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Guide to the Papers of Marion Kaselle:
Max Hutchinson Galleries

Summary | Administrative Information | Scope and Content | Biographical Note | Series List | Series Description | Box Description

Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York. Staff photograph with Clement Meadmore and Max Hutchinson standing on the pavement. MS 70 Papers of Marion Kaselle: Max Hutchinson Galleries. Oversized Box 3. Research Library Archives, National Gallery of Australia.

 

Summary

 

Creator: Hutchinson, Max 1925-1999
Title: Papers of Marion Kaselle: Max Hutchinson Galleries
Date Range: 1958-1999
Reference Number: MS 70
Extent: 48 boxes + 6 binders + 3 oversized boxes

Overview

Material in this collection is from the following galleries;

This collection of papers includes artists' biographies and profiles, correspondence, exhibition releases, slides and photographs, invitations, newspaper clippings, diaries and journals, administrative documents and financial records. Of special interest are correspondence records concerning the National Gallery of Australia (then Australian National Gallery) and communication with the first Director, James Mollison. The majority of this communication was correspondence, often in regards to acquisitions for the Gallery.

The material in this collection documents the various art galleries Max Hutchinson formed and provides a unique context to the international art scene of this time. In addition, this collection contains records pertaining to a pivotal time in the National Gallery of Australia's history – when the art collection was being developed.  The collection has been organised in a variety of ways, including chronological order, project/theme and type. This reflects the numerous administrative staff from the seven galleries, who have contributed to the collection. Original order has been maintained where possible.

 

Keywords

Blue poles; Australian National Gallery; National Gallery of Australia; Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York; Sculpture Now; Gallery A, Sydney; Gallery A, Melbourne.

 

Key Names

Max Hutchinson; James Mollison; Clement Meadmore; Robert Stackhouse; Elwyn Lynn; John Kahlbetzer; Robert Hughes; Milton Resnick; Hélène Valentin.

 

Administrative Information

 

Access
Restricted
All enquiries to the Chief Librarian.

Provenance
The papers were received from Max Hutchinson's companion Marion Kaselle in mid 2010 after an extended period of negotiation with Ms Kaselle, who resides in the United States of America. The collection was a gift for the National Gallery of Australia Research Library through Marion Kaselle's Hiekie Foundation Inc. It is uncertain as to the full extent of the papers as conflicting amounts of the original collection were noted in the background information. Negotiations for the acquisition of these papers began with Steven Tonkin who then referred them to the Research Library's Chief Librarians Margaret Shaw and subsequently Joye Volker, after the former's retirement.

Physically the collection has been moved around and poorly kept with regard to reasonable archival conditions. Whilst rehousing the collection it was noted that a large number of photographs and records were fixed together and presented moulding spots. By following the email threads that led to the acquisition of this collection, it can be understood that the collection was stored in a barn in alternating freezing, damp conditions. Art & Archival in Canberra completed a condition report of the collection and noted mould on various records. The National Gallery of Australia's Conservation Department treated the collection accordingly.

Preferred Citation Note
MS 70 Papers of Marion Kaselle: Max Hutchinson Galleries 1953-1999, [Box number: folder number], National Gallery of Australia Research Library Archives, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

 

Scope and Content

 

Subject

International Art; Art Galleries; Gallery Directors.

Galleries mentioned in the collection

The galleries that were mentioned more frequently in the collection have been included in the following lists.

American Galleries

Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, New York)
Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
The Leo Castelli Gallery (New York, New York)
Edith C. Blum Art Institute (New York, New York)
Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery (now Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida)
The Fogg Museum (a Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge Massachusetts)
Fort Worth Art Center Museum (Fort Worth, Texas)
Galerie Simone Stern (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Gallery Paule Anglim (San Francisco, California)
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institute (Washington, District of Columbia)
Hudson River Museum (Yonkers, New York)
The Hunter Museum of American Art (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
The J. B. Speed Art Museum (Louisville, Kentucky)
King Pitcher Art Gallery (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York)
Neuberger Museum of Art (Westchester County, New York)
Oscarsson Hood Gallery (New York, New York)
Park West Gallery (Southfield, Michigan)
Richard Feigen Gallery (New York, New York)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (Manhattan, New York)
Storm King Art Center (Mountainville, New York)
The J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, California)
The Museum of Modern Art (New York, New York)
The Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, New York)
The Women's Museum (Dallas, Texas)
The Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, Ohio)
Weatherspoon Art Gallery (Greensboro, North Carolina)

