Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Emily Genauer papers, circa 1920s-1990s, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.genaemil
Creators:
Genauer, Emily, 1910-2002
Dates:
circa 1920-1990
Languages:
The collection is in English
Physical Description:
11.4 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of art critic Emily Genauer measure 11.4 linear feet and date from circa 1920 to 1990. Found within the papers are correspondence with artists, gallery owners, and friends; extensive writings; research and reference files; personal business records; and photographs. Notable correspondents include David Aronson, Mrs. Max Beckman, Isabel Bishop, Dorothy Carnegie, Marc Chagall, Salvatore Dali, Stuart Davis, Martha Graham, Harry F. Guggenheim, Irene Rice Pereira, Clyfford Still, Rufino Tamayo, and Frank Lloyd Wright, among many others.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of art critic Emily Genauer measure 11.4 linear feet and date from circa 1920 to 1990. Found within the papers are correspondence with artists, gallery owners, and friends; extensive writings; research and reference files; personal business records; and photographs.
Notable correspondents include David Aronson, Mrs. Max Beckman, Isabel Bishop, Dorothy Carnegie, Marc Chagall, Salvatore Dali, Stuart Davis, Martha Graham, Harry F. Guggenheim, Irene Rice Pereira, Clyfford Still, Rufino Tamayo, and Frank Lloyd Wright, among numerous others. Extensive writings consist largely of drafts of columns written by Genauer and supporting research notes, as well as essays, speeches, lectures, book manuscripts, and memoirs. Research and reference files include source material for columns and essays. Personal business records document Genauer's work on committees and arts organizations, juries, awards, honors and also include interview transcripts and other personal scattered files. There is material regarding her leaving the New York World-Telegram. Printed material includes two of Genauer's books, magazines, newspaper clippings, and exhibition catalogs. Photographs are portraits of Genauer and of artwork.

Arrangement

Arrangement
This collection is arranged as 6 series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Correspondence and Letters, 1938-1991 (Box 1, 12, 0.8 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Writings, circa 1930s-1990s (Box 1-3, 2.5 linear feet)
  • Series 3: Research and Reference Files, circa 1920s-1990s (Box 4-6, 2.6 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1933-1992 (Box 6-7, 0.8 linear feet)
  • Series 5: Printed Materials, circa 1920s-1990s (Box 7-9, 12, 1.6 linear feet)
  • Series 6: Photographs, circa 1930s-1970s (Box 9-11, 12, 1.8 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Emily Genauer (1911-2002) was a modern art critic and columinst working in New York City from 1932 until well into the 1980s. In 1974, she won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished art criticism.
Genauer was born in 1911 in Staten Island. She attended Hunter College and Columbia University, majoring in Journalism. She began her writing career in 1929 with the New York World, which later became the New York World-Telegram. She became a strong advocate for modern art and sculpture and introduced modern artists like Marc Chagall and Diego Rivera to the newspaper audience. She also followed lesser known artists and often visited their studios, and they, in return, regularly read her articles and reviews of their shows.
Genauer left the New York World-Telegram in 1949 after a dispute with the owner who accused her writing as overly sympathetic to "Communists and left-wingers" and told her she could no longer write about Picasso. She immediately went to work as the art critic for the New York Herald Tribune, where she worked until 1967, when it folded. She then wrote a regular column for the Newsday Syndicate until the mid-1970s. She also worked for Harper's and in television and served on the council for the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1966 to 1970. Genauer was the author of a number of books, including The Best of Art, Chagall at the Met, and Rufino Tamayo.
Genauer passed away in 2002 in New York City at the age of 91.

Administration

Author
Alexandra Krensky
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care Pool Fund.
Separated Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reel NG1) including 300 letters, photographs, and printed material. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Processing Information
This collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid was prepared by Alexandra Krensky in 2013 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care Pool 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 according to the original order. Generally, items within folders were simply verified with folder titles, but not arranged further. The collection was rehoused in archival containers and folders, but not all staples and clips were removed.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Emily Genauer lent letters on reel NG1 for microfilming 1959. Constance Roche, daughter of Emily Genauer, donated additional papers in 2000 and 2003.
Existence and Location of Copies
Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reel NG1 at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.

Using the Collection

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.
Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Preferred Citation
Emily Genauer papers, circa 1920s-1990s. Archives of American art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women art critics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Essays Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lectures Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Transcriptions Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Speeches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tamayo, Rufino, 1899-1991 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carnegie, Dorothy Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dalí, Salvador, 1904-1989 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Graham, Martha Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guggenheim, Harry Frank, 1890-1971 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Still, Clyfford, 1904- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pereira, I. Rice (Irene Rice), 1902-1971 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aronson, David, 1923-2015 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988 Personal 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