An interview with Doloris Holmes, conducted by Donna Marxer, following Holmes' February 1988 Retrospective at the White Mask Theater. Holmes discusses problems of being a woman artist.
Biographical / Historical:
Performance artist, poet.
Provenance:
Donated 1988 by Doloris Holmes.
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:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of abstract expressionist painters Jackson Pollock and wife Lee Krasner measure 16.1 linear feet and date from circa 1914 to 1984, with the bulk of the material dating from 1942 to 1984. The collection documents their personal and professional lives, as well as the legacy of Jackson Pollock's work after his death. Found are biographical material, correspondence, writings by Krasner and others, research material, business and financial records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork by others, photographs, interview transcripts, audio and video recordings, and motion picture film.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of abstract expressionist painters Jackson Pollock and wife Lee Krasner measure 16.1 linear feet and date from circa 1914 to 1984, with the bulk of the material dating from 1942 to 1984. The collection documents their personal and professional lives, as well as the legacy of Jackson Pollock's work after his death. Found are biographical material, correspondence, writings by Krasner and others, research material, business and financial records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork by others, photographs, interview transcripts, audio and video recordings, and motion picture film.
The collection is divided into two series, the first of which focuses on Pollock and includes his scattered papers dating from circa 1914 to his death in 1956, as well as Krasner's papers dating from his death to 1984 about managing Pollock's legacy. This series includes biographical materials, including transcripts and audio recordings of an interview with William Wright in 1949; Pollock's and Krasner's correspondence with Thomas Hart Benton, Betty Parsons Gallery, Bill Davis, B. H. Friedman, Reginald Isaacs, Sidney Janis, Violet De Lazlo, Martha Jackson Gallery, Alfonso Ossorio, Tony Smith, and Clyfford Still, and with one another; Krasner's correspondence concerning Pollock's estate and artwork after his death; numerous writings about Pollock, including an original draft of Bryan Robertson's biography and an essay by Clement Greenberg.
James Valliere extensive research files on Pollock for a never-published biography were given to Krasner and filed in Series 1. These include scattered correspondence with Lee Krasner, and Pollock's family and friends, including Charles Pollock, Thomas Hart Benton, and Robert Motherwell. There are also transcripts of interviews Valliere conducted with Pollock's friends and colleagues, including James Brooks, Dorothy Dehner, Clement Greenberg, Reuben Kadish, Lee Krasner, Charles Maddox, Mrs. Sanford McCoy, Daniel T. Miller, Robert Miller, and Tony Smith. The original audio reels and duplicates exist for many and are filed here. Additional interviews were conducted with Willem de Kooning, Alfonso Ossorio, and Burton Rouche, but not transcribed - these are filed in Series 1.10, Audio Recordings and Motion Picture Film.
Also found in Series 1 are scattered business records documenting Krasner's handling of Pollock's estate and legacy; printed materials relating to Pollock, including published biographies, exhibition catalogs, and clippings; two scrapbooks; and a sketchbook by an unidentified artist. Numerous photographs of Pollock include childhood and family photographs, photographs of Pollock in his studio by Hans Namuth, Rudy Burckhardt, and Herbert Matter, photographs of Pollock with Lee Krasner, and exhibition photographs. Audio recordings and motion film in Series 1 include a 1964 16mm film about Pollock (VHS copies are available) and reel-to-reel recordings of untranscribed interviews of Pollock's friends and colleagues by James Valliere, including interviews with Willem de Kooning and Alfonso Ossorio. Additional transcribed interviews are filed in subseries 1.4.
Lee Krasner's papers documenting her own career are arranged in Series 2 and date from 1927-1984. Biographical materials include resumes and awards, school documents, family documentation, and exhibition lists. Her correspondence with artist friends and art colleagues is extensive and includes many letters from artists such as Philip Johnson, Ray Eames, Cleve Gray, and Hans Namuth. She also maintained correspondence with many art historians and critics, curators, gallery owners, collectors, arts-related and social organizations, admirers, and family members.
There are thirteen transcripts of interviews with Krasner by Bruce Glaser, Barbara Cavaliere, Andrew Forge, Emily Wasserman, Barbara Rose, and others. The original audio recordings for these transcripts are filed in series 2.10, along with other audio recordings for which there are no transcripts, including interviews by John Gruen, Delores Holmes, Mercedes Matter, the Martha Dean Radio Show, NBC Today Show, and WQXR radio. There are also audio recordings of Krasner's lectures in series 2.10.
