3. Records of the Curatorial Departments
Found in 20 Collections and/or Records:
American Art Department Records
The departmental files document the work of the American Art department, as well as related activities from the 1960s that predate its formal establishment. The American Art Department originated in 1973 with the impetus of America's up-coming Bicentennial and the Museum's Centennial celebrations.
American Decorative Arts Department Records
The American Decorative Arts Department Records include exhibition files, object files, correspondence, photographs, bibliographic records (on index cards), and other work by curators.
Costume and Textiles Department Records
The Costume and Textiles Department Records consist of correspondence, datebooks, ephemera, exhibition records, and research notes by various curators through the years. There are also records pertaining to the annual Crystal Ball galas that were held from 1959 to 1976, including the bicentennial affair.
Decorative Arts Department Records
The earliest Decorative Arts Department Records consist of the correspondence of Museum Committee member Alfred Coxe Prime. The other series document the work of curatorial staff; namely, Joseph Downs, Henry P. McIlhenny, Joan Prentice, and Calvin Hathaway, who each headed the department, respectively, from 1925 to 1973. Material consists of correspondence, subject files, research and exhibition records.
Dutch Tiles Records
This collection consists of the records of Ella Schaap, Curatorial Associate for the Garvan Tiles Exhibition (later the Dutch Tiles Collection). The material, consisting of correspondence, reports and draft writings, primarily documents the exhibition and catalogue featuring the gift of Mrs. Francis P. [Mabel Brady] Garvan of more than 230 Dutch tiles to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
East Asian Art Department Records
These records contain correspondence, research, institutional literature, and exhibition files from the East Asian Art Department.
European Decorative Arts after 1700 Department Records
Documentation in this record group begins approximately in 1974 when the museum designated a department of "European Decorative Arts after 1700." Most of the records were created or compiled by Kathryn Hiesinger, who has headed the curatorial department since its inception. The bulk of material pertains to two exhibitions, "The Second Empire: Art in France under Napoleon III" (1978), and "Japanese Design: A Survey Since 1950" (1994).
European Decorative Arts before 1700 Department Records
This collection documents the activities of related to European Decorative Arts before 1700.
Far Eastern Art Department Records
These records describe the collecting activities and some exhibitions of the Far Eastern Art Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, now part of the East Asian Art Department.
Former Departments Records
This collection contains records of departments that no longer exist at the museum.