Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Outterbridge, 1973 January 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This bulk of this collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
National Academy of Design records, 1817-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Interview of John W. Outterbridge conducted 1973 January 3, by Allen Bassing, for the Archives of American Art.
Outterbridge speaks of his family background and how that influenced him to lean toward the arts; attending Agriculture & Technical University and majoring in engineering even though he wanted to become an artist; joining the Army in order to get the G.I. Bill so he could afford school; painting during his three-year stint in the service, and how his company commander admired his work and got him a studio; attending the Chicago Academy of Art, then the American Academy of Art after leaving the military; moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an artist full-time; quitting painting and deciding to focus on sculpture; working at the Pasadena Art Museum, and how it disturbed him that there weren't any Black artists being represented in the shows he was installing there; getting involved with the Compton Communicative Arts Academy just as it was starting; and the present situation of the Compton Communicative Arts Academy and where he sees it going. He recalls Andy Warhol, Peter Alexander, Richard Serra, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark di Suvero, John Coplans, Judson Powell, Noel Puerefoy, Charles Dickson, Bobby Gilmore, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
John Outterbridge (1933-2020) was an art administrator, painter, and sculptor from Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1959 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. No audio exists. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
A ticket to the American Academy of Fine Arts, undated; a receipt for a subscription, April 27, 1790, signed by Anthony C. Poggi; a written receipt to A. C. Poggi, March 8, 1800, and a receipt for a subscription for a print of the Declaration of Independence "which I hereby promise to deliver according to the Propsals published at New-York on the 15th of January, 1818," all signed by Trumbull. Also found is a printed advertisement for "Declaration of Independence. Published by John Trumbull, New-York, Sept. 10th, 1822," describing the delay in printing due to "political convulsions which, during 25 years, were so fatal to the arts of peace."
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; New Haven, Connecticut. Born in Lebanon, Ct. Studied under Benjamin West in London. Painted historic portraits and paintings.
Provenance:
Ticket and receipt donated 1956 by Charles Feinberg. The Poggi note was donated 1958 by Argosy Book Shop. The advertisement and receipt relating to The Declaration of Independence has an unknown donor.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
REEL P20 (fr.679): Memorandum by Anne M. Smith, 1855 Mar. 27, concerning Benjamin West's "Death of Socrates" and "View of Conestoga Creek."
REEL P23 (fr. 85, 108-157, 218-233): Portrait of West engraved by H. Meyer (?), from an original by T. Lawrence for the British Gathering of Contemporary Portraits, published by T. Cadell and W. Lavier, London, April 15, 1815; estate papers, 1814-1819, relating to Hannah West; card of admission for Mrs. Holland to see "Elgin Marbles" at Burlington House, May 1814; letters from West to George Dillwyn, John Singleton Copley, Peter Thomson, George William West, Mr. Rawle, Joseph Wharton, James Northcote, Sarah Robeson, and to the American Academy of the Fine Arts, about his portrait of Sir Thomas Lawrence, undated and 1772-1819; a letter to Mrs. West from Henry Sulger, Aug. 15, 1774, about West's picture of Christ; and an extract of a letter from Elizabeth West to Dr. Edwards, Jan. 7, 1798, reporting the death of her nephew.
REEL P24 (fr.34-38) : Biographical sketches of West, circa 1805, from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's "Quaker Scrapbook," v. 2.
REELS P24 (fr. 527-627) & P25 (fr. 465-541): Correspondence, speeches, financial statements, catalogs, etc., of Benjamin West, 1788-1819, compiled by John Galt for his volume on "The Life, Studies, and Works of Benjamin West, Esq.", published in 1820.
REEL P25: Sketchbooks, 1790-1807; travelling expenses, 1807; account books and financial papers, 1790-1804 and 1810-1811; and a list of subscribers to the print of "The Death of Lord Nelson."
REEL 4560: Papers relating to West from HSP's Gilpin Collection (Collection (#704), including an account book with London Banker, 1790-1804, and 1810-1811; and a sketchbook and loose drawings, 1755-1819.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter. Born in Pennsylvania, moved to London, where his studio became a center for expatriate Americans.
Provenance:
Material on reel P25 microfilmed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for the Archives of American Art, 1955. Material on reel 4560 lent for microfilming in 1991 by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. [Account book and one sketchbook are filmed on both reels].
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Reel 4560: Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Ticket to the American Academy of the Fine Arts, ca. 1800. John Trumbull collection, 1790-[ca. 1800]. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The national portrait gallery of distinguished Americans. Conducted by James B. Longacre ... and James Herring ... under the superintendence of the American academy of the fine arts ..
American Academy of Fine Arts and American Art-Union, 1816-1852. With a history of the American Academy by Theodore Sizer and a foreword by James Thomas Flexner
