Table of Contents
Scope and Contents of the Collection
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Overview of the Collection |
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| Creator: | Gelb, Jan, 1906- |
| Title: | Jan Gelb and Boris Margo Papers |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1915-1970 |
| Quantity: | 5.25 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | Correspondence (1939-1970); exhibition catalogs (1933-1970); articles, clippings, and reviews; and photographs of Gelb’s work. Correspondents include Minna Citron, Mary Spencer Nay, and Lois Bartlett Tracy. |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center |
Biographical History
American Jewish painters and printmakers. Gelb died in 1978. Boris Margo is the Russian-born husband of Jan Gelb.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Spanning 1915 to 1970, the Jan Gelb and Boris Margo Papers comprises correspondence, biographical material, artwork, writings, and memorabilia of the American Jewish artists. The collection illuminates the personal lives and artistic careers of both Jan Gelb, a painter, printmaker, and educator (1906-1978), and her Russian born husband, Boris Margo, a painter, sculptor, inventor of the cellocut printmaking process, and educator (b. 1902).
Arranged alphabetically, the joint Correspondence subject files (Boxes 1-2) consists of incoming letters and outgoing carbons predominantly relating to Jan Gelb during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as other documents pertaining to artwork. Among the correspondents are fellow artists (James T. Anderson, Will Barnet, Claire Burch, Jeanne Chanel, Minna Citron, Priscilla J. Haley, Ethel Polacheck Margolies, Mary Spencer Nay, Henry N. Rasmusen, Sylvia Singer, Andre Smith, Lois Bartlett Tracy, John Von Wicht); authors (Robert Goldwater, Raymond Frank Piper, Vernon Young); museum curators (John I. H. Baur, Una E. Johnson); and patrons of Gelb (Charles D. Clark, Samuel B. Frank). Organizational correspondence of Gelb and Margo includes that of art associations (American Federation of Arts, Artists Equity Association, Associated American Artists, Audubon Artists, Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, Ford Foundation, International Graphic Arts Society, MacDowell Colony, National Academy of Design, Pen and Brush, Print Club, Provincetown Art Association, Society of American Graphic Artists); art galleries and museums (Abbot Academy, Alverthorpe Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, Ball State Art Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Butler Institute of American Art, De Cordova Museum, Fairweather Hardin Gallery, Fine Arts Work Center, Forsythe Gallery, Galerie A. G., Joseph Grippi Gallery, I.F.A. Galleries, Kraushaar Galleries, Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Oakland Art Museum, Betty Parsons Gallery, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pratt Graphic Art Center, Esther Robles Gallery, Shore Studio Galleries, Silvermine Guild of Artists, Smithsonian Institution, Society of the Four Arts, Wellfleet Art Gallery, E. Weyhe, Ruth White Gallery, Whitney Museum of American Art); educational institutions (New York City Board of Education, New York University, State University College at Potsdam, New York, Syracuse University); and the United States Information Agency. The remainder of the material in the collection is divided between Jan Gelb (Boxes 2-5) and Boris Margo (Boxes 6-11).
Jan Gelb's Artwork (Box 2) encompasses photographs, which are arranged by titles provided by Gelb, and reproductions of her artwork, ranging from bookplates to pamphlet design and layout. Gelb's Writings (Box 3) includes a radio interview, notes for a lecture and panel discussion relating to art, poems, and statements on art. Her Memorabilia (Boxes 3-5) consists of a partial inventory of paintings, several photographs, and printed material. Printed material is comprised of articles and reviews (1940-1970), newspaper clippings (1925-1969), exhibition catalogs and invitations pertaining to Gelb (1933-1970), as well as those featuring both Gelb and Margo (1950-1970), and two exhibition posters.
Boris Margo's Artwork (Box 6) includes a cellocut greeting card, a drypoint on celluloid, a reproduction, and 5 pencil sketches. Lecture notes about the creative process from the artist's viewpoint constitute Margo's Writings (Box 6). His Memorabilia (Boxes 6-11) comprises several photographs, printed material, and typescript writings about Margo. Printed material consists of documents pertaining to art juries (1953-1970) , articles and reviews (1940-1966), newspaper clippings (1943-1968), exhibition catalogs and invitations (1933-1970), four exhibition posters, and material related to teaching (1946-1970).
