Finding aid for the Gabrielle Kopelman papers, 1950-2010, bulk 1970-1989
Finding aid prepared by Sheila Prospero
Descriptive Summary
Title: Gabrielle Kopelman papers
Date (inclusive): 1950-2010, bulk 1970-1989
Number: 2010.M.78
Creator/Collector:
Kopelman, Gabrielle
Physical Description:
10.8 linear feet
(21 boxes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The papers of Gabrielle Kopelman document her numerous projects as a New York-based independent conservator for various institutions
such as The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and The Toledo Museum of Art, as well as art dealers including P. & D. Colnaghi
& Company and Wildenstein & Company. The archive includes restoration projects of paintings by major artists such as Rembrandt,
Peter Paul Rubens and Hendrik Terbrugghen. The bulk of the collection contains photographic documentation of paintings in
the form of black-and-white prints, negatives, radiographs and color transparencies. Also included are related papers including
correspondence, invoices, notes and clippings.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
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Language: Collection material is in
English
Biographical / Historical Note
Gabrielle Kopelman, an independent conservator of Old Master paintings based in New York, has restored numerous paintings
for various institutions including The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, The Toledo Museum of Art and The Frick Collection,
as well as art dealers such as P. & D. Colnaghi & Company, Limited, Thomas Agnew & Sons Limited, and Wildenstein & Company.
Some of her more notable conservation projects include paintings by Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and Hendrik Terbrugghen.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers, except Box 21, which is sealed until 2018.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Gabrielle Kopelman papers, 1950-2010 (bulk 1970-1989), The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2010.M.78
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2010m78
Acquisition Information
Gift of Mr. Victor Rodwin in 2010.
Processing History
Processed by Sheila Prospero under the supervision of Andra Darlington from January 2012 to March 2013.
Separated Materials
Four monographs and four serials were transferred to the library. These publications may be found by searching the
Library Catalog for the Gabrielle Kopelman Collection.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection documents Kopelman's numerous projects as an independent conservator commissioned by various institutions such
as The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and The Toledo Museum of Art, as well as art dealers including P. & D. Colnaghi & Company
and Wildenstein & Company. Highlights of the archive include restoration projects of paintings by major artists such as Rembrandt,
Peter Paul Rubens and Hendrik Terbrugghen.
The client files in Series I form the bulk of the archive and document Kopelman's conservation projects for museums, galleries
and art dealers. The majority of the files contain black-and-white photographs and color transparencies of the paintings that
Kopelman restored, as well as related papers including correspondence, invoices and clippings. Some files also include color
slides and prints, as well as x-rays of artworks such as Rembrandt's
Obelisk, Rubens's
Rubens, His Wife Helena Fourment, and One of Their Children and Antoine Watteau's
The Island of Cythera.
Series II provides a glimpse into Kopelman's research work and conservation process. A small number of research papers and
condition notes on numerous paintings comprise this series. The archive also contains a collection of black-and-white photographs
of frames which can be found in Series III. These photographs were organized by Kopelman according to school.
Additional black-and-white negatives of paintings restored by Kopelman comprise Series IV. Hundreds of these negatives have
been assigned numbers but the names of the works were not identified by Kopelman.
Arrangement
Arranged in four series:
Series I. Client files, 1950-2010, bulk 1970-1989;
Series II. Notes and research papers, undated;
Series III. Photographs of frames, undated;
Series IV. Negatives of paintings, undated.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1606-1669
Rubens, Peter Paul, 1577-1640
Terbrugghen, Hendrik, 1588?-1629
Watteau, Antoine, 1684-1721
Subjects - Topics
Art dealers--United States
Art museums--United States
Painting, Baroque--Conservation and restoration
Painting, Dutch--17th century
Painting, Flemish--17th century
Painting--Conservation and restoration--United States
Genres and Forms of Material
Black-and-white negatives
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Color prints (photographs)
Color slides
Color transparencies
Photographic prints--20th century
Photographs, Original
Radiographs
Contributors
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, Massachusetts)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
P. & D. Colnaghi & Co.
Richard L. Feigen & Company
Thomas Agnew & Sons
Toledo Museum of Art
Series I.
