A lecture and interviews of twenty-two Southern California painters and sculptors, conducted and recorded by Los Angeles art critic Merle Schipper.
Interview tapes and Schipper's fragmentary notes are available for Greg S. Card, Tony Delap, Robert Graham, Frederick Hammersley, Marvin Harden, Craig Kauffman, Claude Kent, Charles Kessler, Harry Kipper, Jay Phillips, Charles Seliger, Peter T. Shelton, Judith Simonian, David Trowbridge, and John Van Hamersveld.
Only tapes are available for John Anderson, Joyce Cutler-Shaw, Gordon Onslow-Ford, Helen Pashgian, Frederick Stallknecht Wight and Rita Yokoi. Only Schipper's fragmentary notes are available for the DeWain Valentine interview. A tape of Craig Kauffman's May 9, 1979 lecture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is also included.
Arrangement:
John Anderson interview is on the Gordon Onslow-Ford tape.
John Van Hamersveld interview is on the Harry Kipper tape.
Frederick Stallknecht Wight interview is on the Joyce Cutler-Shaw tape.
Rita Yokoi interview is on the Helen Pashgian tape.
Biographical / Historical:
California art critic and curator of the Fine Arts Gallery, California State University; b. in 1922.
Provenance:
Donated 1988 by Merle Schipper.
Restrictions:
Untranscribed interviews; use requires an appointment and is limited to AAA's Washington, D.C. office.
Occupation:
Conceptual artists -- California -- Interviews Search this
A scrapbook that contains miscellaneous newpaper/magazine articles, a portrait of the artist, exhibition notices, letters, and articles on art activity in Los Angeles written by Shaffer for the Jewish Community Press between 1937-1938. Other items include a program for the play "We are Children of the People" for which Shaffer painted the scenery and a family portrait.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Los Angeles, Calif.; b. 1912; d. 1973 Shaffer worked with the federal art projects of the 1930s. The destruction of his mural at the Mount Sinai home created controversy in 1938, as did the addition of a clenched fist (communist salute) above his mural at the L.A. Sanitorium (now City of Hope) in Duarte. As a student at the Chouinard School of Art, Shaffer assisted David Alfaro Siqueiros with his mural American Tropical (1933). Shaffer was also an art critic for the Jewish Community Press, 1937-1938.
Provenance:
Donated 1997 by Linda Shaffer, Myer Shaffer's daughter, via Orville Clark, an art historian who studies WPA murals and artists.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of Los Angeles art historian, art critic, and writer Merle Schipper measure 12.1 linear feet and date from circa 1930s to 1999. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writing and research project files, printed material, writings by others, photographs, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Los Angeles art historian, art critic, and writer Merle Schipper measure 12.1 linear feet and date from circa 1930s to 1999. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writing and research project files, printed material, writings by others, photographs, and artwork.
Biographical material consists of a notebook planner and professional contact addresses, as well as Schipper's resume and bibliography. Scattered correspondence is both personal and professional with family and colleagues.
Over one-half of the collection consists of Schipper's writing, research, project, and exhibition files. There are drafts, essays, manuscripts, notes, and research documentation about California art and artists, an exhibition of craftsman William Spratling curated by Schipper, Schipper's dissertation and additional projects on Jean Helion, the exhibition Americans in Paris in the 1950s (1997), additional exhibitions, as well as transcripts of interviews with artists. The research files on Helion include an interview transcript with Willem de Kooning about Helion and correspondence with artists about Helion, including Charles Biederman, Alexander Calder, Philip Guston, Carl Holty, Jack Tworkov, and others. Additional exhibition files are found for Visions of Inner Space (1988) and Marmo: The New Italian Stone Age (1989). Artists interviewed by Schipper include Billy Al Bengston, Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Laddie John Dill, Kenneth Noland, Eric Orr, and others.
Extensive printed materials include clippings and copies of journals and periodicals containing Schipper's writings.