Krasner's papers also include writings and reminiscences by Krasner; writings about Krasner; printed materials such as exhibition catalogs and clippings; and one scrapbook containing clippings and photographs. Numerous photographs are of Krasner, including portrait photographs taken by Hans Namuth; of Krasner with Jackson Pollock and family and friends, and of her exhibitions and artwork.
Users should note that Pollock's and Krasner's papers contain similar types of material that often overlap in subject matter, especially among the correspondence and photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 2 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Jackson Pollock papers and Lee Krasner papers about Jackson Pollock, circa 1914-1984 (Box 1-7, 16, OV 18, FC 19-22; 7.4 linear feet)
Series 2: Lee Krasner papers, circa 1927-1984 (Box 7-15, 17; 8.6 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Jackson Pollock was born in 1912, in Cody, Wyoming, the youngest of five sons. His family moved several times during his childhood, finally settling in Los Angeles. In 1930 he joined his older brother, Charles, in New York City, and studied with Regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League of New York. Pollock worked during the 1930s for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. During 1936 he worked in artist David Alfaro Siqueiros's Experimental Workshop. In 1938 he began psychiatric treatment for alcoholism, and his artwork was greatly influenced by Jungian analysis and the exploration of unconscious symbolism.
In 1943 Pollock had his first one-man exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim's New York gallery, Art of this Century, and continued to exhibit there over the next several years. A major turning point in Pollock's life and art was in 1945 when he married fellow artist Lee Krasner and moved to East Hampton, Long Island. There he developed his mature painting style, and became famous for his abstract pouring technique on large canvases. The height of his creativity spanned from 1947 to 1952, and his work was promoted by art critic Clement Greenberg. Along with other abstract expressionists including Hans Hofmann, Alfonso Ossorio, and Barnett Newman, he joined the Betty Parsons Gallery in 1947. He had his most successful one-man show in 1950 which was widely publicized and praised. This exhibition, combined with a 1949 feature article in LIFE magazine, made Pollock an American celebrity.
In 1952 Pollock moved his work to Sidney Janis Gallery and returned to earlier motifs in a search for new breakthroughs. The last few years of his life he suffered from mental and physical health problems, and in August, 1956 he died in a car accident. His wife, Lee Krasner, oversaw his estate and worked with many museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, on Pollock retrospective exhibitions.
Lee Krasner was born Lenore Krassner in 1908 in Brooklyn, New York to Russian immigrant parents. In 1926 she was admitted to the Women's Art School of The Cooper Union, and in 1928 she attended the Art Students League. After graduating from The Cooper Union in 1929, she attended the National Academy of Design until 1932. After briefly attending City College and Greenwich House, she worked for the Public Works of Art Project and the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration, and finally became an assistant in 1935 on the WPA Federal Art Project, Mural Division. From 1937 to 1940 she studied at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts and began exhibiting with the American Abstract Artists group.
In 1942 Krasner met Pollock as they were both preparing to exhibit work in the same show. Although they married and she became immersed in his career, she continued to exhibit her own work with other abstract artists and from 1946 to 1949 worked on the Little Image painting series. In 1953 she began working on collages, a medium she would come back to again later in her career. After Pollock's death her work was greatly influence by her sadness and anger, creating a visible evolution of her style.
For the rest of her career, Krasner consistently exhibited her work in both group and solo exhibitions. She had her first retrospective at Whitechapel Gallery, London, in 1965, and in 1966, she joined Marlborough Gallery, New York which represented Pollock's work as well. In the 1970s and early 1980s Krasner won many awards for her achievement in the visual arts, including the Augustus St. Gaudens Medal and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She returned to the medium of collage, and in 1976 joined the Pace Gallery, New York. In 1981 she joined the Robert Miller Gallery, New York. Lee Krasner continued creating art until her death in 1984.
Related Material:
Found in the Archives of American Art are the Charles Pollock Papers, 1902-1990, which includes correspondence, photographs, and other files relating to his brother, Jackson Pollock. Other resources in the Archives are oral history interviews with Lee Krasner, including a series of interviews conducted by Dorothy Seckler between 1964 and 1968, and interviews conducted by Barbara Rose in 1966 and Doloris Holmes in 1972.
Provenance:
The papers of Jackson Pollock were donated in 1983 by Lee Krasner through Eugene V. Thaw shortly before her death. Additional material about Pollock and the papers of Lee Krasner were donated in 1985 by Eugene V. Thaw, executor of Lee Krasner's estate.
Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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.
Interview of Faith Ringgold conducted in 1972, by Doloris Holmes, for the Archives of American Art's "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project.
Ringgold speaks of her involvement and the origins of WSABAL (Women, Students, and Artists for Black Artist Liberation); her attempts to raise awareness of the under-representation of women in art (writing to the Times/ performing surveys); her hopes for the upcoming WSABAL show on June 22 (the first Black female show in New York); her feelings towards the NYUNBAYAASANAA (the male neo-African Harlem group); her reaction to the '68 Venice Biennale which excluded women and Black artists; her subsequent show named the Liberated Venice Biennale which consisted of 50% women; the She Show and the Flag Show which instigated three arrests; the He Show and upcoming Where Are We At? Show; the importance of conducting open shows; her feelings towards historical African art and its conceptual confronting nature; the influence of Augusta Savage; the influence of African art upon Minimalism and Surrealism.
Biographical / Historical:
Faith Ringgold (1930- ) is a painter, sculptor, and performance artist in New York, New York.
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.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. No recording exists. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Women Artists in Revolution (New York, N.Y.) Search this
Extent:
13 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Date:
1971
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Muriel Castanis conducted in 1971, by Doloris Holmes, for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project. Castanis speaks of the problems confronting women artists, the attempts by the group WAR (Women Artists in Revolution) to address these problems, consciousness-raising among women artists, art as a vehicle for social change, her development as an artist, and her work with fabric.
Biographical / Historical:
Muriel Castanis (1926-2006) was a sculptor in New York, New York.
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.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interview of Cliff Joseph conducted in 1972, by Doloris Holmes, for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project. Joseph discusses the formation of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, which he co-chaired, in response to a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called "Harlem on My Mind." He talks about the impact of the black experience in art, his own art, and his affiliation with social protest artists. He describes the Coalition's attempts to persuade the Whitney to produce a show of black artists with a black curator.
Biographical / Historical:
Cliff Joseph (1922-) was a painter and educator in New York, New York.
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. Funding for the interview was provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, as part of AAA's "Art World in Turmoil" project.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interview of Jacqueline Skiles conducted by Doloris Holmes for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project.
Biographical / Historical:
Political artist, member of Women Artists in Revolution and a member of Art Workers Coalition.
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.
Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
Occupation:
Artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interview of Lee Krasner conducted in 1972, by Doloris Holmes, for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project.
This interview was conducted with the intention of documenting the Protest Art movement of the 1970's. In this interview, Krasner speaks of her dismay with the lack of recognition that many professional female artists receive; her resistence to joining the Club and the Irascible Eighteen; her experiences with getting exposure as a female artist; her relationship and respect for John Graham; the interest of Betty Parsons in Krasner's work; the mixed compliments received from Hofmann; her relationship with Newman; Her objection to de Kooning's "Woman" series; the Freudian aspect of Abstract Expressionism; the authoritarian/autocratic image of Rothko and Newman; the sexually biased role of the female within the Jewish Faith; the impossibility of separating content and aesthetic value; her female influence upon Pollock; her role in exposing Pollock to Matisse; her ability to network for Pollock (Herbert and Mercedes Matter, Sandy Calder, James Johnson, Sweeney, Hofmann); her ambiguity as to whether she has had the tradition female artist experience due to her association with Pollock.
Biographical / Historical:
Lee Krasner (1908-1984) was a painter in Easthampton, New York and married to Jackson Pollock.
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.
Restrictions:
Patrons must use transcript.
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- East Hampton Search this
Interview of Stella Waitzkin conducted by Doloris Holmes for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project.
Biographical / Historical:
Stella Waitzkin is a sculptor and painter in New York, New York.
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.
Restrictions:
Patrons must use transcript.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interview of Brenda Miller conducted in 1972, by Doloris Holmes, for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project.
Biographical / Historical:
Brenda Miller (1941- ) is a painter and sculptor in New York, New York.
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.
Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interview of Cindy Nemser conducted in 1972, by Doloris Holmes, for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project.
Biographical / Historical:
Cindy Nemser (1937- ) is an art critic and writer from Brooklyn, New York.
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.
Restrictions:
Patrons must use transcript.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- Brooklyn -- Interviews Search this
Interview of Anais Nin conducted in 1972, by Doloris Holmes, in New York, New York, for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project.
Biographical / Historical:
Anais Nin (1903-1977) was a writer in New York, New York.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Interview of Patricia Mainardi and Irene Peslikis conducted in 1972, by Doloris Holmes, for the Archives of American Art "Art World in Turmoil" oral history project.
Biographical / Historical:
Patricia Mainardi (1942- ) and Irene Peslikis are members of the Red Stocking Artists in New York, New York.
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.
Restrictions:
Patrons must use transcript.
ACCESS RESTRICTED; written permission required.
Occupation:
Artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
