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Finding aid for the James Thrall Soby papers, 1928-1975 (bulk 1935-1955)
910128
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Title: James Thrall Soby papers
Date (inclusive): 1928-1975 (bulk 1935-1955)
Number: 910128
Creator/Collector:
Soby, James Thrall, 1906-1979
Physical Description:
5.0 linear feet
(10 boxes, 1 flat file folder)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: American art critic, curator, and collector. Papers document Soby's nearly 45-year career in 20th-century art scholarship
and criticism. Materials date from about 1929, when Soby became a partner in Edwin Valentine Mitchell, Inc., booksellers and
publishers, to his retirement from the board of trustees at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1975. The bulk of the collection
comprises correspondence from 20th-century artists and photographers, MoMA personnel, curators, critics, friends and family
members.
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Language: Collection material is in
English
| 1906 | Born December 14 in Hartford, Conn. Son of Charles (in tobacco business) and Anna (Hazlewood) Soby |
| 1923 | Educated at Kingswood School |
| 1924 | Taft School |
| 1924-26 | Attended Williams College |
| 1925 | Buys a reproduction of a Maxfield Parrish print |
| 1929 | Bought a third interest in Edwin Valentine Mitchell's bookshop in Hartford, Conn. |
| 1931 | Worked at Wadsworth Athenaeum |
| 1942 | Director of painting and sculpture and member of board of trustees, Museum of Modern Art, New York |
| 1943-45 | Assistant director, MoMA |
| 1946-68 | Chairman of department of painting, MoMA |
| 1946-57 | Author of monthly column of art criticism in Saturday Review of Literature |
| 1950-51 | Editor of Magazine of Art; chairman of editorial board, 1951-52 |
| 1952 | Married third wife Melissa Wadley (Soby had two previous wives, Mimi and Mary Eleanor [aka Nelly]); children: Peter Allyn |
| 1962 | Awarded honorary L.H.D. from Williams College |
| 1968 | Vice-president of MoMA |
| 1979 | Died January 29 in Norwalk, Conn. |
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Rights and Reproductions .
James Thrall Soby papers, 1928-1975, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 910128.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa910128
Acquired in 1991.
Lynda Bunting began processing the collection October 1993, and finished writing the finding aid March 1994.
Galleria Schwarz, Milan.
Man Ray: dal 14 marzo al 3 aprile 1964 alla Galleria Schwarz, Milano.〹
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
Peter Blume: a retrospective exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 10 to February 29, 1976.
Pierre Berés.
Cubism, futurism, dadaism, expressionism and the surrealist movement in literature and art. Preface by Paul Eluard. New York: Pierre Berés, 1948.
Sage, Kay.
Demain, Monsieur Silber. Paris: Pierre Seghers, 1957.
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, Conn.
Tonny, Tchelitchew, Berard, Berman, Leonide. Hartford, Conn.: The Athenaeum, 1931.
Art & Industry 35, no. 208 (Oct. 1943).
After Picasso. Hartford, Conn.: E.V. Mitchell; New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1935.
Eugene Berman: Catalogue of the Retrospective Exhibition of His Paintings, Illustrations, and Designs. Boston, Mass.: Institute of Modern Art, 1941.
The Early Chirico. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1941.
Paintings, Drawings, Prints: Salvador Dali. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1941.
Pavel Tchelitchew: Paintings, Drawings. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1942.
Romantic Painting in America. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1943.
Georges Rouault: Paintings and Prints. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1945.
Ben Shahn. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1947.
Museum of Modern Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1947.
The Prints of Paul Klee. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1947.
Contemporary Painters. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1948.
Twentieth-Century Italian Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1949.
Paintings, Drawings, and Prints by Paul Klee: From the Klee Foundation, Berne, Switzerland, with Additions From American Collections. New York: Museum of Modern Art,
1949.
Modigliani: Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951.
Giorgio de Chirico. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1955.
Yves Tanguy. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1955.
Balthus. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1956.
Modern Art and the New Past. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957.
Ben Shahn: His Graphic Art. New York: G. Braziller, 1957.
Arp. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1958.
Juan Gris. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1958.
Joan Miró. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1959.
Recent Sculpture U.S.A. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1959.
The James Thrall Soby Collection of Works of Art Pledged or Given to the Museum of Modern Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1961.
Rico Lebrun Drawings. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961.
Paintings of Ben Shahn. New York: G. Braziller, 1963.
Bonnard and His Environment. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1964.
The School of Paris: Paintings From the Florene May Schoenbrorn and Samuel A. Marx Collection. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1965.
Rene Magritte. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1965.
Scope and Content of Collection
The James Thrall Soby collection documents Soby's career as author, art critic, curator, editor, collector and Museum of Modern
Art, New York, director and trustee. The papers date from about the time he became a third partner in Edwin Valentine Mitchell,
Inc., Booksellers and Publishers, in 1929, to his retirement from the board of trustees at MoMA in 1975. The bulk of the material
dates from 1935-1955 when Soby was most active. Most of Soby's papers can be found in MoMA's Library, which has a large collection
of complimentary material.
The archive consists primarily of letters sent to Soby from 20th century avant-garde artists and photographers, MoMA personnel,
curators, critics, friends and family members. These letters received by Soby record his substantial involvement with the
then contemporary art scene. The collection has very few copies of Soby's own letters, but it does contain some manuscripts
and notes for his writings. The correspondence files also include many original drawings and photographs and handmade Christmas
and postcards from artists. Filed in separate series are a substantial quantity of letters and drawings from the Russian-born
American painter and set designer Eugene Berman; letters, manuscripts and other material from and about American painter Peter
Blume; and miscellaneous papers, clippings and photographs.
The collection is organized in four series:
Series I. Correspondence, 1928-1975;
Series II. Eugene Berman, 1932-1969;
Series III. Peter Blume, 1940-1956;
Series IV. Miscellaneous, ca. 1928-1968
Berman, Eugene, 1899-1972
Blume, Peter, 1906-1992
Levy, Julien
Soby, James Thrall, 1906-1979
Art critics--United States
Art historians as collectors--United States
Art museum directors--United States
Art patrons--United States
Art--Collectors and collecting--United States
Neoromanticism (Art movement)
Drawings--20th century
Greeting cards--20th century
Photographic prints
Photographs, Original
Barr, Alfred Hamilton, 1902-1981
Berman, Leonid, 1896-1976
Blume, Peter, 1906-1992
Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976
Hartigan, Grace
Magritte, René, 1898-1967
Man Ray, 1890-1976
Miró, Joan, 1893-1983
Mitchell, Edwin Valentine, 1890-1960
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.).
Rivers, Larry, 1925-2002
Rouault, Georges, 1871-1958
Sage, Kay
Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969
Tanguy, Yves, 1900-1955
Tchelitchew, Pavel, 1898-1957