Provenance Files

The Kuhns kept meticulous records of Walt Kuhn's art work. Their original file folders contain detailed annotations about paintings and sculptures, along with art reproductions, tracings, and other documentation. Annotations include information such as the model used for the work; where the work was created, exhibited, reproduced, and sold; and critical response. Some of the files also contain correspondence, clippings, exhibition catalogs, announcements, and bills of sale. Tempera paintings, watercolors, etchings, and lithographs are documented in a bound ledger filed at the end of this series. Occasionally files contain other unique documentation. The unusually thick file for "Still Life with Red Bananas," for example, contains printed materials related to a controversy over the 1946 international exhibition of the State Department's collection of modern art, which was cancelled in response to conservative reaction. The collection was sold as "surplus" by the War Assets Administration, and the public outcry that ensued is documented in clippings in this file. In addition to photographs of works of art, photographs in this series include publicity photographs of Edna St. Vincent de Millay standing before the painting "Mario" in her home and other installation views. Original sketches can be found in the files for Lahr's portrait and the paintings "Zuleika," "Absolom's House," "Beach Scene," "Green Apples with Gray Curtain," "Interior," and "Maternity." Miscellanous tracings and watercolor sketches of paintings whose original file folders are not present are filed at the end of this series. Files are arranged alphabetically by the the artwork's title or by a key word in the title, grouping files for clown paintings, girl paintings, pine tree paintings, etc. This arrangement has been preserved, although it is idiosyncratic. Files for individual works have been grouped together in general alphabetical files. Large files are filed and listed individually. Execution dates of artwork for some files are provided in parentheses after the file headings and should not be confused with record dates. Original files are very brittle and have torn edges and missing fragments. Microfilm of the collection made in 1965 may show the file before such damage occurred (reels D242A-D242B). Additional material related to the provenance of Kuhn's artwork is filed in Financial Records and elsewhere in the collection. See individual series descriptions for more details. A record book documenting Vera Kuhn's art jewelry is in Photographs and Scrapbooks. See the Index for a list of selected correspondents from 4.3 General Correspondence with cross-references to this series and 4.4: Selected Gallery and Exhibition Files.