Mary Reynolds Collection
1892-1972 (bulk 1941-1964)
Mary Reynolds (1891-1950) Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) Alexander Calder (1898-1976)
Mary Reynolds (1891–1950), an American expatriate in pre-World War II Paris, befriended and supported many contemporary artists, including Marcel Duchamp, Jean Cocteau, Raymond Queneau, Max Ernst, and Man Ray. She was also Marcel Duchamp’s companion from 1923 until her death. This collection includes letters from Duchamp and Alexander Calder, photographs of Reynolds and her Parisian friends, and government documents recording her activity in the French Resistance. It also includes acquisition documents concerning the livres d’artiste collection of Surrealist book bindings by Reynolds and other Surrealist publications now housed in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries. The Duchamp material covers a private aspect of his life not well represented in other collections. A special issue of the Art Institute’s Museum Studies journal titled “Mary Reynolds and the Spirit of Surrealism” (Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996) and a website about the Reynolds book binding collection provide additional information about Reynolds and her interest in Dada, surrealism, and livres d’artiste.
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Holograph papers, typed papers, printed papers, photocopies, graphite drawings and black and white photographic prints.