International Council and International Program Records Subseries I.A: International Program ICE-F Exhibition Files

 in The Museum of Modern Art Archives

The Museum of Modern Art Archives
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019-5497
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Funding for the processing and creation of a finding aid for the International Council and International Program Records was generously provided by the International Council of The Museum of Modern Art.

© 2014

The Museum of Modern Art Museum Archives

Finding aid prepared by Jonathan Lill, Tellina Liu, and Katharine Rovanpera, 2014.

Historical Note

The Museum of Modern Art has always been international in scope. Founded upon the principle that art should have no boundaries, it has sought the best both in its own country and abroad, and its collections, exhibitions, publications and other educational activities reflect this spirit of internationalism. Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, Chairwoman of the International Council (1953–1957) and President of The Museum of Modern Art (1959–1962), in The Museum of Modern Art and its Program of International Exchange in the Arts, 1961.

The International Program of The Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1952 to expand the Museum's international outreach; it was a natural step forward for the Museum. The Department of Circulating Exhibitions, dedicated to domestic tours, had begun two decades before. The 1938 exhibition sent to Paris, Three Centuries of Art in the United States [MoMA Exh. #76a May 24–July 31, 1938], provided a template for touring exhibitions internationally. Additional exhibitions were sent abroad during the 1940s at the behest of the U.S. government, but in the post-war era, the United States government retreated from sponsorship of international cultural outreach, leaving a gap for MoMA to fill.

To fund the program, a five-year grant was secured from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in July 1952 that enabled the Museum to develop an initial slate of exhibitions. Former Director of Circulating Exhibitions Porter McCray was appointed as the International Program's first director. The first exhibition was Twelve Modern American Painters and Sculptors, ICE-F-3-53, which opened in Paris in April 1953. This was quickly followed by a host of exhibitions of works on paper: Young American Printmakers, ICE-F-1-52, Seven American Watercolorists, ICE-F-4-53; Contemporary Printmaking in the United States, ICE-F-5-53; Thirty American Printmakers, ICE-F-6-53; The American Woodcut Today, ICE-F-7-53; and Twenty-Five American Prints, ICE-F-8-53. These first exhibitions demonstrated the ambitious reach of the new Program as they toured not only Northern Europe and Scandinavia, but also Mexico, Central America, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Apart from works on paper, other MoMA departments and interests were also displayed in early exhibitions. U.S. Selections for Berlin Trade Fair, 1952, SP-ICE-1-52, was the first Program exhibition of design; the first photography exhibition to circulate was Contemporary American Photography, ICE-F-13-53; while The Skyscraper: U.S.A., ICE-F-9-53, and Built in U.S.A.: Postwar Architecture, ICE-F-10-53, were the first architecture exhibitions and circulated widely, including stops in Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, and South America.

Not all of these exhibitions were originated by the Program. Young American Printmakers originated as MoMA Exhibition #547 (though only appeared at the Museum after its tour); while Built in U.S.A.: Postwar Architecture was shown as MoMA Exhibition #528, January 20–March 15, 1953. And while some exhibitions were curated by Director Porter McCray and other Program staff, including curator Frank O'Hara, many other exhibitions were assembled by MoMA curatorial department staff including, in the early years, Edward Steichen, William S. Lieberman, Arthur Drexler, and Dorothy Miller. This mixture of Program and Museum staff producing exhibitions shown at the Museum or only on tour, with numerous exhibitions crisscrossing several continents at the same time, characterize the Program's activities of the first decade.

To provide support and guidance for the Program, MoMA's board of trustees authorized the formation of the International Council in 1953. Mrs. John D. (Blanchette) Rockefeller, along with Mrs. Bliss (Eliza) Parkinson and others led the efforts to plan the Council and build membership and the Council held its first official meeting in 1954, with seventeen charter members and Blanchette Rockefeller as Chairperson. The Council grew and solidified its identity in the succeeding years. In 1956, as the five-year grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund was reaching its end, the Council had to assume full sponsorship for the Program. To this end, the Council was officially incorporated in December 1956. The following November the Council held its first annual fall business meeting, and all successive meetings have been numbered from then.

