The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:          Russell J. and Eleanor S. Quandt                                              

Title:               Papers

Dates:             ca.1940-1970

Call No.:         Col. 59

Acc. No.:         91x21, 92x98, 93x139, 97x22

Quantity:        65 boxes

Location:        22 A-B 1-5, C 2-4

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Russell Jerome Quandt, 1919-1970, was a paintings conservator who worked for private individuals and public institutions.  A native of New London, Connecticut, he left Yale College during World War II to join the American Field Service ambulance corps.  Upon his return, a bicycle accident left him nearly deaf.  As a result, he was largely self-taught in conservation methods; however, he did train under Caroline Keck and received help and advice from Louis Pomerantz, Robert Feller, Roger Dennis, and others.

 

In 1950, Quandt moved to Washington, D.C., to assume the part-time position of conservator at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  He also developed an extensive independent practice, serving both private collectors and museums, among them the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Mount Vernon, Kenmore, and the Department of Collections and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center at Colonial Williamsburg.   The latter association led to the making of the film, "The Art of the Conservator," featuring Russell and Eleanor Quandt and Robert L. Feller.

 

Eleanor Bryant Swenson Quandt was an art historian and his business manager.  She graduated from Smith College and held graduate fellowships at Smith and at New York University.  In 1943, Eleanor Swenson became assistant to the curator of paintings and sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum (assuming full responsibility during part of World War II); in 1947, she was appointed curator of American Art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  While at the Brooklyn Museum, Eleanor worked with Sheldon and Caroline Keck, who were the conservators.  After Eleanor moved to the Corcoran, she encouraged that museum to hire Russell Quandt.  Eleanor and Russell married in 1952 and had three daughters, one of whom, Abigail, became an art conservator.  Eleanor assisted her husband in his private conservation practice, being responsible for technical documentation, reports, correspondence, and historical research. 

 

Together, Mr. and Mrs. Quandt performed research into the materials and techniques of painting prior to the American Revolution, focusing on the anonymous painters of the Hudson River Valley, 1700-1750.  Quandt concentrated his restoration efforts on American painting, especially the Hudson River School and American primitives.  Mrs. Quandt wrote several articles based on their research findings.  Unfortunately, Russell’s early death led to the closing of his conservation practice and slowed Eleanor’s research into early American paintings.  In 1973, Mrs. Quandt was named assistant to the conservation officer at the Library of Congress, managing the office and editing its publications; she retired in 1990. 

 

Russell Quandt was a founding member of American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and of the Washington Conservation Guild; he was also a member of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.  He died suddenly in 1970.  Mrs. Quandt was also a member of numerous conservation and historical societies.  She died in September 2002.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

This collection contains examination forms, treatment reports, correspondence with clients and other restorers, technical information, and photographs and negatives of many paintings he worked on over the years.  These photos often show the painting before, during and after treatment.  Paintings owned by private individuals and by institutions are widely represented in the collection.  Also included are research notes for articles on conservation, and files on work which he declined.  Books, periodicals, and exhibition catalogs related to Quandt's career are housed in the Printed Books and Periodical Collection, Winterthur Library.

           

 

ORGANIZATION

 

The papers are arranged in three series.  Series I contains correspondence with various clients for whom the Quandts did conservation work.  Series II contains other correspondence, business records, and research reports.  Series III mostly contains photographs and negatives of paintings worked on, but it also contains x-rays, samples taken from paintings, and some card files.            

 

 

PROVENANCE

           

Gift of Eleanor (Mrs. Russell J.) Quandt.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Quandt, Eleanor S., 1921-

 

Topics:

            Conservatorships – United States.

            Painting – Conservation and restoration.

            Painting – Expertising.

            Expertising, X-ray.

            Hudson River school of landscape painting.

            Folk art – United States.

            Reports.

            Correspondence.

            Photonegatives.

            Photonegatives.

            Photoprints.

            X-rays.

            Conservators.

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 22 A-B 1-5, C 2-4

 

 

Series I: correspondence with clients

 

Box 1:

 

A

Amon Carter Museum (2 folders)

Amon Carter Museum: Reports, Bills, Receipts

B

Baltimore Museum of Art (2 folders)

Baltimore Museum of Art: Reports, bills, receipts

 

 

Box 2:

 

Beale, Susan

Boissonnas, Alain G.

C

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: bills

Colonial Williamsburg.: AARFAC: correspondence (3 folders)

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: correspondence, Jan. 1, 1960- Dec. 1964 (2 folders)

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: correspondence, post 1970

Colonial Williamsburg.: AARFAC: correspondence, Nina F. Little

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: lists & miscellaneous memos

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: miscellaneous data

 

Box 3:

 

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: movie (2 folders)

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: official receipts for paintings

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: old lists

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: reports completed

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: reports in process

Colonial Williamsburg: Audio Visual: Arthur L. Smith

Colonial Williamsburg: Dept. of Collections: bills

Colonial Williamsburg: Dept. of Collections: correspondence, telephone memos (folder 1 of 2)

 

 

Box 4:

 

Colonial Williamsburg: Dept. of Collections: correspondence, telephone memos (folder 2 of 2)

Colonial Williamsburg: Dept. of Collections: movie previews lists

Colonial Williamsburg: Dept. of Collections: receipts

Colonial Williamsburg: Dept. of Collections: reports, American paintings

Colonial Williamsburg: Dept. of Collections: reports on work completed, foreign schools

Colonial Williamsburg.: Dept. of Collections: worklists

Colonial Williamsburg: film, narrative text

Colonial Williamsburg: film, press clippings

Colonial Williamsburg: films

Colonial Williamsburg: photos, movies

Colonial Williamsburg Today

Corcoran Gallery of Art: Bills

 

 

Box 5:

 

Corcoran Gallery of Art: carbon copies of CGA reports

Corcoran Gallery of Art: Lab. improvement & equipment

Corcoran Gallery of Art: notes, exhibitions, research (3 folders)

Corcoran Gallery of Art: official correspondence (2 folders)

Corcoran Gallery of Art: Personal notes, memos

Corcoran Gallery of Art: Staff memos

Corcoran School of Art

Cosmos Club

Covey, Victor B.

D

 

 

Box 6:

 

Dennis, Roger (2 folders)

Dumbarton Oaks - Harvard University

E

Ely, Mr. & Mrs. Albert H.

Erwin, Mrs. Henry Parsons

F

Feller, Robert L. (2 folders)

Feller, Robert L.: papers

 

 

Box 7:

 

G

H

Halstead, Lawrence

Hines, Janice W.

Houghton, Mrs. Elizabeth

J

J.B. Speed Art Museum

K

Kaufman lawsuit, re: Corot

Keck, Sheldon & Caroline

Kirk, Mrs. Page

 

 

Box 8:

 

Knoedler & Co.

Knox, Mrs. McCook

L

Lemmer, Geoffrey M. (2 folders)

Long, Mrs. Breckinridge

M

Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute

May, Mrs. Herbert A. (formerly Mrs. Merriweather Post)

Mc

Monticello (Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation)

Mt. Vernon Ladies Assoc.

 

 

Box 9:

 

N

National Gallery: cleaning controversy

Norfolk Museum

Norton Gallery & School of Art

O

Old Print Shop

P

Page, J. Wallace

Phillips Gallery

Pomerantz, Louis

R

S

Sesquicentennial Exhibition

Smith, Myron Bement

Society of the Cincinnati

 

 

Box 10:

 

Stratford Hall (Lee Memorial Foundation)

T

Thacher, John S.

Todd, Jouett Ross

Treviranus, H. Stewart

Tryon Palace Restoration (2 folders)

United States: Capitol building

United States: government departments

V

Van Roijen, Dr. J.H.

Virginia, State of

 

 

Box 11:

 

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Volkmer, Jean

W

Washington & Lee University

Wheeler, L. D.

Wiles, Robert Scott

X-ray tests (unidentified)

Yorktown Lodge, A.F. & A.M.

 

 

Series II: other correspondence files and business records

 

Box 12:

 

American Association of Museums

American Association of Museums: notes

"American Painting to 1776: A Reappraisal"

Archives of American Art

Art institutions: catalogs and pamphlets

“The Art of Lacquer Ware,” 1966

Articles (3 folders)

Artists materials: American sources and references (3 folders)

Artists materials: early artists materials, notes on (2 folders)

 

 

Box 13:

 

Artists materials: modern

Baur, J. I. H., “Unknown American Painters of the 19th Century”

Bills for completed work

Black, Mary: Winterthur paper

Books (4 folders)

 

 

Box 14:

 

Books (1 more folder)

Brochures, New York state (2 folders)

Brochures, New England

Butler, Marigene, “Polarized Light Microscopy…”

Business correspondence: miscellaneous, late (1970s)

Cameras & Microscopes

Carnegie Mellon University

Chase, W. T., and Hutt, J. R., “Aaron Draper Shattuck’s Patent Stretcher Key”

Chrysler Collection and other questionable paintings

Circulars & Announcements (1 folder)

 

 

Box 15:

 

Circulars & Announcements (2 more folders)

Clippings, miscellaneous (2 folders)

Color name charts

Conservation Center-NYU

Conservation notes, clippings, etc., post 1973

Corcoran Gallery: Picture of the Month – used, correspondence, etc.

Corcoran Gallery: Picture of the Month – information on possible pictures

 

 

Box 16:

 

Correspondence with other restorers (2 folders)

Craven, Wayne, “Painting in New York” (Winterthur paper, 1971)

Curiosa

“De Gustibus” exhibition at Corcoran Gallery, 1949, organized by Eleanor Swenson [Quandt]

Dutch background information

Dutch paintings, notes on

Early paintings, other than Albany – notes

Eighteenth Century paintings: reference collection (not RJQ jobs) (2 folders

English and European artists’ manuals (old) (3 folders)

English painting: history

English, Joseph – article about

Farmer, Guy – painting exam notes

Feller, Robert L.: “Analysis of Particular Pigments in the Paintings”

Feller, Robert L.: Analysis of Pigments – Winterthur Conference, 1971 (2 folders)

Feller, Robert L.: drafts for article on pigments

Feller, Robert L.: reports

Feller, Robert L.: “Scientific Examination of Artistic and Decorative Colorants”

 

 

Box 17:

 

Flexner, James Thomas: “ Monochromatic Drawing: A Forgotten Branch of American Art”

Folk art

Forms and lists

Froentjes, W.: “Scientific Study of Rembrandts in the Mauritshuis”

Future business

General correspondence – private (2 folders)

Gettens, R. J.: “Preliminary Reports on Reference Material,” 1969

Groce, George C.: “New York Painters Before 1800”

Harley, R. D.” “Oil Colour Containers: Development Work…”

Hastings, Mrs. Russel: “Pieter Vanderlyn: A Hudson River Portrait Painter”

Hendy, P., and Lucas, A. S.: “The Ground in Pictures”

Information Re: other restorers

Information – technical (2 folders)

 

 

Box 18:

 

Information – technical (1 more folder)

Inquiries

Insurance, business

International Institute for Conservation (IIC)

International Institute for Conservation (IIC): IIC-ICOM: American group, Boston, 1960

International Institute for Conservation (IIC): AE talk

International Institute for Conservation (IIC): AG paper, 1972: text of talks

International Institute for Conservation (IIC): Newsletter

 

 

Box 19:

 

International Institute for Conservation (IIC): Official Papers

Italian emergency

Keck, Shledon: “Mechanical Alteration of the Paint Film,” 1967

Kinney, Alice: seminar paper

Knox, Katherine McCook: Remarks at opening of Adams-Clement Collection

Lab. Fine Arts Insurance records, 1955-current

Letters

Letters and cards

Letters: personal (2 folders)

 

 

Box 20:

 

Letters: personal (1 more folder)

Letters: photos and notes re: project, 1973 (3 folders)

Matt, D., and Lebron, James

Meeting notes

Microscopes

Miscellaneous (4 folders)

 

 

Box 21:

 

Miscellaneous (1 more folder)

Miscellaneous information about artists

Miscellaneous notes (5 folders; one is acc. 92x98.2)

Miscellaneous notes: addresses from research project, taken from spindle

Miscellaneous reports in process

Miscellaneous reprints: conservation and museology

 

 

Box 22:

 

Miscellaneous unidentified papers

Miscellany

Modern studies: artists materials and techniques (2 folders)

Nelson, Lee H.: “Nail Chronology as an Aid to Dating Old Buildings”

New York City and lower Hudson

New York University: Fine Arts 49 & 50: American Painting 1665-1865, 1865-present

            [ca.1940]: bibliographies

Newspaper articles

Nineteenth century American painters: miscellaneous notes, observations, bibliography

Notes on salaries

“Paint in America”: symposium on architectural and decorative paints

“Paintings and Photographic Materials”: cassette tape of general session (S. Keck talk)

Pamphlets: museums, etc.

Parslow, Virginia D.: “James Alexander, Weaver”

 

 

Box 23:

 

Photographic supplies and equipment (2 folders)

Porter, Rufus: essays on various kinds of paintings

Portraits information

Postcards

Quandt, Eleanor S.: articles and talks

Quandt, Eleanor S.: resume

Quandt, Eleanor S.: “Technical Examination of 18th century paintings” (Winterthur paper) (4 folders)

Quandt, Eleanor S.: “Technical Examination of 18th Century Paintings for Historical Purposes” (3 folders)

Quandt, Eleanor S.: erratum sheets for “Technical Examination of 18th Century Paintings…”

Quandt, Eleanor S.: “Technical Studies: 18th Century American Paintings,” 1990

Quandt, Eleanor S.: Winterthur talk

Quandt, Eleanor S.: Winterthur talk, lit. scraps

Quandt, Eleanor S.: Winterthur talk to class, draft, ca.1974 

Quandt, Russell J.: articles

Quandt, Russell J.: British certificate of identity, 1943, Quandt as an ambulance driver

 

 

Box 24:

 

Quandt, Russell J.: certificate of membership, International Institute for the Conservation

of Museum Objects (acc. no. 92x98.1)

Quandt, Russell J.: curriculum vitae

Quandt, Russell J.: forms used for examination and treatment

Quandt, Russell J.: “Technical Note on Portrait of Simon Pease by Robert Feke (2 folders)

Quandt, Russell J. and Eleanor: clippings

Quandt lectures

Recipes – technical information

Reports for copying (RJQ’s)

Research notes

Research project papers which surfaced 12/10/86

Resins (2 folders)

Richardson, Edgar Preston: talk given at a symposium on “The Artist in American History,” 1950

Scotia paintings: reports, notes (4 folders)

 

 

Box 25:

 

Sherwood, Bruce T.: “Portrait of Magdalena Douw”

Simis, L.: “Thorough Instruction in the Art of Painting”

Smith, Gridley Nekim: “Theory and Practice: Writing and Painting in the Age of Velazquez”

South Carolina Geology 100: Mineral Identification

Southern Painting Show

Spawn, William: “Conservators’ Responsibilities to Scholarship”

Strainers and stretchers

Streub, R. E.: “Stretchers for Canvas Paintings”

Supplies, miscellaneous, purchased

Teacher’s manual to accompany “The Art of the Conservator”

Technical information (2 folders)

Technical studies: American paintings, notes, 1990s

Thorne, Thomas: “Notes on Artists’ Materials, etc., in Virginia”

Unanswered letters, professional

United States system of weights and measures

Upper Hudson Limners: Albany paintings: photo list

Upper Hudson Limners: art conservation program/ paintings conservation (Joyce H. Stoner)

 

 

Box 26:

 

Upper Hudson Limners: article: ideas and drafts

Upper Hudson Limners: Black, Mary: contributions, Aetatis Suae and Wendell Limners, 1980

Upper Hudson Limners: Black, Mary: drafts of text (3 folders)

Upper Hudson Limners: carbons, 4-30-70, beginnings of short version

Upper Hudson Limners: charts and drawings for book

Upper Hudson Limners: conservation materials

Upper Hudson Limners: copy, Ch. III, ptrs.

