Exhibition Files
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Solomon, Alan R., 1920-1970
setName: label: See more items in
content: Alan R. Solomon papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1.42 Linear Feet (Boxes 6-7, 11, OV 12)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1954-1969
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.soloalan, Series 8
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Records are arranged alphabetically by exhibition title, and by record type thereafter.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Series is scanned in entirety with the exception of duplicates, the full text of some exhibition catalogs, and photographic negatives for which copy prints exist.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Series documents Solomon's role as an exhibition director, primarily for six of his most well-known exhibitions, including the American exhibition at the 1964 Venice Biennale and American Painting Now for Expo '67 in Montreal. 

Records for each exhibition typically include correspondence, including scattered letters from artists, loan and shipping arrangements and agreements, budget related material, lists and notes, printed material including catalogs and press coverage, and photographs of installations, exhibition related events, and artwork. 

Also found are damage reports for damage to artwork incurred during exhibitions and subsequent insurance claims, particularly during American Painting Now, which traveled from Montreal to the Institute of Contemporary Art from December 1967-January 1968. The November 1967 correspondence for this exhibition includes a sketch and instructions by Claes Oldenburg for the installation of his sculpture, Giant Soft Fan. Additional records documenting American Painting Now include photographs of the installation, and correspondence detailing much of the planning and logistics for the exhibition. 

Records relating to the 1964 Venice Biennale provide extensive documentation of Solomon's role as United States Commissioner, his vision for the exhibition, the problems that arose in regard to housing it in the confines of the space officially allowed, and the plan for an annex location. Records include plans of the American Pavilion, purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in 1954; correspondence with Marietta Stern, assistant to the Unites States pavilion, and Ileana Sonnabend,  European representative for many of the artists in the exhibition; documentation of arrangements with the United States Information Agency and the Department of State; budgetary records; extensive press coverage; Solomon's final report on the Biennale; and records related to problems that arose due to damage to artwork, and subsequent insurance settlements, including letters from Leo Castelli, Andre Emmerich, Giordano Falzoni, Kenneth Noland and Giuseppe Panza. Also of note are photographs of Biennale events, artists, and other individuals, taken by Ugo Mulas and others. Subjects include artwork arriving by plane and canal in Venice; artists, including Claes Oldenburg, and Robert Rauschenberg accepting the Grand Prize; various Biennale officials; Leo Castelli and Alan Solomon; the installation process; and people attending the exhibition and related events.

Other exhibitions documented here include Andy Warhol (1966) at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Dine-Oldenburg-Segal (1967) at the Art Gallery of Ontario and Albright-Knox Gallery; Young Italians (1968) at the Institute of Contemporary Art; and Painting in New York 1944-1969, a major retrospective installed for the opening of the new Pasadena Art Museum in fall, 1969.