Carlen Galleries, Inc., records, 1775-1997, bulk 1940-1986

A target for a finding guide appears on the microfilm and the same information is on the microfilm box label, but there is no evidence that the Finding Guide was ever produced.

Correspondence, arranged chronologically, consists mainly of letters from artists, dealers, curators, and collectors concerning the sale and purchase of works of art. Additional correspondence files concern sales of paintings by Maurice Prendergast, 1959-1975, and Käthe Kollwitz, 1938-1980.

These files include related correspondence and printed matter.

These two files include a statement of authenticity from the Lotos Club, 1906; two pamphlets written and published by Albert C. Barnes, undated; draft of talk about Carlen's experiences as an art appraiser, undated; includes descriptions of paintings, biographical notes on artists, and provenance of Alexander Calder work owned by Cleve Gray, 1979.

This file includes 7 views of display windows, Blum Store, Philadelphia, featuring women's suits and weathervanes and a passport portrait of Robert Carlen.

Some of these inventories include value/price and numbers that may indicate stock number or location.

One volume, with cover lacking, noting artist and exhibition dates; also includes "A. A. List" of names in alphabetical order [mailing list?]; and an undated price list for antiques.

One volume spiral notebook titled Carlen Galleries containing clippings, mainly exhibition notices and reviews, feature stories on artists shown by Carlen Galleries; also includes handwritten list of "Local Negro Art".

Clippings about folk art, art sales, artists, and Carlen Galleries exhibitions.

Conservation reports and invoices with descriptions of conservation work performed on items belonging to Carlen Galleries, Inc.

Some of the Horace Pippin and Edward Hicks material microfilmed with part 2 is partially duplicated in Part 4, but was significantly rearranged in the interim.

Includes exhibition announcements, catalogs, and clippings.

Includes photographs of undated works of art, and a 1944 portrait of Allan Freelon.

This subseries includes previously sealed letters from Charles M. Mount received with Part 1, but not available for research until 2002.

This subseries ncludes previously sealed appraisals received with Part 1.

The filing order and subject designations of these catalogs, pamphlets, and periodicals, were supplied by the donor. A small number of folders include notes, photographs, and photocopies of archival material.

Business correspondence is filed as letters sent and received and mainly concerns the purchase and sale of art and antiques, exhibitions at Carlen Galleries, loans to exhibitions held elsewhere, and reference queries. A small number of files labeled with the name of the correspondent have been integrated into the chronological sequence in the appropriate places. A small amount of additional correspondence, 1943-1996 and undated, is designated personal. It includes thank you notes and letters from the Carlens' daughters and friends, correspondence about Social Security benefits, taxes and the care of Carlen's father, Morris Cohen. A few letters post-dating Robert Carlen's death and the closing of his gallery concern paintings.

Business records include appraisals and receipts. Appraisal reports prepared by Robert Carlen, 1968-1986, include a small amount of related correspondence; however, most folders contain only one item. Items dated prior to 1968 are appraisals conducted by others submitted to Carlen for review. Receipts issued to and by Robert Carlen are for purchases, sales, consignments, and loans. Other receipts and invoices are for business related services such as framing, refinishing, shipping, advertising, etc.

Subject files may contain correspondence, appraisals receipts, printed matter, and photographs. The files on Edward Hicks include correspondence with Hirschl & Adler Galleries and Terry Dintenfass, notes, photographs, and printed material. Also found are files concerning Carlen's loan of two Hicks' paintings to the U.S. State Department. The files include information about Anatol Jal, the purchase of the Captain James Lawrence Goblet, Horace Pippin, and Antoine Roux. Found in the Horace Pippin files are an appraisal; correspondence about exhibitions, Selden Rodman's book, Pippin's paintings; lists of Pippin's work; loans; exhbitions; and printed material.

Some of the Horace Pippin and Edward Hicks material microfilmed with the subject files in Part 4 is partially duplicated in Part 2, but was significantly rearranged in the interim.

Five volumes of notebooks concerning Horace Pippin, Edward Hicks, and Robert Carlen. Three Horace Pippin notebooks contain correspondence with and about Pippin, photographs of Pippin and his works of art, exhibition catalogs and brochures, printed material, receipts, and cancelled checks. One notebook concerns Edward Hicks and contains correspondence about Hicks' paintings, photographs of his work, and printed matter. One notebook concerns Robert Carlen and contains photographs of Carlen, newsclippings, a small number of letters to Carlen, and a photocopy of Carlen's student record from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Some of the Horace Pippin and Edward Hicks material in vols. 1-4 was microfilmed with Part 4 is partially duplicated in Part 2, but was significantly rearranged in the interim.

Newsclippings and miscellaneous printed material concerning various topics arranged in alphabetical order. The Artists, A-Z, File contains clippings and miscellaneous items about Anonymous, Joseph Boggs Beale, John George Brown, Thomas Eakins, Adolphus Ealey, Edward Hicks, Elizabeth Osborne, Horace Pippin, John Rodgers, Saint-Mémin, Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones, and Grant Wood. The file on Collectors includes clippings about R. S. Ingersoll, Allen Funt, and Steven Straw.

Prints found here include: Pickets by Lynd Ward; 3 Hand-Colored Prints in poor condition, including Currier and Ives George Washington's Reception by the Ladies on Passing on his Way to New York to be Inaugurated..., and 2 unidentified images.

Photographs of antiques and artwork consist mainly of Carlen Galleries' stock and images retained for reference or comparative purposes. These undated photographs are categorized by medium and subject. Also included are photographs of people, and places. Photographs of miscellaneous subjects include photographs of a cover of an auction catalog for the sale of Peale's Museum Gallery of Oil Paintings, M. Thomas & Sons, Philadelphia, 1854; photograph of an inscription on the back of canvas, Bath Houses-Atlantic City Jas. Hamilton. 1868; and a model of a carriage. Also found is a folder of photographs of Wanamaker's Department Store in Philadelphia with a window display featuring selections from Carlen Galleries to advertise University Hospital Antiques Show; Carlen Galleries.