Client files,
Bulk, 1970-1989
1950-2010, bulk 1970-1989
Physical Description:
8.0 linear feet
(16 boxes)
Scope and Content Note
The client files in Series I form the bulk of the archive and document Kopelman's conservation projects for museums, galleries
and art dealers. The majority of the files contain black-and-white photographs and color transparencies, as well as related
papers including correspondence, invoices and clippings. Some files also include color slides and prints, as well as x-rays
of artworks such as Rembrandt's
Obelisk, Rubens's
Rubens, His Wife Helena Fourment, and One of Their Children and Antoine Watteau's
The Island of Cythera.
Arrangement note
Kopelman's original order has been retained and is arranged alphabetically either by the institution or owner's name, artist,
or by city or country.
Williams, Adam,
1983
Scope and Content Note
For Newhouse Galleries.
Box 1, Folder 1
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Thomas Agnew & Sons Limited,
1970-1980, 1984
Box 1, Folder 3
Black-and-white photographs
Box 1, Folder 4
Allentown Art Museum,
1975
Archdiocese of New York,
1971-1972
Box 1, Folder 7
Black-and-white photographs
Box 1, Folder 8
University of Arizona Museum of Art,
1974
Box 1, Folder 9
The Baltimore Museum of Art,
1978
Box 14, Folder 1
Bradley, Morton,
1953
Scope and Content Note
X-rays of Theodore Gericault's
The Madman Kidnapper.
Brunner, Michael,
1980-1981
Box 1, Folder 14
Black-and-white photographs
Box 9
Color photograph, slide and transparency
Box 1, Folder 16
David Carritt Limited,
1979
Cintas Foundation Inc.,
1983-1984
Box 1, Folder 18
Black-and-white photographs
Box 2, Folder 1
Papers and one black-and-white photograph
Box 2, Folder 2
Cleveland Museum of Art,
1976 March 10
Box 2, Folder 3
Collins, Richard J.,
1979
P. & D. Colnaghi & Company Limited,
1973-1985
Box 2, Folder 7-11
Black-and-white photographs,
1973-1985
Box 9
Color transparencies,
1973-1985
Box 14, Folder 2
X-rays,
1983
Scope and Content Note
Radiographs of Lorenzo Lotto's
Virgin and Child and Saints.
Box 2, Folder 12
Columbia University,
1973-1974
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts,
1982
Box 2, Folder 15
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Didier Aaron Gallery,
1982, 1989
Box 2, Folder 17
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Box 2, Folder 18
Drey
undated
Scope and Content Note
Empty file.
Richard L. Feigen & Co.,
1977-1983
Box 3, Folder 2
Black-and-white photographs
Box 14, Folder 3
X-rays
Scope and Content Note
Radiographs of a Claude Lorrain painting.
Box 3, Folder 4
Fogg Art Museum,
1973-1978
Box 3, Folder 6
Ganz, Paul,
circa 1970-1972
J. Paul Getty Museum,
1955-1973, 1979-1983
Scope and Content Note
Hans Holbein file (box 21) is SEALED until 2018.
Box 3, Folder 8-9
Black-and-white photographs,
1955-1972
Box 10
Color photographs,
July 1959
Box 21
Holbein, Hans,
1979-1983
Scope and Content Note
SEALED until 2018.
Box 3, Folder 11
Guercino,
1981
Scope and Content Note
The file contains correspondence with Nikos Pharasles from Trade Arts Investment, Inc. regarding restoration of a Guercino
painting. It also includes a conservation request for a Rubens painting.
Box 3, Folder 11
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Box 3, Folder 16
Black-and-white photographs
Box 3, Folder 17
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
1970, 1973
Bob P. Haboldt & Co.,
1984-1986, 1992
Box 3, Folder 19-20
Black-and-white photographs
Box 14, Folder 4-8
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,
1975
Scope and Content Note
X-rays of a Rembrandt painting and Peter Paul Rubens's
The Earl of Arundel. See also Rubens file.
Janet,
1982-1986
Scope and Content Note
Original label is named "Con. JANET". Label possibly relates to a correspondence found in the file from Mr. and Mrs. Dudley
Schoales from Greenwich, Connecticut.
Box 4, Folder 2
Black-and-white photographs
Box 14, Folder 9-10
Kennedy Galleries, Inc.,
undated
Scope and Content Note
X-rays of Rembrandt's
Obelisk.
Kneisel, Wolfgang Christian,
1968-1978
M. Knoedler & Co., Inc.,
1965-1974
Box 4, Folder 4
Black-and-white photographs,
1965-1974
Box 10
Color transparencies,
1974
Box 4, Folder 5
Kopelman, Gabrielle,
circa 1991
Scope and Content Note
Original label is named, "Journal, various dates."
