Lawson along with a photograph of a work of art by Lawson signed by the numerous artists attending the dinner, including Victor C. Anderson, George Elmer Browne, Gordon Grant, Eugene Higgens, Ivan G. Olinsky, Eugene Speicher, Guy Wiggens, and Keith Shaw Williams, among others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 1 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Ernest Lawson papers, 1907-1967 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 2-4)
Biographical / Historical:
Ernest Lawson (1873-1939) was painter active in New York City and member of the group of American early modernist painters known as "The Eight."
Lawson returned to the United States in 1896 and transitioned from his Impressionist style to a Realist style, painting primarily cityscapes. Lawson had his first solo exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1907 and won a prize for a winter landscape. Lawson joined the group painters that would become known as "The Eight," whose members included Robert Henri, William Glackens, John Sloan, George Luks, Everett Shinn, Arthur B. Davies, and William Prendergast. These painters protested that the exhibition system in New York was a closed system that did not welcome change and modern style. In 1908, Macbeth Galleries staged the seminal show of the "The Eight."
Lawson married Ella Holman and they had two daughters Margaret and Dorothy. Lawson tragically drowned in Florida in 1939.
Provenance:
Margaret Lawson Bensco donated her father's papers in 1976. In 1985, Lawson's granddaughter Alice Simon donated the 1937 photograph of artists at the Salmagundi Club and the photograph of a work of art by Lawson signed by numerous artists.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Research Center in Washington, D.C. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
18 Items (Reel 3134: (on a partial microfilm reel))
0.3 Linear feet (Unfilmed)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Date:
1928-1964
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material (1928-1950), 6 letters (1953), 2 scrapbooks (1929-1964), printed material (1929-1964) and photographs concern the life and career of Henry Lee McFee.
Reel 3134: Photographs show McFee (1929) and 5 of his paintings. Printed material consists of 8 reproductions of his works and 4 clippings (1950-1964).
Unfilmed: Biographical material consists of 5 award and membership certificates (1928-1950). Letters consist of one Christmas card and 5 letters of condolence (1953). Printed material consists of clippings (1929-1950), reproductions of works of art, and a poster. Photographs show McFee, his studio, and his works.
Unfilmed: Two scrapbooks contain photographs of McFee and his works. One also includes photographs of gallery installations and printed reproductions of his works (1931-1950). The other, assembled by McFee's step-daughter, also contains clippings (1929-1964), 2 exhibition catalogs (undated and 1949), an advertisement and annotated galley proof for a book of reproductions of McFee's paintings (1950), 2 typescripts on painting by McFee, and photographs of colleagues including Charles Rosen, Eugene Speicher, and Will Henry Stevens.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter. After graduation from Kemper Military School in 1905, he entered art school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1907. In the following year, he studied under Birge Harrison at the Art Students League summer classes in Woodstock, New York. In 1937 he was the director of the Museum School of Art in San Antonio, Texas. He moved to Claremont College in 1947 to teach in the graduate school.
Provenance:
Donated by McFee's stepdaughter, Marian S. Sweeney, who inherited the papers from her mother, Eleanor McFee.
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.
3.7 Linear feet ((on 8 microfilmed reels + 1 photograph not microfilmed))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1869-1973
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence; manuscripts and writings; lists of works of art; photographs; biographical material; gallery and foundry files; notes and speeches; financial material; scrapbook; guest book; magazines; exhibition catalogs; clippings; and printed material.
REEL N68-2: Letters from George Bellows, Bernard Berenson, Elliott Daingerfield, Arthur B. Davies, Roger Fry, John Marin, Joseph Pennell, Man Ray, John Sloan, Max Weber, J. Alden Weir, and others. Two highly detailed letters from Maurice Sterne in 1913 describe that artist's life in Bali. Also included are signatures of American artists from a guest book, and a 1966 catalog of the Hamilton Easter Field Art Foundation Collection.
REEL N68-3 Letters from Childe Hassam, Walt Kuhn, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Gaston Lachaise, Elie Nadelman, David Smith, Alfred Stieglitz, William Zorach, Oscar Bluemner, Albert C. Barnes, Andrew Dasburg, Ernest Fiene, Pop Hart, Robert Henri, Joseph Stella, Maurice Sterne, and others. Also included are manuscripts, lists of works of art, and photographs of Laurent with Hamiltion Easter Field, Bernard Kariol and others.
REEL 2: Personal data sheet, exhibition catalogs and magazines containing articles by or about Laurent, ca. 1920-1965.
REEL 497: John Laurent's collection of 34 letters, 1902-1960, to Robert Laurent and Hamiltion Easter Field. The 6 letters to Field are from Bernhard Berenson, George Bellows, Maurice Prendergast, Pop Hart, Gustov Courtois, and John Carpenter. The 28 letters to Robert Laurent are from Albert P. Ryder, Gaston Lachaise, Raphael Soyer, Walt Kuhn, Robert Henri, Alfred Stieglitz, Arthur B. Davies, Milton Avery, Alexander Calder, Henry McBride, William McFee, Jules Pascin, Jean Careas, and two unidentified artists.
