An interview of Henry Tyler Hopkins conducted 1980 Oct. 24-1980 Dec. 17, by Wesley Chamberlin, for the Archives of American Art.
Hopkins speaks of his childhood and family background in Idaho; his education in Idaho and at the Art Institute of Chicago; his U.S. Army service as a photographer; the influence upon him of the early abstract expressionists; moving to California and getting involved in the museum community; working as a curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and developing its collection of modern works; becoming the director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the value of art appreciation over art entertainment; problems with corporate and federal support; the psychological aspects of Jackson Pollack's work; pop art; the Bay area art scene; and the role of art museums. He recalls Shirley and Walter Hopps, Ed Ruscha, Joe Goode, Larry Bell, Ed Bereal, Ron Miyashiro, Jackson Pollack, Joseph Cornell, Billy Al Bengston, Kenny Price, Robert Irwin, William Copley, Franz Kline, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Henry Hopkins (1928-2009) was a director of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
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.
Photographs of artists, many from the San Francisco Bay Area, taken by Mimi Jacobs.
Artists photographed: Ansel Adams, Robert Arneson, Ruth Asawa, Billy Al Bengston, Fletcher Benton, Robert Bechtle, J. B. Blunk, William Brice, Joan Brown, Imogen Cunningham, Jay De Feo, Eleanor Dickinson, Richard Diebenkorn, Laddie John Dill, Archeliat Esherick, Sam Francis, David Gilhooly, Joseph Goldyne, Robert Graham, Henry Hopkins, Robert B. Howard, John Ihle, Robert Irwin, Allen Jones, Alvin Light, Lee Mullican, Isamu Noguchi, Howard Paris, Joseph Raffael, Fred Reichman, Ed Ruscha, Betye Saar, Raymond Saunders, Richard Shaw, Louis Siegriest, Nell Sinton, Wayne Thiebaud, DeWain Valentine, Leo Valledor, Carlos Villa, Peter Voulkos, William T. Wiley, Emerson Woelffer.
Photographs of Mark Adams, William Allan, Jeremy Anderson, Ruth Armer, Charles Arnoldi, Dennis Beall, Bruce Beasley, Tony Berlant, Elmer Bischoff, Vija Celmins, Judy Chicago, Bruce Conner, Roy de Forest, Tony DeLap, Guy Dill, Claire Falkenstein, Gerald Gooch, Russell Gordon, Wally Hedrick, Tom Holland, Robert Hudson, Robert Emory Johnson, Frank Lobdell, Robert Craig Kaufman, Richard McLean, Bill Martin, Manuel Neri, Bruce Nauman, Nathan Oliveira, Mel Ramos, Sam Richardson, Michael Todd, Julius Wasserstein, Paul Wonner and Norman Zammitt.
In 1999, additional photographs were donated including many duplicates of the previous donations. These include 50 mounted photographs of West Coast artists, twenty-four of which were exhibited in 1980 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and published in 50 West Coast Artists: A Critical Selection of Painters and Sculptors (1981, Chronicle Books). Photographs are of Ansel Adams, Robert Arneson, Billy Al Bengston, Robert Bechtle, Fletcher Benton, J. B. Blunk, William Brice, Joan Brown, Imogen Cunningham, Jay De Feo, Eleanor Dickinson, Richard Diebenkorn, Laddie John Dill, Archeliat Esherick, Sam Francis, David Gilhooly, Joseph Goldyne, Robert Graham, Henry Hopkins, Robert Howard, John Ihle, Robert Irwin, Allen Jones, Alvin Light, Lee Mullican, Isamu Noguchi, Howard Paris, Joseph Raffael, Fred Reichman, Ed Ruscha, Betye Saar, Richard Shaw, Louis Siegrist, Nell Sinton, Wayne Thiebaud, De Wain Valentine, Leo Valledor, Carlos Villa, Peter Voulkos, William Wiley, and Emerson Woeffer.
Biographical / Historical:
Photographer; Kentfield, Calif.; b. 1911; d. April 1, 1999. Known in the San Francisco Bay Area for her portraits of prominent local figures, many of whom were artists. She eventually expanded her scope beyond Northern California to included artists in the Los Angeles region as well. These images were widely reproduced in books and in exhibitions and in many cases became the portraits by which the individuals were best known. Among her subjects were Ed Ruscha, Robert Graham, Peter Voulkos, Joan Brown, Isamu Noguchi, Jay DeFeo, Wayne Thiebaud, Imogen Cunningham, and Richard Diebenkorn. Several exhibitions were devoted to the photographs as independent works of art, an acknowledgement of their pictorial qualities as well as their value as documents.
