An interview of Mel Ramos conducted 1981 May 15, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art. Ramos speaks of the human figure as subject matter; contemporary iconography; the continuity of themes throughout art history; his interest in celebrities; his female nudes; his response to feminist objections to his work; the influence of Willem de Kooning, Salvador Dali, George Miyasaki, Nathan Oliveira and Wayne Thiebaud; Leta, his wife and model; his use of photographs; photo-realism; his work as part of the "painterly tradition."
Biographical / Historical:
Mel Ramos (1935-) is a painter and teacher in Oakland, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 45 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 others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
