An interview of Amelie Kneass conducted 1965 Mar. 28, by Mary McChesney, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project. Kneass discusses her involvement in FAP.
Biographical / Historical:
Amelie Kneass was the administrator for Federal Art Project, California.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Letters; sketches (mostly photocopies) of medals; photographs; an interview on DVD, and medals concerning Wacks' involvement in the work of medalist Gerta Ries Wiener for the Jewish-American Hall of Fame, a project and institution created by the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, Calif.
Letters, circa 100, from Wiener to Wacks concerning commemorative medals created by Wiener and commissioned by Wacks for the Judah L. Magnes Museum, from Emma Lazarus, Adolph Ochs, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Béla Schick, Ernestine L. Rose, Gertrude Stein, Louis D. Brandeis, Gershom Mendes Seixas, Henrietta Szold, Golda Meir, Gershom Mendes Seixas, and Jascha Heifetz (medal not made). Photographs are of medals and subjects used for medals. Interview on DVD is of Wiener conducted by Wacks, December 30, 1994. Five commemorative medals are by Wiener of Schick, Ochs, Brandeis, Rose, and Rebecca Gratz.
Biographical / Historical:
Mel Wacks (b. 1938) is Director of the Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Woodland Hills, Calif. The Jewish-American Hall of Fame was a project of the Judah L. Magnes Museum from 1969 through 2001 and is currently a division of the American Jewish Historical Society.
Provenance:
Donated 2007 and 2009 by Mel Wacks, director of the Jewish-American Hall of Fame.
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 Joseph A. Danysh conducted by Lewis Ferbraché on 1964 December 3 for the Archives of American Art.
Danysh speaks of his background and education at Columbia University; moving to California; starting a gallery in a store in San Francisco; critics' reaction to the art in the gallery; the beginning of the f64 photography group; opening a short lived gallery with Ansel Adams; writing an art column; starting out with the Federal Art Project, directing the project in Northern California; how the project was administered; particular projects he was involved in; his feelings about government support for the arts. He recalls Beniamino Bufano, Holger Cahill, William Gaskin, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Bernard Zakheim.
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph A. Danysh (1906-1982) was an art administrator from Monterey, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 43 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
An interview of Samuel Hershey conducted 1981 Nov.18-1984 Mar. 15, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Samuel F. Hershey (1904-1987) was a designer and instructor of design at Harvard University during the 1940s, an administrator at the Rhode Island School of Design during the 1950s and 1960s, and the Acting Chairman of the Department of Design in the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley, during the 1970s.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- United States -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Kira Perov-Viola conducted 2005 Aug. 30, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art, in the artist's studio, in Long Beach, Calif.
Biographical / Historical:
Kira Perov (1951- ) is a photographer, arts administrator, and career long collaborator of her husband, video artist Bill Viola, from Long Beach, Calif. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is an art critic from Beverly Hills, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 6 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:
This interview is access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview of Clinton Adams conducted 1995 August 2-3, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, at his home, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Adams discusses his family background; involvement in Hollywood "industry"; teaching at University of California, Los Angeles; service during WWII; first contact with New York's Museum of Modern Art; his decision to return to California; teaching painting at UCLA from 1946-1954, and friends and colleagues at that time including Lorser Feitelson, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Lynton R. Kistler and Annita Delano; the difficult political situation at UCLA and the "modernist" conflicts; his views on modernist and conservative groups; Stanton Macdonald-Wright; Adams' own work; his relationship to the ideas and nature of modernism; the Sanity in Art group and other art groups in Los Angeles; his opinion on which artists should have been included in the exhibition/catalogue "Turning the Tide: Early Los Angeles Modernists"; his observations on art historical constructs; the history of New Mexican art; the idea of regionalism; the mythology of Santa Fe, New Mexico.; Southwestern art; the Tamarind Lithography Workshop during its New Mexico phase, its background and changes after the move from Los Angeles to the University of New Mexico, his fifteen years as director, major artists involved, and his desire to publish overlooked artists. Adams recalls Fritz Scholder, John Altoon, Leonard Edmondson, Ynez Johnston, Vincent Price, Jules Langsner, and Rico Lebrun.