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Subject Headings
Persons
Subjects
Genres and Forms
Occupations
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Jan Gelb and Boris Margo Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
Finding Aid Information
Created by: ASE
Date: Nov 1993
Revision history: 31 Oct 2005 - EAD file created (MRR)
Inventory
| Family Correspondence | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | A-Z | ||||||||||
| Correspondence subject files | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Abbot Academy (Andover, Mass.) 1958 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Alverthorpe Gallery (Jenkintown, Pa.) 1964 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | American Federation of Arts (New York, N.Y.) 1950-1964, undated (2 folders) | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Anderson, James T. 1965 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Art Institute of Chicago 1957, 1958 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Artists Equity Association (New York, N.Y.) 1953-1957 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Associated American Artists (New York, N.Y.) 1962-1967 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Audubon Artists, inc. (New York, N.Y.) 1967, 1968 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Ball State Art Gallery (Muncie, Ind.) undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Barnet, Will 1963 (outgoing) | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Baur, John I. H. | ||||||||||
| See Whitney Museum of American Art | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Bocour Artist Colors Incorporated (New York, N.Y.) 1957-1967 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Boston Art Festival 1953 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Brooklyn Museum 1947-1963, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Brooks Memorial Art Gallery (Memphis, Tenn.) 1961, 1962 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Burch, Claire 1961 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Butler Institute of American Art (Youngstown, Ohio) 1958 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Chanel, Jeanne 1960-1966, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Chicago Artists Exhibition 1958 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Citron, Minna 1958-1969, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Clark, Charles D. 1967, 1968 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | [De] Cordova Museum (Lincoln, Mass.) 1965 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Fairweather Hardin Gallery (Chicago, Ill.) 1958 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, Inc. (New York, N.Y.) 1955-1958, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Fine Arts Work Center (Provincetown, Mass.) 1968 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Ford Foundation (New York, N.Y.) 1958, 1959 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Forsythe Gallery (Ann Arbor, Mich.) 1950-1958, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Frank, Samuel B. 1969-1970 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Galerie A. G. (Paris, France) 1959-1960 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Gelb, Jan (to Boris Margo) 1955 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Goldwater, Robert 1948 (outgoing) | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Joseph Grippi Gallery (New York, N.Y.) 1963, 1964 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Haley, Priscilla J. 1959, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | I.F.A. Galleries, Inc. (Washington, D.C.) 1963-1964 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | International Graphic Arts Society, Inc. (New York, N.Y.) 1953, 1957 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Johnson, Una E. undated | ||||||||||
| See also Brooklyn Museum | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | [W. R.] Keating & Company (New York, N.Y.) 1959, 1961 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Kraska, George 1939 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Kraushaar Galleries (New York, N.Y.) 1959, 1961 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.) 1947-1970 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | MacDowell Colony (Peterborough, N.H.) 1955-1959, 1969, undated | ||||||||||
| [Edward] MacDowell Association, Inc. (New York, N.Y.) | |||||||||||
| See MacDowell Colony | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc. (New York, N.Y.) 1959, 1967 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Margo, Boris (to Jan Gelb) 1951, 1956, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Margolies, Ethel Polacheck 1964 (outgoing) | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Massachusetts General Hospital 1954, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Mental Health Institute Inc. (New York, N.Y.) 1968 | ||||||||||
| See also Jan Gelb: Artwork: Reproductions: Bookplates | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) 1956, 1958 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) 1958, 1960, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | National Academy of Design 1958 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Nay, Mary Spencer 1961, 1967 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | New York City Board of Education 1959-1967, undated | ||||||||||
| See also Jan Gelb Artwork: Reproductions: Pamphlet design and layout | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | New York University 1963 | ||||||||||
| See also Jan Gelb: Writings: Lecture notes | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Nordoff, Paul undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Oakland Art Museum 1958, 1959 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | [Betty] Parsons Gallery (New York, N.Y.) 1958 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Pen and Brush (New York, N.Y.) 1963 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1952-1965, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Philadelphia Museum of Art 1964 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Piper, Raymond Frank 1953, 1961, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Pratt Graphic Art Center (New York, N.Y.) 1961, 1962 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Print Club (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1948-1958 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Provincetown Art Association 1963, 1964 | ||||||||||
