Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Rosenberg, Paul, 1881-1959
| title | John Quinn papers, 1901-1926 (MssCol 2513 *ZL-355). | repository | New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division |
| description | The collection consist of letters to and from John Quinn, lawyer and art patron, with members of the Irish Literary Renaissance, the Irish Home Rule Movement, with English and American literary figures and with art dealers and artists of France, England and the United States. Notable correspondents include: Sir Roger Casement, Joseph Conrad, T. S. Eliot, Lady Isabella Gregory, James G. Huneker, Douglas Hyde, Augustus E. John, Gwen John, James Joyce, Maud Gonne MacBride, Walter Pach, Ezra Pound, Henri Pierre Roche, Thomas William Rolleston, George William Russell, Alfred Stieglitz, Arthur Symons, Townsend Walsh, John Butler Yeats and William Butler Yeats. |
| extent | 71 archival boxes; 28 volumes |
| formats | Microfilm Correspondence Photographs |
| access | Microform must be used in lieu of original manuscripts when available. |
| record link | http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/archivalcollections/pdf/quinn.pdf |
| record source | http://catalog.nypl.org/record=b11635618~S1 |
| finding aid | Online and in repository: http://catnyp.nypl.org/search?/tJohn+Quinn+Memorial+Collection/tjohn+quinn+memorial+collection/1,1,1,B/l856~b2669589&FF=tjohn+quinn+memorial+collection&1,1,,1,0/startreferer//search/tJohn+Quinn+Memorial+Collection/tjohn+quinn+memorial+collection/1,1,1,B/frameset&FF=tjohn+quinn+memorial+collection&1,1,/endreferer/ |
| acquisition information | Gift of Mrs. Thomas F. Conroy (niece and goddaughter of John Quinn), 1962; estate of John Quinn, 1936; later additions of gifts were received from Jeanne Robert Foster (1978), Thomas F. Conroy (1986) and Richard and Janis Londraville (1990). |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:29:56 |
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| title | Autograph letters signed (2): Issy-les-Moulineaux, to Paul Rosenberg, 1917 Jan. 12 and [n.d.]. | repository | Pierpont Morgan Library Archives |
| description | At the beginning of each letter is a pen and ink drawing of fruit that Rosenberg has sent to Matisse. Thanking him for gifts of fruit, and writing of his work and life in wartime. |
| extent | 2 items (5 p.) : ill. ; (8vo) |
| formats | Correspondence |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies |
| record source | http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/ |
| acquisition information | Gift; Mr. and Mrs. Alexandre P. Rosenberg; [n.d.] |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:00 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | The Paul Rosenberg Archives, 1905-2000 | repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | The Paul Rosenberg Archives is a natural complement to The Museum of Modern Art's extensive holdings of archival materials focusing on early 20th century modernism and particularly on the art of Picasso, Matisse, Braque and other artists of their circles. Furthermore, the Museum was one of Paul Rosenberg's most loyal clients, just as he was among its most supportive and enthusiastic advisors, and the Rosenberg family has always remained active among the Museum's membership. Numerous works in the Museum's collections have Paul Rosenberg and Company as source or donor. The Paul Rosenberg Archives comprise numerous sale records, photographs of every work in the galleries' inventories, correspondence, exhibition files, photographs of installations, and other published and unpublished artistic, literary, professional, and historical documents representing the careers of Rosenberg and his son Alexandre (art dealer, gallery director and founding president of the Art Dealers Association of America), and notable friends. The Archives also includes unedited texts of Paul and his son Alexander Rosenberg, indexes and reference tools prepared in 1998-2000 for the papers of the Galerie Paul Rosenberg (Paris), as well as 'stock books' of the Paris gallery, recomposed by memory and thanks to documentation that survived World War II. This was due to Paul Rosenberg's foresight in having part of his photograph print collections shipped to the USA via England before the Nazi invasion of France. Indexes which have been prepared in-house for most of the photographic collections are particularly useful. Paul Rosenberg's affiliations in international spheres of modern art predate the founding of The Museum of Modern Art, and his papers-in addition to their representation of significant aspects of twentieth-century ideas, art, and society-are critical for documenting the provenance of hundreds of paintings and sculptures in private and public collections and have been used extensively to research claims for Nazi-looted art. War losses and restitution dossiers were begun by PR&Co as early as the beginning of World War II itself and the consequent research and correspondence thus initiated continues, in many cases, to the present as active files. The Paul Rosenberg Archives chronicle the life of the gallery from its early beginnings until 1987, with a gap in the documentation from the years 1928-1939. The invaluable documents include: inventory cards, arranged by artist, accession, client or sale date; photographic prints and negatives of various format and of excellent quality of virtually every work in the gallery's inventory, arranged by artist; bills, statements, and insurance documents arranged chronologically and alphabetically; files concerning exhibitions and photographs of their installations. The correspondence of both Paul and Alexandre P. Rosenberg reflects the nature of their personal and professional