Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Rose Fried Gallery Records, 1936-1972, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.rosefrig
Creators:
Rose Fried Gallery (New York, N.Y.)
Dates:
1936-1972
bulk 1945-1970
Languages:
Most of the collection is in
English
. A few scattered records are in
French
,
German
,
Italian
, and
Spanish
.
Physical Description:
8.1 Linear feet
Repository:
The Rose Fried Gallery records measure 8.1 linear feet and date from 1936 to 1972 with the bulk of materials dating from 1945 to 1970. The majority of the collection consists of artists files documenting the gallery's relationship with abstract, modern, and Latin American artists; additional named subject files; and scattered administrative and financial files. Individual artists and subject files contain a wide variety of documentation, such as correspondence, photographs, financial records, and printed materials.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Rose Fried Gallery records measure 8.1 linear feet and date from 1936 to 1972 with the bulk of materials dating from 1945 to 1970. The majority of the collection consists of artists files documenting the gallery's relationship with abstract, modern, and Latin American artists; additional named subject files; and scattered administrative and financial files. Individual artists and subject files contain a wide variety of documentation, such as correspondence, photographs, financial records, and printed materials.
Scattered administrative records document the founding and history of the Rose Fried Gallery, biographical materials about Rose Fried, as well as scattered administrative correspondence, press releases, and gallery catalogs. There are two sound recordings of interviews with Rose Fried in which she discusses the origins of the Rose Fried Gallery and some of the gallery's shows.
The bulk of the records consist of alphabetical artists' and clients' files documenting the gallery's dealings with individual artists, clients, other galleries, museums, and universities. Contents of individual files vary but may include correspondence, contractual agreements, financial records, printed material, and photographs. A few of the artists represented in the files include Olle Baertling, Joseph Cornell, Ben Cunningham, Sonia Delaunay, Sorel Etrog, John Ferren, Raymond Hendler, Wassily Kandinsky, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Piet Mondrian, Russell Morgan, Francis Picabia, Hans Richter, Joaquin Torres-Garcia, and Jean Xceron, among many others.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as two series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: General Administrative Records, 1947-1970 (9 folders; Box 1)
  • Series 2: Artists' and Clients' Files, 1936-1972 (7.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-8, OV 9)

Historical Note

Historical Note
Rose Fried established the Rose Fried Gallery in the 1940s in New York City, New York. Fried established the gallery when she took over the Pinacotheca Gallery owned by Dan Harris. The Gallery specialized in abstract and modern art, and represented cubists, futurists, Dadaists, and masters of Latin American art. The Rose Fried Gallery was instrumental in introducing the American public to many abstract painters, including Mondrian and Kandinsky. The Gallery remained operational until Fried's death in 1970.

Administration

Author
Max Howell
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Rose Fried Gallery Records were donated by Rose Fried and her brother and executor Paul Fried in multiple accretions between 1968 and 1974.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Max Howell in 2016, with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund, using accelerated processing strategies implemented by the Archives of American Art to increase information about and facilitate access to more of our collections. For this ollection, processing included arrangement to the folder level, with retention of the pre-existing arrangement when possible. Some materials were consolidated to eliminate excess bulk but items within folders were not arranged further. Non-archival housing was replaced for long-term stability, but staples and other fasteners have not all been removed.
Existence and Location of Copies
The collection is available on 35 mm microfilm reels 2200-2209, and N69-37 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Some of the sound recordings in this collection have been copied for research access and digital copies are available in the Archives of American Art offices.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Rose Fried Gallery Records, 1936-1972, bulk 1945-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy also requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hispanic American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, Abstract Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mondrian, Piet, 1872-1944 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Xceron, Jean, 1890-1967 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fried, Rose Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Baertling, Olle, 1911-1981 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hendler, Raymond, 1923- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Torres-García, Joaquín, 1874-1949 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cunningham, Ben, 1904-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Richter, Hans, 1888-1976 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Delaunay, Sonia Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pinacotheca Gallery (New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cornell, Joseph Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Morgan, Russell Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ferren, John, 1905-1970 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Picabia, Francis, 1879-1953 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Etrog, Sorel, 1933- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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