An interview of Bruce Metcalf conducted 2009 June 10, by Edward S. Cooke, Jr., for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Metcalf's home, in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Mr. Metcalf discusses his early years in Amherst, Massachusetts; beginnings as a maker with modeling clay and plastic airplane models; undergraduate years at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York in the late 1960s; early interest in architecture; early disenchantment with modernist discourse and theory; introduction to Marxist theory and idealism of the 1960s; summer trip to California in 1970; return to the East Coast upon the death of his father; return to college, transferring into jewelry in his senior year; influence of his teacher Michael Jerry; seeing the work in "Objects: USA" exhibition (1969) and influence of the work of J. Fred Woell, Richard Mawdsley, L. Brent Kington; rejection of current trends in art, including conceptual art and formalism; his affinity for the medium of metal, and hammersmithing; influence of funk ceramics, including work by Fred Bauer and Richard Shaw; brief stint at Montana State University, Bozeman; working in cardboard and wood; graduate school at the State University of New York, New Paltz; working with Robert Ebendorf and Kurt Matzdorf at New Paltz; work as a production artist/craftsperson; attending Rhinebeck, New York, craft fair in the mid-1970s; the influence of writings by William Morris and John Ruskin and the notion of "dignified labor"; graduate school at Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; formulating his aesthetic of narrative symbolism; publication of his first article in 1977 as a response to review of the exhibition "Forms in Metal: 275 Years of Metalsmithing in America" (1975); yearlong teaching position at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado; taking a teaching position at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio (1986-1991); publication of his article "Crafts: Second-Class Citizens?" in the first issue of Metalsmith, 1980; growing involvement with the Society of North American Goldsmiths; development of his notion of "social utility" and the role and function of crafts and making; expansion of his writing on craft; rejection of the deconstructivist school of thought in the 1980s; abandonment of sculptural objects for jewelry in the early 1990s; return to Philadelphia in 1991; early teaching of history of craft, first at Kent, then on a Fulbright scholarship in Seoul, South Korea (1990), later at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, in the early 1990s; influence of Martin Eidelberg; development of his vision for a history of craft course; collaboration with Janet Koplos on "Makers: A History of American Studio Craft"; use of his medium and craft to explore issues of nurturing and anxiety; the psychological/social effect and aesthetic importance of wearing jewelry (for the wearer and the artist); the pros and cons of craft collectors; the problematics of installation work by craft artists; recent trends in craft, including Anne Wilson's notion of "sloppy craft" and an "anti-craft" attitude; recent artists, including Arthur Hash and Gabriel Craig; lack of exhibition opportunities for younger/emerging artists; influential recent texts, including "Shards," by Garth Clark. He also recalls Robert Arneson, Randy Long, Carol Kumata, Jamie Bennett, Steve and Harriet Rogers, Wayne Hammer, Stanley Lechtzin, Gene Koss, Henry Halem, Mark Burns, Rose Slivka, Nilda Getty, Jill Slosberg, Sharon Church, John Gill, David La Plantz, Lois Moran; Gary Griffin; William Daley, Marian Pritchard, Glenn Adamson, Pat Flynn, Susan Cummins, and Judith Schaechter.
The following oral history transcript is the result of a recorded interview with Bruce Metcalf on June 10, 2009. The interview took place in Bala Cynwyd, Penn., and was conducted by Edward S. Cooke, Jr. for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. This interview is part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Bruce Metcalf has reviewed the transcript. His corrections and emendations appear below in brackets with initials. This transcript has been lightly edited for readability by the Archives of American Art. The reader should bear in mind that they are reading a transcript of spoken, rather than written, prose.
Biographical / Historical:
Bruce Metcalf (1949- ) is a jeweler and writer in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
General:
Originally recorded as 5 sound files. Duration is 4 hr., 10 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.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Photographs made by Hamilton Wright Jr. in Egypt, South Africa, India, Lebanon, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Hong Kong, Holland, Italy, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Haiti, the Virgin Islands, Canada, Alaska, Colorado, and New Hampshire. They include images of modern and ancient structures and monuments, artifacts, industries, cities, markets, caves, festivals, beaches, scenery, and sporting events. Most appear to have been made for the Hamilton Wright Organization, an international agency that made films and photographs to support public relations campaigns of foreign governments. Also included are some lantern slides depicting historical sites in Egypt, directed by Hamilton Wright, Sr., and one-sheets for motion picture films produced by the Hamilton Wright Organization. Additional material includes slide narration for a lecture and short news stories relating to the images in the collection.
