Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Galerie Chalette Records, 1916-1999, bulk 1939-1994, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.galechal
Creators:
Galerie Chalette
Dates:
1916-1999
bulk 1939-1994
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
24.15 Linear feet
Repository:
The records of the New York Galerie Chalette measure 24.15 linear feet and date from 1916-1999, with the bulk of the material dating from 1939-1994. The collection documents this contemporary art gallery's operations from its founding in 1954 through Madeleine Lejwa's later years as an independent dealer. Included are correspondence, artists' files, financial and legal records, printed materials, clippings, exhibition catalogs, audio and video recordings, and motion picture film; about half of the collection consists of photographs. Arthur Lejwa's profession as a biochemist prior to becoming a gallery owner is also documented in this collection. The collection also contains personal records of the Lejwas, including correspondence, legal papers, photographs, photo albums, and printed material.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
The records of the New York Galerie Chalette measure 24.15 linear feet and date from 1916-1999, with the bulk of the material dating from 1939-1994. The collection documents this contemporary art gallery's operations from its founding in 1954 through Madeleine Lejwa's later years as an independent dealer. Included are correspondence, artists' files, financial and legal records, printed materials, clippings, exhibition catalogs, audio and video recordings, and motion picture film; about half of the collection consists of photographs. Arthur Lejwa's profession as a biochemist prior to becoming a gallery owner is also documented in this collection. The collection also contains personal records of the Lejwas, including correspondence, legal papers, photographs, photo albums, and printed material.
Among the artists represented in the artists' files are Jean Arp, Max Bill, Burgoyne Diller, Wojciech Fangor, Sue Fuller, Julio Gonzalez, Roberta Gonzalez, Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, William Reimann, George Rickey, Leon Polk Smith, Victor Varsarely, Max Weber, and various Dada artists. Many artists are represented in the large collection of photographs as is the Lejwa's personal collection. Included in the business records are invoices, receipts for works sold, yearly sales and purchase ledgers, checks for artwork purchases, and index card files recording sales. Legal records include files related to litigation, primarily Lebenstein v. Lejwa. The collection includes film reels and audio recordings of lectures, broadcasts, and exhibits from the 1960s-1990s. It also includes two film reels from a French television program about Jean Arp.
Among the personal records are biographical information, correspondence, legal records mostly related to the settlement of Arthur Lejwa's estate, a significant quantity of snapshots, negatives and slides, and newspaper clippings chronicling Arthur Lejwa's work as a biochemist and the Robert Gould Research Foundation. Arthur Lejwa's scientific career is also represented in biographical information, publications, research notebooks, and photographs. Much of the personal correspondence is from 1939-1951 and is written in Polish, Yiddish and German. The Lejwa's philanthropic donations, especially in Israel, are documented in correspondence, papers, and photographs. Many of the photographs and photo albums record Madeleine Lejwa's travels in the 1970s-1990s.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 8 series. The series are generally arranged alphabetically by type of material or subject, and chronologically thereafter.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Correspondence, 1920-1995 (Boxes 1-2; 1.4 linear foot)
  • Series 2: Artists' Files, 1916-1996 (Boxes 2-6, 25; 4.3 linear feet)
  • Series 3: General Business Files, 1950-1994 (Boxes 6-8; 2.3 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Printed Materials, 1931-1996 (Boxes 9-10, 25; 1.2 linear feet)
  • Series 5: Photographs, circa 1920s-1994 (Boxes 10-16, 24-25; 7 linear feet)
  • Series 6: Legal Records, 1938, 1959-1988 (Box 17; 0.8 linear feet)
  • Series 7: Personal Papers of Arthur and Madeleine Chalette Lejwa, 1925-1999 (Boxes 17-21, 25; 3.7 linear feet)
  • Series 8: Motion Picture Film, Audio, and Video Recordings, circa 1950s-1995 (Boxes 21-23, FC 29-42; 4.3 linear feet)

