An interview of Peter Agostini conducted in 1968, by Colette Roberts, for the Archives of American Art at 151 Avenue B, New York, New York.
Mr. Agostini speaks of his childhood spent living throughout the five boroughs of New York; his interactions with clients of his father's acting employment agency; his early education in Catholic school and the creative freedom allotted by the nuns; his first feelings of isolation as an artist at the age of seven; the development of a sense of communication as the result of the loss of his mother at the age of three and time spent at a school for orphans; his early realization and vision of artistic destiny; his religious interests which lead to mysticism in his earlier work; his time spent working freely in the DaVinci Studio with Spaventa; the discovery by Hess of his works in Gallerie Grimaud; his attainment of the Longview Grant; his working experience throughout the Depression as part of the WPA casting plaster mannequins while working indirectly with Pollack as well as Marca Relli; his subsequent move to designing department store windows (use of Mondrian-like forms and lines); his feelings of his position as an observer; the importance of communication through art (communication without words); his rejection of the Abstract Expressionist group and choice of independence; the influence of the sculpture of Kolbe and Bache in the thirties; Clement Greenberg's distaste for his work; his feelings about the relative failure to sell his work due its unusual edginess and mystery; his role in the introduction of the work of contemporary European artists (Chausserian, Gauthier, Modrian) to the American group; his description of his own work as "traditionless"; his feelings of self-importance as one of the most original sculptors in the art world; his influence on the younger generation, particularly Marisol; the enslavement to originality that the younger generation faces; his attitudes towards American Art forms and their lack of rebellious spirit; the virtues of the American writers, such as Poe, Whitman, and Melville as American "knapsack" writers; his personal technique which places an emphasis on the "skin" or volume of something; his attempt to create quiet art, or art that merely indicates features; his frustration with teaching and the problems of regurgitated knowledge; the role of Meyer Shapiro in his teaching career at Columbia; the formation of the Club and its similarity to the Cubist's café scene; his opinions on the relationship of sex and sensuality in American art; his personal struggles, including the loss of his second wife and two of his brothers, in addition to the estrangement of his only daughter by his first wife; his feelings on the role of psycho analysis and personal history in a work of art; his present works which feature the "swell." For the majority of the second half of the interview Ms. Roberts asks Mr. Agostini to express his opinions on the work of: Kline; DeKooning; Duchamp; Oldenburg; La Tour; DeChirico; Maillol; Pompon; Rothko; Chardin; Cezanne; Giacometti; Reinhardt; Chryssa; Tony Smith; Segal; Lachaise; Zorach; Manship; Flannagan; Kelly; Lassaw; David Smith; Hare; Lipton; Ferber; Lippold; Roszak; Nakian; Noguchi; Hague; Kohn; di Suvero; Chamberlain; Kaprow; Sugarman; Stankiewicz; Bontecou; Scarpitta; Cornell; Keinholz; Rivera; Judd; Robert Morris; O'Keeffe; Samaras; Mark Tobey; Marin; Pollock; Hartley; Dove; Macdonald-Wright; Demuth; Sheeler; Hopper; Mirot; Matisse; DuBuffet.
Biographical / Historical:
Peter Agostini (1913-1993) was a sculptor from New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 28 digital wav files. Duration is 10 hrs., 37 min.
Transferred from 4 3" reels.
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:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Interviews of 72 artists, and transcripts for all but five, conducted by Arlene Jacobowitz, the Associate Curator for the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum, between 1965 and 1968. The artists discuss their work in the museum collection. Also included are 38 edited excerpts of the interviews, approximately 2-3 min. in length, used as "audio-labels" in the 1968 "Listening to Pictures" installation at the museum.
Scope and Content Note:
Interviews of 72 artists, and transcripts for all but five, conducted by Arlene Jacobowitz, the Associate Curator for the Department of Painting and Sculpture, between 1965 and 1968. The artists discuss their work in the museum collection. Also included are 38 edited excerpts of the interviews, approximately 2-3 min. in length, used as "audio-labels" in the 1968 "Listening to Pictures" installation.
