Originally recorded on 10 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 18 digital wav files. Duration is 20 hrs., 42 min.
Access Note / Rights:
Transcript: Available on microfilm.
Summary:
An interview of Dorothy Miller conducted 1970 May 26-1971 Sept. 28, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Miller speaks of her childhood and family background; the beginning of her career in museums; her first trip to Europe; the Depression and its effect on the art world; the establishment of the WPA Federal Art Project; the scandal over the Diego Rivera mural in Rockefeller Center; getting started with the Museum of Modern Art in its early years; working with Alfred Barr; early exhibitions at the MOMA; meeting Mark Tobey and Morris Graves; meeting Holger Cahill; Cahill's background; Cahill's involvement with the WPA Federal Art Project, and the Project's early years; post-war changes in American art and the post-war years at the MOMA; Shaker design; some of her colleagues at the MOMA.
She recalls Duncan Phillips, Rene D'Harnoncourt, Jackson Pollock, Edward M.M. Warburg, Nelson Rockefeller, Mark Rothko, Louise Nevelson, Alexander Calder, Lyonel Feininger, Walker Evans, and Edwin Dickinson.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Dorothy C. Miller, 1970 May 26-1971 Sept. 28. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript: 35mm microfilm reel 4210-4211 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Biography Note:
Dorothy C. Miller (1904-2003) was an art museum curator from New York, N.Y.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' 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.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001