Findings

Postcard from Bĕla Kolářová to Thomas M. Messer, 1979. Box 4120. Series 3: Artist Correspondence: Kolář, Jiří (with correspondence from Bĕla Kolářová). Thomas M. Messer records. A0007. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York

Finding 52: Postcard from Bĕla Kolářová to Thomas M. Messer, 1979

March 3, 2011

Artist Bĕla Kolářová, wife of fellow Czech artist Jiří Kolář, sent this postcard to Thomas M. Messer in 1979. The postcard, which depicts the Berlin Wall, informs Messer of the couple’s new address in West Berlin, where they had recently moved. Messer, who corresponded with numerous artists during his directorship, had a particularly active correspondence with Jiří Kolář. The letters and postcards from Kolář and his wife found in Messer’s artist correspondence date from 1973 until 1983, and originate from cities throughout Europe, including Paris, where the couple settled in 1980. Messer, who was born and raised in Czechoslovakia, corresponded with the two artists in their native Czech language. Messer’s support of Kolář’s work is evident in the three one-man exhibitions Kolář had at the Guggenheim between 1975 and 1986.

–Shirin Khaki, Archives Assistant

Margit Rowell leading a tour of The Planar Dimension: Europe, 1912–1932, 1979: Exhibition files: 340: The Planar Dimension: Europe, 1912–1932. A0003. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York

Finding 51: Margit Rowell Leading a Tour of The Planar Dimension: Europe, 1912–1932

February 25, 2011

This photograph documents a guided tour of the 1979 exhibition, The Planar Dimension: Europe, 1912–1932 led by the show’s curator, Margit Rowell. Rowell began her career at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as a research fellow in 1969, and worked for the museum as a curator from 1970 to 1983. In The Planar Dimension, Rowell charted a trajectory of modern sculpture that abandoned traditional methods of carving and modeling in the round in favor of assembling two-dimensional forms in space. The exhibition began with Pablo Picasso’s 1912 construction, Guitar, and traced the development of this aesthetic through Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, Dada, and Surrealism. While the exhibition focused solely on examples of early 20th-century sculpture, the show was particularly relevant to contemporary trends in sculpture making. As Rowell pointed out in the exhibition’s brochure, “much of the sculpture of the 1960s and 1970s is conceived as an assemblage of planes in space. For the casual viewer, the history of this formal aesthetic begins with David Smith and Anthony Caro. Yet its real sources may be traced to the early decades of this century.”

–Amanda Brown, Archives Assistant

Booklet of Cartoons published by the Turkish Information Office, 1958. Box 214. Series 3: Administration: Correspondence: T General. James Johnson Sweeney records. A0001. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York

Finding 50: Booklet of Cartoons from the Turkish Information Office

February 18, 2011

In 1958, the Turkish Information Office published a booklet of cartoons entitled This We Believe in Turkey, a copy of which was sent to James Johnson Sweeney. The booklet humorously explores various topics in an attempt at a “fresh approach to international understanding.” The cartoons, divided into sections both timeless (“Of Daily Life”) and timely (“Of Communism and the Iron Curtain”), provide commentary on politics, the space race, and human habits. Despite the inclusion of divisive political topics among lighter fare, the introduction to the booklet states that the aim is not to instruct, inform or propagandize, but “to establish the universality of the Laugh.” Additional correspondence from 1959 between the Director of the Turkish Information Office, Nuri Eren, and Sweeney is found among Sweeney’s records and references a possible Turkish exhibition in the United States. However, the lack of further correspondence or planning materials suggests that the exhibition was never pursued by the Guggenheim Museum beyond the initial discussion between Eren and Sweeney.

–Shirin Khaki, Archives Assistant

Solomon R. Guggenheim Greenhouse Proposal, circa 1961–1962: Series 2: Glenn Easton: Building: Greenhouse. Office of Business Administration records. A0018. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York

Finding 49: Greenhouse Proposal for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, circa 1961–1962

February 10, 2011

In the early 1960s, the Solomon R. Guggenheim hired landscape architect Charles Middeleer to design a greenhouse to protect the museum’s flower bed. The structure, which is no longer extant, consisted of a Plexiglas dome supported by an aluminum armature. It was used to shelter the museum’s plantings during winter and was taken down piece by piece in the spring. Middeleer was also responsible for selecting the flowers to be planted, and his planting proposal for 1963 suggested pansies, lilies, begonias, geraniums, and chrysanthemums among other flowers. Middeleer’s work for the Guggenheim was not his only commission for a Frank Lloyd Wright building; between 1964 and 1967, Middeleer provided a new landscape design for Wright’s 1956 Tirranna/Rayward House in New Canaan, Connecticut.

–Amanda Brown, Archives Assistant

Contact sheet of photographs illustrating various stages of procedure for the Extended Loan Program, circa 1956. James Johnson Sweeney records, A0001, Series 5: Exhibitions and Objects: Loans: Extended Loan Program: Booklet for Extended Loan Program Institutions, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York

Finding 48: Extended Loan Program, Stages of Procedure

February 3, 2011

The Extended Loan Program was established in 1953 to bring contemporary art of the finest quality to locations throughout the country where examples of such work were otherwise not easily available to artists, students, and the public. Venues, often educational institutions such as university art galleries, were each offered approximately a dozen paintings, watercolors and/or drawings for a period of six months “to use as an independent exhibit or as a nucleus around which to arrange an exhibition of broader scope.” The Guggenheim Museum gathered materials for an informative booklet about the program for potential participants. The booklet was to include a sample borrower’s package (the Guggenheim provided wall labels, a bibliography and publicity photographs), sample paperwork, “fan mail” from the borrowers, photographs of conservation work performed on paintings, maps with locations of already distributed loans, and photographs illustrating various stages of program procedure. The contact sheet shows some of the photos considered for inclusion in the booklet; they illustrate the process of shipping, opening, and inspecting crates of paintings. Although a mock-up of the booklet from 1956 was found with these documents, an extant copy of a finished booklet was not found and it is unknown if one was ever published.

