An interview of Ed Moulthrop conducted 2001 April 2-3, by Mary Douglas, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Moulthrop's home and studio, Atlanta, Georgia.
Moulthrop speaks of his childhood in Cleveland; his introduction to woodcarving at age 8; buying his first wood lathe in 1932 at age 16; studying architecture at Western Reserve University and sculpture with Victor Schreckengost; his architecture studies in graduate school at Princeton University; the rejection of crafts or "handmade things" in the 1930s; the use of craft in architecture; the beginning of the craft movement in 1965; the government invention of polyethylene glycol which allowed wood to dry without cracking; his process of soaking wood in polyethylene glycol; teaching architecture at Georgia Tech for ten years; his work with architectural firms in Atlanta and designing an addition to the Library of Congress; selling his first pieces at The Signature Shop & Gallery, in Atlanta, in 1970; the progression of the craft movement from clay, to glass, metal, then wood; the importance of the Albert LeCoff woodturning shop in Philadelphia and conferences sponsored by Coff in the mid-1970s; his full-time pursuit of woodturning in 1975; craft exhibitions at the Mint Museum, High Museum, and American Craft Museum; his exhibitions at Arrowmont; teaching woodturning to his son Philip; his scholarship to make watercolors at Fontainbleu; and his interest in design over technique. He also talks about the work of Bob Stocksdale; the qualities of different woods; major woodturning exhibitions at DIA, the Connell Gallery in Atlanta, and of the Mason collection; the necessity of dealers; galleries including The Hand and The Spirit, Heller Gallery, Gumps, and The Signature Shop & Gallery in Atlanta; woodturning as an American craft movement; the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto, Frank Gehry; and the Greene Brothers; the strengths and limitations of wood; commissions for museums and corporations; his preference for ellipsoids (squashed spheres) and other shapes; his search for unusual woods, such as American Chestnut, Yellowwood, American Mahogany, and Box Elder; making his own tools and lathe; developing his own polish; his involvement with the Georgia Designer-Craftsmen with Jerry Chappell, Gary Noffke, and Ginny Ruffner; and his invention of the "Saturn Bowl" (a bowl with rings).
Biographical / Historical:
Ed Moulthrop (1916-2003) is a wood turner from Atlanta, Georgia. Mary Douglas (1956- ) is the curator at the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, N.C.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 39 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.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ed Moulthrop, 2001 April 2-3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Paul Caponigro conducted 1999 July 30-August 12, by Susan C. Larsen, for the Archives of American Art, at Caponigro's home, in Cushing, Maine.
Caponigro describes his childhood, military career, and travels through the southwest and northern California, his association with Minor White, exhibitions, publications, employment, and marriage to wife Eleanor.
Caponigro discusses the significance of his Stonehenge series of photographs; others' interpretations of his work; further exhibitions; and the role that his family's move to Santa Fe, New Mexico, has played in the evolution of his work.
Further discussion of the photographic scene in Santa Fe and its connection to American modernist photographers such as Paul Strand and Ansel Adams; travels; Guggenheim grant; the 1991 fall from a rocky ledge that was a physical and spiritual watershed in his life; and his new home in Cushing, Maine.
He recalls George Tice, Ansel Adams, Minor White, Bert Westin, Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, Oliver Gagliani, Beniamino Bufano, Morris Graves, Walter Chappell, Jerry Uelsmann, Carl Chiarenza, William Clift, Marie Cosindas, Peter Bunnell, John Szarkowski, Robert Singer, Beaumont Newhall, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ed Ranney, David Scheinbaum, Janet Russek, Lucien Clergue, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Caponigro (1932- ) is a photographer and teacher from New England and New Mexico.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 5 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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Paul Caponigro, 1999 July 30-August 12. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
