The Papers relate to two aspects of the Sisler Collection: the preparation of the catalog including photographs, artists'
biographies, and catalog entries for each work in the Collection; and Mary Sisler's personal correspondence related to the
purchase, sale, and exhibition of her collection, particularly the loan and exhibition of works by Duchamp (1963-68).
Noteworthy correspondents include Merce Cunningham and John Cage. Entry drafts, published articles and bibliographies on the
artists who are represented in this collection are among the items retained as evidence of the catalog-production process.
The Papers also include a scrapbook of clippings (1x10.5"x12") concerning exhibitions held at the Galleria XXII (the gallery
owned by Mary Sisler's son, Paul Sisler Hayes, in Palm Beach, Florida), 2 guest books (0.375x8x10.5" and 0.625x7.25"x9.25"),
and photographs of sculpture by Joannis Avramidis.
The papers are open for research and contain few restricted materials.
The Mary and William Sisler Papers are the physical property of The Museum of Modern Art. Literary rights, including copyright
belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business
resides with The Museum of Modern Art. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact
the Museum Archivist.
In 1983, Francis Naumann was asked by the Museum to write a catalog concerning gifts promised by Mary Sisler to The Museum
of Modern Art, which were formally bequeathed to the Museum in December 1990 following Mary Sisler's death.
The collection, begun by Mary Sisler in 1961 several years after her husband's death, included over ninety pieces by Marcel
Duchamp and works by other Dadaists, Abstract Expressionists, and Pop Artists, the majority of which were purchased before
1965.
In addition to the Museum, Mary Sisler also supported other institutions and artistic events through the establishment of
The Mary Sisler Foundation in 1963. The Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the New York Philharmonic, and the American Theatre
were among the beneficiaries.
The Papers were transferred to the Archives by the Department of Painting and Sculpture in 1992.
Mary and William Sisler Papers, [series.folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.
| Series I: The Mary and William Sisler Collection Catalog
|
|
|
| folder |
Title |
Date |
| I.1 |
“Susan Ginsburg - Original Entries” 0.25"
Incl. drafts
|
1984 |
| I.2 |
Entry Drafts 0.25"
Originally titled “Sue” for SG
|
1984 |
| I.3 |
Entry Drafts 35 sheets
Entry drafts by NG
|
1984 |
| I.4 |
“N.G. entries” 0.5"
Incl. entry drafts
|
1984 |
| I.5 |
“Nancy's Grove Final Version” 0.5"
Incl. entries with handwritten notes
|
1984 |
| I.6 |
“Bios Artists' Biographies” 0.5"
|
|
| I.7 |
Checklist of Collection; Correspondence 0.25"
Originally titled “Lisa”; incl. Brancusi biographical outline
Entry drafts
Time sheets for MV
|
1984 |
| I.8 |
“Sisler Checklist and Correspondence” 13 items
|
1983 |
| I.9 |
Checklists of Illustrations 0.5"
|
1984 |
| I.10 |
Checklists and Reproductions 0.25"
Incl. reproductions of photographs used in catalog
Photocopy of
A I'Infinitif by Marcel Duchamp (NY: Cordier & Ekstrom; 1966)
Article, “Pop Culture, Metaphysical Disgust, and the New Vulgarian” by Max Kozloff,
Art International 6(2): Feb. 1962
|
1984 |
| I.11 |
Correspondence re: Reproductions 1"
Incl. letters to artists, collectors and institutions requesting photographs, corresp. with MS
|
1983-84 |
| I.12 |
“Photographs to be Labelled” 10 items
Incl. 1 TLS Barbara Klein (Sotheby's)-MV, 1984
1 memorandum LK-SG (not sent), 1984
Incl. clipping
Handwritten notes
Photograph
Slide
Checklist of illustration sources for Duchamp entries
|
1984 |
| I.13 |
“Copy Prints” 5 items
Incl. lists of institutions from which MoMA solicited aid in obtaining photo reproductions
|
n.d. |
| I.14 |
“Extra Photos - Harriet Bee” 8 items
|
n.d. |
| I.15 |
Photo Credits 0.25"
Originally titled “C.S.”
