Benjamin Galleries Records, 1920-2013

Dr. Benjamin Krohn (1904-1957), a Chicago dentist, was an accomplished painter, exhibiting in The Art Institute of Chicago's Chicago and Vicinity Artists shows five times between 1938 and 1950. Encouraged by Daniel Catton Rich and Carl Schniewind, he opened the Benjamin Galleries in 1939 with a desire to sell quality art in a broad price range in an informal setting.

The original gallery was located at 222 E. Ontario, in Dr. Krohn's apartment. Later, the Galleries moved to 154 E. Superior Street, again occupying a portion of Krohn's apartment. The gallery initially exhibited School of Paris artists; at the outset of World War II he began to feature local artists, including Gertrude Abercrombie, Ellen Lanyon, Eleanor Coen, Aaron Bohrod, and Roland Ginzel. After Krohn's death in 1957, his wife Neva continued to operate the gallery, at 900 N. Michigan Avenue, exhibiting established American painters and sculptors, plus an international group of graphic artists. In May, 1979, Mrs. Krohn sold the Galleries to Orville C. Beattie.

The collection includes business records, exhibition announcements, catalogs, reviews, correspondence, photographs, and other ephemera documenting the operation of the Benjamin Galleries and the artists represented by the Galleries.

SERIES I: ARTISTS' FILES. Arranged alphabetically by artist's name.

SERIES II: GALLERY AND PERSONAL PAPERS. Organized into five subseries: Business Documents, Exhibitions Reviews and Press Mentions, Photographs, Business Correspondence, and Donation Correspondence and Papers. Materials are arranged alphabetically or chronologically within each subsection.

SERIES III: ARTISTS' CARDS ALBUM. This collection of artists' cards had been separately mounted in a large portfolio, and has been kept as a discrete group. The largest number of cards are Christmas holiday greetings, and are organized alphabetically by artist's name or sender's name.

• Subject
  • Benjamin Galleries (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Benjamin Galleries (Chicago, Ill.)--Archives.
  • Artists--Illinois--Chicago--Archives.
  • Artists--Illinois--Chicago--Correspondence.
  • Art, American--Illinois--Chicago--20th century--Sources.
• Names
  • Krohn, Benjamin, 1904-1957--Archives.
  • Krohn, Neva, 1911-2013--Archives.

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Benjamin Galleries records (Chicago History Museum).

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Benjamin Galleries Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.

The collection was donated by Neva Krohn in 1996. Additonal materials were a gift in honor of Neva Krohn, owner of Benjamin Galleries, by her daughter, Toni Krohn Johnson, in 2015.

The collection was processed by the staff of the Ryerson and Burnham Archives and Laura Krenz. The finding aid was revised and expanded by JT de la Torre in 2020.