Biographical / Historical:
Clinton Adams (1918-2002) was a printmaker, painter, and art administrator of Los Angeles, California and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 16 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 28 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. Funding for the transcription provided by the Pasadena Art Alliance.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- New Mexico -- Albuquerque -- Interviews Search this
1 Item (Edited version: "Richard Shaw : Love of the Common Object": 1 videocassette (60 min.) (Beta), sd., col., 1/2 in.)
1 Videocassettes (VHS) (Edited version: "Richard Shaw: Love of the Common Object" (10 min.), sd., col., 1/2 in.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Videocassettes (vhs)
Video recordings
Interviews
Place:
San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)
Date:
1998 April 3 and 6
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Richard Shaw conducted 1998 April 3 and6, by Paul J. Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, at Shaw's home and studio, Fairfax, California, and at the Quay Gallery, San Francisco, California.
The interview covers the development of Shaw's career, life, and art. The first session took place in Shaw's studio and introduces his living and working environment. Shown is a step-by-step technical demonstration of Shaw creating his trompe l'oeil ceramic pieces. Shaw discusses his family background, values, his choice of a semi-rural environment of Marin County in which to live; bohemianism; connections with the counter-culture of northern California; relationships with other artists and friends and their importance to the development of his ideas and creativity; the differences in art communities of northern and southern California and the East and West coasts; experiences at the San Francisco Art Institute and instructors there which influenced him, as well as the influences of San Francisco in general. He described his illusionism, alchemy of technique, and his artistic philosophy and goals in his art. The second session took place at the Braunstein/Quay Gallery where a Shaw exhibit was then on display. The interview focused on his work, their meaning, and the evolution of ideas and expressions; his collaboration with Robert Hudson; the idea of a broader collaboration in the Bay Area over the years, especially in the 1960s, and the changes since then; and Shaw's reflections on the importance of ceramics in Bay Area art, his role, and direction for the future. The video was directed by David Bolt, the cameraman was Robert Boudreaux, and sound technician was William Steffanacci. In addition to Shaw, other participants include Shaw's wife, Martha; Ruth Braunstein, owner of the Braunstein/Quay Gallery; Pauletta Chanco, painter and former student; and James Melchert, sculptor and art administrator.
Biographical / Historical:
Richard Shaw (1941- ) is a ceramicist and sculptor from the San Francisco Bay Area, 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.
Occupation:
Ceramicists -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Search this
An interview of Everett Ellin conducted 2004 April 27-28, by Liza Kirwin, for the Archives of American Art, in Washington, D.C.
Ellin speaks of his childhood and early education in Chicago; taking an aptitude test in high school and learning that he had multiple aptitudes; attending the University of Michigan and earning a BSE in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; earning a law degree at Harvard Law School; his tour as an Air Force officer and tenure as law clerk to the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court; working at Columbia Pictures as house legal counsel; serving as aid for the vice president at William Morris Agency; studying acting; Hollywood in the 1950s; opening his own gallery, the Everett Ellin Gallery, in Los Angeles, in 1957-1958; his marriage to painter Jane Jacobs; working for French & Company, in New York in 1959, as director of the contemporary gallery; Clement Greenberg's role at French & Company; opening his second gallery in Los Angeles, the Everett Ellin Gallery, Inc., 1960-1963; artists he has shown including Bruce Beasely, Jasper Johns, Arshile Gorky, David Smith, and others; represented working for Marlborough Gallery, in New York, as director, 1963-1964; organizing the Jackson Pollock retrospective at Marlborough Gallery in 1964; being hired by Harry Guggenheim as public affairs officer of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and his promotion to assistant director; travel to Peru to help organize an exhibition of Peruvian ceramics for the Guggenheim; founding the Museum Computer Network (MCN) and establishing a base of operations at the Museum of Modern Art with support from the Mellon Foundation; early MCN planning meetings; and his vision for the future of MCN. He recalls artists Lee Krasner, Morris Louis, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, and others; collectors Frederick Weisman, Edward G. Robinson, Milton Sperling; museum professionals Rene d'Harnoncourt, Thomas Messer, Lawrence Alloway, Frank O'Hara, Walter Hopps, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Everett Ellin (1928-2011) was an art dealer, art administrator, and consultant of Diana, Tex. Liza Kirwin is an AAA collector in Washington, D.C.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hrs., 6 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.