There are a few scattered writings by others about art and artists. Photographs are of Schipper, artists, artwork, and places, including Paris. Artwork includes one original poster print by Kiki Smith and one drawing by Matt Mullican.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1970s-1998 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: General Correspondence, 1944-circa 1998 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writing and Research Project Files, circa 1930s-1999 (7.8 linear feet; Boxes 1-9)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1933-1997 (3.1 linear feet; Boxes 9-12, OV14-16)
Series 5: Writings By Others, circa 1944-1991 (0.2 linear feet; Box 12)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1960s-circa 1992 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 12-13)
Series 7: Artwork, 1982-1992 (0.1 linear feet; Box 13, OV16)
Biographical / Historical:
Merle Schipper (1922-2001) was an art historian, writer, and art critic active in Los Angeles, California.
Born in Toronto, Canada, Merle Solway Schipper was naturalized in Los Angeles in 1950 and received a PhD in art history from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1974. Schipper was a familiar figure on the Los Angeles art scene. Her primary scholarly focus grew out of her dissertation research on Jean Helion, but much of her writing attention was devoted to Los Angeles artists and art world events. She was a regular contributor to many art periodicals, including ArtScene, Images and Issues, Artweek, ARTnews, and the Los Angeles Daily News.
As an independent curator, Schipper's research interests led to several exhibitions, including Americans in Paris: the 50s (1979) at California State University, Northridge, Visions of Inner Space (1988) co-curated with Lee Mullican at UCLA's Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, Marmo: the New Italian Stone Age (1989), Being There/Being Here: Nine Perspectives in New Italian Art (1991), traveling exhibition sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute, and an exhibition of William Spratling for the Craft and Folk Art Museum in 1997. Schipper also taught and lectured at UCLA, USC, CSU Northridge, and Claremont Graduate School.
Merle Schipper died in 2001.
Provenance:
The Merle Schipper papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2002 by the Merle Schipper Estate via Schipper's daughter Amy Schipper Howe.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art critics -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Art historians -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
An interview of Tobey C. Moss, conducted 2013 September 12, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art at Moss' Gallery in Los Angeles, California.
Moss speaks of growing up in Chicago and moving to Los Angeles to attend UCLA; meeting and marrying her husband, Allen; serving as docent at the LA County Museum of Art; working for Zeitlin & Ver Brugge and then later Stephen White Gallery of Photography; opening her art gallery, Tobey C. Moss Gallery in 1979; her connection and relationships to many of the artists she displayed in her gallery.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Tobey C. Moss (1928- ) is an art dealer in Los Angeles, California. Interviewer Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is an art critic and writer from Beverly Hills, California.
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.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
An interview of Paul Soldner conducted 2003 April 27-28, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Claremont, California.
Soldner describes his "wonderful" childhood; learning early in life that critiques hinder creativity; early interest in photography, including building his own enlargers; making a pottery wheel in high school; he recalls the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago and a wheel throwing demonstration by an "Appalachian potter"; his studies at Bluffton College in Ohio; teaching art in Ohio; his art studies at University of Colorado; working with Peter Voulkos at the Los Angeles County Art Institute [now Otis College of Art and Design] and constructing a studio with Voulkos; the importance of accidents, intuition, and invention in his work; how art movements and Eastern artists have influenced him; clay's durability and expressive qualities; he discusses his teaching philosophy and grading system; for beginners, the importance of producing quantity over quality; his role as the "godfather" of Anderson Ranch in Snowmass, Colorado; how he transformed the Scripps Annual ceramics show; he describes the evolution of his work in ten-year cycles, including his tall pots, raku, and "low-salt fuming" periods; his low-tech inventions; traveling and workshops; his definition of a craftsman; his evolution from pottery to sculpture; encouraging his students to "go farther" and experiment; dealers, galleries, and collectors; his aversion to art criticism; the impact of Eastern and Western religion on art; the importance of "surprise," "playfulness," and "energy" in the work; he compares his work to music; commissions and collaborations; subconscious and environmental influences on his work; and the future direction for contemporary ceramics. Soldner also recalls Katie Horsman, Kenneth Price, Jun Kaneko, Millard Sheets, Kaneshige, Cheever Meaders, Robert Arneson, John Mason, Fred Marer, Louana Lackey, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Paul Soldner (1921- ) is a ceramicist of Aspen, Colorado. Interviewer Mija Riedel is a curator, writer of San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 1 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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of John Cederquist conducted 2009 April 14-15, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Cederquist's studio, in San Clemente, California.