–Shirin Khaki, Archives Assistant

James Johnson Sweeney records, A0001, Series 5: Exhibitions and Objects: Exhibitions:[unidentified exhibitions], Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York

The Remington Standard, circa 1958. James Johnson Sweeney records, A0001, Series 5: Exhibitions and Objects: Exhibitions: General: Wall Labels, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York

Finding 47: The Remington Standard and the Production of Exhibition Wall Labels

January 27, 2011

These pages are from a promotional booklet published circa 1958 for the Remington Standard typewriter. Found among director James Johnson’s Sweeney’s records along with materials related to the in-house production of exhibition wall labels, this booklet extols the modern mechanical virtues of the Remington Standard, promising faster and more rhythmic typing, precisely balanced margins, multitudes of interchangeable type symbols, clean erasures, and economical use of typewriter ribbon. The booklet was accompanied by a typewritten sheet, dating from 1953, entitled “Exhibition Labels – Instructions, how to do them.” The instructions caution to “have clean hands and handle label paper with care to avoid any smudging, cracking” and advise to “pound rather than type” in order to ensure the blackest possible letters. Other materials found alongside the booklet and label instructions included paper samples form the Nelson-Whitehead Paper Company, a “plastic lamination process” sample, and diagrams of preferred label dimensions and letter spacing.

—Shirin Khaki, Archives Assistant

Interior view of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Image not available. Document can be viewed in the museum archives.

Finding 46: Floor Plan for Installation of Modern Art in the West

January 19, 2011

In 1983, Modern Art in the West, organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, opened at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. The exhibition was the first to be held at the newly founded museum, which occupied a renovated Art Deco building built in 1933. Designed by the French architect Henri Rapin in collaboration with Japanese architects of the Imperial Household Department, the building once served as the residence of Prince Asaka Yasuhiko. The floor plan pictured here was used in the planning stages of Modern Art in the West and includes a color-coded key in which pink denotes exhibition space. The exhibition included European paintings from the prewar period and American paintings from the postwar period, all of which were drawn from the Guggenheim’s permanent collection. For many visitors to the exhibition, the show provided the first exposure to early twentieth-century European painters such as Vasily Kandinsky.

–Amanda Brown, Archives Assistant

Installation view of the Sculptors Guild Outdoor Exhibition, 1955. James Johnson Sweeney records, A0001, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York

Finding 45: Sculptors Guild Outdoor Exhibition, 1955

January 13, 2011

From June through September 1955, the Sculptors Guild held an outdoor exhibition in the lot on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 89th Street adjoining the Guggenheim Museum, which was then housed in a townhouse at 1071 Fifth Avenue. A press release by the Sculptors Guild announced that, on the occasion of what was to be the Guild’s Sixth Outdoor Exhibit, the grounds were to be landscaped by the artists themselves and the site “transformed into a miniature Versailles Garden.” Organized and curated entirely by the Sculptors Guild, the exhibition included about 100 sculptures and welcomed all members of the Sculptors Guild to contribute their work. Correspondence between James Johnson Sweeney and the Sculptors Guild reveals that another outdoor exhibition was considered for 1956. In a letter dated March 23, 1956, James Johnson Sweeney noted that “the museum plan[ed] to break grounds for its new building within the next few weeks.” Ultimately, a spring exhibition was deemed unfeasible due to the imminent construction of Frank Lloyd Wright’s now- iconic building.

—Shirin Khaki, Archives Assistant

Northeast Airlines airplane ticket. James Johnson Sweeney records, A0001, Series 3: Administration: Correspondence: D General, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York

Finding 44: “Sweeney Among the Nightingales” – Airplane Ticket from James Johnson Sweeney’s Trip to Dartmouth College

January 7, 2011

James Johnson Sweeney often traveled throughout the United States and abroad for various professional engagements. This airplane ticket is from a trip to Dartmouth College, where Sweeney delivered a lecture entitled “Modern Art” on Thursday, May 6, 1954. The ticket (along with a train ticket for the return trip to New York) was found with correspondence between Sweeney and Churchill P. Lathrop of the Department of Art and Archaeology at Dartmouth College. The bulk of their correspondence about the lecture discusses Sweeney’s itinerary and irons out logistical conflicts around Sweeney’s busy schedule. However, Lathrop does mention the lecture has been intentionally advertised under a vague title to allow Sweeney flexibility in the topics he wished to discuss. Although no more information about the specifics of the lecture is found within the correspondence records, the Public Affairs Department’s subject files on James Johnson Sweeney contain a partial newspaper clipping of a review of the lecture. “Modern Art: Sweeney Among the Nightingales,” published on May 7, 1954, in The Dartmouth, mentions that Sweeney’s lecture focused on the alteration of form that has taken place within contemporary art while “the essential character of art as an embodiment of order” has remained unchanged.

—Shirin Khaki, Archives Assistant

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