Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Esther-Robles Gallery
| title | Esther-Robles Gallery | repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Artist's files, including business correspondence, price lists and invoices, newspaper and magazine clippings, press releases, photographs and slides, exhibition announcements, and catalogs and brochures from artists represented by the Esther Robles Gallery. Biographical/Historical Note: Art gallery; Los Angeles, Calif. Est. 1947. Closed 1979. |
| extent | Esther-Robles Gallery |
| formats | Business Papers Correspondence Financial Records Clippings Photographs |
| access | Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. |
| record source | http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/esther-robles-gallery-records-13351 |
| acquisition information | Donated 2005 and 2009 by Robert Robles, husband and business partner of Esther Robles who died in 2001. |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:30:07 |
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| title | Will Barnet papers, 1938-2001 | repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | The papers of painter, printmaker, and educator Will Barnet measure 11.1 linear feet and date from 1938 to 2001. Found within the papers are biographical material, including numerous recorded interviews of Barnet; personal and professional correspondence; writings and lectures, many of which exist only as audio and video recordings; financial records; printed material, including audio and video documentaries; artwork; and photographs of Barnet, his family and friends, and his work. Biographical materials consist of appointment and address books, curriculum vitae, a fellowship application, awards ceremony documentation, and numerous recorded interviews, including a 9 part interview with Kitty Gellhorn conducted over the course of two years. Only 6 of the 24 interviews have transcripts and most are found only on original audio and video recordings with no duplicate access copies. Correspondence is primarily with Barnet's family, friends, fellow artists, and business associates discussing personal relationships, teaching and lecturing appointments, gallery sales, and exhibitions. Correspondents of note include Cameron Booth, Henry Pearson, Angelo Savelli, Harry Sternberg, Jon Von Wicht, Esther Robles Gallery, and the Waddell Gallery (formerly Grippi and Waddell). Writings by Barnet consist of 7 essays, 45 teaching lectures, 3 notebooks, and 4 speeches. Many of the lectures and 3 of the 4 speeches exist only as audio and video recordings for which there are no transcripts or duplicate access copies. The bulk of writings by others are biographical essays and memoirs of Barnet, including a copy of Peter Barnet's dissertation, Will Barnet: Artist and Teacher. The series also includes 4 exhibition guest registers. Personal business records include sales and teaching contracts, gift acknowledgements, and price lists. Printed material includes auction catalogs, clippings, audio recordings, video documentaries, exhibition announcements and catalogs, newsletters, press releases, programs, and reproductions of artwork. Video documentaries of note include Artist's Eye and Lasting Impressions, both of which Barnet contributed interviews to. Photographic materials document people, artwork, exhibition installations, and works of art. There are early photos of Barnet teaching at the Art League, as well as photos of Barnet in his studio and with friends and family. Views of exhibition installations, award ceremonies, and events mainly document solo shows and Barnet's reception after receiving the National Arts Club's Gold Medal Award. Artwork consists of ink, pencil, and pen sketches by Will Barnet, and a drawing by Bill Smith. Separated and Related Materials Also found in the Archives are papers that were lent for microfilming (reels N68-22, N69-126, and N70-48.) Most but not all of this material was included in subsequent donations, except for scattered newsclippings and exhibition catalogs. The microfilm is not described in the container listing of this finding aid. The Archives of American Art holds three oral history interviews with Will Barnet, one conducted by Richard Baker, January 20, 1964, one by Paul Cummings, January 15, 1968, and another by Stephen Polcari on April 9, 1993. Also found are two additional related collections, a transcript of an interview by Louis Newman with Molly Barnes and Will Barnet, and Peter Barnet's research material on Will Barnet. Syracuse University holds additional papers of Will Barnet. Biographical/Historical Note: Will Barnet (1911-2012) was a painter, printmaker, and educator who lived and worked in New York City. Barnet was born in Beverly, Massachusetts to Noah and Sarahdina Barnet. After showing an early interest and affinity for art, he attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In 1931, he received a scholarship to attend the Art Students League where he studied with Stuart Davis and began building his printmaking techniques. In 1935, he was appointed the League's official printer, and was given his first teaching position there the following year. In 1938, working in the style of social realism, he held his first gallery show at the Hudson Walker Gallery in Manhattan. That same year, Barnet married Mary Sinclair, with whom he had three sons. In the 1940s and 50s, Barnet began to move away from realism and started painting domestic familial subjects in geometric abstract styles, a move influenced by Native American and modern European art. By 1953, he had divorced and was remarried to Elena Ciurlys, with whom he had a daughter. Elena and his daughter were the subject of many of his representational, dimensionally flat paintings in the 1960s and 70s. During the 60s, Barnet also returned to large scale abstract art, and moved back and forth between styles throughout the rest of his career into the 2000s. As an educator, Barnet taught graphic arts, printmaking, composition, and painting courses at the League from 1936 to 1980, and also taught courses Cooper Union, Yale, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He received numerous awards, including the first Artist's Lifetime Achievement Award given on the National Academy of Design’s 175th anniversary, the College Art Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2011 National Medal of Arts. Will Barnet died in his home in Manhattan, New York on November 13, 2012. |
