Archives of American Art

Castano Galleries records

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.castgall
Creators:
Castano Galleries (Boston, Mass.)
Dates:
1907-1983
Languages:
A small portion of letters are in Italian, some with English translations.
Physical Description:
30 Microfilm reels
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
20 feet, chiefly gallery records and some personal papers of gallery owner, Giovanni (John) Castano, including correspondence, legal material, subject files, notes, writings, financial material, photographs, a scrapbook, and printed material.
Scope and Contents
Included are biographical information about Castano, business correspondence with dealers, museums, clients, collectors, artists, art historians, and others, and some personal correspondence, including a letter from Rome, 1876, from an unidentified writer to an unidentified woman containing a detailed description of a painting in the Barberini, and correspondence related to Castano's work as a scenic artist, 1924-1931. Subject files contain mainly correspondence and lists of work, and relate to Italian Renaissance exhibition, 1938, the Heeramaneck Collection of Persian and Indian Art, a Boldini exhibition, Arthur C. Goodwin, 1945-1952, and a Mancini-Sargent exhibition, 1951.
Scope and Contents
Financial material includes records of expenses and income; account books; employees' weekly wage book; records of purchases and sales of art work, including part of a bill for a painting by Diaz paid by Knoedler and Co., 1890; appraisals done for individuals, estates and institutions, including the Gorham Corporation, Harvard University murals, the Mrs. T. Morris Murray estate, furnishings of William M. Paxton's studio, ca. 1941, and paintings by Edmund Tarbell, and others; consignments; priced auction catalogs of the Henry F. Sears estate, the Mary A.H. Traiser estate, and miscellaneous price lists.
Scope and Contents
Also included are a card file on paintings; lists of paintings; inventories; client cards; address and appointment books; mailing lists; gallery journals, 1936-1927; descriptions and notes on paintings and authentications; biographies of artists; writings by and about Castano; and notes by Churchill Wyman on Philip Hale's anatomy lectures.
Scope and Contents
Photographs are of Castano, his work, artists at work, and various works of art. Original art work consists of sketches for a logo designed by Suzanne Chapman. Included in the exhibition related material is a catalog for Castano's posthumous exhibition.
Scope and Contents
Also included is a scrapbook containing announcements, clippings on the gallery and Castano, exhibition catalogs, and biographical material compiled by Castano's longtime secretary.
Scope and Contents
Among the correspondents are: Philip Beam, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Gibson Danes, Franz Denghasusen, Lloyd Goodrich (Whitney Museum of American Art), Isabella Grandin, Lilian W. Hale, Philip Hofer (Fogg Art Museum), Perry T. Rathbone (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Edgar P. Richardson (Detroit Institute of Arts), Paul J. Sachs (Fogg), and Lionello Venturi.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Art gallery, Boston, Mass. Founded in 1931 by Giovanni Castano, also known as John Castano. Castano attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he was an assistant to Philip Hale. He was a scenic artist for the Boston Opera Company and for the Grand Opera in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the Depression, he returned to Boston where he opened a gallery on Newbury Street specializing in European and American paintings, acted as an agent for Wildenstein and Co., and restored paintings. The gallery had numerous exhibitions of the "Boston School," including A.C. Goodwin, Winslow Homer, Philip Hale, Edmund C. Tarbell, William Paxton and others. The gallery occupied several Newbury St. locations. From 1975 until his death, Castano operated it from his home in Needham.

Administration

Existence and Location of Copies
35mm microfilm reels 4827-4856 available at AAA offices and through interlibrary loan.
Existence and Location of Originals
Originals returned to the lender, Elvira Castano Palmerio, after microfilming.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Lent for microfilming by Elvira Castano Palmerio, Castano's daughter, 1988.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

More Information

Other Title

Other Title
Giovanni Castano Galleries records, 1907-1983.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art -- Collectors and collecting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art appraisers Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Restorers Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gallery owners Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art galleries, Commercial -- Massachusetts Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Venturi, Lionello, 1885-1961 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Beam, Philip C. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chrysler, Walter P. (Walter Percy), 1909-1988 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Danes, Gibson A. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Denghausen, Franz H., 1911- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Goodrich, Lloyd, 1897-1987 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grandin, Isabella Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hale, Lilian Westcott, 1880-1963 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hofer, Philip, 1898-1984 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rathbone, Perry Townsend, 1911-2000 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Richardson, Edgar Preston, 1902-1985 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sachs, Paul J. (Paul Joseph), 1878-1965 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Castano, Giovanni, 1896-1978 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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