Meanwhile, the Program's exhibition schedule continued. One of the primary responsibilities of the Program in the early years was to organize the United States' representations at biennials, expositions, and other international gatherings. These included such events as the Internationale Grafik, in Salzburg, Austria; the International Art Exhibition, Japan; the Berlin Trade Fair, Germany; the Inter-American Conference, Caracas, Venezuela; the III International Contemporary Art Exhibition, India; and many others. Most prominent among these events were the Venice Biennale and the Bienal do Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo. MoMA purchased the United States pavilion in Venice and the first Program exhibitions organized there were solo retrospectives of Ben Shahn and Willem de Kooning at the XXVII Biennale of 1954. The Program would ultimately be responsible for U.S. representation at five Biennales. Program exhibitions also represented the United States at five São Paulo biennials beginning in 1953; the II Bienal featured a survey of work by Alexander Calder and a showing of Built in U.S.A.: Postwar Architecture. (Some later biennial representations were administered by the Program but actually curated by other institutions such as the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.) The Program's responsibility for United States representation at biennials and other events effectively ended in the early 1960s.

Numerous exhibitions created or circulated by the Program in its first decade have remained significant within the history of the museum and in the context of postwar art history. Modern Art in the U.S.A., ICE-F-24-54, was the first multi-departmental show created by the Program and featured more than five hundred objects selected from every curatorial department of the museum. It appeared in Paris as part of the 1955 "Salute to France" cultural program. Also part of that program was the exhibition De David á Toulouse-Lautrec: French Masterpieces from American Collections, an exhibition organized by a consortium of museums led by Porter McCray and the Program. A similarly broad exhibition of French art, French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse, SP-ICE-21-58, appeared in 1958 and both of these shows show the breadth of art history the Program was willing to confront in its exhibitions. Perhaps more well know are the shows which promoted Abstract Expressionism to an international audience. The New American Painting, ICE-F-36-57, was a landmark survey of the modern American art movement. Organized by Dorothy Miller and appearing at the Museum after its international tour as MoMA Exhibition #645, the show featured eighty-one paintings by artists still little known outside the United States at the time. Another exhibition promoting this new art was the retrospective Jackson Pollock 1912–1956. Selected by Frank O'Hara, this exhibition debuted at the IV Bienal do Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, and appeared together with The New American Painting at locations in Europe. The Family of Man (SP-ICE-10-55 and other designations) is the most widely seen photographic exhibition in history. Curated by Edward Steichen and appearing first at the Museum in 1955 as MoMA Exhibition #569, The Family of Man circulated in multiple versions both domestically and to all corners of the globe for a decade. The exhibition has been permanently on view in Luxembourg since 1975 and the original exhibition catalogue is still in print, making The Family of Man the most enduring of any exhibition the International Program has been associated with.

The International Council and International Program, through their advocacy for international cultural exchange, worked closely with the United States government and agencies as well as foreign governments and international organizations. The United States Information Agency (USIA) specifically commissioned numerous exhibitions, and the tours of shows within some countries were often coordinated by local departments of culture or other organization. From its beginnings the Council also had close relations with UNESCO and the United Nations. The first annual fall meeting of the International Council was held in 1957 in San Francisco to coincide with the 6th Annual Conference of the United States Commission for UNESCO. The Council later assumed responsibility for the design of the executive boardroom at UNESCO's Paris headquarters (SP-ICE-19-57, Philip Johnson, architect). In New York City, International Council receptions for United Nations diplomats were a regular feature of their social calendar. In 1960 the Program and Council began what may be their most unique intersection with the diplomatic world through the Art in Embassies Program. This program assembled collections of artwork for placement in American embassies and ambassadorial residences. Over the next decade, a total of forty-one collections were seen in nearly as many countries. The program achieved its ultimate goal in 1970 when the United States government assumed responsibility for the program.

