Jere Abbott Drawings
The Museum of Modern Art Archives

The Museum of Modern Art Archives
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019-5497
https://www.moma.org/research/archives/

© 2024

The Museum of Modern Art Archives

Finding aid prepared by Rachel Garbade, 2024.

Biographical Note

Jere Abbott was born in Dexter, Maine in 1897. He received his Bachelor of Science from Bowdoin College in 1920 and continued his education in physics at Harvard University; there he met Alfred H. Barr, Jr. who introduced him to the field of art history, ultimately changing the trajectory of his studies. Abbott went on to study art history in Europe and at Princeton University before establishing the Department of Fine Arts at Wesleyan University in 1929. Abbott then worked under Barr at The Museum of Modern Art as the Museum's first associate director from 1929 to 1932. In 1932, he was appointed director of the Smith College Museum of Art where he also taught art history until 1946, at which point Abbott returned to Maine to work for his family's business for the remainder of his career. He received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Colby College in 1970. Abbott died in Dexter, Maine in 1982.

Mary Sands Thompson was born in 1896 and received her Bachelor of Arts from Radcliffe College in 1917. She worked as a secretary for many years, and was the first executive secretary of The Museum of Modern Art from 1929 to 1931; Barr, Abbott, and Thompson were among the first five staff members on MoMA's payroll. Thompson died in 1979.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of dozens of ink-drawn cartoons by Jere Abbott, with a minimalist style and brief caption, often portraying activities at MoMA. Alfred H. Barr, Jr. is the subject of many, as are exhibition installations and humorous office scenes; Thompson (then known as Mary Sands), Cary Ross, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Margaret Scolari Barr, and Philip Johnson are also frequent subjects. The drawings are either on small sheets of paper, ranging in size from a business card to 10 x 14 inches, or inside MoMA exhibition catalogs; many signed "Erej" with the date, though some are undated. The drawings, made by Abbott and given to Mary Sands, suggest a camaraderie and jovial office culture in MoMA's early years. Included in the collection is one copy of Jere Abbott's publication: Three Christmas Drawings by Erej (Madison, New Jersey: Ardwen Press, 1936), which was privately printed by Abbott for Alex and Mary Sands in a run of sixty-eight copies; this is copy no. 56. Several programs for Mary Sands Thompson's memorial service in 1979 are also present.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

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

Ownership and Literary Rights

Jere Abbott Drawings 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.

Related Collections at MoMA and Elsewhere

Correspondence with Jere Abbott can be found in the Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Papers, Early Museum History: Administrative Records, Margaret Scolari Barr Papers, Dorothy C. Miller Papers, Paul J. Sachs Correspondence, René d'Harnoncourt Papers, Department of Circulating Exhibitions Records, Archives Pamphlet Files, Paul Rosenberg Archives, and Department of Public Information / Communications Records.

Correspondence with Mary Sands Thompson can be found in the Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Papers and Early Museum History: Administrative Records. (During her tenure at The Museum, she was known as "Mary Sands," the name by which she was addressed in both collections.)

Additional related material can be found in the Jere Abbott Papers at Smith College Archives, Jere Abbott Papers at the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College, and Papers of Mary Sands Thompson at the Schlesinger Library, Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Dozens of drawings by Abbott can also be found in the Smith College Museum of Art's collection.

Lastly, the following book by Russell Lynes details how Abbott and Sands Thompson came to work at MoMA in 1929, as well as the office culture of those early days: Good Old Modern: An Intimate Portrait of The Museum of Modern Art. New York: Atheneum, 1973.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Long version: Jere Abbott Drawings, [series.folder]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.

Short version: Jere Abbott, [series.folder]. MoMA Archives, NY.

Provenance

Jere Abbot's drawings were originally donated to the Library in 1981 by Mary Sands Thomspon's son, Robert Sands Thompson. He also donated seven books that contained inscribed drawings by Jere Abbott. Those books were originally cataloged and added to the MoMA Library collection. The drawings and photocopies of those seven book inscriptions were transferred to the Archives in 1998. And, in 2024, the seven books were also transferred to the MoMA Archives; the collection was subsequently processed that same year.

Processing and Condition Information

The collection as a whole is in good condition. Materials have been rehoused in archival folders and a manuscript box, according to accepted professional practice. Drawings were received in two groupings; the processing archivist subsequently divided the second grouping into four folders. Original order and original folder titles were maintained.

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