Title: Robert M. Doty Records Date: July 19, 1977 to March 4, 1988 Creator(s): Doty, Robert M. 1933-1992 Extent: 1.5 linear feet Repository: Currier Museum of Art Reference Library and Archives Abstract From 1977 to 1987, Robert M. Doty served as the Director of the Currier Museum of Art. During his directorship, Doty guided the museum through major exhibitions, art purchases, fundraising and building projects. The Robert M. Doty Records document Doty’s efforts towards expanding the museum’s photography, folk art and contemporary art collections. Comprised primarily of correspondences, Doty’s records also include notes and contracts from a Lotte Jacobi lecture series, agendas and offers of works for sale. Doty’s correspondents include directors, antique collectors, private collectors, scholars, curators and artists. Historical Note Robert M. Doty was born in Rochester, New York on December 23, 1933. He was educated at Harvard University, where he received a B.A. in 1956 and at the University of Rochester, where he studied the history of photography and received a M.A. in 1961. Doty held administrative and curatorial positions at several art institutions. He worked at the George Eastman House, where he organized exhibitions of the work of Lewis Hine (1957), the Photo-Secession (1960) and Bill Brandt (1962). Doty then went on to the Whitney Museum of American Art as an associate curator in 1966 and later became curator in 1970. At the Whitney, he organized several exhibitions, including Human Concern/Personal Torment: The Grotesque in American Art (1968) and Contemporary Black Artists in America (1971). He also organized a retrospective of the work of Lucas Samaras in 1972 and the Whitney's first historical survey of American photography in 1974. Doty left the Whitney in 1974 to become the director of the Akron Art Institute (now the Akron Art Museum), a position he held for three years. He then went to the Currier Museum of Art to serve as the museum’s director from 1977 until his retirement in 1987. Under Doty’s leadership, the Currier’s collection benefitted from private donations and major purchases, which were aided by grants and private gifts. Will Barnet’s Awakening, Alexander Calder’s Petit Disque Jaune, an eighteenth-century Portsmouth side chair by John Gaines III, and Robert M. Doty Records 1 paintings by Tom Blackwell, Richard Estes, Alex Katz, and Neil Welliver were some of the many works and objects brought into the collection. Under his directorship, the physical building of the museum also grew with the addition of two new pavilions designed by the architectural firm of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. Major interior renovations throughout the original building were also executed. Doty organized and curated a number of exhibitions at the Currier, including several retrospectives of important contemporary artists, including Will Barnet, Tom Blackwell, Jane Freilicher and Neil Welliver. In 1985, he coordinated, in cooperation with the Shaker Village, Inc., The Canterbury Shakers, an exhibition that showcased life in the Shaker community of Canterbury, New Hampshire, through photographs and examples of Shaker furniture. Doty also focused attention on regional artists with the 1988 juried show New England Now: Contemporary Art from Six States. Doty was an admirer of photography, as well as an advocate of its importance as artistic medium. During his tenure at the Currier, he promoted the exhibition of photography, which helped establish the museum’s reputation as a resource for the study of this medium. Photography and historical surveys at the Currier included The Photo-Secession: The Golden Age of Pictorial Photography in America in 1983. Several photography exhibitions of the work of Lotte Jacobi were also presented, including a display of selected prints and photographs from her private collection in 1982, a one woman showing or her work in 1984, and an exhibition of her collection of theater and dance photographs in 1986. Gifts in 1982 and 1984 from Vincent Vallarino and his mother Edith also benefitted the museum’s photography holdings. Over a hundred photographs and portfolios from the Vallarino’s collection, representing the entire history of photography, were donated. In 1987, Doty resigned as the director of the Currier. After his resignation, he continued to pursue an active career in the arts. He worked part time as the acting director of the New England College Gallery in Henniker, N.H, and he offered his services as a freelance guest curator. Doty also wrote several magazine articles, exhibition catalogue essays and books, including writings on the Photo-Secession and the artists Will Barnet and Jane Freilicher. He also contributed to the Currier’s first Handbook of the Collection in 1979. Doty died in Manchester, New Hampshire on November 22, 1992. For further historical and biographical information on Doty’s life and directorship see: Eaton, Aurore Dionne. The Currier Gallery of Art A History: 1929 – 1989. The Currier Museum of Art: Manchester, NH, 1990, pp. 57 - 65 Robert M. Doty Records 2 Information for Researchers Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Use Restrictions: The Robert M. Doty Records are the physical property of The Currier Museum of Art, Archives. The Museum holds literary rights only for material created by Museum personnel or given to the Museum with such rights specifically assigned. For all other material, literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for obtaining permission from right holders for publication and for other purposes where stated. Preferred Citation: Robert M. Doty Records, Currier Museum of Art, Archives Administration Information Processed By: Rose Zevos King (04/25/2014) Scope and Contents Note Three boxes within the Currier Museum of Art, Archives contain the Robert M. Doty Records. The records date from July 19, 1977 to March 4, 1988. The documents within each box consist of letters mainly addressed by Robert M. Doty. The materials are arranged in reverse chronological order. Some records are original documents, while other documents are xeroxed copies. There are significant duplications of materials throughout the three boxes. Important topics include: Letter to Mrs. Edith Vallarino, dated April 22, 1986, mentions the Lotte Jacobi exhibition (1 April – 18 May, 1986). Doty asks for support. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 Letter to Mr. Rick Beard of the Hudson River Museum, dated April 4, 1986, discusses the Board of Trustees’s complaints about the amount of photography in the museum’s collection. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 --- Another letter, dated March 31, 1986, states a similar issue. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 Robert M. Doty Records 3 Letter to Samuel P. Hunt Foundation, dated April 4, 1986, thanks the Foundation’s for its contribution towards the installation of insulating windows. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 Letter to Mr. KS Zachos, dated March 28, 1986, sends thanks to Lucille Zimmerman for her check in support of the Currier’s sculpture collection. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 Letter to Mrs. John Hunter, dated March 26, 1986, mentions a gift of 51 works on paper from Lotte Jacobi. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 Letter to Elizabeth Johanson (c/o James Aponovich), dated March 10, 1986, discusses show and drawings. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 Letter to Mrs. John Hunter, dated February 25, 1986, discusses the expansion of the Currier’s contemporary collection. Doty offers thanks for several donations and gifts, including works by John Hatch, Robert E. Mueller, and Kurt Roesch. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 Letter to Peter B. Baruzzi, dated February 24, 1986, praises Malcolm Cochran as “the best young artist working in America”. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 Letter to Marius Peladeau, dated February 24, 1986, mentions small works by Neil Welliver. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: February – April 1986 Letter to Henry Petzal, dated October 9, 1986, discusses aspects of Petzal’s monograph, including its size, quantity, introduction, pages, and binding. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: September – October 1986 Letter to Grace Borgenicht Brandt, dated October 8, 1986, mentions the acceptance of a gift - Construction No. 195 by Jose de Rivera. Doty says this work “fills a major gap” in Currier’s contemporary art collection. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: September – October 1986 Letter to Bonnie Clearwater of the Mark Rothko Foundation, dated October 6, 1986, asks for funding and support towards the Fannie Hillsmith retrospective. Letter contains biographical information about Hillsmith, including remarks about her contribution to American Art. A budget of the retrospective’s principle expenses attached. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: September – October 1986 Letter to Frank Ribelin, dated October 6, 1986, mentions Will Barnet’s Awakening. Doty offers an analysis of the painting. He also discusses the painting’s significance as an American work of Robert M. Doty Records 4 art and why it should be preserved in a public institution. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: September – October 1986 Letter to Joyce B. Dole, dated September 23, 1986, mentions the Currier’s acceptance of two gifts - an untitled gouache by Joseph Kaplon and a collage watercolor, Tunisle Series, by Leo Manso. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: September – October 1986 Letter to Patricia Hayes, dated May 21, 1986, states the insurance value of the permanent collection. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: May – June 1986 Letter to John W. Kuykandall, dated May 21, 1986, provides Doty’s opinion of the new building additions and renovations at the Currier. Letter located in Box: 3 Folder: May – June 1986 Letter to John A.