Descriptive Summary
Biographical / Historical Note
Administrative Information
Related Archival Materials
Separated Materials
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Knoedler Kasmin Limited records
Date (inclusive): 1959-2007 (bulk 1970-1992)
Number: 2010.M.71
Creator/Collector:
Knoedler Kasmin
Limited
Physical Description:
45.7 Linear Feet
(75 boxes, 2 flat file folders)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The Knoedler Kasmin Limited records
document the business of the London gallery under the partnership of gallerist John Kasmin
with New York's Knoedler & Co. from 1977 to 1992. The gallery exhibited mostly abstract
painting and sculpture and represented well-known contemporary artists such as Stephen
Buckley, Anthony Caro, David Hockney, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell
and Frank Stella. The bulk of the collection consists of exhibition announcements, clippings
and photographic documentation of artists' work in the form of prints, transparencies,
slides and negatives. Also included are business records such as inventory lists, sales
invoices and administrative and operational documents.
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Language: Collection material is in English
Biographical / Historical Note
The Knoedler Kasmin Limited gallery operated in London from 1977 to 1992 as a partnership
between gallerist John Kasmin and New York's Knoedler & Co. The gallery exhibited mostly
abstract painting and sculpture and represented well-known contemporary artists such as
Stephen Buckley, Anthony Caro, David Hockney, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert
Motherwell and Frank Stella.
Prior to the opening of the gallery, John Kasmin (British, 1934- ), backed by the Marquess
of Dufferin and Ava, a young Guinness heir, formed Kasmin Limited in 1961 and created his
eponymous gallery on New Bond Street two years later. Kasmin represented artists including
Hockney, Caro, Howard Hodgkin and Gillian Ayres, as well as American artists Frankenthaler,
Jules Olitski and Morris Louis. Kasmin Limited became known for its associations with
Hockney and the American color field painters championed by Clement Greenberg. The gallery
closed in 1972 due to a downturn in the economy and a shift in the Marquess's interests.
Kasmin continued to work with artists, selling work privately and organizing exhibitions in
other galleries.
Five years later, Kasmin entered into equal partnership with Knoedler Inc. of New York to
operate a joint gallery out of the Knoedler premises on Bond Street opposite the Sotheby's
headquarters. At the time, Knoedler Inc. was under the ownership of business tycoon Armand
Hammer and was directed by Kasmin's friends, John Richardson and Lawrence Rubin. Seeking to
promote the Knoedler name in London beyond the sale of old master paintings, Richardson and
Rubin were able to attract Kasmin with a large line of credit from a U.S. company and
near-complete freedom in choosing what art to display.
Knoedler Kasmin Limited gallery launched at 143 New Bond Street and then moved to a larger
space at 22 Cork Street, where it remained until July 1992. Kasmin continued to work with
artists he had represented at Kasmin Limited, along with new artists including Motherwell,
Francis, Joel Shapiro, Nancy Graves and Jennifer Bartlett, as well as younger artists Peter
Kinley, Tim Scott, and Bhupen Khakhar. The gallery also participated in art fairs at Basel,
Paris, Madrid, Chicago and Bologna.
Kasmin ended the Knoedler Kasmin partnership in 1992, having decided to move away from
representing living artists. He has since dedicated himself to collecting ancient Eastern
and Islamic sculpture, ceramics, textiles and calligraphy.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Knoedler Kasmin Limited records, 1959-2007 (bulk 1970-1992), The Getty Research Institute,
Los Angeles, Accession no. 2010.M.71.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2010m71
Acquisition Information
Gift of John Kasmin in 2010.
Processing History
Processed by Sheila Prospero under the supervision of Andra Darlington in 2012.
Related Archival Materials
Separated Materials
78 monographs and 15 serials were transferred to the library. These publications may be
found by searching the
Library Catalog for the Knoedler Kasmin
Limited Collection.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Knoedler Kasmin Limited records document the business of the London gallery from 1977
to 1992 under the partnership of gallerist John Kasmin with New York's Knoedler Inc. The
archive highlights the gallery's emphasis on abstract painting and sculpture and provides
extensive information on notable contemporary artists such as David Hockney and Frank
Stella.
Series I forms the bulk of the archive and consists of files on the artists whose work the
gallery exhibited, including British artists Hockney, Stephen Buckley, Anthony Caro, Howard
Hodgkin and Gillian Ayres, as well as American artists Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, Jules
Olitski and Robert Motherwell. The series contains mostly exhibition announcements,
clippings and photographic images of artists' works in the form of prints, transparencies,
slides and negatives. Some files also include correspondence, business papers and exhibition
catalogs. Filed at the end of the series (box 11) are unidentified color slides and
transparencies.
Featured in Series II is a small section of papers and photographs related to group and
special exhibitions at the gallery as well as art fairs in which the gallery participated.
Included in this series are exhibition lists, announcements and correspondence. The
photographic material consists of both black-and-white and color prints, transparencies and
negatives documenting exhibition installation shots and artists' works.
Series III contains administrative records and operational documents for the gallery,
including documentation of the gallery's incorporation in 1977 and closure in 1992. Records
include lease documents, architectural plans, daybooks and clippings, as well as insurance
claims and correspondence following a flood at the gallery in February 1984.
Series IV consists of inventory lists and invoices for artwork sold at Knoedler Kasmin
Limited gallery between 1977 and 1992. The gallery's inventory is also documented in stock
books and a small number of photographs of works sold before 1990. A large number of
invoices for art sold at the gallery forms the major portion of the series.
Arrangement
Arranged in four series:
Series I. Artist files, 1959-2007 (bulk 1970-1991);
Series II. Exhibition
files, 1972-1992, 2004;
Series III. Gallery
administration, 1963-2006;
Series IV. Gallery
inventory, 1977-1992.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Ayres, Gillian,
1930-
Buckley, Stephen,
1944-
Caro, Anthony, 1924-2013
Hodgkin, Howard, 1932-2017
Hockney, David
Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011
Francis, Sam, 1923-1994
Olitski, Jules,
1922-2007
Motherwell, Robert
Kasmin, John, 1934-
Stella, Frank
Subjects - Corporate Bodies
Knoedler Kasmin
Limited
Subjects - Topics
Art dealers -- England -- London
Art galleries, Commercial -- England -- London
Art, Modern -- 20th century
Art, Modern -- Collectors and collecting
Genres and Forms of Material
Photographs, Original
Slides (photographs)
Printed ephemera
Transparencies
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Color prints (photographs)
Contributors
M. Knoedler & Co
Knoedler Kasmin
Limited
Kasmin, John,
1934-