Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Graham, John, 1887-1961
| title | John D. Graham papers, 1799-1988 (bulk 1890-1961) |
| repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Biographical material, correspondence, artwork, photographs, notebooks, sketchbooks, diaries,printed material, writings and financial papers. REELS 3616-3620: Driver's licenses, passports, drafts of Graham's wills, address books and business cards; correspondence with Ultra Violet, Francoise Gilot, Elinor Graham, Max Granick, R.B. Kitaj, Linda Leyden and Gallery Mayer; writings and notes on art, health, the occult, travel and his autobiography; photographs of Graham, his family, friends, houses, artwork, and art collection; drawings by Graham; and financial papers. REELS 3894-3896: A resume, Graham's will, and death certificate; correspondence with his son, David, and Stuart Davis. Writings include a list of Graham's rare books, antiques and artwork, manuscripts of ORIFIZIO MUNDI, FINALE, NOUVEL CHILDHOOD, and poetry. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, books about the symbols used in Graham's artwork, clippings, and scrapbooks of Archer Gibson, father of Elinor Graham. Photographs depict Graham, his family, friends, artwork by Graham and other artists, and late 19th century photographs of celebrities created by photography companies such as Falk, Nadar, Mora, Carlo Ponti, and Reutlinger. REELS 4042-4045: Writings on African and Mexican art, "Childhood," "Don Giovanni," psychoanalysis, language, and SYSTEMS AND DIALECTS OF ART, with charts and text for "Comparative History of Art," diaries and notebooks. Also included are drawings by Graham; 2 books on handwriting; sheet music; clippings about psychoanalysis, Russian historical figures, and art; postcards; and 2 pots of paint and a pallette used by Graham. REEL 5049: Notebooks/sketchbooks (16 v.), 1935, 1940- 1944, 1949-1950, 1952-1955, 1957 and several undated; and single drawings torn from sketchbooks. UNMICROFILMED: Nine books, one is in Italian and eight are in Russian. Some are annotated with notes and sketches by Graham. Also included is a typescript, "The Legend of John Graham," a biography written by Eila Kokkinen with a forward by Dorothy Dehner, undated; photographs of art work by Graham including a portrait of John D. Graham (his son) and 104 snapshots of sketches; installation photographs for the exhibition "John Graham Drawings" at the Andre Emmerich Gallery, 1985; exhibition catalogs and other printed material, c. 1972-1988. Language Note: Portions are in French, Russian, and Latin. Co-Creator: Ultra Violet Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964 Gibson, Archer Gilot, Francoise, 1921- Granick, Max Kitaj, R. B. |
| extent | 11 linear ft. (on 13 microfilm reels) reels 3616-3620, 3894-3896, 4042-4045, and 5049 |
| formats | Correspondence Diaries Financial Records Personal papers Photographs |
| access | Collection is being processed and digitized and is closed to researchers. Access is to Microfilmed portions only. |
| record link | https://sirismm.si.edu/EADpdfs/AAA.grahjohn.pdf |
| record source | https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/john-d-graham-papers-7215 |
| finding aid | Reel 3616-3620: Microfilm/folder inventory available at AAA offices |
| acquisition information | Material on reels 3616-3620 was donated by Graham's son, John David Graham, May 1985, just several weeks before his death. In 1987 Graham's daughter-in-law, Patricia Graham,(John David's widow) donated material on reels 3894-3896 and the unmicrofilmed books. The unmicrofilmed books were donated via the André Emmerich Gallery for the estate. In 1987, the Museum of Modern Art donated John Graham papers which had been in MoMA's Department of Prints and Drawings. MoMA probably received them from the estate for use in preparing for their 1968 Graham exhibition. These papers had been microfilmed by MoMA prior to being donated; AAA remicrofilmed the papers in 1990 on reels 4042-4045. MoMA's Department of Prints and Drawings retained ca. 16 v. of notebooks and several loose sketches, and lent AAA their master negative of the microfilm for duplicating with the stipulation that they be identified as the "Museum of Modern Art, NY: John Graham Notebooks" (reel 5049). |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:29 |
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| title | John D. Graham notebook and sketchbook, 1944-1946. |
| repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Journal, ca. 1944-1946, containing notes and quotations on art, religion, love, some of it in French; and sketches, executed in an account book formerly kept by a William Hawkins, which has an entry as early as 1846. It was either purchased by or given to Graham and used as a sketchbook. |
| extent | 1 partial microfilm reel. reel N70-77 |
| formats | Sketchbooks |
| access | Patrons must use microfilm copy. |
| record link | n/a |
| record source | https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/john-d-graham-notebook-and-sketchbook-6628 |
| acquisition information | Lent for microfilming 1970 by Mrs. Gertrude Stein, owner of the Gertrude Stein Gallery, 998 Madison Ave., NYC. Presumably Stein acquired the notebooks in her work as an art dealer. Additional notebooks in the John Graham papers on microfilm at the Archives of American Art. |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:29 |
