An interview of Allan Kaprow conducted 1981 Feb. 5-18, by Moira Roth, for the Archives of American Art.
Kaprow speaks of his family background and the early development of his interest in art; his education at New York University; meeting Meyer Schapiro; his friendship with George Segal; the development of his personal style and of his performance art and Happenings; his teaching career; his views on education; his personal philosophies.
Biographical / Historical:
Allen Kaprow (1927-2006) was a painter and educator from Los Angeles, Calif.
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:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Educators -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Interview of Al Hansen conducted 1973 November 6-13, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Hansen traces his personal history, recalling his childhood and early education in Queens; his service in the armed forces; and jobs he held in social work, advertising, off-Broadway theater, and art galleries. He describes taking classes with John Groth at the Art Students League in the 1940s; with Reuben Nakian at Pratt in the 1950s; and with John Cage at the New School in 1958. He also discusses the rise of New York as an art center; his interest in film; his involvement in experimental sound and music; his approach to creating Happenings and that of other artists; organizing poetry readings at the Epitome Coffee Shop; his Hershey bar wrapper collages; the writing of his book, "A Primer of Happenings and Space Time Art," (New York: Something Else Press 1965); his interactions with Fluxus and George Maciunas; participating in the "Below Zero" show at the Reuben Gallery in 1959; attending the Destruction In Art symposium in London in 1966; and his recent exhibitions in Germany. People he recalls include Tony Smith; Pauline Goldfine [ph]; Dick Higgins; Wolf Vostell; Larry Poons; Allan Kaprow; Claes Oldenburg; Don McCarey [ph]; Jim Dine; George Brecht; Jackson Mac Low; James Waring; Marisol Escobar; Ivan Karp; Bob Watts; George Segal; Judith Dunn; Bob Dunn; Jan Müller; Nam June Paik; Raphael Ortiz; Charlotte Moorman; and Lettie Lou Eisenhauer.
Biographical / Historical:
Al Hansen (1927-1995) was an artist from New York, New York. Founder of Fluxus art movement and one of the first Happenings artists.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview with Rosalyn Drexler conducted 2017 May 17 and June 2 by Christopher Lyon, for the Archives of American Art, at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York, New York.
Drexler discusses her childhood in the Bronx; her experiences studying dance and music; her higher education at Hunter College; attending films and the Yiddish Theater; meeting her husband Sherman Drexler; her time as a professional wrestler; her memories of traveling to the South and encountering Jim Crow segregation; she describes learning about art from Sherman Drexler and her joint exhibition with Sherman; her early work in sculpture; participating in Happenings with Jim Dine; joining Anita Reuben's gallery; her debut as a playwright; her experience writing "I am the Beautiful Stranger;" the changing public perception of her and being classified as an artist; her decision to become a painter and appropriating images for her work; the influence of S. J. Perelman on her plays; her play about Joseph Cornell and ballerina Allegra Kent, and interviewing Allegra Kent; her recent artwork and preparing for her 2017 show at Garth Greenan Gallery; her artwork from the 1980s and 1990s; her comedy writing and sense of humor. Drexler also recalls Chico Marx, Jack Newfield, Igor Youskevitch, Ivan Karp, Anita Reuben, Lucas Samaras, Richard Gilman, Al Carmines, Amiri Baraka, Barbara Ann Teer, Franz Kline, Elaine De Kooning, Bill de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Jack Kroll, Lawrence Alloway, Tom Hess, Barney Newman, Harold Rosenberg, Susan Sontag, Joe Hirshhorn, Henry Geldzahler, Donald Barthelme, Kornblee Gallery, Eva Hesse, Tom Doyle, William Klein, Marilyn Monroe, Alex Katz, Alice Neel, Basquiat, Saturday Night Live, and Lenny Bruce, among others.
Biographical / Historical:
Rosalyn Drexler (1926- ) is a sculptor, playwright, and novelist in New York, New York. Christopher Lyon (1949- ) is a writer in Brooklyn, New York.
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.
Occupation:
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Playwrights -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York 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
Slides, writings, printed material, and letters from the early 1960s document Goldsmith's association with Allan Kaprow and his "Happenings." Included are slides of the Happening (part of the Yam Festival) at George Segal's farm, South Brunswick, N.J., held May 19, 1963, to which Goldsmith had been invited, including images of Kaprow, Jim Dine, Yvonne Rainer, Dick Higgins, and La Monte Young. Printed material consists of clippings on Happenings by Kaprow, directions to Segal's farm, a mimeographed explanation of Happenings by Kaprow, and a handbill for "Eat," a happening in the Bronx, January, 1963. Writings consist of a typescript of Kaprow's "Pop Art," 1963 given at the Jewish Museum, a handwritten manuscript of the talk, and a script for a Happening called "Calling" enacted by Kaprow in August, 1965. Correspondence is with Jean Lipman (then editor of Art in America) and Harvey Shapiro (of the Sunday New York Times), both of whom turned down Kaprow's lecture.
Biographical / Historical:
Publicist; New York, N.Y. Born 1925. Died 2004.
Provenance:
Donated 2000 by Caroline Lerner Goldsmith.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Al Hansen, 1973 November 6-13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Michael Kirby and Vivienne Thaul Wechter. Interview with Michael Kirby for the University Roundtable radio series, 1970 March 5. WFUV radio interviews relating to art, 1969-1973. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Alice Denney and Walter Hopps. Interview with Alice Denney, 1976 May 13. Oral history interview with Alice Denney, 1976 May 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph of scene from J.J. Lebel's Happening Pour Conjurer l'Esprit de Catastrophe, 1962. Lucy R. Lippard papers, 1930s-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Caroline Lerner at Allan Kaprow's Tree Happening on George Segal's farm, 1963 May 19. Caroline Lerner Goldsmith papers relating to Allan Kaprow, 1963-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Allan Kaprow at George Segal's farm, 1963 May 19. Caroline Lerner Goldsmith papers relating to Allan Kaprow, 1963-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Children on hay bales at Allan Kaprow's Tree Happening, 1963 May 19. Caroline Lerner Goldsmith papers relating to Allan Kaprow, 1963-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
People participating in Alan Kaprow's Tree Happening on George Segal's farm, 1963 May 19. Caroline Lerner Goldsmith papers relating to Allan Kaprow, 1963-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Participants in Allan Kaprow's Tree Happening on George Segal's farm, 1963 May 19. Caroline Lerner Goldsmith papers relating to Allan Kaprow, 1963-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Children playing on hay bales at Allan Kaprow's Tree Happening on George Segal's farm, 1963 May 19. Caroline Lerner Goldsmith papers relating to Allan Kaprow, 1963-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Allan Kaprow. Allan Kaprow instructions for Tree, a happening, 1963. Caroline Lerner Goldsmith papers relating to Allan Kaprow, 1963-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Smolin Gallery. Smolin Gallery, New York, N.Y. invitation to Caroline Lerner Goldsmith, New York, N.Y., 1963 May. Caroline Lerner Goldsmith papers relating to Allan Kaprow, 1963-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Smolin Gallery. Smolin Gallery announcement of Yam Festival Happenings at George Siegel's farm, 1963. Caroline Lerner Goldsmith papers relating to Allan Kaprow, 1963-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
