Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Archives related to: Kootz, Samuel Melvin, 1898-1982

titleOral history interview with Samuel M. Kootz, 1960 Mar. 2.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionAn interview of Samuel M. Kootz conducted by John Morse for the Archives of American Art.
extent1 sound tape reel ; 7 in. (11 p. transcript)
formatsSound Recording Transcript
accessContact repository for restrictions and policies.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
acquisition informationPart of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958.
updated03/16/2023 10:29:50
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titleOral history interview with Samuel M. Kootz, 1964 Apr. 13.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionAn interview of Samuel M. Kootz conducted 1964 Apr. 13, in New York, by Dorothy Seckler for the Archives of American Art.
extentSound recording: 2 sound tapes ; 5 in. Transcript: 21 p.
formatsSound Recording Transcript Online Transcript
accessOnline Transcript
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
acquisition informationPart of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:49
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titleNathan Halper interviews, 1980 July 8-Aug. 14.
repositoryArchives of American Art
description Interviews of Nathan Halper conducted by Robert Brown for the Archives of American Art. Halper speaks of his family background and early interest in art; the beginning of his painting career; getting involved with the Beachcombers; the art scene in Provincetown in the 1930s and 1940s; his circle of artist friends; and Hans Hofmann's influence.

Halper also speaks of his experiences with his own gallery, H.C. and H.C.E. Gallery. He recalls Edwin Dickinson, Charles Webster Hawthorne, Sam Kootz, and Robert Motherwell.

Bio / His Notes:
Art dealer, writer and James Joyce scholar; Provincetown, Mass. b. 1907; d. 1983.
extent1 sound cassette and 1 sound tape reel; Transcription: 125 p.
formatsSound Recording Interview Transcript Online Transcript
accessOnline Transcript
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
finding aidTranscript is available electronically.
acquisition informationThese 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 others.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:57
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titleMorris Kantor papers, 1905-1977.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionCorrespondence, exhibition materials, writings, printed materials, photographs, sketchbooks, and scrapbooks.

REEL D114: Correspondence, including letters from students, friends, and institutions; sketchbooks; and scrapbooks. Correspondents include: Sperry Andrews, Benjamin G. Benno, Edith Brodsky, Alice Forman, George Grosz, Anita Hatofsky, Alvin and Helen King Hattorf, John E. Hubbard, Werner Koepf, Samuel M. Kootz, David Nathan Lund, Garnett McCoy, Walter Pach, Charles Allen Patterson, Rubin Reif, Alvin Ross, Sonia Sekula, Vaclav Vytlacil, and Franklin C. Watkins.

REEL 969: Correspondence, mostly concerning the exhibition and loan of paintings; exhibition catalogs and announcements; clippings; and photographs of his work with Kantor's notes analyzing them.

REEL 3784-3785 Biographical material; correspondence, including letters from Kantor's students, personal letters, letters of condolence to Kantor's widow after his death, and others; notes on painting and teaching, and drafts for lectures; business records, including statements from the Rehn Gallery, a record book of income and expenses, receipts and records relating to teaching and household expenses; art works, including working drawings, sketches and paintings on paper; exhibition catalogs and announcements; printed material; and photographs of Kantor and of his work.

REEL 439 AND SCANNED Photo of Kantor, taken by Kuniyoshi,and previously microfilmed under Photos of Artists I; it has now been scanned and returned to the Kantor papers.

ADDITION: A resume; a letter from Ala Story, 1972; ten notebooks and loose pages containing handwritten notes, essays, and other writings by Kantor; an account book, 1971-1973; photographs of the Kantor family, ca. 1905, photographs of Kantor, Kantor in his Welfleet, Mass. studio, his work, his New York studio at the time of his death taken by Lee Friedlander, and snapshots of the view of Union Square from his studio window; among the photographers are Peter A. Juley & Son, De Witt Ward, and Yasuo Kiniyoshi; exhibition catalogs and announcements, 1929-1971; reproductions of paintings by Kantor; and clippings, 1965-1974. Also included are letters from the Zabriskie Gallery to Mrs. Morris Kantor, 1976.

