Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Pietro Belluschi, 1983 August 22-September 4. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Yeon, 1982 December 14-1983 January 10. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of John Yeon conducted 1982 December 14-1983 January 10, by Marian W. Kolisch, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project.
Yeon speaks of his family background; his early interest in art; educational experiences; his early travels; his early interest in architecture and the influence of the Bauhaus architects; his involvement in landscape, city planning and conservation; and various architectural projects he has been involved in. He recalls the architect Pietro Belluschi.
Biographical / Historical:
John Yeon (1910-1994) was an architect from Portland, Oregon.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 27 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Northwest Oral History Project, begun in 1982 to document the Northwest artistic community through interviews with painters, sculptors, craftsmen, educators, curators, and others, in Oregon, Washington and Montana.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Biographical material includes an address book, biographical notes, membership cards, rent receipts and a lease, and a survey of Lipchitz's property in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.
Correspondence is both professional and personal in nature. Approximately 20 percent is in foreign languages. French predominates, followed by Russian; German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Latvian, Hebrew, and Yiddish are also represented.
Professional correspondence documents business transactions with architects, potential clients, museum officials, art dealers, and others concerning commissions, exhibition plans, loans of artwork, jury service, etc. Art groups, Jewish organizations and charities wrote to solicit donations of artwork for fundraising events and issued invitations to speak or be a guest of honor. Scholars contacted Lipchitz about their research and requested information about specific works by him, items in his collection, and his opinions on a variety of subjects. Also found are fan letters from aspiring artists seeking advice, and from the general public asking for the opportunity to meet Lipchitz and visit his studio. After the 1952 studio fire, many friends and strangers sent letters of condolence and encouragement.
Of particular note is a lengthy letter (with drafts) to Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler in which Lipchitz explained in detail how the art dealer's writings about Cubist sculpture failed to adequately recognize his contributions to the genre. Extensive correspondence with Rabbi Schneerson includes thoughts about "graven images" in sculpture and contains lengthy religious discussions. Letters from Juan Gris and Josette Gris consist mainly of general news and pleasantries; they do, however, mention Juan Gris's health, and in one letter Gris states he is afraid of working too much and tiring himself out. While basically illegible, Gertrude Stein's letters seem to be short, quick notes about meetings.
Correspondence with wife Yulla, nephew Gyorgy Hay, and close friends recounts personal and family news, activities, and sometimes touches on future plans. Among these correspondents are: Jenny Courtois, Varian and Annette Fry, Leo Gaspard, R. Sturgis Ingersoll, Gregorio Landau, Juan and Marianne Larrea, Camille Soula, and Joel and Celeste Starrels.
Eleven small pocket diaries, 1940-1965, contain brief, often sporadic entries noting appointments, events, addresses and phone numbers, notes of expenses, and include some sketches. Among the other writings by Lipchitz are: a notebook containing random notes on sculpture; a list of sculpture destroyed in the 1952 studio fire; short pieces and fragments of writings about sculptors Mary Frank, Natan Rapoport, Auguste Rodin, and William Zorach; a memoir of Amedeo Modigliani; and articles and reflections on contemporary art and the church.
Among the financial records are statements of the sculptor's accounts with Buchholz Gallery and Curt Valentin Gallery, and receipts for Lipchitz Collection purchases. Also found are insurance and tax records, as well as receipts for routine professional expenses and miscellaneous personal expenses.
Artwork consists of a few rough sketches by Lipchitz and several geometric designs by an unidentified artist. Two scrapbooks, 1945-1946, consist of newspaper clippings and a few items from other periodicals that mention Lipchitz or contain reproductions of his work. Volume 2 includes typescripts of an interview and remarks delivered by Lipchitz, both very brief.
Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs and announcements, articles, press releases, books, programs, and reproductions concerning Lipchitz's exhibitions, sculpture, commissions, and events honoring him. Of particular interest are architectural prints showing sites and project details of several commissions. Also found are a variety of printed items about general art topics.
Photographs document people, artwork, project sites and models, exhibition installations, events, and places. People include Jacques Lipchitz, family members, and other individuals. Artwork represented is by Lipchitz and other artists. Views of Lipchitz exhibition installations mainly document solo shows. Photographs of events record a variety of occasions, among them: the opening of Lipchitz's studio at Hastings-on-Hudson, NY; a dedication ceremony for Philip Johnson's Roofless Church in New Harmony, IN, with ornamental gates and a sculpture by Lipchitz; and Lipchitz addressing an anatomy class at Albert Einstein Medical College. Among the pictures of places are Lipchitz's studios in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, and Pietrasanta, Italy, and a view of Picasso's Paris studio.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual materials with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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.
Jacques Lipchitz papers and Bruce Bassett papers concerning Jacques Lipchitz, circa 1910-2001, bulk 1941-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by The Jacques and Yulla Lipchitz Foundation, Inc.
An interview of Pietro Belluschi conducted 1983 August 22-September 4, by Meredith Clausen, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project.
Belluschi speaks of his family background, his military service, his education, the beginning of his interest and experience in architecture, his gradual transition into modernism and his experiences as a dean at M.I.T. He discusses his design philosophy and the roles of style versus problem solving, shopping center design, church design, the stylistic differences between architects, and historic preservation. He comments on the influence of Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto on his work and talks about some of his major designs, including the Portland Art Museum, the Equitable Building, the Seattle Convention Center, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Pietro Belluschi (1899-1994) was an architect from Portland, Oregon.
General:
Originally recorded on 8 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 14 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hrs., 10 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Northwest Oral History Project, begun in 1982 to document the Northwest artistic community through interviews with painters, sculptors, craftsmen, educators, curators, and others, in Oregon, Washington and Montana.