Willard Gallery records, circa 1940-1956

Collection Information

Size: 0.6 Linear feet

Summary: The records of New York Willard Gallery measure 0.6 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 1956. The collection relates to artist David Smith and includes printed materials regarding exhibitions, artist statements, a set of notecards containing detailed information on artworks by Smith, and correspondence between Smith, Marian Willard, and Smith's wife Dorothy Dehner, and with galleries and clients concerning exhibitions, loans, and sales.

Biographical/Historical Note

Willard Gallery was established as the East River Gallery in New York, New York, by Marian Willard in 1936. The gallery exhibited the works of artists including Sylvia Braverman, Alexander Calder, Lyonel Feininger, Loren MacIver, David Hayes, Ezio Martinelli, Louis Schanker, David Smith, and Mark Tobey. In 1938, the gallery's name was changed to the Neumann-Willard Gallery; it later became the Willard Gallery after Willard's marriage to Dan Johnson. Willard and Johnson ran the gallery until their retirement in 1970, at which point their daughter Miani Johnson took over operations until the gallery's closure in 1987.

Provenance

Some Willard Gallery records were loaned for microfilming from 1959-1974 and returned to the lender. Records relating to David Smith were donated in 1966 and 1974 by Marian Willard.

Related Materials

The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reels NWI-1, NLG-1, N69-114, N69-116-N69-118, and 822. Reel NWI-1 contains four notebooks dated 1936-1959, with reproductions of works by Morris Graves, and three notebooks dated 1917-1959, with reproductions of works by Mark Tobey. Reel NLG-1 includes correspondence between Gatch and Marian Willard, concerning Gatch's business relations with dealer J. B. Neumann, exhibitions and sales. Also included are clippings and biographical notes. Reels N69-114 and N69-116 contain scrapbooks, 1936-1969, including clippings, catalogs, photographs and occasional correspondence documenting Marian Willard's founding in 1936 of the East River Gallery, later (1938) the Neumann-Willard Gallery; her introduction of rental art, an innovation in the American art trade, and gallery exhibitions of various artists. Considerable exhibition and critical material for artists regularly shown by the Gallery is included: Lyonel Feininger, David Smith, Loren MacIver, David Hayes, Mark Tobey, Ezio Martinelli and Louis Schanker. Also included letters one from Lyonel Feininger, Lewis Mumford and Archibald MacLeish, congratulating Miss Willard on the Gallery's opening. Reels N69-116-N69-118 contain scrapbooks, 1928-1969, containing photographs, exhibition catalogs, critical articles, incidental correspondence, and price lists for the following artists: Juan Luis Bunuel, Sylvia Braverman, Leo Kenney, Thomas Stearns, Lenore Tawney, Morris Graves, David Hayes, Genichiro Inokuma, Tadashi Sato, Richard Lippold, Philip McCracken, Charles Seliger, and Mark Tobey. Reel 822 contains a scrapbook of the Willard Gallery, 1972 and a scrapbook containing clippings and announcements about Ann Wilson, 1972, and about William Pettet, 1973.

Loaned materials were returned to the donor and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Language Note

English .

Funding Note

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.