Bio / His Notes:
Painter; New City, N.Y.
extent3.6 linear ft. (on 4 microfilm reels)
formatsMicrofilm Correspondence Exhibition Files Writings Printed Materials
accessPatrons must use microfilm copy. Use of unmicrofilmed addition requires an appointment and is limited to AAA's Washington, D.C. storage facilty.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
acquisition informationMaterials on reels D114 and 969 donated 1963-1969 by Morris Kantor. Material on reels 3784-3785 donated 1976-1984 by Martha (Mrs. Morris) Kantor and Syracuse University, which had been given some of Kantor's papers. The addition was transferred from the National Museum of American Art, 1997, which had received it from Martha Kantor for use in researching the large number of Kantor's works in the museum's collection.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:57
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titleDavid Hare interview, 1968 Jan. 17
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionInterview of David Hare conducted by Dorothy Seckler for the Archives of American Art.

Hare speaks of his background and education; his start in commercial and color photography; his early sculpture; his first exhibition in 1944 with Peggy Guggenheim; later shows with Sam Kootz and Julien Levy; materials and techniques; his philosophy; abstract expressionism versus surrealism. He discusses several contemporary artists, including Barnett Newman, Kenneth Noland, Frank Stella and Jackson Pollock.

Bio / His Notes:
Sculptor; New York, N.Y. Died 1992.
extent3 sound cassettes (83 p. transcript)
formatsInterview Transcript
accessContact repository for restrictions and policies.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
acquisition informationThis interview is 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 others. Item is a transcript. Location of Original: Location of original tape unknown.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:57
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titleNathan Halper correspondence and gallery records, 1952-1979.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionCorrespondence, 1952-1966, and gallery records, 1952-1979, of the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, H.C. Gallery, the Sun Gallery, and the H.C.E. Gallery, all in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Gallery records include notes, a poem, subject files on the galleries, printed material, legal material, financial records, and photographs.

Correspondence includes letters from Milton Avery, Gandy Brodie, Anthony Caro, G. Alan Chidsey, Wolf Kahn, Samuel M. Kootz, Robert Motherwell, and David Smith, 1952-1966; an exhibition guest register, 1955-1956; an address book; a poem; 11 clippings, 1952-1976; 3 exhibition catalogs, 1962; subject files contain letters and financial material concerning the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1953-1958, the Sun Gallery, 1961-1963, and the H.C.E. Gallery, 1964-1979. The subject file for the Kootz Gallery contains 2 letters from Hans Hofmann, 1956.

Corporate and partnership agreements between Halper and Samuel Kootz, 1955, and between Halper and John Murray Cuddihy, 1955; insurance records, 1953-1970; expense records, 1959-1965; stock books containing price lists, sales and price lists, 1953-1970; 5 cash and sales notebooks, 1954-1967; an account book from the Kootz Gallery; 14 sales books, 1956-1967; checkbook registers, 1953-1968; bank statements and cancelled checks, 1955-1958; invoices and receipts, 1953-1970; photographs of installations and gallery openings with Halper, Henry Botkin, John Murray Cuddihy, Hans Hofmann, Karl Knaths, Samuel Kootz, Blanche Lazzell, and Wallace Putnam, 1955-1956; and 43 slides of works of art.