John Cederquist speaks of his recent series Dollar Bill; his long-standing interest in perspective and use of tool imagery in his work; his childhood in Southern California; his early interest in art through custom car art; high school art instruction and focusing on craft; earning undergraduate and graduate degrees at California State University, Long Beach in the late 1960s and early 1970s; teaching at Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, California, starting in the early 1970s; work in wood and leather; other brief teaching jobs in Southern California universities; early exhibitions; exhibition and demonstrations at Parnham House, Beaminster, England, 1978; starting to teach perspective at Saddleback; Number One; the Egg and the Eye gallery/cafe, Los Angeles, California; Game Table [1982]; Auntie Macassar Goes West, 1987-88; philosophical and aesthetic differences between wood artists on the East and West coasts; exhibition: "Material Evidence: Master Craftsmen Explore ColorCore," Workbench: the Gallery, New York, New York, 1984; "California Woodworking," the Oakland Museum [of California, 1980; Thonet catalog as source material]; influence of animation in film and television; the perceptual and conceptual issues in translating two dimensions into three, and vice versa; the nature of illusion and perception; inclusion of work in an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1989; the influence of How to Wrap Five Eggs: Traditional Japanese Packaging, Hideyuki Oka, Trumbull, Connecticut: Weatherhill, 1967; use of the Thomas Chippendale book (1754) as source material; subtle influence of cubism on Ghost Boy [1992] piece; his choice of furniture as the vehicle for his aesthetic exploration; series Furniture That Builds Itself (1991-2007), and continued influence of cartoons and animation; his choice of different kinds of wood; series How to Wrap Five Crates; series Kimonos and the influence of Japanese aesthetics; When Machines Dream of Hokusai [1995]: Road to Dreamland; series Wave (early to mid-1990s), and Tubular [1990], the first in the series; series Kosode; series This Is Not Lunch; historical Japanese tattoos as a source of inspiration; "Furniture That Builds Itself," Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, New York, 2003; sense of humor and "goofiness" in his work; Flat Foot Floogie Builds a Bench. [2003]; influence of photography on his work; his pieces as functional furniture and the artistic potential therein; social commentary in his recent Kosode pieces; Heavenly Victory; how his pieces get named; "The Art of John Cederquist: Reality of Illusion," Oakland Museum of California, 1999-2000; Breakthrough series: Steamer, early 1990s; Top Drawer (1985); Space Age Wave Machine (1999); use of thick wood instead of veneer; strengths and weaknesses of a university setting for art studies; the importance of being part of the craft movement; the role of Garth Clark's gallery in the movement; the importance of working with the Franklin Parrasch gallery; his admiration for art critic Robert Hughes; the role of online media in art journalism and criticism and journalism. He also recalls Gary Zuercher, Franklin Parrasch, John Snidecor, George Turnbull, John Makepeace, Edward S. Cooke, Garry Knox Bennett, Wendy Maruyama, Tom Gaines, Bob and Chris Straight, Arthur Danto, and Roberta Smith.
Biographical / Historical:
John Cederquist (1946- ) creates fine art furniture and wood sculpture. Cederquist is known for using trompe l'oeil in his work. He was educated at Long Beach State University and teaches at Saddleback College.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 11 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 54 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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Cabinetmakers -- California -- Interviews Search this
An interview with Stephen Prina conducted 2017 August 7 and 9, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art, at Prina's residence in Los Angeles, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Stephen Prina (1954- ) is an artist, musician, and professor in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Los Angeles, California. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is an art critic and writer in Beverly Hills, California.
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.
Restrictions:
For information on how to access this interview contact Reference Services.
