Archives are gateway to the past

Important but fragile documents on view this summer

During this summer's exhibition "The Art of Life: Selections from the Collection of Terrence and Suzanne Murray," audiences will be able to view original correspondence from the Museum's archives between artists such as Robert Henri and George Bellows and the Art Association's founder, Maud Howe Elliott. Elliott, in her continual quest to support the arts and artists, organized many exhibitions in our early days, and our Archives are rich in material relating to them. From the Boston School to the Ashcan School, and including many women artists, there are notes and letters usually confirming what work was being sent to Newport, entry forms, values and exhibition checklists. In this regard our Archives offer an important record of the early twentieth century American art market.

The Archives of the Newport Art Museum also include scrapbooks, minutes of meetings, and records dating back to the Art Association's founding in 1912. There, one can see that some things never change in the world of non-profit institutions, namely politics and a need for space and money! Organizing the Archives is an ongoing process and in the next year or so a "finding aid"-essentially an index-will be available to the public.

The documents in the Archives are fragile, subject to numerous threats, and as at other educational institutions, the papers are kept in acid free boxes in a climate controlled area, with access limited by appointment and purpose.