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for this interview provided by the Goldsmith Foundation.
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.
An interview with Thomas Lawson conducted 2018 August 9-10, by Russell Ferguson, for the Archives of American Art, at Lawson's home in Los Angeles, California.
Lawson speaks of his family history, childhood, and schooling in Glasgow, Scotland; studying literature at St. Andrews University; early art-making, magazine-making, and curatorial experiences in university; developing an interest in contemporary art while studying for a postgraduate diploma in art history at Edinburgh University; visiting New York and interviewing Jasper Johns in 1974 for his postgraduate thesis; pursuing doctoral studies in art history at the CUNY Graduate Center, in the same class as Douglas Crimp and Craig Owens; beginning to write for various art publications; executing curatorial projects during his doctoral period; becoming a part of the late '70s New York art scene; the first exhibition of his artwork, at Artists Space; the influence of avant-garde theater on his art-making; co-founding and operating REALLIFE Magazine; writing the essay "Last Exit: Painting" and others for Artforum; his work and relationship with Metro Pictures; his thoughts on recent analysis of the Pictures Generation; teaching at SVA and later at CalArts; changes in the New York art scene during the '80s; his first public art projects; his international body of exhibitions; his work as dean of CalArts; the effect of his move to California on his art-making practice; CalArts' response to the 1994 Northridge earthquake; working as a co-selector for the British Art Show; his work on the biography of Thomas Muir; helping start the publication Afterall; his sense of an inadequate critical response to the entirety of his body of work; his return to painting in the last decade; and the development of his ideas about teaching. Lawson also recalls Susan Morgan, Eduardo Paolozzi, Pat Douthwaite, Douglas Hall, Hugh MacDiarmid, John Steer, Ivor Davies, John Cage, Mark Lancaster, Milton Brown, Robert Pincus-Witten, John Rewald, Franics Naumann, Rosalind Krauss, Betsy Baker, Ray Ring, Norman Lewis, Kellie Jones, Sherrie Levine, David Salle, Julia Heyward, Eric Fischl, Richard Serra, Robert Longo, Ingrid Sischy, Rene Ricard, Helene Winer, Jack Goldstein, Nigel Greenwood, Sherrie Levine, Benjamin Buchloh, Tim Rollins, Jenne Siegel, Mark Dion, Gregg Bordowitz, Andrea Fraser, Julie Ault, Andres Serrano, Anthony Reynolds, Mike Kelley, Declan McGonagle, Ross Sinclair, Alanna Heiss, Millie Wilson, Steven Lavine, Richard Kuhlenschmidt, Mark Bradford, Lucy Byatt, Lauri Firstenberg, David Kordansky, Danielle Colomine, Michel Aphesboro, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Lawson (1951- ) is a painter, writer, the dean of the School of Art at California Institute of the Arts, and the Editor-in-Chief at East of Borneo, in Los Angeles, California. Russell Ferguson (1956- ) is a professor in the Department of Art at University of California, Los Angeles, 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:
The transcript and audio recording are open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Topic:
Authors -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for this interview was provided by the Lichtenberg Family Foundation.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
37 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 June 25
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Tom Wyllie conducted 1965 June 25, by Betty Hoag, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Tom Wyllie (1897-1977) was an art administrator from Redondo Beach, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 44 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
An interview of William Woolfenden conducted 1983 March 17, by Ruth Gurin Bowman, for the Archives of American Art, in Pacific Palisades, California.
Biographical / Historical:
William E. Woolfenden (1918- 1995) was the director of the Archives of American Art from 1963-1983.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 1 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Interviews Search this
An interview of retiring director of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Ian McKibbin White conducted 1987 January 8-12, by Paul J. Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Mr. White discusses the merger of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and M. H. De Young Memorial Museum and other highlights of his 24-year tenure as director of the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco.
Biographical / Historical:
Ian McKibbin White (1929- ) is a museum director from California.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 59 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1959 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for this interview was provided by TRIPTYCH magazine of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Topic:
Museum directors -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Function:
Art museums -- California -- San Francisco
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
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.
