Earle and Mary Ludgin papers
name: label: Creator
content: Ludgin, Earle, 1898-1981
label: Creator
content: Ludgin, Mary, 1894-1962
label: Creator
content: Betty Parsons Gallery
label: Names
content: Albright, Ivan, 1897-1983
label: Names
content: Bess, Forrest, 1911-1977
label: Names
content: Burg, Copeland Charles, b. 1895
label: Names
content: Fink, Peter
label: Names
content: Rattner, Abraham
label: Names
content: Seligmann, Kurt, 1900-1962
topic: label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Material on reels 1703-1704 (also filmed on reel 3458) donated 1979 by Earle Ludgin; material on reels 3821-3824 donated 1985 by Donald Ludgin, son of Mary and Earle Ludgin. Additional material donated in 2023 by
creator: label: Creator
content: Ludgin, Earle, 1898-1981
label: Creator
content: Ludgin, Mary, 1894-1962
label: Creator
content: Betty Parsons Gallery
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Collectors; Chicago, Illinois. Earle Ludgin, an advertising executive, and his wife Mary, began collecting art in the early 1930's and continued for almost 50 years, amassing an important contemporary American art collection.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.2 Linear Feet ((on 6 microfilm reels))
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1930-1983
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.ludgearl
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection including correspondence, 1948-1974, between Earle Ludgin and artist Forrest Bess, and 2 letters from Betty Parsons Gallery to Bess. Some letters contain clippings and photographs of Bess and of his work are available on 35mm microfilm reels 1703-1704, at Archives of American Art offices, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and through interlibrary loan.
label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: 35mm microfilm reels 3458 available for use only at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and through interlibrary loan.
label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection including correspondence, 1934-1979, with artists, musicians, writers, and other individuals involved in the arts, including ca. 1,200 letters received and carbon copies of letters sent. Ivan Albright, Leonard Baskin, Forrest Bess, Maurizio Bonora, Richard Bowman, Judith Brown, Copeland Burg, Alexander Calder, Pablo Casals, Marvin Cone, Peter Dews, Edwin Dickinson, Peter Fink, Dorothy Hood, Edward Hopper, Lincoln Kirstein, Norman Laliberte, Kirk Newman, Seiji Ozawa, Dan Palumbo, Alton Pickens, Abraham and Esther Rattner, Daniel Catton Rich, Kurt and Arlette Seligmann, Ben Shahn, Margaret Tomkins, Alice Valenstein, and Max Weber are correspondents. are available on 35mm microfilm reels 3821-3824, at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Correspondence; financial records; writings; photographs; sketches; inventories of art works; and printed materials.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Business correspondence and records, 1930-1981, regarding the Ludgin art collection consists of ca. 1,000 items, and includes documentation on the purchase, outgoing loan, insurance, shipment, etc. of art works. Also included are 3 inventories of the art collection, undated, 1951, and 1981.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Also included are typescript "With Both Eyes Open" by Earle Ludgin as a catalog introduction for the exhibition, THE LUDGIN COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY PAINTINGS, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1954; 6 photographs of an exhibition opening, sent to Ludgin by Kurt Seligmann, 1949; a photograph of Copeland Burg; a photograph of Kurt Seligmann and Father Bruckberger; 2 contact sheets containing photographs of Earle Ludgin by Peter Fink; 12 photographs of art installations at Earle Ludgin and Co. offices and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art;
label: Scope and Contents
content: color photographs of pages from Ivan Albright's sketchbook of flesh wounds (sketchbook is owned by the Art Institute of Chicago); and 38 photographs, ca. 370 slides, and a few negatives of art work in the Ludgin collection; printed materials, 1941-1979, including news releases, newpaper clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements (ca. 50 items); 11 rough pencil sketches on Earle Ludgin memo paper, some of which appear to be art installation plans; and a half-tone plate of RECLINING FIGURE by Henry Moore.