A Finding Aid to the Leo Castelli Gallery Records, circa 1880-2000, bulk 1957-1999, in the Archives of American Art Kim Dixon and Sarah Haug Funding for the partial digitization of this collection was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. May 14, 2010 Archives of American Art 750 9th Street, NW Victor Building, Suite 2200 Washington, D.C. 20001 https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions https://www.aaa.si.edu/ Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Historical Note.................................................................................................................. 2 Scope and Content Note................................................................................................. 3 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 5 List of Exhibitions............................................................................................................. 5 Names and Subjects .................................................................................................... 36 Container Listing ........................................................................................................... 39 Series 1: Correspondence, 1948-1999, bulk 1957-1997........................................ 39 Series 2: Administrative Files, 1941-1999, bulk 1970s-1990s............................... 91 Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1951-1999.................................................................. 114 Series 4: Artists Files, 1913-1999, bulk 1960s-1990s.......................................... 179 Series 5: Printed Materials, 1949-1998................................................................ 254 Series 6: Artwork, circa 1960s-1990s.................................................................. 273 Series 7: Castelli Graphics, circa 1950-1999, bulk mid 1970s-early 1990s.......... 275 Series 8: Castelli/Sonnabend Tapes and Films, 1969-1998................................ 331 Series 9: Awards and Recognition, 1962-1998.................................................... 344 Series 10: Photographs, circa 1880-1997, bulk 1960s-1990s.............................. 348 Series 11: Sound and Video Recordings, 1959-2000.......................................... 359 Leo Castelli Gallery records AAA.leocast Collection Overview Repository: Archives of American Art Title: Leo Castelli Gallery records Identifier: AAA.leocast Date: circa 1880-2000 (bulk 1957-1999) Creator: Leo Castelli Gallery Extent: 215.9 Linear feet 0.001 Gigabytes Language: Some records are in French, Italian and German. Summary: The Leo Castelli Gallery records measure 215.9 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from circa 1880-2000, with the bulk of the materials dating from the gallery's founding in 1957 through Leo Castelli's death in 1999. The major influence of dealer Leo Castelli and his gallery on the development of mid-to-late twentieth century modern art in America is well-documented through business and scattered personal correspondence, administrative files, exhibition files, extensive artists' files and printed materials, posters, awards and recognitions, photographs, and sound and video recordings. Also included are records for the subsidiary firms of Castelli Graphics and Castelli/ Sonnabend Tapes and Films. Administrative Information Provenance Leo Castelli loaned printed material for microfilming in 1968. Leo Castelli's wife, Barbara Bortuzzo Castelli, and his children, Nina Castelli Sundell and Jean-Christophe Castelli, donated the Leo Castelli Gallery records to the Archives of American Art in 2007. Separated Materials The Archives of American Art also holds items lent for microfilming (reel N68) including printed material. Lent material was returned to the lender and is not described in the collection container inventory. Related Material Available in the Archives of America Art are three oral history interviews with Leo Castelli. Paul Cummings interviewed Castelli between May 14, 1969 and June 8, 1973; Barbara Rose in July, 1969; and Andrew Decker on May 22, 1997. Available Formats The bulk of the Exhibition Files and the Photographs Series were digitized in 2015-2016 and are available on the Archives of American Art's website. Materials which have not been scanned include routine financial materials, blank pages, blank versos of photographs, and duplicates. In Page 1 of 366 Leo Castelli Gallery records AAA.leocast some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages scanned. The bulk of the Sound and Video Recordings Series were digitized for preservation and research access in 2017 and are available in the Archives of American Art offices. Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reel N68 at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Processing Information In 1968 small portions of the records were loaned for microfilming in increments. These loans were later included as part of the 2007 gift of the gallery archive. Between 2008-2010, the records were arranged and described to an intermediate level by Kim Dixon and Sarah Haug. The digitized portions of the Exhibition Files and Photographs Series were re-processed by Judy Ng in 2015, with funding provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. Born-digital material was processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2020 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund. Preferred Citation Leo Castelli Gallery records, circa 1880-2000, bulk 1957-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Restrictions on Access Use of original records requires an appointment. Terms of Use The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information. Historical Note Leo Castelli (1907-1999) was one of America's most noted contemporary art dealers and opened the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City in 1957. The gallery showcased cutting edge American contemporary art, including Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dada, Pop Art, Op Art, Color Field painting, Hard-edge painting, Lyrical Abstraction, Minimal Art, Conceptual Art, and Neo-expressionism, among other movements. Leo Castelli was born as Leo Krauss on September 4, 1907 in Trieste, of Italian and Austro-Hungarian Jewish origin. He married art dealer Ileana Sonnabend in 1932 and the couple lived in Paris up until World War II. They had a daughter, Nina Castelli Sundell. In Paris, Castelli opened his first gallery in 1939. At that time, he was interested in the European Surrealists. For years after Castelli moved to New York, he worked in his father-in-law's garment business. However, he organized his first American exhibition in 1951, the famous Ninth Street Show of 1951, a seminal event of Abstract Expressionism. In 1957, he opened the Leo Castelli Gallery in his townhome on E. 77th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues in New York City. Castelli initially featured European Surrealism, but also curated exhibitions of American Abstract painters, including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Cy Twombly, Friedel Dzubas, and Norman Bluhm. In 1958, Castelli discovered Pop artists Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns and forged a life-long nurturing relationship with both artists. The gallery then began focusing more on Pop Art, Minimalism and Page 2 of 366 Leo Castelli Gallery records AAA.leocast Conceptual Art. Beginning in the early 1960s, Castelli's stable included Richard Artschwager, Lee Bontecou, Chryssa, John Chamberlain, Ronald Davis, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Joseph Kosuth, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Larry Poons, James Rosenquist, Ed Ruscha, Salvatore Scarpitta, Richard Serra, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, and Lawrence Weiner. Leo and Ileana divorced in 1959, and Ileana returned to Europe. She later moved back to New York and opened a gallery close to Castelli's. The two remained close and together they established the joint venture of Castelli-Sonnabend Films and Tapes to accommodate artists interested in new media. In the 1970s Leo Castelli opened a downtown SoHo branch of the Leo Castelli Gallery at 420 West Broadway. In the 1980s he opened a second larger downtown exhibition space on Greene Street also in SoHo. Leo Castelli's second wife was Antoinette Castelli, with whom he also opened Castelli Graphics, an art gallery devoted to prints and photographs, mostly those by Castelli artists. The couple also had a son together, Jean-Christophe Castelli. In 1995 Leo Castelli married Italian art historian Barbara Bertozzi Castelli. She directs the Leo Castelli Gallery today, showing many of the same artists of the gallery's past. Leo Castelli's unparalleled eye for quality, combined with his extraordinary skill for nurturing and promoting new art and artists, secured