Topic:
Artists -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Educators -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews Search this
Musicians -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews Search this
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Mel Casas papers, 1963-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Mel Casas papers, 1963-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Mel Casas papers, 1963-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
2 Microfilm reels (558 items on 2 microfilm reels)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1912-1982
bulk 1917-1982
Scope and Contents:
The microfilmed Walter and Louise Arensberg papers contain correspondence (1917-1982) with Marcel Duchamp (1917-1968), Beatrice Wood (1952-1982), Charles Sheeler (1953-1955), and others. A few letters are illustrated or include photographs, poetry, and printed material. Some correspondence with Marcel Duchamp is in French. Also included in the papers are a list of art in the Arensberg collection (1951), compiled for a tax return; poetry and essays by the psychiatrist E. E. Southard; and notes and scripts for skits and pantomimes by Guillaume Apollinaire.
Biographical / Historical:
Walter (1878-1954) and Louise Arensberg (1879-1953) were art collectors in New York, New York and Los Angeles, California. Walter Arensberg was also a poet and art critic.
Related Materials:
The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Library and Archives holds the Arensberg Archives, 1905-1957. The Huntington Library holds the Walter Arensberg letters, 1927-1954.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1985 by the Francis Bacon Library and Foundation, Claremont, Calif. Most, or perhaps all, of the microfilmed material was subsequently physically transferred from the Francis Bacon Foundation to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1996 and formally given to the Museum in 2001 by the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, which had received it as part of a larger gift from the Francis Bacon Foundation in 1995.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Archivist of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
An interview of Marnie Weber, conducted 2016 February 10, by by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art at Weber's studio in Los Angeles, California.
Weber discusses growing up in Connecticut and being raised by her parents Evelyn and Charles D. Weber, who was an important art historian and expert in Chinese bronzes; her happy family life in Connecticut with her brother and friends; the family's subsequent residences in California, Hawaii and Asia as a result of Mr. Weber's different teaching positions; her time at high school in Manhattan Beach, California, and her burgeoning interest in theatrical and glam rock; the beginnings of her work with art in high school and her subsequent enrollment as an art student at USC and UCLA; her life as one of the few artists in downtown Los Angeles in the '70s and '80s; her time in the rock band Party Boys, their manager Jack Marquette, his club Anti-Club, and their performances and recordings in L.A. and time spent in London. Weber also describes the influences of Alexis Smith, George Herms and Chris Burden as art teachers, especially the influence of Ms. Smith as a woman artist and as an artist who works in collage; her early character-based performances in Los Angeles hotels; her character-based musical performances in art galleries and the use of collage work and theater in these shows; her time working as a gallery coordinator with Anne Ayres at Otis Art Institute; her work creating films and videos and use of large animal characters; her marriage to the artist Jim Shaw and the raising of their daughter Colette Weber Shaw; their friendships with Mike Kelley and other artists in Los Angeles; the formation of the theatrical rock band Spirit Girls, and their live performances and appearances in her films; her exploration of witches as characters in her two films Night of Forevermore and Day of Forevermore, the latter being a feature-length film shot primarily at Zorthian Ranch in Altadena, California; and the impact of the death of Mr. Kelley on her and Mr. Shaw and the subsequent work they did for Mr. Kelley's foundation. Weber also recalls Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Donald Dunham, Gillean McLeod, Marc Kreisel, Michèle Lamy, Richard Newton, Rosamund Felsen, Patrick Painter as well as Paul McCarthy, Jacci Den Hartog, Bruce Licher, Rick Owens, Dani Tull, Tanya Haden, and Tamara Sussman, among others.
Biographical / Historical:
Marnie Weber (1959- ) is an installation artist, photographer, and musician in Los Angeles, California. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is an art critic and writer from Beverly Hills, California.
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.
Occupation:
Musicians -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Photographers -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
An interview of Sonia Wolfson conducted 1990 August 19, by Ilene Fort, for the Archives of American Art.
Wolfson speaks of her childhood in New York; moving to California in the 1980s; writing for California Graphic and Game and Gossip; traveling to view various art collections in San Francisco, Chicago, Cleveland, Toledo, Washington D.C., and Europe; working as a secretary for three days at Columbia Studio; working as a writer and art critic for Stendhal Art Galleries in Los Angeles; taking a job for 20th Century Fox as a unit publicist in 1933 during the Depression. Wolfson discusses several of the actors she worked with, including Jane Withers, Darryl Zanuck, George Arliss, and Winfield Sheehan; she reminisces about writing about the 1925-26 Pan-American Exhibition in Los Angeles.
