An interview of Alison Knowles conducted 2010 June 1-2, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project, at Knowles' home and studio, in New York, N.Y.
Knowles speaks of her family background; her father's (an English professor) influence on her education; her love of nature and isolation as a young girl; her French studies at Middlebury College; her transfer to Pratt Institute to study art; the social and academic environment at Pratt; her inclinations towards abstraction; her first marriage to Jim Ericson; her first studio at 423 Broadway; her early jobs as a commercial artist; her first gallery show at Nonagon, in 1958, and how she subsequently burned the paintings in that show; her second marriage to Dick Higgins in 1960; her Judson Gallery Show in 1962 and how she subsequently discarded those works; her involvement in the Fluxus group; her involvement with the "Cage class," and its early performances; her collaboration with John Cage on the book, "Notations" (1968); her collaboration with Marcel Duchamp on a print (1967); the circumstances surrounding her performance piece, "Make a Salad" (1962), her travels through Europe with Higgins; the birth of her twins; her computerized poetic piece and installation, "House of Dust" (1967) and how it was later vandalized; her move to Los Angeles to teach at CalArts; the rebuilding of "House of Dust" at CalArts; her move back to New York; the processes leading up to several projects and collaborations including "Loose Pages," "Big Book," "Bread and Water," and more; where she finds her inspiration; her thoughts on performance art; her studio environment in Barrytown, N.Y.; the influence and support of Germany on her work and Fluxus in general; her recent work, including "Identical Lunch"; and current challenges she faces as an artist.
She recalls Richard Lindner, Adolph Gottlieb, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Judy Chicago, Josef Albers, Dorothy Podber, Ray Johnson, Dick Higgins, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, Klaus Schöning, Jon Hendricks, Gilbert Silverman, George Maciunas, George Brecht, Jack Mac Low, Yoko Ono, Mieko Shiomi, Takako Saito, Joe Jones, Marcel Duchamp, Daniel Spoerri, Richard Hamilton, Nam June Paik, Charlotte Moorman, Helmut Becker, Coco Gordon, Jim Tenney, Cornelia Lauf, Rirkrit Tirvanija, Allan Kaprow, Simone Forte, Carolee Schneemann, Richard Teitelbaum, Miriam Schapiro, Miguel Abrau, James Fuentes, Cyrilla Wozenter, Kathy Kuehn, Ryszard Wasko.
Biographical / Historical:
Alison Knowles (1933- ) is an artist and a founding member of Fluxus in New York, N.Y. Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is a former director of iCI in New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 mini discs. Duration is 5 hr., 45 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.
Occupation:
Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of painter Joan Semmel measure 5.9 linear feet and span the dates of 1949-2013 with the bulk of the material dated circa 1960s-2013. The papers reflect her career and activities as a painter, writer, feminist, and educator through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, project files, teaching files, printed material, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Joan Semmel measure 5.9 linear feet and span the dates of 1949-2013 with the bulk of the material dated circa 1960s-2013. The papers reflect her career and activities as a painter, writer, feminist and educator through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, project files, teaching files, printed material, and photographic materials.
Among the biographical materials are awards, educational records,and audiovisual recordings about Joan Semmel and her work.
Professional correspondence concerns exhibitions, publication permissions, panel discussions, symposia, and visiting artist and summer school appointments. Also included are letters of recommendation for colleagues and students. A scattering of personal letters are from novelist David Markson and José Antonio, both of whom had personal relationships with Semmel. There are also a few letters from friends of a purely social nature and a few letters concerning routine personal affairs.
There are two interviews with Joan Semmel on video recordings, one was conducted for a television broadcast and the other is unidentified.
Writings by Semmel include the manuscript, illustrations, research material, and letters relating to her unpublished book about women's erotic art. Also found are articles, artist's statements, and notes for talks about her work. The writings about Semmel consist of several student papers.
Project files relate to two exhibitions curated by Semmel, Contemporary Women: Consciousness and Content (1977) at The Brooklyn Museum of Art School and Private Worlds (2000). One file is related to a project in which Semmel was involved to document the role and status of women in the arts.
Scattered teaching files concern a course about contemporary women artists developed and taught by Semmel for the women's studies program at Rutgers University, circa 1978. Also documented are summer programs at Skowhegan and Sommerakademie in Austria where Semmel served as an instructor.