relationships with artists, fellow dealers, collectors, museum professionals, as well as with many personal friends, students and art lovers throughout the world. This unique grouping of materials is particularly rich for the study of early twentieth-century French art, while it also documents or indicates interests in Renaissance and Neoclassical painting and sculpture, Mediterranean and Near Eastern antiquities, extra-European art, the decorative arts, book arts and design. Biographical and Company History The Rosenbergs have been active and prominent in the art world since the 19th century. It was Alexandre Rosenberg the elder ('père') (died 1913), father of Paul (1881-1959) and his brother Léonce (1878-1947), who had initially established himself as an antiques dealer in Paris in 1878. After 1898, he was well known within the circle of the leading dealers of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. He encouraged his sons to share these professional interests and afforded them ample opportunities in Paris and abroad (London, Berlin, Vienna, New York) to acquire experience and contacts and to collect art. Paul and Léonce first began to work as partners in 1906, when they assumed joint directorship of the gallery, upon the retirement of their father. They soon established distinct personalities and social networks in the creative effervescence of Paris in the early twentieth century and eventually opened separate galleries, Paul in the rue de La Boétie (from 1910), and Léonce nearby in the rue de la Baume, both in the city's 8th District. The rue de la Boétie has been described as the 'nerve center' of modern French art throughout the 1920s and 1930s or as the 'French Florence'. To his inventory of late 19th century art, Paul Rosenberg followed the lead of his elder brother Léonce - an early and well-known champion of Cubism - and added contemporary works by artists who were already in demand. Initially sharing the honor with his brother and with Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler, Paul Rosenberg eventually enjoyed a special exclusive contract with Pablo Picasso (from 1918 to 1940). While Léonce was first to show the Cubists in his gallery, L'Effort Moderne, it was Paul who possessed the social and financial possibility to provide artists such as Picasso and Braque (as of 1922) with the support they needed, as well as to promote lesser-known artists such as Marie Laurencin, with whom Paul had a warm and fraternal relationship for the rest of her life. Rosenberg also had fruitful arrangements with Fernand Léger (as of 1927) and became Matisse's dealer in 1936 and remained the artist's friend until the end. Paul Rosenberg's relationship with Picasso was a close friendship for the duration of their mature lives. In addition to cultivating and promoting each other's respective careers, Picasso even acted as witness for the birth of Paul's son Alexandre Paul Rosenberg (1921-1987), their families being neighbors in Paris for several years. Paul Rosenberg's legendary 'stock' included a rich selection of paintings, drawings and sculptures by Géricault, Ingres, Delacroix, Courbet, Rodin, Cézanne, Manet, Degas, Monet, Renoir, and Lautrec, along with the works by his modern artists, and regularly complemented by works of Henri Rousseau, Aristide Maillol. Odilon Redon and Amedeo Modigliani. His 'stock' from artists in the United States included painting and sculpture by Marsden Hartley, Max Weber, Abraham Rattner, Karl Knaths, Harvey Weiss, Oronzio Maldarelli. Both Paul and his son Alexandre also had contracts with Nicolas de Staël and Graham Sutherland. Alexandre Rosenberg was the American representative and close friend of the sculptors Kenneth Armitage and Giacomo Manzù. Paul Rosenberg opened a new branch of his Paris gallery - managed by his well-known antiquarian brother-in-law Jacques Helft - in London between World War I and World War II. From 1920 until the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, Paul Rosenberg's company was widely acknowledged to be without doubt the most active and influential gallery in the world in the field of 19th and 20th century French painting, specializing in the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Cubist schools, as well as in the developments contemporary to these 'schools'. All of the museums of the Western world and all of the great private collectors became clients of Rosenberg, and his exhibitions became points of reference for the promotion of quality painting. Having foreseen the imminence of the Second World War, Paul Rosenberg began to send his collections abroad, especially to England, America, Australia and South America and then put a hold on the operations of his Paris galleries. Even prior to his departure from France with his wife and daughter, his many friends in the United States encouraged and assisted his establishment in New York, where the Rosenbergs arrived, via Lisbon, in September of 1940. Rosenberg presence in New York had attracted so much interest that an issue of the Art Digest declared that "When rumor first intimated that Paul Rosenberg, internationally known Paris dealer in modern art, would open a gallery in New York, 57th Street anticipated something akin to a clap of thunder." Throughout the war and after its end, he was able to re-assemble in New York a very large proportion, though not all of his gallery stock and his personal collections. In this way, and almost without interruption or discontinuity, he re-established his gallery in New York and recommenced the activity previously undertaken in Paris. Alexandre Rosenberg, still a student at the time of the war's outbreak, found his way to England at the end of June 1940, shortly before the occupation of the