Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Castano Galleries (Boston, Mass.)
| title | Castano Galleries records, 1907-1983. | repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | 20 feet, chiefly gallery records and some personal papers of gallery owner, Giovanni (John) Castano, including correspondence, legal material, subject files, notes, writings, financial material, photographs, a scrapbook, and printed material. Included are biographical information about Castano, business correspondence with dealers, museums, clients, collectors, artists, art historians, and others, and some personal correspondence, including a letter from Rome, 1876, from an unidentified writer to an unidentified woman containing a detailed description of a painting in the Barberini, and correspondence related to Castano's work as a scenic artist, 1924-1931. Subject files contain mainly correspondence and lists of work, and relate to Italian Renaissance exhibition, 1938, the Heeramaneck Collection of Persian and Indian Art, a Boldini exhibition, Arthur C. Goodwin, 1945-1952, and a Mancini-Sargent exhibition, 1951. Financial material includes records of expenses and income; account books; employees' weekly wage book; records of purchases and sales of art work, including part of a bill for a painting by Diaz paid by Knoedler and Co., 1890; appraisals done for individuals, estates and institutions, including the Gorham Corporation, Harvard University murals, the Mrs. T. Morris Murray estate, furnishings of William M. Paxton's studio, ca. 1941, and paintings by Edmund Tarbell, and others; consignments; priced auction catalogs of the Henry F. Sears estate, the Mary A.H. Traiser estate, and miscellaneous price lists. Also included are a card file on paintings; lists of paintings; inventories; client cards; address and appointment books; mailing lists; gallery journals, 1936-1927; descriptions and notes on paintings and authentications; biographies of artists; writings by and about Castano; and notes by Churchill Wyman on Philip Hale's anatomy lectures. Photographs are of Castano, his work, artists at work, and various works of art. Original art work consists of sketches for a logo designed by Suzanne Chapman. Included in the exhibition related material is a catalog for Castano's posthumous exhibition. Also included is a scrapbook containing announcements, clippings on the gallery and Castano, exhibition catalogs, and biographical material compiled by Castano's longtime secretary. Among the correspondents are: Philip Beam, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Gibson Danes, Franz Denghasusen, Lloyd Goodrich (Whitney Museum of American Art), Isabella Grandin, Lilian W. Hale, Philip Hofer (Fogg Art Museum), Perry T. Rathbone (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Edgar P. Richardson (Detroit Institute of Arts), Paul J. Sachs (Fogg), and Lionello Venturi. |
| extent | 30 microfilm reels. reels 4827-4856 |
| formats | Correspondence Notes Financial Records Photographs Scrapbooks |
| access | Patrons must use microfilm copy. |
| record link | n/a |
| record source | https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/castano-galleries-records-10415 |
| acquisition information | Lent for microfilming by Elvira Castano Palmerio, Castano's daughter, 1988. |
| updated | 06/08/2023 16:42:11 |
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| title | Oral history interview with Josephine Marie Caruso Castano regarding Giovanni (John) Castano, 1991 May 17 | repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | An interview of Josephine Marie Caruso Castano regarding her husband, painter and art dealer Giovanni (John) Castano, conducted by Robert Brown for the Archives of American Art. Castano discusses her childhood and marriage to Giovanni (John) Castano; his career in Cincinnati as a scene painter for the local opera company; moving to Boston circa 1930; his career there as an art dealer, owner of Castano Galleries, and an agent for Wildenstein and Knoedler's; his work as a teacher and painting restorer; the sculptor Franz Denghausen; and passing references to various painters, museum personnel, and art dealers. These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art 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 administrators. |
| extent | Sound recording: 1 sound cassette. Transcript: 23 p. |
| formats | Sound Recording Interview |
| access | none |
| record link | https://www.aaa.si.edu/download_pdf_transcript/ajax?record_id=edanmdm-AAADCD_oh_214655 |
| record source | https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-josephine-marie-caruso-castano-relating-to-giovanni-john-castano-12733 |
| finding aid | Finding aid and Transcript available online |
| acquisition information | These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art 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 administrators. |
| updated | 06/08/2023 16:42:20 |
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