Archives of American Art
Janet Kardon papers
Kardon, Janet
AAA.kardjane
Archival Resource Key
6.7 Linear feet
1905
circa 1950-1995
The Janet Kardon papers measures 6.7 linear feet and date from 1905, and circa 1950-1995, with the bulk of the records dating from 1975-1991. Papers include exhibition files, professional records, legal records, photographs, printed material, and some audiovisual material. The collection primarily documents Kardon's work on various exhibitions during her time at the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA) and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania.
English
.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated by Janet Kardon in 2005.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid written by Christopher DeMairo in 2019.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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.
Biographical / Historical
Art museum director and curator Janet Kardon, curated multiple exhibitions at the Philadelphia College of Art and then served as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, before her appointment as director of the American Craft Museum in New York City.
Kardon received her B.S. in education from Temple University in 1955, and her M.A. in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966. In 1984 she received an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Moore College of Art.
Kardon was a lecturer at Gwynedd Mercy College (1967) and the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA), from 1968 to 1975, and was hired by the PCA in 1975 as director of exhibitions. While at PCA, Kardon curated fifteen exhibitions including Labryinth (1975) Time (1977), Projects for PCA (1976-1978), and Artists' Sets and Costumes (1977). In 1979 Kardon accepted a position at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania (ICA).
During her decade-long career at ICA, Kardon curated twenty-three exhibitions including Urban Encounters: Art Architecture Audience (1980), Machineworks: Vito Acconci, Alice Aycock, Dennis Oppenheim (1981), Red Grooms' Philadelphia Cornucopia and Other Sculptopictoramas (1982), Siah Armajani (1985), David Salle (1986), and Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment (1988). Kardon's traveling Mapplethorpe exhibition made national headlines in 1990 when Ohio prosecutors charged ICA Director Dennis Barre with obscenity due to the graphic nature of Mapplethorpe's photographs. Kardon was brought into court as an expert on the topic of photographic art and curation. The charges were ultimately dropped.
In 1989 Kardon became the director of the American Craft Museum.
Scope and Contents
The Janet Kardon papers measures 6.7 linear feet and date from 1905, and circa 1950-1995, with the bulk of the records dating from 1975-1991. Papers include exhibition files, professional records, legal records, photographs, printed material, and some audiovisual material.
The collection primarily documents Kardon's work on various exhibitions during her time at the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA) and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania. The files include photographs of artwork, correspondence, audiovisual material, some insurance information, photographs of exhibitions, printed material, and ephemera. Notable people represented include David Salle, Robert Mapplethorpe, Alice Aycock, and Red Grooms.
Professional records consist of papers related to Kardon's administrative duties while at ICA, PCA, and the American Craft Museum, as well as a few panels and review boards that Kardon served on. The records consist of correspondence, printed material, a resume, audiovisual material, and some artist files.
Printed Material consists of clippings and periodicals, artist books, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and event pamphlets.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged as 3 series.
- Series 1: Exhibition Files, circa 1950-circa 1995
- Series 2: Professional Files, 1970-1993
- Series 3: Printed Material, 1905, 1967-1991
Preferred Citation
Janet Kardon papers, 1905, circa 1950-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Art museum curators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
Art museum directors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Women museum curators
Grooms, Red
Mapplethorpe, Robert (Robert Michael)
Philadelphia College of Art
University of Pennsylvania. Institute of Contemporary Art
Exhibition Files
Series 1
Archival Resource Key
4.1 Linear feet
Box 1-5; OV 9
circa 1950-1995
Scope and Contents
Exhibition files relate to Kardon's curated exhibitions while at the Philadelphia College of Art and the Institute of Contemporary Arts. Included are correspondence with artists regarding the installation and completion of artwork; artist files consisting of photographs and research material; and ephemera and printed material. Notable artists represented in the files include Alice Aycock, David Salle, and Robert Mapplethorpe. Also included is a file related to Kardon's work on the 39th Venice Biennale exhibition Drawings: The Pluralist Decade (1980).
Kardon's 1988 traveling exhibit, Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, became a topic of national debate when the Corcoran Gallery of Art decided to cancel the exhibition. Janet Kardon was brought in as a topical expert in the court case that followed. The Perfect Moment material found here includes papers related to both the exhibition and the court case, such as correspondence, printed material, photographs, notes, and legal proceedings.
