Walter Pach papers, 1857-1980

Found here are letters from Magda to Walter Pach and to his parents from Pach's son Raymond, who spent many years abroad pursuing an operatic career. Included are letters written when Raymond Pach was stationed in Europe at the end of World War II. Raymond Pach's correspondence also includes a 1945 letter from Jacques Villon and snapshots of the Pach family.

Correspondence with Pach's brother, Alfred Pach, and nephew, also named Alfred, includes letters relating to the family businesses of Pach Brothers Photographers, and The Print Galleries.

Correspondence of Pach's parents, Frances Wise and Gotthelf, include letters to Pach and other family members, and letters from Pach's school which provide insight into the mind and abilities of the school-age Pach.

Nikifora Pach's correspondence includes several letters to Pach and drafts of letters to various people written after Pach's death, some of which related to arrangements for events, including an exhibition and a lecture. Also found here is 1 film reel relating to "Youth Center 1" at the Hellenic Eastern Orthodox Church of New York.

This series documents Pach's relationships with artists, writers, collectors, museums and other noted art-world figures throughout his life. Early letters record Pach's role in the 1913 Armory Show and the fate of various artists during World War I. Among artists who corresponded with Pach are Arthur B. Davies, Marcel Duchamp, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Maurice Prendergast, Diego Rivera, Morton Livingston Schamberg, John Sloan, and Alfred Stieglitz. There are also circa 100 letters from Pach's lifelong friend, Jacques Villon and letters from Thomas Eakins's widow Susan.

Pach's role in the development of the art collections of Walter Arensberg and John Quinn is documented in letters from Marcel Duchamp, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Raoul Dufy, Jean Le Roy, Georges Roualt, and Frederic C. Torrey. Also of note are letters from Bryson Burroughs, curator of painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Letters from art historians, critics and writers such as Bernard Berenson, Van Wyck Brooks, Elie Faure and Leo Stein document their responses to Pach's writings on art, and provide insight into the flow of avant-garde ideas from Europe and their reception abroad. These letters also provide documentation of the European and American art markets in the early twentieth century by referencing responses to, and sales of, work by individual artists.