Biographical/Historical note:
In 1908, Hamilton Wright Sr. founded the Hamilton Wright Organization, a public relations firm that specialized in making travelog and newsreel film and distributing it to motion picture houses around the world, often on behalf of domestic and foreign governments. Wright's son, Hamilton Wright Jr., managed the company after his father and expanded it's work. In 1963, a Senate committee criticized the Hamilton Wright Organization for hosting press junkets and distributing its photographs, newsreels, and stories in American news media without reporting its sources. The Hamilton Wright Organization was closed by Hamilton Wright Jr.'s son in the late 1960s.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 76-35
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Films by the Hamilton Wright Organization can be found in the Human Studies Film Archive in HSFA 94.19.
The Film and Television Archive at the University of California at Los Angeles holds the motion picture film and related material of the Hamilton Wright Organization.
1 Film positive (silent, 16 minutes, black and white, 16mm)
Container:
Reel 1
Type:
Archival materials
Moving Images
Film positives
Home movies
Motion pictures (visual works)
Place:
China -- Description and Travel
Philippines
Hong Kong
China
USA -- New York -- New York
Date:
1937
Scope and Contents:
One of four reels 16mm motion picture film taken during Johnny and Pauline Falk's 1937 trip to China, Korea and Japan. Kodak had only recently made color film available, so this may be the earliest color footage of many of the locations the Falks visited.
广州 厦门 汉口重庆
Biographical / Historical:
The Falks took one of the inaugural Pan Am Clipper flights to China in 1937. Myron S. (Johnny) Falk Jr., and his wife Pauline Baerwald Falk were active philanthropists, prominent Asian art collectors and were both active in the Jewish and Art communities.
0:00 - 0:39: Alameda Airport, boarding the Philippine Clipper (March 24-25); 0:39 - 0:49: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (March 26); 0:49 - 2:49: 1. Pan American Airways Hotel at Midway / Wake Island (March 27-30); 2:49 - 4:34: Military parade of soldiers and children, Guam (March 31); 4:24 - 4:52: Manila (April 1); 4:55 - 5:47: Xiamen (April 5); 5:47 - 6:30: Hong Kong Harbor, on the boat to Kowloon (April 6); 6:30 - 6:38: Ruins of St. Paul's in Macau (April 8); 6:38 - 6:42: ? 6:42 - 7:04: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Guangzhou (April 10-11); 7:04 - 7:32: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall or Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou; 7:32 - 7:36: Hills outside of Guangzhou (April 10-12); 7:36 - 7:41: ? 7:41 - 8:09: Train from Guangzhou to Wubei on Hangkow Railroad (April 12); 8:09 - 8:11: Locals somewhere near train station between Guangzhou and Wubei (April 12); 8:12 - 8:20: Viewing Temple of the Six Banyan Trees from a distance, railroad stations along Hangkow RR (April 12); 8:20 - 8:33: Wuhan, along the Yangtze. Perhaps taken from the Chinese Customs House (April 12); 8:33 - 8:44: Nina & George Blowers, Hankou (April 13); 8:44 - 8:57: Hangkow Country Club (April 14); 8:57 - 9:06: Spectators in Hankou watching plane departure (April 15); 9:06 - 10:43: Pilot Hugh Chen preparing to fly a small Loening, views of Hankou port, Standard Oil Company, men carrying gasoline barrels (April 15); 10:43 - 11:30: Airport in Shasi District of Jingzhou, watching planes land and take off (April 15); 11:30 - 12:30: Crossing Yangtze river at Chongqing, looking out onto the mountains (April 16); 12:30 - 14:52: Taking "chairs" up into Chongqing hillside, looking out onto the hills, visited temple with many graves, looked down at Yangzi and Chongqing industry (April 16); 14:52 - 15:16: "Mr. Hamburger" or "Mr. Reuss" and Falks in Chongqing, home of a K.Z. Yang (April 17); 15:16 - 16:13: Crossing Yangzi in Chongqing on the way to Shanghai (April 17)
Local Numbers:
FSA A2002.03 4.1
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Topic:
Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Genre/Form:
Home movies
Motion pictures (visual works)
Collection Citation:
Pauline B. and Myron S. Falk, Jr. Papers, FSA.A2002.03. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the Falk family.
Sponsor:
Processed in 2022 with funding from the Smithsonian Institution's American Women's History Initiative.
1 Film positive (silent, 14 minutes, black and white, 16mm)
Container:
Reel 2
Type:
Archival materials
Moving Images
Film positives
Home movies
Motion pictures (visual works)
Place:
China -- Description and Travel
Shanghai (China)
Beijing (China)
Date:
1937
Scope and Contents:
One of four reels 16mm motion picture film taken during Johnny and Pauline Falk's 1937 trip to China, Korea and Japan. Kodak had only recently made color film available, so this may be the earliest color footage of many of the locations the Falks visited.
