An interview of Beaumont Newhall conducted 1965 Jan. 23, by Joseph Trovato, for the Archives of American Art. Newhall speaks of his education and first jobs in museums; his administration of the WPA Federal Art Project in Massachusetts; Berenice Abbott's photographs of New York; and the Farm Security Administration's photography project. He speaks of early photography and William Henry Fox Talbot; photography and the Armory Show; the 1937 photography exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art and Edward Steichen; and the George Eastman House. Newhall comments on museums accepting photography as art; the amateur photographer versus the artistic photographer; and his view of photography as a discoverer and a "partaker" of nature.
Biographical / Historical:
Beaumont Newhall (1908-1993) was an art administrator and art historian from Rochester, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 21 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- Rochester -- Interviews Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- Rochester -- Interviews Search this