REEL 2063: Photographs, ca. 1930-1962, of Laurent, his studio, exhibitions, and works of art.
REELS 2065-2067: Biographical material; correspondence from Maurice Sterne, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Edith Halpert, Henry Hope, Henry Strater, Lloyd Goodrich, David Smith, Walt Kuhn, William Zorach, Ernest Fiene, and Samuel Wood Gaylor; gallery and foundry files; notes, writings, and speeches; financial material; lists of works of art; blueprints; exhibition and printed material, clippings, and a scrapbook; photos of source material and works of art owned by Laurent; and material concerning Hamilton Easter Field, Laurent's teacher and friend, including correspondence, guest book signatures, financial and legal papers and Field Foundation material.
REEL 2155: Photographs of Laurent's works of art with catalog sheets listing the title, date, medium, size, ownership, and exhibition information for each work, ca. 1920-1967. Also included are photographs of Laurent in his studio and with others, including Gaston Lachaise and David Smith; a photo of Chaim Gross; and photos of the Ogunquit Museum in Maine.
UNMICROFILMED: A black and white photograph of the Field Foundation Dinner Auction-Dinner-Dance, Ogunquit, Maine. Depicted are Lloyd Goodrich, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, William Zorach, Robert Laurent, Emil Ganso and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, sculptor, teacher, etcher, and writer; Brooklyn, New York & Ogunquit, Maine. Laurent studied under Hamilton Easter Field, and both were from Brooklyn, N.Y. and were involved in the summer art colony in Oguniquit, Maine.
Provenance:
Material on reels N68-2-N68-3 was lent for microfilming 1968 by Robert Laurent; he donated material on reel 2 1966; material on reel 497 was lent for microfilming 1973 by John Laurent, son of Robert Laurent; material on reels 2063, 2065-2067 was donated 1978 by John Laurent; He donated additional material on reel 2155 and not filmed with his brother Paul in 1981.
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.
The Frank K. M. Rehn Galleries records measure 21.8 linear feet and are dated 1858-1969 (bulk 1919-1968). The records consist mainly of business correspondence with collectors, artists, museums and arts organizations, colleagues, and others. A small amount of Frank K. M. Rehns personal correspondence and a few stray personal papers of individual artists are interfiled. Also included are financial records, scrapbooks, printed matter, miscellaneous records, and photographs documenting most of the history of a highly regarded New York City art gallery devoted to American painting.
Scope and Content Note:
The Frank K. M. Rehn Galleries records measure 21.8 linear feet and are dated 1858-1969 (bulk 1919-1968). The records consist mainly of business correspondence with collectors, artists, museums and arts organizations, colleagues, and others. A small amount of Frank K. M. Rehn's personal correspondence and a few stray personal papers of individual artists are interfiled. Also included are financial records, scrapbooks, printed matter, miscellaneous records, and photographs documenting most of the history of a highly regarded New York art gallery devoted to American painting.
Series 1: Correspondence contains correspondence with artists, museums and arts organizations, collectors, colleagues, and others documents the workings of Rehn Galleries from its earliest days through 1968. A small amount of Frank K. M. Rehn's personal correspondence and a few scattered personal papers of individual artists are interfiled with the business correspondence.
Series 2: Financial Records includes banking, insurance, and investment records, tax returns and related documentation, miscellaneous financial records and paid bills. Among the insurance records are detailed monthly schedules listing paintings with titles, artists, and insurance values. Miscellaneous financial records include inventories of gallery stock, notes regarding business expenses and income, and receipt books recording incoming paintings. Also included are a small number of items concerning the personal business of Frank Rehn and John Clancy.
Five volumes of Scrapbooks (Series 3) contain clippings and a small number of exhibition catalogs documenting the activities of Rehn Galleries and many of its associated artists. Additional Printed Matter in Series 4 includes material relating to Rehn Galleries and its artists, as well as publications produced by Rehn Galleries. General, art-related printed matter consists of articles, auction catalogs, advertisements, and publications of various museums, arts organizations, and schools. There is also material about artists not affiliated with Rehn Galleries. Additional printed items concern miscellaneous subjects that are not art-related.
Series 5: Miscellaneous Records, includes artwork, lists and notes, and writings. Photographs in Series 6 are of people including artists represented by Rehn as well as several not affiliated with the gallery. Noticeably absent are likenesses of Frank Rehn and John Clancy. Photographs of works of art are by Rehn Galleries' artists and others. Reginald Marsh's photographs consist of family and personal photographs that were either given to Rehn Galleries or perhaps loaned for research use, and include views of Marsh from early childhood through later life, photographs of family and friends, and a small family album. Also included are photographs are of Marsh's childhood drawings.
Arrangement:
Series 1: Correspondence is arranged alphabetically and Series 3: Scrapbooks is in rough chronological order. Series 2, and 4-6 are arranged in categories, as indicated in the Series Descriptions/Container Listing. Unless otherwise noted, items within each folder are arranged chronologically.
