Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 29 min.
Summary:
Interview of David Von Schlegell, conducted by Dorothy Gees Seckler for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in New York on June 5, 1967.
Von Schlegell speaks of growing up in St. Louis; his father, who was also a painter; training in Ogunquit, ME and with the Art Students League in New York; entering World War II as an Air Force pilot; the decision to take up sculpture; his artistic preferences and influences; his use of materials and methods of working; his impressions of Minimalism; and comparisons between sculpture and architecture. He also recalls David Smith, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Mark di Suvero, Robert Morris, and others.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with David Von Schlegell, 1967 June 5. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Funding:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Biography Note:
Interviewee David von Schlegell (1920-1992) was a sculptor, painter, and educator in New Haven, Connecticut. Interviewer Dorothy Seckler (1910-1994) was an art historian.
Language Note:
English .
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.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001