Operations and facilities, 1920-1990, undated

This series primarily documents the steps taken by the Philadelphia Museum of Art to care for the Johnson Collection, make it more accessible to the public and provide proper housing for its display and storage. By extension, the series documents how such steps were done in concert with the City, to whom Johnson bequeathed his art collection, and the bank that Johnson designated as the Trustee of his residuary estate--and with the required approval of Philadelphia Orphans' Court.

Originally processed in 2004, the first four subseries consist of invoices and other papers concerning construction and renovation of the galleries, storage and office spaces, correspondence and various forms regarding the guards employed specifically for the guardianship of the Johnson Collection, and statistics related to gallery traffic. Inventories, legal documents, correspondence, notes and auction catalogs are the primary documentation of the final subseries, "Collection Management." There is minimal documentation of maintenance of the Johnson Collection's previous home, 510 S. Broad Street.