Onya La Tour papers, 1928-1969

La Tour, Onya, b. 1896 d. 1976
Painter, Collector, Dealer
New York, N.Y.; Ind.

Collection size: 8 microfilm reels.

Collection Summary: REELS 802-808: 30 diaries, 1930-1969, some illustrated; files on artists, family members and friends containing correspondence, sketches, biographical information and photographs; correspondence and clippings relating to the Indiana Museum for Modern Art; a scrapbook of sketches by artist friends, mostly by Helen West Heller, photographs, poems and short stories written for her; material relating to the Federal Art Gallery of the WPA, 1936-1937; material relating the the Onya La Tour Gallery, 1938-1939; a proposal for an art gallery in Puerto Rico, and miscellany.

Among the correspondents are Rifka Angel, Maurice Becker, David Burliuk, Stuart Davis, Katherine Dreier, John D. Graham, Helen West Heller, Roy Hirshburg, Joseph Konzal, Larry Lebduska, Guy and Genoi Pettit McCoy, Emanuel Romano; Robert Morris, Ann Goldthwaite and others.

REEL 1817 (fr. 729-732): Two photographs of La Tour, one taken by Roy Hirshburg, ca. 1943, and one taken by H.A. Fleichen, Rolla, Missouri, May 1943. The two photographs were previously microfilmed under Photos of Artists II, and have subsequently been scanned.

Biographical/Historical Note: Art collector, dealer, and painter; Columbus, Ind. La Tour founded the Indianapolis Museum for Modern Art, which no longer exists. She was director of the Federal Art Gallery, N.Y., and the Onya La Tour Gallery, N.Y.

Material on reels 802-808 lent for microfilming 1973 by the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Photographs on reel 1817 possibly donated by La Tour.

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  • Microfilm reels 802-808 and 1817 available for use at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
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