Box 4, Folder 6
Samuel H. Kress Foundation,
1978-1979
Lepow,
1980, undated
Scope and Content Note
Also includes a second label marked "Private."
Box 4, Folder 9
Black-and-white photographs,
undated
Box 4, Folder 10
Liechtenstein,
1978
Scope and Content Note
Contains materials related to Sammlungen des Regierenden Fürsten von Liechtenstein.
Box 4, Folder 12
Black-and-white photographs
London, New York Market,
1981-1989
Box 4, Folder 14
Black-and-white photographs
Box 10
Color photographs and transparencies
Box 4, Folder 15
Black-and-white photographs,
1979
Box 10
Color transparencies,
1975, 1979
Matthiesen Fine Art Limited,
1978-1982
Box 4, Folder 18-19
Papers and black-and-white photographs
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
1977-1983
Scope and Content Note
Materials on the restoration of
Rubens, His Wife Helena Fourment, and One of Their Children by Rubens.
Black-and-white photographs,
1978-1983
Box 5, Folder 4-5
Various
Scope and Content Note
Includes positive images of x-rays. Also contains some papers.
Color photographs,
circa 1983
Box 10
Slides and transparencies
Box 15, Folder 1
12"x15" color transparency
Box 15, Folder 2
X-rays,
between 1977-1983
Box 5, Folder 6
Middendorf,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Possibly refers to client work for Middendorf Gallery.
Box 5, Folder 7
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Miscellaneous,
1957-1985
Scope and Content Note
Contains papers and photographs of treated paintings from various dealers and galleries including Mr. C. Dillon, Herner Wengraf,
Marlborough Gallery, and Gallery Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga.
Box 5, Folder 8-9
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Mont, Frederick (Newhouse Galleries),
1969-1983, undated
Box 6, Folder 2
Black-and-white photographs
1969-1983
Box 11
Color slides and transparencies,
1982-1983, undated
Box 6, Folder 3
Montias, John Michael,
1974, 1979
Box 6, Folder 4-6
National Gallery of Art (U.S.),
1977-1978
Hoogsteder-Naumann, Limited,
1984
Box 6, Folder 7
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Box 6, Folder 8
New Orleans Museum of Art,
1975, 1980
New School for Social Research,
1968, 1982, 1984
Scope and Content Note
Materials related to Thomas Hart Benton's mural,
America Today.
Box 6, Folder 9
Papers and black-and-white photographs,
1968, 1984
Box 11
Color photograph,
May 1982
New-York Historical Society,
1974-1975
Box 6, Folder 10
Papers and black-and-white photographs
North Carolina Museum of Art,
1974-1980
Box 6, Folder 12
Black-and-white photographs
Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena,
1976-1977
Box 6, Folder 14
Black-and-white photographs
Oberlin College,
1981-1982
Box 6, Folder 16
Black-and-white photographs
Ottawa,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Possibly refers to client work for Ottawa, Canada.
Box 6, Folder 17
Black-and-white photographs
Box 15, Folder 3
Page, Dorothy,
undated
Scope and Content Note
X-rays of an unidentified painting.
Palitz, Bernard G. (Antique Art Corporation),
1975-1984
Box 6, Folder 19
Black-and-white photographs,
1975-1984
Parmigianino,
Mercury,
1973-1976, 1982-1986, 1990-1992, undated
Box 6, Folder 20-21
Papers and black-and-white photographs,
1973-1976, 1982-1986, 1990-1992
Box 11
Black-and-white negatives,
undated
The Phillips Collection,
1973-1975
Box 7, Folder 2
Black-and-white photographs
Pontormo,
Portrait of a Halberdier (Francesco Guardi?),
1971, 1976, 1989
Box 7, Folder 5
Black-and-white photographs,
circa 1976
Box 11
Black-and-white negatives and one color transparency,
1976, 1989
Pope-Hennessy, John,
1979
Box 7, Folder 4
Princeton University,
1980 March 17
Box 15, Folder 4
Raphael,
1956 September 14
Scope and Content Note
X-rays of the painting,
Guiliano de Medici.
Box 7, Folder 8
Papers and black-and-white photograph
Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University,
1973-1975, 1978-1979
Scope and Content Note
The majority of the file is related to RISD.
