Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Otto Gerson Gallery (New York, N.Y.)
| title | Otto and Ilse Gerson papers, 1933-1980. | repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Otto Gerson married Ilse Goehler in 1939, and together they became important dealers in New York, ca. 1940-1962, bringing works by noted post-war European (and some American) artists to the American market. Records relating to galleries owned and operated by the Gersons, including Fine Arts Associates, Gerson Gallery, and the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery. Among the correspondence with clients, museums, dealers and artists are a 1937 letter from Ernst L. Kirchner to dealer Curt Valentin, letters from Gerhard Marcks, a 1962 letter from Otto to Ilse about improving their life together, a letter detailing cash flow of the estate, and congratulatory letters to Ilse on her retirement from Marlborough-Gerson Gallery. Also includes estimates and invoices for sales of art works, as well as files on Paul Cezanne, Fernand Leger, Jacques Lipchitz, David Smith, Joseph M. Turner, and Fritz Wotruba containing correspondence, financial and sales records and printed material. The Lipchitz file includes a 1942 letter from Lipschitz to Joseph Hirshhorn. Files on collectors Walter Bareiss, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley, Ralph F. Colin, Joseph Hirshhorn, Herbert Klotz, the Georg-Kolbe Museum, Alvin S. Lane, John A. MacAulay, May D. Morton, Joseph Pulitzer, and the Uris Brothers Foundation contain correspondence, purchase invoices, market value affidavits, photographs of works, and a list of collectors of Georges Braque bronzes. A file on the Dina Vierny Gallery (Paris) contains correspondence relating to sales of works by Constantin Brancusi, Fernand Leger, Aristide Maillol and others. Additional business records include certificates of authenticity for works by Georges Braque, Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso, and others; purchase and sale records (1948-1963); a sales ledger; balance sheets; audit reports for Fine Arts Associates and Otto Gerson Gallery; merger agreement and related correspondence between Gerson Gallery and Marlborough Gallery; tax return for XYZ Liquidating Corporation; inventories; a stock book; stock lists; and stock cards recording the names of buyers, sellers, and prices. Photographs show the galleries, art works, and the Gersons. Other materials consist of exhibition catalogues, clippings and Ilse Gerson's will. |
| extent | 2.8 linear ft. reels 4049-4053 |
| formats | Correspondence Financial Records Photographs Exhibition Catalogs |
| access | Patrons must use microfilm copy. |
| record source | http://www.siris.si.edu/ |
| acquisition information | Laurence Schmeckebier, who appraised Ilse Gerson's estate for Indian Head Bank North, suggested that the papers be given to the Archives of American Art. Some artists' files appear to be missing as only six files have been located. The bank's representative has no knowledge of the whereabouts of any additional material. |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:29:50 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | Curt Valentin papers, 1937-1955. | repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | The papers include Valentin's correspondence with the artists Paul Klee, Ludwig Kirchner, Hans Arp, Jacques Lipchitz, Gerhard Marcks, Lyonel Feininger, Max Beckmann, Alexander Calder, Mary Callery, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Marino Marini, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, and Pablo Picasso. There is also documentation relating to most of the exhibitions held at the Buchholz and Curt Valentin galleries. There is extensive correspondece with private collectors (including David Thomson and Douglas Cooper), other art dealers (Heinz Berggruen, Rolf Burgi, and D.-H. Kahnweiler), as well as institutions worldwide (museums, universities, etc.) which bought and borrowed art work from the Valentin Gallery. Biographical/historical note Curt Valentin was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1902. After completing his education, he became a dealer in modern art in Berlin. In 1934 he returned to Hamburg and worked in the Buchholz Gallery, owned by Karl Buchholz. This gallery comprised two businesses: a bookstore in the front, and, in the rear, an art gallery devoted to the modern art classified as "degenerate" by the Nazis. In 1937 Valentin emigrated to the U.S. with a sufficient number of modern German paintings to open a gallery under the Buchholz