Provenance:
Donated 1976-1992 by Mimi Jacobs. Additional photos, many of them duplicates of previous donations, were donated in 1999 by Leslie Fleming, Jacobs' daughter, for the Estate.
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.
An interview of Judy Chicago conducted 2009 August 7 and 8, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art, at Chicago's home and studio, in Belen, New Mexico.
Chicago speaks of her work since the late 1980s, having previously discussed her early life and works; printmaking projects with various print studios around the country; giving archived documents to important museums; creating a foundation with her husband Donald Woodman to protect the legacy of their art; the non-profit organization she started in 1978, Through the Flower; her studio practices and her most practiced techniques; keeping a regular schedule; her interest in collaborative projects such as The Dinner Party [1974-1979], the Birth Project [1980-1985], the Holocaust Project [1985-1993] and Resolutions: A Stitch in Time [1994-2000]; working with various textile and glass artists; feeling a kin with other female artists, like Nikki de Saint Phalle and Marisol Escobar; the responsibility she feels to share underrepresented information; her enjoyment of the process of making art and the hope that she creates art that is not bound by time; her relationships with galleries though the years including the ACA Galleries in New York and LewAllen Contemporary in Santa Fe; her intention in making art was not create proactive or controversial art; various teaching positions; her interest in combining text and images in works like Song of Songs [1997-1999]; her more current interest in glass; experimenting with the techniques of casting and etching to achieve her desired images; her want to change institutional policies that underrepresent women artists in museums and the absence of images of women by women artists. Chicago also recalls Henry Hopkins, Mary Ross Taylor, Susannah Rodee, John Bullard, Jack Lemon, Alice Neel, Edward Lucie-Smith, John Copeland, Harold Rosenberg, Carolee Schneemann, Jeffery Bergen, Audrey Flack, Joan Semmel, Nancy Youdelman, David McFadden, Viki Thomson Wylder, Tom Pruitt, Arlene LewAllen, Flo Perkins, Norman and Ruth Dobbins, Karen LaMonte, Lu Jie and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Judy Chicago (1939- ) is a feminist artist and author who lives and works in Belen, New Mexico. Interviewer Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is former executive director of iCI in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 compact discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 40 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.
Occupation:
Installation artists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Performance artists -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
The papers of Jan Butterfield measure 15 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 1997. Papers contain hundreds of recorded interviews with and lectures by artists, panel discussions of artists and art historians, as well as extensive writings by Butterfield. Also found are project files, personal business records, printed materials, photographs, and additional sound and video recordings related to art subjects.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Jan Butterfield measure 15 linear feet and date from circa 1950 to 1997. Papers contain hundreds of recorded interviews with and lectures by artists, panel discussions of artists and art historians, as well as extensive writings by Butterfield. Also found are project files, personal business records, printed materials, photographs, and additional sound and video recordings related to art subjects.
Interviews and Lectures include hundreds of interviews conducted by Butterfield between 1971 and 1987 with contemporary artists about whom she was writing at the time. The artists Robert Irwin and Sam Francis are represented particularly well. Also found are slide talks, class discussions, and lectures given by artists, which are assumed to have been recorded by Butterfield in most cases. Also among the recordings are recorded performances by John Cage, Joe Goode, Newton and Helen Harrison, Jim Roche, and George Greene. Panel discussions include two notable recordings involving Milton Resnick, one with the painter Edward Dugmore in 1959, and the other with the painter Ad Reinhardt at The Club in 1961, which was later dubbed "The Attack."
The bulk of the writings relate to Butterfield's published work The Art of Light and Space, represented here in multiple drafts, research, and photographs of works of art by the artists discussed in the work including Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Maria Nordman, Douglas Wheeler, Bruce Nauman, Eric Orr, Larry Bell, DeWain Valentine, Susan Kaiser Vogel, and Hap Tivey. Also found are extensive drafts and research for catalog essays for exhibitions of Larry Bell, Richard Shaw, Robert Hudson, and Elmer Bischoff. Drafts of articles and publicity writing are mainly about artists but also some galleries and other art events. There are a few transcripts of recorded interviews, and it appears that many of the writings are based on Butterfield's interviews.
Project files include records relating to Butterfield's involvement with the production of a catalog for the corporate art collection of Pacific Enterprises. These also include additional artist interviews and artist files containing research and writing, mainly by her associate Michael Karp. Also found are photographs and sound recordings for the Waterfront Project at the San Francisco Art Institute, an interdisciplinary community-centered development project that involved Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Melinda Wortz, Eric Orr, Dr. E. Wortz, Frank Gehry, Newton and Helen Harrison, Josh Young, and students at the Art Institute. And finally, project files include photographs, interviews, and printed material related to publications of Lapis Press, where Butterfield was Executive Director.
Personal business records include correspondence, price lists, financial records, notes, press releases, and career documentation of Butterfield. Printed materials include articles by Butterfield, articles about Butterfield, and articles by Henry Hopkins, most of which are photocopies. There are also clippings, exhibition catalogs, exhibition posters, and publicity. Of note is a disassembled scrapbook pertaining to the controversial Ed Kienholz exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1966, and a directory of art spaces in Los Angeles from 1978.
Most of the photographs are of works of art by artists about whom Butterfield wrote. Also found are a few files of photographs of artists, some taken by Butterfield, including Philip Guston, Ed Kienholz, Henry Hopkins with Clyfford Still, Robert Irwin, Robert Rauschenberg, and James Turrell. Additional video and sound recordings include artist installations, a documentary on Sam Francis, and an acoustiguide for an Ed Ruscha exhibition.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Interviews and Lectures (Boxes 1-5; 4.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Writings (Boxes 5-7, 16, OV 17; 3.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Project Files (Boxes 8-10, 16; 1.6 linear feet)
Series 4: Personal Business Records (Boxes 10-11, OV 17-19; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Materials (Boxes 11-12, 16, OV 17-19; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographs (Boxes 12-14, 16; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Sound and Video Recordings (Box 15; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Jan Butterfield (1937-2000) was an art writer and critic of contemporary art who spent most of her career in California. She is best known for her writings on late twentieth century installation and craft artists, particularly those who worked in California and the American West.
Butterfield was born Jan Van Alstine in Los Angeles, California in 1937 and attended the Univeristy of California, Los Angeles. She received numerous fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts as an art critic, and contributed art writing to dozens of exhibition catalogs and art publications including Art International, Images and Issues, Art News, Art in America, and Flash Art. Her most ambitious work of writing was The Art of Light and Space (Abbeville Press: 1993), which profiles the work of contemporary artists Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Maria Nordman, Douglas Wheeler, Bruce Nauman, Eric Orr, Larry Bell, DeWain Valentine, Susan Kaiser Vogel, and Hap Tivey. She was also the author of a 1972 monograph of the Abstract Expressionist painter Sam Francis.
Butterfield held positions in public relations at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from its opening until 1970, and at the Fort Worth Art Museum from 1970 to 1974. She taught at Northwood Experimental Art Institute in Dallas, Texas, the San Francisco Art Institute, San Jose State University, and Mills College in Oakland, California between 1973 and 1983. At the San Francisco Art Institute, she was Director of the extension program and Coordinator of the visiting artist program and the Waterfront Project between 1976 and 1978. In 1984, Butterfield and the artist Sam Francis co-founded the Lapis Press, where she served as Executive Director from its founding until 1988.
Butterfield was married twice, the second time to Henry Hopkins, Museum Director at LACMA, the Museum of Fine Art of Houston, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She died in 2000 after an extended illness.
Related Materials:
Also found among the collections of the Archives of American Art is a 1981 panel discussion on Bay area art criticism sponsored by the National Women's Caucus for Art, in which Butterfield participated, as well as an oral history interview Butterfield conducted with Helen Lundeberg for the Archives' Oral History Program in 1980.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reel 1042 including two volumes of scrapbooks. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Jan Butterfield lent material in 1975 for microfilming. She donated the Robert Irwin material in 1980 of and most of the interviews and audio tapes in 1989. An additional 12 feet of papers, including some material previously loaned and microfilmed, along with two additional audio tapes, were donated by Butterfield's brother, and Trustee of the Jan Butterfield Trust, Derek Van Alstine in 2002.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Art critics -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Art historians -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Authors -- California -- San Francisco Search this
The papers of painter and educator Edward Biberman measure 2.1 linear feet and date from 1939 to 1985. The papers document Biberman's career in Los Angeles through correspondence with friends and colleagues; writings such as speeches and articles; sound recordings and related documents for his "Dialogues in Art" television program, including recordings featuring Henry Hopkins, Howard Warshaw, June Wayne, Charles White, and others; and lectures and interviews with other educators or for television programs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and educator Edward Biberman measure 2.1 linear feet and date from 1939 to 1985. The papers document Biberman's career in Los Angeles through correspondence with friends and colleagues; writings such as speeches and articles; sound recordings and related documents for his "Dialogues in Art" television program, including recordings featuring Henry Hopkins, Howard Warshaw, June Wayne, Charles White, and others; and lectures and interviews with other educators or for television programs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1939-1985 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Writing, 1947-1978 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: "Dialogues in Art" Records, 1966-1969 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 4: Lectures, Interviews, and Event Records, 1965-1978 (1.0 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Artwork, 1942 (0.1 linear feet; OV 3)
Biographical / Historical:
California painter and educator Edward Biberman (1904-1986) was known for his stylized portraits and history-inspired murals.
