Bergman, Edwin, 1917-1986
Collector
Size: 1.6 Linear feet
Summary: The papers of Chicago art collectors Edwin and Lindy Bergman measure 1.6 linear feet and date from 1949 to 2002. The papers document the collecting activities of the Bergmans through a collection of files on artists including Joseph Cornell, Jim Nutt, and Wilfredo Lam, and others including art dealers Julien and Jean Levy, and ballerina Tamara Toumanova.
Chicago, Illinois, art collectors Edwin Bergman (1917-1986) and Lindy (Betty Jane) Bergman (1918-2014) shared a particular interest in surrealist art and over a sixty year period assembled a major art collection which included some of Joseph Cornell's most famous works. The Bergmans began collecting art in the 1950s, and established the Bergman Gallery, designed as both a studio for undergraduates and an exhibition center. In 1982 they also established the Edwin and Lindy Bergman Joseph Cornell Gallery at the Art Institute of Chicago. Edwin Bergman was a founder and past president of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
The Edwin and Lindy Bergman papers were donated in 2016 by Robert H. Bergman, Carol B. Cohen, and Betty L. Rosenfield, Edwin and Lindy Bergman's children.
The collection is in English and French.
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.
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