Collection Information
Size: 6.7 Linear feet
Summary: The papers of museum director and art appraiser James Byrnes measure 6.7 linear feet and date from 1911 to 2004. The papers document Byrnes's career through personal and professional correspondence, writings, records of professional activity and research files, and appraisals. Also included are personal and legal documents related to Byrne's friend and mentor William Valentiner, and Byrnes's role as executor of Valentiner's estate.
Correspondence consists of personal correspondence with friends and family members, business correspondence and inquiries about appraisals, and correspondence with artists, art historians, and others, including Richard Diebenkorn, Ynez Johnson, Paul Wescher and others.
Writings consists of the manuscript "The Artist Collectors and Their Collections," an article on contemporary painting in the United States, and lectures on 19th Century American Art.
Professional activity files include resumes, photographs of Byrnes, some clippings and exhibition announcements and catalogs from institutions at which he worked, and files related to his work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Newport Harbor Art Museum. Also included are subseries related to his careers at North Carolina Museum of Art and the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art/New Orleans Museum of Art. Records include meeting minutes, exhibition lists, business correspondence, and printed materials.
Research files document research Byrnes conducted on artists Man Ray and Gloria de Herrera and include correspondence, photographs, clippings and other printed material, and notes.
Appraisals consist of research and reports on works by Salvador Dali, Sanford Roth, and Alfredo Ramos Martinez. Material includes correspondence, photographs, clippings, and notes. Also included are some individual requests for appraisals.
William Valentiner papers include personal and business correspondence. Records include documentation of Byrnes's role as executor of Valentiner's estate.