last free French ports. During the next five years, he served as an officer with the Free French Forces in their military campaigns in Africa, France and Germany. After his demobilization in 1946, he went to New York to be with his family and after a period of study and apprenticeship, became an associate of Paul Rosenberg & Company in 1952, later assuming his father's place as director of the company after the death of Paul Rosenberg in 1959. Under Alexandre's guidance, the company maintained its position in its traditional field and continued to flourish as in the past, both in the United States and in Europe. While 19th and 20th century French painting remained the company's principal focus, however, its horizons also broadened to encompass more of the old masters and select aspects of contemporary painting, drawings and sculpture. Among colleagues and among museum professionals and collectors, Alexandre Rosenberg enjoyed the reputation of being one of the pre-eminent authorities in his field of activity. He was also known to be an excellent scholar and a dealer possessing an undisputed sense of integrity and taste. In 1962 he was one of the founders and the first president of the Art Dealers Association of America, a professional organization bringing together the most important galleries in New York and throughout the United States. The aims of the ADAA were the elevation and maintenance of standards for professionals in the art market. Alexandre Rosenberg remained one of the association's permanent Board members throughout his life. In this capacity, his assistance was very often requested also by the American government in dealing with various issues in the fine arts field. Notably, he served on a consulting committee for the Internal Revenue Service for several years. Throughout the 1970s and until his premature death in 1987, Alexandre Rosenberg was an active initiator of and participant in a wide variety of commercial and cultural projects both in the United States and abroad. He believed that while the wealth of the market in terms of pictures of high quality had considerably diminished over time through the acquisitions of museums and collectors in the 20th century, it was nonetheless still entirely possible to bring together objects of prime importance compatible with the requirements of museums in the field of 19th and 20th century French painting, watercolors, drawings and sculpture. All that was necessary to build such a collection was a certain body of knowledge and contacts and, most importantly, a solid sense of what is pre-eminent in a given class of works. He believed that the difficulty resided less in the rarity of high-quality works than in the increasing evidence of incompetence in evaluating that quality. With time, appropriate effort and careful planning, fine collections could indeed still be put together. Note: As established by Alexandre P. Rosenberg's own knowledge of the family's history, as well as his faith in the acuity of his father's recollections, and recorded in a note from the mid-1970s (Rosenberg family collection), the following dates and addresses are those most frequently referred to in the Rosenberg business and personal correspondence. The following list may therefore usefully serve as a reference for researchers. Preferred Citation Long version: The Paul Rosenberg Archives, a Gift of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg, [series.folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York. Short version: Paul Rosenberg, [series.folder]. MoMA Archives, NY. Related Material Among the holdings at The Museum of Modern Art Archives, correspondence with Paul Rosenberg and with Alexandre Paul Rosenberg is to be found among the Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Papers, René d'Harnoncourt Papers, William S. Lieberman Papers, James Thrall Soby Papers, James Johnson Sweeney Papers, Monroe Wheeler Papers, as well as among other collections of personal and business papers of Museum directors, curators and the Registrar officers. Of special interest within the Museum Archives holdings are the letters to Léonce Rosenberg from artists associated with his Galerie de l'Effort Moderne and its Bulletin. See: Léonce Rosenberg Papers: Correspondence relating to Cubism, 1914-1932. For information on individual artists associated with the Rosenberg galleries, see the Artist Files or relevant monographs in the Museum Library. Holdings of related and associated correspondence and documents may also be accessed at the following institutional repositories: Pierpont Morgan Library, New York [Paul Rosenberg correspondence with artists] Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York [Paul and Alexandre P. Rosenberg correspondence] Whitney Museum of American Art, New York [Paul and Alexandre P. Rosenberg correspondence] Ministère des Affaires Étrangères. Services des Archives et de la Documentation. Paris [Paul and Léonce Rosenberg correspondence] Musée Picasso, Paris [Paul Rosenberg correspondence with Pablo Picasso] Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris [Léonce Rosenberg correspondence and photographs] Bibliothèque Jacques Doucet, Paris [Paul and Léonce Rosenberg correspondence with Doucet] The Archives of American Art of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. [correspondence from Paul Rosenberg to many different artists, art dealers and collectors] The Durand-Ruel Archives, Paris [Alexandre (père), Paul and Léonce Rosenberg correspondence] Manuscripts Department, The New York Public Library [John Quinn papers, Paul Rosenberg correspondence] The Getty Center, Los Angeles [Douglas Cooper papers, Paul and Alexandre P. Rosenberg correspondence] The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration [documentary collections and official correspondence concerning Second World War art looting, recovery, and restitution] [See: Holocaust-Era Assets: A Finding Aid to Records at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1999)] Fondazione Giacomo Manzù, Ardea (Rome) [Alexandre P. Rosenberg and PR&Co correspondence] |
