Martin Birnbaum papers
name: label: Creator
content: Birnbaum, Martin, 1878-1970
label: Names
content: Fogg Art Museum
label: Names
content: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Philadelphia Museum of Art
label: Names
content: Scott & Fowles (Firm)
label: Names
content: Beardsley, Aubrey, 1872-1898
label: Names
content: Beaux, Cecilia, 1855-1942
label: Names
content: Bruce, Edward, 1879-1943
label: Names
content: Bufano, Beniamino, 1898-1970
label: Names
content: Chanler, Robert Winthrop, 1872-1930
label: Names
content: Choate, Mabel, 1870-1958
label: Names
content: Clark, Stephen C. (Stephen Carlton), b. 1882
label: Names
content: Cœdès, George
label: Names
content: Davis, Edmund
label: Names
content: Davis, Reginald
label: Names
content: Despiau, Charles, 1874-1946
label: Names
content: Diederich, William Hunt, 1884-1953
label: Names
content: Dillingham, Louise
label: Names
content: Douglas, Norman, 1868-1952
label: Names
content: Dulac, Edmund, 1882-1953
label: Names
content: Fernández, Luis, 1900-1973
label: Names
content: Haseltine, Herbert, 1877-1962
label: Names
content: Hoffman, Malvina, 1887-1966
label: Names
content: Hoowij, Jan, 1907-
label: Names
content: Jacobs, Leonebel
label: Names
content: John, Augustus, 1878-1961
label: Names
content: Jones, Lois Mailou (1905-1998)
label: Names
content: Kester, Lenard, 1917-
label: Names
content: Manship, Paul, 1885-1966
label: Names
content: McIlhenny, Henry P.
label: Names
content: Melchers, Gari, 1860-1932
label: Names
content: Nadelman, Elie, 1882-1946
label: Names
content: Parmelee, James
label: Names
content: Parrish, Maxfield, 1870-1966
label: Names
content: Potterton, Alfred B.
label: Names
content: Richter, Gisela Marie Augusta, 1882-1972
label: Names
content: Ricketts, Charles S., 1866-1931
label: Names
content: Rock, Joseph Francis Charles, 1884-1962
label: Names
content: Rothenstein, William, Sir, 1872-1945
label: Names
content: Sargent, John Singer, 1856-1925
label: Names
content: Scott, Stevenson
label: Names
content: Scudder, Janet, b. 1873
label: Names
content: Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968
label: Names
content: Sprinchorn, Carl, 1887-1971
label: Names
content: Stein, Leo, 1872-1947
label: Names
content: Sterne, Maurice, 1878-1957
label: Names
content: Sterner, Albert, 1863-1946
label: Names
content: Werntz, Carl N. (Carl Newland), 1874-1944
label: Names
content: Wilson, Stanley
label: Names
content: Winthrop, Grenville Lindall, 1864-1943
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Authors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Material on reels N698, N698A-N698B were lent for microfilming by Martin Birnbaum in 1967. The rest of the collection was donated in an anonymous gift in 1970 and by Martin Birnbaum's great-nephew, Jerome Ziegler, in 1975.
creator: label: Creator
content: Birnbaum, Martin, 1878-1970
setName: label: See more items in
content: Martin Birnbaum papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of New York art dealer, critic, and author Martin Birnbaum measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1862-1967, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920-1967. The papers document Birnbaum's association with the firm of Scott & Fowles, the lives and activities of his friends and colleagues, and his literary work, through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, business records, printed material, a scrapbook, scattered artwork, and photographs of Birnbaum, friends and colleagues, and artwork.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: New York art dealer, critic, and author Martin Birmbaum (1878-1970) was the manager of the American branch of the Berlin Photographic Company in New York City from 1910–1916, and a longtime partner in the art firm Scott & Fowles. He spent the later part of his career building the Grenville Lindall Winthrop Collection, now at the Fogg Museum. 

Birnbaum immigrated to the United States from Hungary as a child. He was an accomplished violinist who studied at City College of New York, and graduated with a law degree from Columbia University in 1901, but developed a life-long interest in art during visits to Europe. As manager of the Berlin Photographic Company he had great success in staging art exhibitions at the company's New York galleries, which led him to a junior partnership in the Fifth Avenue firm of art dealers, Scott & Fowles. Birnbaum traveled widely and built relationships with many of the prominent artists and art collectors of his day and, in addition to the Grenville Lindall Winthrop collection, was influential in developing other important art collections including those of Edward Davis, Reginald Davis, and Henry P. McIlhenny. 

