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Print Council of America records

Archives of American Art

Object Details

Creator
Print Council of America
Names
Print Council of America. Newsletter
Degas, Edgar, 1834-1917
Fine, Ruth, 1941-
Haverkamp Begemann, Egbert
Ostrow, Stephen E.
Reed, Sue Welsh
Occupation
Art dealers
Topic
Curators -- United States
Printmakers
Prints
Prints -- societies, etc
Prints -- Technique -- United States
Provenance
The Print Council of America records were donated in multiple installments from 1981 to 2020 via former council presidents Andrew Robinson, Sue Reed, Jay Fisher, Marjorie B. Cohn, and James A. Ganz and in 2020 via Jane Myers McNamara, Coordinator, Oral History Program.
Creator
Print Council of America
See more items in
Print Council of America records
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Print Council of America.
Summary
The records of the Print Council of America measure 24.5 linear feet and 3.02 GB, and date from 1951 to 2020. The collection includes administrative files, correspondence and subject files, interviews, some in digital format, exhibition and project files, financial records, and printed materials that document the council's founding and activities as a non-profit, professional organization of print specialists.
Biographical / Historical
The Print Council of America (est. 1956- ) is a non-profit, professional organization of print specialists in Boston, Massachusetts. The idea of a print council began in 1954 when a group of prominent art collectors, curators, and scholars gathered in New York to discuss creating a national organization that could promote prints and print collecting. After much discussion, by-laws and other legal documentation were drawn up by Joshua Binion Cahn, a legal advisor for the Print Council of America, to establish the organization. Some of the earliest members of the council, including Adelyn Breeskin, Gustav von Groschwitz, Una Johnson, William Lieberman, A. Hyatt Mayor, Elizabeth Mongan, Paul J. Sachs, and Carl Zigrosser, were led by Lessing J. Rosenwald, an art collector and son of Julius Rosenwald, who was part owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company. Rosenwald's mission was to "foster the creation, dissemination, and appreciation of fine prints, old and new," and to encourage and professionalize the preservation, administration, and study of print collections in the United States and Canada. Eventually the organization evolved to become an authority on print standards, educating print professionals and collectors on how to prevent fraudulent practices by learning ways to identify authentic or "original" prints. As an authority on prints, the council published numerous guides and directories of print resources. One of the council's most notable accomplishments was the compilation of European, American, and Japanese print resources into the Index of Print Catalogues Raisonné online database. The council also aimed to provide its members with an avenue to share ideas through holding annual meetings. After the closing of the organization's New York office in 1973, annual and semi-annual meetings continued to be a valuable resource for members. Today, the council continues to provide educational tools and resources for print professionals.
Function
Arts organizations
Extent
24.5 Linear feet
3.02 Gigabytes
Date
1951-2020
Archival Repository
Archives of American Art
Identifier
AAA.princoun
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Interviews
Photographs
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Citation
Print Council of America records, 1951-2020. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as seven series. Series 1: Administrative Files, 1955-2016 (9.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-7, 24-28, OV 29; 0.26 gigabytes, ER01) Series 2: Correspondence and Subject Files, 1953-2016 (5.9 linear feet; Boxes 7-12) Series 3: Oral History Project, 2006-2016 (0.4 linear feet; Box 13; 2.76 gigabytes, ER02-ER20) Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1956-2005 (3.0 linear feet; Boxes 13-16, OV 29) Series 5: Project Files, 1956-2013 (3.4 linear feet; Boxes 16-19, OV 29) Series 6: Financial Records, 1956-1995 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 19-21) Series 7: Printed Materials, 1951-2016 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 21-22)
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2017 with funding provided by the Print Council of America. Born-digital addition material was processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2021 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
Genre/Form
Interviews
Photographs
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Scope and Contents
The records of the Print Council of America measure 24.5 linear feet and 3.02 GB, and date from 1951 to 2020. The collection includes administrative files, correspondence and subject files, interviews, some in digital format, exhibition and project files, financial records, and printed materials that document the council's founding and activities as a non-profit, professional organization of print specialists. Administrative files consist of general administrative records and files for memberships, board of directors, trustees, committees, and digital photographs. Correspondence and subject files contain a mixture of correspondence, writings, and printed material for various correspondents and topics. The oral history project consists of twenty digital sound recordings and transcripts of interviews with council members Alan Fern, Ruth Fine, Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, Stephen E. Ostrow, Sue Reed, Robert Waddell, and others. Files for exhibitions include American Prints Today 1959 and 1962 , the VII São Paulo Biennial exhibition Eleven American Printmakers (1963), the New York World's Fair of 1964-1965, and 30 Contemporary American Prints (1964). Project files include documentation for the Index to Print Catalogues Raisonné database, other publishing and research projects, surveys, a print collection in India, the People-to-People Program, the sales of an Edgar Degas work, and project proposals. Financial records consist of cash vouchers, check stub books, financial reports, disbursement and cash receipt ledgers, The Lessing and Edith Rosenwald Foundation grant information, paid bills, and tax information. In printed materials are issues of Print Council's Newsletter, press releases, print sales and exhibition catalogs, reprints of advertisements, informational flyers created by the council, and a booklet marking the council's 50th anniversary.
Restrictions
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of born-digital records with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1519218607522-1519218607559-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw91764af3b-0da1-43a4-a5b7-9d4c8bab3662

