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.
5 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 3 reels))
0.4 Linear feet (Addition)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1815-1980
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence; scrapbooks and diaries; writings; photographs; medals; passport; engagement calendars; and printed material.
REEL 1344: Letters, 1931-1977, from John Taylor Arms, George Biddle, Mario Bacchelli, Ralston Crawford, Joseph Hirsch, Norman Kent, Leon Kroll, Ezra Pound, Maxfield Parrish, Emilio Sanchez, Barbara and Katherine Ivins, and others. Also included is a photograph of a 1961 poster exhibition, a lecture announcement and Mayor's lecture schedule, writings, and miscellany.
REEL 2322: Ten volumes, 1917-1927, composed while traveling and studying, mostly in Europe. Six volumes contain postcards of architecture and art, a few photos, and typescripts and transcripts of letters to Mayor's grandmother "Minn" [Andella Hyatt], and to "Aunt Anna" [Anna Hyatt Huntington]. He writes about his studies, daily activities, friends, and others, including Bernhard Berenson at i Tatti. Three volumes are diaries written while in Florence, Italy, 1924-1925, Europe, 1925, and Egypt, 1927; and one volume contains reminiscenses of Leon Kroll and Maurice Sachs.
REEL 2336: 20 letters from Mayor to his wife from Spain, 1959, and Europe, 1966; an annotated, 99-page manuscript by Mayor, "The Mutations of Greece"; a travel diary, 1927; and a copy of MAGAZINE OF ART, 1952, with an article by Mayor, "Writing and Painting in China."
UNMICROFILMED: Papers, 1815-1980, including: a passport, 1949-1953; engagement calendars, 1966-1979; personal and business correspondence, 1911-1979; letters to Eliza Cadwell Blackwell (Mayor) from Francis Blackwell, 1815-1819; photographs of Mayor, his family and others, and negatives; published and unpublished writings by Mayor including handwritten notes, typescripts of lectures, galley proofs and newsletters containing articles by Mayor; 3 medals awarded to Francis Blackwell Mayor, 1852-1855; A. Hyatt Mayor's degree from Princeton, 1922, and a citation from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1971; printed material concerning Mayor's aunt, Anna Hyatt Huntington, catalogs, clippings; and miscellany.
Among the photos are: 4 cased daguerreotypes, 1 cased ambrotype, and 11 tintypes, including one taken by Moffett & Sheldon, Newark, N.J., 2 possibly of Alfred G. Mayor, ca. 1868, 1 of Alfred G. Mayor, ca. 1880, and 2 of Joseph Henry Mayor, ca. May 26, 1880.
ADDITION: Manuscripts and writings.
Biographical / Historical:
A. Hyatt Mayor (1901-1980) was a museum curator, art historian, and writer, from New York, N.Y. Former curator of prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Related Materials:
A. Hyatt Mayor Papers, 1904-1946, are located at Syracuse University Libraries Special Collections Research Center.
Provenance:
Material on reel 1344 was lent for microfilming 1977-1978 by A. Hyatt Mayor; a portion was subsequently donated 1980-1981 by Virginia Mayor, his widow, along with additional (unmicrofilmed) material. Material on reels 2322 & 2336 lent for microfilming 1981 by Martha Smith, Mayor's daughter. An additional group of manuscripts and writings was received in 1985 from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which had borrowed the material from Mrs. Mayor and returned it to AAA at her request.
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.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of Miami art critic Helen Kohen date from 1978 through 1996 and contain letters, postcards, exhibition announcements and invitations, and seventy-four untranscribed interviews of artists, dealers, and collectors in the Miami area.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of art historian and critic Helen L. Kohen measure one linear foot and date from 1976 through 1996. They consist primarily of letters, postcards, exhibition announcements and invitations from artists in the Miami area. Also found are eighty-two mini cassette tapes of seventy-four interviews Kohen conducted with art dealers, collectors, contemporary artists, and others in the Miami area as research and background for her newspaper column and other articles
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into five series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1954, 1984-1993, undated (Box 1, 10 folders)
Series 2: Printed Material, 1979-1996, undated (Box 1, 3 folders)
Series 3: Photographs, 1969, 1974, 1980-1994 (Box 1, 1 folder)
Series 4: Miscellany, 1983-1992, undated (Box 1 , 1 folder)
Series 5: Taped Interviews, 1986-1996, undated (Box 1, 1 folder and 82 micro-cassettes)
Biographical Note:
Art historian and critic Helen L. Kohen has authored numerous articles on contemporary art focusing on the formation of the art culture in Miami since the early 1980s. Helen L. Kohen is art critic emeritus for the The Miami Herald newspaper in Miami, Florida.
Provenance:
Helen L. Kohen donated her papers to the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution in 1997.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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.
