Tanager Gallery records
name: label: Creator
content: Tanager Gallery
label: Names
content: Arnold, Anne, 1926-
label: Names
content: Brooks, James, 1906-1992
label: Names
content: Burkhardt, Rudy
label: Names
content: Cajori, Charles, 1921-2013
label: Names
content: Cherry, Herman
label: Names
content: Dodd, Lois, 1927-
label: Names
content: Fine, Perle, 1908-1988
label: Names
content: Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011
label: Names
content: Geist, Sidney
label: Names
content: Guston, Philip, 1913-1980
label: Names
content: Hazelet, Sally
label: Names
content: Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966
label: Names
content: Ippolito, Angelo
label: Names
content: Katz, Alex, 1927-
label: Names
content: King, William, 1925-2015
label: Names
content: Pearlstein, Philip, 1924-
label: Names
content: Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008
label: Names
content: Rivers, Larry, 1925-2002
label: Names
content: Stamos, Theodoros, 1922-1997
label: Names
content: Wesselmann, Tom, 1931-2004
topic: label: Topic
content: Art, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women arts administrators
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Lois Dodd, co-founder of the Tanager Gallery, donated the Tanager Gallery records in several increments between 1972 and 1989.
creator: label: Creator
content: Tanager Gallery
setName: label: See more items in
content: Tanager Gallery records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The records of contemporary New York City Tanager Gallery measure 2.6 linear feet and date from 1952 to 1979. Found are administrative files, financial and legal records including detailed receipt books, scattered correspondence, artists' files for circa 70 artists that include price lists and biographies, two scrapbooks of printed materials, newsclippings, exhibition announcements and other printed materials, and five photographs of openings at the gallery and of the exterior of the building.
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: The Tanager Gallery operated from 1952-1962 in New York City. The gallery was one of the first artist cooperative galleries formed on 10th Street in Manhattan to provide an alternative to the larger upscale galleries of Madison Avenue.

In 1952, the artist cooperative Tanager Gallery opened at 90 East 10th Street in Manhattan. Co-founders included Charles Cajori, Lois Dodd, Angelo Ippolito, William King, and Fred Mitchell. The Tanager offered open spaces for young artists to show their work and to sell art on their own terms. Membership at the Tanager included American Realists Alex Katz and Philip Pearlstein, and the Pop art/found-art collagist Tom Wesselmann. Later artists to join the cooperatiive included Mary Abbott, Perle Fine, Sidney Geist, Joseph Groell, Nanno de Groot, Sally Hazelet, Ben Isquith, Lester Johnson, Nicholas Marsicano, George Earl Ortman, Charlotte Park, Philip Pearlstein, Frank Stout, Raymond Rocklin, and Sal Sirugo. From 1952 to 1962, the Tanager Gallery exhibited works from about 250 artists.

The opening of Tanager and other 10th Street galleries was a radical change for the New York arts scene and for emerging New York artists who generally found representation with uptown gallery owners and/or art dealers on 57th Street or Madison Ave. In the 1950s, Manhattan's 10th Street was a gathering place for young artist-bohemians. The galleries were often the centers for anything avant-garde or new, such as art installations, happenings, poetry readings, jazz sessions, and performance art. For example, Tanager Gallery hosted a series of forums with local artists who would discuss their work and objectives.

Tanager Gallery received attention and respect from the more established art galleries and critics in New York, including Dore Ashton, Leo Castelli, Tom Hess, Martha Jackson, and Dorothy Miller. The Tanager Gallery closed in 1962.
function: label: Function
content: Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1952-1979
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.tanagall
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sketches
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series:

Series 1: Administrative Files, 1952-1979 (Boxes 1, 4; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Financial and Legal Records, 1952-1962 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Correspondence, 1952-1967 (Boxes 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 4: Artists Files, circa 1952- circa 1962 (Box 2; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 5: Scrapbooks, circa 1962 (Boxes 2-3; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1952-1971 (Boxes 2, 4; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1952-circa 1959 (Box 2; 2 folders)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: A portion of the Tanager Gallery records were originally loaned for microfilming in 1963 onto reels 3976 and D136; these reels are no longer in circulation. The records orginally loaned for microfiling, along with additional records, were later donated. All accretions were fully merged, processed, and described by Jayna Hanson in 2012 with funds provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels D136 and 3976 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The records of contemporary New York City Tanager Gallery measure 2.6 linear feet and date from 1952 to 1979. Found are administrative files, financial and legal records including detailed receipt books, scattered correspondence, artists' files for circa 70 artists that include price lists and biographies, two scrapbooks of printed materials, newsclippings, exhibition announcements and other printed materials, and five photographs of openings at the gallery and of the exterior of the building.

Administrative files include four day books, lists of artists and exhibitions, historical sketches, and an address book. There are two ledger books of expenses for shows and four receipt books from 1959-1962 which are organized by date and list artist, and artwork, buyer, and price. Correspondence is arranged chronologically and comprised mainly of copies of letters sent by the Gallery to artists as invitations to exhibit. Also found are scattered letters from museums and artists.

There are artists' files for circa 70 artists that contain a variety of materials, including price lists and biographies or resumes. Artists files are found for Anne Arnold, James Brooks, Charles Cajori, Herman Cherry, Lois Dodd, Sally Hazelet Drummond, Perle Fine, Helen Frankenthaler, Sidney Geist, Philip Guston, Hans Hofmann, Angelo Ippolito, Philip Pealstein, Alex Katz, William King, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, Theordore Stamos, and Tom Wesselmann among many others.

The collection includes two scrapbooks containing mostly newsclippings and exhibition announcements, as well as additional loose newsclippings, numerous exhibition announcements and catalogs, and press releases. There are five photographs of gallery openings and the exterior of the building, the latter taken by Rudy Burkhardt.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Material
content: Among the holdings of the Archives of American Art are the Lois Dodd papers, 1952-2001 and an oral history interview with Lois Dodd by Barbara Shikler from 1988.