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Hilary Price and Caroline Donadio
Scope and Contents
The records of the Allan Frumkin Gallery, a Chicago and New York City gallery, measure 25.6 linear feet and date from 1944-2016 with one letter pertaining to artwork documentation dating from 1880. The collection documents the gallery's activities through administrative files, dealer and client correspondence, artist files, financial records, gallery newsletters, printed material, and photographic material. Also included in the collection are the Frumkin Family papers.
The administrative files reflect the daily operations and business activities of the gallery. Included are address books, appointment books, art fair records, artwork documentation, auction records, gallery logs, maintenance records, leases, loan agreements, shipping receipts, mailing lists, provenance research, and documentation pertaining to the incorporation and administration of several iterations and branches of the gallery, including Frumkin & Struve Gallery, Frumkin/Adams Gallery, and Allan Frumkin Gallery Photographs.
Correspondence is primarily with dealers, clients, and institutions pertaining to sales, purchases, consignments, provenance, and shipping of artworks. The majority of the correspondence dates from the gallery's first decade, 1952-1962.
Artist files represent over one-third of the collection and provide insight into the close relationship between Frumkin and many of the gallery's major artists including Robert Arneson, Luis Cruz Azaceta, Jack Beal, Joan Brown, Colin Lanceley, Maryan, Roberto Matta, Philip Pearlstein, Peter Saul, H.C. Westermann, and William T. Wiley.
Financial records include check balance books, expenses, financial statements, inventories, invoices, price lists, and sales ledgers. Financial transactions are also found amongst the dealer and client correspondence.
Among the newsletters and related files is a full set of the published newsletters, as well as editorial copy and drafts for nearly every issue. Published from 1976-1995, the newsletters detailed gallery activities and highlighted gallery artists in profiles which included interviews and photographs.
Printed material includes articles and clippings, exhibition announcements, catalogs, newsletters, bulletins, press releases, and assortment of other material pertaining to the Allan Frumkin Gallery and others.
While not extensive, the photographic material is rich, depicting Allan Frumkin, gallery director George Adams, gallery artists, studios, exhibition installations, and artworks, in a variety of formats.
Also included in the records are the Frumkin family papers, which include writings by Allan Frumkin and Jean Martin Frumkin, Art Book Review editorial files, personal papers, and detailed material relating to the Frumkin personal art collection and estate. The writings by Allan Frumkin are particularly insightful in the context of the gallery records, and include essays on art dealing and the gallery, a talk on the artist, Matta, memoir drafts, and an interview transcript.
Language
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated to the Archives of American Art in 2017 by Peter Frumkin, Allan Frumkin's son.
Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Allan Frumkin conducted by Paul Cummings in 1970.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Hilary Price and Caroline Donadio in 2018.