Alan R. Blackburn, Jr. Papers

in The Museum of Modern Art Archives

The Museum of Modern Art
Museum Archives
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019-5497

Phone: (212) 708-9617
Fax: (212) 408-6385
Email: archives@moma.org

© 1992 The Museum of Modern Art. All rights reserved.

The Museum of Modern Art, Publisher

Finding aid prepared by Rona Roob, DR, and RW, April 10, 1992.

Machine-readable finding aid derived from moma-018.xml, 2006. Machine-readable finding aid created by Kathleene Konkle. Description is in English.

Biographical Note

Alan R. Blackburn, Jr. worked at the Museum February 1932 to December 1934. While at the Museum, he held three positions: Assistant Treasurer, February 17, 1932, to December 20, 1934; Executive Secretary, February 17, 1932 to October 1933; and Executive Director, October 20, 1933, to December 20, 1934. Both Blackburn and Philip Johnson resigned from the Museum in December of 1934 to pursue outside interests.

Scope and Content Note

The Blackburn Papers include exhibition announcements, invitations, catalog covers, form letters, clippings, press releases, and other ephemera concerning Museum activities.

The scrapbook concerns Museum exhibitions and other events and many of the sheets were annotated by Blackburn, as well as by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., founding director of the Museum, and Philip Johnson, founding director of the Museum's Department of Architecture. Notations were frequently made as to whom exhibition catalog announcements were sent, as well as quantity, cost, returns, and cash received from catalog sales; in addition there are also general comments on the quality of the printed item, i.e. design, typeface, color, and spatial arrangement.

The two filing units contain press releases and form letters regarding the Art in America radio program series. This series was initiated by the American Federation of the Arts in February 1934. The Museum participated in the program from October 6, 1934 to January 26, 1935, during which time the nationally broadcast series dealt with art in America from 1865 to the present (1934).

This inventory describes the contents of the existing scrapbook; please see additional two filing units for press releases on the Art in America radio program. For the purposes of this inventory, page numbers were assigned since the original scrapbook sheets were not numbered. Please hand-count to arrive at the page numbers stated below in the inventory. “Note on catalog sales” refers to handwritten information regarding to whom the catalog announcement was sent, quantity, cost, returns, and cash received. “Remarks” refers to general handwritten comments re: printed item (i.e. design, type face, color, spatial arrangement).

Original order has been strictly maintained.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials.

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Guide To The Alan R. Blackburn, Jr. 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.

Administrative Information

Provenance

Three (11×16") scrapbooks were found among the Public Information Scrapbooks that were transferred to the Museum Archives from the Library in June 1990.

Before being transferred to new containers for reasons of conservation, one scrapbook contained exhibition and catalog announcements, and the remaining two scrapbooks (transferred to two filing units) contained press releases for the Art in America radio series.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Alan R. Blackburn, Jr. Papers in The Museum of Modern Art Archives [series.file unit], The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.

Additional Descriptive Data

Explanation of Abbreviations

ARB Alan R. Blackburn, Jr.
PJ Philip Johnson
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art
exh. exhibition
AL autographed letter
TL typed letter
n.d. not dated

List of MoMA Exhibitions Mentioned in Finding Aid

The Lillie P. Bliss Collection, 1934 [MoMA Exh. #34a, May 14 - Sept. 12, 1934]

American Folk Art: The Art of the Common Man in America, 1750-1900 [MoMA Exh. #22, Nov. 30 - Jan. 14, 1933]

Modern Works of Art: 5th Anniversary Exhibition [MoMA Exh. #37, Nov. 19, 1934 - Jan 20, 1935]

Cubism and Abstract Art [MoMA Exh. #46, March 2 - April 19, 1936]

Machine Art [MoMA Exh. #34, March 5 - April 29, 1934]

Painting and Sculpture from 16 American Cities [MoMA Exh. #32, Dec. 11, 1933 - Jan. 7, 1934]

International Exhibition of Theatre Art [MoMA Exh. #33, Jan. 15 - Feb. 25, 1934]

Diego Rivera [MoMA Exh. #14, Dec. 22, 1931 - Jan. 27, 1932]

America Can't Have Housing [MoMA Exh. #36, Oct. 15 - Nov. 7, 1934]

George Caleb Bingham, the Missouri Artist, 1811-1879 [MoMA Exh. #38a, Jan. 28 - March 7, 1935]

Gaston Lachaise: Retrospective Exhibition [MoMA Exh. #38, Jan. 28 - March 7, 1935]

African Negro Art [MoMA Exh. #39, March 18 - May 19, 1935]

Summer Exhibition: The Museum Collection and a Private Collection on Loan [MoMA Exh. #41, June 4 - Sept. 24, 1935]

Fernand Léger: Paintings and Drawings [MoMA Exh. #42, Sept. 30 - Oct. 24, 1935]

Ignatz Wiemeler, Modern Bookbinder [MoMA Exh. #42b, Sept. 30 - Oct. 24, 1935]

Contemporary Architecture in California [MoMA Exh. #42c, Sept. 30 - Oct. 24, 1935]

The Recent Work of Le Corbusier [MoMA Exh. #43, Oct. 24 - Oct. 31, 1935]

Vincent Van Gogh [MoMA Exh. #44, Nov. 4, 1935 - Jan. 5, 1936]

Posters by Cassandre [MoMA Exh. #45a, Jan. 14 - Feb. 16, 1936]

The Architecture of Henry Hobson Richardson [MoMA Exh. #45b, Jan. 14 - Feb. 16, 1936]

New Acquisitions: The Collection of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. [MoMA Exh. #45c, Jan. 14 - Feb. 16, 1936]

Cubism and Abstract Art [MoMA Exh. #46, March 2 - April 19, 1936]

Six Modern Sculptors [MoMA Circulating Exhibition, travelled 1936-1938]

Prehistoric Rock Pictures in Europe and Africa [MoMA Exh. #61, April 28 - May 30, 1937]

The Making of a Museum Publication [MoMA Exh. #34d, Sept. 11 - Oct. 7, 1934]

Container List