Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Charles Campbell Gallery Records, 1960-2001, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.campgall
Creators:
Charles Campbell Gallery
Dates:
1960-2001
Languages:
Collection is in English
Physical Description:
17.6 Linear feet
Repository:
The records of the Charles Campbell Gallery in San Francisco date from 1960 to 2001 and measure 17.6 linear feet. The records include business correspondence with galleries, curators, trusts, and individual buyers and sellers; business records consisting of administrative files, business notebooks, and financial material; artist and exhibition files; and Charles Campbell's related personal files that include correspondence, catalogs, newsletters, and clippings about jazz, and photos and travel. Substantial artist files exist for Nathan Oliveira, which contain original artwork and photos of the artist, Peter Allegaert, Gordon Cook, Charles Griffin Farr, Morris Graves, Robert Harvey, Geer Morton, Fred Reichman, Jean Rustin, Stephani Sanchez, and Wayne Thiebaud, among others.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The records of the Charles Campbell Gallery in San Francisco date from 1960 to 2001 and measure 17.6 linear feet. The records include business correspondence with galleries, curators, trusts, and individual buyers and sellers; business records consisting of administrative files, business notebooks, and financial material; artist and exhibition files; and Charles Campbell's related personal files that include correspondence, catalogs, newsletters, and clippings about jazz, and photos and travel. Substantial artist files exist for Nathan Oliveira, which contain original artwork and photos of the artist, Peter Allegaert, Gordon Cook, Charles Griffin Farr, Morris Graves, Robert Harvey, Geer Morton, Fred Reichman, Jean Rustin, Stephani Sanchez, and Wayne Thiebaud, among others.
The records are a rich resource for documenting the Bay Area Figuration art movement in the San Francisco region.
Business correspondence is with galleries, curators, trusts, and individuals mostly regarding loans and sales. Correspondents include Allan Stone Gallery, Bryce Bannatyne Gallery, Canfield Gallery, Forum Gallery, Felix Landau Gallery, Henri Ghent, Barbara Guest, Phyllis Hattis, and Trini Gallery, among many others. Although there is scattered correspondence with artists filed among the business correspondence, the bulk of the gallery's correspondence with artists is found in the Artist and Exhibition Files.
Business records include administrative files comprised of mailing lists, business registration records, newsletters, information about affiliated organizations (including The San Francisco Art Dealers Association), and records and clippings about arts law. Gallery notebooks contain information about the gallery's day-to-day activities and also include inventories, contacts, accounting information, and lists of business arrangements and dealings. Financial materials include appraisal and consignment records, invoices, insurance records,donation records, and a vendor analysis report comprise the financial material.
Almost two-thirds of the collection is comprised of artist and exhibition files. In addition to the artistis listed above, there are substantial artist files for Ruth Asawa, E. J. Bellocq, Elmer Bischoff, Robert Berlind, John Battenberg, Joan Brown, William Theophilus Brown, Charles Mattox, Robert Qualters, Beth Van Hoesen, Carlos Villa, Paul Wonner, among many others. The artist files also include artwork, such as pen and ink and pencil sketches by Peter Allegaert, ink and gouache sketches by Nathan Oliveira, and a pen and ink sketch by John Goray. Scattered photos depict artists (notably Oliveira), their studios, artwork and installation shots, and exhibition attendee notebooks document shows from 1978 to 1987.
The collection also contains personal correspondence and files relating to Charles Campbell's interest in jazz and travel. These records include music catalogs, clippings, newsletters, correspondence, brochures, tickets, maps, travel agendas, and photos. Campbell's personal correspondence is scattered throughout the collection, and documents Charles' and his wife Esther's friendships with artists and others.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 5 series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Business Correspondence, 1968-1996 (Boxes 1-3; 2.3 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Business Records, circa 1968-2001 (Boxes 3-5; 2.3 linear feet)
  • Series 3: Artist and Exhibition Files, 1960-1999 (Boxes 5-15; 10.7 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Personal Files, circa 1972-circa 1998 (Boxes 16-17; 1.6 linear feet)
  • Series 5: Printed Material, 1965-2000 (Boxes 17-19; 0.7 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
The Charles Campbell Gallery was established by Charles Campbell in 1972 in North Beach, San Francisco, following his ownership of The Louvre, a frame shop that he established in 1947. The Charles Campbell Gallery was among the most important San Francisco galleries of that era, especially for showing local artists. Campbell was a close friend of many of the leading Bay Area artists, most of whom had exhibibitions at his gallery, including Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud, Hassel Smith, Elmer Bischoff, and Gordon Onslow-Ford. Some of the artists represented and shown at the gallery were later identified with the region's signature art movement, Bay Area Figuration, including Nathan Oliviera, Paul Wonner, Gordon Cook, William Theophilus Brown, James Weeks, and Joan Brown.
Campbell partnered with Paul Thiebaud in 1990 and the gallery changed its name to the Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, and began to show a fresh roster of artists. The partnership ended on friendly terms in 2001, with the business becoming the Paul Thiebaud Gallery. After this, Campbell re-established his independent gallery for a short while collaborating with a former gallery assistant Steven Lopez. This collaboration ended in a lawsuit resolved in 2007-2008 that essentially dissolved the gallery in all but name.
Campbell was also very interested in jazz and he was at one point the manager of trombone player Turk Murphy. They briefly ran a club together in San Francisco, The Italian Villa.
Charles Campbell died in 2014 at the age of 99.

Administration

Author
Eden Orelove
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian's Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Charles Campbell donated the Charles Campbell Gallery records in 2002.
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's Collection Care and Preservation Fund. The Archives of American Art has implemented minimal processing tactics when possible in order to increase information about and access to more of our collections.
Minimal processing included arrangement to the series, subseries, and folder levels. The administrative files were compiled from scattered records throughout the collection and the artist and exhibition files were rearranged into three subseries. Otherwise, the original order was largely maintained. The collection was rehoused in archival containers and folders, but not all staples and clips were removed.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Serices for more information.
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
Charles Campbell Gallery records, 1960-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Artists' studios -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Figurative art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Visitors' books Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Travel Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jazz Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Law and art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art galleries, Commercial -- California Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Canfield Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Forum Gallery (New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brown, Joan, 1938-1990 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brown, William Theo, 1919- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
San Francisco Art Dealers Association Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Thiebaud, Wayne Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Felix Landau Gallery Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Olivera, Nathan Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Villa, Carlos, 1936-2013 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mattox, Charles, 1910-1996 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rustin, Jean, 1928- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bryce Bannatyne Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Farr, Charles Griffin, 1908-1984 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Graves, Morris, 1910-2001 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Van Hoesen, Beth, 1926-2010 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cook, Gordon Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wonner, Paul, 1920-2008 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bellocq, E. J. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Battenberg, John N., 1931- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Allagaert, Peter Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asawa, Ruth Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Allan Stone Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hattis, Phyllis Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guest, Barbara Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sanchez, Stephani Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Morton, Geer Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trini Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bischoff, Elmer, 1916-1991 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Berlind, Robert, 1938- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harvey, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ghent, Henri, 1926- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reichman, Fred, 1925- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Qualters, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Goray, John Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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