|
1984 |
| I.16 |
“Processed Check Requests” 0.125"
Incl. corresp. re: reproductions for catalog
|
1984 |
| I.17 |
“Artists' Questionnaires” 2 items Incl. 1 TLS Judith Zilczer (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden)-LK, 1983
Samples of Artist's Biographies and Object Records from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
|
1983 |
| I.18 |
Memoranda 4 items
Originally titled “Lauren”
Incl. memoranda from LK and William S. Rubin
|
1984 |
| I.19 |
“Letters” 0.25"
Incl. corresp. re: Tal Streeter (artist)
1 TLS Claude Mercier, 1984
|
1984 |
| I.20 |
“Bills” 7 items
Incl. photo requisitions, receipts
|
1984 |
| I.21 |
“Agostini, Peter” 0.5"
Incl. photograph; articles for research, 1960-82
|
1984 |
| I.22.a |
“Albers, [Josef]” 0.75"
incl. 1 TLS Nicholas Fox Weber (Josef Albers Foundation)-LK, 1983
1 TLS Katherine Plake-MS, 1980
Corresp. with Xavier Fourcade (Fourcade, Droll Inc.) and the Palm Springs Desert Museum, 1972-73, 1977
Articles and texts for research, 1971-77
|
1980, 1983 |
| I.22.b |
“Albers, [Josef]” 0.75"
Articles and texts for research
|
1954-71 |
| I.23.a |
Chronologies and articles for research 0.875"
Incl. 2 TLS Arp Foundation-LK
|
1968-84 |
| I.23.b |
Chronologies and articles for research 0.5"
|
1949-57 |
| I.24 |
“Saul Baizerman” 16 items
Incl. 3 invoices
Photograph
Articles for research, 1933, 1952, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1975
|
n.d. |
| I.25 |
“Bissier Julius” 5 photographs
|
n.d. |
| I.26 |
“Bolomey, Roger” 0.625"
Incl. 1 TLS Bolomey-MV, 1984
1 TLS Bolomey-Thomas Carr Howe (California Palace Legion of Honor), 1957
1 ALS Bolomey-LK, n.d.
1 TLS Bolomey-George Culler (San Francisco Museum of Art), 1962; chronologies and articles for research, 1953-84
Bolomey's resumé
|
1984 |
| I.27 |
“Brancusi, Constantin” 0.375"
Incl. photograph
Corresp. re:
Endless Column by Brancusi
Articles for research, 1921-80
|
1984 |
| I.28 |
“James Byars” 1"
Incl. lists of Byars's “favorites” from conversations with the artist
Corresp. re: exhibition of untitled works and anonymity requested by Byars
Articles for research, 1955-81
|
1983 |
| I.29 |
“John Cage” 10 items
Incl. 1 ALS (copy) Merce Cunningham-MS, 1983
1 ALS (copy) Cunningham-MS, n.d.
1 TLS Cage-MS, 1975
|
1975-83 |
| I.30.a |
“Calder, [Alexander]” 1"
Incl. 4 photographs
Program of memorial service at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1976 December 6
Articles for research, 1964-82
|
1984 |
| I.30.b |
“Calder, [Alexander]” 0.625"
Articles for research
|
1952-73 |
| I.31 |
“Isabel Canova Copy” 3 items
Incl. photograph
2 postcards
|
n.d. |
| I.32 |
“Charcoune, Serge Ivanovitch” 0.75"
Incl. 2 photographs
1 TLS James M. Brown (The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach)-MS, 1982 re: gift of 2 paintings by Charcoune
1 TLS MS-Brown, 1982
Articles for research, 1956-71
|
1982-83 |
| I.33 |
“Chen Wing” 7 items
Incl. 4 photographs
Incl. 2 photographs of the artist
Poem by the artist
|
n.d. |
| I.34 |
“Cornell, Joseph” 0.625"
Incl. Articles for research, 1957-80
|
|
| I.35 |
“Dine, Jim” 0.625"
Incl. 2 photographs
1 TLS LK-Dine, 1983
Corresp. with Michael S. Cullen (Galerie Mikro) re: consignment agreement, 1974
Corresp. with the Palm Springs Desert Museum re: works on loan
Corresp. with Margaret Watherston re: conservation of paintings by Dine, 1976
Articles and bibliographies for research, 1966-83
|
1983 |
| I.36.a |
“Dubuffet, [Jean]” 0.875"
Incl. entry drafts
1 TLS Armande de Trentinian (secretary to Dubuffet)-LK, 1983
1 TLS Waldo Rasmussen-MS, 1963
Bibliographies and articles for research, 1963, 1979
|
1983 |
| I.36.b |
“Dubuffet, [Jean]” 1.125"
Articles for research
|
1947-79 |
| I.37 |
“Duchamp, Marcel” 0.75"
Incl. advertisements which influenced Duchamp's work (Putnam clothes-wringer)
Photograph credits
Label information
Handwritten notes
3 photographs
Transparency