Biographical / Historical:
Sonia Wolfson (1903-1997) was an art critic from Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 9 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.
Occupation:
Art critics -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
The papers of art critic and painter Peter Plagens measure 4.9 linear feet and date from 1941-1985. Included are personal and professional correspondence; diaries; an interview of Plagens conducted by Mike Lloyd, 1977 (80 p.); photographs of Plagens, his family, studio, and art work; files on lectures, grants, fellowships, exhibitions, and a petition against the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; drafts of writings; files on Plagen's book, Sunshine Muse: Contemporary Art on the West Coast (1974); and 20 ink drawings and several drawings by Plagen's young son, Paul.
Biographical / Historical:
Peter Plagens (1941-) is an art critic, painter, and writer living in New York City. Plagens studied studied painting at the University of Southern California and did graduate work at Syracuse University. In 1965, he returned to Southern California, where he worked as a curator and became a regular contributor to Artforum. His paintings were exhibited in such landmark exhibitions as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's "24 Young Los Angeles Arts," in 1971, and the following year, the Whitney Biennial. He is best known for his first book, "Sunshine Muse: Modern Art on the West Coast, 1945-1970," published in 1974. In the mid 1970s, Plagens served as chair of the board of the fledgling Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art. In the late 1980s, Plagens moved to New York, where he continued to paint and where he contributed art criticism to Newsweek. He has taught at numerous universities, including California State University, Northridge, University of Southern California, and University of North Carolina.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1985 by Peter Plagens.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
The papers of Jan Butterfield measure 15 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 1997. Papers contain hundreds of recorded interviews with and lectures by artists, panel discussions of artists and art historians, as well as extensive writings by Butterfield. Also found are project files, personal business records, printed materials, photographs, and additional sound and video recordings related to art subjects.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Jan Butterfield measure 15 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 1997. Papers contain hundreds of recorded interviews with and lectures by artists, panel discussions of artists and art historians, as well as extensive writings by Butterfield. Also found are project files, personal business records, printed materials, photographs, and additional sound and video recordings related to art subjects.
Interviews and Lectures include hundreds of interviews conducted by Butterfield between 1971 and 1987 with contemporary artists about whom she was writing at the time. The artists Robert Irwin and Sam Francis are represented particularly well. Also found are slide talks, class discussions, and lectures given by artists, which are assumed to have been recorded by Butterfield in most cases. Also among the recordings are recorded performances by John Cage, Joe Goode, Newton and Helen Harrison, Jim Roche, and George Greene. Panel discussions include two notable recordings involving Milton Resnick, one with the painter Edward Dugmore in 1959, and the other with the painter Ad Reinhardt at The Club in 1961, which was later dubbed "The Attack."
The bulk of the writings relate to Butterfield's published work The Art of Light and Space, represented here in multiple drafts, research, and photographs of works of art by the artists discussed in the work including Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Maria Nordman, Douglas Wheeler, Bruce Nauman, Eric Orr, Larry Bell, DeWain Valentine, Susan Kaiser Vogel, and Hap Tivey. Also found are extensive drafts and research for catalog essays for exhibitions of Larry Bell, Richard Shaw, Robert Hudson, and Elmer Bischoff. Drafts of articles and publicity writing are mainly about artists but also some galleries and other art events. There are a few transcripts of recorded interviews, and it appears that many of the writings are based on Butterfield's interviews.
Project files include records relating to Butterfield's involvement with the production of a catalog for the corporate art collection of Pacific Enterprises. These also include additional artist interviews and artist files containing research and writing, mainly by her associate Michael Karp. Also found are photographs and sound recordings for the Waterfront Project at the San Francisco Art Institute, an interdisciplinary community-centered development project that involved Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Melinda Wortz, Eric Orr, Dr. E. Wortz, Frank Gehry, Newton and Helen Harrison, Josh Young, and students at the Art Institute. And finally, project files include photographs, interviews, and printed material related to publications of Lapis Press, where Butterfield was Executive Director.