Artists Shown at PCA Gallery, 1976-1977
Archival Resource Key
circa 1977
1
1
Labyrinths (1975)
Archival Resource Key
1975-1977
1
2
Labyrinths (1975)
Labyrinths (1975), Interviews
Archival Resource Key
1975
1
3
Labyrinths (1975), Interviews
Projects for PCA (1976)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1975-1976
1
4-6
Line (1976)
Archival Resource Key
1976-1977
1
7-8
Artists Sketchbooks I and 2 (1976)
Archival Resource Key
1976
1
9-10
Artists' Maps (1977)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1977
1
11
Time (1977)
Archival Resource Key
1975-1978
1
12-13
Time (1977), Scott Burton
Archival Resource Key
1977-1980
1
14
Time (1977), Performances
Archival Resource Key
circa 1976-1978
1
15
Duane Michels: Photographs (1977)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1977
1
16
Artists' Sets and Costumes (1977), Artist Files A-M
Archival Resource Key
circa 1977
1
17-20
Artists' Sets and Costumes (1977), Artist Files N-W
Archival Resource Key
circa 1977
2
1-3
Artists' Sets and Costumes (1977), Printed Material
Archival Resource Key
circa 1974-1979
2
4-5
Artists' Sets and Costumes (1977), Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1977-1978
2
6
George Trakas (1977)
Archival Resource Key
1977
2
7
Seventies Painting (1978)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1977-1978
2
8-9
Project for PCA 4 (1978); Alice Aycock
Archival Resource Key
circa 1978
2
10-11
Point (1978)
Archival Resource Key
1978
2
12
Urban Encounters: Art Architecture Audience (1980)
Archival Resource Key
1979-1980
2
13
The 39th Venice Biennale, Drawings: The Pluralist Decade (1980)
Archival Resource Key
1980
2
14
Red Grooms' Philadelphia Cornucopia and Other Sculptopictoramas (1982)
Archival Resource Key
1 Videocassettes (VHS)
circa 1982
2
15
Red Grooms' Philadelphia Cornucopia and Other Sculptopictoramas (1982)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1982
2
16-17
David Salle (1986)
Archival Resource Key
1986
2
18-19
David Salle, Interviewed by Janet Kardon, Transcripts
Archival Resource Key
1983-1989
2
20
David Salle, Interview
Archival Resource Key
1 Sound cassette
undated
2
21
David Salle, Biographical Photographs
Archival Resource Key
1973-1985
2
22
David Salle, Images
Archival Resource Key
circa 1950-1983
3
1-2
David Salle, General Source Material
Archival Resource Key
circa 1950-1983
3
3
David Salle, Drawings
Archival Resource Key
circa 1970-1985
9
David Salle, "Short Videos"
Archival Resource Key
1 Videoreels (1/2 inch)
circa 1972-1973
3
4
David Salle, "What's Cooking"; "Dream/Flowers"
Archival Resource Key
1 Videocassettes (U-matic)
1974
3
5
David Salle, "What's Cooking"; "Dream/Flowers"
Archival Resource Key
1 Videoreels (1/2 inch)
1974
3
6
David Salle, Images from "What's Cooking"
Archival Resource Key
circa 1974
3
7
David Salle, Exhibition Announcements
Archival Resource Key
circa 1978-1984
3
8
David Salle, Installation View of Exhibitions
Archival Resource Key
1976-1980
3
9
David Salle, Bibliographic Material, 1979-1985
Archival Resource Key
undated
3
10
David Salle, Periodicals
Archival Resource Key
1982, 1987
3
11
Siah Armajani (1985), Meeting at ICA
Archival Resource Key
1985
3
12
Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment (1988)
Archival Resource Key
The Perfect Moment (1988)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1987-1988
3
13
The Perfect Moment (1988)
Archival Resource Key
1 Videocassettes (VHS)
1988
3
14
Mapplethorpe, Exhibition and Collection Material
Archival Resource Key
circa 1980-1993
3
15-16
Mapplethorpe, XYZ Portfolio
Archival Resource Key
undated
3
17
Mapplethorpe, "Lady"
Archival Resource Key
1 Videocassettes (VHS)
1984
3
18
Mapplethorpe, "Patti Smith"
Archival Resource Key
1 Videocassettes (VHS)
undated
3
19
Mapplethorpe, Interview
Archival Resource Key
1 Sound cassette
1987 August 13
4
1
Mapplethorpe, Exhibit Letters of Congratulations
Archival Resource Key
1988
4
2
Mapplethorpe, Senators' Remarks on NEA
Archival Resource Key
1989
4
3
Mapplethorpe, Legal Proceedings, Correspondence and Notes
Archival Resource Key
1989-1993
4
4-6
Mapplethorpe, Miller Test; Government and Obscenity
Archival Resource Key
circa 1990
4
7
Mapplethorpe, Legal Proceedings
Archival Resource Key
1990
4
8-10
Mapplethorpe, Papers Related to a Docudrama on the Trial
Archival Resource Key
1991
4
11
Mapplethorpe, Corcoran Gallery of Art Clippings
Archival Resource Key
1989
4
12
Mapplethorpe, Clippings
Archival Resource Key
1989-1993
4
13-20
Mapplethorpe, Periodicals
Archival Resource Key
1989-1995
4
21
Professional Files
Series 2
Archival Resource Key
0.8 Linear feet
Box 5
1967-1993
Arrangement
This series is arranged as 4 sub-series.
