Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Paul Caponigro, 1999 July 30-August 12. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Paul Caponigro conducted 1999 July 30-August 12, by Susan C. Larsen, for the Archives of American Art, at Caponigro's home, in Cushing, Maine.
Caponigro describes his childhood, military career, and travels through the southwest and northern California, his association with Minor White, exhibitions, publications, employment, and marriage to wife Eleanor.
Caponigro discusses the significance of his Stonehenge series of photographs; others' interpretations of his work; further exhibitions; and the role that his family's move to Santa Fe, New Mexico, has played in the evolution of his work.
Further discussion of the photographic scene in Santa Fe and its connection to American modernist photographers such as Paul Strand and Ansel Adams; travels; Guggenheim grant; the 1991 fall from a rocky ledge that was a physical and spiritual watershed in his life; and his new home in Cushing, Maine.
He recalls George Tice, Ansel Adams, Minor White, Bert Westin, Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, Oliver Gagliani, Beniamino Bufano, Morris Graves, Walter Chappell, Jerry Uelsmann, Carl Chiarenza, William Clift, Marie Cosindas, Peter Bunnell, John Szarkowski, Robert Singer, Beaumont Newhall, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ed Ranney, David Scheinbaum, Janet Russek, Lucien Clergue, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Caponigro (1932- ) is a photographer and teacher from New England and New Mexico.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 19 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.
The papers of Bernard Langlais measure 13.3 linear feet and date from circa 1925 to 2010. The papers document Langlais' career as a painter and sculptor through correspondence with friends, colleagues, and art institutions and organizations; writings; exhibition records, video recordings about Langlais, resumes, and other professional activity files; appraisals, invoices, inventories, and other personal business records; newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and press releases; as well as scrapbooks, drawings, sketchbooks, and photographic material of Langlais and his artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Bernard Langlais measure 13.3 linear feet and date from circa 1925 to 2010. The papers document Langlais' career as a painter and sculptor through correspondence with friends, colleagues, and art institutions and organizations; writings; exhibition records, video recordings about Langlais, resumes, and other professional activity files; appraisals, invoices, inventories, and other personal business records; newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and press releases; as well as scrapbooks, drawings, sketchbooks, and photographic material of Langlais and his artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1940-2005 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 2: Writings, circa 1959-1979 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 3: Professional Activity Files, 1948-2010 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 2-4, FC 23-24)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1962-2004 (2.2 linear feet; Boxes 5-7)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1941-2008 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 7-9, 15)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1935-1979 (0.7 linear feet; Box 9, 15-16)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1937 (2.1 linear feet; Box 9, 12-14, OV 17-22)
Series 8: Photographic Material, 1936-2001 (2.2 linear feet; Boxes 10-11, 14-15)
Biographical / Historical:
Bernard Langlais (1921-1977) was a sculptor and painter in Cushing, Maine. Langlais was born in Old Town, Maine. He attended the Corcoran School of Art, moved to New York, and became a close friend of many of the rising New York artists. Tiring of the New York competitive art scene, he returned to Maine, abandoned abstract painting, and achieved considerable success with monumental wooden outdoor sculpture.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Bernard Langlais conducted by Robert Brown on February 21, 1973.
Provenance:
The bulk of the collection was donated 2015 by Colby College Museum of Art via Paige Doore, Curricular Registrar, who received the papers as a bequest from Helen Langlais. Papers on reels 859-860 were lent for microfilming in 1974 by Langlais and subsequently donated in 1997 with additional papers by Helen Friend Langlais, Langlais' widow. One video recording, "Noon Exercise: Bernard Langlais" was donated in 1981 by WCBB-TV, Lewiston, ME via Harriet Passerman, Cultural Affairs Director.
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 audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
Video recording "Noon Exercise: Bernard Langlais" is publication restricted. Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposes of publication requires written permission from WCBB-TV, Lewiston, Maine. 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.
Bernard Langlais papers, circa 1925-2010. 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.
