| Archives
Overview
About the Archives
Holdings
Highlights
Selected Readings
Circulating
Exhibitions, Department of, 1931-91
Records of the International
Program, 1953-91
Public Information Scrapbooks,
1929-c. 1968
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., c. 1918-c.
1975
A. Conger Goodyear Scrapbooks,
1929-39
Philip Johnson, 1930-96
Dorothy C. Miller, c. 1929-c.
1981
Sound Recordings of Museum-Related
Events, 1939, 1952-present
(Note: dates refer to time encompassed by the records.)
The Department of Circulating Exhibitions
was established in 1933 to administer the organization and circulation
throughout the country of Museum exhibitions. These circulating
exhibitions have had a profound impact on the dissemination
of modern art throughout the United States. This Record Group
(147 linear feet) includes itineraries, checklists, correspondence,
research notes, photograph albums, photographic panels, wall
texts, and other documentation.
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In 1952 the International Program was
founded to develop a full program of foreign circulating exhibitions
including the United States's representation at international
exhibitions and festivals, one-person shows and group exhibitions.
The geographical scope of the Museum's traveling exhibitions
is vast. This record group (174 linear feet) includes itineraries,
checklists, publicity material, correspondence, photographs,
floor plans, catalogues and printed matter.
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This Record Group consists of 212 scrapbooks
of press clippings concerning The Museum of Modern Art from
its opening in 1929 through the mid-1970s. The scrapbooks document
not only the history of the Museum and its exhibitions but also
the profound influence the Museum has had on the history of
modern art across the world. All 212 scrapbooks have been microfilmed
and the microfilm is available via inter-library loan through
the Archives of American Art.
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Alfred H. Barr Jr.'s tenure as the founding
Director of The Museum of Modern Art began with the opening
of the Museum in 1929 and lasted until 1943. From 1943 through
1967 he played a crucial role in the activities of the Museum
as Advisory Director, Director of Research in Painting and Sculpture
and Director of Museum Collections. Barr's role in shaping the
Museum, its collections, and its exhibitions was critical.
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A. Conger Goodyear was the first President
of The Museum of Modern Art. The Museum Archives contains fifty-two
scrapbooks compiled by him, documenting the first decade of
the Museum's activities. Included in the volumes are brochures,
catalogues, correspondences, press releases and invitations,
and related press clippings of exhibitions and events. A final
volume contains thirteen Museum reports, including annual reports
from 1930-1939.
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Philip Johnson, noted architect, collector,
Trustee, and benefactor of The Museum of Modern Art, was the
founding Chairman of the Museum's Department of Architecture
from 1932-34. The Philip Johnson Papers (6 linear feet) include
clippings, correspondence, published and unpublished statements,
speeches, reviews and commentaries on his work and correspondence
with J. J. Oud, and Sibyl Moholy-Nagy. The Papers date from
1930-1996. A recent addition to the collection includes a 1996
sound recording of an interview with Philip Johnson, Jeffrey
Kipnis and Frank Gehry.
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Dorothy C. Miller joined The Museum of
Modern Art staff in 1934 as Assistant to founding Director Alfred
H. Barr, Jr. She worked at the Museum from 1935-1969 in various
capacities ranging from Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture
to Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture. The Papers (15
linear feet) document Miller's activities at the Museum: they
are particularly rich in material concerning Miller's series
of Americans exhibitions, and also contain correspondence, research
notes, photographs, notebooks and ephemera.
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Sound Recordings
of Museum-Related Events, 1939, 1952-present
This Record Group contains over ca. 2000
audio recordings of events that either occurred at or are related
to activities of The Museum of Modern Art. Types of events include
panels, lectures, symposia, interviews, and speeches. The Record
Group is divided into two subgroups: Subgroup A includes 887
sound recordings produced from 1952 through 1988 and transferred
to the Museum Archives in June 1990; Subgroup B contains recordings
transferred in June 1990 and continuing to the present day.
Included in this group are recordings from the 1939 dedication
of the new Museum building at 11 West 53 Street. Examples of
program series represented in this Record Group include The
Related Arts of Today, Cineprobe, Views on Art, What's Happening?,
and Video Viewpoints. Highlights from the collection include
the 1939 radio address by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Art
of Assemblage symposium from 1961 in which Marcel Duchamp
participated.
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