Interview of Jason Berger, conducted 1979 January 12 and 1980 February 1, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Berger speaks of growing up in Massachusetts; serving in the Army during World War II; studying and teaching at the Museum School in Boston; marrying his wife, Marilyn Powers; studying sculpture in France; exhibiting at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston and other galleries; the art collective Direct Vision; being fired from the Museum School; and teaching at SUNY Buffalo and the Art Institute of Boston. Berger also recalls Karl Zerbe, Ture Bengtz, Hyman Bloom, Hyman Swetzoff, Jack Levine, Leslie Fiedler, Clemens Benda, Ossip Zadkine, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Jason Berger (1924-2010) is a painter and printmaker from Brookline, Massachusetts.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 5 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:
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Interviews Search this
The records of the Joan Peterson Gallery measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1958 to 1980. The records document the history of the gallery through artists' files relating to Richard E. Filipowski, Jason Berger and Marilyn Powers, including biographical information, correspondence, price lists, exhibition catalogs, announcements, clippings, and photographs of works.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Joan Peterson Gallery measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1958 to 1980. The records document the history of the gallery through artists' files relating to Richard E. Filipowski, Jason Berger and Marilyn Powers, including biographical information, correspondence, price lists, exhibition catalogs, announcements, clippings, and photographs of works.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into one series.
Series 1: Joan Peterson Gallery Records, 1958-1980 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Biographical / Historical:
The Joan Peterson Gallery was an art gallery in Boston, Massachusetts. Joan Peterson was one of the most prominent art dealers in Boston from the late 1950s into the early 1980s. The gallery showed the work of leading regional modernists. It closed in 1981.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Richard Filipowski conducted by Robert Brown, September 25, 1989-March 14, 1990; an oral history interview with Jason Berger conducted by Robert Brown, January 12, 1979 and February 1, 1980; and the Jason Berger and Marilyn Powers papers, circa 1942-1993.
Provenance:
Donated in 1992 by Joan Peterson Klimann, former director of the Joan Peterson Gallery.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- Massachusetts -- Boston
Citation:
Joan Peterson Gallery Records, 1958-1980. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Correspondence, including Berger's Army correspondence to Frieda Humowitz (some illustrated) and miscellaneous correspondence (some letters are xeroxes); sketches by Berger; Berger sketchbook from time he spent in Ireland and Portugal in 1988; 7 Berger appointment books containing sketches, addresses, and notes; photographs of work by Powers; Powers and Berger passports containing photographs of them and their son, Adam; 2 photographs of Berger taken by Michael Peirce; reproductions of work; exhibition related material; printed material; and clippings.
Also included are a videotape, "Jason Berger/At the Edge of the World," (1993) produced by Howard Posner; and material relating to The Direct Vision including, correspondence, writings, exhibition related material, clippings, press releases, an application for financial assistance, and legal documents pertaining to incorporation.
Biographical / Historical:
Painters; Boston, Mass. Berger and Powers were married until her death in 1976. They helped to form, along with their son, Adam, and other artists, a group called The Direct Vision. Their son is a poet and painter; Brookline, Mass.
Provenance:
Donated 1994 by Jason Berger. The video was donated by Berger and Howard Posner, the video's producer. Additions are expected.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jason Berger, 1979 January 12-1980 February 1. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