Historical Note

Historical Note
Art dealers and collectors Madeleine Chalette (1915-1996) and Arthur Lejwa (1895-1972) opened the Galerie Chalette in New York on 45 West 57th Street in February, 1954. The gallery originally specialized in contemporary French graphics and later shifted its focus to contemporary twentieth century European and American art, particularly the work of Jean Arp. Over the years, Galerie Chalette relocated twice. In 1957, the gallery moved to 1100 Madison Avenue and then to 9 East 88th Street in 1964.
Madeleine Chalette was born in 1915 in Paris and grew up in Poland. In 1940, after Madeleine's efforts to secure the release of her father, Leon Chalette, from Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin were successful, father and daughter traveled by boat to Shanghai. They stayed in Shanghai throughout World War II, arriving in the United States in 1946. Arthur Lejwa, a Polish-born biochemist, immigrated to the United States in 1939 and taught at Long Island University. In 1947, Madeleine and Arthur Lejwa were married in Cincinnati, Ohio, where Arthur was the Director of the Robert Gould Institute for Nutritional Research.
The gallery was very active in the 1950s and 1960s, as evidenced by the numerous exhibitions. Many of the exhibitions in the 1950s were thematic. Exhibitions in the 1960s were mostly organized around the work of a particular artist, such as Wojciech Fangor and Leon Polk Smith. In 1972, the Metropolitan Museum of Art showcased Jean Arp's work from the Lejwa's collection and a few works lent by Arp's widow, Marguerite Arp. The exhibition was expanded and traveled as "Arp 1877-1966," first exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and then shown in seven museums in the United States and six in Australia.
In the early 1970s, the Lejwas began supporting institutions in Jerusalem, including donating a 17th century Polish menorah to The Israel Museum and five sculptures to be displayed in public spaces: "The Threshold of Jerusalem" by Jean Arp, "The Loop" by Robert Engman, George Rickey's "Two Lines Oblique," "The Skedion Ekton" by Stephanie Scuris, and "Four Cubes Cut in Identical Halves" by Max Bill.
Following Arthur's death on October 27, 1972, Madeleine continued as an independent dealer and consultant and renamed the business Chalette International. In the 1980s, Madeleine Lejwa continued her philanthropic endeavors in Jerusalem, donating to a scholarship fund for Arab students. She was also a strong supporter of New York University's archeological site Aphrodisias, in southwestern Turkey. In the 1970s and 1980s, Lejwa traveled widely including Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Italy, Turkey, Japan, and China. Madeleine passed away at age 81 on June 9, 1996.

Administration

Author
Sarah Haug
Provenance
The records were donated by Robert Warshaw, executor of the Madeleine Chalette Lejwa estate in two accessions in 1997 and 2005.
Separated Material
Papers related to Leon Chalette's imprisonment in Sachsenhausen concentration camp were transferred to the Leo Baeck Institute, New York, N.Y. in 2010.
Processing Information
The bulk of the first accession was fully processed by Jordan Patty in 2005. In 2009, the remainder of the first accession and the second accession received a minimal level of processing, and the entire collection was arranged and described by Sarah Haug. Motion picture film reels were inspected and re-housed in 2016-2017 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Galerie Chalette records, 1916-1996, bulk 1939-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires 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.

Related Material
Addition papers related to Leon Chalette and Madeleine Chalette are located at Leo Baeck Institute, New York, N.Y.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lectures Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Notebooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Motion pictures (visual works) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Biochemistry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arp, Jean, 1887-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bill, Max, 1908-1994 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diller, Burgoyne, 1906-1965 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fangor, Wojciech, 1922- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fuller, Sue, 1914- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smith, Leon Polk, 1906-1996 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vasarely, Victor, 1906-1997 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Weber, Max, 1881-1961 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gonzalez, Roberta Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lejwa, Arthur Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
González, Julio, 1876-1942 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Moholy-Nagy, László, 1895-1946 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lejwa, Madeleine Chalette, 1914-1996 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rickey, George Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reimann, William Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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