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
45 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 April 10
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Margery Hoffman Smith conducted 1964 April 10, by Lewis Ferbraché, for the Archives of American Art, at the artist's home, in San Francisco, California.
Discusses her involvement with the design of Timberline Lodge in Oregon for the Works Progress Administration.
Biographical / Historical:
Margery Hoffman Smith (1888-1981) was a painter, craftsman, and interior decorator from San Francisco, California. Smith was art director for the Timberline Lodge project on Mount Hood, Oregon, which was built under the authority of the WPA in the 1940s. She became the assistant state director of the Federal Art Project in Oregon.
General:
Originally recorded 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 2 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
23 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 June 8
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Reginald Poland conducted 1965 June 8, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Reginald Poland was a museum director for the Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego. He was an administrator with Federal Art Project, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
An interview of James Melchert conducted in Oakland, Calif., 1991 Apr.4-5, by Mady Jones, for the Archives of American Art.
Melchert discusses his background; attending the University of Chicago for his MFA in painting; discovering his interest in clay; studying under Peter Voulkos at the Bray Foundation and following him to Berkeley in the Decorative Arts Dept.; artists at Berkeley at the time; teaching ceramics at the San Francisco Art Institute; the art scene in San Francisco; working for the National Endowment for the Arts; moving to Rome to work for the American Academy in Rome; and his future plans. Among the many artists and administrators he recalls are Rudy Autio, Millard Sheets, Bob Arneson, Stephen de Staebler, Jacques Schnier, Peter Selz, Bruce Connor, Bruce Nauman, Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, Susan Peterson, Fred Martin, Ron Nagle, Grace Morley, and Carlos Villa.
Biographical / Historical:
Jim Melchert (1930- ) is a sculptor, teacher, and art administrator of Oakland, Calif. Chairman, Ceramics Dept., San Francisco Art Institute, 1961-1964. Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, 1965-1976. Federal grants chairman of the visual arts for the National Endowment of the Arts in the late 1970s.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 38 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. Funding for this interview provided by the Lannan Foundation.
Restrictions:
ACCESS RESTRICTED; use requires written permission.
Occupation:
Artists -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
46 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 April 16
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Daniel S. Defenbacher conducted by Mary McChesney on 1965 April 16 for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Daniel S. Defenbacher (1906-1986) was an arts administrator in California.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav file. Duration is 3 hr., 7 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Rights:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Interview of Sheila Cogan conducted 1972 July, by Barry Schwartz, for the Archives of American Art.
Cogan discusses the arts scene in San Francisco, especially the rise of the Street Artists Guild; her work with the Richmond Arts Center; and the beginnings of video art at the National Center for Experimental Television in San Francisco.
Biographical / Historical:
Sheila Cogan (1942- ) was an educator and art administrator, in San Francisco, California.
Provenance:
This interview is 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.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Educators -- California -- San Francisco Search this
The Richard Haas papers measure 6 linear feet and are dated 1937 to 2012, bulk 1970-2012. His work and career as a muralist, printmaker, and educator are documented by correspondence, writings, printed material, sketchbooks, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The Richard Haas papers measure 6 linear feet and are dated 1937 to 2012, bulk 1970-2012. His work and career as a muralist, printmaker, and educator are documented by correspondence, writings, printed material, sketchbooks, and photographs.
Haas's correspondence relates to commissions, exhibitions, lectures, publications, teaching, and other professional activities. Correspondents include clients, galleries, professional organizations, critics, artists, architects and others. Also found is small amount of personal correspondence. Writings and notes by Haas include artist's statements, notes, lectures, a travel diary, papers and class notes from his undergraduate and graduate student days. Writings about him are a New Museum exhibition catalog text and a student paper. Subject files relate to Haas's professional activities and interests. They document exhibitions and projects, relationships with galleries, membership and participation in various organizations, and routine business matters. Sketchbooks (17 volumes) contain drawings, sketches, and a few watercolors, along with scattered writings and notes.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1990, 2009 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1964-2008 (Box 1; 1 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1954-2012 (Box 2; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 4: Subject Files, 1970-2011 (Boxes 2-4; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1956-2012 (Boxes 5-6; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 6: Artwork, 1954-2005 (Box 6; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Sketchbooks, 1976-2009 (Box 6; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1937-2006 (Box 6; 0.1 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Richard Haas (b. 1936) is a mural painter of "architecture of illusion," his term describing the trompe l'oeil architectural subjects for which he is best known. His work as a printmaker also focuses on architecture, with iconic buildings of New York and other cities serving as subject matter. Hass is also an educator who has taught painting and printmaking at University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Bennington College in Vermont, and School of Visual Arts in New York City.
