The materials date from roughly 1892 to 1976. The collection includes: correspondence on a wide variety of subjects to, from,
and/or about the artists listed in the finding aid; poems; sketches; notes; an application for a fellowship; Christmas cards;
and photographs.
The records are open for research and contain no restricted materials.
The Artists' Letters and Manuscripts 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.
For additional material on individual artists see also: Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Papers, James Thrall Soby Papers, and the Dorothy
C. Miller Papers. See individual curatorial departments for Object Files, and the Library for Artist Files and monographs.
Many items in the Artists' Letters and Manuscripts Collection were collected by members of the Department of Painting and
Sculpture. In June 1978, the material was transferred to the Museum Library for safekeeping. Some of the material currently
included in this collection was given to the Library by other sources and added to this collection by Library staff post-1978.
The Museum continues to add material to the Collection. When available, information regarding provenance accompanies the finding
aid entries. The Collection was transferred from the Museum Library to the Museum Archives on May 4, 1998 and re-processed
adhering to archival principles.
Artists' Letters and Manuscripts, [folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.
Files:
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Albers, Josef 1 ALS Josef Albers - Mr. J. Thompson (11/7/54)
1 photographic reproduction of Albers'
Bent Blank with annotations
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Allongue, Michel 1 TLS, description of the items for sale
1 TLS Jean Arp-Francis Picabia (11/10/19)
1 TLS Jean Arp & Tristan Tzara - Francis Picabia, [date illegible]
1 TLS Ezra Pound-Francis Picabia (8/9/[?])
1 TLS Rolf de Maré-Francis Picabia (5/8/24)
1 autograph manuscript signed, poem by André Breton,
Terre de
Couleur (1919)
1 autograph manuscript signed, poem by Philippe Soupault,
Litanies (4/25/20)
1 autograph manuscript signed, poem by Christian Schaad,
Clou Projeté (n.d.)
1 autograph manuscript, poem by Francis Picabia,
1er Lettre à Germaine (n.d.) [2 of 8 pages]
1 "Collage de Baargeld" (1920)
1 autograph manuscript signed, poem by Ezra Pound (n.d.)
1 envelope
All items are copies and in French; offered for sale by Allongue, 12/16/74
Cafard by Georges Ribement, one of the items listed on the typed description, (see above) was not found
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Andre, Carl 1 ALS Carl Andre - Waldo Rasmussen (2/16/71) with attachments re: second Indian Triennale in New Delhi, 1971
Donated to Library by Waldo Rasmussen, 8/21/78
Max's Terre Haute (1st and 73rd) Wine List; some hand annotation
Max's Kansas City Wine List; some hand annotation
8 handwritten statements on relationship of artists and institutions (1972) by Richard Serra, Fred Sandback, Carl Andre, Donald
Judd, Robert Morris, Robet Smithson, Sol Lewitt, and Hans Haacke
"Chronology, or the Artists Self-Style in His Time," by Carl Andre (1975) [3 sheets]
"True Marriage of Art and Technology," manifesto by Carl Andre (undated) [6 xeroxed sheets and 1 with hand drawing]
Typed and corrected response to artist Brenda regarding craft versus art (February 18, 1973) [4 sheets]
Photostat of "Exchange: Carl Andre and Dan Graham" (April 10, 1969) [12 sheets]
Handwritten notes on capitalism and television by Carl Andre (undated) [3 sheets]
4 cards with notes by Carl Andre and quotes by other authors
Note/poem to Angela Westwater from Carl Andre (February 2, 1975)
Notes by Carl Andre on paper napkins, "To use when x-raying yesterday's zeal" (undated) [2 sheets]
Notes by Carl Andre on 5 cards
Photocopy of 2 letters from Carl Andre to Konrad Fischer regarding artist/dealer relationship (September 27, 1973)
Donated to Archives by Angela Westwater in 2011.
Notes by Carl Andre (1970, 1973, and undated)
Material added to this folder in 2024.
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Arp, Jean See Allongue
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Berge, François and André 6 ALS Francois Berge - [Camille Dausse?] (n.d.)
1 ALS André Berge - [?] (2/18/76)
In French; letters were originally found in the Library's copy of
Les Cahiers du Mois 1 (May 1924)
F. Berge was one of the editors-in-chief and contributed an essay to the issue.
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Berman, Eugene 2 ALS Eugene Berman - Mr. Amberg (4/11/44) re: statement concerning costume design and recommendations on which of his theatre
designs would be suitable for exhibition
Mentions Julian Levy
See also Man Ray
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Bressi, Betty Mail art from Betty Bressi to Suzanne and Jerry Bowles.
This folder was added in 2024.
