Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the John Caldwell Papers, circa 1909-1996 , in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.caldjohn
Creators:
Caldwell, John, 1941-
Dates:
circa 1909-1996
Languages:
The records are in
English
,
French
,
Greek
,
Italian
, and
Latin
.
Physical Description:
1.7 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers or curator and writer John Caldwell measure 1.7 linear feet and date circa 1909 to 1996. The collection documents Caldwell's life and career through a variety of materials, such as biographical material including legal papers relating to the Caldwell Estate, letters from friends and colleagues, writings by Caldwell such as a draft version of a speech and draft essays, printed material including articles written by Caldwell for the New York Times, photographs of Caldwell, family members, dealers, donors, and artists, as well as a video recording documenting the 1985 Carnegie International.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
The papers or curator and writer John Caldwell measure 1.7 linear feet and date circa 1909 to 1996. The collection documents Caldwell's life and career through a variety of materials, such as biographical material including legal papers relating to the Caldwell Estate, letters from friends and colleagues, writings by Caldwell such as a draft version of a speech and draft essays, printed material including articles written by Caldwell for the New York Times, photographs of Caldwell, family members, dealers, donors, and artists, as well as a video recording documenting the 1985 Carnegie International.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 6 series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1909-1996, undated (Box 1, OV 4; 0.6 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Letters, 1970-1994, undated (Box 1, OV 4; 0.3 linear feet)
  • Series 3: Writings, circa 1983-1992, undated (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Printed Material, 1977-1996, undated (Box 2, OV 4; 0.4 linear feet)
  • Series 5: Photographs, circa 1941-1993, undated (Box 3; 2 folders)
  • Series 6: Video Recording, 1985 (Box 3; 1 folder)

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
John Caldwell (1941-1993) was a curator and art critic in New York, NY, Pittsburg, PA, and San Francisco, CA. He was born on November 16, 1941 in Nashville, Tennessee. He received a bachelor's degree in modern French history from Harvard University in 1963 and his master's degree in art history from Hunter College, New York, NY, in 1973. While studying at Hunter, Caldwell also served as associate editor at the New-York Historical Society (1967-1973). From 1973 to 1976, Caldwell pursued a doctorate in eighteenth and nineteenth century American art history at Yale University and worked as an assistant to the curator of American art at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, CT.
In 1975, Caldwell won an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship with the Metropolitan Museum of Art; in 1977, he was appointed assistant curator of American art at the museum. From 1980 to 1984, Caldwell served as art critic for the suburban weekly sections of the New York Times. During this period, Caldwell's interest in contemporary art grew. In 1984, Caldwell accepted a position as adjunct curator of contemporary art at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA. A year later he was promoted to curator of contemporary art at the museum, a position that he held until 1989. Both Caldwell and John R. Lane, the director of the Carnegie Museum of Art, infused new energy into the 1985 Carnegie International, a triennial exhibition, that brought together many contemporary American and European works of art. Caldwell also spearheaded the 1988 Carnegie International and was the only curator in the history of the museum to have organized two consecutive Internationals. During his tenure at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Caldwell organized solo exhibitions on artists that included Susan Rothenberg (1984), Sean Scully (1985), and Richard Deacon (1988).
In 1989, two years after John R. Lane was appointed director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Caldwell joined his former colleague and served as the first curator of painting and sculpture for the museum. At SFMoMA, Caldwell organized retrospective exhibitions on artists that included Sigmar Polke (1990-91), Luciano Fabro (1992), and Jeff Koons (1992-1993). He also curated one person shows of new works by artists that included Matthew Barney (1991), Sherrie Levine (1991), and Susana Solana (1991).
Caldwell died in 1993 at the age of 51 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Administration

Author
Carla De Luise
Provenance
The papers were donated in 2002 by Joan Witek, executrix of the John Caldwell estate.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Carla De Luise in 2007.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requres advance notice.
Terms of Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Preferred Citation
John Caldwell papers, circa 1909-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Curators -- California -- San Francisco Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Authors -- California -- San Francisco Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Authors -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburg Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Curators -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburg Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Essays Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drafts (documents) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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