ACA Galleries records
name: label: Creator
content: ACA Galleries
label: Names
content: American Contemporary Art Gallery
label: Names
content: Abbott, Berenice, 1898-1991
label: Names
content: Baron, Herman, 1892-1961
label: Names
content: Burliuk, David, 1882-1967
label: Names
content: Cahill, Holger, 1887-1960
label: Names
content: Dondero, George A. (George Anthony), 1883-1968
label: Names
content: Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973
label: Names
content: Gropper, William, 1897-1977
label: Names
content: Gwathmey, Robert, 1903-1988
label: Names
content: Hirsch, Joseph, 1910-1981
label: Names
content: McCausland, Elizabeth, 1899-1965
label: Names
content: Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990
label: Photographer
content: Newman, Arnold, 1918-2006
label: Names
content: Olds, Elizabeth, 1896-1991
label: Names
content: Pickens, Alton
label: Names
content: Refregier, Anton, 1905-
label: Names
content: Soyer, Moses, 1899-1974
label: Names
content: Soyer, Raphael, 1899-1987
label: Names
content: Valente, Alfredo
label: Names
content: Weber, Max, 1881-1961
label: Names
content: Young, Art, 1866-1943
topic: label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: World War, 1914-1918
label: Topic
content: Politics in art
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Ella Baron, widow of the ACA Galleries' founder Herman Baron, donated the records to the Archives of American Art in 1965 and 1966.
creator: label: Creator
content: ACA Galleries
setName: label: See more items in
content: ACA Galleries records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The scattered records of the ACA (American Contemporary Art) Galleries date from 1917 through 1963 and include writings by founder Herman Baron, artists Philip Evergood and Anton Refregier, and art critic Elizabeth McCausland; printed materials; and photographs of Baron, ACA artists, art collectors, works of art, and exhibitions. Correspondence is with David Burliuk, Philip Evergood, William Gropper, Lewis Mumford, Moses Sawyer, Max Weber, and others. Also found is a small group of Herman Baron's personal papers.
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: Herman Baron, Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Adolf Dehn founded the American Contemporary Art (ACA) Galleries on August 16, 1932. Located at 1269 Madison Avenue in New York City, the galleries' first show featured watercolorist Hy Cohen. Baron encouraged freedom of expression and did not censor the artworks displayed in his gallery. As a result, the gallery became an outlet for generally unknown and socially conscious artists, including the Social Realists.

Born in Lithuania in 1892, Herman Baron immigrated to the United States as a child. He served in World War I and later attended New York University. Baron founded and edited Glazier's Journal (later Glass Digest) in 1924 as the first journal for the professional glazing trade. Additionally, he wrote short stories and plays for American Hebrew and Young Israel. 

In response to economic issues facing the art market during the depresssion of 1930s, ACA Galleries organized relief efforts to financially support their artists. During this period, the gallery became closely allied with militant artists' organizations and some of the more politically radical artists. In 1935, the ACA Galleries and Herman Baron hosted the first meeting of the American Artists' Congress in the gallery space. 

The ACA Galleries featured exhibitions of works by artists David Burliuk, Stuart Davis, Philip Evergood, William Gropper, Robert Gwathmey, Joe Jones, Rockwell Kent, Lee Krasner, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Lewis Mumford, Louise Nevelson, Alton Pickens, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, Max Weber, Art Young, and others. Baron also organized exhibitions of many artists employed by or associated with the Works Progress Administration of the federal arts program. Due to the progressive nature of the works of art found in the ACA Galleries, Herman Baron came under considerable criticism during the McCarthy Era. Baron was condemned by Representative George A. Dondero for supporting "un-American" sympathies and was forced often to defend his gallery and artists.

For years the gallery focused on artists rights and supporting the work of artists, rather than a profit. In the 1950s, a shift occurred when Baron's nephew Sidney Bergen initiated professional business practices and transformed the gallery into a profitable venture. Now located at 529 West 20th Street in New York City, ACA Galleries continues to promote and support various social causes.
function: label: Function
content: Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1917-1963
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.acagall
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Writings
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 5 series:

Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1930s-1960s (Box 1; 0.25 linear feet)

Series 2: Writings and Notes, 1938-circa 1960s (Box 1; 8 folders)

Series 3: Printed Material, 1939-1960 (Box 2; 4 folders)

Series 4: Photographs, circa 1930s-circa 1960s (Box 2; 0.25 linear feet)

Series 5: Herman Baron Personal Papers, circa 1910s, 1940s-1960s (Box 2-3; 0.3 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The papers were microfilmed upon receipt on reel D304. The records were re-processed by Jayna Hanson in August 2008 and digitized in their entirety in 2010 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: This site provides access to the records of ACA Galleries in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2010. The records have been scanned in their entirety, and total 1439 images.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Writings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The scattered records of the ACA (American Contemporary Art) Galleries date from 1917 through 1963 and include writings by founder Herman Baron, artists Philip Evergood and Anton Refregier, and art critic Elizabeth McCausland; printed materials; and photographs of Baron, ACA artists, art collectors, works of art, and exhibitions. Correspondence is with David Burliuk, Philip Evergood, William Gropper, Lewis Mumford, Moses Sawyer, Max Weber, and others. Also found is a small group of Herman Baron's personal papers.

The records are a rich resource for documenting the Social Realist artists and the militant socialist artists during the great depression and the post-World War II era of "McCarthyism". 

Correspondence with ACA artists consists of letters from Philip Evergood, David Burliuk, William Gropper, Robert Gwathmey, Joseph Hirsch, Lewis Mumford, Elizabeth Olds, Alton Pickens, Moses Soyer, Max Weber, and Art Young. Some of the letters concern the socialist and communist views of some of the artists, including responses to Congressional Representive George A. Dondero's public statements and attacks on modern art as a conspiracy to spread communism in the United States. There is a letter written by Holger Cahill to the editor of Time magazine concerning WPA artists. Also found is a letter from Raphael Soyer written to the ACA Galleries concerning the American Artists' Congress. 

Writings include Herman Baron's written history of the ACA Galleries and scattered pages of Baron's book on Joe Jones and William Gropper. There are essays and writings by art critic Elizabeth McCausland, and artists Anton Refregier and Philip Evergood. Printed materials consist of ACA publications, newspaper clippings, published articles, printed illustrations by Philip Evergood, and printed materials about Congressman Dondero. 

Photographs are of David Burliuk, Bruce Calder, Nicolai Cikovsky, Hy Cohen, Robert Cronbach, Alexander Dobkin, Philip Evergood, Mike Gold, Chaim Gross, William Gropper, Joe Jones, Mervin Jules, Irene Rice Pereia, Geri Pine, Philip Reisman, Vic Shifreen, Harry Sternberg, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, James Baare Turnbull, Nicky Walker, Abraham Walkowitz, Nat Werner, and Art Young. Photographers include Berenice Abbott, Arnold Newman, and Alfredo Valente. Additional photographs are of unidentified installations or exhibitions. 

Herman Baron's personal papers include letters written to his wife and friends during World War I, writings by Baron for various magazines including Glazier's Journal. Personal photographs are of Herman Baron in his army uniform. There is also an obituary for Herman Baron written by art critic Elizabeth McCausland.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Material
content: The Archives of American Art holds the Herman Baron papers, dating from 1937-1967 which were donated by Syracuse University, George Arents Research Library in 1984. Some exhibition catalogs may be found here.