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Breton, André See Allongue
See Tanguy
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Browne, Byron 1 ALS Byron Browne - Beaumont Newhall (4/20/36) re: invitation to
exhibition of abstract art at
Municipal Galleries, 62 West 53rd Street
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Calder, Alexander 1 TL Monroe Wheeler - Alexander Calder (9/13/51)
1 ALS Alexander Calder - Monroe Wheeler (9/20/51) re: making reproductions of his work for sale
21 ALS Sandy [Alexander] Calder - Margareta Akermark, Department of Film, MoMA (1950-1969) [includes ALS Carlos Raul Villaneuva
- Sandy Calder]
5 TL Margareta Akermark - Sandy Calder (1951-1968)
1 TL Margareta Akermark - Klaus Perls (2/13/62)
Correspondence w/Akermark is re: film
Works of Calder
Copied from originals in the Film Department in 1978 where additional correspondence is also housed.
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Chagall, Mark 1 ALS Mark Chagall - Louis Stern (1946) [in Russian w/ translation]
1 ALS Mark Chagall - Louis Stern (10/29/47) [recto; in Russian w/ translation] with 1 ALS Ida Chagall - Louis Stern (10/29/47)
[verso; in English]
Mark Chagall - Louis Stern (1946) [translation only]
Original in
Department of Prints and Illustrated Books
Originally located in Chagall Scrapbook in Library, letters were removed by Library for safekeeping; translations were done
by the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books in 1976
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Le Corbusier Photocopied correspondence between Le Corbusier and James Johnson Sweeney from 1951.
This folder was added in 2025.
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Cornell, Joseph Christmas Card, ALS Joseph Cornell - Frances Pernas (1953).
TLS Joseph Cornell - Frances Pernas (1/6/1961), re: Christmas, with collage.
ALS Joseph Cornell - Frances Pernas (1/24/1961), re: new work, request to obtain copies of Creative Photography 2 (letter
enclosed in cover).
TLS Joseph Cornell - Frances Pernas (2/14/1961), with unicorn-stamped newspaper clipping enclosed.
Valentine's Day Card, ALS "Tina" - Frances Pernas (2/13/1962), with birdcall enclosed.
ALS Joseph Cornell - Frances Pernas (2/25/1963), sheet of yellow tissue, autographed "as promised," with photograph and leaves
enclosed.
ALS Sarah Rubenstein - Frances Pernas (1/2/1971), re: Joseph Cornell request of Dorothy Miller for photograph of Frances Pernas
as young girl.
ALS Joseph Cornell - Frances Pernas (2/17/ 1971), with photograph and other enclosure.
These letters were received as a gift from Frances Pernas in January, 2010. Ms. Pernas worked in the Museum's Department
of Publications 1940 - 1961.
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De Mare, Rolf See Allongue
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Dickinson, Edwin 1 ALS Edwin Dickinson - Alfred H. Barr, Jr. (1969) [mailed 1970]
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Diller, Burgoyne See Hofmann
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Duchamp, Marcel 1 ALS (and one copy) Marcel Duchamp, on a Galerie Buren checklist (1963)
Removed from a monograph on Marcel Duchamp by Ulf Linde in the Library, January 2000
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Flannagan, John B. Flannagan's application for a Guggenheim Fellowship (copy)
1 TLS from Henry Allen Moe - Margherita Flannagan (9/19/42)
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Graham, Dan Postcards from Dan Graham to Rosalind Cutforth and photographs.
This folder was added in 2024.
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Guston, Philip 4 ALS Philip Guston - Sherman [?] (7/27/[?], 5/13/67, 11/29/72, n.d.)
Gift of Mr. Gilbert B. Silverman, May 2007
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Hofmann, Hans 1 ALS Hans Hofmann, tribute to Burgoyne Diller (1933)
1 exhibition catalogue for
Exhibition of Paintings by Burgoyne Diller (2/28-3/18/33) with Hofmann's published tribute to Diller
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Jaguer, Edouard 1 TLS Edouard Jaguer - Jan van der Marck, Walker Art Center,Minneapolis (2/7/66) re: Jaguer's plans for exhibitions of the
PHASES movement throughout the U.S. and South America [in French]
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Jenkins, Paul 1 ALS Paul Jenkins - Dorothy Miller (1/30/57) on exhibition catalogue for
The Exploration of Paint (Arthur Tooth & Sons, Ltd., 31 Bruton Street, London)
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Johnson, Ray 1 ALS, Ray Johnson - Dorothy Miller, typed verse and invitation on envelope (1965)
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Kirchner, E. L. 1 ALS E. L. Kirchner - Mrs. Lloyd Wescott (10/29/36) re: painting owned by Mrs. Wescott and author's reaction to the Holocaust
Donated to Library by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., in 1964(?)
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Klee, Paul 1 ALS Paul Klee - G. D. Thompson (7/19) [in German]
1 ALS from Marino Marini - G. D. Thompson (12/5/54) [in French]
4 5×7" color transparencies
2 black & white photographs
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Léger, Fernand Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] file on Fernand Léger (1952-1953)
Copy given to Museum Archives in 1999 by Dept. ofPainting and Sculpture
A copy also exists in the Léger Exhibition
File in the Dept. of Painting and Sculpture along with related correspondence with governmental agencies
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Man Ray 1 TLS Man Ray - Mr. Amberg (8/10/44) re: response to query about the possible exhibition of artist's works of stage settings/theater
design
Removed from Artist File, 9/27/78
See also Berman
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Marin, John 16 TL from John Marin - James E. Davis (4/1/40-4/9/47)
All typescript copies; gift of James E. Davis, 9/18/59, to Department of Photography
Transferred to Library on 10/22/59
Originals given to the Princeton University Library 9/28/49
1 ALS James E. Davis - Edward Steichen (9/18/59) re: gift of Marin letters and photographs
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Marini, Marino 2 ALS Marino Marini - Louis Stern
See also Klee
Material added to this folder in 2023.