| extent | 140 linear feet in 302 containers |
| formats | Business Papers Correspondence Financial Records Inventories Photographs |
| access | The records are open for research. For access to the papers, please contact The Museum of Modern Art Archives, the MoMA Archives will then forward the request for access to Mrs. Rosenberg, which will be granted to all qualified researchers. |
| record link | http://www.moma.org/learn/resources/archives/EAD/PaulRosenbergf |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991005424089707141 |
| finding aid | online and in repository |
| acquisition information | A Gift of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg |
| updated | 11/29/2022 15:49:51 |
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| title | Paul Rosenberg and Company [electronic resource] : from France to America. | repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | Online version of the exhibition "Paul Rosenberg and Company: From France to America" held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Jan. 27-Apr. 5, 2010. Title from caption (viewed on Oct. 18, 2010) Publisher/Date [New York : Museum of Modern Art, 2010] |
| extent | See Resource |
| formats | Electronic Resource |
| access | Open access |
| record link | http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/paulrosenberg/#top |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991007943269707141 |
| updated | 11/29/2022 15:49:51 |
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| title | Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Papers, 1927-1984 | repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Papers are composed of files kept during Barr's tenure at the Museum of Modern Art, including personal and professional correspondence with museum officials, curators, writers, historians, critics, art associations, foundations, magazines, artists, and collectors such as John Canaday, Stanton Catlin, Camilla Gray, René d'Harnoncourt, John Hightower, Roland Penrose, and James Thrall Soby. Office files cover staff, exhibitions, publications and collections of MoMA, and abstract art, cubism and futurism (some related to Barr's book Cubism and Abstract Art, 1936.) There are files present on the Foundation for Arts, Religion and Culture (ARC), Barr's travels, lectures, speeches, exhibitions, publications, political controversies, and artists and collections in the U.S.S.R.; writings, including travel notebooks regarding his trip to Russia, 1959, visits with Pablo Picasso, 1956, and Henri Matisse, 1952; exhibition catalogs, clippings and printed material; and photographs. Also included are materials collected by Margaret Scolari Barr, including Alfred's obituaries, A Memorial Tribute, 1981, an invitation and guest list to the memorial service, and condolence letters; and photocopies of autograph letters, ca. 1920s-1970s, from the Barr collection sold to Arthur A. Cohen in 1975. There are letters from Jack I Poses. Biographical Note Alfred H. Barr, Jr. spent nearly his entire professional career with The Museum of Modern Art; following is brief chronology of his decades-long association with the Museum. Location MoMA Museum Archives |
| extent | 95 linear ft. (55 boxes) |
| formats | Administrative Records Correspondence Ephemera Writings Subject Files |
| access | The records are open for research and contain few restricted materials. Contact museum archivist for an appointment. |
| record link | http://moma.org/research/archives/EAD/Barrf.html |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991009761919707141 |
| finding aid | Finding aids in the repository. |
| acquisition information | Transferred from Barr's office, gifts of Margaret S. Barr, 1975-1980, and gift of Andrew W. Barr, 1986. Forms part of: Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.). Archives. Records. |
| updated | 11/29/2022 15:49:51 |
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| title | Collectors Records, 1929-1987 | repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | The processed Collectors Records are contained in ten 5" document boxes (4 linear feet) and include correspondence; lists of private collections; notes about collections (frequently in Barr's handwriting); press clippings; photographs; and exhibition announcements, invitations, and brochures. The records date from 1929 through 1987; the majority of the material dates from the 1950s and 60s. The bulk of the Collectors Records consists of correspondence between Museum staff and collectors. The principle staff correspondent is Barr, but the Record Group also includes material from Dorothy C. Miller (Curator, 1943-1967; Senior Curator, 1968-1969), and Betsy Jones (Executive Secretary 1952-1962; Executive Secretary and Assistant Curator, 1963-1966; Associate Curator and Executive Secretary of Collections, 1967-1969). Correspondence with the collectors participating in the Visits to Private Collections series and lists of the collections visited are also included. Historical Note During his tenure as Director of Museum Collections, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., and his staff maintained files on private collectors and collections (ca. 1947 through ca. 1967). This documentation reflects the Museum's interest in private collections from which it could potentially borrow, purchase, or receive gifts or bequests to enhance the Museum's collection. A