| extent | 11.1 linear feet |
| formats | Business Papers Personal Papers Correspondence Photographs Artwork |
| access | Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. |
| record source | http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/will-barnet-papers-8871 |
| acquisition information | Will Barnet donated his papers in several increments between 1968-2001. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:17 |
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| title | Institutional file. Esther-Robles Gallery. | repository | The Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives |
| description | The file may include any of the following materials: announcements, clippings, photographs, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, small exhibition catalogs and checklists under 50 pages, other ephemeral material. Cite as Brooklyn Museum of Art Library Collections. BMA institutional files. |
| extent | 1 folder |
| formats | Ephemera |
| access | Contact the Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives for access restrictions. |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991008040339707141 |
| acquisition information | Files compiled by BMA library staff from circa 1917 to the present. |
| updated | 11/29/2022 15:49:51 |
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| title | California Art Gallery and Museum Ephemera Collection 1928-2011 | repository | California Historical Society |
| description | Consists of advertisements, announcements, brochures, exhibition catalogs, invitations and posters promoting various artists and exhibitions held at California art galleries, art museums, and college art museums. Materials are primarily from San Francisco, the Bay Area and Los Angeles galleries and museums; bulk of materials date from the 1960s. |
| extent | 4.5 linear ft. |
| formats | Ephemera |
| access | Collection is open for research. |
| record source | http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8q241mq/ |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:17 |
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| title | Artist and gallery ephemera, 1879-2013. LIB.001.002 | repository | Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
| description | Artist and gallery files consist of a total of 447 linear feet of materials made up of post cards; exhibition announcements; clippings and photocopies; press releases, brochures; pamphlets; catalogs; price lists; invitations; posters; research notes; reviews and other ephemera promoting the work of artists or exhibitions of artworks organized by galleries as early as 1879, but predominately dating from the late 1960s to the present. The collection is especially strong in American and international ephemera related to contemporary art and artists and materials from galleries and institutions in the Los Angeles area. 655 boxes or 383 linear feet are made up of Artist files, consisting of ephemeral items primarily relating to individual artists and their exhibitions. 96 boxes or 56 linear feet consist of ephemeral items from group shows, grouped by gallery or by institutions such as universities, or colleges or the galleries affiliated with these institutions. 6 boxes or 8 linear feet consist of posters grouped geographically. The collection also has examples of contemporary materials from and about related arts, art professionals, art spaces; collectors and collections, vendors and events that were part of former curator's vertical files. All materials pertaining to artists was collected for Artist files regardless of the nationality, period, or school of the artist or venue represented until 2011 after which only items related to artists based in or associated with California are collected to be added to the files. Many unlisted artists are represented in both miscellaneous files [i.e. "Aa-Az"], within files grouped under a single proper name [i.e. "Adams"], and as part of group shows filed under another artist's name. The series representing galleries and institutions predominately consists of files related to venues in California. Posters and larger format ephemera are represented in each of part of the collection, the Poster files group was maintained as a parallel companion to the Gallery and Institution files which had been two separate groups in early iterations of the collection. Catalogs and exhibitions listed are intended as searchable examples rather than a comprehensive index. Please contact the Research Library for more information about additional artists. Background The Artist and gallery ephemera files were and are compiled and maintained by the staff of the Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch Art Research Library of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and have been since the opening of the museum, more commonly known as LACMA, on Wilshire Boulevard in 1965. Some materials date before the 1960s and were acquired by the library when it was a part of the Los Angeles Museum of Science History and Art (now the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History) at Exposition Park before the Art Museum became an independent entity. Most of the ephemera was mailed directly to the museum either to the Research Library or to curators who passed the materials along for inclusion in the files. Private collections were also contributed by museum donors, board and committee members, artists and their families. |
| extent | 447.0 Linear feet |
| formats | Ephemera Postcards Clippings Photocopies Printed Materials |
| access | This collection is open for use by appointment only at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Balch Art Research Library. Please contact the library ahead of time to inquire if materials exist in the Artist and gallery ephemera collection pertaining to your research interests by telephone at 323-857-6118 or email at library@lacma.org. |
| record source | http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8m61j05/ |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:17 |
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