The collection is arranged into 6 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1858-1969, undated (Boxes 1-15; 14.4 linear ft.; Reels 5849-5869)
Series 2: Financial Records, 1919-1968, undated (Boxes 15-17; 2.6 linear ft; Reel 5869)
Series 3: Scrapbooks, 1919-1940 (Boxes 23-24; 0.6 linear ft.; Reels 5869-5870)
Series 4: Printed Matter, 1882-1969, undated (Boxes 18-20; 2.4 linear ft.; Reels 5870-5872)
Series 5: Miscellaneous Records, circa 1920-1968 (Boxes 20-21; 0.7 linear ft; Reel 5872)
Series 6: Photographs, 1871-1966, undated (Boxes 22, 24, OV 25; 1.0 linear ft.; Reel 5872)
Historical Note:
Frank K. M. Rehn (1886-1956), son of the marine painter Frank Knox Morton Rehn, after several years' experience as an employee of the Milch Galleries and as exhibition manager for the Salmagundi Club, opened his own art gallery in 1918. In its earliest years, the gallery operated as the Galleries of Frank K. M. Rehn. From the mid 1920s through the mid 1940s, the name used was Frank K. M. Rehn Galleries. As early as 1946, the gallery was referred to simply as Rehn Galleries. The gallery closed in 1981.
Throughout its existence, Rehn Galleries specialized in representing American painters. During the first five years Rehn's operation was a private gallery at 6 West 50th Street, New York City. Among the artists he first represented were older, established men such as J. Alden Weir, George Inness, Alexander Wyant, Theodore Robinson, Thomas Dewing, and John H. Twachtman. Occasionally, Rehn handled works by such luminaries of the period as Robert Henri, George Luks, and John Singer Sargent. Among the living artists affiliated with the gallery in its first years were Daniel Garber, Walter Griffin, Dodge MacKnight, and Robert Spencer. Rehn's most popular artist during this time was Childe Hassam, who sued for recovery of a painting that, although acquired by Rehn through a reputable dealer, had been stolen from Hassam's studio many years earlier.
Despite the newspaper publicity surrounding Hassam's lawsuit, the business was a successful venture almost immediately. Very early, a number of important collectors including Duncan Phillips, John Gellatly, John T. Spaulding, Albert McVitty, E. W. Root, and C. Vanderbilt Barton displayed confidence in Rehn's judgment and integrity, which enhanced his gallery's reputation and stature among both collectors and artists. In 1923, the gallery moved to 693 Fifth Avenue and began operating as Rehn Galleries, a commercial gallery in the same building that housed in a building that housed Kennedy and Company and the Bourgeois Galleries. At this time, Rehn hired an assistant, John C. Clancy (1897-1981), who had formerly been with Henry Reinhardt and Son and M. Knoedler.
The Rehn Galleries soon enjoyed a regular following among museum curators and collectors visiting from out of town. The gallery's roster of artists grew along with its reputation. Rehn focused almost exclusively on American painters, occasionally showing drawings and prints by artists who were primarily painters; notable exceptions were sculptor Mahonri Young and Henry Varnum Poor who, in addition to being a painter, was known for his work in ceramics. Among the painters eventually represented were: Peggy Bacon, George Bellows, Alexander Brook, Charles Burchfield, John F. Carlson, John Carroll, Howard Cook, Jon Corbino, Virginia Cuthbert, Andrew Dasberg, Sidney Gross, Edward Hopper, Alexander James, Irving Kaufmann, Yeffe Kimball, Leon Kroll, Peppino Mangravite, Reginald and Felicia Meyer Marsh, Henry Mattson, Henry Lee McFee, Kenneth Hayes Miller, Charles Rosen, Robert Riggs, Alexander Russo, Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, Eugene Speicher, Henry Strater, Richard Derby Tucker, Franklin C. Watkins, and Denny Winters.
In 1930, Rehn Galleries moved one block south to the Air France Building at 683 Fifth Avenue, and remained there for thirty years. John C. Clancy, Rehn's long-time assistant, became Gallery Director in 1953 after a stroke prevented Rehn from continuing to run his business in an active capacity. Eventually, Rehn's widow sold Clancy the gallery, which he continued to operate under varying names, including Rehn Gallery, Frank K. M. Rehn Galleries, Frank Rehn Gallery, and Rehn Galleries. From 1960 until 1966, The Rehn Galleries were at 36 East 61st Street from 1960 until 1966, when the gallery moved to a space formerly occupied by Kootz Gallery at 855 Madison Avenue, where it remained in business for another fifteen years.
Related Material:
John Clancy interview by Paul Cummings, July 10, 1970. Oral History Program, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Samuel Adler Papers, 1902-1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Contains a recording (1 cassette; untranscribed) of Beverly Chesler interviewing John Clancy about the history of Rehn Galleries, 1973; Samuel Adler is present and participates briefly in the interview.
Provenance:
The Frank K. M. Rehn Galleries records were loaned by John Clancy for microfilming in 1959; in 1966, this same material was donated to the Archives. Mr. Clancy made subsequent gifts of additional gallery records in 1978 and 1981. In 1985, the Whitney Museum of American Art donated to the Archives correspondence with Edward Hopper that John Clancy had loaned the museum many years earlier. A death mask of George Luks received with the collection is on extended loan to the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