上海 杭州 北京
Biographical / Historical:
The Falks took one of the inaugural Pan Am Clipper flights to China in 1937. Myron S. (Johnny) Falk Jr., and his wife Pauline Baerwald Falk were active philanthropists, prominent Asian art collectors and were both active in the Jewish and Art communities.
0:00 - 1:16: Landing at Shanghai airport, met by "Mr. Chung's car" (April 17); 1:17 - 1:52: Shanghai Harbor, ferry crossing the water, Mrs. Falk and K.C. Chung (April 17); 1:52 - 2:13: riding up "dike road" to Hangzhou from Shanghai with K.C. Chung (April 20); 2:13 - 2:24: Heavy rainfall on the sightseeing tour in Hangzhou, tea at the "largest temple in grove" (April 21); 2:24 - 3:37: Hangzhou, walking along the dike road that cuts off a part of the lake (April 21); 3:37 - 3:43: Huanglong Cave ("Grotto of Yellow Dragon"); in Hunan (April 22); 3:34 - 3:53: Winter Palace (Beihai Park) Pavilion, White Dagoba, Beijing (April 27); 3:53 - 5:51: Forbidden City (April 28-29); 3:51 - 6:11: Scenes from the train from Beijing to Hankou (April 30); 6:11 - 7:38: Donkey ride up to Great Wall from the Hankou pass (April 30); 7:38 - 8:11: Ming Tombs and stone elephant, Beijing (April 30); 8:11 - 8:41: Funeral procession, Beijing (April 30/May 1); 8:41 - 8:50: Duobao Glazed Tile Pagoda, Summer Palace, Beijing (May 1); 8:50 - 9:04: Summer Palace (May 1); 9:04 - 9:55: The Pagoda of Buddhist Virtue with KC Chung and his mother, Summer Palace, Beijing (May 1); 9:55 - 10:07: Summer Palace, Archway, bronze male lions (May 1); 10:08 - 10:14: Pagoda of Buddhist Virtue (May 1); 10:14 - 10:24: Viewing Pagoda of Buddhist Virtue from boat (Unknown date, likely May 1-7); 10:30 - 10:39: Banbi Bridge, Summer Palace (May 7); 10:39 - 10:55: Hall of the Sea of Wisdom, Summer Palace (May 7); 10:56 - 11:01: In the Summer Palace grounds (May 7); 11:01 - 11:12: Duobao Glazed Tile Pagoda, Summer Palace (May 7); 11:12 - 11:15: Detail of dragon head on Summer Palace roof (May 7); 11:15 - 11:21: Stupa, Summer Palace (May 7); 11:21 - 11:26: Bronze lion, Summer Palace (May 7); 11:26 - 11:32: Mrs. Falk and (likely) Mrs. Finnell in the Summer Palace grounds (May 7); 11:32 - 11:41: Lama monument, Beijing (May 4); 11:41 - 12:09: Lama monument, bas reliefs from Lama tomb (May 4); 12:09 - 13:32: Scenes from the Temple of Confucius, Beijing (May 4); 13:32 - 14:32: Nine Dragon Screen, Beihai Park, Beijing (April 27)
Local Numbers:
FSA A2002.03 4.2
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Topic:
Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Genre/Form:
Home movies
Motion pictures (visual works)
Collection Citation:
Pauline B. and Myron S. Falk, Jr. Papers, FSA.A2002.03. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the Falk family.
Sponsor:
Processed in 2022 with funding from the Smithsonian Institution's American Women's History Initiative.
1 Film positive (silent, 12 minutes, black and white, 16mm)
Container:
Reel 3
Type:
Archival materials
Moving Images
Film positives
Home movies
Motion pictures (visual works)
Place:
China -- Description and Travel
Beijing (China)
Date:
1937
Scope and Contents:
One of four reels 16mm motion picture film taken during Johnny and Pauline Falk's 1937 trip to China, Korea and Japan. Kodak had only recently made color film available, so this may be the earliest color footage of many of the locations the Falks visited.
北京 承德 热河
Biographical / Historical:
The Falks took one of the inaugural Pan Am Clipper flights to China in 1937. Myron S. (Johnny) Falk Jr., and his wife Pauline Baerwald Falk were active philanthropists, prominent Asian art collectors and were both active in the Jewish and Art communities.