Bio / His Notes:
Art dealer, gallery director; Provincetown, Massachusetts. Born 1907. Died 1983. Halper graduated from Columbia University in 1927, and was primarily a writer and James Joyce scholar. Beginning with a partnership with Samuel Kootz, he managed the Samuel Kootz Gallery in Provincetown from 1953-1954. With John Murray Cuddihy, Halper formed the H.C. Gallery (1956) and H.C.E. Gallery (1957-1967), the latter gallery's name being inspired by FINNEGAN'S WAKE. Halper managed the Sun Gallery for a couple of years to aid the younger artists who had started it.
extent4.0 linear ft.
formatsBusiness Papers Photographs Correspondence Legal Papers Financial Records
accessUnmicrofilmed; use requires an appointment and is limited to Washington D.C. storage facility.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
acquisition informationDonated in 1979 by Nathan Halper, and in 1983-1984 by his wife Marjorie. Loc. of Assoc. Material: Nathan Halper literary estate also located at: Columbia University, Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Butler Library, New York, New York.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:57
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titleLudwig Sander papers, 1910-1975.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionFound are biographical materials primarily consisting of army records; correspondence with family and colleagues discussing exhibitions and other art-related activities; diaries; personal scattered business records; address books and art history typescripts; sketchbooks and illustrations for magazines; photographs of Sander, his colleagues, his travels, and exhibition openings; and miscellaneous printed material. The collection Sander's career and interactions with some of the most important artists of 20th century modern art.

Chronological correspondence primarily consists of letters from Sanders to his mother during his army service, and letters from his colleagues discussing exhibitions and other art-related activities. Correspondents include Clement Greenberg, Philip Guston, Yvonne Hagen, Gottfried Honegger, Sam Kootz, and Vaclav Vytlacil. There are single letters from Georgi Daskaloff, Philip Johnson, Richard Neutra, George Plimpton, and Maximilian Schell, and an invitation to a croquet party from Willem and Elaine De Kooning, Sander, Nancy Ward, and Franz Kline.

Photographs of Sander include one with his mother and several with his Army company. Photographs of exhibition openings include James Brooks, Clement Greenberg, Conrad Marca-Relli, Esteban Vicente, and Hugo Weber. Photographs of Sander with colleagues include Leo Castelli, Elaine De Kooning, Willem De Kooning, and Harold Rosenberg. This subseries sometimes includes related photographs of their surroundings from the same roll of film. There are also miscellaneous travel photographs.

Bio / His Notes:
Painter; New York, N.Y.; d. 1975.
extent2.8 linear ft. (partially filmed on 3 reels) reel 32
formatsMicrofilm Legal Papers Correspondence Exhibition Files Business Papers
accessMicrofilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm copy
record sourcehttp://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/findingaids/sandludw.htm
finding aidElectric finding aid available
acquisition informationMaterial on reel 32 was lent 1970 by Ludwig Sander. A dozen exhibition announcements and catalogs were subsequently donated with the unmicrofilmed material by Kate Sander, Sander's widow, in 1975. Location of Original: Portions of reel 32: Originals returned to lender, Ludwig R. Sandler, after microfilming.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:57
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titleJames Brooks papers, 1928-1983.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionPersonal and business correspondence; photographs; transcripts of taped interviews; writings on art; sketches; and printed materials.
R
EEL N69-132: Financial correspondence with the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery; personal letters to Brooks and his wife Charlotte from George Biddle, Sam Hunter, Peppino Mangravite, James Waddell, William Littlefield, Worden Day, Wilfred Zogbaum, Julian Levi, Saul Steinberg, from collector, Ben Heller, and editors, George Plimpton and Stanley Kunitz. Also includes transcripts of interviews regarding his development as an artist, his commercial success, federal art programs during the depression, experiences with Jackson Pollock and Thomas H. Benton, and classes with Kimon Nicolaides and Boardman Robinson; clippings; photographs; catalogs; and an address book.

REELS 292-293: Brief essays on painting; a notebook summarizing work on "Flight," a Federal Art Project mural; photographs, including one of Brooks standing in front of his WPA Woodside Library mural (also microfilmed on reel 1817 fr. 224-225, and scanned, with AAA's Photographs of Artists Collection II); catalogs; clippings; and correspondence, primarily with teaching institutions, museums, and galleries often regarding lectures, juries, exhibitions, and sales. Correspondents include John Baur, James Johnson Sweeney, Josef Albers, Grace Borgenicht Brandt, and an occasional letter from Thomas Hart Benton. Olin Dows and Edward B. Rowan discuss murals done by Brooks for the Treasury Department and Biddle corresponds with Brooks about his service as a War Department artist.