The International Council had fully matured by the 1970s. In 1968 the Council traveled to South America for their spring meeting and international excursions have been a defining feature of the Council ever since. The Council began publishing newsletters and annual reports at the beginning of the decade, which helped publicize and commemorate their activities. The Program continued a robust exhibition schedule. From the 1960s onward all exhibitions were curated by MoMA curatorial departments and their staff and a greater percentage of the exhibitions appeared at the Museum (before or after the international tour). The shows remained major events in their host countries. In 1974 Modern Masters: Manet to Matisse, ICE-F-163-74, received a grand reception in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia even while Some Recent American Art, ICE-F-160-73, was introducing minimalist and conceptual American art to those same Australian audiences. Twenty years later, the The William S. Paley Collection, ICE-F-250-93, made similar waves in Australia and Japan.

By the 1990s MoMA was far from alone in sending exhibitions on tour, the Museum itself had grown, and the role of the Program was changing as well. The Department of Circulating Exhibitions had previously been merged with the Museum's Department of Exhibitions and responsibility for international tours was now likewise folded into the Exhibitions Department. Though the Program and Council still provide support today for selected exhibitions, the last exhibitions directly administered by the Program toured in 1998. In place of exhibitions, the International Program turned its energies to various activities that could bring museum professionals and artists together from around the world, help elevate professional standards of museums, expose regional artists and art movements to international audiences, and generally promote international cultural conversation. Beginning in 1998 the Program began a series of workshops for museum professionals from Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and East Asia; workshops on conservation, and libraries and archives were held in South America and elsewhere; and numerous international symposia on art history were held in New York. At the same time the Program began a new series of publications titled Primary Documents, each volume focused on a different region of the world; the series now comprises seven volumes. Most recently, the Program has been the main force behind Contemporary and Modern Art Perspectives in a Global Age Initiative (C-MAP), a program designed to ensure MoMA continues to best understand and present modern and contemporary art regardless of its place of origin.

The International Council continues to support and enable the Program's efforts. In 2013 at the fall meeting the Council celebrated its sixtieth anniversary. In the decades since the Council and Program's founding, the ability of exhibitions to reach audiences in all parts of the world has been transformed by new technologies even as the forms art takes have similarly multiplied; the art world now encompasses the entire actual world. Through this change the International Council and Program have remained a pivotal part of The Museum of Modern Art and their efforts continue to demonstrate that Blanchette Rockefeller's belief in the spirit of internationalism remains as relevant today as at the Museum's beginning.

Scope and Content

The International Council and International Program Records comprise the comprehensive organizational records of the offices that spearheaded the international outreach of The Museum of Modern Art. The records document the history of one of the first and most important large-scale efforts to promote American art abroad. But the collection also documents the Program and Council's interests in promoting art from around the globe to American and other foreign audiences and their efforts, through symposiums and other methods, to educate museum professionals and improve the communication and mutual support among art institutions on all six continents. The records reflect the incredible breadth and diversity of these activities, documenting over three hundred separate exhibitions, including many of lasting significance to post-war modern art history, and demonstrate the role played by the Council and the Program in MoMA's rise to international preeminence in the art community.

Series I is the primary group of records documenting exhibitions developed and circulated by the International Program. Records are divided into five subseries containing documentation on international circulating exhibitions (ICE-F), special international circulating exhibitions (SP-ICE), and domestic circulating exhibitions (ICE-D), as well as subseries on proposed exhibitions and small quantities of older records, as described below. Subseries I.A: ICE Exhibition Records is the largest of the series and contains records of many of the Program's most significant exhibitions and activities. International Program staff worked closely with MoMA curators and U.S. government officials including the U.S. Information Agency and U.S. embassies to coordinate exhibitions that were circulated to nations across Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Materials include correspondence between curators and artists, notable collectors, U.S. Information Service officials, U.S. embassy staff members, and other museum staff; key exhibition documentation such as exhibition itineraries, checklists, press releases, and installation and publicity photographs; as well as such further documentation as exhibition catalogues and posters, brochures, promotional materials, exhibition floor plans, loan forms and lender correspondence, shipping records, insurance records, and financial records.

