Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Deitch, Jeffrey  Search this
Creator:
McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-  Search this
Names:
Harvard Business School -- Students  Search this
John Weber Gallery  Search this
Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Students  Search this
Acconci, Vito, 1940-  Search this
Andre, Carl, 1935-  Search this
Beecroft, Vanessa  Search this
Callahan, Harry M.  Search this
Dwan, Virginia  Search this
Halley, Peter  Search this
Haring, Keith  Search this
Koons, Jeff  Search this
Panza, Giuseppe  Search this
Pretto, Julian  Search this
Ray, Charles  Search this
Extent:
33 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2006 May 15
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Jeffrey Deitch conducted 2006 May 15, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at Deitch Projects on Grand Street, in the SoHo neighborhood of New York, New York. Deitch discusses his childhood in Hartford, Connecticut; growing up in a family business; his experience as an exchange student in France and Japan during his teenage years; his education in economics and art history at Wesleyan University; the opening of his own local art gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts; his move to New York and his first job at the John Weber gallery as a secretary; curating an exhibition called "Lives" which described how artists use their lives as an art medium; attending Harvard Business School; moving back to New York and starting an art advisory program for Citibank in 1979; his travels to Asia; his first New York gallery opening with artists Peter Halley and Charles Ray; opening Deitch Projects in 1996; the administration of the gallery, including investing in an archivist, a financial manager, and a press liaison; incorporating popular musical acts into shows, attesting to his belief in diversity in the arts; his view of gallery publicity and criticism; art fairs versus traditional art galleries; discussion of works of art such as Tu M' (1918) by Marcel Duchamp and Edouard Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergere (1881-82); and art education evolving into a more professional field. Deitch also recalls John Weber, Carl Andre, John Cage, Vito Acconci, Jeff Koons, Julian Pretto, Vanessa Beecroft, Virginia Dwan, Giuseppe Panza di Biumo, Keith Haring, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Jeffrey Deitch (1950- ) is an art dealer from New York, New York. James McElhinney (1952- ) is a painter and educator from New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 12 min.
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.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.deitch06
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b3065b51-03ed-4a5a-af29-9b4fcfbd3a92
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-deitch06