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| title | Papers of and related to John D. Graham, [ca. 1950-1960]. |
| repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Corrected and annotated mss. by Graham "Art History" with related notes (ca. 350 p. total); an autobiographical sketch, entitled "Autoportrait" (3 p. typescript); and an 8 p. summary by Angus Deming of an interview she conducted with Graham, Sept. 1960 in Paris. |
| extent | Partial microfilm reel. reel 96 |
| formats | Notes Interviews |
| access | Patrons must use microfilm copy. |
| record source | https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/papers-and-relating-to-john-d-graham-6629 |
| acquisition information | Lent for microfilming by Jack Mayer, 1971. Originals returned to the lender, Jack Mayer, after microfilming. |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:29 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | Artist file. Graham, John |
| repository | The Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives |
| description | Vertical files. The file may include any of the following materials: announcements, clippings, photographs, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, small exhibition catalogs, resumés, other ephemeral material. Location: Brooklyn Artist Files Call Number: AF Marlor G |
| extent | 1 folder |
| formats | Ephemera |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991000070959707141 |
| acquisition information | http://arcade.nyarc.org:2082/record=b776398~S2 |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:29 |
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| title | Ultra Violet papers, 1959-1969. |
| repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Ca. 200 personal letters and notes to Ultra Violet from John Graham, Ray Johnson, and John Chamberlain; a few photographs of Graham and Johnson; a few sketches by each of the three artists; and miscellaneous clippings, magazine articles, and exhibition announcements. Biographical and Historical Note Actress; New York, N.Y. Born Isabelle Collin DuFresne. Language Note Letters from Graham are in French |
| extent | ca. 220 items (on partial microfilm reel) reels N/70-61 |
| formats | Microfilm Correspondence |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://www.siris.si.edu/ |
| acquisition information | Lent 1970 by Ultra Violet. Originals returned to lender, Ultra Violet, after microfilming. |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:33 |
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| title | Dorothy Dehner papers, 1920-1987 (bulk 1951-1987). |
| repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Papers include extensive correspondence, business and financial papers, writings, interviews, printed material, photographs, student papers, one item of art work, and scattered personal papers and material relating to her first husband sculptor David Smith. Comprising a series of biographical material are interviews (mostly untranscribed), personal papers such as notes on Dehner's biography and career, list of things taken from Bolton Landing, recipes, and a wedding announcement for her stepdaughter, Abby Mann Thernstrom, and material relating to David Smith such as a copy of his last will and testament, a letter of introduction (dating from their trip to Europe in the mid-1930s), and a chronology of Smith's life. Correspondence consists of numerous letters and enclosures concerning both professional and personal matters. Correspondents include artists, museums, galleries, art dealers, researchers, curators, friends, and relatives. Correspondence documents Dehner's various personal and professional relationships, the active role she played in promoting and exhibiting her art work, as well as the key role she played in fostering art historical research (on David Smith, herself, and other artists of her era), and her many other creative activities, including her various writing efforts. Found amongst Dehner's business and financial papers are records relating to various galleries and/or exhibitions, including the Willard Gallery and exhibitions at the Philadelphia Art Alliance and Parsons-Dreyfuss Gallery, and to various projects, such as the Committee for the American Participation in the Triennale and the Great Southwest Industrial Park, as well as scattered records relating to personal business matters and finances, such as lists, tax records, authentication of art works, and sales agreements. Dehner's writings include poems (including one dated from high school and drafts of ones published in Tracks), various pieces on John Graham (including versions of a memoir, which were published as a foreword to the re-issue of System and Dialectics of Art and as an article in Leonardo) and on David Smith (including articles on their first meeting and on Smith's 1940 work, "Medals for Dishonor"), lectures and speeches, and various pieces on art and other topics. Writings shed light on other aspects of Dehner's creativity and concern. Also included are writings of others, some of which shed light on Dehner's life and work. Also found amongst Dehner's papers are printed material, including exhibition catalogs, announcements, and clippings (on herself and Smith, and to a limited extent, on other artists); photographs of Dehner, her second husband, Ferdinand Mann, John Graham, and various works of art, as well as an abstract