The collection is arranged as five series.
Nan Rosenthal (1927-2014) was a curator and art historian in New York City and Washington, D.C. who specialized in twentieth-century modern and contemporary art. Born in New York, Rosenthal attended Smith College before earning her bachelor's degree from Sarah Lawrence College in 1959. After college, she worked as a journalist for a number of publications including
Rosenthal received her PhD from Harvard University in 1976, completing her dissertation titled, "The Blue World of Yves Klein." After her graduate studies, Rosenthal taught at Princeton University, New York University, and University of California, Santa Cruz.
In 1985, Rosenthal became a curator of twentieth-century art at the National Gallery of Art. She organized several important exhibitions including
Rosenthal then joined the staff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1993 as senior consultant of modern and contemporary art, where she organized a number of other important exhibitions including
In addition to her curatorial activities, Rosenthal authored several books and catalogs including
Rosenthal was married to the German artist Otto Piene from 1965-1973 and went by Nan R. Piene or Nan Rosenthal Piene. She remarried in 1990 to her second husband, Henry Benning Cortesi.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Use archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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
The collections was donated to the Archives of American Art in 2016 by the Nan Rosenthal and Henry B. Cortesi Estate via executor Katherine C. Armstrong.
Nan Rosenthal papers, circa 1940-2013. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Hilary Price in 2017.
The papers of curator Nan Rosenthal measure 26.6 linear feet and 17.1 gigabytes and date from circa 1940-2013. There is a small amount of biographical material; correspondence, mostly letters from her first husband Otto Piene; project and research files encompassing her work as a curator and historian; as well as teaching files; and thousands of slides organized by subject. Among Rosenthal's research and project files are sound recordings and transcripts from dozens of interviews Rosenthal conducted with artists including Howard Hodgkin, Anselm Kiefer, friends and family of Yves Klein, Robert Rauschenberg and friends, George Rickey, Claus Oldenburg, and Sangbin Im. In addition to paper records, the collection also includes a large number of sound recordings, video recordings, and born digital material.
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Nan Rosenthal conducted by Judith Olch Richards in 2010.
Biographical material dates from circa 1950-2010 and includes a resume, sound and video recordings relating to Rosenthal's family, photographs of Rosenthal and Otto Piene, and printed material related to Piene's career.
Photographs of Rosenthal and Otto Piene
Correspondence dates from 1965-2012 and consists primarily of letters from Otto Piene to Nan Rosenthal over the course of their marriage from 1965-1973. These letters, often illustrated, express Piene's passion for Rosenthal, and also offer abundant information about his techniques and creative process. A few letters and postcards from other artists are also found here, as well as outgoing letters and postcards from Rosenthal to her mother, Lenore Rosenthal, and another relative, Ann.
Letters to Rosenthal and Otto Piene
Letters from Artists and Friends
Project and research files comprise the bulk of the collection and encompass a vast array of Rosenthal's projects, including book projects, curatorial projects, acquisitions, catalog essays, lectures, interviews, as well as supporting logistical documentation and research material. Among the files are sound recordings and transcripts from dozens of interviews Rosenthal conducted with artists including Howard Hodgkin, Anselm Kiefer, friends and family of Yves Klein, Robert Rauschenberg and friends, George Rickey, Claus Oldenburg, and Sangbin Im. In addition to paper records, the collection also includes a large number of sound recordings, video recordings, and born digital material. While many of the project files contain photographic material, additional slides of artworks can be found series 5.
The series consists of ten subseries. Artists with five or more file headings are arranged in subseries 1-9. Subseries 10 includes all other projects and subjects.
The subseries documents the acquisition of Giacometti's 1932 artwork,
This subseries includes material related to an essay Rosenthal wrote for
Includes born digital material, see ER01
Files relating to Jasper Johns document two exhibitions curated by Rosenthal,
Rosenthal conducted interviews with Johns as part of her research for each exhibition, and also in 2010. Included here are the sound recordings and transcripts of the interviews in 1989, and transcripts of the interviews in 2007 and 2010.
Additionally, video recordings document important Jasper Johns' acquisitions for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including the work
The exhibition audio guide, corresponding panels and lectures, and promotional television broadcasts are in born digital format.
