Dealer Records:
Knoedler Gallery Records
25 February 2016: The Getty Research Institute announced that the latest part of the archive of one of America's oldest and preeminent galleries, M. Knoedler & Co has been processed and partially digitized. Series VII of the Knoedler Gallery Archive consists of 1,579 boxes of photographs of artworks dealt by the firm, including images of works purchased, sold, and examined but not acquired.
Browse the finding aid.
View digitized portions of the archive.
Find out more about the archive.
Read more about M. Knoedler & Co. on the blog, The Getty Iris.Knoedler Gallery Stock Books 7-11, covering 1921-1970, now in Getty Dealer Stock Books Database
30 October 2015: Knoedler Gallery paintings stock books 7–11 are now in the expanded Dealer Stock Books Database. These stock books, from one of America's oldest and preeminent galleries, document a shift in taste toward modern masters. Dated 1921–1970, these records were transcribed into the database from the stock books' handwritten entries and editorially standardized. They join Knoedler books 1–6 and the Goupil & Cie books, bringing the total number of database records to more than 82,000.
Search the Knoedler Gallery Stock Books database.
Find out more about the archive.
Learn about the transformation of these stock books into the database.
For further details about the digitisation of the Knoedler Gallery records, click here.
2 January 2015: The Getty Research Institute has now catalogued and made available in its Series Vl of the records of M Knoedler & Co a finding aid to the Gallery's correspondence records. These are primarily the correspondence files maintained by the New York office, but they also contain files from the firm's other offices in London, Paris and Chicago. The bulk of the series are letters received by the New York and London offices between 1879 and 1971. These generally concern possible sales or purchases of artworks and include letters of inquiries about sales,negotiations of prices, appraisals,loans of artworks for exhibitions, and occasionally personal notes. The interoffice correspondence includes notes or instructions directed to staff and information about sales, potential sales, clients, collectors, and collections, as kept by each office. There is also the correspondence of the firm's library which concerns requests for documentation and illustrations of artworks, inquiries about publications, and includes letters received from the firm's library in London. Already available are finding aids and a database of the firm's stock book records, sales books and commission books.
View the finding aid.
Find out more about the archive.
Read more about the firm's role in the art market.
1 October 2014: The Getty Research Institute has launched an expanded dealer stock book database that provides free online access to almost 24,000 records created from the Knoedler Gallery painting stock books. Books 1 through 6, dating from 1872 to 1920, are available now; books 7 through 11 will be added soon. The Knoedler Gallery was a central force in the evolution of an art market in the U.S.
Search the database.
Browse the stock books.
Find out more about the Knoedler Gallery Archive.
Three sections of the Knoedler Gallery Archive—Stock books (Series I), Sales books (Series II), and Commission books (Series III)—have been processed and are available for research. See below for a full series list and to access them. The finding aid is available at http://archives2.getty.edu:8082/xtf/view?docId=ead/2012.M.54/2012.M.54.xml
The Knoedler Gallery Archive illuminates the business relationships and records of one of America's oldest and most preeminent art galleries, founded in 1848 by Michael Knoedler and his employers Adolphe Goupil and William Schaus from the French firm Goupil, Vibert & Cie (later Boussod, Valadon & Cie). The Knoedler Gallery was founded before the establishment of most museums in this country and was, therefore, able to play a central role as a conduit for the masterworks that established American museum collections.
Although Goupil, Vibert & Cie initially established the gallery in 1848 to sell reproductions of French prints, Knoedler, the firm's New York manager, bought out the operation nearly a decade later and transformed it into a major dealer of old-master paintings and British art. His success with these works influenced American art consumption, as collectors' tastes began to shift away from French Salon paintings. Though Knoedler was not the only art dealer selling this type of work, by the 1890s he was far and away the major supplier to the American market. |
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With the exception of the reference library, which the Knoedler Gallery sold separately in January 2012 and which consists of titles already in the Getty Research Institute's library, this acquisition represents the complete archive of the gallery's operations from the 1850s to 1971, when it was acquired by Armand Hammer. The archival material includes business records; correspondence among clients, artists, and Knoedler staff; card files on clients and artworks; photographs; prints; rare books; sales catalogs dating to the 18th century; and gallery installation plans.
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This archive adds remarkable unpublished resources to the Getty Research Institute's collections documenting the history of taste, the art market, collecting, patronage, and artists and works of art represented by particular galleries. It also complements resources already held at the Research Institute, such as the archives of the Goupil, Vibert & Cie (later Boussod, Valadon & Cie) Gallery and the extensive records on the Duveen Brothers firm, which was in business at the same time and often worked with the same clients.
Housed for decades in the Knoedler Gallery's New York office, and previously not widely accessible for study, portions of the archive will be digitized, ensuring accessibility for the broadest possible range of international researchers. |
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Availability
Series I. Stock books: Available nowSeries II. Sales books: Available now
Series III. Commission books: Available now
Series IV. Inventory cards: August 2013
Series V. Receiving and shipping records
Series VI. Correspondence: In process
Series VII. Departments
Series VIII. London and Paris offices
Series IX. Other financial records
Series X. Photographs
Series XI. Research files
Series XII. Catalogs and ephemera
Source:
http://www.getty.edu/research/special_collections/notable/knoedler.html?utm_source=grinews111&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=grinews111 (accessed 31 July 2013)
Original Announcement by the Getty Research Institute:
November 2012
Although recently acquired, this archive is not yet available because the material must first be cleaned, arranged, described, and properly stored. When the Knoedler Gallery Archive becomes available, an update will be posted to this web page.
The Knoedler Gallery Archive illuminates the business relationships and records of one of America's oldest and most preeminent art galleries, founded in 1848 by Michael Knoedler and his employers Adolphe Goupil and William Schaus from the French firm Goupil, Vibert & Cie (later Boussod, Valadon & Cie). The Knoedler Gallery was founded before the establishment of most museums in this country and was, therefore, able to play a central role as a conduit for the masterworks that established American museum collections.
Although Goupil, Vibert & Cie initially established the gallery in 1848 to sell reproductions of French prints, Knoedler, the firm's New York manager, bought out the operation nearly a decade later and transformed it into a major dealer of old-master paintings and British art. His success with these works influenced American art consumption, as collectors' tastes began to shift away from French Salon paintings. Though Knoedler was not the only art dealer selling this type of work, by the 1890s he was far and away the major supplier to the American market. |
||||||
With the exception of the reference library, which the Knoedler Gallery sold separately in January 2012 and which consists of titles already in the Getty Research Institute's library, this acquisition represents the complete archive of the gallery's operations from the 1850s to 1971, when it was acquired by Armand Hammer. The archival material includes business records; correspondence among clients, artists, and Knoedler staff; card files on clients and artworks; photographs; prints; rare books; sales catalogs dating to the 18th century; and gallery installation plans.
|
||||||
This archive adds remarkable unpublished resources to the Getty Research Institute's collections documenting the history of taste, the art market, collecting, patronage, and artists and works of art represented by particular galleries. It also complements resources already held at the Research Institute, such as the archives of the Goupil, Vibert & Cie (later Boussod, Valadon & Cie) Gallery and the extensive records on the Duveen Brothers firm, which was in business at the same time and often worked with the same clients.
Housed for decades in the Knoedler Gallery's New York office, and previously not widely accessible for study, the archive will be digitized, ensuring that it will be accessible to the broadest possible range of international researchers. |
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