An interview of Robert David Brady conducted 2008 March 10-12, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Berkeley, California.
Brady speaks of growing up in Reno, Nevada and developing a fondness for the desert and mountain environment around him; his first discovery and fascination with clay during junior high; a deep interest in symbols and the abstraction of language and how he has incorporated that into his work; studying art at California College of Arts and Crafts; continuing on to Mills College for graduate school; being drafted into the war and having to postpone his attendance to Mills College; finishing a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of California, Davis; wanting to become a college professor; teaching at California State University in Sacramento; wanting to depart from dependency on the vessel; exploring with figurative objects; abandoning the vessel and adapting an interest in object making and mixed media; the influence of Mexico, in particular, the imagery of the Day of the Dead, on his work; firing techniques he learned in Mexico; the influence from Hal Riegger toward his education and development; specific works and the inspiration and process behind them; his departure from clay and experimenting with wood; various shows and his experiences working with different galleries and curators; his trip to Guatemala and the emergence of angels and other religious motif in his work; other traveling experiences and the influence each had on his work; his desire to return to clay and continue making pots; the craft community; the influence of Japanese pots; his personal beliefs toward academically trained and non-academically trained artists; and his opinion toward various art and craft magazines. Brady also recalls Vernon Coykendall, Robert Arneson, William Wiley, Manuel Neri, Debbie Butterfield, John Buck, Dick Notkin, Nancy Rubins, Roy de Forest, Hal Riegger, Dale Chihuly, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert David Brady (1946- ) is a sculptor of wood and ceramics and a teacher from Berkeley, California. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a curator and writer from San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 14 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 47 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 Merryll Saylan conducted 2006 May 20-June 5, by Glenn Adamson, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, in London, England.
Saylan speaks of her childhood in Los Angeles, California; her early musical education in piano and viola; memories of World War II; her family's political views during the Cold War; meeting her first husband at UCLA; dropping out of school to move to Virginia and Georgia in fulfillment of her husband's military service; experiencing anti-Semitism in Georgia; the challenges of her eldest son's speech problems; traveling to France, Japan, Guatemala, Hong Kong and the Philippines; her interest in Japanese culture; completing her B.A. in design at UCLA and her M.A. in studio art at California State University, Northridge; anti-Vietnam sentiment on campus; early interests in environmental design; her second husband and his friends; her interest in furniture and woodworking; differing approaches to woodworking on the east and west coasts; her views on feminism and working women; her use of color and texture in woodworking; teaching experiences; popular perception of her work; receiving a grant to go to England and her involvement with English and German woodturners; the lack of collector interest in her work; forced absences from working because of illnesses; serving on the boards of the American Association of Woodturners and The Woodturning Center; her involvement in the International Turned Objects Show, the Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Biannual Exposition, and the International Turning Exchange; her thoughts on future work. Saylan also recalls George Foy, Bob Stocksdale, Michael Cooper, Pamela Weir-Quiton, Joanne Rapp, J.B. Blunk, Marvin Lipofsky, Gail Fredell, Wendy Maruyama, Ralph Evans, Del Stubbs, Jerry Glaser, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Merryll Saylan (1936- ) is a wood artist from San Rafael, California. Glenn Adamson (1972- ) is a museum professional, in London, England.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 9 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.
600 Mounted prints (circa 600 mounted prints, silver gelatin)
4,000 Color slides (circa)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Mounted prints
Color slides
Photographs
Place:
Pakistan -- Description and Travel
Fiji -- Description and Travel
Ethiopia -- Description and Travel
Easter Island -- Description and Travel
Yemen -- Description and Travel
Honduras -- Description and Travel
Peru -- Description and Travel
Guatemala -- Description and Travel
Israel -- Description and Travel
Vietnam -- Description and Travel
Solomon Islands -- Description and Travel
Colombia -- Description and Travel
Thailand -- description and travel
Taiwan -- description and travel
Jordan -- Description and Travel
Uzbekistan -- Description and Travel
Singapore -- Description and Travel
Bhutan -- Description and Travel
Afghanistan -- Description and Travel
Burma -- Description and Travel
Brazil -- Description and Travel
Australia -- Description and Travel
Lebanon -- Description and Travel
Iraq -- Description and Travel
Iran -- Description and Travel
India -- description and travel
New Guinea -- Description and Travel
Syria -- Description and Travel
Nepal -- Description and Travel
Hong Kong -- Description and Travel
Cambodia -- Description and Travel
Sri Lanka -- Description and Travel
Chile -- description and travel
Mexico -- description and travel
Japan -- Description and Travel
Italy -- description and travel
Morocco -- description and travel
Spain -- description and travel
Mongolia -- Description and Travel
New Zealand -- Description and Travel
Russia -- Description and Travel
Kenya -- Description and Travel
Macau (China) -- Description and Travel
Malaysia -- Description and Travel
Yucatan -- Description and Travel
Indonesia -- Description and Travel
Date:
1954-1971
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs made by Janet Longcope during trips to countries around the world. They depict landscapes, buildings, markets, dances, agriculture, arts and crafts, ceremonies, children, cooking, musicians, and transportation. Locations depicted include Afghanistan, Australia, Bhutan, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Easter Island, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Greece, Guatemala, Hawaii, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Guinea, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Siberia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, and Yucatan. Longcope used many of these photographs in lectures.