Subseries I.B contains records on some of the Council and Program's best known activities, including the international circulation of the photography exhibition Family of Man, and the Art in Embassies program, which curated small collections of modern art for display in diplomatic residences and embassies around the world. Other notable subjects documented here include the exhibition French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse, which appeared locally at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and international appearances of the Children's Art Carnival, begun by Victor D'Amico at MoMA. SP-ICE exhibitions were composed mainly of loans from other institutions rather than formed primarily from MoMA collections. Because of this distinction these exhibitions were given their own unique budget code and exhibition number and the records were consistently kept separate from ICE exhibition files. Nonetheless, the records are on the whole similar in character. Materials include correspondence from artists, government and embassy officials, art collectors, gallery owners, museum staff, and even staff from the White House. Additional materials include installation and event photographs, prints, negatives, contact sheets, slides, checklists, box lists, press clippings, press releases, lender lists, itineraries, architectural drawings, exhibition catalogues and posters, articles, journals, meeting minutes and agendas, shipping records, and insurance records.

Subseries I.C comprises records of ICE-D exhibitions which were formed solely of works loaned from foreign institutions and then circulated domestically. While representing only a few exhibitions, these records help demonstrate the dedication of the Program and the Council not merely to promoting American Art, but also to exposing American and foreign audiences to art from all around the world. Exhibitions with particularly extensive documentation here include Art Israel: 26 Painters and Sculptors and The New Japanese Painting and Sculpture. Materials include curatorial and exhibition correspondence, as well as artwork negatives, prints, slides, and contact sheets. Additional materials consist of checklists and box lists, lists of loans, press releases and clippings, artist biographies, exhibition catalogues, shipping records, and excerpts of critical reviews.

Additional subseries contain further exhibition-related documentation. Subseries I.D comprises correspondence and proposals for unrealized exhibitions. Materials range from single letters to proposed lists of artists and lenders, checklists, and exhibition agreements. Other materials included consist of press releases and clippings, research materials, curator and artist biographies, artwork and installation photographs, exhibition catalogues, and posters. Many of these files are for exhibitions that appeared at MoMA and were considered for international tours; additional files are present for symposia and other types of projects. The planning for some unrealized exhibitions advanced far enough that the shows were awarded exhibition numbers; records from those instances will be found in the previous subseries. Subseries I.E comprises a small set of exhibition related files from Program Associate Director Elizabeth Streibert. Some files are for specific exhibitions while many cover several shows or general activity within a set period of time. Records include extensive notes, correspondence, budget sheets, occasional checklists, loan documents, and other materials. Subseries I.F and I.G are two small sets of records from the previous version of this collection, International Program Records, and retained in that order. I.F features a number of records documenting MoMA's international activities prior to the formation of the council, while I.G consists of numerous historical lists of exhibitions assembled at different times.

Exhibitions were never the sole activity of the International Program and from the 1990s, as international exhibition tours became a common activity of many museums and MoMA reorganized the administration of exhibition tours, the International Program refocused its activities on symposiums and workshops and other outputs. Series II documents these other activities, particularly of recent decades. Series II.A concerns conferences and workshops organized by the International Program. Major programs include the International Curatorial Symposium and the Museum Professionals Workshops held for members of the museum profession from Africa, East Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Other projects represented are the East European Art Symposium, the Hong Kong Museum Practices Workshop, an Indian artist retreat, and many other initiatives. The series includes records documenting all aspects of the arrangements including correspondence with program participants, cooperating art institutions, MoMA's Department of Education, Library and other internal departments. Additional materials include project proposals, participant lists and biographies, publicity packets, itineraries, press clippings and articles, brochures, printed images, and audio cassette tapes. II.B represents the International Program's part in MoMA's advisory role in the creation of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan. Records include correspondence, building plans, press and promotional materials, and other documents. Series II.C is a set of records detailing various and miscellaneous activities of the Program such as the early publications program, the International Study Center, the Library Overseas Program, and the Pilot Project in Corporate Fundraising for Museums in Central and Eastern Europe. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, email messages, project proposal, research materials, along with occasional exhibition-related documents and other materials.