| See also Jan Gelb: Writings: Notes for panel discussion | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | Rasmusen, Henry N. 1959 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | [Esther] Robles Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.) 1958-1959 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Shore Studio Galleries (Provincetown, Mass.) 1953, 1961 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Silvermine Guild of Artists, Inc. (New Canaan, Conn.) 1964, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Singer, Sylvia 1964, 1965 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Smith, Andre 1949 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.) 1963 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Society of American Graphic Artists, Inc. (New York, N.Y.) 1955-1969, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Society of the Four Arts (Palm Beach, Fla.) 1962 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | State University College at Potsdam, New York 1966 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Syracuse University 1966-1969 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Tracy, Lois Bartlett 1966, 1967, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Traveling Art Guild (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 1963-1965 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | United States Information Agency 1959, 1963, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Von Wicht, John 1957 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Wellfleet Art Gallery (Wellfleet, Mass.) 1966, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | [E.] Weyhe 1948 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | [Ruth] White Gallery (New York, N.Y.) 1956-1969, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, N.Y.) 1951-1963 | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Young, Vernon undated | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | A-Z (2 folders) | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Unidentified | ||||||||||
| Jan Gelb | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | Biographical material | ||||||||||
| Artwork | |||||||||||
| Photographs | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | By title A-Z | ||||||||||
| Box 2 | Untitled mural panel | ||||||||||
| Reproductions | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | Bookplates - Mental Health Institute - Dr. Albert Greenwald Memorial | ||||||||||
| See also Mental Health Institute Inc. | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | Pamphlet design and layout - New York City Board of Education | ||||||||||
| See also New York City Board of Education | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | Miscellaneous images | ||||||||||
| Writings | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | Interview (radio) - WHOO Orlando, Fla. 1948 | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Lecture notes - New York University 1963 | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Notes for panel discussion - Provincetown Art Association Art Forum 1950 | ||||||||||
| See also Provincetown Art Association | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | Poems - holograph, typescript, printed 1940-1953 | ||||||||||
| Statements on art | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | Boris Margo project | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | General | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Miscellaneous | ||||||||||
| Memorabilia | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | Partial inventory of paintings (with prices) | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Photographs 1930-1961 | ||||||||||
| Printed material | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | Articles, reviews 1940-1970, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Clippings 1925-1969, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 3 | Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Gelb) 1933-1957 (4 folders) | ||||||||||
| Box 4 | Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Gelb) 1958-1970, undated (8 folders) | ||||||||||
| Box 5 | Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Joint) 1950-1970, undated (7 folders) | ||||||||||
| Box 5 | Exhibition posters 1959, 1963 | ||||||||||
| Boris Margo | |||||||||||
| Box 6 | Biographical material | ||||||||||
| Artwork | |||||||||||
| Box 6 | Cellocut greeting card 1966 | ||||||||||
| Box 6 | Drypoint on celluloid ca. 1932 | ||||||||||
| Box 6 | Reproductions - "Luminous" 1942 | ||||||||||
| See also Boris Margo: Memorabilia: Writings about Margo / Frances Kemper | |||||||||||
| Box 6 | Sketches (pencil) ca. 1915-1935 | ||||||||||
| Writings | |||||||||||
| Box 6 | Lecture notes re: "creative process from artist's viewpoint" undated | ||||||||||
| Memorabilia | |||||||||||
| Box 6 | Photographs undated | ||||||||||
| See also Jan Gelb: Memorabilia: Photographs | |||||||||||
| Printed material | |||||||||||
| Box 6 | Art juries 1953-1970 | ||||||||||
| Box 6 | Articles, reviews 1940-1966 | ||||||||||
| Box 6 | Clippings 1943-1968, undated | ||||||||||
| Box 6 | Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Margo) 1933-1948 (4 folders of 34) | ||||||||||
| Box 7 | Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Margo) 1948-1952 (8 folders of 34) | ||||||||||
| Box 8 | Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Margo) 1952-1956 (7 folders of 34) | ||||||||||
| Box 9 | Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Margo) 1956-1961 (7 folders of 34) | ||||||||||
| Box 10 | Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Margo) 1961-1970 (7 folders of 34) | ||||||||||
| Box 11 | Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Margo) undated (1 folder of 34) | ||||||||||
| See also Jan Gelb: Memorabilia: Printed material: Exhibition catalogs, invitations (Joint) | |||||||||||
| Box 11 | Exhibition posters 1947, 1954, 1955, 1956 | ||||||||||
| Box 11 | Teaching-related 1946-1970, undated (2 folders) | ||||||||||
| Box 11 | Writings about Margo (typescript) / Frances Kemper | ||||||||||
| See also Jan Gelb: Writings: Statements on art: Boris Margo project | |||||||||||
| Box 11 | Miscellany | ||||||||||