Biographical/Historical note:
Janet Longcope (1886-1974) was a bookbinder and world traveler who gave informal lectures about her travels. Ater the death of her husband Dr. Warfield T. Longcope in 1953, she visited countries all over the world, returning to some, such as India, as many as nine times.
Webb, Elizabeth N. (possible photographer) Search this
Extent:
53 Slides (53 black and white copy slides)
20 Color slides (circa)
1,500 Prints (circa, silver gelatin (some in photo albums))
1,000 Items (circa 1000 copy color prints (made from slides))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Slides
Color slides
Prints
Photographs
Place:
India -- description and travel
Japan -- Description and Travel
Singapore -- Description and Travel
Serbia -- description and travel
Scotland -- description and travel
Russia -- Description and Travel
Sri Lanka -- Description and Travel
Spain -- description and travel
South Africa -- Description and Travel
Chile -- description and travel
Somalia -- description and travel
Palestine -- description and travel
Peru -- Description and Travel
Nepal -- Description and Travel
Norway -- description and travel
Egypt -- description and travel
Portugal -- description and travel
Romania -- description and travel
Philippines -- Description and Travel
Poland -- description and travel
Kenya -- Description and Travel
Israel -- Description and Travel
China -- Description and Travel
Morocco -- description and travel
Mozambique -- description and travel
Mexico -- description and travel
Montenegro -- description and travel
Croatia -- description and travel
Denmark -- description and travel
Czech Republic -- Description and Travel
Burma -- Description and Travel
Bulgaria -- description and travel
Canada -- Description and Travel
Austria -- description and travel
Brazil -- Description and Travel
Borneo -- description and travel
England -- description and travel
France -- description and travel
Ecuador -- Description and Travel
Holland -- Description and Travel
Guatemala -- Description and Travel
Greece -- description and travel
Germany -- description and travel
Ireland -- description and travel
Iran -- Description and Travel
Italy -- description and travel
Hungary -- description and travel
United States -- description and travel
Thailand -- description and travel
Taiwan -- description and travel
Switzerland -- description and travel
Yugoslavia -- description and travel
Yucatan -- Description and Travel
Date:
1938-1996
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs made by Robert and Elizabeth Webb in numerous locations across the world, including Asia (China, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Borneo, Singapore, Thailand, Burma, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and Russia); the Balkans (Czech Republic, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Poland); Europe (Spain, England, France, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, and Portugal); the Middle East (Egypt, Iran, Israel, and Palestine); Africa (Kenya, Morocco, Somalia, Mozambique, and South Africa); South America (Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Yucatan, and Guatemala); and North America (Canada, Florida, Washington state, Alaska, Hawaii, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah). The photographs largely document architecture and art, including historical sites, though there are additional images of parades, transportation, cities, villages, markets, waterways, and people.
Commercial slides in the collection are by Swiss-Foto, E. Djupdraet, Herz-Color-Dias, Hong Kong Color Slide Service, SK Slide Co., Lehnert & Landrock, Douglas Whiteside, Vacation Films, Arctic Circle Enterprise, HI-FI Color Slides, Pana-Vue Slides, CP Inc., Jordan's Colour Lab, Hawaii Chrome, Syon House, John Decopoulos, La Goelette, and Zerkowitz. Notes by Robert Webb and original photograph albums are also available with the collection.
Biographical/Historical note:
Robert Watkins Webb (1906-1998) graduated from Southern Methodist University and received his medical degree from Tulane University in 1933. Before starting his psychiatry practice in Dallas, Webb traveled around the world, returning on the SS Normandie to New York (1938). An amateur photographer, Webb documented this and subsequent foreign trips, later submitting some of his photographs to the Dallas Museum of Art. He served four years in the Army during World War II,stationed primarily in Port Moresby, New Guinea. He later became chief psychiatrist of the Veterans Administration clinic in Washington, DC, from 1946-1950. In 1952, he married Elizabeth Nutting, a psychiatric social worker, while cruising the Mediterranean.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 98-9
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University holds Robert W. Webb photographs.
