Collection Information
Size: 4.4 Linear feet, (on 5 microfilm reels)
Summary: Biographical material; correspondence and greeting cards; writings; business records; printed material about the Lowenthal collection, exhibitions, and artists, photographs; scrapbooks; and sound recordings.
REEL 4904, frames 1-114: Thirty-nine greeting cards from artists, illustrated with original prints, drawings, and off-set reproductions. Included are 20 from Jose de Creeft and Lorrie Goulet, 8 from Abraham and Esther Rattner, 4 each from Chaim Gross and Milton and Sally Avery, 2 from Max Weber, and 1 from Jacob Lawrence.
REELS 4904 (fr. 126-end) - 4908: Biographical material includes a resume and transcripts for Edith Lowenthal, an obituary of Isadore Lowenthal, M.D., Milton's father, and clippings related to the Lowenthals. General correspondence, 1947-1991, is primarily with museums, university galleries, and publishers regarding loans and gifts of art work, contributions, lectures, travel, and permissions to reproduce for publication. In addition, there are a correspondence file, 1963-1990, with the Brooklyn Museum, regarding loans, contributions, and conservation work, and correspondence from artists, including letters, greeting cards, and announcements from Stuart Davis, Jacob Lawrence, Josef Presser, Abraham Rattner, Charles Sheeler, Max Weber, and others.
Writings and notes by Milton Lowenthal are about the role of the art collector, his thoughts on works of art and artists, and drafts of letters. Writings by others include Henry Miller's "The Rattner Portfolio" and Elizabeth McCausland's proposal for a Marsden Hartley catalog raisonne. Material relating specifically to the Lowenthal Collection includes lists, valuations, collection exhibition records, documentation of gifts, financial records, receipts, clippings, catalogs, and a 2 v. index of acquisitions. A file containing memorabilia relating to Stuart Davis includes clippings, an address book, printed materials, and notes.
Printed materials include clippings about artists, collectors, and other art related issues and exhibitions, exhibition announcements, and catalogs. Photographs are of artists and works of art. Files relating to the "Friends of the Whitney", ca. 1956-1961, include correspondence, by-laws, annual and other reports, statements, and catalogs of loan exhibitions. Scrapbooks (4 v.), 1942-1953, contain letters and greeting cards (many illustrated) from friends, artists and associates, clippings, exhibition announcements, and catalogs about artists, museums, and exhibitions.
Unmicrofilmed material consists of negatives, slides, and transparencies of works of art and 3 phonograph albums (78 r.p.m) of a radio interview with art collectors and a recording of a school performance by Stuart Davis' son.