An interview of Andrew Chinn conducted 1965 May 24, by Dorothy Bestor, for the Archives of American Art. Chinn speaks of his memories of the Federal Art Project in Washington state; how the program affected Seattle as an art center; and he recalls other artists involved in the project: Fay Chong, William Cumming, Jacob Elshin, and Morris Graves.
Biographical / Historical:
Andrew Chinn (1915-1996) was a Chinese American painter based in Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 2 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.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview conducted by Stan and Irene Poon Andersen on July 3-4, 1996, New York City, with Dong Kingman. Accompanying the interview are a few newspaper and magazine articles, and a photograph of Kingman, taken by Irene Poon Andersen, 1996. The material was compiled following the 1995 exhibition "With New Eyes: Toward An Asian American Art History in the West," for which Poon Andersen was a curator and exhibitor.
Kingman discusses his early years and education in Oakland, Calif. and Hong Kong; teaching at Mills College, Oakland, University of Wyoming, Laramie and the San Diego Museum; working on the WPA art project; military service with the US Army OSS art department; leaving the Bay Area when he was drafted, moving first to Washington, D.C. and later to New York City where has remained; and work on movies including "Flower Drum Song," "55 Days to Peking," and "Virgin Soldier."
Biographical / Historical:
Dong Kingman (1911-2000) was a Chinese American painter and illustrator based in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. Kingman taught at Columbia University and Hunter College. He worked for the Works Progress Administration.
Provenance:
Donated 1997 by Stan Andersen and Irene Poon Andersen.
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.
Occupation:
Artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Artists -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Search this
Photographs of Kingman, his family, and his work; and a New Yorker article about him.
Biographical / Historical:
Dong Kingman (1911-2000) was a Chinese American painter and illustrator based in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. Kingman taught at Columbia University and Hunter College. He worked for the Works Progress Administration.
Related Materials:
Dong Kinman papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
The lender, Lewis Ferbrache, collected papers for AAA from artists and administrators of the various government funded art programs of the Depression. It was part of a larger nation-wide, collecting project, "New Deal and the Arts."
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview of Seong Moy conducted 1971 Jan. 18-28, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Moy speaks of his childhood in Canton, China; his immigration to Minnesota; the art scene in Minneapolis and Saint Paul in the 1930s; his education; the influence of his teachers, including Cameron Booth, Hans Hofmann, and Vaclav Vytlacil; the influence of Stanley William Hayter; being introduced to printmaking by the WPA art project in Minnesota; his service as a photographer in World War II; his teaching philosophy; and the art scene in Provincetown in the 1970s.
Biographical / Historical:
Seong Moy (1921-2013) was a Chinese American painter and printmaker based in New York City, New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Moy was born in Canton, China. He studied at the St. Paul School of Art, Hans Hofmann School of Art and the Art Students League. He was also the director of the Seong Moy School of Painting and Graphics, Provincetown, Massachusetts in the summer.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 19 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Tyrus Wong conducted 1965 January 30, by Betty Hoag, for the Archives of American Art.
Wong discusses making a film for grade schools and UCLA, which was produced by Eliot O'Hara, where he demonstrated Oriental painting techniques and Joe Jones demonstrated American techniques; working as an illustrator for Republic Studio; designing pottery plates for Greenfield Pottery, Gabriel Pottery in Pasadena; illustrations for the Western Art Review magazine; covers for the Los Angeles Times Home Section 1954 & 1955; text and illustrations for Watercolor Portraits, 1949; designing ads for various magazines; and doing watercolors, lithographs, and murals for the WPA, including the Santa Monica Library. Wong recalls Surasawa, Dorothy Jeakins, Nick Berganti, Hideo Dati, Benjy Ocobo, Carl Winter, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Jerre Murry, Steven LaVerne Dunwell, George Stanley, Gordon Newell, and Frank Buck.
Biographical / Historical:
Tyrus Wong (1910-2016) was a Chinese American painter, designer, illustrator, and printmaker based in California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 48 min.
Only the second half of this interview was successfully recorded.
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.
United States. General Services Administration. Design Excellence and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
United States. General Services Administration. Design Excellence and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
58 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
2010 May 10-11
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Xiaoze Xie conducted 2010 May 10 and 11, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's U.S. General Services Administration, Design for Excellence and the Arts oral history project at Xie's studio in Stanford, California.
Xie speaks of growing up in a rural area of southern China; the incorporation of historical events into his work; the development of his series Library in the US and China; his education, including attending graduate school for architecture at the Central Academy of Art and Design in Beijing and at the University of North Texas for painting; the outbreak of the pro-democracy student movement in China in 1989; his first big artwork in the US, Duet; the incorporation of Photorealism in his work; his piece Flags and Banners, which used existing photographs as source images; the process of making his paintings using newspapers as source images; his GSA commission, Iowa Reports; the urgency he felt to create political work after September 11, 2001; comparisons of his work with that of other contemporary American and Chinese artists; and his influences including Gerhard Richter. Xie also recalls Vincent Falsetta, Vernon Fisher, Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian, Liu Haisu, Wu Zuoren, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Xiaoze Xie (1966- ) is a Chinese American visual artist and professor based in Palo Alto, California. Interviewer Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a writer and independent scholar in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 6 memory cards. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 4 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.
