Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Archives related to: Menil, Dominique de

titleArtist file: Menil, Dominique de; miscellaneous uncataloged material.
repositoryThe Museum of Modern Art
descriptionPamphlet file
The folder may include announcements, clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, small exhibition catalogs, and other ephemeral material.

Bio/History:
b. March 23, 1908, Paris; d. Dec. 31, 1997, Houston.

Location
MoMA Queens Artist Files

Call Number
MENIL, DOMINIQUE DE
extent1 Folder
formatsEphemera
accessSubject files--QNS
record sourcehttps://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991011641859707141
updated03/16/2023 10:29:50
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titleSubject file: Menil Collection (Houston, Tex.): miscellaneous uncataloged material.
repositoryThe Museum of Modern Art
descriptionPamphlet File
The folder may include announcements, clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, and other ephemeral material.

Location
MoMA Queens Subject Files

Call Number
MENIL COLLECTION (HOUSTON, TEX.)
extent1 folder
formatsEphemera
accessSubject files--QNS
record sourcehttps://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991010249889707141
updated11/29/2022 15:49:50
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titleJames Johnson Sweeney correspondence, 1961-1967
repositoryMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston
descriptionThe correspondence files of James Johnson Sweeney contain the Director's communications with Trustees (including John de Menil), artists, art critics and journalists, collectors, art gallery owners, and museum and university professionals.

Mostly dealing with possible acquisitions and exhibitions for the MFA,H, the correspondence includes requests for consultations on the value and identification of art works and arrangements for Sweeney's participation as curator or judge for exhibitions and competitions held outside the MFA,H. The papers include correspondence with artists (such as Ida Kohlmeyer, Dorothy Hood, and Laszlo Moskovits) who encouraged Sweeney to visit their studios and wrote to him about the evolution and meaning of their work. The papers illustrate Sweeney's wide circle of contacts in the international art scene and demonstrate his commitment to the broadening of the public's exposure to and understanding of twentieth-century art.

A substantial portion of Sweeney's correspondence concerns ongoing research into the image of the Black in art, a project sponsored jointly by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and John and Dominique de Menil. Ranging in date from June 1963 to April 1964, this correspondence reflects a widespread and intensive effort to locate all relevant material (from any period, in any medium) in both European and American collections. Within the papers the project is termed "Exploration of Negro Subject Matter in the Fine Arts" and "de Menil Negro Art Project"; ultimately it provided the material for the publication, begun in 1976, of the Menil Foundation's multi-volume work, The Black Image in Western Art.

Biographical and Historical Notes
Art museum director, educator, and patron of the arts, James Johnson Sweeney was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 30, 1900 and educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, and at the Sorbonne. He was Director of the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art (1945-1946) and subsequently Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1952-1960) prior to the commencement of his tenure as Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in 1961. A determined advocate of modern art, Sweeney organized major exhibitions and authored books, essays, reviews, and articles which fostered greater interest in twentieth-century art among the American public. He died on April 14, 1986.
extent11 linear ft.
formatsCorrespondence
accessContact repository for restrictions and policies.
record linkhttps://hirsch.mfah.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=112614
record sourcehttps://hirsch.mfah.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=112614
finding aidUnpublished finding aid available in repository.
acquisition informationhttp://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/
updated08/25/2017 16:04:12
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titleEduardo chillida retrospective, exhibition files,1964-1968
repositoryMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston
descriptionThis subseries documents "Eduardo Chillida Sculptures" (October 5-November 20, 1966), the first retrospective exhibition of sculptures and graphic works by Spanish-born Chillida to be held in an American museum. The exhibition was conceived and curated by James Johnson Sweeney, then Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Mr. Sweeney and the Houston Endowment, Inc. commissioned Chillida to create a monumental sculpture, the Abestu Gogora V (1966), specifically for the Museum. The files contain Mr. Sweeney's hand- and type-written catalogue drafts; working and final checklists; lists of Chillida sculptures located in the United States and Europe, annotated with the artist's choice of works for this exhibition; Mr. Sweeney's correspondence 1964-1966) with Chillida; his correspondence with lenders, including Dominique de Menil and Galerie Maeght, Paris; and with Houston benefactors John and Audrey Jones Beck. The papers also include publicity materials, such as newsclippings and press releases; original loan forms; insurance and shipping documents; the Registrar's annotated copy of the exhibition catalogue; and internal memoranda concerning details of the exhibition and its installation.