Birnbaum wrote widely about his experiences and encounters in the world of wealthy socialites, literary salons, artists, art patrons, and collectors in publications such as Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (Berlin Photographic Co., 1911),  Oscar Wilde: Fragments and Memories (J.F. Drake, Incorporated, 1914) , Vanishing Eden:Wanderings in the Tropics (New York: William E. Rudge's Sons, 1942), Angkor and the Mandarin Road (Vantage Press, 1952), and The Last Romantic (Twayne Publishers, 1961). He died in 1970 at the age of 92.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3.2 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1862-1967
label: Date
content: bulk 1920-1967
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.birnmart
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Etchings
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is arranged as 8 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1890-1950s (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 4-5)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1862-1967 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1890-circa 1960 (0.45 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 4: Business Records, 1918-1967 (0.15 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1895-circa 1960 (0.15 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 6: Scrapbook, 1960-1961 (1 folder; Box 3)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1890-circa 1960 (0.15 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1900-circa 1960s (0.3 linear feet; Box 3)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Portions of the collection were loaned and microfilmed prior to receipt. The entire collection was arranged and a finding aid written by Stephanie Ashley in 2016 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels N698, N698A, N698B, 108, and 1023-1027 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.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Etchings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of New York art dealer, critic, and author Martin Birnbaum measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1862-1967, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920-1967. The papers document Birnbaum's association with the firm of Scott & Fowles, the lives and activities of his friends and colleagues, and his literary work, through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, business records, printed material, a scrapbook, scattered artwork, and photographs of Birnbaum, friends and colleagues, and artwork.

Correspondence, primarily letters received by Birnbaum in New York, and throughout Europe from 1917-1960s, reflects Birnbaum's association with Scott & Fowles, particularly Stevenson Scott, and includes many details about the lives and activities of his correspondents, among them: artists Edward Bruce, Cecilia Beaux, Beniamino Bufano, Stephen C. Clark, Louise Dillingham, William Hunt Diedrich, Luis Fernandez, Herbert Haseltine, Jan Hoowij, Malvina Hoffman, Leonebel Jacobs, Lenard Kester, Lois Mailou Jones, Paul Manship, Gari Melchers, Maxfield Parrish, Charles S. Ricketts, William Rothenstein, John Singer Sargent, Janet Scudder, Carl Sprinchorn, Maurice Sterne, Albert Sterner, Carl N. Wertz, and Stanley Wilson. Also found is correspondence with art collectors and patrons including Mabel Choate, Edmund Davis, Reginald Davis, Henry P. McIlhenny, James Parmalee, Edith Wetmore, and Grenville Windall Linthrop, and museums including the Fogg Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then curator Gisela Marie Augusta Richter, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Correspondence with scholars, writers, and publishers including George Coedes, Edmund Dulac, Joseph Francis Charles Rock, Upton Sinclair and others, documents aspects of Birnbaum's literary and scholarly work.

Writings include drafts of The Last Romantic, including Upton Sinclair's revision, and some of Birnbaum's early published and unpublished writings, as well as notes on Aubrey Beardsley. 

Business records include financial records such as bills, receipts, canceled checks and statements for sales of artwork, and scattered legal records. 

A small amount of printed material primarily consists of programs for musical events which evidence Birnbaum's early success as a violinist, as well as scattered news clippings, 2 exhibition catalogs, and announcements for the publications of Angkor and the Mandarin Road and The Last Romantic. Additional printed material about Birnbaum can be found in the dismantled scrapbook, 1960-1961.

Artwork includes 2 etchings and a sketch by Birnbaum, bookplates by various artists, circa 10 sketches by other and unidentified artists, and 3 cards with original artwork. 

Photographs include snapshots and portraits of Birnbaum and artists and friends, among them: Robert Chanler, Charles Despiau, Norman Douglas, Luis Fernandez, Herbert Haseltine, Augustus John, Paul Manship, Gari Melchers, Elie Nadelman, Albert Sterner, Stevenson Scott, and Grenville Lindall Winthrop. Also found is a photo of Birnbaum with Edward Bruce, Alfred Potterton, Leon Stein, and Maurice Sterne, circa 1915-1916, and photographs proposed for use in The Last Romantic, travel snapshots, and photos of artwork.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels N698, N698A-N698B) including correspondence, bookplates, sketches, newspaper clippings, and a list of books containing ornamental drawings and illustrations. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.