photograph by David Smith, dating from circa 1934. Two etchings. One, undated, is of portraits of artists done by one another on one etching plate. Artists include (left to right) top row: Lucille Corcos by Dehner, David Smith by Lucille Corcos, Adolph Gottlieb by Edgar Levy, bottom row: Edgar Levy by Esther Gottlieb, Dorothy Dehner by Adolph Gottlieb, Esther Gottlieb by David Smit. A cat and alligator were drawn by Edgar Levy in the middle border. The etching is 91/100 and was printed by Michael Kirk on the Charles Brand Press in the Parsons School of Design Studios and seems to have originally belonged to Garnett McCoy, former Curator of the Archives. The second etching is an abstract by Dehner, also undated. Bio / His Notes Sculptor; New York, N.Y. Dehner was born in 1901 in Cleveland, Ohio. She married sculptor David Smith in 1927. Dehner died in 1994. |
| extent | 4.4 linear ft. (partially microfilmed on 8 reels) reels D298-D298A, 796, 829, 1269, 1372, 1472 and 3482 |
| formats | Microfilm Correspondence |
| access | Use requires an appointment. |
| record source | http://www.siris.si.edu/ |
| finding aid | In repository and electronic finding aid found online. |
| acquisition information | Material on reels 796, 829, 1372, 3482, and unmicrofilmed material donated 1967-1987 by Dorothy Dehner. Material on reels D298-D298A, 1269 and 1372 were lent for microfilming 1967-1977 by Dehner. Most of the material on reel D298 was subsequently donated, except for photographs of Dehner and Smith, sketchbooks, and correspondence between Dehner and Smith. Most of the material on reel 1269 was also subsequently donated, except the sketchbooks, the inventory, and some printed material. All gift portions, microfilmed and unfilmed were processed and merged in 2005 under the Terra Foundation for American Art Digitization Grant. Location of Original: Reels D298A, and 1472 and portions of reels D298 and 1269: Originals returned to Dorothy Dehner after microfilming. |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:33 |
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| title | Selections from the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Archives of American Art collection, 1866-1968. |
| repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Correspondence, printed material, writings, and other personal papers collected by Carl Zigrosser and Leila Mechlin and later added to by others, all relating to American art. R EELS P10-P11 and P14: Letters to Leila Mechlin, Henry Schnakenberg and Hudson Walker. Correspondents include Robert Abbe, John Taylor Arms, Cecelia Beaux, Paul Bartlett, Gifford Beal, Paul Cadmus, Charles Curran, Royal Cortissoz, Kenyon Cox, Philip Evergood, John David Graham, Reginald Marsh, Joseph Pennell, John Sloan and many others. Some letters include printed material and photographs. Mechlin material includes writings, photographs and letters from Mary Augusta Mullikin describing her life and travels in China, 1933. Also included are letters from Adolph Dehn and Jose de Creeft to Juliana Force; from Ernest Haskell and Kenneth Hayes Miller to Carl Zigrosser; miscellaneous letters from Marc Chagall, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Louis Eilshemius and Childe Hassam; an autobiography of William Sartain; and material on Thomas Eakins, including letters, a list of expenses, 1867, and motion study material,including writings, sketches and photographs taken with a camera invented by Eakins. REEL 4547: Charles Burchfield letters; Susan and Thomas Eakins material; Jacques Lipchitz correspondence; Henry McCarter letters; and Carl Zigrosser correspondence. The Burchfield letters consist of 41 items, 1929-1947, from Burchfield regarding exhibitions, sales, and his paintings. The Eakins material includes letters from Susan Eakins to the Milch Galleries, 1933-1935, regarding the sale of Thomas Eakins' work, receipts from the Milch Galleries, Thomas' expense book, ca. 1866, for daily living in Paris and Switzerland and an autographed account of expenses while at school in Paris, April 12, 1867, a photograph of Susan Eakins by Carl van Vechten, a photograph of Eakins, and 71 engraved portraits from the collection of Thomas Eakins. The Lipchitz correspondence is with R. Sturgis Ingersoll regarding Lipchitz's commission for the sculpture "Prometheus." Also included are 8 letters from Curt Valentin to Ingersoll regarding Lipchitz. The McCarter material includes 66 letters, 1933-1942, some containing sketches, from McCarter to Mrs. George B. Roberts regarding paintings, frames, exhibitions, and offering painting advice. The Zigrosser correspondence is regarding the purchase of prints from the regional projects of the WPA for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and later included in the exhibition "Between Two Wars" at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Included are invoices and inventories of the prints from the various offices. |
| extent | 4 microfilm reels. reels P10, P11, P14, and 4547 |
| formats | Microfilm |
| access | Patrons must use microfilm copy. Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce must be obtained from the: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives, P.O. Box 7646, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101 |
| record link | n/a |
| record source | https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/selections-philadelphia-museum-arts-archives-american-art-collection-10619 |
