Barbara Doyle Duncan, a collector, curator, and promoter of Latin American art, was born in 1921 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her father was a businessman, and her mother was an artist. Duncan always maintained that it was her mother’s influence that led her towards music and the visual arts.
Duncan moved to New York City with her mother in 1925 after the death of her father. She attended Vassar College and majored in music. She left Vassar in the fall of 1943, as a senior, to live with her new husband, John C. Duncan, who was in the military and stationed in Fort Hood, Texas. Mrs. Duncan finished her Bachelor of Arts degree from Vassar
After WWII, John Duncan was hired by W.R. Grace Company, and he, with Barbara and their three children, moved to Lima, Peru. The family lived in Peru from 1948 to 1955. It was in Lima that Mrs. Duncan learned Spanish and developed her interest in Latin American culture and art. When the family returned to the United States, Duncan was given the opportunity to continue her travels to South America, as John’s work still required him to travel frequently. She also began exploring other parts of Latin America, making her first visit to Mexico in 1956. It was around this time that Duncan began building her collection of modern art, going to galleries and expanding her contacts with artists by visiting their studios directly.
In 1964, Duncan joined the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and became chair of the Latin American Subcommittee. In this position, Duncan encouraged exhibition exchanges between South and North America. There was almost no interest in Latin American art in the United States at that time, and she wanted to increase knowledge of the genre. It was her work with MoMA that prompted her, in 1968, to gain her MFA from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. Her master’s thesis focused on two topics: Joaquin Torres-García and colonial viceregal painting. She would later present both of these subjects in different exhibitions.
In 1973, while assisting MoMA in building its Latin American art library, Duncan presented her private collection of art to The University of Texas at Austin. She managed the continued growth of the collection over the years, both by buying pieces and appropriating money toward preservation and purchases. Concurrently, Duncan began her own art consulting firm in New York City. She not only consulted others, but sold pieces and curated shows. She put together shows on Joaquin Torres-García of Uruguay (1972) and Gunther Gerzso of Mexico (1976).
In 1977 Duncan organized a highly influential exhibition of Latin American art:
Duncan curated another large exhibition entitled
In the 1990s, after Duncan had reached the age of 70, her activities slowed somewhat, although she still gave lectures at The University of Texas and elsewhere on the history of Latin American art. She remained active on MoMA's International Council and the Americas Society, as well as the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. In 1992, curated her last show entitled
Barbara Duncan died on March 28, 2003 at the age of 82.
Personal and biographical, correspondence, written works, activities and organizations, and collected materials, 1954-2001 (37.5 linear feet) comprise the papers of Barbara Doyle Duncan. The first series,Personal and Biographical, includes photographs, family correspondence, articles about Duncan, and notes from her classes at New York University. Correspondence, the second series, was arranged by Duncan into either “general” or into individual people and projects with which she was involved. These correspondents include the Americas Society, The University of Texas, and individuals like Gunther Gerzso. Written Works includes articles and catalogs written or edited by Duncan, as well as handwritten notes on various topics, such as artists like Xul Solar and Islamic art. Activities and Organizations, the largest series, contains materials on the array of organizations with which Duncan was involved and the exhibitions that she curated over the years. Collected Materials is composed of reference files on individual artists and various Latin American countries, as well as files on genres such as naïve, primitive, or textile artwork. There is also a subseries of her card files that includes notes on artists and art study sets used in her classwork at NYU. Audiovisual Materials contains reels, audiocassettes, VHS, Beta, and Umatic videocassettes. The subject matter ranges from her documentary on Argentine art to proceedings of symposia, and short films on various artists.
Unrestricted.
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Cite as: Barbara Doyle Duncan Papers, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin.
The Barbara Duncan Papers are classified under the following
Barbara Duncan's library is also available in the Benson Latin American Collection rare books and manuscripts reading room and searchable online in
Personal papers, photographs, newsclippings, and class notes comprise this series. It is arranged with personal or family materials first. This includes copies of her curriculum vita over the years, photographs of Duncan, and articles about her and her work. The second part of the series is her class notes from New York University; Duncan continued to take classes sporadically after she graduated in 1968, and many of the notes are from after she earned her MFA. Some examples of classes she attended include “Roman Art,” “Modernist Tradition,” and “Goya.”
Letters and memoranda constitute this series, which is arranged according to Duncan’s original filing system. General Correspondence is first, which is arranged chronologically, and spans the years of 1964 to 2000. In addition to this chronological subseries, there are folders of correspondence from individuals and organizations. These are arranged alphabetically, and chronologically within each folder. Some of the correspondents include organizations such as the Americas Society and Harvard University, and individuals like Donald Goodall and Gunther Gerzso. There is also correspondence that Duncan grouped under various countries, which represents galleries or artists that resided in those countries. This arrangement by country mirrors her artists files (located in Collected Materials), as well as her slide collection, both of which grouped artists, galleries, and dealers by country rather than by individual name or genre.
Articles, scholarly papers, notes, and catalogs comprise this series, which is separated into two subseries. The first, “Papers and catalogs,” includes finished pieces written for Duncan’s projects over the years. Examples are the introductions for
Correspondence, reports, catalog drafts, photographs, slides, and newsclippings comprise the fourth series. There are four subseries: Arts Organizations, Conferences and Biennials, Unfinished Projects, and Ventures and Exhibitions. All are arranged chronologically.
Arts Organizations contains materials from the Museum of Modern Art, the Americas Society, The University of Texas, and various other smaller endeavors. The materials include annual reports, correspondence on activities, articles, and schedules.
Conferences and Biennials includes newsclippings, conference papers, and schedules from events which Duncan attended from 1966 to 1995. Unfinished Projects is a small subseries, but has ideas and research on various subjects, such as an exhibition about Chilean art, and materials for a show on Xul Solar that was never realized.
Ventures and Exhibitions constitutes the largest subseries. The exhibitions begin in 1966 with a small exhibition of Duncan’s private collection in Greenwich, Connecticut, and end in 1997 with the show
This subseries is arranged chronologically and contains records, notes, correspondence, and reference materials for exhibitions of individual artists and artistic groups.
This subseries consists of research materials for the introduction to
This subseries includes materials used for the exhibition itself, as well as materials collected for reference after the exhibition's opening in 1985.
Catalogs, bibliographies, photographs, slides, card files, and art reproductions constitute this series of collected materials. There are three subseries: Latin American art files, Card Files, and Art study sets. The Latin American art files are arranged alphabetically by country, according to Duncan’s system of arranging artists by country of origin. At the beginning of the subseries, there are also general materials, which deal with Latin America as a whole. For each country, group exhibitions are first, followed by the files of individual artists. Nineteen countries are represented, including the United States and Spain. The Card Files subseries contains information on Joaquin Torres-Garcia, and nineteenth and twentieth-century paintings. Art study sets were materials that Duncan purchased for her classes at NYU, and includes sets on medeival, romanesque, and modern art.
These files are arranged by alphabetically by country of origin.
Includes an original work in second folder.
Audiocassettes, VHS, Beta, Umatic, 16mm reels, and slides comprise this series. Audiovisual materials is separated into two subseries: Tape collections and Slide collections. The tape collection contains materials on various artists such as Roberto Aguilar, Gyula Kosice, and Juan Downey, as well as documentaries on Ecuador and Chile. There are also several copies in various formats of Duncan’s production
9 cassettes
Time: 10 minutes
Time: 30 minutes
Time: 28 minutes
Time: 53 minutes
Time: 30 minutes