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Overview of the Collection |
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| Creator: | Rockefeller, Abby Aldrich, 1874-1948 | |
| Title: | Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Correspondence and Print Collection Inventory | |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1925-1935 | |
| Quantity: | 0.625 linear feet 1 2.5" manuscript box, 3 10.75x8.75x3" card boxes |
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| Abstract: | The collection includes inventories of the prints Abby Aldrich Rockefeller donated to MoMA and correspondence. | |
Arrangement |
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| The collection is arranged in two series: | ||
| Series I: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Print Collection Inventory, 1925-1935 | ||
| Series II: Correspondence, 1929-1934 | ||
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller was a key founder of The Museum of Modern Art, along with Lillie P. Bliss and Mary Quinn Sullivan. Born Abigail Greene Aldrich in Providence, Rhode Island on November 26, 1879, she married John D. Rockefeller, Jr., heir to the Standard Oil Company fortune, in 1901. She was a noted patron of the arts, having inherited her interest from her father, United States Senator Nelson W. Aldrich. The first meeting to establish The Museum of Modern Art was held in her home in 1929, and she served as both the first vice president and first treasurer of the Museum, and the first vice chairman of the board of trustees. Rockefeller was crucial to the success of raising $600,000 for MoMA's endowment, stipulated by Bliss as necessary prior to the bequest of her collection. Rockefeller gave extensively to the Museum—her time, her money, the land for the sculpture garden (now the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden), and a collection of 1,600 prints, which she collected between 1925 and 1935 and which helped establish the original Print Department. (Inventories of the print collection can be found in Series I.) Abby Aldrich Rockefeller died on April 5, 1948. In 1949, MoMA opened The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Print Room, a center dedicated to housing and studying prints.
Series I includes two binders with inventories of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller's Private Collection of 1,600 prints, which she donated to MoMA; one covers artwork by American artists, while the other covers artwork by European artists. Series II includes correspondence, mainly with Alfred H. Barr, Jr., A. Conger Goodyear, and Lillie P. Bliss, dated between 1929 and 1934. Also included are progress reports and lists of possible contributors for the 1934 fundraising campaign for MoMA's endowment.
The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials. However, researchers will be served facsimiles of the print inventory binders I.1 and I.2; original volumes have been retired.
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Correspondence and Print Collection Inventory is 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 staff of the MoMA Archives.
Index Terms |
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| This collection is indexed under the following headings in the library catalog of The Museum of Modern Art. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings. | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| Rockefeller, Abby Aldrich -- Archives | ||
In the MoMA Archives, related material can be found in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Albums, Rona Roob Papers, Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Papers, and Early Museum History: Administrative Records. At the Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York, related material can be found in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Papers.
Published citations should take the following form:
Long version: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Correspondence and Print Collection Inventory, [series.folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.
Short version: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Correspondence and Print Collection Inventory, [series.folder]. MoMA Archives, NY.
In 2005, the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books transferred the inventories in Series I to the MoMA Archives.
Series I: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Print Collection Inventory 1925-1935 |
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This series includes two binders with inventories of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller's Private Collection of 1,600 prints, which she donated to MoMA; one covers artwork by American artists, while the other covers artwork by European artists. |
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| Folder | Title | |
| I.1 | "Prints by Americans" Includes a binder with an inventory of prints in Abby Aldrich Rockefeller's collection by American artists. Pages are arranged alphabetically by artist's last name and include brief biographies. Pages are largely text, with brief information about the artwork and its acquisition date, source, and price, as well as occasional clippings or artwork reproductions. |
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| I.2 | "Prints by Foreign Artists" Includes a binder with an inventory of prints in Abby Aldrich Rockefeller's collection by European artists. Pages are arranged alphabetically by artist's last name and include brief biographies. Pages are largely text, with brief information about the artwork and its acquisition date, source, and price, as well as occasional clippings or artwork reproductions. |
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Series II: Correspondence 1929-1934 |
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Series II includes correspondence, mainly with Alfred H. Barr, Jr., A. Conger Goodyear, and Lillie P. Bliss. Also included are progress reports and lists of possible contributors for the 1934 fundraising campaign for MoMA's endowment. The material ranges from 1929 to 1934. |
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| Folder | Title | Date |
| II.1 | 1934 Fundraising Campaign - Correspondence Correspondence from Cornelius Newton Bliss, Jr., A. Conger Goodyear, Helen Resor, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Alan R. Blackburn, Jr., Paul J. Sachs, and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., regarding fundraising efforts, possible acquisitions, requests for loans of artwork, the election and term limits of trustees and officers, Lillie P. Bliss's bequest, a report on the audience attending Machine Art, and more. |
1934 |
| II.2 | 1934 Fundraising Campaign - Lists Various lists of donors, members, and other benefactors and their current or past contributions to the Museum or the progress of the fundraising teams' outreach to them. |
1934 |
| II.3 | Correspondence and Lists of Artwork owned by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Correspondence from Alfred H. Barr, Jr., A. Conger Goodyear, Cornelius Newton Bliss, Jr., Lillie P. Bliss, regarding personal matters, trustee appointments, fundraising, personnel, and more; lists of artwork owned by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. |
1929-1933 |
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| Box | Series | Folder |
| 1 | I | 1-2 |
| 2 | II | 1-3 |