Biberman was born in Philadelphia and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Between 1929 and 1936 he lived in New York City where he became acquainted with muralist Diego Rivera and decided to focus on creating murals. He moved to Los Angeles in 1936 where he was commissioned to create murals for the city's downtown U.S. Post Office and Courthouse.
Biberman was also an educator who taught at the Art Center School in Los Angeles, lectured widely on art, and hosted television shows including "Dialogues in Art" from 1967 to 1968.
Biberman was married to sculptor Sonija Dahl Biberman (1910-2007) for 51 years. His brother, Herber J. Biberman, was a film director who was imprisoned for contempt of congress by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Edward Biberman conducted by Betty Hoag, April 15, 1964.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming 106, frames 151-601. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The Edward Biberman papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Sonija Dahl Biberman in 1987.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References 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.
Educators -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Scrapbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Edward Biberman papers, 1939-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
A panel discussion sponsored by the Southern California Committee for Contemporary Art Documentation.
The participants speak of the relationship between documentation and contemporary art.
The participants are: Stella Paul, Sheldon Nodelman, Henry Hopkins, Helen Mayer Harrison, Newton Harrison, David Brauer, Herschel Browning Chipp, Murney Gerlach, Derek Boshier, Nancy Holt, and Paul Karlstrom. The event is hosted by the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
The Southern California Committee for Contemporary Art Documentation is a consortium representing galleries, museums, libraries and archives throughout Southern California. Established in 1985 to promote an understanding of and interest in documentary records relating to contemporary art activity in the area.
General:
Originally recorded on 9 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 47 min.
Funding note:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Collection Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
Occupation:
Conceptual artists -- California, Southern Search this
Funding for the digital preservation of these recordings was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
A panel discussion held at the Stanford Court Hotel, San Francisco, moderated by Archives of American Art West Coast Regional Director, Paul Karlstrom.
Panel members are Henry Tyler Hopkins, Pontus Hulten, Richard Koshalek, George Neubert, Earl A. Powell, III, and Maurice Tuchman.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hrs., 46 min.
Funding note:
Funding for the digital preservation of this recording was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Provenance:
Recorded by the AAA for inclusion in its Oral History Program.
Collection Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce must be obtained from Archives of American Art and panelists.
Funding for the digital preservation of these recordings was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Panel discussion presented by the National Women's Caucus for Art. The panelists discuss art criticism in the San Francisco Bay area. The participants are Thomas Albright, Jan Butterfield, Helene Fried, Judith Golden, Ted Hedgpeth, Henry Tyler Hopkins, and Jock Reynolds. Suzaan Boettger is moderator.
Provenance:
Donated 1983 by Suzaan Boettger.
Restrictions:
Untranscribed; use requires an appointment.
Topic:
Art criticism -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Search this
Amerikanskoe iskusstvo XX veka = American art of the 20th century / Rezidentsia Amerikanskogo Posla, Moskva = Residence of the American Embassy, Moscow
Title:
American art of the 20th century : residence of the American Embassy Moscow
Beverly Pepper : sculpture, 1971-1975 / travelling exhibition organized by Henry T. Hopkins (San Francisco Museum of Art) ; introductory essay by Edward F. Fry
50 west coast artists : a critical selection of painters and sculptors working in California / [selected] by Henry Hopkins ; with portraits of the artists by Mimi Jacobs ; edited by Douglas Bullis
Herbert Rockere : recent work : San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, January 6 - February 26, 1978 ; La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, California, March 17 - April 30, 1978
Lita Albuquerque : reflections : January 19 - April 1, 1990 / curated by Henry Hopkins ; essay by Jan Butterfield ; initiated and sponsored by the Fellows of Contomporary Art ; organized by the Santa Monica Museum of Art
![view [Photographs of artists taken by Mimi Jacobs, photographer] digital asset: Finding aid](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=170&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/findingaid.gif "Finding aid")