name in New York City. In 1951 the gallery was renamed the Curt Valentin Gallery. Widely respected as one of the most astute dealers in modern art, Valentin organized influential exhibitions and attracted major artists to his gallery. His enthusiasm for sculpture is revealed by the artists and exhibitions he selected. He also published several distinguished, limited-edition books in which the writings of poets and novelists were illustrated by a contemporary artists. Valentin died of a heart attact in Aug. 1954, while visiting Marino Marini in Italy. One year later the gallery was liquidated and some of the work from it was sold at a Parke-Bernet auction in Nov. 1955. Several of Valentin's artists, as well as his assistant, Jane Wade, joined the Otto Gerson Gallery, which, after Gerson's death in 1962, became the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery. Location MoMA Museum Archives Call Number Valentin papers |
| extent | 42 linear ft. |
| formats | Correspondence Photographs Financial Records |
| access | Access to the papers is restricted to serious scholars. Requests to consult the papers must be submitted in writing. |
| record link | http://www.moma.org/research/archives/EAD/Valentinf.html |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991006755269707141 |
| finding aid | Finding aid available in the repository. |
| updated | 11/29/2022 15:49:50 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1962. | repository | University of Pennsylvania |
| description | This correspondence concerns the exhibition "Wilhelm Lehmbruck and Other German Sculptors of His Time." Contained in: Carl Zigrosser Papers, ca. 1891-1971. Folder 1283. Location: Rare Book & Ms Library Manuscripts Call Number: Ms. Coll. 6 LC Subject(s): Lehmbruck, Wilhelm, 1881-1919. |
| extent | 3 items (7 leaves). |
| formats | Correspondence |
| access | In general, the Carl Zigrosser Papers may be examined by qualified researchers in the reading room of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania. Photocopying of Zigrosser materials is at the discretion of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The receipt of photocopies does not grant publication rights without the written permission of the University of Pennsylvania and the literary executors of the authors in question. |
| record source | http://www.franklin.library.upenn.edu |
| finding aid | Available in electronic form and in repository. |
| acquisition information | Gift June 1972 |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:00 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | Jane Wade papers, 1903-1971. | repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Papers gathered during Wade's work at the Curt Valentin Gallery and Fine Arts Associates, Inc. Includes: Valentin's correspondence, with letters from Gerhard Marcks, Henry Kahnweiler, Lyonel Feininger, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, E.L. Kirchner, and others; letters to Wade from Alexander Calder, Marino Marini, David Smith, Will Grohmann, Henry Moore, Quappi Beckmann, and others; correspondence between David Smith and Otto Gerson of Fine Arts Associates; condolence letters about Valentin; notes by John B. Flannagan; writings on Valentin by Henry Moore, Andre Masson, and Will Grohmann; a print by Gerhard Marcks; sketches by David Smith; lists of Valentin's exhibitions and Picasso items sold; clippings about Valentin and photographs. |
| extent | 0.2 linear ft. (on partial microfilm reel) reel 2322 |
| formats | Photographs Sketches Exhibition Catalogs Correspondence |
| access | Patrons must use microfilm copy. |
| record source | http://www.siris.si.edu/ |
| acquisition information | Donated 1976 by Jane Wade. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:00 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | Correspondence to Edward F. Fry, 1962. | repository | University of Pennsylvania |
| description | Regarding Alberto Giacommetti’s sculpture. Includes 2 photographs contained in Giacometti artist file, folder 1000. Form/Genre: Photographs. Other Contributors: Gerson, Otto M. Contained in: Edward F. Fry Papers. Folders 465, 1000 Location: Rare Book & Ms Library Manuscripts Call Number: Ms. Coll. 651 |
| extent | 1 item (3 leaves) |
| formats | Correspondence Photographs |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://www.franklin.library.upenn.edu |
| acquisition information | Edward F. Fry Papers. Folders 465, 1000 |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:00 |
| .................................................................... | |