Koplin Gallery and Koplin Del Rio Gallery records
name: label: Creator
content: Koplin Del Rio Gallery
label: Creator
content: Koplin Gallery (Santa Monica, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Koplin Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Brown, Joan, 1938-1990
label: Names
content: Del Rio, Eleana
label: Names
content: Doolin, James (James Lawrence), 1932-2002
label: Names
content: Koplin, Martha
label: Names
content: Marshall, Kerry James, 1955-
topic: label: Topic
content: Women art dealers
label: Topic
content: Mixed media (Art)
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated 2007 and 2009 by Eleana Del Rio, gallery director and Martha Koplin, retired Koplin Gallery director.
creator: label: Creator
content: Koplin Del Rio Gallery
label: Creator
content: Koplin Gallery (Santa Monica, Calif.)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Koplin Gallery and Koplin Del Rio Gallery records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Koplin Gallery and Koplin Del Rio Gallery records measure 4.0 linear feet and date from  1973 to 2006. The records document the history of the gallery primarily through exhibition and artist files. Files are typically comprised of correspondence with artists, artist statements and resumes, loan agreements, exhibition material such as announcements, catalogs, and price lists, photographs and slides of artwork and exhibitions, printed material documenting exhibitions at the gallery as well as the wider careers of many of the artists that exhibited there, and sound and video recordings about some of the artists and their work. Five gallery files provide scattered documentation of the gallery's history, Martha Koplin's career, and the transition to Koplin Del Rio Gallery with Eleana Del Rio as director, and include photographs of artist openings and other events at the gallery and elsewhere.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Gallery owner and educator Martha (Marti) Koplin opened Koplin Gallery in West Hollywood, California, in January 1982 with an exhibition of Joan Brown's sculptures and paintings, and constructions by Elena and Mary Siff. Koplin Gallery subsequently played an active role in the Los Angeles gallery and art scene, mounting an eclectic range of exhibitions showing photography, sculpture, representational works, and abstract art.

In 1990, the gallery moved to Santa Monica before returning to West Hollywood in 1996. Eleana Del Rio joined the gallery in 1989 and became a principal in the gallery in 1998. By that time Koplin Gallery had become the representative of Rico Lebrun's estate and showed artists such as Darlene Campbell, James Doolin, Martha Mayer Erlebacher, Mineko Grimmer, Kerry James Marshall, and others. Martha Koplin retired in 2002 and formally announced the inauguration of the Koplin Del Rio gallery in 2003 with Eleana Del Rio as director. In 2016, Del Rio moved the gallery to Seattle, Washington, where it is in operation today.
function: label: Function
content: Art galleries, Commercial -- California
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1973-2006
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.kopldelr
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as three series.

Series 1: Exhibition Files, 1982-2004 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Artist Files, 1973-2006 (3.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-4)

Series 3: Gallery Files, 1982-2005 (0.1 linear feet; Box 4)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Ricky Gomez in 2021. The collection was  prepared for digitization and the finding aid was updated by Stephanie Ashley in 2024 and was digitized in 2024 with Federal support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2024 and is available on the Archives of American Art website. Material not digitized includes duplicates, blank versos of photographs, and some printed material and publications for which only the covers and/or relevant pages may have been digitized. Some artist printed material not related to Koplin Gallery has been selectively digitized.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Koplin Gallery and Koplin Del Rio Gallery records measure 4.0 linear feet and date from  1973 to 2006. The records document the history of the gallery primarily through exhibition and artist files. Files are typically comprised of correspondence with artists, artist statements and resumes, loan agreements, exhibition material such as announcements, catalogs, and price lists, photographs and slides of artwork and exhibitions, printed material documenting exhibitions at the gallery as well as the wider careers of many of the artists that exhibited there, and sound and video recordings about some of the artists and their work. Five gallery files provide scattered documentation of the gallery's history, Martha Koplin's career, and the transition to Koplin Del Rio Gallery with Eleana Del Rio as director, and include photographs of artist openings and other events at the gallery and elsewhere.

Exhibition files document some of the group exhibitions, including a series of exhibitions of drawings, held at the gallery and exhibitions outside the gallery that Koplin Gallery contributed to such as a series of International Contemporary Art Fairs and Los Angeles International Art Invitationals.

Artist files document the gallery's relationship with many of the artists who exhibited there, and include records of solo exhibitions held at the gallery. Files include artist statements and resumes, slides of artwork and some installations at the gallery, printed material such as exhibition announcements, catalogs, press reviews of Koplin exhibitions, and wider press coverage of many artists' careers, and scattered sound and video recordings including some interviews with artists. Artists particularly well represented in the series include Sandow Birk, Joan Brown, James Doolin, Gisele Freund, Mineko Grimmer, Rico Lebrun, David Ligare, and Kerry James Marshall. 

A small series of gallery files provides some documentation about Martha Koplin's founding vision for the gallery, her career as a gallery owner, speaker, and art juror, and Eleana Del Rio's involvement in and transition to director of the gallery. Also found are scattered correspondence about events, other event records, and some gallery press and publicity items. Two folders of snapshots are primarily of artist openings and other events at the gallery.