Carlen Galleries, Inc., records

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Carlen Galleries, Inc., records

1775-1997

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9438ea128-b58f-400f-9bb2-cb74b6c20041

The Carlen Galleries, Inc., records measure 10.4 linear feet (gift portions, Parts 1 and 3) and date from 1775-1998 (bulk 1940-1986). Correspondence, business records, subject files, a scrapbook, printed matter, and photographs document the operation and activities of Carlen Galleries, Inc., and its founder Robert Carlen.Part 1: Received in 1986 as a gift from Robert Carlen, these records document the activities of Carlen Galleries and its founder, 1937-1986. Correspondence mainly concerns the sale and purchase of works of art. Also included are artist files containing correspondence, receipts, and printed matter regarding Albert Davies, Edward Hicks, Käthe Kollwitz, Horace Pippin, and Maurice Prendergast. Subject files concern African American artists, Raphael Peale, Raymond Feuillate, and the French Moderns. Business records consist of loan forms, documentation of exhibitions at Carlen Galleries, inventories, a scrapbook and clippings concerning the gallery, conservation reports, appraisals (not microfilmed), and financial records.Part 2: Additional records documenting the activities of Carlen Galleries and its founder, 1937-1986, were loaned by Robert Carlen for microfilming in 1988. Included are letters about Horace Pippin and rare letters from the artist. Other correspondence concerns Carlen's search for paintings by Edward Hicks, and there is also a small selection of letters regarding more routine gallery business. Among the business records are and account book and receipts. Printed matter consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, and clippings; a scrapbook contains printed matter about Horace Pippin. Photographs are of Allan Freelon and works of art.Part 3: Received in 2002 as a gift from Robert Carlen's daughter Nancy Carlen, this portion of the Carlen Galleries, Inc., Records consists of two letters, business records, photographs, and selections from the galleries' library. Letters are from Joan Baez, circa 1960 and Charles M. Mount, 1968. Previously sealed letters from Charles M. Mount, undated, and 1962-1975, relating to John Singer Sargent have been integrated into this portion.Part 4: Additional records borrowed for microfilming from Nancy Carlen in 2002 include documents dated 1775-1997 (bulk 1940s-1990). Correspondence concerns gallery business, but a small amount of personal correspondence is also included. Business records consist of appraisal reports, receipts for sales and purchases, and the contract and program for the 1964 University [of Pennsylvania] Hospital Antiques Show in which Carlen Galleries exhibited. Subject files document Edward Hicks, Anatol Jal, the Captain James Lawrence Goblet, Horace Pippin, and Antoine Roux. Five notebooks, containing material similar to that in the subject files, are about Horace Pippin (vols. 1-3), Edward Hicks (vol. 4), and chronicle the career of Robert Carlen (vol. 5).Printed matter consists of clippings and other items concerning art and antiques, Robert Carlen and Carlen Galleries, Inc., and the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the State Department where two Hicks paintings owned by Carlen were on extended loan. Among the miscellaneous records are biographical documents, personal financial records, business and research notes (including original documents and photocopies of archival materials), and four prints. Photographs are mostly of antiques and art work; also included are a few pictures of people, places, and miscellaneous subjects.

Archives of American Art

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6630419

Archives of American Art

Related Entities

There are 11 Entities related to this resource.

Carlen Galleries.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6578hnj (corporateBody)

Art gallery; Philadelphia, Pa. Founded in 1937 by dealer and appraiser Robert Carlen. Carlen specialized in American folk, primitive and decorative art, but also sold African, European, and Oriental Art. Over the years Carlen worked with Alfred Frankenstein on William Harnett, with Mary Black on a variety of projects, and uncovered many Edward Hicks paintings. Carlen was also Horace Pippin's dealer. From the description of Carlen Galleries, Inc. records, 1775...

Peale family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rg55qv (family)

Peale family

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h85cn6 (family)

Carlen Galleries, Inc.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64k3jk9 (corporateBody)

Robert Carlen (1906-1990) worked as a secretary and attended evening classes at the Graphic Sketch Club in Philadelphia right after graduating from high school. He studied painting full-time at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts during the academic year 1928/29, and from 1929-1936 he continued to study painting in the evenings while employed at a brokerage firm. Since he wanted to be associated with the art world and needed to earn a living, Carlen decided to esta...

Pippin, Horace, 1888-1946

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60v8nt3 (person)

Born in West Chester, Pa., in 1888 Pippin was a self-taught primitive painter. His fighting experiences in France during World War I greatly influenced his later paintings. During the war, he was wounded and lost the use of his right arm. When painting, he had to use his left hand to guide his right. He gained a national reputation as a "true American primitive" in the 1940s, when his bold narrative paintings of childhood memories, war experiences, heroes, African American genre scenes, and reli...

Davies, Albert Webster, 1889-1967.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64j825p (person)

Kollwitz, Käthe, 1867-1945

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vh5q7g (person)

German sculptor, printmaker, and painter. From the description of Letters, 1917-1923. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 77615518 ...

Feuillate, Raymond 1901-1971

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6618mvq (person)

Prendergast, Maurice, 1858-1924

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tt4xm9 (person)

Maurice: Painter, watercolorist, illustrator, graphic artist; New York, N.Y. and Boston, Mass. His brother Charles was a sculptor, painter and writer. From the description of Maurice Brazil and Charles Prendergast sketchbooks, [ca. 1887-1940]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81848207 Maurice: painter, watercolorist, illustrator and graphic artist; Boston, Mass. and New York, N.Y. Charles: painter, sculptor, craftsman, and framemaker; Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y....

Hicks, Edward, 1780-1849

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68w3qrz (person)

Edward Hicks (April 4, 1780 – August 23, 1849) was an American folk painter and distinguished religious minister of the Society of Friends (aka "Quakers"). He became a Quaker icon because of his paintings. Edward Hicks was born in his grandfather's mansion at Attleboro (now Langhorne), in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His parents were Anglican. Isaac Hicks, his father, was a Loyalist who was left without any money after the British defeat in the Revolutionary War. After young Edward's mothe...

Gainsborough, Lee

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j97c94 (person)