The papers of painter Ronald ("Ron") Davis measure 5.7 linear feet and date from 1960-2017. Included are biographical material; personal and professsional correspondence; writings consisting of descriptions of techniques used in painting and artist's statements; personal business records including material relating to the Ron Davis House, an architectural collaboration with Frank Gehry; photographs of Davis, his family, works of art, installation shots, and his homes and studios; artwork including sketches by Davis; and printed material consisting of catalogs, announcements, posters and newspaper clippings.
Biographical / Historical:
Ronald Davis (1937- ) is a painter who spent most of his creative life in Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
Donated 2019 by Ronald Davis.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Ronald Davis and Jan Butterfield. Interview with Ron Davis, circa 1976. Jan Butterfield papers, 1950-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Color : an exhibition / organized by a graduate seminar of the Department of Art ; sponsored by the UCLA Art Council ; presented by the UCLA Art Galleries ; [artists] Ron Davis ... [et al.]
Author:
California University University at Los Angeles Department of Art Search this
An interview of Joseph A. Helman conducted 2010 January 4, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at Helman's home in New York, New York.
Helman recalls three major events from his early life--the exhibition "Masterpieces from the Berlin Museums: 1948-1949," the film "Lust for Life," and collecting--that led to his career as an art dealer; buying his first painting, which was a Jasper Johns work; meeting the art dealer Leo Castelli; opening his first gallery in St. Louis in 1969; selling his gallery to Ronald Greenberg and moving to Italy with his family; attending the Sotheby's auction of the Robert C. Scull Collection in 1973; teaming up with Irving Blum to open the Blum Helman Gallery in New York City; organizing exhibitions of established and emerging artists. Helman speaks about his relationship with Emily Rauh Pulitzer and the St. Louis Art Museum; his Happening with Allan Kaprow; the story behind Claes Oldenburg's drawing Tongue Cloud, over St. Louis, 1975; discovering the work of Ralston Crawford; introducing American art to Spain. In addition, Helman discusses the contemporary art market; collectors and the process of collecting; and the redefinition of Pop art to include British and American artists of the 1980s. Throughout the interview Helman mentions the various artists he has represented, exhibited or collected such as Richard Serra, Robert Rauschenberg, Josef Albers, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Ronald Davis, and Bryan Hunt.
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph A. Helman (1937- ) is an art dealer and collector in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound disc. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr.,19 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.
Topic:
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Ronald Davis, paintings, 1962-1976 : the Oakland Museum, Art Special Gallery, July 13-September 5, 1976 / [text by Charles Kessler ; introd. by George W. Neubert ; photography by Frank Thomas and Peter Brown]