The artists interviewed are: Lennart Anderson, Stephen B. Antonakos, Marshall Arisman, Walter Barker, Leonard Baskin, Mary Bauermeister, Thomas Hart Benton, Isabel Bishop, Robert Brackman, Sydney Butchkes, Edmund Casarella, George Constant, Robert Warren Dash, Jose DeCreeft, Blanche Dombek, Tom Doyle, Jimmy Ernst, Neil Estern, Philip Evergood, Helen Frankenthaler, Jane Freilicher, Leon Goldin, Sidney Goodman, Sante Graziani, Balcomb Greene, John Grillo, William Gropper, Chaim Gross, Roy Gussow, Robert Gwathmey, Grace Hartigan, Edward Hopper, Nora Jaffe, Paul Jenkins, Minoru Kawabata, William Kienbusch, Karl Knaths, John Koch, Yayoi Kosama, Jennett Lam, Steven Lang, Robert Laurent, Jacob Lawrence, Jack Levine, Jacques Lipchitz, Seymour Lipton, Boris Margo, Ursula Meyer, Hans Moller, Walter Murch, Louise Nevelson, Toshio Odate, Elliot Offner, Douglas Ohlson, Kenzo Okada, Amanda Palmer, Irene Rice Pereira, Gabor Peterdi, Ad Reinhardt, Bill Richards, Larry Rivers, Emilio Sanchez, Karl Schrag, Ben Shahn, Charles Sheeler, Aaron Sopher, Moses Soyer, Raphael Soyer, William Thon, Albert Weinberg, and William and Marguerite Zorach.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as a single series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Interviews, 1965-1968 (Box 1-7; 7 lin. ft.)
Historical Note:
The interview program at the Brooklyn Museum was begun by Arlene Jacobowitz in the spring of 1965 with artists whose works were on exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. In 1968, excerpts from the interviews were incorporated into an exhibition entitled "Listening to Pictures," in which visitors could access the sound recordings using headphones while standing before the painting being discussed. The exhibition opened April 28, 1968, and was gradually disassembled, 1971-1973.
Related Material:
The Brooklyn Museum Archives houses the records of the Departments of European Painting and Sculpture, American Painting and Sculpture, Contemporary Art (1897-2005), which contain records relating to the work of Arlene Jacobowitz.
Provenance:
This collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Dierdre Lawrence of the Brooklyn Museum in 1989.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Researchers may view the original reels for the archival notations on them, but original reels are not available for playback due to fragility.
Rights:
Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposes of publication requires written permission from the interviewee. Citations must read:"Interview between [artist's name] and [interviewer's name] from the "Listening to Pictures" program of the Brooklyn Museum. Archives of American Art. Gift of the Brooklyn Museum." Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Topic:
Artists -- United States -- Interviews Search this
Interview between [artist's name] and [interviewer's name] from the "Listening to Pictures" program of the Brooklyn Museum. Gift of the Brooklyn Museum. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
A journal; writings; lists of photographs; photographs; and printed material.
REEL 2910: A journal, 1933; and two "literary papers" from 1934 titled NAIVETE for which Grossman was editor and contributor, often signing his pieces "El Cid".
REEL 3361: 2 press releases and a clipping, concerning an exhibition of Grossman's work; lists of photographs; photographs taken by Grossman, 1949-1954, of art-related activities in Provincetown, 1950-1952, of the Kootz Gallery, 1954, of Highfield, 1952, and of artists including: Seymour Lipton, Chaim Gross, Hans Hofmann, Ruth Reeves, Jack Hall, Bobbie and Dagmar Lilian, and Weegee.
Biographical / Historical:
Photographer, writer; New York, N.Y. and Provincetown, Mass.
Provenance:
Material on reel 2910 lent for microfilming 1982 and material on reel 3361 donated 1985 by Grossman's widow, Miriam Cohen.
Microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project.
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.
Occupation:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographers -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Authorizatin to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Lenore Seroka. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- Great Neck Search this
An interview of Seymour Lipton conducted in 1968, by Sevim Fesci, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Seymour Lipton (1903-1986) was a sculptor in New York, N.Y. Lipton was an american Abstract Expressionist sculptor who worked in metal.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs.,16 min.
Sound quality is poor at the beginning of the interview.
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.
11.6 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
0.2 Linear feet (Addition)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1952-1994
Scope and Contents:
Primarily research material used for Andersen's book American Sculpture in Process, 1930-1970. Included are sculpture files, containing photographs and printed materials; writings and research notes; and 663 letters and ca. 50 statements of purpose from prominent American sculptors, among them Calvin Albert, Oliver Andrews, Leonard Baskin, Wolfgang Behl, Charles Biederman, Helen Beling, Harry Bertoia, Roger Bolomey, Lothar Brabant, Alexander Calder, Cosmo Campoli, Chryssa, Lindsey Decker, Jose de Rivera, Stephen DeStaebler, Nancy P. Dryfoos, Ted Egri, Herbert Ferber, Richard Filipowski, Francis Foster, Leon Golub, Florence Grippe, Peter Grippe, Dimitri Hadzi, Martha Hadzi, Tom Hardy, Wally Hendrick, Paul Keith, Robert Laurent, Pietro Lazzari, Israel Levitan, Jacques Lipchitz, Seymour Lipton, Jim Melchert, Joseph Messina, Henry Moore, G. W. Owen, Tony Padovano, Nathan Raisen, Richard Randell, George W. Rickey, Hugo Robus, John Rood, Bernard Rosenthal, Theodore Roszak, David Smith, George Spaventa, Takis, Michael Todd, Hugh Townley, Charles Umlauf, Vasa, David von Schlegell, Jane Wasey, and Elbert Weinberg. Also included are business correspondence and financial papers relating to Andersen's consulting work for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology), and the Federal Reserve Bank. A smaller set of papers consists of material relating to Andersen's longtime friend and mentor, art educator, philosopher, and artist Henry Schaefer-Simmern, including a questionnaire sent to Andersen from Raymond Berta along with his dissertation abstract on Schaefer-Simmern, 1988; correspondence, including letters from Schaefer-Simmern, 1952-1989; photos of art work admired by Schaefer-Simmern. Also included are clippings, and a keynote speech by Andersen, 1994, "A Global Revision of Historical Time."
