Bavarian (Munich). Art collections. Correspondence and notes, February-May 1948

These files primarily detail Kimball's planning and negotiations to bring certain collections to Philadelphia. Compared to the number of exhibitions originally scheduled per month, the number of exhibitions documented here is limited, as is the amount of material for many of the files. Two well-documented exhibitions are the Liechtenstein and Bavarian shows. Unfortunately, like most of the other listed exhibitions, neither came to pass. The "Publications" sub-subseries of the "Development and Public Relations" series contains some documentation of several of the exhibitions the museum successfully mounted in the form of several draft articles Kimball or other staff wrote for the museum's Bulletin.

The files regarding the Prince of Liechtenstein collection document the museum's five years of negotiations not only to exhibit parts of this royal collection but also to purchase certain works. Despite the protracted efforts of the various parties involved, neither the exhibition, intended to benefit the International Red Cross, nor the purchase of any work, particularly The Toilet of Venus by Peter Paul Rubens, ever came to fruition.

The proposed Bavarian exhibition shared a similar fate. Beginning in 1948, Kimball, assisted by PMA curator Henry Clifford, negotiated with German government and museum officials, as well as members of the U.S. State Department and Army. Centered on the Old Masters collection at the Alte Pinakothek, the exhibition was to feature works of art from various museums in Munich and travel to several cities in the United States. Proceeds were to benefit the participating Munich museums, which suffered various degrees of damage from WWII. Kimball's records detail his efforts to coordinate cooperation on both sides of the Atlantic and the intense negotiations, which by 1953 ended in failure.

Philip Youtz was the museum's only Curator of Exhibitions during Kimball's directorship. His file consists of correspondence primarily with the media. As the titles indicate, the last two files relate to exhibitions held at other institutions that invited the museum to participate.