Australian Galleries

The Australian National Gallery (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory)
Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, New South Wales)
Gallery A (Sydney, New South Wales)
Gallery A (Melbourne, Victoria)
The Power Institute of Fine Arts (Sydney, New South Wales)

European Galleries

Antwerp Museum (Antwerp, The Netherlands)
Tate Britain (London, United Kingdom)
Amsterdam Museum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Relationship to the National Gallery of Australia Research Library

The Research Library holds archival collections of Clement Meadmore, Gallery A and James Mollison. Some of the artists mentioned in this finding aid are also available through the Research Library's Art & Artist Files (ANZ).

Relationship to the National Gallery of Australia Collection

Max Hutchinson's career as an art dealer/gallery director, in both Australia and America, and the time span in which this occurred, allowed him to be an authoritative person in the art world who directly influenced the building of the Collection. For example, Max Hutchinson was instrumental in orchestrating the purchase in 1973 of Jackson Pollock's controversial Blue poles 1952.

Acronyms used

MHGNY – Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York, including both 128 Greene Street, which then moved to 138 Greene Street.

 

Biographical Note

 

Charles Maxwell Hutchinson was born 25 August 1925 in Melbourne, Australia.  He trained as a chemical engineer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and served as a pilot in WWII with the Royal Australian Air Force. His sporting achievements include playing cricket at a national level and wrestling in the 1948 Olympics in Melbourne where he also played exhibition baseball. The Brooklyn Dodgers offered him a contract, which he turned down.

Max Hutchinson's first foray into the art world was with the establishment of his design company, which later included furniture design. Clement Meadmore, who was one of the company's designers, suggested opening an art gallery in Melbourne. In 1958 Max Hutchinson's career as an art dealer began with the opening of Gallery A. He remained at this gallery until 1962 and then opened Gallery A, Sydney in 1963. In 1969 Max Hutchinson arrived in New York where he showed large scale artwork in the lofty New York building of number 127 Greene Street, Soho, known as the Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York. He soon found growing interest in large scale sculpture and opened Sculpture Now, situated at 142 Greene Street. Paintings were shown in the original Max Hutchinson Gallery which was later moved adjacent to Sculpture Now at 138 Greene Street.

During this period, in his capacity as a dealer, Max Hutchinson helped develop the National Gallery of Australia's art collection under the directorship of James Mollison, AO. Recognisable acquisitions which Hutchinson assisted in negotiating, include Jackson Pollack's Blue poles 1952 and Constantin Brancusi's sculpture L'Oiseau dans l'espace [Bird in Space] c.1931-36. Max Hutchinson had an eye for ‘the next big thing' and aided negotiations for the then-named Australian National Gallery to acquire affordable works by promising artists, including Clement Meadmore's Virginia 1970, On the beach again 1984 by Robert Stackhouse and Mark Di Suvero's Ik ook 1971-72. Max Hutchinson also helped negotiate the purchase of other works of art including C.O.Y.O.T.E [previously known as The blind leading the blind] 1941-48 by Louise Bourgeois, Surface and sound 1972 by David Budd, Green mountain blue II 1978 by Charles Ginnever, Pink fire 1971 by Milton Resnick and Breezy Point, New York 1976 by Michelle Stuart.

The Max Hutchinson Gallery, Houston was opened in 1976. After initial success, the gallery struggled for three years before it closed in 1980. Max Hutchinson saw potential in the New Orleans area for an art gallery, stating he had decided to ‘go where the money was going'…South and made explorative trips between 1976 and 1982. He opened a small gallery for a short period of time. However the project was unsuccessful and Max turned his attention to a new venture, ‘Sculpture Fields', an outdoor gallery set on 88 acres in upstate New York, Kenoza Lake. The original Max Hutchinson Gallery in New York closed in 1985, which allowed him to focus on Sculpture Fields until his death in 1999.

