The New Arts records
name: label: Creator
content: New Arts (Art gallery)
label: Names
content: Bess, Forrest, 1911-1977
label: Names
content: Boynton, Jack, 1928-2010
label: Names
content: Calcagno, Lawrence, 1913-
label: Names
content: Cornell, Joseph
label: Names
content: Emmerich, André
label: Names
content: Ernst, Max, 1891-1976
label: Names
content: Kuhlman, Walter
label: Names
content: Plagens, Peter
label: Names
content: Smith, Hassel, 1915-2007
label: Names
content: Steinberg, Richard
label: Names
content: Swenson, Kathryn, 1926-1986
label: Names
content: Varda, Jean
topic: label: Topic
content: Women art dealers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated in 1979 by gallery owner and director Kathryn Swenson.
creator: label: Creator
content: New Arts (Art gallery)
setName: label: See more items in
content: The New Arts records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The New Arts records measure 1.3 linear feet and date from 1950 to 1979. The collection sheds light on the gallery's operations through correspondence, exhibition files, printed material, artists' files, and more.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The New Arts (est. 1956, closed 1974) was an art gallery in Houston, Texas, founded by Kathryn Swenson. The gallery was initially established to exhibit and sell pre-Columbian artwork, the bulk of which came from Andre Emmerich's private collection. Swenson asked friend and museum specialist Jermayne MacAgy to help with the exhibition display, and then sometime in the next two years, the gallery began to show established local artists. Pre-Columbian shows persisted throughout The New Arts' existence, but the gallery shifted its focus towards exhibiting a wide range of contemporary painters and sculptors by the late 1950s. Artists exhibited at The New Arts include Jack Boynton, Forest Bess, Hassel Smith, Max Ernst, Walter Kuhlman, Lawrence Calcagno, Joseph Cornell, Peter Plagens, and Jean Varda.

Ruby Kathryn Thomas Swenson (1926-1986) was born in Somerville, Texas. Prior to becoming an art dealer, Swenson volunteered at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston where she befriended MacAgy, who introduced her to Emmerich. In 1984, Swenson moved to Brenham, Texas.
function: label: Function
content: Art galleries, Commercial -- Texas
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1.3 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1950-1979
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.newarts
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as two series.

Series 1: Administrative Records, 1952-1970 (Box 1; .4 linear feet)

Series 2: Artists' Files, 1950-1979 (Box 1-2, OV 3; .9 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 2242-2244 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.

Portions of the collection are available on microfilm at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and through interlibrary loan.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The New Arts records measure 1.3 linear feet and date from 1950 to 1979. The collection sheds light on the gallery's operations through administrative records and artists' files. Administrative records include artwork authentification records, correspondence with museums, galleries, and private collectors, exhibition files, ephemera from exhibitions held elsewhere, and editions of the Contemporary Arts Council calendar. Artists' files consist of correspondence, price lists, photos of artwork and installations, exhibition ephemera, reviews, some resumes, and more. Artists covered include Forrest Bess, James Boynton, Lawrence Calcagno, Joseph Cornell, Max Ernst, Walter Kuhlman, Peter Plagens, Hassel Smith, Richard Steinberg, and Jean Varda.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Marc Moldawer, Kathryn Swenson, and Robert Wilson conducted by Sandra Curtis Levy, August 15, 1984.