Margarete Roeder Gallery records
name: label: Creator
content: Margarete Roeder Gallery
label: Names
content: Cage, John, 1912-1992
label: Names
content: Cunningham, Merce
label: Names
content: Roeder, Margarete, 1939-2023
topic: label: Topic
content: Women art dealers
label: Topic
content: Minimal art
label: Topic
content: Conceptual art
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated in 2024 by Sabine Schumacher, gallery manager and Power of Attorney.
creator: label: Creator
content: Margarete Roeder Gallery
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Margarete Roeder (1939-2023) was born in Neukirchen, Austria. At eighteen she travelled alone by boat to Canada, where she studied urban planning at the University of Alberta and became involved with Edmonton's arts and music culture. In the early 1970s, Roeder moved to Cincinnati and started working for art dealer Carl Solway. Solway introduced Roeder to composer John Cage and choreographer Merce Cunningham, who would become Roeder's close friends and long-term professional collaborators. When Solway sought to expand operations, Roeder became his New York gallery director. She left this position to work at the New York branch of California-based printshop and publisher Crown Point Press. Roeder encouraged Cage to execute his first set of prints with Crown Point, sparking his continued work in the visual arts. 

In 1986, Roeder parted ways with Crown Point and founded the Margarete Roeder Gallery at 545 Broadway in SoHo. The gallery mainly featured works by American and European minimal, conceptual, and abstract artists. Roeder maintained close relationships with many of the artists she worked with. She represented Cage and Cunningham as well as their estates. Nam June Pak, Eva Hesse, Sol Lewitt, Rudolf de Crignis, Tom Marioni, Jill Baroff, and Fred Sandback are among the artists who exhibited work at the Margarete Roeder Gallery. Roeder went on to open a second gallery location in Cologne, Germany, and was a regular participant in the annual Art Cologne trade fair. Both gallery locations closed following Roeder's death in December 2023.
function: label: Function
content: Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.5 Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1970-2023
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.margroed
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Margarete Roeder Gallery records measure 4.5 linear feet and date from circa  1970-2023. The records document the activities of the gallery and its eponymous owner through correspondence, writings, exhibition files, artist files, financial records, rare printed materials, press clippings, photographic materials, audiovisual materials, and born-digital materials.

The bulk of the records are in digital formats, and the bulk of the paper records relate to the work of John Cage and Merce Cunningham, both of whom were longtime anchors of the roster. Correspondence is primarily with collectors, museum curators, and artists. Other business records include inventories and sales records, price lists, contracts, and the like. Photographic materials document works of art, gallery exhibitions, installations at art fairs, and Roeder's travels. Printed material includes exhibition announcements and invitations, printed collateral relating to gallery artists, and extensive press clippings relating to John Cage. Of particular note are a collection of letters from John and Xenia Cage to Doris Dennison, written in 1941 and 1942 while the Cages were living and working in Chicago, original handwritten notes and scores by Cage, a pair of Merce Cunningham sketchbooks, and a number of works on paper gifted to Roeder by gallery artists. Also notable are the complete components and installation instructions for a trio of yarn sculptures by Fred Sandback and a collection of mail art by Douglas Landies.