Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Garber, Benjamin
| title | The Morgan Russell Archives and Collection, 1884, 1908-1959 | repository | Montclair Art Museum |
| description | The Morgan Russell Archives and Collection documents the artistic output, personal life, intellectual pursuits, gender identity issues, and financial predicaments of the artist Morgan Russell from his student years in New York and Paris, beginning in 1906, until his move from France to the United States in 1946. Russell was a relentless chronicler in both words and images, evidenced here by large collections of letters, notebooks, notes, and drawings. Of particular significance are the more than three thousand drawings and sketches, ranging from hasty thumbnail doodles to highly finished works on paper made by Russell over several decades, as well as over seventy notebooks kept by the artist in which he recorded his activities and thoughts about himself, his art and the art of others, his finances and life philosophy. Correspondents represented include Alexander Altenburg, Mabel Alvarez, Guillaume Apollinaire, Friedrich Joseph Berber, Denyse Binon, Georges Binon, Suzanne Binon, Louis Bouché, George Carlock, Blaise Cendrars, Barnett D. Conlon, John Dracopoli, K.N. Dracopoli, Aimee Evans, Anne Evans, Elie Faure, John F. Flanagan, Howard S. Gans, Yves Hacart, R. Chalfant Head, Robert Henri, Sidney M. Hirsch, Robert Kennicitt, Michel Kikoïne, Arthur Lee, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, François Mauriac, Charles Otis Morgan, Miner Antoinette Russell Morgan, Violet Organ, Alexander Robinson, Augusta Rosiere, Michel Seuphor, Fred Sexton, Viola Brothers Shore, Louis Sol, Leo Stein, Igor Stravinsky, Blanche Turnbull, Ruth Turnbull, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and Willard Huntington Wright. Biographical and Historical Notes: Painter, sculptor, co-founder of synchromism, born in New York, N.Y. Morgan Russell abandoned the study of architecture after his first trip to Paris in 1906. Returning to his native New York, he studied sculpture with James Earle Fraser and anatomy and drawing with George B. Bridgman at the Art Students League. Shortly after, he studied painting with Robert Henri at the New York School of Art; he did his first painting in 1907. During a second trip to Paris in 1908, Russell met Gertrude and Leo Stein and their circle, including Guillaume Apollinaire, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Auguste Rodin. He settled in Paris in the spring of 1909 and did not return to the United States to live for almost four decades. He studied painting with Matisse (c. 1909-10), and received a monthly stipend from his friend Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney through the end of 1915. Related material: Portions of this collection are available on microfilm at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, New York, N.Y., and Washington, D.C. At the time of completion of this Comprehensive Guide, in April 2006, the Archives of American Art was preparing to digitize its finding aid for posting to its own website, as well as that of the Montclair Art Museum. Researchers are encouraged to consult both websites for the latest notices and additions to the information found here. |
| extent | 23 document boxes (11.5 linear feet) (documents) 19 box binders (drawings and photographs) 29 Solander boxes (drawings and oversize materials) |
| formats | Artwork Financial Records Correspondence Notebooks Drawings |
| access | Patrons must present credentials and request permission of the Chief Curator. Access by appointment only; one month advance notice preferred. |
| record link | http://www.montclairartmuseum.org/uploads/MorganRussellComprehensiveGuide.pdf |
| record source | http://www.montlib.com/ |
| finding aid | Comprehensive guide available at the Montclair Art Museum, and online in printable PDF format at www.montclairartmuseum.org. |
| acquisition information | Gift of Henry M. Reed, 1985; subsequent additions through gifts made by Glenn Bassett, 1988; Gregg Siebert, 2003; Simone Joyce, 2004; and Ken Rudo, 2005. |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:30:00 |
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