UNMICROFILMED: Personal correspondence with Sandy (Alexander) Calder, Eurico Donate, Juilan Levi, Pierre Soulages, and others; business correspondence with Harvy H. Arnason, Trudie Grace, Grace Hartigan,Martha Jackson, Samuel Kootz, and others; income tax forms, insurance policies, and receipts; a sketchbook; 25 photographs of works of art; 31 sketches; exhibition catalogs and announcements; magazine articles and clippings on mural painting and Jackson Pollock.

Bio / His Notes:
Painter; East Hampton, N.Y. Died 1992. Brooks studied under Kimon Nicolaides and Boardman Robinson. He served as an artist in the War Dept. and during the Depression he painted murals for federal art programs. He was a proponent of Abstract Expressionism, and was a friend of Jackson Pollock.
extent3.4 linear ft. (partially microfilmed on 3 reels)
formatsMicrofilm Correspondence Business Papers Photographs Transcript
accessMicrofilmed material must be consulted on microfilm copy. Use of unilmed material requires an appointment and is limited to Washington, D.C. storage facility.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
acquisition informationDonated 1979-1983 by Brooks. Reel N69-132 originally microfilmed in 1969. Portions that were donated have been previously microfilmed on reel N69-132.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:57
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titleWilliam and Ethel Baziotes papers, 1916-1992.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionCorrespondence, financial material, writings and notes, sketchbook, photographs, slides, printed material, and an interview relating to William Baziotes' career as an abstract expressionist painter. The papers of Ethel Baziotes consist of correspondence and writings mostly dated after William's death regarding exhibitions of her husband's work.

REEL N70-21: Published and unpublished articles on Baziotes, including a literary portrait by Donald Paneth, undated; notes and writings by Baziotes, undated; teaching files from Hunter College, 1957, 1960-1962; letters to Baziotes (1940-1969) from: Lawrence Alloway, Alfred Barr, Andre Breton, Clement Greenberg, Peggy Guggenheim, David Hare, Jean Helion, Matta, Maria and Robert Motherwell, Charles Peterson, an invitation from Jackson Pollock, WPA Easel Artists Division, 1940-1941; 3 letters (one illustrated) from William to Ethel, 1940-1941; photocopies of a questionnaire prepared for the Museum of Modern Art, regarding Baziotes' painting "Dwarf", ca. 1951; letters to Ethel Baziotes, 1961-1969; photographs of Baziotes, Ethel, family and friends, including photographs of Baziotes by Francis P. Lee, Hans Namuth, and Peter A. Juley & Son; exhibition announcements and catalogs; and a scrapbook of clippings, 1944-1969.

REEL N70-24: Letters from Baziotes to his brother Christos, 1936-1951. Baziotes encourages Christos and another brother Harry in their art, and discusses employment on the WPA Easel Project, the New York art scene, teaching at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and at New York University, his relationships with Paul Bodin, Clement Greenberg, Samuel Kootz, Francis Lee, Joan Miro, and Robert Motherwell.

REEL 347: Business correspondence, mainly with the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, letters to Ethel Baziotes, 1962-1972, including letters of condolence; photographs of Ethel Baziotes, Rudi Blesh, Nathan Halper, Harriet Janis, Ethel Schwabacher, Maurice Sievan, Clyfford Still, and others; newspaper and magazine articles; and exhibition announcements and catalogs.