Corresp. re: purchase and exhibition of
Résaux des Stoppages
|
1963, 1967, 1970-71, 1978, 1982-84 |
| I.38 |
“Oyvind Fahlstrom” 0.625"
Incl. photograph
Corresp. re: gift to the University of Notre Dame, 1978
Articles for research, 1962-64, 1966-67, 1969, 1971-74, 1976-78, 1979-80
|
1982-83, |
| I.39.a |
“Alberto Giacometti” 0.75"
Articles for research
|
1971-81 |
| I.39.b |
“Alberto Giacometti” 0.75"
Articles for research
|
1932-71 |
| I.40 |
“Jaki AKA Jose Horvat” 7 items
Incl. 3 photographs
|
1978 |
| I.41 |
“Alfred Jensen” 1"
Incl. Articles and texts for research, 1924-79
1 TL Xavier Fourcade-MS, 1976
2 photographs
|
1976, 1979 |
| I.42 |
“Johns, Jasper” 16 items
Incl. 1 TLS (copy) Johns-MS, 1981, provenance information and biography from Leo Castelli Gallery
1 photograph of Merce Cunningham and Viola Farber in
Antic Meet, 1958
|
1963, 1964, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984 |
| I.43 |
“Lichtenstein, Roy: Articles, etc. (Castelli files)” 16 items
Incl. 1 TLS LK-Peter Brant, 1984
5 invoices
Handwritten note
Articles for research, 1962-84
|
1984 |
| I.44 |
“Richard Lippold” 0.75"
Incl. corresp. re: repairs
Articles and texts for research, 1956-68
|
|
| I.45.a |
“Magritte, René” 1"
Articles and text on and by artist for research
|
1970-80 |
| I.45.b |
“Magritte, René” 0.5"
Articles and text on and by artist for research
|
1953-66 |
| I.45.c |
“Magritte, René” 1"
Incl. handwritten notes
Articles for research
|
1946-84 |
| I.46.a |
“Henri Matisse” “Le Serf” 1.25"
Incl. articles for research 1931-83
Corresp. re:
The Serf by Matisse
|
1983 |
| I.46.b |
“Henri Matisse, Dwg. Drawing of Nude Figure” 0.75"
Incl. photograph
Catalog, “Henri Matisse Sculptures” (Musée Matisse, Nice, 1974)
Articles for research, 1931-83
|
1983 |
| I.47 |
“Claude Mercier” 1.25"
Incl. 1 TLS Mercier-LK, 1984
7 photographs
Exhibition catalogs
|
1965-84 |
| I.48 |
“Isamu Noguchi” 18 items
Incl. 1 TLS Isamu Noguchi-LK, 1983
Corresp. with The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, (New York), 1983
|
1961, 1962, 1964, 1983-84 |
| I.49 |
“Oldenburg, Claes” 13 items
Incl. 1 TLS Thomas N. Armstrong, 3rd (Whitney Museum of American Art)-MS, 1983
1 TLS MS-Anna Astner; Brydon E. Smith-MS, 1966
1 article and bibliographies for research, 1962, 1965
|
1966, 1981, 1983 |
| I.50 |
“Picabia, Frances” 15 items
Incl. 2 photographs
1 TLS William A. Camfield (Rice University)-FN, 1983
1 TLS MS-Milwaukee Art Center, 1976
Bibliographies for research
|
1964, 1970, 1975, 1983 |
| I.51 |
“Rauschenberg, Robert” 9 items
Incl. corresp. with Leo Castelli re: sales of works
|
1962, 1982, 1984 |
| I.52 |
“Rodin, Auguste” 1"
Incl. signature rubbings
15 photographs
Articles for research, 1936-67
|
1962 |
| I.53 |
“Rosenquist, James” 7 items
Incl. photograph; lists of selected group and one-man exhibitions at Leo Castelli Gallery, NY
|
1976, 1984 |
| I.54 |
“Mark Rothko” 1¼"
Incl. corresp. re: exhibition of
Red on Orange by Rothko at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York)
Articles for research, 1947-84
|
1984 |
| I.55 |
“Segal, George” 7 items
Incl. article, bibliographies, biographies, and lists of exhibitions for research, 1961-81; 1 TL MS-Ralph F. Colin (Art Dealers
Association of America), 1981
|
1981 |
| I.56 |
“Antoni Tàpies” 0.875"
Incl. 2 photographs
Articles and texts for research, 1956-79
|
1967, 1972, 1976 |
| I.57 |
“Valenta, Barbara” 23 items
Incl. press clippings
3 exhibition announcements
13 slides; biography of the artist
|
1978-79 |
| I.58 |
“Vechenict” 1 item
|
n.d. |
|
| Series II: Mary Sisler Personal Papers
|
|
|
| folder |
Title |
Date |
| II.1 |
“Sisler Papers” 12 items
Incl. list of artists' work owned by MS
|
1963, 1965, 1983 |
| II.2 |
“Sisler” 25 items
Incl. 1 TLS Lawton Chiles (United States Senate)-MS, 1974
Corresp. with Heide Lubell and Co., Inc. re: damages to Sisler's Duchamp collection, 1966
