Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 43 min.
Access Note / Rights:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Summary:
An interview of Angela Westwater conducted 2006 July 18 and August 1, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at the Sperone Westwater Gallery in New York, N.Y.
Westwater speaks of traveling with family as a child; the art environment in Columbus, Ohio; studying art history at Smith College while majoring in government; her first job in the art field at John Weber Gallery in New York; working as an editor at Artforum with John Coplans; differing artistic philosophies of the early staff of Artforum; establishing Sperone Westwater Fischer Gallery with Gian Enzo Sperone in New York in collaboration with Konrad Fischer Gallery in Düsseldorf, Germany; the gallery's aspiration to raise the profile of European artists in the United States; the importance of documenting the work of the gallery's artists for future archival reference and posterity; publishing catalogues and monographs; the process of moving the gallery from Greene Street 142 to its current location at 415 West 13th Street; competition between art dealers and auction houses; her involvement in the Art Dealers Association of America; her personal collecting preferences; the evolving role of the art critic in the contemporary art scene; and current and future levels of collaboration between art dealers and galleries. Westwater also recalls Phyllis Lehmann, Oliver Larkin, Mahonri Young, Carl Andre, Robert Smithson, Nancy Holt, Leo Castelli, Robert Rosenblum, Max Kazloff, Bruce Nauman, Susan Rothenberg, Richard Tuttle, Richard Long, and others.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Angela Westwater, 2006 July 18-August 1. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Funding:
Funding for this interview was provided by the Widgeon Point Charitable Foundation. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Biography Note:
Angela Westwater (1942- ) is an art dealer from New York, N.Y. James McElhinney (1952- ) is a painter and educator from New York, N.Y.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
