Image assets for this folder have not been fully processed.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
Eden Orelove and Stephanie Ashley
Scope and Contents
The records of New York's Guild Art Gallery measure 1.0 linear feet and date from circa 1933-1937. Records document the operation of the gallery for the duration of its existence from August 1935-1937, through correspondence, including some with artists, exhibition files, business and financial records, printed material, a scrapbook, a sketch by Anna Walinska, and photographs of artwork and the gallery.
Correspondence is with artists, business associates, and museums, and in particular records the gallery's efforts to build a client base, establish financial security, and foster the market for modern art. Of note is more detailed documentation of the gallery's representation of painter Lloyd Ney, and records documenting Walinska's attempt to promote the work of Sigmund Menkes which are indicative of the extent to which the gallery was concerned with the development and promotion of art by Jewish artists.
Exhibition files including announcements, catalogs, and price lists, printed material including press clippings, and a dismantled scrapbook of printed material, primarily document the exhibition history of the gallery and provide details of its focus on modern art and the extent of the publicity the gallery received.
Business and financial records provide a variety of ways to examine the gallery's day-to-day operations and accounts. In addition to artist account ledgers and agreements, this series records balances, charges, deposits, and receipts and includes two notebooks with handwritten accounts of activities at the gallery for 1937.
Additionally, there is a pen and ink sketch by Anna Walinska, black and white copy prints of artwork by gallery artists, and a few original photos of the gallery's interior and exhibitions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Margaret Lefranc, co-founder of the Guild Art Gallery, donated the records to the Archives of American Art in 1981.
Related Materials
Also found among the holdings of the Archives of American Art are the Anna Walinska papers, 1927-2002.
Funding
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund. Funding for the digitization of the collection was provided in part by Rosina Rubin and the Walton Family Foundation.
Processing Information
The collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared by Eden Orelove in 2016, with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund. The collection was further processed by Stephanie Ashley in 2023 and was digitized in 2023 with funding provided by Rosina Rubin.