Series List

 

1. Artist files

2. Correspondence

3. Gallery related material

4. Diaries/journals/visitor's books

5. Slides and photographs

When using this finding aid as a research tool it is advisable to also cross reference between series. Material from projects represented in a series may have also been captured in other documentation. For example, the artist files may include newspaper articles that refer to a project represented in the correspondence series.

 

Series Description

 

1. Artist Files

Published material and artist profiles comprise the majority of this series and include exhibition releases and photographic reproductions. The profiles were used across the galleries as the same artists were represented in several of the Max Hutchinson galleries. However, within this series material has been grouped, where possible, into gallery specific folders. Where it has not been specifically stated all correspondence labelled Max Hutchinson Gallery has been filed as such. Material mentioning a specific gallery has been filed under that gallery. It can be assumed that the Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York was the main administrative body, which often processed material for the other galleries at varying times.

The National Gallery of Australia holds work by twenty-three of the artists represented in this series, which have been denoted with the symbol *. The series has been ordered alphabetically. There are sixteen boxes in this series.

 

2. Correspondence

In this series most records relate to gallery matters. The folders are ordered by correspondence type, written between 1963 and 1999, and include:

The above records have been grouped by gallery to include Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York, Sculpture Now New York, Max Hutchinson Gallery Houston, New Orleans Project, Sculpture Fields Kenoza, Gallery A Melbourne, and Gallery A Sydney.
The item description of this series follows subject of correspondence, name of recipient and date created. There are fourteen boxes in this series.

 

3. Gallery related material

In this series the folders are grouped by gallery and include Max Hutchinson Gallery New York, Sculpture Now New York, Max Hutchinson Gallery Houston, Sculpture Fields, the New Orleans Project, Gallery A Melbourne and Gallery A Sydney.

Material in this series is not correspondence and relates to the galleries. This includes:

This series also Includes financial records including employee pay notices, budgets and miscellaneous receipts/statements. There are twelve boxes and three oversized boxes in this series.

 

4. Diaries/journals/visitor's books

Documented in this series are diaries, journals and visitor books that were kept by the various galleries and recorded appointments and other events. The series comprises thirteen diaries, five daily journals/reminders, a notebook, twenty visitor's books and two published works.

 

5. Slides and photographs

This series contains slides of artwork by some of the artists represented by Max Hutchinson. The series also includes slides of artwork from those artists who wanted to be represented by Max Hutchinson. The order they arrived in after Art and Archival had assessed the collection has been maintained. The original context was unknown. There are six binders in this series.

 

Box Description

 

Please note that this description is to box level only. This collection has been described to item level . Please see the Chief Librarian for further information.

 

Series 1. Artist Files

 

* artist has works of art in the NGA Collection

 

Box 1 A-B

Box 2 B

Box 3 B-C

Box 4 C-D

Box 5 D-E-F

Box 6 F-G

Box 7 G-H

Box 8 H-J-K

Box 9 K

Box 10 L-M

Box 11 M

Box 12 N-O-P-R

Box 13 R-S

Box 14 S

Box 15 S-T

Box 16 V-W

 

Series 2. Correspondence

 

Box 17

Box 18

Box 19

Box 20

Box 21

Box 22

Box 23

Box 24

Box 25

Box 26

Box 27

Box 28

Box 29

Box 30

 

Series 3. Gallery Related Material

 

Box 31

Box 32

Box 33

Box 34

Box 35

Box 36

Box 37

Box 38

Box 39

Box 40

Box 41

Box 42

Oversized Box 1

Oversized Box 2

Oversized Box 3

 

Series 4. Diaries/Journals and Visitor's Books Box Range 21 – 28

 

Box 43

Box 44

Box 45

Box 46

Box 47

Box 48

Series 5. Slides and photographs

 

Binder 1

Binder 2

Binder 3

Binder 4

Binder 5

Binder 6