Committee on the Museum Collections, established by the Board of Trustees in May 1944, consisted of approximately ten members, all of whom were collectors and/or Museum staff members. The founding members of the Committee were: Alfred H. Barr, Jr., William A. M. Burden, Stephen C. Clark, A. Conger Goodyear, Mrs. Simon Guggenheim, Bartlett H. Hayes, Jr., Mrs. Sam A. Lewisohn, Miss Agnes Rindge, James Thrall Soby (Chairman), James Johnson Sweeney (Vice Chairman), Edward M. M. Warburg, and Mrs. George Henry Warren, Jr. The Committee, which replaced the Acquisitions Committee, advised the Board of Trustees on which works to acquire, by gift or purchase, for the Museum's collection. Several members gave works of their own and/or financial contributions for purchases. Documentation on the collections of nearly all of the Committee Members can be found in this Record Group. An annual series, Visits to Private Collections, was organized by the Department of Membership as a special privilege for Contributing Members. Members were invited to spend three afternoons a year touring the private homes and collections of select collectors, who were frequently members of the Committee on the Museum Collections. This series was suggested by a Membership Committee member in 1939, and the program lasted through 1966. Documentation for this program can also be found throughout the Record Group. After Barr's retirement in 1967, the Committee on the Museum Collections was divided into five separate committees, each one focusing on a curatorial department: Painting and Sculpture; Prints and Illustrated Books; Photography; Architecture and Design; and Film. These five committees exist to the present day. Related Collections at MoMA and Elsewhere For related collections see also, The Museum of Modern Art Archives, Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Papers, Series 1. Personal Correspondence; the James Thrall Soby Papers, Series III: Museum Matters; the Dorothy C. Miller Papers, Series III: Museum Matters; the Public Information Scrapbooks; catalogues of private collections and PASITMOMA in the Library; Object Files in the Department of Painting and Sculpture; and lenders records in the Department of the Registrar. Preferred Citation Collectors Records, [folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York. |
| extent | 4 linear feet Ten 5" document boxes |
| formats | Clippings Correspondence Ephemera Photographs Administrative Records |
| access | The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials. |
| record link | http://www.moma.org/research/archives/EAD/CollectorsRecordsf.html |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991007920159707141 |
| finding aid | In the repository and on the Web site. |
| acquisition information | The Collectors Records were compiled and maintained by Barr and his staff until his retirement in 1967, when they were brought under the aegis of the Department of Painting and Sculpture. They became part of the Museum Archives holdings in 1998 and were processed in June 1998. |
| updated | 11/29/2022 15:49:51 |
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| title | James Thrall Soby Papers, ca. 1930-1970, bulk ca. 1930-1960. | repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | Correspondence, general files, research notes, articles, photographs and negatives, manuscripts, clippings, ephemera, and family papers. Arrangement Arranged in 8 series: I. Subject Interest Material: Artists and Movements 1930s-1960s. II. Writings. IIA. Museum. IIB. Non-Museum. III. Museum Matters, 1940s-1970s. IV. JTS collection: ca. 1930-1979. V. Personal/Family. VI. Confidential Material. VII. Giorgio de Chirico. VIII. Addenda; Subject material arranged alphabetically. Related collections Related papers are housed in other Departments of the Museum. Biographical/historical note Author, art critic, editor, collector, patron, connoisseur, and MoMA director and trustee. |
| extent | 24 linear ft., 3 v. |
| formats | Correspondence Notes Ephemera Transcript Manuscript |
| access | The records are open for research and contain few restricted materials. |
| record link | http://www.moma.org/research/archives/EAD/Sobyf.html |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991003535889707141 |
| finding aid | Finding aid in the repository. |
| acquisition information | Received from the Estate of James Thrall Soby, 1980, and as a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Arthur A. Cohen, 1981. |
| updated | 11/29/2022 15:49:51 |
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| title | James Johnson Sweeney Papers, ca. 1930s-1960s | repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | The James Johnson Sweeney Papers in The Museum of Modern Art Archives contain correspondence and related material pertaining to Sweeney's involvement with MoMA, beginning in the early 1930s as a friend of MoMA, continuing through his brief tenure as Director of Painting and Sculpture in 1945 and 1946, and concluding in the 1950s and 1960s in various capacities. |
| extent | 1 linear foot |
| formats | Correspondence |
| access | The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials. |
| record source | http://www.moma.org/learn/resources/archives/ |