Personal business records include correspondence, price lists, financial records, notes, press releases, and career documentation of Butterfield. Printed materials include articles by Butterfield, articles about Butterfield, and articles by Henry Hopkins, most of which are photocopies. There are also clippings, exhibition catalogs, exhibition posters, and publicity. Of note is a disassembled scrapbook pertaining to the controversial Ed Kienholz exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1966, and a directory of art spaces in Los Angeles from 1978.
Most of the photographs are of works of art by artists about whom Butterfield wrote. Also found are a few files of photographs of artists, some taken by Butterfield, including Philip Guston, Ed Kienholz, Henry Hopkins with Clyfford Still, Robert Irwin, Robert Rauschenberg, and James Turrell. Additional video and sound recordings include artist installations, a documentary on Sam Francis, and an acoustiguide for an Ed Ruscha exhibition.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Interviews and Lectures (Boxes 1-5; 4.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Writings (Boxes 5-7, 16, OV 17; 3.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Project Files (Boxes 8-10, 16; 1.6 linear feet)
Series 4: Personal Business Records (Boxes 10-11, OV 17-19; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Materials (Boxes 11-12, 16, OV 17-19; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographs (Boxes 12-14, 16; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Sound and Video Recordings (Box 15; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Jan Butterfield (1937-2000) was an art writer and critic of contemporary art who spent most of her career in California. She is best known for her writings on late twentieth century installation and craft artists, particularly those who worked in California and the American West.
Butterfield was born Jan Van Alstine in Los Angeles, California in 1937 and attended the Univeristy of California, Los Angeles. She received numerous fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts as an art critic, and contributed art writing to dozens of exhibition catalogs and art publications including Art International, Images and Issues, Art News, Art in America, and Flash Art. Her most ambitious work of writing was The Art of Light and Space (Abbeville Press: 1993), which profiles the work of contemporary artists Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Maria Nordman, Douglas Wheeler, Bruce Nauman, Eric Orr, Larry Bell, DeWain Valentine, Susan Kaiser Vogel, and Hap Tivey. She was also the author of a 1972 monograph of the Abstract Expressionist painter Sam Francis.
Butterfield held positions in public relations at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from its opening until 1970, and at the Fort Worth Art Museum from 1970 to 1974. She taught at Northwood Experimental Art Institute in Dallas, Texas, the San Francisco Art Institute, San Jose State University, and Mills College in Oakland, California between 1973 and 1983. At the San Francisco Art Institute, she was Director of the extension program and Coordinator of the visiting artist program and the Waterfront Project between 1976 and 1978. In 1984, Butterfield and the artist Sam Francis co-founded the Lapis Press, where she served as Executive Director from its founding until 1988.
Butterfield was married twice, the second time to Henry Hopkins, Museum Director at LACMA, the Museum of Fine Art of Houston, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She died in 2000 after an extended illness.
Related Materials:
Also found among the collections of the Archives of American Art is a 1981 panel discussion on Bay area art criticism sponsored by the National Women's Caucus for Art, in which Butterfield participated, as well as an oral history interview Butterfield conducted with Helen Lundeberg for the Archives' Oral History Program in 1980.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reel 1042 including two volumes of scrapbooks. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Jan Butterfield lent material in 1975 for microfilming. She donated the Robert Irwin material in 1980 of and most of the interviews and audio tapes in 1989. An additional 12 feet of papers, including some material previously loaned and microfilmed, along with two additional audio tapes, were donated by Butterfield's brother, and Trustee of the Jan Butterfield Trust, Derek Van Alstine in 2002.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art critics -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Art historians -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Authors -- California -- San Francisco Search this
An interview of Jean Milant, conducted 2015 July 20, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art at Milant's home in Los Angeles, California.