| acquisition information | Material on reels P10-P11 and P14 lent for microfilming, 1954, by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Additional material on reel 4547 was microfilmed in 1991 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. The idea for the archives originated with Carl Zigrosser, who donated material, solicited it from others (mainly Henry Schnakenberg, Leila Mechlin and Hudson Walker), or pulled it from the files of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Museum continues to add to the collection. It is not connected to the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution. Location of Original: Originals in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:33 |
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| title | Artist file. Graham, John, 1887-1961. |
| 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, resumés, other ephemeral material. Cite as: Brooklyn Museum Library Collections. Schweitzer Gallery files. Location: Brooklyn Artist Files Call Number: AF Schweitzer G |
| extent | 1 folder. |
| formats | Ephemera |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991013265619707141 |
| acquisition information | Found in: Schweitzer Gallery files |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:39 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | Artist file. Graham, John, 1887-1961. |
| 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, resumés, other ephemeral material. Cite as: Brooklyn Museum Library Collections. Schweitzer Gallery files. Location: Brooklyn Artist Files Call Number: AF BMA G |
| extent | 1 folder. |
| formats | Ephemera |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991000404699707141 |
| acquisition information | Files compiled by BMA library staff from 1917 to the present |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:39 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | John D. Graham : artist file : study photographs and reproductions of works of art with accompanying documentation 1920-2000 [graphic]. |
| repository | The Frick Collection and Frick Art Research Library |
| description | Assembled artist file includes b&w photographs, reproductions from books and auction catalogs, and in some cases, negatives. Items may include full views, details, before and after restoration views, etc. Documentation may include artist name, title of work, medium, dimensions, provenance, exhibition history, related works, previous attributions, and bibliography. Location Frick Photoarchive Stacks Call Number 100 Graham |
| extent | 2 folders [as of 1999] : ill. (some col.) ; 34 cm. |
| formats | Ephemera |
| access | Photocopies of items and accompanying documentation are available upon request, subject to fees and other current guidelines for reproduction. Photographic prints from the Library's negatives may be ordered subject to copyright requirements. |
| record source | https://library.frick.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/1qqhid8/alma991003706239707141 |
| finding aid | N/A |
| acquisition information | Compiled by staff of the Frick Art Reference Library. |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:39 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | Artist file: Graham, John D.; miscellaneous uncataloged material. |
| repository | The Museum of Modern Art |
| description | The folder may include announcements, clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, small exhibition catalogs, and other ephemeral material. Location MoMA Queens Artist Files Call Number GRAHAM, JOHN D. |
| extent | 1 folder |
| formats | Ephemera |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies |
| record source | https://library.nyarc.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/ai54l4/alma991010715939707141 |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:39 |
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| title | Artist file: Graham, John , 1881-1961 |
| repository | National Portrait Gallery Library |
| description | Notes: Formerly "Debrovski" General Notes: Folder(s) may include exhibition announcements, newspaper and/or magazine clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, illustrations, resumes, artist's statements, exhibition catalogs. |
| extent | 1+ folders (check with repository) |
| formats | Ephemera |
| access | Folder(s) do not circulate. Folder(s) available for use only at the holding library |
| record source | http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/Art-Design/artandartistfiles/ |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:40 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | Artist file: Graham, John , 1881-1961 |
| repository | Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library |
| description | Notes: Formerly "Debrovski" General Notes: Folder(s) may include exhibition announcements, newspaper and/or magazine clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, illustrations, resumes, artist's statements, exhibition catalogs. |
| extent | 1+ folders (check with repository) |
| formats | Ephemera |
| access | Folder(s) do not circulate. Folder(s) available for use only at the holding library |
| record source | http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/Art-Design/artandartistfiles/ |
| updated | 02/14/2025 10:07:40 |
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