| acquisition information | The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:13 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | René d'Harnoncourt Papers, 1929-1969, 1940-1968 (bulk). | repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | The papers document the major part of René d'Harnoncourt's life, covering in particular his years with The Museum of Modern Art, 1944-1968, and including also some records of his years in Mexico, and of his subsequent pre-MoMA career in the United States. René d'Harnoncourt's Papers document, first and foremost, his career at The Museum of Modern Art, starting when he joined the Museum in 1944, and continuing through his years as Director from 1949 to his retirement in 1968. From the beginning, even before his official appointment as Director, it is apparent from the records that d'Harnoncourt was the right man to lead MoMA at this time. His overall accomplishment was to bring a level of order to an organization that after the resignation of Alfred Barr as Director, could have become mired in internal friction. d'Harnoncourt's correspondence both with the Museums trustees, and with its staff, reveal the gentle, good-humored, but decisive way in which he kept an equilibrium between all elements of the Museum community. In addition, he established a close working relationship with Alfred Barr, for whose knowledge of modern art and scholarship he had enormous respect. Among d'Harnoncourt's other major accomplishments at the Museum were the establishment of the International Council in the early 1950s - a task for which both his European background and his involvement with Latin America made him ideally suited - and his leadership of the 30th Anniversary fundraising campaign, culminating in the renovation and opening of the new Museum in 1964. The installation by d'Harnoncourt of important exhibitions both in the Museum in New York and abroad, was, of course, another major accomplishment, especially as the installations had to be combined with his day-to-day work as Director of the Museum. In addition to the correspondence which comprises the greater part of d'Harnoncourt's papers, the collection also contains many of the superb drawings which he used in preparation for the exhibitions he installed. Particularly outstanding are drawings for the Arts of the South Seas exhibition shown at MoMA in 1946. René d'Harnoncourt's love for primitive art and his ability to use this love in the creation of what could be called blockbuster exhibitions is first shown in the records of the Mexican Arts exhibition with which he toured the United States in 1930-32. This was followed in 1939 and 1941 with the Indian Arts exhibitions, and later, in 1954 with Ancient Arts of the Andes. In 1957 d'Harnoncourt founded, with his friend and mentor, Nelson Rockefeller, the Museum of Primitive Art, of which he became Vice President and Rockefeller, President. The papers contain exhibition material - drawings, floor plans, wall captions - for many of d'Harnoncourt's other installations, culminating with his last exhibition, the very successful Sculpture of Picasso, shown at MoMA at the end of 1967. Together, the correspondence and the exhibition material in the papers present a full picture of René d'Harnoncourt's life and accomplishments. Biographical Note: Director of MoMA, 1949-1968. |
| extent | 59.25 linear feet |
| formats | Business Papers Personal Papers Correspondence Exhibition Files Ephemera |
| access | The records are open for research and contain few restricted materials. |
| record link | http://www.moma.org/research/archives/EAD/dHarnoncourtf.html |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991009762119707141 |
| finding aid | Folder list available in the repository. |
| acquisition information | Series I-IX accessioned into the Archives via internal transfer from the Directors Office. Series X donated to the Archives by Sarah d'Harnoncourt. |
| updated | 11/29/2022 15:49:51 |
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| title | Monroe Wheeler Papers, 1923-1985 [Bulk Dates: 1940s-1960s] | repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | The administrative papers of Monroe Wheeler, former Director of Exhibitions and Publications at The Museum of Modern Art. Includes business communication, personal correspondence, post-retirement material and documents relating to Wheeler's work outside of the Museum. Biographical Note Monroe Wheeler (1899-1988) was born in Evanston, Illinois. In the 1920s, before his long and active career at the Museum, Wheeler worked and lived in France, co-founding the publishing firm Harrison of Paris. Wheeler credits this period of his life as his introduction to the artist communities he would continue to associate with for the remainder of his career. This period also soldered his skills and knowledge of producing and printing high-quality publications, which foreshadowed his long career as a publisher of fine books on art at the Museum. He began his work with the Museum in 1935 as a member of the Library Committee and director of Ignatz Wiemeler, Modern Bookbinder [MoMA Exh. #42b, September 30-October 24, 1935]. In 1938 he was appointed Director of Membership, and by 1939, he became the Director of Publications. In 1940, he became the first Director of Exhibitions. Wheeler was elected a Trustee of the Museum in 1944, and afterwards he became a member of the Executive Committee, the Exhibitions Program Committee, and the Coordination Committee. In 1948, Wheeler continued to run the Exhibitions and Publications department while overseeing the management of all of the Museum's operating outreach programs, including education, traveling (or circulating) exhibitions, and the library. During the period between 1940-1967, Wheeler managed much of the logistics of the circulating exhibitions program and developed a strong publications program. Aside from his management of Museum programs, Wheeler is well known for directing museum exhibitions such as Modern Painters and Sculptors as Illustrators [MoMA Exh. #47, April 27-September 2, 1936] and Turner: Imagination and Reality [MoMA Exh. #794, March 23-June 19, 1966]. Under his direction the Museum produced over 300 books, both monographs and exhibition