Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Eva Lee Gallery Records, 1921-1973, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.evalee
Creators:
Eva Lee Gallery
Dates:
1921-1973
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
4 Linear feet
Repository:
The scattered records of the New York contemporary American art Eva Lee Gallery measure 4.0 linear feet and date from 1921-1973. Artist files contain provenance notes, photographs of artwork, records of sales and consignments, exhibition catalogs from other galleries, and reference information on numerous contemporary artists, many represented by the gallery. There are also scattered letters and artwork from artists, scattered sales records of J.B. Neuman's New Art Circle Gallery, and a photocopy of an auction catalog for Korvettes Art Galleries in Douglastan, New York. A significant amount of information is found within the collection about Alexander Calder, Lovis Corinth, Salvadore Dali, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Robert Indiana, Harry Lieberman, Rene Magritte, John Marin, Lowell Nesbitt, Ben Shahn, Victor Vasarely, and Max Weber.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
The scattered records of the New York contemporary American art Eva Lee Gallery measure 4.0 linear feet and date from 1921-1973. Artist files contain provenance notes, photographs of artwork, records of sales and consignments, exhibition catalogs from other galleries, and reference information on numerous contemporary artists, many represented by the gallery. There are also scattered letters and artwork from artists, scattered sales records of J.B. Neumann's New Art Circle Gallery, and a photocopy of an auction catalog for Korvettes Art Galleries in Douglastan, New York.
The records are comprised of artists' files arranged into four categories established by the gallery: general artists' files; notebooks of artists' files; financial artists' files; and consignment and sales artists' files. General artists' files contain background and reference information on numerous contemporary artists, performers, and art-related organizations. More information exists for Alexander Calder and Harry Lieberman than the other names represented in the general files. Lee also arranged provenance notes and photographs of artwork into notebooks, presumably including many of the artists represented by the gallery. There is a significant amount of material in the notebooks on Alexander Calder, Robert Indiana, Lowell Nesbitt, Ben Shahn, Victor Vasarely, and Max Weber.
Financial artists' files contain correspondence with artists and patrons concerning the sale of artwork by both the Eva Lee Gallery and J. B. Neumann of the New Art Circle Gallery, scattered artwork, printed material, photographs of artists, and checks signed by Neumann and endorsed by miscellaneous artists. Eva Lee worked on the estate of J. B. Neumann and collected and interspersed his files with her own. These files include letters from Josef Albers, Thomas Hart Benton, Alexander Calder, Christo, Joseph Cornell, Robert Indiana, and a postcard of Calder's studio from Ben Shahn. There are also watercolor sketches by Clifford Odets, an exhibition catalog autographed by Ben Shahn, and photographs of Marsden Hartley, Jacques Lipchitz, composer Frederick Loewe, Paul Mommer, Mert Simpson, and Curt Valentin with Andrew Ritchie.
Eva Lee Gallery artists' consignment and sales files primarily contain photographs of artwork and notes concerning sales of specific artwork by the Eva Lee Gallery. Also found in these sales files are scattered letters, receipts, and printed material. There is a significant amount of material for Ben Benn, Alexander Calder, Lovis Corinth, Salvadore Dali, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Marsden Hartley, John Hopkins, Rene Magritte, and John Marin. It is assumed that Eva Lee separated the two latter sets of artists' files containing sales records.
Also found in the collection is a photocopy of the Korvettes Art Galleries auction catalog, which lists artwork sold at a 1970 auction liquidating the holdings of the Douglaston, New York gallery.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 5 series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: General Artist Files, 1923-1972 (Boxes 1-2; 1.3 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Notebooks of Artist Files, 1929-1973 (Boxes 2-3; 1.4 linear feet)
  • Series 3: Financial Artist Files, 1921-1970 (Boxes 3-4; 0.6 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Eva Lee Gallery Consignment and Sales Artist Files, 1960-1972 (Box 4; 0.7 linear feet)
  • Series 5: Photocopy of Korvettes Art Galleries Auction Catalog, 1970 (Box 4; 1 folder)

Historical Note

Historical Note
Eva Lee was born circa 1924. She fled from Nazi Germany to the United States, becoming an art dealer and the owner of the Eva Lee Gallery, Inc. Located in Great Neck, New York, the Eva Lee Gallery specialized in modern art and handled the work of many prominent artists including Alexander Calder, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Marsden Hartley, Jacob Lawrence, Ben Shahn, and Max Weber. The gallery was in operation through the first half of 1973.
Eva Lee died suddenly on November 4, 1973 in Terre Haute, Indiana, while undergoing unspecified medical treatment.

Administration

Author
Jean Fitzgerald
Sponsor
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Provenance
The Eva Lee Gallery records were donated in 1973 by Eva Lee through Eloise Spaeth, and in 1978 by Neal Richmond of the Paul Klapper Library, Queens College, Flushing, New York, who had been asked to disperse Lee's gallery records following her sudden death in 1973. A photocopy of the Korvettes Art Galleries Auction Catalog was donated by Eva Lee in 1970.
Lee's records also contained financial files belonging to art dealer J. B. Neumann and his New Art Circle Gallery, whose estate she had worked on in 1966.
Alternative Forms Available
The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2015 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website. Materials which have not been scanned include blank pages, blank versos of photographs, and duplicates. In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages scanned.
Processing Information
The papers received a preliminary level of arrangement after donation and the Korvettes Art Galleries Auction Catalog was microfilmed onto reel 2. In 2007, the collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Jean Fitzgerald. The collection was digitized in 2015 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Eva Lee Gallery records, 1921-1973. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services 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.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Watercolor drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Works of art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Simpson, Merton D. (Merton Daniel), 1928- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Loewe, Frederick Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Neumann, J. B. (Jsrael Ber) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Valentin, Curt, 1902-1954 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mommer, Paul Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Odets, Clifford, 1906-1963 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Weber, Max, 1881-1961 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vasarely, Victor, 1906-1997 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indiana, Robert, 1928-2018 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Christo, 1935- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hopkins, John Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lee, Eva Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Korvettes Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Magritte, René, 1898-1967 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lieberman, Harry, 1880-1983 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Corinth, Lovis, 1858-1925 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cornell, Joseph Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dalí, Salvador, 1904-1989 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nesbitt, Lowell, 1933-1993 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grosz, George, 1893-1959 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Albers, Josef Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Benn, Ben, 1884- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Marin, John, 1870-1953 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Art Circle Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-7950
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions