Guide to the Rudolf Berliner and D. Graeme Keith records, 1913-1964

bulk 1946-1960


Rhode Island School of Design Archives
Fleet Library at RISD
2 College Street
Providence, RI 02903
Tel: 401-709-5922
Fax: 401-709-5932
email: risdarchives@risd.edu

Published in 2015

Collection Overview

Title: Rudolf Berliner and D. Graeme Keith records
Date range: 1913-1964, bulk 1946-1960
Creator: Berliner, Rudolf, 1886-1967
Extent: 2.5 linear feet
Abstract: The collection documents the formation of the Decorative Arts Department and the activities of Curators Rudolf Berliner and D. Graeme Keith, 1946-1958, as well as other Museum employees, 1913-1964.
Language of materials: English
Repository: Rhode Island School of Design Archives
Collection number: 23.3.4.1

Scope & content

The collection documents the formation of the Decorative Arts Department and the activities of Curators Rudolf Berliner and D. Graeme Keith, 1946-1958, as well as other Museum employees, 1913-1964. The bulk of the collection contains correspondence, 1913-1960, bulk 1946-1960, with patrons, RISD employees, institutions, dealers, galleries, and family members documenting loans, purchases, exhibitions, research, travel, inventories, family, and administrative matters. Additional records include committee reports, inter-office memos, photographs, and speeches. There are a few records, 1914-1960, created by other Museum employees including Elizabeth T. Casey and Eleanor Fayerweather. Indices, 1947-1952, document the Berliner correspondence.

The collection arrived at the Archives in a disorganized state with many letters misfiled according to Berliner's filing system documented in the Indices. The original order, per the Indices, was restored during processing. The folder arrangement follows a file cabinet list found in Series V.

Access Points

Subject Names Subject Topics

Arrangement

The records are arranged in five series.

  • I. Correspondence, 1913-1960, bulk 1946-1960
  • II. Dealer correspondence, 1946-1960
  • III. Subject files, 1945-1960
  • IV. Department files, 1924-1964
  • V. Indices, 1946-1952

Biographical Note

Rudolf Berliner, 1886-1967

Rudolf Paul Berliner served as Curator of Decorative Arts, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 1946-1953. Born in Ohlau, Germany 1886 April 14, Berliner studied at the University of Heidelberg and received his Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in 1910 under Josef Strzygowski and Max Dvorak. He served as a Research Fellow, 1912-1919, and Chief Curator, 1920-1935, at the Bavarian National Museum, Munich except for military service during World War One. Arrested and sent to the Dachau Concentration Camp in 1933 July, Berliner was released after two weeks through the efforts of his professional colleagues. He retained his position in Munich until 1935 when he was purged because of his Jewish heritage. He and his wife Maria immigrated to the United States in 1939 July joining their two sons who had left Germany early for their education and safety. Records indicate that Berliner had traveled to the US in 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1938.

Berliner obtained, with the assistance of Paul J. Sachs, the position of Keeper of Prints and Drawings, Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, New York in 1939, the same year that D. Graeme Keith joined the staff as an Assistant in Exhibitions. He left in 1946 because of the return of Curator Calvin S. Hathaway from his service in Europe, to become the first Curator of Decorative Arts at the RISD Museum of Art. His primary function was to survey, study, inventory, and catalogue the extensive decorative arts works that had been collected during the previous fifty years. He created the Textile Study Room for faculty and students and collected works through his extensive relationships with dealers, galleries, and collectors in Europe. He returned to Europe in 1951 and 1952 to purchase works with the aid of RISD benefactors.

Berliner resigned taking a final leave of absence 1953 January-June and returned to Europe, living primarily in Rome and Germany and working on research projects. He returned to the US in 1955 joining the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University in 1956 to give seminars in decorative arts and the museum course. He worked at the Textile Museum, Washington, D.C, from 1962 until 1967 when he returned to Germany. He died 1967 August 26 in Bischofswiesen near his family's home in Berchtesgaden.

For a list of Berliner's writings see:
  • Muller, Theodore. Rudolf Berliner: Bibliographie. Munich, 1966.
  • (German/English)

    D. Graeme Keith, 1912-2003

    D. Graeme (David Alexander Graeme) Keith joined Berliner at RISD in 1948 as Assistant to the Curator after Director Gordon B. Washburn received a recommendation from Hathaway. Born in Toronto, Canada 1912 September 21, Keith received degrees from Western Reserve University, BA (1934) and MA (1935), attended Paul J. Sachs' Museum Course at Harvard, 1935-1937, and took courses toward a Ph. D at New York University, 1946-1952. His doctoral research concerned the history of 19th century American printed textiles. He worked for the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts as a curator, 1937-1939, before joining Cooper Union in 1939/1940 to work with exhibitions and publicity. He became Acting Curator of Decorative Arts in 1953 upon Berliner's resignation.

    Keith served as Curator, 1955-1958, and taught Summer Sessions at the University of California, Berkeley in 1956. Keith left in 1958 to become Curator of Decorative Arts at the M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, where he served until his retirement in 1977. He died in Port Townsend, WA 2003 July 14.
    Note:

    The following materials from the Paul J. Sachs papers are used by permission of the Harvard Art Museums Archives:
    • Letter from Rudolf Berliner to Paul J. Sachs, December 22, 1939. Paul J. Sachs papers (HC 3), file 157. Harvard Art Museums Archives, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
    • Letter from Rudolf Berliner to Paul J. Sachs, January 29, 1946. Paul J. Sachs papers (HC 3), file 157. Harvard Art Museums Archives, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
    • Letter from Gordon B. Washburn to Paul J. Sachs, July 23, 1948. Paul J. Sachs papers (HC 3), file 1049. Harvard Art Museums Archives, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

    Access & Use

    Access to the collection: The use of certain documents and collections may be restricted. Please consult the Archives staff for further details.
    Use of the materials: Permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from archival materials must be obtained in writing from the Archives. The researcher assumes full responsibility for use of material and for conformity to all applicable laws, including copyright.
    Preferred citation: Rudolf Berliner and D. Graeme Keith records, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.
    Contact information: Rhode Island School of Design Archives
    Fleet Library at RISD
    2 College Street
    Providence, RI 02903
    Tel: 401-709-5922
    Fax: 401-709-5932
    email: risdarchives@risd.edu

    Administrative Information

    ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
    Acquisition: The Archives received the records from the RISD Museum of Art's Curator of Decorative Arts.
    ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
    Author: Finding aid prepared by Douglas Doe.
    Encoding: Finding aid encoded by Douglas Doe 2015 September 11
    Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

    Additional Information

    Inventory


    Series I. Correspondence
    The Correspondence series, 1913-1960, documents loans, exhibitions, research, purchases, potential gifts and acquisitions, rough drafts of reports and talks, and the Museum Committee. Correspondents include donors, institutions, Museum employees, professional colleagues, and family members. Photographs, illustrations, receipts, inventories, letters, and reports document Berliner's trips to Europe and his health issues, the Edith Wetmore Room, the Lucy T. Aldrich Collection of Staffordshire Pottery, Cooper Union, and Berliner and Keith's interaction with Museum employees, trustees, donors, galleries, and other institutions. There is correspondence from Berliner's son Michael Bever, Directors Gordon Washburn, Roberta Alford, and John Maxon, and curator Eleanor Fayerweather (1958-1960) and Acting Curator Elizabeth T. Casey (1958). Berliner's correspondence is indexed. See Series V.

    Container Description Date
    Box 1, Folder 1 A - Miscellaneous
    1946-1951
    Box 1, Folder 2 A - Miscellaneous
    1953-1959
    Box 1, Folder 3 Abegg, Werner and Margaret
    1946-1951
    Box 1, Folder 4 Aldrich, Lucy T. and Winthrop
    1947-1950
    Box 1, Folder 5 Art Institute of Chicago
    1951-1953
    Box 1, Folder 6 B - Miscellaneous
    1946-1952
    Box 1, Folder 7 B - Miscellaneous
    1953-1960
    Box 1, Folder 8 Benisovich, Michel
    1947-1951
    Box 1, Folder 9 Berliner, Rudolf
    1946-1949
    Box 1, Folder 10 Berliner, Rudolf
    1951-1955
    Box 1, Folder 11 Boston, Museum of Fine Arts
    1947-1954
    Box 1, Folder 12 Brooklyn Museum
    1946-1958
    Box 1, Folder 13 Burg, Mrs. Margaret
    1950-1952
    Box 1, Folder 14 C - Miscellaneous
    1947-1953
    Box 1, Folder 15 C - Miscellaneous
    1953-1959
    Box 1, Folder 16 Cooper Union Museum
    1947-1957
    Box 1, Folder 17 D - Miscellaneous
    1946-1952
    Box 1, Folder 18 D - Miscellaneous
    1953-1960
    Box 1, Folder 19 Delmar, Emil
    1946
    Box 1, Folder 20 E - Miscellaneous
    1941-1949
    Box 1, Folder 21 E - Miscellaneous
    1957-1960
    Box 1, Folder 22 F - Miscellaneous
    1946-1951
    Box 2, Folder 1 F - Miscellaneous
    1954-1960
    Box 2, Folder 2 Fogg Museum of Art - Harvard
    1950-1952
    Box 2, Folder 3 de Frey, A. C.
    1950-1951
    Box 2, Folder 4 G - Miscellaneous
    1946-1951
    Box 2, Folder 5 G - Miscellaneous
    1952-1959
    Box 2, Folder 6 Garbaty, Eugene L.
    1951-1952
    Box 2, Folder 7 Greenleaf, Richard
    1951-1953
    Box 2, Folder 8 H - Miscellaneous
    1946-1952
    Box 2, Folder 9 H - Miscellaneous
    1952-1959
    Box 2, Folder 10 Hyde, James H.
    1951-1952
    Box 2, Folder 11 I - Miscellaneous
    1946-1951
    Box 2, Folder 12 I - Miscellaneous
    1957-1959
    Box 2, Folder 13 Ikle, Fred C.
    1949-1952
    Box 2, Folder 14 J - Miscellaneous
    1948-1951
    Box 2, Folder 15 J - Miscellaneous
    1952-1959
    Box 2, Folder 16 K - Miscellaneous
    1946-1954
    Box 2, Folder 17 K - Miscellaneous
    1953-1960
    Box 2, Folder 18 L - Miscellaneous
    1946-1952
    Box 2, Folder 19 L - Miscellaneous
    1953-1959
    Box 2, Folder 20 Lewandowsky, George
    1947-1952
    Box 2, Folder 21 Los Angeles County Museum
    1954-1955
    Box 2, Folder 22 M - Miscellaneous
    1946-1952
    Box 2, Folder 23 Metropolitan Museum of Art
    1947-1954
    Box 2, Folder 24 de Micheaux, Robert
    1954
    Box 2, Folder 25 Mooney, Kit
    1947-1948
    Box 2, Folder 26 N - Miscellaneous
    1947-1949
    Box 2, Folder 27 O - Miscellaneous
    1948-1950
    Box 2, Folder 28 O - Miscellaneous
    1954-1958
    Box 2, Folder 29 P - Miscellaneous
    1947-1952
    Box 3, Folder 1 R - Miscellaneous
    1947-1951
    Box 3, Folder 2 Rough Drafts
    circa 1950-1952
    Box 3, Folder 3 S - Miscellaneous
    1947-1952
    Box 3, Folder 4 Sharpe, Mrs. and Mrs. Henry D., Ellen
    1913, 1947-1952
    Box 3, Folder 5 Syz, Dr. Hans
    1949
    Box 3, Folder 6 T - Miscellaneous
    1947-1948
    Box 3, Folder 7 T - Miscellaneous
    1956-1958
    Box 3, Folder 8 Textile Museum, Washington D.C.
    1951
    Box 3, Folder 9 U - Miscellaneous
    1948-1953
    Box 3, Folder 10 U - Miscellaneous
    1952-1953
    Box 3, Folder 11 V - Miscellaneous
    1947-1949
    Box 3, Folder 12 W - Miscellaneous
    1946-1952
    Box 3, Folder 13 W - Miscellaneous
    1953-1958
    Box 3, Folder 14 Walters Art Gallery
    1947-1952
    Box 3, Folder 15 Weibel, Mrs. Adele
    1950-1951
    Box 3, Folder 16 Weinberger, Dr. Martin
    1947-1952
    Box 3, Folder 17 Westerfield, Mrs. Jason
    1947-1950
    Box 3, Folder 18 Wetmore, Miss. Edith
    1935-1949
    Box 3, Folder 19 Wetmore, Miss. Edith
    1935-1939, 1949-1951
    Box 3, Folder 20 Worcester Art Museum (Stout)
    1952
    Box 3, Folder 21 Y - Miscellaneous
    1947-1951
    Box 3, Folder 22 Y - Miscellaneous
    1954-1958
    Box 3, Folder 23 Z - Miscellaneous
    1957

    Series II. Dealer correspondence
    The Dealer correspondence, 1946-1960, contains letters, receipts and invoices for works of art, deaccession records, and shipping records. Letters may document loans, purchases, proposed acquisitions, research, costs of works of art, and deaccessions. The Gimbels - Deaccessions, 1947-1948, folder documents the work of the Committee on Disposal and contains lists of objects to be sold through Gimbel Brothers (NYC). Organized by department, the lists include the accession number, object description, acquisition (donor or purchase), and the expected price. The correspondence is indexed. See Series V.

    Container Description Date
    Box 3, Folder 24 A - Miscellaneous
    1951
    Box 3, Folder 25 Ars Antiqua
    1951
    Box 3, Folder 26 Avigdor, Moustapha
    1950
    Box 3, Folder 27 B - Miscellaneous
    1949-1955
    Box 3, Folder 28 Berges, S.
    1950-1952
    Box 3, Folder 29 Berry-Hill
    1947-1952
    Box 3, Folder 30 Blumpka, Leopold
    1946-1953
    Box 4, Folder 1 C - Miscellaneous
    1949-1954
    Box 4, Folder 2 Carlebach Gallery
    1950-1953
    Box 4, Folder 3 Connoisseur
    1947
    Box 4, Folder 4 D - Miscellaneous
    1951-1953
    Box 4, Folder 5 Drey, F. A.
    1951
    Box 4, Folder 6 G - Miscellaneous
    1951-1953
    Box 4, Folder 7 Gans, Edward
    1952-1953
    Box 4, Folder 8 Gimbels - Deaccessions
    1947-1948
    Box 4, Folder 9 Haus, C. A.
    1946-1952
    Box 4, Folder 10 J - Miscellaneous
    1952
    Box 4, Folder 11 K - Miscellaneous
    1951-1954
    Box 4, Folder 12 Kelekian, Dikran G.
    1950-1952
    Box 4, Folder 13 L - Miscellaneous
    1951-1956
    Box 4, Folder 14 Loewi, Adolph
    1953
    Box 4, Folder 15 M- Miscellaneous
    1946
    Box 4, Folder 16 Morley, Charles L.
    1947-1956
    Box 4, Folder 17 R - Miscellaneous
    1947-1951
    Box 4, Folder 18 S - Miscellaneous
    1947-1952
    Box 4, Folder 19 Sack, Israel
    1951-1953
    Box 4, Folder 20 Schaeffer Galleries
    1947
    Box 4, Folder 21 Schatzki, Walter
    1948
    Box 4, Folder 22 Schulman, Hans
    1947
    Box 4, Folder 23 Silberman Galleries
    1947-1952
    Box 4, Folder 24 Stora, R.
    1946-1952
    Box 4, Folder 25 T - Miscellaneous
    1951-1954
    Box 4, Folder 26 V - Miscellaneous
    1951-1952
    Box 4, Folder 27 W - Miscellaneous
    1951

    Series III. Subject files
    The Subject files include Museum Committee meeting records (1946-1960), inter-office memos (1946-1952), department reports (1946-1956), and sculpture photographs. The meeting records are primarily lists of gifts and rejected works with the curator's recommendation as well as a 1947 December 1 report of the future of the department written by Berliner. A separate file contains his 1948 February 26 report on the progress of the department. The exhibition records include correspondence, press releases, clippings, and ideas for future exhibitions. The inter-office memos from the Director and other staff document purchases, loans, budgets, travel, and staffing.

    Container Description Date
    Box 4, Folder 28 Committee Meetings
    1946-1947
    Box 4, Folder 29 Committee Meetings
    1948
    Box 4, Folder 30 Committee Meetings
    1954
    Box 4, Folder 31 Committee Meetings
    1955-1960
    Box 4, Folder 32 Exhibitions - General
    1945-1958
    Box 4, Folder 33 Exhibitions - Stieglitz (Worcester Show)
    1949
    Box 5, Folder 1 Exhibitions - Students
    1947-1949, 1955
    Box 5, Folder 2 Exhibitions - Textiles
    1947
    Box 5, Folder 3 Inter-Office
    1946-1947
    Box 5, Folder 4 Inter-Office
    1948
    Box 5, Folder 5 Inter-Office
    1949
    Box 5, Folder 6 Inter-Office
    1950
    Box 5, Folder 7 Inter-Office
    1951
    Box 5, Folder 8 Inter-Office
    1952
    Box 5, Folder 9 Miscellaneous Notes on Museum Objects
    undated
    Box 5, Folder 10 Pending Disposal
    1948-1949
    Box 5, Folder 11 Progress Report
    1948 Feb 26
    Box 5, Folder 12 Reports - Quarterly - Dec. Arts
    1946-1948
    Box 5, Folder 13 Reports - Semi-annual - Dec. Arts
    1948-1956
    Box 5, Folder 14 Sculpture - Photographs
    circa 1952
    Box 5, Folder 15 Textile Firms
    1947