catalogues, which were distributed internationally, and in the process won acclaim for the high quality of visual art books with regard to scholarship, layout, design, and color reproductions. Wheeler authored many of the works published by the Museum, including monographs about Soutine and Rouault, which complimented museum exhibitions on the artists. As a staff member of the Museum and as a trusted source of knowledge about art, Wheeler maintained a very visible profile within the greater national and international museum and art community. During World War II, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Publications for the Office of Inter-American Affairs under Nelson A. Rockefeller. In 1969, he accompanied NAR on an official U.S. appointed tour of Latin America as a Cultural Advisor. As a part of the International Program and under the auspices of the International Council, in 1965 Wheeler directed Cézanne to Miró [ICE-F-111]. Wheeler was appointed an Honorary Trustee of the Museum in 1965 and a Counsellor to the Trustees upon his retirement from the Museum in 1967. He continued to maintain ties to the Museum by working with the International Council and participating in a number of committees, including Prints and Illustrated Books, Photography, Drawings and Exhibitions. Affiliations outside of the Museum include serving as a Trustee and First Vice President of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, a Trustee of the Katherine Anne Porter Foundation, a Trustee of the Ben Shahn Foundation, a member of the Council of the Grolier Club, and President of the International Graphic Arts Society. He played an active role in the American Institute of Graphic Arts as well. Monroe Wheeler died in 1988 in New York City. |
| extent | Approx. 29.5 linear feet |
| formats | Administrative Records Business Papers Correspondence Ephemera |
| access | The records are open for research and contain few restricted materials. |
| record source | http://www.moma.org/research/archives/EAD/wheelerf.html |
| finding aid | The finding aid is in the repository and on the repository's web site. |
| acquisition information | The Monroe Wheeler Papers were accessioned into the Museum Archives from staff offices and institutional storage. See Accruals note below. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:13 |
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| title | Douglas Cooper papers, 1900-1985, bulk 1933-1985. | repository | The Getty Research Institute |
| description | Organized in nine series: Series I: Correspondence; Series II: Manuscripts; Series III: Records of the Mayor Gallery, London; Series IV: Papers relating to Nazi art collections; Series V: Exhibitions; Series VI: Photographs, Slides and Transparencies; Series VII: Personal and Printed Matter; Series VIII: Audio tapes and film; Series IX: Toys. The collection embraces all papers relating to Cooper’s career as a critic, curator, and collector that remained with his estate at the time of his death. The correspondence reflects Cooper’s wide circle of friends and acquaintances in the art world, his work as an art expert, and his penchant for controversy. All of Cooper’s published books, catalogs, articles and reviews are represented. There is material documenting Cooper’s tenure at the Mayor Gallery and his investigation of Nazi art collections. Photographs, slides and transparencies comprise nearly one-third of the collection. There is comprehensive photograph documentation of the work of Gris and Braque, as of Cooper’s art collection and research. |
| extent | ca. 33 linear ft. |
| formats | Correspondence Photographs Electronic Resource Slides Exhibition Catalogs |
| access | Douglas Cooper pursued a long career as art critic, curator and collector, producing numerous books, catalogs, articles and reviews. He also amassed a distinguished collection of early Cubist paintings. |
| record link | http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa860161 |
| record source | https://primo.getty.edu/permalink/f/19q6gmb/GETTY_ALMA21126998090001551 |
| finding aid | http://archives.getty.edu:8082/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=utf8a&idno=US::CMalG::860161 |
| acquisition information | Acquired from William McCarty-Cooper in 1986. |
| updated | 07/28/2023 16:33:44 |
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| title | How, When and Why Modern Art Came to New York, 1996 | repository | Whitney Museum of American Art |
| description | This collection, assembled by Francis M. Naumann, includes correspondence and other material relating to Marius de Zayas and his role in bringing modern art to the United States from Europe. This material was used by Naumann in preparation for How, When, and Why Modern Art Came to New York by Marius de Zayas, edited by Naumann, and published in 1996 by The MIT Press. Included in the first series is correspondence between de Zayas and various associates and friends. There is a lengthy exchange of correspondence between de Zayas and Alfred Stieglitz, as well as correspondence with others involved in the avant-garde art world, including Walter Arensberg, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Benjamin De Casseres, Paul Haviland, Max Jacob, Walt Kuhn, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Charles Sheeler, Tristan Tzsara, Forbes Watson and Adolf Wolf. Also included is correspondence and other material relating to de Zayas’s business dealings with other art dealers, financial backers, and collectors, including Walter Arensberg, Paul Guillaume, Lucien Lefebvre-Foinet, Agnes Ernst and Eugene Meyer, John Quinn, Paul Rosenberg, Ambroise Vollard, and Charles Vignier. The second series consists of correspondence and related material