During World War II, the Haas family moved from Spring Green, Wisconsin to Milwaukee. As a teenager, Richard spent two summers working with his great uncle, a master stone mason employed by Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin. He proved to be less interested in stonework than in exploring Wright's library and watching the young architects draw. He considered becoming an architect, but eventually concluded the artistic side of architecture was more attractive than the day to day work of an architect.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (B.S., 1959), Hass worked as an art teacher in a Milwaukee high school. He attended graduate classes at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee where visiting artist Jack Tworkov was his teacher. At the University of Minnesota (M.F.A., 1964), Haas studied with Peter Busa and Malcolm Myers. As an assistant professor at Michigan State University from 1964 to 1968, Haas's colleagues included Angelo Ippolito and Charles Pollock, and he met a number of important artists and critics who visited the campus. Haas moved to New York City in 1968 and soon accepted a part-time position teaching printmaking at Bennington College. He commuted weekly between New York and Vermont for the next decade.
During the 1960s Haas was a Color-field painter. He also continued making etchings and lithographs, and by 1970 several galleries were selling his architectural prints. His first outdoor mural, painted in the So Ho section of New York City in 1975, attracted attention and commissions followed. Mural commissions include: Boston Architectural Center (1977); Edison Bothers Store, Inc., St. Louis (1984); Home Savings of America, multiple locations in Florida and California (1990-1991); City of Huntsville, Texas (1991); Federal Building and Courthouse, Kansas City, Kansas (1994); and Yorkville Mural, New York City (2004.)
Haas, who began exhibiting while still a student, has participated in a large number of group shows and enjoyed many solo exhibitions. He was elected a National Academician, National Academy of Design, was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has been a MacDowell Fellow. Among other honors, Haas has received the American Institute of Architects Medal of Honor, New York City Municipal Art Society Award, Doris C. Freedman Award for Public Art, and the Jimmy Ernst Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Mr. Haas, who works in New York City, is represented by David Findlay, Jr. Gallery. His wife, Katherine Sokolnikoff, is a sculptor and arts administrator; they live in Yonkers, New York.
Related Material:
An interview of Richard Haas conducted January 13 and March 16, 2009, by Avis Berman, for the Archives of American Art's U.S. General Services Administration, Design Excellence and the Arts oral history project, at Haas' studio, in New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated by Richard Haas in 2012.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
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.
Topic:
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interview of Victor Franco conducted by Barry Schwartz for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Victor Franco is an art administrator from Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
This interview is 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.
Restrictions:
Patrons must use transcript.
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Egg and Eye Gallery and Restaurant (Los Angeles, Calif.) Search this
Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
153 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
1993 March 9-September 7
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Edith Wyle conducted 1993 March 9-September 7, by Sharon K. Emanuelli, for the Archives of American Art, Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project.
Wyle speaks of her family background and her early education and interests; her studies at U.C. Berkeley and UCLA; her marriage to Frank Wyle; her friendship with Rico Lebrun; the cultural scene in Los Angeles between 1940 and 1970; the founding of the Egg and the Eye restaurant and gallery; and the founding of the Craft and Folk Art Museum and its development over the years.
Biographical / Historical:
Edith R. Wyle (1918-1999) was an arts administrator and painter from Los Angeles, California. Established Egg and the Eye Gallery and Restaurant in Los Angeles in 1964 and oversaw its transformation in 1973 into the Craft and Folk Art Museum, for which she was Director and then Program director until 1984. Wyle also is a painter, and had a close friendship with Rico Lebrun.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 16 digital wav files. Duration is 8 hrs., 8 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. Funding for this interview was provided by the Margery and Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Communal Fund of New York.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