- 2.1: Philadelphia College of Art, 1975-1979 (3 folders)
- 2.2: Institute of Contemporary Art, 1967-1989 (5 folders)
- 2.3: American Craft Museum, 1989-1993 (6 folders)
- 2.4: Other Professional Files,1970-1987 (12 folders)
Scope and Contents
This series consists of letters of congratulations to Kardon, papers from symposiums and talks, some gallery reports and financial papers, artist files, a resume, and correspondence related to various organizations that sought out Kardon to sit on panels and review boards.
Philadelphia College of Art
2.1
Archival Resource Key
1975-1979
PCA Shows and Events, Letters
Archival Resource Key
1975-1978
5
1
Gallery Report
Archival Resource Key
1978
5
2
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Testimony, "State of the Arts"
Archival Resource Key
1979
5
2
Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania
2.2
Archival Resource Key
1967-1989
Congratulation Letters for Position at ICA
Archival Resource Key
1979
5
4-5
Catalog Comments and Appreciation Letters
Archival Resource Key
1981-1988
5
6
General Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1980-1989
5
7
Financial Operations
Archival Resource Key
1967-1986
5
8
American Craft Museum
2.3
Archival Resource Key
1989-1993
Announcement, Printed Material
Archival Resource Key
1989-1990
5
9
Congratulation Letters for Position at ACM
Archival Resource Key
1989
5
10
Resume
Archival Resource Key
circa 1990
5
11
Symposium, History of 20th Century American Craft: A Centenary Project
Archival Resource Key
1991
5
12-13
American Craft Council 50th Anniversary; Ideal Home, 1900-1920 (1993-1994)
Archival Resource Key
1 Sound cassette
1993
5
14
Other Professional Files
2.4
Archival Resource Key
1970-1987
Organizational Art Movement Letter to J. Edgar Hoover
Archival Resource Key
1970
5
15
Artist Files, Miscellaneous
Archival Resource Key
1973-1979
5
16
Smithson, Robert
Archival Resource Key
1973-1974
5
17-19
Purchase of "Marcel Duchamp" Print by Irving Penn
Archival Resource Key
1976
5
20
Panels and Affiliations, College Art Association, Frank Jewett Mather Award
Archival Resource Key
1983-1984
5
21
Panels and Affiliations, National Endowment for the Arts
Archival Resource Key
1984-1986
5
22
Panels and Affiliations, School of Art and Design at the University of Chicago
Archival Resource Key
1987
5
23
Panels and Affiliations, International Exhibitions Panel
Archival Resource Key
1987
5
24
Panels and Affiliations, Wexner Center for the Visual Arts
Archival Resource Key
circa 1987
5
25
"A Lexicon of the Sixties," Janet Kardon
Archival Resource Key
undated
5
26
Photographs of Janet Kardon
Archival Resource Key
undated
5
27
Printed Material
Series 3
Archival Resource Key
2 Linear feet
Boxes 5-8
1905
1967-1991
Scope and Contents
This series consists primarily of exhibition catalogs and artist books that are seemingly unrelated to Kardon's curatorial work, and also includes press clippings from magazines and newspapers, exhibition announcements and posters, and pamphlets from the College Art Association of America's annual meeting (1983-1984). Names include Martha Haslanger, Pati Hill, Maria Nordman, Larie Simmons, Richard Kostelanetz, Jean-Pierre Armeaux, George Griffin, Athena Tacha, Stu Horn, Robert Barry, Lucas Sumaras, Hundert Wasser, Dotty Attie, Laurie Anderson, and Ida Applebroog. Also found in this series is a 1905 copy of Elbert Hubbard's publication, The Philistine.
Exhibition Ephemera, PCA
Archival Resource Key
circa 1975-1978
5
28
Exhibition Ephemera, ICA
Archival Resource Key
circa 1980-1989
5
29
Miscellaneous Clippings
Archival Resource Key
circa 1975-1986
5
30
Press Clippings
Archival Resource Key
1980
5
31
Press Clipppings
Archival Resource Key
1981-1985
6
1-5
College Art Association of American Annual Meeting Pamphlet
Archival Resource Key
1983-1984
6
6
The Philistine, by Elbert Hubbard
Archival Resource Key
1905
6
7
Aspen No. 5 + 6, The Minimalist Issue
Archival Resource Key
1 Film reel
8 mm
1967
6
8
Scope and Contents
Also includes 5 sound reels (vinyl).
"S.M.S. no. 1," The Letter Edged in Black Press Inc., Fragment
Archival Resource Key
1968
6
9
Sick of Love, by Sue Hertz
Archival Resource Key
1982
6
10
Artists' Books
Archival Resource Key
1970-1991
6
11-15
Exhibition Announcements and Catalogs
Archival Resource Key
circa 1973-1991
6
16-18
Exhibition Announcements and Catalogs
Archival Resource Key
circa 1973-1991
7
1-6
Exhibition Announcements and Catalogs
Archival Resource Key
circa 1973-1991
8
1-2