Upper Hudson Limners: fabric supports

Upper Hudson Limners: information on woods

Upper Hudson Limners: inscriptions

Upper Hudson Limners: Master copies of text sent by 8/13/69 & thereafter (2 folders)

Upper Hudson Limners: Materials and techniques (Upper Hudson Valley, 1700-1750); EQ      work plan, 1971-72 (2 folders)

 

 

Box 27:

 

Upper Hudson Limners: Materials and techniques (Upper Hudson Valley, 1700-1750); EQ      work plan, 1971-72 (1 more folder)

Upper Hudson Limners: Materials and techniques: draft of technical section of book

Upper Hudson Limners: Materials and techniques: photos

Upper Hudson Limners: Merchants & planters: conservation reports

Upper Hudson Limners: Merchants & planters: lists (3 folders)

Upper Hudson Limners: Merchants & planters: notes re: groupings, research, miscellaneous memos

Upper Hudson Limners: Painters of the Upper Hudson Valley (2 folders)

Upper Hudson Limners: Painters of the Upper Hudson Valley et al. (folder 1 of 3)

 

 

Box 28:

 

Upper Hudson Limners: Painters of the Upper Hudson Valley et al. (2 folders)

Upper Hudson Limners: Pigments

Upper Hudson Limners: Punched cards needs

Upper Hudson Limners: Quandt, Eleanor, current (2 folders)

Upper Hudson Limners: Quandt, Eleanor, lit. scraps

Upper Hudson Limners: Quandt, Eleanor, miscellaneous to go into book

Upper Hudson Limners: Quandt, R. J.: limner summaries (2 folders)

Upper Hudson Limners: Quandt, R. J.: radiography drafts (2 folders)

Upper Hudson Limners: Quandt, R. J.: thoughts for October

Upper Hudson Limners: recent articles relating to research project (2 folders)

Upper Hudson Limners: Slidell research notes

Upper Hudson Limners: Upper Hudson Valley conservation reports

 

 

 

Box 29:

 

Upper Hudson Limners: Upper Hudson Valley paintings, 1970 (outline)

Upper Hudson Limners: Upper Hudson Valley paintings: photos

Upper Hudson Limners: Upper Hudson Valley paintings: test results (3 folders)

Virginia portraits: papers (2 folders)

Volkmar article (2 folders)

Vollmer, Aline Fruhauf: “Little Louis”: chapter from unpublished book of reminiscences

Washington Region Conservation Guild

 

 

Box 30:

 

Wheeler, Robert. “The Albany of Magdalena Douw”

Work Refused

 

 

Box  31:

 

Daybooks, 1958, 1959

Daybooks, 1960, 1961

Daybooks, 1964, 1965

Daybooks, 1966, 1967

Daybooks, 1968 (2)

Daybooks, 1969 (2)

Daybooks, 1970, 1971

 

 

Box 32: photos and negatives

 

A (2 folders)

Amon Carter Museum (2 folders)

B (4 folders)

Baltimore Museum

C

 

 

Box 33: photos and negatives

 

C (3 folders)

Colonial Williamsburg (5 folders)

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: Border Limner (folder 1 of 2)

 

 

Box 34:

 

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: Border Limner (folder 2 of 2)

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: Hicks, Washington Crossing...

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: miscellaneous photos (2 folders)

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: photos (folder 1 of 3)

 

 

Box 35: photos and negatives

 

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: photos (2 folders)

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: Portraits (5 folders)

 

 

Box 36: photos and negatives

 

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: Portraits (7 more folders)

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: Subjects

 

 

Box 37: photos and negatives

 

Colonial Williamsburg: AARFAC: Subjects (4 more folders)

Colonial Williamsburg: American paintings