REELS 4984-4985: Letters to William, ca. 1940-1990, including congratulatory notes upon being awarded a prize at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1947; letters to Ethel from John Canaday, John (Giovanni) Castano, Gerome Kamrowski, Gordon Onslow-Ford, Gertrud Schumm, Ethel Schwabacher, Byron Vazakas, and museums and galleries regarding exhibiting William's works of art including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's retrospective, 1964, and Newport Harbor Museum's retrospective exhibition, 1987; business letters and a record of sales from the Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, 1952-1957; an untranscribed interview of Harry Baziotes conducted by F. Ricci for "Art in Review," 1982 (1 cassette); writings by William, ca. 1950, Ethel, 1972, 1992, n.d., and others, including Schwabacher, 1971, 1972; a sketchbook, 1960-1961; a portrait of William by Peter A. Juley & Son, ca. 1953; photographs ca. 1900-1978, of family and friends, including Meir Bernstein (Meir Bernshtin) and his studio, Paul Bodin, Michel Licht, Maria Motherwell, Pablo and Maia Picasso, Orlando Zulueta, and others; photos of works of art by William including the Crystal Restaurant murals in Reading, Pa., 1941-1942; exhibition announcements and catalogs 1944-1992; clippings, 1944-1991; and auction catalogs, 1965, 1981-1992.

UNMICROFILMED: An untranscribed interview of Harry Baziotes conducted by F. Ricci for "Art in Review," 1982 (1 cassette); miscellaneous printed material not related to Baziotes; and slides of the Baziotes residences.

Bio / His Notes:
Abstract expressionist painter; New York City. Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., Baziotes moved to New York City in 1933, where he studied painting at the National Academy of Design, 1933-1936. He participated on the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project as a teacher, 1936-1938, and painted for the Easel Painting Project, 1938-1940. In 1941 he married Ethel Copstein. He had his first one-man show at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery in 1944. Baziotes taught at Subjects of the Artist, 1948; the Brooklyn Museum Art School; New York University; 1949-1952; the People's Art Center at the Museum of Modern Art, 1950-1952; and Hunter College, 1952-1962. Died June 1963, at age 52.
extent7.3 linear ft. (on 5 microfilm reels)
formatsCorrespondence Financial Records Writings Notes Sketchbooks
accessPatrons must use microfilm copy.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
finding aidFinding aid available at AAA offices.
acquisition informationDonated by Ethel Baziotes, widow of William Baziotes, 1969-1993.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:57
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titleNorman Carton papers, 1949-1980.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionCorrespondence; writings and notes; financial data; sketchbooks; photographs; exhibition catalogs and clippings.

UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence with galleries and others; writings and notes; consignment and sales statements and other financial records from the Gres Gallery and the Martha Jackson Gallery, 1955-1961; a guest book from exhibitions sponsored by the Rainbow Art League of New York, 1973-1975; 3 sketchbooks, containing watercolor sketches and ink, charcoal, pencil, and crayon drawings; exhibition announcements and catalogs; clippings, and other printed materials; and photographs of Carton, Willem de Kooning, Rene d'Haroncourt, John Ferren, Clement Greenberg, John Hultberg, Martha Jackson, Samuel M. Kootz, Betty Parsons, Milton Resnick, works of art by Carton, and gallery installations.

REEL 2787: Fifteen exhibition catalogs, twelve clippings, a resume, and a photograph of Carton in his studio with a model.

Bio / His Notes:
Painter and instructor; New York, N.Y.
extent0.8 linear ft. (partially microfilmed on 1 reel)
formatsMicrofilm Correspondence Writings Notes Sketchbooks
accessMicrofilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of unmicrofilmed portion requires an appointment and is limited to Washington, D.C. storage facility.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
acquisition informationDonated 1978 and 1984 by Mr. & Mrs. Norman Carton.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:57
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titleRosalind Bengelsdorf Browne papers, 1927-1978.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionBiographical material; personal and business correspondence, including correspondence with Francis V. O'Connor regarding her involvement with the WPA Federal Art Project; address books; draft of an unfinished autobiography and other published and unpublished writings; a transcript of an interview with Susan C. Larsen, dealing with American Abstract Artists; subject, teaching and exhibition files; photographs of Browne and her artwork; printed material on Browne and art in general; exhibition catalogs and announcements; and a manuscript of her 34-page article "Abstract Art and the W.P.A. in New York," commissioned by O'Connor, submitted to him in June 1969 and published in his THE NEW DEAL ART PROJECTS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MEMOIRS.