An interview of Maya Ying Lin conducted 1983 Mar. 6, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art. Lin speaks of a funerary architecture seminar she took at Yale University; entering her design in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's competition; attempts to add a figured sculpture and a flagpole to her design, and her resistance to this effort.
Biographical / Historical:
Maya Ying Lin (1959- ) is a Chinese American architect based in New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 34 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.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the audio is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Authorization to quote or reproduce for the purposes of publication requires written permission from Maya Ying Lin. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Architects -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Washington, D.C.) Search this
Two interviews conducted by Margaret Carney, one with ceramicist Paul Vickers Gardner and one with Chinese American ceramicist, Marie Woo. Carney was compelled to interview Gardner and Woo out of interest. The interview with Gardner was conducted September 27, 1993 at Gardner's home in Washington, D.C. on two sound cassettes and is transcribed (42 pages.) The interview with Woo was conducted digitally on March 5, 2019 (74 minutes, 15 seconds) and is transcribed.
Biographical / Historical:
Margaret Carney (1949- ) is the Director of the Dinnerware Museum, Ann Arbor, Michigan and was the director of the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art in Alfred, N.Y. Carney used to go by the name Margaret Carney Xie.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art are interviews of four ceramicists conducted by Margaret Carney for the Archives' Oral History Program, 2001 and 2002, including Val Cushing, Robert Chapman Turner, Fong Chow, and William Underhill.
Provenance:
Donated 2016 and 2019 by Margaret Carney.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Access to audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copy requires advance notice.
Correspondence, sketches, clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, a few photographs and miscellaneous papers. Correspondence is mostly with museum, gallery, and university officials about the sale and exhibition of his work, appreciation of gifts, competitions, teaching appointments, and reproductions. In addition, there is a brief article about his woodcut technique and a description of his New York studio.
Correspondents include L.A. Audrain, P.N. Bowle-Evans, M.F.P. Boys, Margaret Cogswell, Mike Cohn, Fleur Cowles, Charles E. Damiani, David Durst, Peter Floud, Gordon W. Gilkey, Theodore J.H. Gusten, Una E. Johnson, Jacob Kainen, Fiske Kimball, Yeffe Kimball, Dwight Kirsch, E. Kolb, Ruth Lawrence, Frank Lieberman, Margaret Lowengrund, Robert H. Luck, Helen Macy, Betty Maurstad, Porter McCray, Margaret McKellar, Hermon More, Evelyn G. Morel, Reginald Neal, Edward A. Norman, Muriel Oxenburg, Edwin C. Rae, John Ross, Carl O. Schniewind, Gertrude Shibley, Herbert W. Simpson, Eloise Spaeth, Caryl Steinberg, Frederick A. Sweet, Soichi Tominaga, Helen Treadwell, Arthur R. Upgren, Vaclav Vytlacil, Hudson Walker, Gordon B. Washburn, Robert C. Weaver, Tetsuo Yamada, Marion Zeckendorf, and Carl Zigrosser.
Biographical / Historical:
Seong Moy (1921-2013) was a Chinese American painter and printmaker based in New York City, New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Moy was born in Canton, China. He studied at the St. Paul School of Art, Hans Hofmann School of Art and the Art Students League. He was also the director of the Seong Moy School of Painting and Graphics, Provincetown, Massachusetts in the summer.
Provenance:
Donated 1982 by Seong Moy.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of James Chan Leong conducted 1972 Oct. 17, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Leong discusses difficulties being a Chinese-American during school years in San Francisco; his army service and subsequent enrollment in the California College of Arts and Crafts on the G.I. Bill; further study in California and abroad; his art work and teaching; living and working in Rome, Italy; and other topics.
Leong would like it known that he has not heard the interview or read the transcript, and that he has requested additional interview time to make additions and ammendments.
Biographical / Historical:
James Chan Leong (1929-2011) was a Chinese American painter based in Rome, Italy.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 46 min.
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.
An interview of Andrew Chinn conducted 1991 August 9, by Matthew Kangas, for the Archives of American Art Northwest Asian American Project.
Chinn speaks of his childhood; the formation of the Chinese Art Club in Seattle in the 1930s; exhibitions of his work in the 1940s; the Chinese and Western styles of his paintings; his teaching career; his friendship with Fay Chong; and his opinion of the Asian influence in Mark Tobey's work.
Biographical / Historical:
Andrew Chinn (1915-1995) was a Chinese American painter based in Seattle, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 46 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 administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle Search this
An interview of Fong Chow conducted February 6, 2002, by Margaret Carney, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Chow's home, in New York, N.Y.
