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Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Helman, Joseph A. (1937)  Search this
Interviewer:
McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-  Search this
Names:
Blum Helman Gallery  Search this
Sotheby's (Firm)  Search this
St. Louis Art Museum  Search this
Albers, Josef  Search this
Blum, Irving, 1930-  Search this
Castelli, Leo  Search this
Crawford, Ralston, 1906-1978  Search this
Davis, Ronald, 1937-  Search this
Greenberg, Ronald K.  Search this
Johns, Jasper, 1930-  Search this
Kaprow, Allan  Search this
Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923-  Search this
Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997  Search this
Oldenburg, Claes, 1929-  Search this
Pulitzer, Emily Rauh  Search this
Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008  Search this
Saarinen, Eero, 1910-1961  Search this
Scull, Robert C.  Search this
Serra, Richard, 1938-  Search this
Stella, Frank  Search this
Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987  Search this
Extent:
4 Items (Sound recording: 4 wav files (2 hr.,19 min.), digital)
53 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place:
Italy -- description and travel
Date:
2010 January 4
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Joseph A. Helman conducted 2010 January 4, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at Helman's home in New York, New York.
Helman recalls three major events from his early life--the exhibition "Masterpieces from the Berlin Museums: 1948-1949," the film "Lust for Life," and collecting--that led to his career as an art dealer; buying his first painting, which was a Jasper Johns work; meeting the art dealer Leo Castelli; opening his first gallery in St. Louis in 1969; selling his gallery to Ronald Greenberg and moving to Italy with his family; attending the Sotheby's auction of the Robert C. Scull Collection in 1973; teaming up with Irving Blum to open the Blum Helman Gallery in New York City; organizing exhibitions of established and emerging artists. Helman speaks about his relationship with Emily Rauh Pulitzer and the St. Louis Art Museum; his Happening with Allan Kaprow; the story behind Claes Oldenburg's drawing Tongue Cloud, over St. Louis, 1975; discovering the work of Ralston Crawford; introducing American art to Spain. In addition, Helman discusses the contemporary art market; collectors and the process of collecting; and the redefinition of Pop art to include British and American artists of the 1980s. Throughout the interview Helman mentions the various artists he has represented, exhibited or collected such as Richard Serra, Robert Rauschenberg, Josef Albers, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Ronald Davis, and Bryan Hunt.
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph A. Helman (1937- ) is an art dealer and collector in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound disc. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr.,19 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.
Topic:
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this
Art -- Economic aspects  Search this
Art, American -- Spain  Search this
Pop art  Search this
Happenings (Art)  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.helman10
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9038a91ca-30d6-4b56-9410-8ca0e87c657f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-helman10