In the Collection

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  • Elections

  • Database, Index to Print Catalogues Raisonné, Funding for New Edition

  • Periodical, Newsletter, Nos. 29-30

  • Zerner, Henri

  • Advisory Committee for Artists

  • Annual Meetings

  • Traveling and International Exhibitions, United States Information Agency - Slides of Works of Art

  • M, General

  • Arts Magazines

  • Booklet, What is an Original Print? (1961), Sales and Printing Expenses

  • Membership Committee

  • Booklet, Print Dealers and Art Galleries in the U.S., Correspondence

  • Rosenwald, Lessing J.

  • Periodical, Newsletter, No. 38

  • Instructions and Consent Forms

  • Oral History Project

  • 2009 Meeting, Minutes

  • Zigrosser, Carl

  • Treasurer Reports

  • Rosenwald, Lessing J.

  • S,General

  • Informational Flyer, "What is the Print Council?... What Does it Do?"

  • Elections

  • Better Business Bureaus

  • Policies

  • Proposal, Print Dealers Association in the U.S. - Correspondence

  • Oversized American Prints Today 1959, Catalog Page Proofs from Box 13, Folder 19

  • Booklet, Print Dealers and Art Galleries in the U.S. (2nd Edition), Dealer Applications Pending

  • Periodical, Newsletter, Nos. 12-13

  • Check Stub Book

  • Barnhill, Georgia "Gigi" interviewed by Timothy Riggs, Amherst, MA (2019 August 2), Digital Audio Recording, Photograph and Documents

  • Founding, Organizing Procedures

  • American Prints Today 1959, Damages at French and Canadian Showings

  • Cancellations as of January 1970

  • Peterdi, Gabor

  • American Prints Today 1962, Orders for Prints

  • 2013 Mid-Winter Meeting, Minutes

  • B, General

  • International Association of Plastic Arts

  • 2015 Meeting, Minutes

  • 2008 Meeting, Registration Packet and Correspondence

  • Letterhead Sample

  • 1999 Meeting, Minutes and Agendas

  • Traveling and International Exhibitions, Europe - General

  • Original Prints, Reprints from French Publications

  • 1993 Mid-Winter Meeting, New Members

  • Directors' Files

  • 1988 Meeting, Correspondence

  • Field, Richard S.

  • Card File, Press Contacts - TV and Radio

  • Founding, Legal Matters

  • "PCA" Logo for 60th Anniversary by Andrew Raftery

  • 2007 Meeting, Business Meeting Minutes

  • J, General

  • Bloch, E. Maurice

  • American Prints Today 1962, Correspondence - Artists

  • 1971 Meeting, Correspondence

  • Mac/Mc, General

  • Keepers of Public Collections of Graphic Arts, International Advisory Committee 13th Annual Convention Report

  • Book, "Print Collector's Yearbook" (1962), Edited by Zigrosser

  • Mayer, Grace M.

  • 1994 Meeting, Agenda and Correspondence

  • Grant from The Lessing and Edith Rosenwald Foundation

  • McKendry, John

  • Elections

  • Original Prints, Redefinition

  • 2003 Meeting, Minutes

  • Kainen, Jacob

  • Office Supplies and Services

  • Periodical, Print Exhibitions Calendar, No. 47

  • American Prints Today 1959, Press Clippings

  • American Prints Today 1962, Catalog Design

  • American Prints Today 1962, Catalog

  • Periodical, Newsletter, Nos. 1-5

  • American Prints Today 1962, Photographs of Works of Art

  • Paid Bills

  • Periodical, Newsletter, No. 37

  • Book, The Print Council Index to Oeuvre-Catalogs of Prints by European and American Artists (1983), Contract and Proposal for Supplement

  • Check Stub Book

  • 1985 Meeting and Mid-Winter Meeting, Minutes and Correspondence

  • O, General

  • Correspondence from Council President to Members, Multiple Presidents

  • E, General

  • Proposal, International Biennial Exhibition of Drawings and Prints by Dr. Luigi Salerno

  • American Prints Today 1959, Correspondence with Artists

  • 1992 Meeting, Correspondence

  • Nominations

  • N, General

  • Nominations

  • Haverkamp-Begemann, Egbert

  • American Prints Today 1959, Catalog and Preliminary Documents

  • Troche, Dr. E. Gunter

  • T, General

  • New Members Lists

  • Mongan, Elizabeth

  • Waddell, Robert Interview, Digital Audio Recordings

  • Correspondence from Council to Members

  • Card File, Artists

  • Nominations

  • Feinblatt, Ebria

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Advertising with Dealers and Galleries, Correspondence and Clippings
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International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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