Jean Milant discusses growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and his French and German heritage; his introduction to art instruction in high school and further studies at the University of Wisconsin; his trips to Europe and New York City as an undergraduate art student; his time as a graduate student at the University of New Mexico, and his work at the Tamarind Institute printmaking program and his introduction to Los Angeles; his work at Tamarind with Ed Ruscha, Sam Francis, Ed Moses, and Ken Price, among others; the beginnings of Cirrus Gallery and Cirrus Editions and his search for backers for the two endeavors; his partnership with Terry Inch as a backer for Cirrus. Mr. Milant also describes the decision to move his gallery and printmaking shop to downtown Los Angeles in 1979; the support of Robert Egelston and the collector Donald Marron and other collectors who first subscribed to his print editions; his experiences in France with Minnie de Beauvau-Craon; the gallery and museum scene in Los Angeles in the early '70s and '80s; his efforts to promote Los Angeles as a vibrant center of art, including trips to Europe in the early '70s to show his artists; the creation of Ed Ruscha's prints using food; working with Bruce Nauman and John Baldessari to create prints; the creation of the Los Angeles Visual Arts group of L.A. art dealers; his involvement with the creation of the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art in 1974; his work with the artist Guy de Cointet and Mr. Cointet's early performances at Cirrus Gallery; the opening of MOCA in 1984; his desire to create a think-tank institute to help create a viable future for art. Mr. Milant also recalls Garo Antreasian, Newton Harrison, June Wayne, Frank Gehry, Robert Irwin, Eugene Sturman, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Ken Tyler, Riko Mizuno, Irving Blum, Gerry Rosen, Robert Overby, David Trowbridge as well as Chris Burden, Greg Card, Karen Carson, Craig Kauffman, Marian Goodman, Alain Rivière, Charles Christopher Hill, Steven Leiber, Viva, Michel Auder, and Jonas Wood, among others.
Biographical / Historical:
Jean Robert Milant (1943- ) is an art dealer and publisher in Los Angeles, California. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is an art critic and writer from Beverly Hills, California.
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.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Publishers -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Rico Lebrun measure 5.3 linear feet and date from 1935 to 1975. Found within the papers are biographical materials; personal and business correspondence, including extensive correspondence between Lebrun and his gallery, Jacques Seligmann and Co.; writings, including illustrated notebooks; personal business records; printed material; 3 sketchbooks; and photographs of Lebrun, travels in Mexico, and his work.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, muralist, and educator Rico Lebrun measure 5.3 linear feet and date from 1935 to 1975. Found within the papers are biographical materials; personal and business correspondence, including extensive correspondence between Lebrun and his gallery, Jacques Seligmann and Co.; writings, including illustrated notebooks; personal business records; printed material; 3 sketchbooks; and photographs of Lebrun, travels in Mexico, and his work.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1948-1962 (4 folders; Box 1, OV 10)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1935-1973 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 10)
Series 3: Writings, 1938-1964 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1940-1964 (0.3 linear feet; Box 3, BV 7)
Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1940-1975 (0.8 linear feet; Box 3, BV 8-9)
Series 6: Artwork, circa 1950-1965 (3 folders; Box 3)
Series 7: Photographic Materials, 1950-1965 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 4-6)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, muralist, and educator Rico (Frederico) Lebrun (1900-1964) lived and worked in New York City and Los Angeles, California, and his modernist works were primarily influenced by traditional religious iconography and human suffering.
Born in Naples, Italy, Lebrun attended the Naples Academy of Beaux Arts after his military service in the Italian Army during WWI. He began his career as a stained glass designer and was offered a one year contract to work in Springfield, Illinois, for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in 1924. At the end of the contract, Lebrun moved to New York City where he found work as a commercial illustrator for magazines such as Vogue, Fortune, and The New Yorker. After a return to Italy in the early 1930s to continue his art studies, Lebrun moved to New York City in 1936 where he taught at the Art Students League, painted his first mural commission for the Fogg Art Museum with Lewis Rubenstein, and found work as an artist for the WPA.
In 1938, Lebrun moved to Southern California and accepted a position at the Chouinard Art Institute, where his students would include Disney studio animators for Bambi. Lebrun continued to produce paintings while teaching, and his first solo exhibition was organized by Donald Bear, then director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Beginning in 1947, Lebrun spent three years working on over 200 drawings and paintings for the Crucifixion series, which culminated in an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
In the late 1940s and 1950s, he continued to teach at the Jepson Institute in Los Angeles and at other institutions, including the Instituto Allende in San Miguel, Mexico from 1952 to 1954. In 1958, while teaching at Yale, Lebrun was invited by professor and art critic Peter Selz to create a mural for Pomona College. He completed his plans for the mural during his year-long teaching residency at the American Academy of Rome in 1959, and completed Genesis in 1960. Lebrun died from cancer in 1964.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Constance Lebrun Crown and David Lebrun conducted by Paul Karlstrom, November 23, 1974. Syracuse University also holds papers of Rico Lebrun.