Box 7, Folder 10
Black-and-white photographs,
1974-1975, 1979
Box 11
Color transparencies,
1979
Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc.,
1976-1986
Box 7, Folder 13-14
Black-and-white photographs,
1976-1979, 1984-1986
Box 11
Color transparencies,
1979-1986
Rubens, Peter Paul,
1977-1983
Scope and Content Note
Contains materials related to Rubens's paintings,
The Earl of Arundel and
Hélène Fourmant et ses Enfants. See also box 15, folder 4 (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum file) for x-rays of
The Earl of Arundel.
Box 7, Folder 15-16
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Box 11
Color slides and transparencies
Box 8, Folder 1
Schaeffer Galleries,
1973, 1979
Snite Museum of Art,
1990
Box 8, Folder 2
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Springfield (Museum of Fine Arts),
1976-1989
Box 8, Folder 5-6
Black-and-white photographs
Box 12
Color slides and transparencies
Box 15, Folder 5
X-rays
Scope and Content Note
Radiographs of Ferdinand Bol's self-portrait.
Box 8, Folder 7
Black-and-white photograph
Toledo Museum of Art,
1982-1983, 1986-1989
Box 12
Color slides,
1986-1987, 1989
Terbrugghen, Hendrick,
1982-1983
Box 8, Folder 10
Papers,
1982-1983
Scope and Content Note
Also contains papers for Antoine Watteau and Peter Paul Rubens paintings.
Box 8, Folder 11
Black-and-white photographs,
1983
Box 12
Color slides and transparencies,
1983
Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista,
1983
Scope and Content Note
Portrait of "Foschi".
Box 8, Folder 12
Black-and-white photographs
Tweed Museum of Art,
1974-1977
Box 8, Folder 14
Black-and-white photographs
Box 8, Folder 15
Vassar College,
1976 June 16
Ward-Jackson,
circa 1975
Scope and Content Note
Possibly refers to art dealer Adrian Ward-Jackson.
Box 8, Folder 16
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Box 13
Color transparency and slides
Watteau, Antoine,
1982, 1984, 2010
Scope and Content Note
Materials related to the painting,
The Island of Cythera.
Box 8, Folder 17
Papers and black-and-white photographs,
1982, 1984, 2010
Box 13
Color slides and transparencies,
1982
Box 8, Folder 18
Weizner,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Possibly spelled "Weitzner" according to inscription from a photograph in the file.
Box 8, Folder 19
Papers and black-and-white photographs
Box 8, Folder 20
Wildenstein & Co., Inc.
July 1969
Yale University,
1984, undated
Box 13
Color slides,
1984
Scope and Content Note
Images of paintings by Lippo Memmi.
Box 15, Folder 7
X-rays,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Inscription on x-ray's envelope indicates it is a painting by "Loir".
Box 15, Folder 8
Unidentified x-rays,
undated
Series II.
Notes and research papers,
undated
Physical Description:
0.8 linear feet
(2 boxes)
Scope and Content Note
This series provides a glimpse into Kopelman's research work and conservation process, and contains a small number of research
papers and condition notes on numerous paintings.
Arrangement note
Arranged by type.
Box 8, Folder 21-22
Papers,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Includes a paper written by Kopelman titled "Tempera to Oil - Panel to Canvas: A Survey of Easel Paintings 1200-1900".
Box 17
Index cards and notebook,
undated
Scope and Content Note
File box of index cards arranged alphabetically by artist's name, each containing condition notes on paintings. Several tabs
and index cards are blank. An accompanying notebook also contains a list of paintings with condition notes.
Series III.
Photographs of frames,
undated
Physical Description:
0.4 linear feet
(1 box)
Scope and Content Note
This series contains a collection of black-and-white photographs of frames which were organized by Kopelman according to school.
Arrangement note
Arranged alphabetically.
Box 18, Folder 16
Unidentified
Scope and Content Note
Marked as "?" by Kopelman.
Series IV.
Negatives of paintings,
undated
Physical Description:
1.6 linear feet
(2 boxes)
Scope and Content Note
Additional images of paintings restored by Kopelman in the form of black-and-white negatives comprise this series. Each negative
has an assigned number but the names of each work were not identified by Kopelman. A small group of negatives without inventory
numbers are filed at the end of box 20.
Arrangement note
Arranged in numerical order.
Box 20
40679-54476
Scope and Content Note
Also includes unnumbered negatives at the end.
Box 13
8"x10",
undated
Scope and Content Note
Includes negative numbers: 28096-28097, 28426-28429, 28579, 29699, 30829, 47153 and 33776-33778.