arranged by subject matter, and includes material relating to de Zayas’s work as both artist and writer, as well as to the Modern and Photo-Secession galleries, and other subjects. The final series consists of photocopies of pages from de Zayas’s scrapbook of press clippings. Biographical and Historical Note Francis M. Naumann, an art historian and curator, collected this material in preparation for How, When and Why Modern Art Came to New York, by Marius de Zayas (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996), which he edited. Naumann specializes in Dada and Surrealism in Europe and the United States, and runs a gallery, Francis M. Naumann Fine Art, in New York City. Marius de Zayas (1880-1961), an artist and gallery operator, was born in Veracruz, Mexico, the son of Rafael de Zayas, a noted historian, orator and lawyer. He gained a reputation as a caricaturist, exhibiting his work in Alfred Stieglitz’s "291" gallery in 1909; two years later he wrote to Stieglitz from Paris advising him on trends in modern art. With Paul Haviland, he wrote A Study of the Modern Evolution of Plastic Expression, published in 1913, an early study of modern art. By 1914, he had met Apollinaire and Gertrude Stein in Paris, and had organized exhibitions at 291 of African Negro art, as well as of work by Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. With Picabia and others in 1915, he brought out the publication 291, an avant-garde magazine, and opened the Modern Gallery, which operated first as a branch of 291, and then on its own. After the Modern Gallery closed in 1921, de Zayas organized shows for the Whitney Studio Club and the Wildenstein Gallery, and worked for a time for the Parisian art dealer Paul Rosenberg. Marius de Zayas died in 1961 in Greenwich, Connecticut. Location: Archives |
| extent | 0.5 linear feet |
| formats | Correspondence Photocopies Scrapbooks Clippings |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. To use the Library, patrons are required to please state their request in the body of an email, in advance, and send the message to library@whitney.org. |
| record source | http://library.whitney.org |
| finding aid | Finding aid available at repository. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:13 |
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| title | Oral history interview with Henry Plumer McIlhenny, 1974 Oct. 28. | repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | An interview of Henry Plumer McIlhenny conducted 1974 Oct. 28, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. McIlhenny speaks about his parent's interest in collecting; his own collecting; studying with Paul Sachs at Harvard; his interest in 19th century art, travels to Europe, purchasing works by Seurat, Degas, Ingres and Chardin; dealers he worked with including Paul Rosenberg and Valentine Dudensing; his tenure as decorative arts curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, staff, and exhibitions; the completion of the museum building by the WPA; and commissioning paintings from Franklin Watkins. Bio / His Notes: Henry McIlhenny, art collector of Philadelphia, Pa. |
| extent | 1 sound tape reel |
| formats | Sound Recording |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record link | n/a |
| record source | https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-henry-plumer-mcilhenny-12420 |
| acquisition information | 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. |
| updated | 07/10/2023 16:14:49 |
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| title | Louis and Annette Kaufman papers, 1931-2000. | repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Correspondence, financial papers, and printed materials. REEL 1119: Correspondence; financial papers relating to house repairs; exhibition announcements, invitations, and other printed material relating to Fernand Leger, Walter Pach, Milton Avery, David Burliuk, and Abraham Walkowitz; and three photographs of Paul Rosenberg, Milton and Sally Avery, Louis and Annette Kaufman at the Rosenberg Gallery during a 1945 Avery exhibition. REEL 1189: Letters to the Kaufmans from Sally, Milton, and March Avery, David Burliuk, Oskar Kokoschka, Lawrence Lebduska, Jack Levine, and Walter Pach. Also included is a clipping concerning Louis Kaufman's career as a concert violinist, 1976. ADDITION: Research material on Milton Avery, David Burliuk, and Louis Eilshemius (photocopies of newspaper and magazine articles); Avery exhibition catalogs (1961-2000), including Milton Avery Revisited: Works from the Louis and Annette Kaufman Collection, Syracuse University Art Collection (1999-2000); two magazines, Art Bulletin (1932) and Color and Rhyme (1940); and book, Milton Avery: Prints and Drawings, 1930-1964, Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1966. |
| extent | 282 items (on 2 microfilm reels) Addition: 0.4 linear ft., reels 1119 and 1189 |
| formats | Correspondence Financial Papers Printed Materials Research Files |
| access | Patrons must use microfilm copy. Addition: Unmicrofilmed; use requires an appointment and is limited to AAA's Washington, D.C. office. |
| record link | n/a |
| record source | https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/louis-and-annette-kaufman-papers-9128 |
| acquisition information | Material on reels 1119 and 1189 was lent for microfilming 1976-1977 by the Kaufmans. In 2002, an additional 0.4 ft. was donated by Annette Kaufman; the donation does not include material previously lent. Location of Original: Reels 1119 and 1189: Originals returned to lenders, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Kaufman, after microfilming. |
| updated | 06/08/2023 16:42:16 |
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