Downtown Gallery records, 1824-1974, bulk 1926-1969

Exhibition files (0.5 linear foot) include an index, exhibition lists, check lists, price lists, and artist data sheets. There are no files for individual shows; the records relating to specific exhibitions are scattered throughout the business correspondence, with auxiliary information appearing in artist files and among the printed matter and publicity notebooks.

Index records include an alphabetical listing of Downtown Gallery exhibitions, indicating dates of each show and whether a catalog and/or publicity material were issued; the index is annotated to indicate page number, "something missing," or "missing in photograph book" (possibly an index to a publicity scrapbook).

The exhibition lists include chronological listings of Downtown Gallery exhibitions, alphabetical listings of one-person shows, and chronological listings of group shows indicating participants in alphabetical order; all lists were compiled by the gallery.

Artist data sheets include questionnaires completed by artists participating in the exhibitions Newcomers (1951), Artists of Chicago (1954), Painters of Los Angeles (1955), and 7 Artists in Hawaii (1960).

This subseries contains stock books and miscellaneous stock records, seven file boxes of inventory cards, and purchase slips.

Purchase slips consist of Downtown Gallery forms summarizing information about items purchased by the gallery, some with sales receipts attached.

Stock books that were not filmed but which can be found in this subseries include: Miscellaneous Expenses, 1929-1931 (1 vol.); and Receipts and Disbursements, Feb. 1931-April 1932, Jan. 1935-May 1938 (1 vol.).

Sales records for artwork (5 linear feet) consist mainly of sales slips which are carbon copies of sales receipts issued by the Downtown Gallery. Each sales slip records the date of sale, name and address of buyer, medium, artist, [stock] number, title, and price. Additional miscellanous sales records include sale, credit, and return forms issued by Downtown Gallery which indicate date, name and address of client, description of item returned, and amount of credit; and various other ledgers of credits and returns, consignments, and statistics.

Transit records (6.5 linear feet) consist of receipts issued by the Downtown Gallery for outgoing consignments and artwork received and returned, and receipts issued to the Downtown Gallery. These records were not microfilmed because the more easily accessible correspondence duplicates most information about specific transactions, and the aggregate data presented in this subseries are thought to be of interest to a very limited number of researchers.

Outgoing consignment records include forms indicating the name of recipient, date sent and returned, artists, and titles, prices, and stock numbers of works consigned. The majority of consignments were loans to exhibitions that were available for purchase.

General financial records (11.5 linear feet) were not microfilmed. This subseries contains thirty-five volumes of accounting records which consist of cashbooks, journals, and general ledgers; receipts and disbursements; accounts receivable; and accounts payable. In addition, there are paid bills, petty cash records, and miscellaneous accounting records. Banking records include canceled checks, check registers, and bank statements for several accounts. Tax records (federal, state, and local) relate to both personal and corporate returns, and include much supporting documentation. Supporting documentation for deductions excludes art-related items.

Miscellaneous business records (2.5 linear feet) include lists of artwork, many unidentified, which come from a variety of sources and were compiled for various purposes; twenty small loose-leaf notebooks listing names and addresses of clients with dates, titles, and prices of purchases; mailing lists on 3 X 5 index cards; legal documents such as certificates of incorporation, name changes, agreements, contracts, bills of sale, summons, notices of hearings, and bylaws; minutes of a few sporadic meetings of Downtown Gallery artists between 1934 and 1952; insurance records, primarily relating to the American Folk Art Gallery; research files, including material about legal issues of concern to galleries; and architectural plans. Architectural records include various plans for the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the proposed Gallery of 20th Century Art, Halpert's gift to the Corcoran that never materialized. There are also groups of plans relating to the Downtown Gallery's last two locations at 32 East 51st Street and 425 Park Avenue in the Ritz Towers Concourse.