Also included are 2 untranscribed cassette tapes of a monologue of Browne concerning her husband Byron Browne and Sam Kootz.

Bio / His Notes:
Painter, art critic, and educator; New York, N.Y. Married painter Byron Browne.
extent2.6 linear ft. (on 4 microfilm reels)
formatsBusiness Papers Personal Papers Correspondence Writings Transcript
accessPatrons must use microfilm copy.
record sourcehttp://www.siris.si.edu/
acquisition informationDonated 1978-1979 by Rosalind Bengelsdorf Browne and her son, Stephen B. Browne.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:57
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titleWilliam S. Lieberman Papers, 1948-1984
repositoryThe Museum of Modern Art
descriptionThe Papers document his contacts with the art world and involvement with Museum activities and exhibitions; in particular, Max Ernst (MoMA Exh. #474), Joan Miro (MoMA Exh. #641), Modigliani (MoMA Exh. #474) and Stravinsky and the Dance (C/E 62-2, 1962-63). His involvement with the Junior Council include such exhibitions as Young American Printmakers (MoMA Exh. #547), Recent Drawings, U.S.A. (MoMA Exh. #601) and the preparation of The Museum of Modern Art Calendar and Junior Council Print Sales.

Correspondence relating to the Dance and Theatre Archives exhibitions is included in addition to correspondence with trustees, patrons, friends and such artists as Chryssa, Masuo Ikeda, Marc and Valentina Chagall, Robert Motherwell, Lee Krasner, Leonard Baskin, and Emilio Sanchez, many of whom were personal friends of Lieberman. Other subjects include Lieberman's trip to Japan (1964-65) for the purpose of organizing The New Japanese Painting and Sculpture (MoMA Exh. #809, ICE-D-13-64), Nelson A. Rockefeller's bequest to the Museum (1979), and the disposition of the Lyonel Feininger Estate.

Biographical/historical note
Curator, Department of Prints, 1949-60; Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, 1960-66; Director, Department of Drawings and Prints, 1966-71; Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, 1969-71; Director, Department of Drawings, 1971-79; Advisor to the Junior Council, 1954-64.

Since November 1979 he has been Chairman of the Twentieth Century Art Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.).

Location
MoMA Museum Archives

Call Number
mmym MA
extent31 linear feet
formatsBusiness Papers Personal Papers Correspondence Exhibition Files
accessThe records are open for research and contain no restricted materials.
record linkhttp://www.moma.org/research/archives/EAD/Liebermanf.html
record sourcehttps://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991009763659707141
finding aidThe finding aid is in the repository and on the repository's web site.
acquisition information7.5 linear feet of material (Series I.A and I.B) were transferred from three file drawers in the Department of Drawings in November 1990. 29 linear feet (Series II.A, II.B, III, IV, and V) were stored at an off-site location; these were transferred to the Museum Archives for processing in October 1991
updated11/29/2022 15:49:51
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titleAlfred H. Barr, Jr. Papers, 1927-1984
repositoryThe Museum of Modern Art
descriptionThe 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
extent95 linear ft. (55 boxes)
formatsAdministrative Records Correspondence Ephemera Writings Subject Files
accessThe records are open for research and contain few restricted materials. Contact museum archivist for an appointment.
record linkhttp://moma.org/research/archives/EAD/Barrf.html
record sourcehttps://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991009761919707141
finding aidFinding aids in the repository.
acquisition informationTransferred 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.
updated11/29/2022 15:49:51
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titleRichard Brown Baker Diaries
repositoryThe Museum of Modern Art
descriptionThe Diaries describe Baker's growth as a collector of post-World War II art in New York, and his relationships with various artists, including Enrico Donati, Pierre Dumont, Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Richard Stankiewicz; dealers including Leo Castelli, Rose Fried, Sidney Janis; and New York society, including Sam and Jane Kootz, and the Walter Hochschilds, among others. He also details his relationship with The Museum of Modern Art including individuals such as Margaret Scolari Barr (Mrs. Alfred H. Barr, Jr.), Dorothy Miller, and Abe Chanin, among others.