Provenance:
The papers were donated in 1974 by Lebrun's wife, Constance Lebrun Crown. Additional materials were donated by Crown in 1976.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Educators -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Muralists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Correspondence, sketches, sketchbooks, clippings, and exhibition announcements. Papers record the career of Bizinsky from his 1946-1951 years in Paris and his lifelong friendship with crusading Atlanta Constitution editor Ralph McGill. Also included are 2 pages (4 sides) of Bizinsky's ink sketches of horses, a 1967 sketchbook, a sketch diary and loose sketches. Among the correspondents are Edward P. Morgan, the noted journalist and newsman, and Philipe Soupault, French poet and art critic (one letter, in French).
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, teacher; Los Angeles, Calif. Bizinsky was a post-impressionist painter of city and landscapes. He attended classes at Atlanta's High Museum of Art, and worked as a cartoonist for the Atlanta Constitution under editor Ralph McGill, who became his mentor, a lifelong friend, and collector of Bizinsky's work. He later attended the Art Students' League in N.Y. and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beauz-Arts in Paris. From 1946-1951 he worked in Paris with fauvist Emile-Othon Friesz and exppressionist Yves Brayer. He returned to the U.S. in 1951 under a scholarship from the Huntington Hartford Foundation in Southern California, and settled in Los Angeles where he became active in the Westwood Art Association.
Provenance:
Donated by Mrs. H. Robert Bizinsky, widow, 1994.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview of John Weber conducted 2006 March 21 and April 4, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at Weber's home, in Chatham, New York.
Weber discusses his education at St. Catherine's Military School in Anaheim, California, and Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida; attending the Citadel in South Carolina and then joining the Navy; attending Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, after getting out of the Navy; accepting a job at the Dayton Art Institute on the curatorial staff and working for the director, Thomas C. Colt; moving to New York and attending the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University; working at the Martha Jackson Gallery and his involvement in various influential shows there, including "Environments, Spaces, Situations," and "New Forms, New Media"; moving to Los Angeles in 1962 to work for the Dwan Gallery; getting involved with land artists, including Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, and Walter De Maria; moving back to New York to take on the directorship of the East Coast location of the Dwan Gallery, in SoHo, then the newest gallery neighborhood; opening his own gallery, the John Weber Gallery, on West Broadway in 1972; his involvement with the Fluxus Group and Arte Povera; the international nature of the art world in the 1960s and 70s; his business arrangements with artists, including the monthly stipends he gave them as advances on sales; his relationships with collectors, including Giuseppe Panza di Biumo and Emily and Burton Tremaine; his advocacy of Aboriginal art; the studios of Robert Smithson and Claes Oldenburg; his belief in the importance of originality; his adverse reaction when he first saw a piece by Dan Flavin; his interaction with art critics, including Irving Sandler and Grace Gluck; and his experience with art fairs. He also recalls Kirk Varnedoe, Jim Dine, Michael Goldberg, Jean Tinguely, Martial Raysse, Arman, Yves Klein, Franz Kline, Andre Emmerich, Mary Boone, Sol LeWitt, Andy Warhol, Gilberto Zorio, Richard Long, Hamish Fulton, Anina Nosei, Sven Lukin, Robert Ryman, Alighiero Boetti, Konrad Fischer, Ivan Karp, Paula Cooper, Angela Westwater, Jeff Koons, Joseph Beuys, Hans Haacke, Leo Castelli, Tom Otterness, Joyce Nereaux, Dorothea Rockburne, Eva Hesse, Lucas Samaras, and Joseph Hirshhorn, among others.
Biographical / Historical:
John Weber (1932-2008) is an art dealer from Chatham, New York. James McElhinney (1952- ) is a painter and educator of New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 11 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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
