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Evan H. Turner Records, 1964-1978 (inclusive)

Extent:
146.0 linear feet (146 containers)
Abstract:
Evan H. Turner (born 1927), an art historian and scholar, was the Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) from 1964 to 1978, leading the Museum through a period of significant growth and transformation. He created new art departments for American and 20th Century Art, and the innovative Department of Urban Outreach (DUO) to promote art across the City of Philadelphia. These progressive activities were matched by a groundbreaking exhibition in 1973, the Marcel Duchamp retrospective, which drew upon significant scholarship and assembled virtually the entire oeuvre of one of the most important artists represented in the Museum. In 1975, Turner led the Museum in a major construction project to install a new climate control system in the building, and in 1976, he helped plan the United States’ Bicentennial and the PMA’s Centennial celebrations. Turner was an active member of a number of professional organizations, as well as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The...(see more)

Held at: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives [Contact Us]

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Henri Gabriel Marceau Director Records, 1955-1964 (bulk) 1933-1980 (inclusive)

Extent:
53.2 linear feet (135 document boxes)
Abstract:
Henri Gabriel Marceau was an internationally known scholar, art historian, and architect, and served as Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1955 to 1964. R. Sturgess Ingersoll, President of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made the following comments upon Marceau’s retirement from the post of Director: “Mr. Marceau has been a tower of strength through the period of the development of the Philadelphia Museum of Art…His authoritative publications on Thomas Eakins, Cezanne, William Rush, Benjamin West, Flemish paintings and Corot represent an amazing range of scholarship. He has always been particularly interested in sculpture, and the three international exhibitions of sculpture, - held in 1933, 1940 and 1949 in the courtyard of the Museum, - did much to bring about the present refreshing interest in sculptors and sculpture. He has probably had closer relations with contemporary artists than any twentieth century museum director” (Box 103, folder 4). The Henri Gabriel...(see more)

Held at: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives [Contact Us]

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Board of Trustees Records, 1875-1998 (inclusive)

Extent:
20 linear feet
Abstract:
These records consist primarily of meeting minutes of the Museum's Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, from the time of the institution's incorporation to the 1990s. Reports presented at Trustee meetings, resolutions and minutes of meetings of a few of the earliest Standing Committees are also included. Gifts, loans, membership and finances are the most frequently discussed topics. Other material pertains to the exhibitions of 1888 and 1889, held to promote American industrial arts, and the Museum Fund, a fundraising and publicity campaign introduced in the late 1920s. Indexed correspondence from exhibitors documents the former. The latter consists primarily of correspondence, proposal and summary reports, and ephemera.

Held at: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives [Contact Us]

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Conservation and Technical Research Collection, 1932-1969, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
39 linear feet
Abstract:
The collection documents the establishment and early operations of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's conservation laboratory and the use of photographic technology in conservation and curatorial work. While the majority of the material pertains to the activities of Henri Marceau, Curator of Painting and Sculpture, and of the John G. Johnson Collection, and of David Rosen, who served as an adviser to the Museum's conservation and technical research projects, the collection also includes some records of Theodor Siegl, who was hired as the Museum's first full-time conservator in 1955. In addition to correspondence, technical brochures, and educational materials, the collection includes extensive files of prints, negatives, and lantern slides documenting works of art in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and John G. Johnson collections, as well as works sent to the Museum for restoration and/or exhibition purposes.

Held at: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives [Contact Us]

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John Raphael Covert Papers, 1919-1976, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
5 linear feet
Abstract:
The painter John Raphael Covert (1882-1960) was an active participant in the American avant-garde art movement between 1915 and 1923. He later became a travelling salesman for his family's Vesuvius Crucible Company and pursued his intense interest in cryptography, word games and magic squares. The John Raphael Covert Papers consist of the artist's correspondence, word and number puzzles (such as anagrams, acrostics, and riddles), financial records, photographic portraits, and a few sketches. Approximately half of the papers are in code, and thus are cryptic in both intent and meaning.

Held at: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives [Contact Us]

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George Grey Barnard Papers, 1895-1941 (inclusive)

Extent:
19 linear feet
Abstract:
George Grey Barnard was an American sculptor and collector of Medieval art, locating and arranging the pieces that eventually became "The Cloisters," now of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. His papers are comprised primarily of correspondence and financial and business records documenting both his collecting and creation of art. The collection includes a significant amount of personal correspondence, biographical information, and family financial records as well.

Held at: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives [Contact Us]

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Francis Bacon Foundation Records, 1936-1997, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
18 cubic feet
Abstract:
The Francis Bacon Foundation was formed by Walter and Louise Arensberg in 1938 to promote study in science, literature, religion, history and philosophy with special reference to the works of Francis Bacon. The Foundation also served as the legal owner of the Walter and Louise Arensberg art collection. The Francis Bacon Foundation Records consist of correspondence, administrative and financial records which illustrate the organizational aspects of the Foundation, the Baconian research conducted by its staff, and the art historical research conducted by outside researchers using the Francis Bacon Foundation Library and Arensberg Archives. Because of the Foundation's close association with Walter and Louise Arensberg, the Records also shed some light on their personal lives.

Held at: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives [Contact Us]

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Daniel M. Williams Biographical Collection of George Grey Barnard, 1863-1969, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
8.5 linear feet
Abstract:
This collection documents the tireless efforts of journalist Daniel M. Williams to refine and publish a biography of the American sculptor and collector George Grey Barnard. While the project never came to fruition, the collection represents approximately 30 years of Williams's accumulated research and writings, and consists of correspondence, including some of Barnard's personal letters to his family, as well as clippings, ephemera and photographs regarding the artist's life and career as a sculptor and important collector of Medieval art and architecture. Works by Barnard documented here include his celebrated commissions, such as the monumental figural group for the Pennsylvania Capitol at Harrisburg, as well as his controversial depictions of Abraham Lincoln and the god Pan. References to Barnard's excursions to the French countryside in search of artifacts include his sale to John D. Rockefeller, Jr. of more than 600 pieces, which would collectively be housed and referred to as...(see more)

Held at: Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives [Contact Us]

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