According to a note written by Baker and included in the papers, the diary began in the late 1920s and was still being written in 1987.

Biographical Note
A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Richard Brown Baker graduated from Yale University in 1935. After studying at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, he returned to Providence where he worked as a reporter. In 1940 he returned to Europe as attaché and private secretary to the American Ambassador in Madrid. During the Second World War he served as a research analyst in the Office of Strategic Services, then as a foreign affairs specialist for the State Department, and later in the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. Although he started collecting art in Washington, Baker moved to New York in 1952, where he devoted himself completely to painting, studying with Hans Hofmann, and collecting.

Related Collections at MoMA and Elsewhere
The Museum's relationships with artists and the art world during the fifties can be studied in many of the Archives holdings, among them, the Records of the Department of Circulating Exhibitions, the Dorothy Miller Papers and the collection of Sound Recordings of Museum-Related Events. Please consult with Archives staff for additional information.
extentOne 2.5" document box
formatsDiaries
accessThe Diaries are available for research purposes only.
record sourcehttp://www.moma.org/research/archives/EAD/BakerRichardBrownf.html
acquisition informationThe Diaries were given to Riva Castleman by Richard Brown Baker at an unknown date. Lent to the Museum Archives for duplication in January 1990, the originals were returned to the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books.
updated11/12/2014 11:30:16
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titleKootz Gallery records, 1923-1966
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionThe records of modernist New York City Kootz Gallery measure 7.1 linear feet and date from 1923-1966.

They consist of scattered correspondence and exhibition files; photograph files of artists, including ones for Picasso, William Baziotes, and Hans Hofmann, among many others; 23 scrapbooks, photographs and slides of the gallery and exhibitions; and scattered personal papers of Samuel M. Kootz.
There are two folders of scattered routine incoming letters. Three folders of exhibition files contain limited documentation of the 1952 Kootz Gallery exhibition "To South America," and printed material related to the 1951 exhibition "Art for a Synagogue" held at the Synagogue of Congregation B'nai Israel in Millburn, New Jersey.

Artists' Photograph Files contain mostly photographs of 52 artists, their artwork, and their exhibitions. In addition to photographs, there is one folder of artists' autographs. Pablo Picasso and Hans Hofmann's close friendship with Kootz is reflected in this series, as numerous informal personal photos are found in their respective files. A few folders also contain documents, such as transcript notes for a lecture and other writings by Hans Hofmann and a brief review of the work of Georges Braque and David Hare.

Printed Material consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs, advertisements, and newspaper and magazine clippings on the gallery and artists associated with the gallery. There are catalogs for Kootz Gallery exhibitions, including "The Intrasubjectives" show of 1949.

Twenty-three scrapbooks date from 1931 through 1966 and include exhibition announcements, catalogs, photographs, clippings, and miscellaneous printed material. Scrapbook 1, 1947-1948, focuses on Pablo Picasso. Scrapbooks 2-21 document approximately one year of Kootz Gallery events and press coverage from 1945 to 1966, and Scrapbooks 22-23, 1950-1958, focus on architectural models and exhibitions.

Photographic material includes photographs, transparencies, and slides of Kootz Gallery New York and Kootz Gallery Provincetown; interior design photographs showcasing Kootz Gallery artwork hanging in office and residential spaces; group and unidentified exhibitions; group and unidentified artists/artwork; and informal photographs of Samuel Kootz and of his wife, Jane.

