Papers, 1935-1951 (bulk 1940-1950) | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Correspondence, memoranda, board minutes, policy statements, telegrams, and printed materials, chiefly relating to Defenbacher's activities as director of the Walker Art Center and his creation of an exhibits program in contemporary fine and applied arts with an emphasis on modern architecture and design. Includes files on the T.B. Walker collection, an eclectic ensemble of old master paintings, Chinese jades, Egyptian jewelry, and other objects, acquired by Walker between 1879 and 1927, and researched in the 1940s by art scholars such as W.G. Constable, Lloyd Goodrich, and Julius Held; and Defenbacher's personal correspondence when he was affiliated with the Federal Art Project (Works Projects Administration). Correspondents include curatorial staff: William M. Friedman, Norman Geske, and Hilde Reiss; Hudson Walker, art dealer and grandson of Walker Art Center founder T.B. Walker; artists including Berenice Abbott, Fernand Léger, and Max Weber; and colleagues from other museums such as Daniel Catton Rich (Art Institute of Chicago), Henri Marceau (Philadelphia Museum of Art), and Edgar Kaufman, Jr. (Museum of Modern Art)