The collection comprises over fifty artist and gallery files containing photographs of works, press clippings, correspondence, slides, transparencies, and personalized artwork.

Nicholas Walter George Wilder was born in Rochester, New York, in 1938. He graduated from Amherst College in 1960 and studied law at Stanford University before deciding to enter the art field. Wilder opened his gallery on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles on April 1, 1965, exhibiting contemporary works from New York and Europe, and works by up-and-coming Los Angeles artists. The gallery was highly regarded; Wilder was noted for his keen eye and ability to recognize artistic talent. He gave early exhibitions to Dan Flavin, Ronald Davis, Joe Goode, and Robert Graham, and fostered the work of Sam Francis, David Hockney, John McLaughlin, and many others. He was the first to show Bruce Nauman's performance video pieces and John McCracken's Planks.In 1970, the gallery moved to Santa Monica Boulevard; but changing trends in the art market, including a shift by artists toward creating art with an eye toward the commercial market rather than toward personal expression, and collectors' reluctance to buy work from emerging or unestablished artists, impacted that gallery's financial success.

10.93 Linear Feet (15 boxes, 1 flatfile folder)

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Audiovisual materials are unavailable until reformatted.