Judy Ng and Stephanie Ashley
Scope and Contents note
The records of New York City's modernist Kootz Gallery measure 11.5 linear feet and date from 1923-1966. They consist of scattered correspondence and exhibition files; photograph files of artists, including files for Picasso, William Baziotes, and Hans Hofmann, among many others; 23 scrapbooks documenting the gallery's history; photographs and slides of the gallery and exhibitions; and scattered personal papers of Samuel M. Kootz.
Correspondence consists of two folders of scattered routine incoming letters. Three folders of exhibition files contain limited documentation of the 1952 Kootz Gallery exhibition "To South America," and printed material related to the 1951 exhibition "Art for a Synagogue" held at the Synagogue of Congregation B'nai Israel in Millburn, New Jersey.
Artists' photograph files contain mostly photographs of 52 artists, their artwork, and their exhibitions. In addition to photographs, there is one folder of artists' autographs. Pablo Picasso and Hans Hofmann's close friendship with Kootz is reflected in this series, as numerous informal personal photos are found in their respective files. A few folders also contain documents, such as transcript notes for a lecture and other writings by Hans Hofmann and a brief review of the work of Georges Braque and David Hare.
Printed Material consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs, advertisements, and newspaper and magazine clippings on the gallery and artists associated with the gallery. There are catalogs for Kootz Gallery exhibitions, including "The Intrasubjectives" show of 1949.
Twenty-three scrapbooks date from 1931 through 1966 and include exhibition announcements, catalogs, photographs, clippings, and miscellaneous printed material. Scrapbook 1, 1947-1948, focuses on Pablo Picasso. Scrapbooks 2-21 document approximately one year of Kootz Gallery events and press coverage from 1945 to 1966, and Scrapbooks 22-23, 1950-1958, focus on architectural models and exhibitions.
Photographic material includes photographs, transparencies, and slides of Kootz Gallery New York and Kootz Gallery Provincetown; interior design photographs showcasing Kootz Gallery artwork hanging in office and residential spaces; group and unidentified exhibitions; group and unidentified artists/artwork; and informal photographs of Samuel Kootz and of his wife, Jane.
Samuel Kootz's personal papers consist of a cocktail party invitation and a copy of the 1923 Phi Epsilon Pi Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 1.
Language
English
Provenance
Samuel M. Kootz donated the gallery records in two increments in 1971. Nearly all of the same records had been loaned in 1965 for microfilming.
Separated Materials note
Records loaned for microfilming in 1965 included eight articles from the publication Modern Artists in America (1951) which were not included in the later donation and are now available on microfilm reel NY65-1.
Related Archival Materials note
Also found among the holdings of the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews with Samuel M. Kootz by John Morse on March 2, 1960 and by Dorothy Seckler on April 13, 1964. Records of Kootz Gallery are also interspersed among the records of Nathan Halper's galleries.
Funding
Sponsor
Processing and digitization of this collection was funded in part by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Processing Information
Portions of the records were initially microfilmed on reels 1318-1320, 1322-1323, and 3090; reel 3090 is no longer in circulation. Loaned materials were filmed on reel NY65-1 and returned. All later gift portions were integrated and fully processed by Judy Ng in 2011, and five scrapbooks were digitized for preservation in 2011 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. All scrapbooks were disbound and received conservation treatment completed in circa 2018. The remainder of the collection was prepared for digitization by Stephanie Ashley in 2024 and was digitized in 2024-2025 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.