0:00 - 0:42: Sedan chairs and donkey ride in Western Hills (April 25); 0:42 - 1:40: "Feast Day of first Yuan Emperor" festival and procession, Western Hills (April 25); 1:40 - 1:46: unknown woman and elderly man at the "Mummy Temple" in Western Hills (April 25); 1:46 - 2:38: "Mummy Temple" in Western Hills (April 25); 2:38 - 4:02: Continued procession, sedan chair and donkey rides in Western Hills (April 25); 4:02 - 4:14: Forbidden City, Beijing (April 27); 4:14 - 5:03: Temple of Heaven, Beijing (April 27); 5:03 - 5:15: Mrs. Falk and friends at the Temple of Heaven, Beijing (April 27); 5:15 - 5:59: Temple of Heaven, Beijing (April 27); 5:59 - 6:06: Putuo Zongcheng Temple, Chengde (May 11); 6:06 - 6:28: Puning Temple, Chengde (May 11); 6:28 - 7:36: Puning Temple, unknown statues, Chengde (May 11); 7:36 - 7:40: Xumifushou Temple (Temple of Happiness and Longevity of the Sumeru Mountain, Chengde (May 11); 7:40 - 8:10: Liuli-Wanshou pagoda (Glazed Tile Pagoda of Longevity) Xumifushou Temple, Chengde (May 11); 8:10 - 9:17: Putuo Zongcheng Temple, Chengde; (May 11); 9:17 - 9:33: Main hall of the Putuo Zongcheng temple surrounding Wanfaguiyi Hall, Chengde (May 11); 9:33 - 9:40: Looking down at the Sarira Pagoda, Chengde (May 11); 9:40 - 10:02: Corner pavilion of Wanfaguiyi, Putoh Zongcheng Temple, Chengde (May 11); 10:02 - 10:54: Putuo Zongcheng Temple, Chengde (May 11); 10:54 - Villagers in Chengde, ruins 11:30 - 11:47: Sarira Pagoda at Chengde Mountain Resort (May 11); 11:47 - 11:55: Mrs. Falk and friends (May 11)
Local Numbers:
FSA A2002.03 4.3
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Topic:
Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Genre/Form:
Home movies
Motion pictures (visual works)
Collection Citation:
Pauline B. and Myron S. Falk, Jr. Papers, FSA.A2002.03. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the Falk family.
Sponsor:
Processed in 2022 with funding from the Smithsonian Institution's American Women's History Initiative.
1 Film positive (silent, 12 minutes, black and white, 16mm)
Container:
Reel 4
Type:
Archival materials
Moving Images
Film positives
Home movies
Motion pictures (visual works)
Place:
China -- Description and Travel
Korea
Japan
Date:
1937
Scope and Contents:
One of four reels 16mm motion picture film taken during Johnny and Pauline Falk's 1937 trip to China, Korea and Japan. Kodak had only recently made color film available, so this may be the earliest color footage of many of the locations the Falks visited.
沈阳 서울 京都 日光 鎌倉
Biographical / Historical:
The Falks took one of the inaugural Pan Am Clipper flights to China in 1937. Myron S. (Johnny) Falk Jr., and his wife Pauline Baerwald Falk were active philanthropists, prominent Asian art collectors and were both active in the Jewish and Art communities.
0:00 - 1:08: Qing Tombs, Shenyang (May 14); 1:08 - 1:33: Injeongjeon Hall, Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul, Peony gardens and another building - not sure exactly which building within the palace (May 15); 1:33 - 1:48: Wongaksa Pagoda at Tapgol Park, Seoul (May 15); 1:48 - 2:00: Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, Gyeongbokgung Palace (May 16); 2:00 - 2:06: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul (May 16); 2:06 - 2:11: Yasaka Shrine OR Kamigamo Shrine, Kyoto (May 18); 2:11 - 2:22: Kyoto Schoolchildren (May 18-19); 2:22 - 2:25: Horyu-ji temple, Nara (May 19); 2:25 - 4:01: Riding on the rapids of the Hozugawa River, Kyoto (May 20); 4:01 - 6:00: Nikko Tosho-gu, Nikko, Japan (May 23); 6:00 - 8:09: Daibutsu, Kamakura, Japan (May); 8:09 - 9:29: Unknown residence, perhaps "Ernst and the children" as mentioned in the diary, likely in Kyoto (May 21); 9:29 - 11:40: Unknown ryokan or the Miyako Hotel in Kyoto (date unknown); 11:40 - 12:00: Mrs. Falk and unknown friends appearing to be on board a ship (date unknown)
Local Numbers:
FSA A2002.03 4.4
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Topic:
Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Genre/Form:
Home movies
Motion pictures (visual works)
Collection Citation:
Pauline B. and Myron S. Falk, Jr. Papers, FSA.A2002.03. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the Falk family.
Sponsor:
Processed in 2022 with funding from the Smithsonian Institution's American Women's History Initiative.
University of the Arts (Philadelphia, Pa.) Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Place:
California -- description and travel
Seoul (Korea) -- Description and travel
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Bruce Metcalf, 2009 June 10. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
