![cover of archival catalog for The American Water Color Society Annual Exhibition from 1895, depicting green drawing of woman standing near fountain, with peacock](https://www.frick.org/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/images/press/nyarc-exhibition.jpg?itok=riA9p0K3)
The art exhibitions of small galleries, society clubs, and associations in the late
19th and early 20th centuries chronicle the emergence of New York City as a
metropolis destined to be a global center for the international art market.
Ephemeral exhibition catalogs, checklists, and pamphlets from this period
document artistic movements, artists of the period, economic markets, and
social and cultural history. The materials from eleven galleries, clubs, and
associations that have played a pivotal role in the history of art and New York
City have been digitized from the collections of the Frick Art Reference Library
and the Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives and are now available to researchers worldwide.
Spanning the period from 1875 to 1922, this initial collection serves as the foundation for a more
comprehensive project to document the New York City art scene at the turn of the 20th century.