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Matisse, Henri 1 ALS Henri Matisse - Mr. Marc Vaux (7/5/48) [in French w/ translation]
Removed from Library's Matisse Scrapbook vol. 3, June 1975
1 color sketch with notes (n.d.)
Gift of Frank Trapp, Professor of Fine Arts, Amherst College, 1990
Autographed postcard Henri Matisse - Frances Pernas (1952) re: thanks. Enclosed in MoMA envelope autographed by Alfred H.
Barr, "For Frances."
Gift of Frances Pernas, January 2010
1 ALS Henri Matisse - Madame Lamotte (3/7/1944) [in French]
Transferred to the Archives from the Department of Drawings and Prints in 2015
Material added to this folder in 2024.
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Miró, Joan 3 ALS, 1 TLS Joan Miró - Gérald Cramer (4/5/48-9/26/56) [in French, all photostats]
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Motherwell, Robert* 1 ALS, Robert Motherwell - AHB (5/29/51) invitation to Exhibition of
Painting and Sculpture, 60 East 9th Street
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Picabia, Francis See Allongue
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Pound, Ezra See Allongue
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Prestini, James See Van de Velde
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Reinhardt, Ad 1 ALS Ad Reinhardt - Waldo Rasmussen, 12/18/66
1 ALS Ad Reinhardt - Richard Palmer, 8/4/[67?]
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Rodin, Auguste 6 ALS Auguste Rodin - Monsieur L. Bénédite, Conservater, Musée du Luxembourg (9/19/1892 - 4/16/1915, n.d.)
1 autograph manuscript [author Auguste Rodin(?)] (n.d.)
In French; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jean-Paul Barbier to the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, 1978
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Signac, Paul 1 ALS Paul Signac - Arsène Alexandre (5/13/02) re: technique of preserving the purity of color [in French]
Gift of John Rewald, n.d.
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Schaad, Christian See Allongue
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Soupault, Philippe 1 ALS Philippe Soupault - Camille Dausse (n.d.) [in French]
Removed by Library in 1988 from front endpaper of
Carte Postale, by P. Soupault
1 ALS Philippe Soupault - Camille Dausse (n.d.)
2 ALS Nic Soupault - Camille Dausse (6/28/27, 9/7/[?])
In French; contained in an envelope addressed to C. Dausse, 9/10/27
Removed by Library in 1988 from front endpaper of
En Joue, by P. Soupault
See also Allongue
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Stieglitz, Alfred 1 ALS Alfred Stieglitz - Miss Gidney [?] (9/15/1925)
Transferred to the Archives from the Department of Drawings and Prints in 2015
This folder was added in 2024.
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Stout, Myron 3 postcards, 6 ALS, Myron Stout - Patricia de Groot (1970-1972)
This folder was added in 2022.
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Stubbing, Anthony 1 ALS Anthony Stubbing - Marie Alexander (10/9/59)
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Tanguy, Yves and Kay Sage 1 print of a work by Yves Tanguy (n.d.)
12 handmade Christmas Cards, from Yves Tanguy and Kay Sage Tanguy (1954-1963)
Cards gift of James Thrall Soby, 1966
ALS, preface written by André Breton (12/43) to
Yves Tanguy par André Breton; author Pierre Matisse (New York: Pierre Matisse Editions, 1946)
[Permission to publish must be addressed to The Pierre Matisse Foundation]
TLS, Kay Sage Tanguyre: Elouard manuscript and Tanguy drawing(see below)
ALS, poem entitled "Yves Tanguy" (n.d.)
1 drawing signed Yves Tanguy (n.d.)
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Tinguely, Jean 1 TLS Stephen E. Ettinghausen - Jean Tinguely (4/18/72)
1 ALS Jean Tinguely - Stephen E. Ettinghausen (5/11/72) re: Homage to New York: A Self-Constructing and Self-Destroying Work of Art Conceived and Built by Jean Tinguely
This folder was added in 2023.
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Van de Velde, Henry 1 ALS Henry Van de Velde - James Prestini, Professor of Design, University of California at Berkeley (11/14/50) [in French
w/ translation ]
The gift of letter accompanied donation of original bowl by James Prestini in 1975 to collection of the Department of Architecture
and Design
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Waterhouse, Elias 3 TLS Elias Waterhouse - Lincoln Kirstein (2/11/28, 5/22/28, 5/26/28) re: El Greco
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Witherspoon, Evelyn Photocopied letters from Evelyn Witherspoon to Richard Oldenburg.
This folder was added in 2024.
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