Laurel Gallery records
name: label: Creator
content: Laurel Gallery
label: Names
content: Avery, Milton, 1885-1965
label: Names
content: Bentley, Claude Ronald, 1915-1990
label: Names
content: Brandt, Grace Borgenicht, 1915-2001
label: Names
content: Constant, George
label: Names
content: Ernst, Jimmy, 1920-1984
label: Names
content: Lassaw, Ibram, 1913-2003
label: Names
content: Lenson, Michael, 1903-1971
label: Names
content: Pach, Walter, 1883-1958
label: Names
content: Peterdi, Gabor
label: Names
content: Pytlak, L. (Leonard), 1910-1998
label: Names
content: Ritter, Chris
label: Names
content: Tourtelot, Madeline
topic: label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century -- History
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by gallery founder Chris Ritter in 1974.
creator: label: Creator
content: Laurel Gallery
setName: label: See more items in
content: Laurel Gallery records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Laurel Gallery records measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1944 to 1951. The collection sheds light on the gallery's operations through scant correspondence, photographs, printed material, an exhibition inventory, and financial records.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The Laurel Gallery was founded in New York City in 1946 by painter, printmaker, and educator, Chris Ritter. The gallery, located at 108 East 57th Street, was an active supporter of contemporary American art. Ritter occasionally exhibited his own work in the Laurel Gallery, but mostly exhibited the work of other avant-garde artists, including Jimmy Ernst, Grace Borgenicht (Laurel Gallery's co-director), Claude Bentley, George Constant, Ibram Lassaw, and others. In addition to exhbitions, the gallery published four portfolios of artists' prints and a quarterly magazine. Ritter closed the gallery in 1952, around the same time Borgenicht opened the Grace Borgenicht Gallery.
function: label: Function
content: Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) -- New York
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1944-1951
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.laurgall
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo in 2021.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection are available on 35mm microfilm reels 2423 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 Laurel Gallery records measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1944 to 1951. This small collection sheds light on the gallery's operations through scant correspondence, photographs, printed material, an exhibition inventory, and financial records.

The collection includes letters from artists and museums to gallery director Chris Ritter, and some to the gallery's co-director, Grace Borgenicht; writings on artists Milton Avery, Gabor Peterdi, and Leonard Pytlak. Financial records consist of tax records, notes, bills, price lists, artist agreements, an account book, and a sales book. Also present is an inventory from the exhibition, The New York Society of Women Artists (1947); a scrapbook and loose newspaper clippings;  photographs of artists and works of art; a plan for the gallery's marketing, pricing, and financials by Chris Ritter; and photographs, notes, and drafts related to the gallery's quarterly, Laurels.