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Archives of American Art
A Finding Aid to the Rosamund Felsen Gallery Records, 1949-2014, bulk 1978-2014, in the Archives of American Art
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.rosafelg
- Creators:
-
Rosamund Felsen Gallery
- Dates:
-
1949-2014bulk 1978-2014
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
28.9 Linear feet
- Repository:
The Rosamund Felsen Gallery records measure 28.9 linear feet and date from 1949 to 2014, with the bulk of the records dating from 1978 to 2014. The records shed light on the gallery's operations primarily through administrative records, artist files, exhibition and event files, financial records, born digital material, photographs, and slides.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
The Rosamund Felsen Gallery records measure 28.9 linear feet and date from 1949 to 2014, with the bulk of the records dating from 1978 to 2014. The records shed light on the gallery's operations primarily through administrative records, artist files, exhibition and event files, financial records, born digital material, photographs, and slides.
Administrative records consist of advertising files, property records, a gallery notebook, gallery digital files, and more. Also included in this series are several folders comprised of Rosamund Felsen's personal and professional papers and photographs. Artist files consist of resumes, slides and photographs of artists and their work, printed mnaterial, some sales and consignment records, and correspondence. Artists represented in the collection include Richard Jackson, Kaz Oshiro, Tim Ebner, John Boskovich, Jeff Gambill, Jeffrey Vallance, Mitchell Syrop, Mac James, Marnie Weber, Keith Sklar, Leland Rice, Erika Rothenberg, Peter Lodato, Paul McCarthy, Jim Shaw, Al Ruppersberg, Ilya Kabakov, Lari Pittman, Cisco Jiménez, Chris Burden, Mike Kelley, and Heidi Kidon.
Exhibition and event files relate to Rosamund Felsen Gallery exhibitions and performances as well as a number of art fairs and exhibitions held at other galleries and museum spaces. The files contain consignment and sales records, check lists, born digital material, photographs and slides, installation directions, printed material, and more. Financial records contain primarily sales records, invoices, some correspondence, and receipts.
Arrangement
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as four series.
- Series 1: Administrative Records, 1968-2013 (2 linear feet; Box 1-2, OV 30-33)
- Series 2: Artist Files, 1949-2013, bulk 1978-2006 (19.7 linear feet; Box 22-25, OV 34)
- Series 3: Exhibition and Event Files, 1979-2014 (3.7 linear feet; Box 22-25, OV 34-36)
- Series 4: Financial Records, 1978-2014 (3.5 linear feet; Box 25-29)
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
The Rosamund Felsen Gallery was established in 1978 in Los Angeles, California by Rosamund Felsen. The gallery closed its physical location in 2016 after nearly four decades as a widely influential contemporary art gallery.
In 1960, Rosamund Felsen began her art career working as an assistant registrar for the Pasadena Art Museum, and eventually became curator of prints. Felsen also worked at Gemini GEL: Graphics Editions Limited alongside her second husband, Gemini co-founder Sidney Felsen. From these positions, Felsen became friendly with both established and younger artists, learned to mount exhibitions, and participated in art-related operations. In 1977, Timothea Stewart asked Felsen if she would like to work at her new gallery. After two exhibitions, Felsen took over the Timothea Stewart Gallery and started her own.
Rosamund Felsen gallery exhibited artists working in various mediums, including video and sound, and frequently showed live performance art. Early artists exhibited at the gallery included Richard Jackson, Keith Sonnier, Maria Nordman, Chris Burden, and William Wegman. Felsen gallery opened Robert Rauschenberg's In + Out City Limits: Los Angeles (1981) on New Year's Eve; and added artists Jeffrey Vallance, Mike Kelley, Lari Pittman, and Erika Rothenberg to its roster by the end of the 1980s. Felsen brought on a list of new artists in the 1990s, including Paul McCarthy, Renee Petropoulos, Tim Ebner, Meg Cranston, Steven Hull, and Nancy Jackson. The gallery continued to show solo and group exhibitions of its artists, and featured a run of smaller artist-curated exhibitions of local and international artists. The Project Wall exhibitions included artist/curators Andrea Bowers and Steven Hull and showed European artists Erwin Wurm and Nils Norman. By 2004, Felsen's artists were all living in Los Angeles except for two, video artists Judith Barry and Joan Jonas.
In 1990, the gallery moved from Los Angeles to West Hollywood on Santa Monica Boulevard. Four years later, Felsen Gallery moved to a location in the Bergamot Station Arts Center, where it remained until 2015. After Bergamot, the gallery moved to the Arts District in Los Angeles. Rosamund Felsen Gallery closed its physical location in 2016, but continued representing a number of artists online.
Administration
Author
Christopher DeMairo
Sponsor
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated in several installments from 2014 to 2016 by the Rosamund Felsen Gallery via Rosamund Felsen, gallery founder and owner. Rosamund Felsen Letters and Postcards were donated in 2016 by Rosamund Felsen.
Processing Information
Two accessions were merged, processed, and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo in 2021 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund. Preliminary processing of Rosamund Felsen's letters and postcards was completed in 2017 by Hilary Price.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing 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
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Preferred Citation
Rosamund Felsen Gallery records, 1949-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Related Materials
Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Rosamund Felsen conducted by Anne Ayres, October 11, 2004.
Keywords
Repository Contact
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions
