Braunstein/Quay Gallery records
name: label: Creator
content: Braunstein/Quay Gallery
label: Names
content: 32 Main St. Gallery
label: Names
content: Braunstein Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Quay Ceramics Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Quay Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Ruth Braunstein's Quay Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Braunstein, Ruth, 1923-2016
label: Names
content: Hardy, Don Ed
label: Names
content: Kienholz, Edward, 1927-
label: Names
content: Reddin-Kienholz, Nancy
label: Names
content: Shaw, Richard
label: Names
content: Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- California -- San Francisco
label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- New York (State)
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women art dealers
label: Topic
content: American studio craft movement
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated in several installments from 1974 to 2011 by gallery director and owner Ruth Braunstein.
creator: label: Creator
content: Braunstein/Quay Gallery
setName: label: See more items in
content: Braunstein/Quay Gallery records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Braunstein/Quay Gallery records measure 36.9 linear feet and date from 1956 to 2011. The records consist of administrative records, artist files, exhibition and event files,  and financial records that shed light on the gallery's operations through correspondence, price lists, inventories, printed material, born digital material, photographs, and more.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Braunstein/Quay Gallery was a contemporary art gallery founded in 1961 in San Francisco, California, by Ruth Braunstein. An early proponent of sculptural clay, fiber art, art furniture, glass, and ceramic work as fine art, the gallery dealt with contemporary art in various mediums. Some of Braunstein/Quay's most well-known artists include Peter Voulkos, Richard Shaw, Robert Brady, John Altoon, Bruce Conner, and Mary Snowden. 

Ruth Braunstein and Verna Are began renting a gallery space in Tiburon, California, in July 1961 under the name Gallery 32. Verna Are's expertise was in furniture and interior design items, while Braunstein's was contemporary fine art. Later in the summer of 1961, Braunstein changed the name to The Quay Gallery. She credited architect Raphael Soriano as having come up with the name. In the early 60s, Braunstein developed relationships with others in the California art community, namely David Stuart, Jackie Anhalt, Felix Landau, and Rolf Nelson. Early artists at the gallery included Hal Riegger, Doris Aller, Igor Medvedev, Win NG, Jim Melchert, and Elton Bennet.

In May 1965, Braunstein moved the gallery to San Francisco. After fellow gallerist Jim Newman closed his gallery near Braunstein's in 1968, Braunstein began showing several of Newman's artists, including Richard Shaw, Bruce Conner, Jeremy Anderson, and Sidney Gordon. In 1968, the gallery had its first show of Peter Voulkos's work after agreeing to pay him a stipend for one year. Voulkos and Braunstein's relationship continued into the 2000s. 

In 1970, Braunstein went into business with collector Rena Bransten to start Quay Ceramics Gallery. Silvia Brown was involved with the business for one year, and later, Bransten's daughter, Trish, became partners with Braunstein after her mother left. Ruth Braunstein still operated her art gallery, then-named Braunstein Gallery, which had moved from its original location on Jerome Street to Sutter Street in San Francisco. Quay Ceramics Gallery was located next door. Several administrative changes and name variations occurred over the next few decades, but Braunstein kept its gallery space on Sutter Street until 1999.

In 1975, Ruth Braunstein joined gallerists Phyllis Kind from Chicago, Carl Solway from Cincinnati, and Ed Thorp from Santa Barbara to establish a gallery in New York called 139 Spring Street, Inc. They opened with a show of Peter Voulkos and Sam Tchakalian. Only Voulkos's work sold — to fellow art dealer Grace Borgenicht. The partners dismantled the gallery co-op four years later. 

Braunstein/Quay promoted the San Francisco art scene and the careers of many artists for 50 years. In addition to the artists mentioned above, other artists influenced by Braunstein/Quay include Dominic DiMare, Gyongy Laky, Myra Block, Elin Elisofon, Robilee Frederick, Bean Finneran, David Anderson, Kimberly Austin, Arthur Okamura, Dennis Oppenheim, and Kyle Reicher. Braunstein/Quay, known to represent Braunstein's perspective on what she connotated as 'fine art,' exhibited works in the 1990s by tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy, and held a group show exhibiting works by tattoo artists, Out of Skin: Work by Tattooers (1996). Other unique shows included a group exhibition dedicated to dog imagery, The Dog Show, A Group Exhibition (1988); a group exhibition of book art, Redefining the Book (1994); and an exhibition of photographs of actress and Andy Warhol associate, Candy Darling, Candy Darling, Always a Lady (1997).  In 2010, Cabrillo Gallery held a retrospective of Braunstein's career as a gallerist, Ruth Braunstein and the Braunstein Quay Gallery, 1961-Present.

Ruth Braunstein was born in Minneapolis in 1923. She pursued a career in modern dance, dancing professionally in Washington D.C. and at the Minneapolis Dance Center. She married Theodore Braunstein in 1943. They moved to San Francisco, California, in 1960 and had two children, born two years apart. Aside from her career as a gallerist, Braunstein gave lectures, juried art competitions, participated in workshops, and was involved in various professional art organizations. In the early 1970s, Ruth Braunstein, along with a group that included Michael Wallace, Jim Willis, Buzz Sawyer, and Helen Henninger, founded the San Francisco Art Dealers' Association. The association put on a series of Introductions exhibitions every July for artists who had never shown in San Francisco; these exhibitions ran until 2002. Braunstein was also a committee member for ArtTable and on the board of Fiberworks. She passed away in September, 2016.
function: label: Function
content: Art galleries, Commercial -- California
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 36.9 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1956-2011
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.braugall
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as four series.

Series 1: Administrative Records, 1961-2009 (Box 1-4; 3.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Artist Files, 1956-2011 (Box 4-29, 39; 25.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Exhibition and Event Files, 1961-2010 (Box 29-33; 4.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Financial Records, 1965-1996 (Box 33-39; 3.8 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo in 2022.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection are available on 35mm microfilm reels 2301 and 2302 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Braunstein/Quay Gallery records measure 36.9 linear feet and date from 1956 to 2011. The records consist of administrative papers, artist files, exhibition and event files,  and financial records that shed light on the gallery's operations through correspondence, price lists, inventories, printed material, born digital material, photographs, and more.

Administrative records consist of property records, advertising files, papers related to professional organizations, non-profits, 139 Spring Street Inc., and scant personal and professional papers from Ruth Braunstein. Correspondence files include letters exchanged between Braunstein and collectors, museums and galleries, artists, conservationists, and printers. Photographs found here depict the gallery's physical space as well as images captured during events, exhibitions, and installations from the 1960s to 1980s.

Artist files mostly include resumes or biographies, correspondence, price lists, newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements, press releases, and catalogs. Folders might also include press packets, a mixture of personal and professional correspondence; CDs, DVDs, photographs, slides, and negatives of artists, artwork, and gallery installations; exhibition material such as loan agreements, announcements and catalogs, reviews, and notices of sale; shipping and transportation papers; and financial records.  

Exhibition and event files shed light on group exhibitions held at Braunstein/Quay and events and exhibitions held elsewhere that involved artwork or artists with Braunstein/Quay.  Folders might include contracts and agreements, loan and shipping records, correspondence, printed material, photographs, born digital materials, financial papers, and artist resumes. Also found here are press releases, catalogs, announcement cards, and scant clippings from Braunstein/Quay's exhibitions. Financial records consist of artist statements, sales records, and bills for shipping, framing, conservation, and utilities.