In addition to workshops and symposia, the International Program has more recently focused on a new publication program devoted to presenting English translations of source materials documenting artists and art movements from different regions of the world. There are currently seven titles in the Primary Documents series with more scheduled for publication. Because the series is less than fifteen years old, only records related to the first publication, with a handful of files from the second publication, have entered the Museum Archives thus far. Subseries III.A contains materials created and compiled for the initial publication, Primary Documents: A Sourcebook for Eastern and Central European Art since the 1950s, published in 2002. Records include drafts of individual essays, biographical information on contributors, research materials, correspondence, contact lists, and bibliographies. Subseries III.B comprises a much smaller set of available files for the second publication, from 2004, Listen, Here, Now! Argentine Art of the 1960s: Writings of the Avant-Garde.

Series IV comprises extant administrative files of the International Program. Many of these files concern day-to-day operations of the program while others may concern exhibitions and activities, but only in so general a way as to not be included in the previous series. Subseries IV.A contains general International Program administrative records. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, contracts with external institutions, reports and other records related to circulating exhibitions and internal Museum and departmental policies and procedures, general informational materials on external institutions, events, and services, meeting minutes, reports, project proposals, expense records, and press releases. Subseries IV.B is a set of publicity records, again, connected to exhibitions and other programming but not tied so directly to individual exhibitions or activities as to be found in those series. Records here include exhibition lists and summaries, label texts, correspondence, memoranda, photograph requisition forms, press release, press clippings, invitation lists, catalogue distribution lists, brochures, event photographs, and reports. This subseries also includes documentation related to the "exhibitions" held at a Manhattan warehouse, showcasing artworks for Program patrons and others before being sent abroad. Subseries IV.C is a set of administrative files organized by country of activity and consists primarily of correspondence with state officials, museum staff, cultural councils, and arts professionals from the different countries concerning various exhibitions and other activities. Subseries IV.D is yet another parallel set of administrative records, originally created and stored in alphabetical order rather than geographic or chronological order as the previous subseries. Documentation is otherwise very similar, consisting of correspondence, project documents, and other materials. Subseries IV.E is composed of files concerning the annual reports published by the Program and Council and containing correspondence, report texts, notes, report layouts, galley proofs, press review extracts, exhibition and publication lists, and other documents. Subseries IV.F contains records of the Program's involvement in external professional organizations, conferences, and advisory groups such as the International Council of Museums, the Americas Society, and the International Congress of Friends of Museums. Finally, Subseries IV.G comprises International Program records of meetings of the Council and its subcommittees. Program staff both reported to these meetings and otherwise participated in them and records here of that activity include meeting correspondence, presentation texts, and other materials.

Series V and series VI represent the full extant of publicly available records of the International Council as separate from the Program. The Council's primary responsibilities have been to support and guide the Program's activities; for most of the Council's history those tasks have been mainly carried out through annual spring and fall meetings as well the regular meetings of several subcommittees. Series V is devoted to these meeting records. Subseries V.A comprises member packets assembled for each attendant to the spring and fall meetings. Spring meeting packets are a larger part of this series as they were typically held outside New York, with extended itineraries and programs. Materials include agenda booklets, memos, press releases, local tour brochures and informational documents. Subseries V.B consists solely of transcripts of spring and fall business meetings and subcommittee meetings. While typically focused on Council business, these transcripts can also include speeches from visiting dignitaries or lectures by curators and scholars. Subseries V.C is a small set of snapshots and formal photographs of Council members at various receptions and events and on spring meeting excursions while subseries V.D is a collection of audio recordings of various Council meetings and gatherings. Subseries V.E is the primary administrative record set concerning Council meetings. Files here include extensive correspondence among senior Council staff and with members, draft and final agendas and minutes, notes, and other planning documents, budget and finance sheets, exhibition proposals submitted for committee reviews, and other materials. The earliest documents in the series date from the very beginnings of the council and before its formal incorporation in 1956. Lastly, subseries V.F is a small set of geographic files containing notes and information on prospective spring meeting sites and other locales of possible interest.