Samuel Kootz Personal Papers consist of a cocktail party invitation and a copy of the 1923 Phi Epsilon Pi Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 1.

Biographical/Historical Note
Kootz Gallery (1945-1966) was an art gallery in New York, N.Y. Kootz Gallery was founded 1945 by Samuel M. Kootz.

Historical Note
Samuel M. Kootz officially opened the Kootz Gallery in 1945 in New York City. In 1953, he opened a satellite gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts that closed one year later.

Samuel M. Kootz (1898-1982) received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1921 and practiced law briefly before moving to New York City to accept a job as an advertising account executive. While still in law school, he began visiting New York art galleries and was particularly drawn to works by modern artists that were showing at the Stieglitz Gallery and the Charles Daniel Gallery. In 1930, he independently published his first book, Modern American Painters and began to regularly contribute articles on painting and photography to various periodicals, including The Times.

In 1942, he curated an abstract expressionist showcase for Macy's and published New Frontiers in American Painting one year later. Kootz's second book was one of the first to examine the emerging abstract expressionist movement and marked the beginning of his full transition into the art world.
In 1944, Kootz resigned from his advertising job to represent Robert Motherwell and William Baziotes as a professional art dealer. He officially opened the Kootz Gallery opened in 1945 and showcased the work of both American and European abstract expressionists, including Hans Hofmann and Adolph Gottlieb.

In 1946, during the Kootz Gallery's preparation for Pablo Picasso's first one man exhibition in America, Picasso became quite friendly with Kootz and his wife Jane. Upon the artist's suggestion, Kootz agreed to close his gallery and represent Picasso and his other artists as a private dealer. Although this was a successful venture, Kootz missed the structure of an office and decided to reopen his gallery on Madison Avenue in 1949.

The gallery's first show at the new location was "The Intrasubjectives," a term Kootz had coined for abstract expressionists. The exhibition included four artists from his stable, William Baziotes, Robert Motherwell, Adolph Gottlieb, and Hans Hofmann, along with Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, Morris Graves, Mark Tobey, and Bradley Walker Tomlin.

In 1953, Kootz opened a satellite gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts that was managed and operated by gallerist Nathan Halper. In 1954, they mutually agreed to dissolve their partnership and Kootz focused his energies on his New York gallery, which grew to include Herbert Ferber, David Hare, Philippe Hosiasson, Ibram Lassaw, Conrad Marca-Relli, Georges Mathieu, Raymond Parker, William Ronald, Gerard Schneider, Emil Schumacher, and Pierre Soulages.

A number of factors, including competition from new galleries, commoditization of art by investment collectors, and the public's interest in emerging pop art, influenced Kootz's decision to close his gallery in 1966.

Related Materials:
Records loaned for microfilming in 1965 included eight articles from the publication Modern Artists in America (1951), that were not included in the later donation and are now available on microfilm reel NY65-1.

Also found among the holdings of the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews with Samuel M. Kootz by John Morse on March 2, 1960 and by Dorothy Seckler on April 13, 1964. Records of Kootz Gallery are also interspersed among the records of Nathan Halper's galleries.

Location of Originals
Reel NY65-1: Originals returned to the lender after microfilming; the catalog, Intrasubjectives, was subsequently donated.

extent7.1 linear ft.
formatsCorrespondence Scrapbooks Clippings Catalogs Photographs
accessPatrons must use microfilm copy.
record linkhttps://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/kootz-gallery-records-9163
record sourcehttps://www.aaa.si.edu/files/resources/finding-aids/pdf/kootgall.pdf
finding aidAvailable on the Archives of American Art's website.
acquisition informationSamuel M. Kootz donated the gallery records in two increments in 1971. Nearly all of the same records had been loaned in 1965 for microfilming.
updated11/17/2017 16:37:54
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