Includes documentaries and broadcasts
Files here relate to Rosenthal's exhibition,
This subseries consists primarily of sound recordings containing interviews with the friends, family, and colleagues of Yves Klein. Notable interviewees include Lawrence Alloway, Christo, Donald Judd, Rotraut Klein, and Werner Ruhnau. Interviews were conducted by Rosenthal in the early 1970s, prior to completing her dissertation, "The Blue World of Yves Klein," also found here. Additionally, there are exhibition files related to
Files relating to László Moholy-Nagy include correspondence, photographic and printed material, published articles used for research, and writings. Included among the writings is Rosenthal's Harvard seminar paper on Moholy-Nagy's
The subseries on Barnett Newman includes correspondence; an exhibition proposal; several drafts of a sculpture lecture, which includes digital photographs; material relating to the Newman foundation; items documenting the acquisition of
Includes born digital material, see ER06
This subseries includes files pertaining to Rosenthal's book
Several dozen interviews are also found here, both with Rauschenberg, and friends and colleagues. Interviews were conducted by Rosenthal and others, and are sound recordings and transcripts. Other notable interviewees include Bob Breer, Carolyn Brown, Tricia Brown, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Billy Klüver, Gordon Mumma, Yvonne Rainer, and Sue Weil.
Additionally, one file relates to Rauschenberg's memorial, and includes a digital video recording and digital slide presentation. Extensive research material is also filed here, including chronologically arranged published articles about Rauschenberg, dating from 1950s-2000s (photocopies date from 1980s-2000s). Also included in the research material is published statements and interviews, catalogs, bibliographies, and sound and video recordings.
Manuscripts and Drafts
Manuscripts and Drafts
Manuscripts and Drafts
Manuscripts and Drafts
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notebooks
Proposal
Correspondence
Correspondence
Includes born digital material, see ER07
Includes born digital material, see ER08
Correspondence
Documentation and Notes
Robert Rauschenberg Interview by Ed Adler, Sound Recording and Transcript
Robert Rauschenberg Interview by Nan Rosenthal, Captiva, Florida, Sounds Recordings and Transcripts
Robert Rauschenberg Interview by Nan Rosenthal, Sounds Recordings and Transcripts
Robert Rauschenberg Interview by Nan Rosenthal, Partial Transcripts
Robert Rauschenberg in Conversation at Automation House, Sound Recording and Transcript
Includes born digital material, see ER09
The subseries relating to George Rickey includes a sound recording of an artist talk, book project files, correspondence, exhibition files, an interview with Rickey by Rosenthal, a lecture, photographs of artwork, published sound and video recordings, research articles, and one file pertaining to the George Rickey Foundation which includes digital photographs of Nora Rickey. Also found here is material relating to a symposium on Rickey, at which Rosenthal presented a lecture. The lecture and images are in born digital form.
Includes born digital material, see ER10
Includes born digital material, see ER11
Includes born digital records, see ER12
General project and research files relate to Rosenthal's work on artists John Cage, Chuck Close, Willem de Kooning, Jim Dine, Marcel Duchamp, Philip Guston, Sangbin Im, Roy Lichtenstein, Brice Marden, George Ohr, Claus Oldenburg, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, George Segal, Richard Serra, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, and Terry Winters. Files for Claus Oldenburg and Sangbin Im contain interviews. Other files pertain to art historians, Committees at Harvard, and the Whitney Independent Study Program. Also found here are Rosenthal's writings as a student and articles featured in
Originally filmed in the late 1970s
Includes born digital material, see ER14
Teaching files date from 1973-2002 and include administrative documents, correspondence, course materials arranged by subject, sound recordings of lectures by others, and printed materials from Rosenthal's stints as faculty at Princeton University, New York University, and University of California, Santa Cruz. Course materials contain hand written lecture notes, course assignments, seminar papers written by students, and a few items of correspondence with students regarding paper topics. In one instance, a student sent Rosenthal a sound recorded message.
Several thousand slides dating from 1970s-1990s are arranged here by subject. Slides were used by Rosenthal in her lectures as well as in her research. Jasper Johns, Yves Klein, and Robert Rauschenberg all have several boxes devoted to them.