An interview of John Valadez conducted 1996 November 25-1997 May 12, by Jeffrey Rangel, in Valadez's studio, Los Angeles, California, for the Archives of American Art.
John Valadez, muralist and painter, was born in Lincoln Heights, a suburb of Los Angeles. Growing up in Huntington Park, he assimilated into the multi-cultural community and throughout his school years did not have any strong ethnic ties. His strong, hard-working mother, instilled in her son values of truth and fair play, and kept him from getting involved in gangs. After graduating from Hunting Park High School and attending East Los Angeles College, where his artistic talents were encouraged by his instructors, he became a part of the developing Chicano Art community. He went on to California State University, Long Beach, continuing his art studies there. During the summers, he directed the summer mural program at the Long Beach Community Center, where he executed his first murals (which have since been painted over). Valadez is a photo-realist, who gets his imagery or "Image Bank" from Mexican tabloids. He is one of the leading Chicano painters.
Biographical / Historical:
John Valadez (1951-) is a muralist and painter from Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 14 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 58 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.
Rights:
Authorization to quote or reproduce for the purposes of publication requires written permission from John Valadez. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
An interview of Frank Romero conducted 1997 January 17-March 2, by Jeffrey Rangel, for the Archives of American Art, in Romero's studio, in Los Angeles, Calif.
Romero discusses his growing up in East Los Angeles and his large extended family; his earliest art studies in the public schools; attending the Otis Art Institute where he studied with Joe Mugnaini and had contact with Millard Sheets and Peter Voulkos; the "very polyglut culture" of East Los Angeles; the influences of television, western movies, rock-and-roll, and rhythm and blues on his early musical/artistic taste; time spent in New York; returning to Los Angeles in 1969; and his marriage and family.
He describes his move into Carlos Almaraz's house which became the informal meeting place of the artist group Los Four (Almaraz, Romero, Gilbert Sanchez Lujan, and Roberto "Beto" de la Rocha); the Los Four show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1974; and the stylistic aesthetics of Los Four.
Romero describes the "boys club" nature of Chicano art centers; his contributions to the Chicano art movement; his relationship to the Chicano/Mexican culture and mainstream U.S. culture; murals done by members of Los Four for the Inner City Mural Program; his work for the Metropolitan Transit Authority; the Murals of Aztlan exhibit in 1981 at the Craft and Folk Art Museum; and his shows at the ARCO Center for the Visual Arts. He concludes with his assessment of the Chicano arts movement, the relationship between economic and art cycles, and the role of the more established artists to those of a younger generation.
Biographical / Historical:
Frank Romero (1941- ) is a painter from Los Angeles, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 27 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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Muralists -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
Topic:
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews Search this
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
8.5 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 11 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1896-1987
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, photographs, exhibition materials, scrapbooks, journals, printed matter, essays, gallery records and other business records, and miscellaneous papers.
REELS 3799-3806: A resume; a travel journal; an address book; appointment books; passports for Marcelle Labaudt; correspondence, including 3 illustrated Christmas cards from Walt Kuhn and letters from Edward Rowan about Lucien Labaudt's murals for the Los Angeles post office for the Section of Fine Arts; notes on costume design, geometry, and metric color scales; writings by Lucien Labaudt, including "Color Constructions--Opticolormetry", 1940; 4 sketchbooks and 70 sketches by Labaudt; prints and drawings by others; scrapbook on history of costume design; announcements; programs; reproductions; printed material concerning Labaudt's California School of Design; records of the San Francisco Women Artists organization; minutes of the Artists' Council kept by Marcelle Labaudt; artist files; guest registers; ledgers 1929 and 1939-1949, and financial records, 1943-1980, for the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery; clippings; photographs of Labaudt's family, 1911-1981; of works of art, 1913-1968; and stage and costume design.
REEL 1052: Correspondence relating to the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery and to Lucien and Marcelle; photographs (many undated and unidentified) of a gallery opening, 1950 of Max Hages, two paintings by Fred Martin, and two by R. Kaess; manuscript material; biographical material on artists who exhibited at the gallery; catalogs and announcements; printed material; and clippings.
REEL 1854: Photographs, 1920-1940 of: Labaudt; Labauadt working on Beach Chalet Murals; at the Bohemian Club Grove with C. Ford, Arnautoff, Otis Oldfield, Moya del Pino, Sotomayer, Timothy Pflueger, William Gerstle, and Diego Rivera; with Adeline Kent; with Marcelle and André Ferier; costumes and sets designed by Labaudt; and paintings and murals by Labaudt. Also included are 173 personal and business letters, 1923-1975; sketches; manuscripts, including essays about Labaudt by Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Lorser Feitelson; a scrapbook; business records; catalogs and announcements; clippings and other printed matter. Correspondents include: Edward Biberman, Lorser Feitelson, Walt Kuhn, Fernand Leger, Charmain London (Mrs. Jack), Henri Matisse, Marthe and Amedee Ozenfant, Timothy L. Pflueger and Edward Rowan.
UNMICROFILMED: Biographical material regarding Marcelle Labaudt's education; correspondence, 1901-1979, with friends and associates, including Alvyne Maisonneuve, Yliane Remy, Henry and Ann Varnum Poor, Charmian London, Millard Sheets and Richard Diebenkorn (1 letter, 1950); Marcelle Labaudt's travel diary kept on a trip to France, undated; art works, undated, including a sketchbook and illustrated letter by Lucien and an unsigned print; exhibition catalogs and clippings regarding the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery; photographs, slides and negatives, 1896-1976, of friends, family and art works, and an album of photographs of Lucien's works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Lucien Labaudt was a painter, muralist, costume and set designer. He also ran a commercial art school called the California School of Design. After his death in 1943, on assignment as a war artist correspondent, his wife, Marcelle Labaudt, established the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery in San Francisco, California. She specialized in giving younger or relatively unknown artists their first exhibitions and operated the gallery until 1980.
Provenance:
Donated by Marcelle Labaudt 1974-1976, and after her death by her estate through her step-sister and executor, Simone M. Berges, 1984. After Berges' death in 1988, an additional installment was received via Berges' sister-in-law, Jill Alexander.
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.
