Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ellen Lanyon, 1975 Dec. 5-1976 Jan. 18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview with Vera Klement conducted 2015 June 12 and 14, by Lanny Silverman, for the Archives of American Art's Chicago Art and Artists: Oral History Project, at Klement's home and studio in Chicago, Illinois.
Klement speaks of her early childhood in Danzig (now, Gdansk, Poland) on the eve of World War II; her family's immigration to New York; her early experiences with music and art; her decision to become a painter; her interactions within New York's art community of the 1950s; the change in New York's art scene after the emergence of Pop art; her move to Chicago and subsequent difficulties in showing her work; her involvement within the Chicago art community; the founding of the women's artist cooperative, Artemisia; her involvement with the women's movement in the 1970s; teaching at the University of Chicago; her conception of her artwork as representational and apolitical; her literary influences; and her distaste for the contemporary art world. Klement also recalls Dennis Adrian, Dore Ashton, Marianne Deson, Angelo Ippolito, Miyoko Ito, Phyllis Kind, Harold Rosenberg, Ralph Shapey, Theodoros Stamos, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Vera Klement (1929-2023) was an Expressionist painter in Chicago, Illinois.
Lanny Silverman (1947- ) is a curator at the Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago, Illinois.
General:
Originally recorded as 3 sound files. Duration is 3 hr., 24 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 with Vera Klement conducted 2016 May 25, by Jason Stieber, for the Archives of American Art's Chicago Art and Artists: Oral History Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Vera Klement (1929-2023) was an Expressionist painter in Chicago, Ill.
Jason Stieber (1973- ) is the National Collector for the Archives of American Art.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the papers of Vera Klement.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Vera Klement, 2015 June 12 and 14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, American -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource Search this
Chicago Art and Artists: Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Video recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Vera Klement, 2016 May 25. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