Chow speaks of his family, specifically, his grandfather who was sent to Hartford, Connecticutt, in 1874, for schooling, then studied at Columbia University and returned to China, working as general manager of one of the earliest railroads in north China; the schools Chow attended in Hong Kong; working in different media, including painting and photography; attending the Boston Museum School and then Alfred University; his relationship with Charles Harder, the head of the ceramic design department at Alfred; the "wonderful" teachers at Alfred in the early 1950s, including Katharine Nelson in painting, Marion Fosdick in sculpture, Daniel Rhodes and Ted Randall; learning production methods, as well as "studio potters work"; developing forms, new glazes, and decorations at Glidden Pottery; his "famous" pieces for Glidden Pottery, such as "New Equations" and "Charcoal and Rice"; how he became involved with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and his relationship with Alan Priest, curator of Far Eastern art; working at the Met as a curator for more than 20 years; changes at the Met during his tenure there; and his hiatus from making ceramics while working at the Met. He discusses his return to clay in 1983 and his studio near Cooper Union; he describes visiting his best friend from childhood, Pan He, a sculptor in China. He also discusses his health; his wife Chao-Ling and how they met; his current focus on photography. Chow also recalls Glidden Parker, James Romer, Bo Gyllensvard, Sergio Dello Strologo, Theodore Hobby, Paul Bollardo, Norman Arsenault, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Fong Chow (1923- ) is a Chinese American ceramicist, curator, and photographer from New York, N.Y. Margaret Carney (1949- ) is the director of the Schein Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art in Alfred, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 41 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:
Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of New York City Asian American artist Ching Ho Cheng measure 6.8 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 2014, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1970-1989. The collection documents Cheng's art career and life through biographical material, correspondence, personal business and estate records, printed material, a scrapbook, photographic material, artwork, sketchbooks, and artifacts.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York City Asian American artist Ching Ho Cheng measure 6.8 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 2014, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1970-1989. The collection documents Cheng's art career and life through biographical material, correspondence, personal business and estate records, printed material, a scrapbook, photographic material, artwork, sketchbooks, and artifacts.
Biographical material includes artist's statements, biographical writings, lists, life and death documents, a memorial book, naturalization paperwork, and one file of collaborative poetry with David Rattray.
Correspondence includes letters and postcards from Cheng's friends, artists, and family, including Tally Brown, Ira Cohen, Gregory Millard, Vali Myers, David Rattray, and Dui Seid.
Personal business and estate records contain contracts, loan agreements, inventories, and other records documenting income and expenses.
Printed material is comprised of books, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, journals, magazines, newsletters, postcards, press releases, programs, and posters documenting Cheng's career.
One scrapbook contains clippings and reproductions of Cheng's work.
Photographic material includes photographs, negatives, and slides featuring portraits of Cheng, Gregory Millard, Tally Brown, Vali Myers, Sybao Cheng-Wilson, and others.
Artwork and fifteen sketchbooks contain drawings and sketches, mostly quick studies of geometric compositions done in pencil, ink, and colored pencil.
Artifacts include a metal box, various fabric scraps, a paintbrush, and a blue enamel mug, which is the subject of one of Cheng's paintings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nine series
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1970-1990 (0.3 linear foot; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1957-2014 (2.2 linear feet; Box 1-3)
Series 3: Personal Business and Estate Records, circa 1970-2010 (0.7 linear foot; Box 3-4)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1954-2011 (1.1 linear feet; Box 4-5, 7, OV 9)
Series 5: Scrapbook, 1982-1983 (1 folder; Box 5)
Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1950-1990 (0.4 linear feet; Box 5, 7)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1960-1990 (1linear foot; Box 5, 8, OV 10)
Series 8: Sketchbooks, circa 1970-1990 (0.5 linear feet; Box 6, 8)
Series 9: Artifacts, circa 1970-1990 (0.6 linear feet; Box 6)
Biographical / Historical:
Ching Ho Cheng (1946-1989) was a Chinese American artist based in New York City.
Cheng was born in Cuba but spent most of life in New York City. After receiving his BFA from the Cooper Union in 1968, Cheng lived in Paris and Amsterdam, where he had his first solo exhibition in 1976. Shortly after, Cheng moved back to New York City. He became associated with the Warhol circle, and took up residence in the Chelsea Hotel, where he lived until his death in 1989.
Working in the pop psychedelic style early in his career, Cheng later developed a technique of creating abstract paintings with stencils and torn paper that he treated and soaked. He was in more than fifteen exhibitions before his death, and his work has been collected posthumously by the Hirshhorn, the Whitney, and many other museums.
Provenance:
The Ching Ho Cheng papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2014 and 2016 by Sybao Cheng-Wilson, Cheng's sister and executor of the Ching Ho Cheng estate.
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:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