Series VI comprises administrative and other files produced by the Council not directly connected to the planning and organization of the meetings. Subseries VI.A is general administrative correspondence, particularly from the first two decades of the council's existence. Subseries VI.B is publicity files, much on exhibitions and the Program's activities, but also concerning Council activities and trips. Materials here include press releases, news clippings, materials regarding receptions and public events, and exhibition documents such as checklists and itineraries. Subseries VI.C is the records produced from the numerous special events and social functions the Council held or attended, ranging from opening parties and press previews, to receptions and tours for visiting dignitaries and foreign groups. Correspondence, budgets, invitations, and other planning documents are included here. Subseries VI.D and VI.E are both small series of fundraising correspondence and documents. VI.D is general files devoted to the support of specific exhibitions, while VI.E is a set of files documenting the concerted role the Council played in fundraising on behalf of MoMA's 50th anniversary. Subseries VI.F consists of general administrative records, including memos, correspondence, and other documents concerned with membership issues such as dues payments, meeting attendance, and other items. Subseries VI.G and Subseries VI.H are sets of the Council newsletter, published to coincide with the spring meeting, and the Program and Council's annual report, issued in the fall at the same time as the annual business meeting.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

The records are open for research except for the following restricted materials. Two subseries, Subseries V.D: International Council Audio Recordings and Subseries VI.E: 50th Anniversary Fundraising Records are permanently closed to the public. In other series, all correspondence, forms, and other documentation pertaining directly to loans and lenders and artwork condition and damage are permanently closed to the public. Documents that discuss or relate to an artwork's value, such as insurance checklists, are closed for twenty-five years from the date of creation. International Council meeting files and documentation, such as included in Subseries VI.G, V.B, and V.E, are also closed to the public for a period of twenty-five years. Among other records, any materials from MoMA board meetings or trustee subcommittee meetings are permanently closed to the public, as are occasional documents pertaining to personnel matters, donors and donations, and other sensitive issues. As necessary, restricted materials have been removed from folders and entire folders removed from the publicly accessible files though those files' descriptions remain in the finding aid. If Museum staff wish to view any of these materials they should contact the Museum Archives.

Ownership and Literary Rights

The International Counil and International Program Records are the physical property of The Museum of Modern Art. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with the Museum. Literary rights including copyright belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.

Related Material

As many exhibitions sent on international tours by the International Program originated at the Museum, records of them may be found in Exhibition Files of The Museum of Modern Art. As many of these exhibitions also toured domestically, further information may be found in Department of Circulating Exhibitions Records. The Frank O'Hara Papers contain records of a significant curator of Program exhibitions. As the activities of the International Council and International Program were closely aligned with the activities of the rest of the Museum, and as many staff people held positions in several museum departments, other materials related to the International Council and Program can be found across the collections of the Museum Archives. Exhibition catalogues, annual reports and newsletters, and other publications by or concerning the International Program and International Council may be found in the Museum Library.

Separated Material

Various video recordings have been removed from these records to the Video Recordings collection. Those finding aids contain listings for numerous recordings produced by the Council and Program.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Long version: International Council and International Program Records, [series.folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.

Short version: IC/IP, [series.folder]. MoMA Archives, NY.

Provenance

The records comprising this collection originated within the Museum over more than six decades and were held within Museum offices. A large portion of this collection was later transfered into the Museum's records management program from which it was retrieved and processed into its current state in 2013. Approximately one tenth of the collection, mainly comprising publicity materials and photographic exhibition documentation, along with some other documentation, was earlier transferred to the Museum Archives by the International Council in June 1994 (with a smaller set of records incorporated into the collection the following year), processed, and opened to the public as the International Program Records. Those files have been completey integrated into the new collection. The finding aid to the previous collection, as well as documents concerning the two record groups' integration, are kept within the Museum Archives.

Processing and Condition Information

The collection as a whole is in good condition. In processing, staples and other metal fasteners were removed; folders and other housings were discarded or replaced with acid-free equivalents; photographs, negatives and other photographic materials were rehoused in polyester sleeves; and acidic and other unstable materials were isolated or encapsulated as appropriate.

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