    Series IV. Department files
    The Department files is an artificial series comprised of records not found on the list of file cabinet contents (box 6, folder 23). The series includes correspondence, lists, photographs, and reports for the Rhode Island Treasures/Hobby Show (1939-1940), World of 1930s (1956) and Modern Interior Design (1957-1958) exhibitions, Rudolf Berliner's expenses for his 1952 trip to Europe, and the Wetmore Room donated to the Museum of Art by Edith Wetmore. Elizabeth T. Casey's correspondence (1930-1955) includes letters to Lucy T. Aldrich and accounts of Aldrich's loans to the Museum. Other records document routine administrative matters and gifts or metalwork (circa 1924-1939) and oriental art works (undated).

    Container Description Date
    Box 5, Folder 16 Basketry
    undated
    Box 5, Folder 17 Casey, Elizabeth T. - Letters
    1930-1955
    Box 5, Folder 18 Equipment
    1949-1954
    Box 5, Folder 19 European Trip Expenses (Berliner)
    1952
    Box 5, Folder 20 Ledgers (partial)
    1950-1956
    Box 5, Folder 21 Library Books
    undated
    Box 5, Folder 22 Manuscripts
    1953
    Box 5, Folder 23 Material for Card File
    undated
    Box 5, Folder 24 Material Used for Textile Design Class
    undated
    Box 5, Folder 25 Metalwork
    circa 1924-1939
    Box 5, Folder 26 Miscellaneous
    1946-195-?
    Box 5, Folder 27 Modern Interior Design Exhibition
    1957-1958
    Box 5, Folder 28 Mounting Materials
    1950-1954
    Box 6, Folder 1 Museum Notes - Subscriptions
    1954-1956
    Box 6, Folder 2 Museum Registrar - Receipts for Potential Gifts
    1954
    Box 6, Folder 3 New England Craft Exhibition
    1954-1955
    Box 6, Folder 4 New York Trip
    1948 Oct 25
    Box 6, Folder 5 Oriental Objects
    undated
    Box 6, Folder 6 Rhode Island Treasures / Hobby Show
    1939-1940
    Box 6, Folder 7 Textiles - Photographs
    1934-1935, 195-
    Box 6, Folder 8 Vittoria Bust
    1955
    Box 6, Folder 9 Wetmore Room
    1947-1949, 1964
    Box 6, Folder 10 World of 1930s Exhibition
    1956

    Series V. Indices
    The Indices, 1947-1952, document incoming and outgoing correspondence chronologically. Each incoming letter has a number (for example, 47-112) and the responding outgoing letter has the same number. The indices list the number, date, correspondent, subject, and file location. The series includes an alphabetical index, 1947-1950, listing the correspondent and all corresponding letter numbers and separate alphabetical indices for 1951 and 1952. The is an accessions index, 1947-1949, listing by Museum Committee meeting date all accessions with number, description, price, dealer, gallery, or donor, and source of funds.

    Container Description Date
    Box 6, Folder 11 Indices
    1947-1948 Jan
    Box 6, Folder 12 Indices
    1948 Jan-1949 Jan
    Box 6, Folder 13 Indices
    1949
    Box 6, Folder 14 Indices
    1950
    Box 6, Folder 15 Indices - Alphabetical
    1947-1950
    Box 6, Folder 16 Indices
    1951
    Box 6, Folder 17 Indices
    1952
    Box 6, Folder 18 Visitors
    1947-1949
    Box 6, Folder 19 Museum Committee - Accessions
    1947-1949
    Box 6, Folder 20 Preliminary Accession Sheets
    1947
    Box 6, Folder 21 Theses Students
    1947-1948
    Box 6, Folder 22 Registrar Cards
    1946-1947
    Box 6, Folder 23 File Cabinet
    undated