1 TLS Yoshiaki Tono-Alan Solomon, 1966
1 TLS Xavier Fourcade-MS re: sale prices of Duchamp pieces, 1978
|
1964, 1966, 1972, 1974-78, 1980, 1983-84 |
| II.3 |
“Sisler” 9 items
Incl. handwritten notes
1 ALS MS-FN, n.d.
|
1961, 1963, 1965, 1970 |
| II.4 |
“To Be Filed” 0125"
Incl. list of museums where Mary Sisler Foundation Collection exhibited
|
1967 |
| II.5 |
“Lawsuits, Problems, Etc.” 8 items
|
1965-66, 1976, 1982 |
| II.6 |
Catalogs and Unidentified Photographs 4 items
Incl. “Giulio Carlo Argan, Tekstovi O Modernoj Umetnosti” (Muzej Savremene Umetnosti, Beograd, 1983) and “The Ringling Museum
of Art Journal” (1983)
|
n.d. |
| II.7 |
Correspondence, Catalog, Photographs 1"
Incl. 1 ALS Joannis Avramidis-MS, 1984; exhibition brochure,
Jean Dubuffet (NY: Cordier & Ekstrom, 1964)
Exhibition catalog,
Joannis Avramidis, Galerie Ulysses (1982)
8 photographs of works by Avramidis
|
n.d. |
| II.8 |
“Richard Hamilton/Duchamp” 1 item
1 binder
Incl. “Not Seen and/or Less Seen of” by Marcel Duchamp/Rrose Sélavy, 1904-64
|
1964 |
| II.9 |
“Sisler
Duchamp Exhibition - Travel and Loan Arrangements; Originals from Sisler Files” 1.25"
Incl. corresp. with institutions where exhibition was shown
|
1964-69 |
| II.10 |
“Sisler” 0.375"
Incl. corresp. with the Milwaukee Art Museum, Zurcher Kunstgesellschaft, Walker Art Center re: exhibition of Sisler's Duchamp
collection
|
1962, 1965-66, 1978, 1983 |
| II.11 |
“Sisler” 30 items
Incl. MS's handwritten notes; corresp. with Fourcade, Droll, Inc., the Walker Art Center, and the Rose Art Museum (Brandeis
University, Waltham, Massachusetts) re:
Duchamp exhibition
Article re: John Cage and Merce Cunningham
|
1962-66, 1970, 1972, 1975-78, 1983-84 |
| II.12 |
“Clippings - Duchamp Show” 0.375"
Incl.
The New Yorker “Profile” on Marcel Duchamp, 40(51), 1965 February 6
|
1965, 1972-79 |
| II.13 |
Photographs, Clippings 26 items
Incl. photographs of works by Joannis Avramidis and personalities (possibly the Sislers)
Removed from an album (1.5"x10x12") because of an acidic odor
The album was not annotated.
|
n.d. |
| II.14 |
“Drawer #7, Item #10
Press Clippings #2
Galleria XXII - 1962”Paul Sisler Hayes, owner of Galleria XXII, is MS's son
Incl. 1 album (1"x10.5"x12") of clippings re: exhibitions at the Galleria XXII Marzo (Palm Beach, Florida), March-May 1962
|
1962 |
| II.15 |
Guest Registar Book 1 item
Not annotated
Incl. 20 pages of signatures
0.375"x8x10.5"
|
1962 |
| II.16 |
Guest Registrar Book,
De Kooning: Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, 1967-75 1 item
Exhibition sponsored by the Mary Sisler Foundation
Incl. invitation and 3 photographs
0.625"7.25"x9.25"
|
1975-76 |
| II.17 |
Slides of works in Sisler Collection 2.375"x6.5"x8.875" box
|
|
|
Title |
|
|
Confidential material stored in MoMA Archives 2.5" document box
|
|
|