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian, educator; Massachusetts. Born 1928.
Provenance:
Donated by Wayne Andersen, 1979 and 1994.
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 Luis Jimenez conducted 1985 Dec. 15-17, by Peter Bermingham, in Tuscon, Ariz., for the Archives of American Art.
Jimenez speaks of his family and ancestral background; his father's artistic ability and work as a neon sign maker; starting out in the architecture program at the University of Texas, and later changing to the art program; moving to New York City, and getting his sculpture career started there; meeting and working with Seymour Lipton; selling his work and getting established in galleries; the inspirations for and the development of some of his pieces; the influence of pop art; returning to the Southwest; the importance and influence of his Mexican ancestry; personal images and reflections in his work. He recalls Alfonso Ossorio.
Biographical / Historical:
Luis Jimenez (1940-2006) was an American sculptor of Mexican descent from Hondo, N.M. Born in El Paso, Tex.
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.
11.8 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1942-ca. 1995
Scope and Contents:
Personal and professional files, the bulk consisting of research material used in publications and his teaching career at Stanford University. Included are correspondence, writings, notes, artists' files, photographs and printed material. A portion of Elsen's files on Seymour Lipton have been microfilmed.
REEL 4047 (0.6 linear ft.): Correspondence between Elsen and Lipton, 1955-1984, including an autobiographical letter written April 1960 by Lipton; draft manuscripts by Elsen, "The Sculpture of Seymour Lipton," with comments by Lipton and his family on Elsen's manuscript, 1965 and 1967, "The Sculpture of Seymour Lipton as a Portrait of the Artist," 1963, and "The Inclusive Sculpture of Seymour Lipton," 1969; writings and notes by Lipton, including his reflections on aesthetics, 1942, and an autobiographical note, 1960; ca. 70 photographs of Lipton's works executed between 1936 and 1968, and nine of exhibition installations at Betty Parsons Gallery, 1958, and the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, 1965; a few clippings; and exhibition catalogs, 1960-1967.
UNMICROFILMED (11.2 ft.): Personal documents, including draft card, army papers, certificates and awards, and a school yearbook; correspondence with art historians, artists, publishers and others; research files for publications on Auguste Rodin, including Elsen's catalog for the 1981 exhibition "Rodin Rediscovered" at the National Gallery of Art, Paul Jenkins (1973), Law, Ethics and the Visual Artists (1979), and others; transcripts of interviews with Leon Golub, Oct. 12, 1986 (20 p.) and Miriam Schapiro, Nov. 9, 1986 (40 p.), both regarding artistic freedom; teaching files; artists' files; and files on various other art topics.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian and educator; Stanford, California. Died 1995. Author of several publications on Auguste Rodin, and on sculptors Seymour Lipton, Paul Jenkins, James Rosati, and other general works on sculpture and art appreciation, including Purposes of Art: Introduction to the History of Appreciation of Art.
Related Materials:
Papers of Albert Edward Elsen, 1965-1994, are also located at Stanford University's University Archives.
Provenance:
Lipton related material on reel 4047 donated 1987 by Elsen. He donated an additional 0.2 ft. on Lipton in 1991. The remainder donated 1995 by his widow, Sharon Elsen.
Seven audio recordings on cassettes of research interviews with Jacob Kainen, Seymour Lipton, Ethel Schwabacher, and Julien Levy and his wife, conducted by Rand. Also included is an audio recording of two brief interviews with Julian Stanczak, one of which aired on National Public Radio, Washington, D.C. 26 July 1999 and a corresponding letter to Rand from Neil K. Rector regarding the interviews.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian, curator; Wahington, D.C. Rand is a senior curator of Cultural History at the National Museum of American History; former curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Provenance:
Donated 2005 by Harry Rand.
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.
An interview of Seymour Lipton conducted by Dorothy Seckler between 1964 Apr. 28-May 20 for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Seymour Lipton (1903-1986) was a sculptor from New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 6 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 7 min.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Seymour Lipton, 1964 Apr. 28-May 20. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