In addition, the files contain a typed draft and published copy of Mr. Sweeney's article, "Eduardo Chillida: Sculptor", which appeared in the February 1967 issue of Texas Architect.
extent 0.50 linear ft. of processed records plus. 0.50 linear ft. of photographic materials.
formatsExhibition Files Manuscript Correspondence Estate Papers Legal Papers
accessContact repository for restrictions and policies.
record linkhttps://hirsch.mfah.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=112592
record sourcehttp://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/
acquisition informationFound In: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Office of the Registrar. Exhibition files, 1924-[ongoing] (CStRLIN)TxHA88-A4
updated08/25/2017 16:03:53
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titleFrank and Eleanor Freed papers, 1923-1990.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionPrinted material, guestbooks, writings, scrapbooks, photographs, video tapes, and cartoons and sketches.

Biographical and Historical Notes
Frank Freed was a painter, cartoonist and writer. His wife, Eleanor was an art critic. They lived in Houston, Texas.
extentCa. 1400 items (on 5 microfilm reels) Addition: 2.0 linear ft.
formatsPrinted Materials Writings Scrapbooks Photographs Video recording
accessMicrofilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of unmicrofilmed portion requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. storage facility.
record sourcehttp://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/
updated11/12/2014 11:29:58
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titleCorrespondence from Edward F. Fry, 1961.
repositoryPennsylvania University
descriptionFound In:
Edward F. Fry Papers. Folder 406
extentsee repository
formatsCorrespondence
accessContact repository for restrictions and policies.
record sourcehttp://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/
updated11/12/2014 11:29:58
....................................................................


titleMarc Moldawer, Kathryn Swenson and Robert Wilson interview, 1984 Aug. 15.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionAn interview of Marc Moldawer, Kathryn Swenson and Robert Wilson conducted by Sandra Curtis Levy for the Archives of American Art.
Moldawer, Swenson and Wilson speak of the art scene in Houston in the 1950s and how each came to be involved in it; the development of the New Arts Gallery; artists whose work was shown in the early days of the gallery; problems in collecting; the closing of the New Arts Gallery; the relationship between art and architecture; Houston as an arts community; ethnic exhibits; definitions of art. They recall Jermayne MacAgy, Forrest Bess, and Dominique de Menil.
extentSound recording: 1 sound tape reel ; 5 in. Transcript: 62 p. (on one microfilm reel)
formatsSound Recording Microfilm 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.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:58
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titleAlvin S. Romansky interviews, 1979 Sept. 17.
repositoryArchives of American Art
descriptionAn interview of Alvin S. Romansky conducted by Sandra Curtis Levy for the Archives of American Art. Romansky speaks of his history as a painter, ceramist and collector; the art scene in Houston as he knew it; his political and law activities; artists and collectors who were his friends and associates; the Contemporary Arts Association; his European experiences; his personal philosophies; and the future of museums. He recalls the Blaffer family, Alexander Calder, Nina Cullinan, John and Dominique de Menil; William Hayter and Buck Schiwetz.
extentSound recording: 6 sound cassettes Transcript: 234 p. (on 1 microfilm reel )
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.
updated11/12/2014 11:29:58
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titlePhilippe de Montebello reader files, 1969-1973.
repositoryMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston
descriptionThe Reader Files of Philippe de Montebello contain carbon copies of the Director's daily outgoing correspondence and largely concern administrative affairs, proposed exhibitions, possible accessions, his current research, and travel arrangements. T

he papers illustrate the Director's activities as a museum administrator and art collector, and include frequent corrrespondence with art dealers concerning pieces the Director had earmarked for the MFA,H collection. Frequent correspondents include Andrew S. Ciechanowiecki, Director of Heim Gallery, London; Klaus Herding of the Staatliche Museen, Berlin; Colin T. Eisler; Addison Franklin Page; Annemarie Pope of the Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Service; Thomas Pearsall Field Hoving; John and Dominique de Menil; Miss Ima Hogg; Josep Grau-Garriga; Pierre Rosenberg; Peter Selz; Walter Hopps; and Houston architect S. I. Morris.

Biographical and Historical Notes
Philippe de Montebello was raised in Southern France and educated at Harvard and New York University. He became Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in September 1969, formerly having been Associate Curator of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Under his direction the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston expanded its collections, placing emphasis on the acquisition of antiquities and masterpieces of European painting and drawing. De Montebello remained Director until December 1973.
extent1.5 linear ft.
formatsCorrespondence Administrative Records Exhibition Files
accessContact repository for restrictions and policies.
record linkhttps://hirsch.mfah.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=112623
record sourcehttp://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/
finding aidUnpublished finding aid in repository: each month's correspondence is accompanied, in most cases, by an index of correspondents.
acquisition informationFound In:Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.Office of the Director. Records, 1924-[ongoing] (CStRLIN)TxHA90-A0
updated08/25/2017 16:05:11
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