Binders (now unbound) of printed materials were compiled by Semmel consisting of exhibition catalogs and announcements for solo and group shows, reviews, posters, and miscellaneous printed matter.
Photographs of people include Joan Semmel, friends and colleagues. Among the individuals pictured are: writer David Markson, painter John Hardy, José Antonio Nieto; and feminist artists: Judy Bernstein, Mary Beth Edelson, Eunice Golden, Nancy Grossman, Harmony Hammond, Miriam Schapiro, Sylvia Sleigh, and May Stevens. There are slides, photographs, color photocopies and digital images of Semmel's paintings. Of particular interest are photographs, photocopies of photographs, and digital images that served as source material for paintings, including portrait commissions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 8 seres:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1949-2013 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1973-2013 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Interviews, circa 1970s-1986 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1970s-2009 (Box 3; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 5: Project Files, 1972-2000 (Box 3; 3 folders)
Series 6: Teaching Files, 1970s-2000 (Box 3; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1960s-2013 (Boxes 4-6, OV 8; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographic Materials, circa 1965-2013 (Boxes 6-7; 0.6 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Joan Semmel (1932- ) is an abstract painter working in New York City and Easthampton, N. Y. Semmel's work explores erotic themes and the female body. She taught painting at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University from 1978-2000.
Born in New York City in 1932, Joan Semmel studied at the Cooper Union, the Art Students League of New York, and received her BFA in 1963 and MFA in 1972 from Pratt Institute. Semmel moved to Spain in 1963 and exhibited her abstract expressionist work in galleries and museums there before returning to New York in 1970.
Upon Semmel's return to New York, she became involved in the feminist art movement. One of the original Guerrilla Girls, Semmel was involved with several feminist activist art groups devoted to gender equality in the art world. Semmel spent years researching a book about women's erotic art. At the same time, her painting style shifted to incorporate more figurative imagery and she began working on series that explored the themes of the female body, desire, and aging. Each series consisted of 10-30 paintings, produced over several years, among them First and Second Erotic Series, Self Images, Portraits, Figure in Landscape, Gymnasium, Locker Room, Overlays, and Mannequins.
In addition to her teaching career at Rutgers University as a tenured Professor of Painting, Semmel taught briefly at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, Skowhegan, and the Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg, Germany. Over the years she served as a visiting artist, critic, and lecturer at many colleges, and participated in numerous symposia, panel discussions and conferences. She has received several grants and awards including Macdowell Colony and Yaddo residencies.
Semmel has exhibited widely and prolifically in the United States, Spain, the Netherlands, and South America, in addition to curating two exhibitions, Contemporary Women: Consciousness and Content (1977) at The Brooklyn Museum of Art School and Private Worlds - Art in General (2000). Her work is represented in the permanent collections of many museums including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Chrysler Museum, Guild Hall, Museum of Women in the Arts, Parrish Art Museum, and Vassar College Museum.
Joan Semmel continues to live and work in New York City and Easthampton, NY.
Provenance:
Donated by Joan Semmel in 2014.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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.
Occupation:
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Cornwall (England : County) -- Description and Travel
Europe -- description and travel
Date:
2011 April 22-24
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Moira Roth conducted 2011 April 22- 24, by Sue Heinemann, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History Project, at Roth's home, in Berkeley, California.
Roth discusses her childhood and family background; her "unconventional" mother attending the London School of Economics; her "romantic childhood" growing up in Cornwall, England; her family's move to Letchworth for her to attend St. Christopher, a Montessori school; taking in evacuees from London during the Battle of Britain in 1940; childhood colored with European culture, Jewish culture, and music; at 17 moving from England to Washington, D.C., to live with her Irish father who was working for the International Monetary Fund; her early "passion for travelling"; moving to New York City in 1952; meeting John Cage; her autobiographical writings; travels in Europe; studies at the University of Vienna and the London School of Economics; deciding to be a psychiatric social worker; majoring in sociology with a minor in art history; attending graduate school in art history; her interest in Duchamp; doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley; interviewing artists; her marriage to Bill Roth; teaching; early publications; performances at the Woman's Building in the late 1970s; editing the book "The Amazing Decade: Women & Performance Art in America, 1970-1980" (1983); traveling with Faith Ringgold; friendships with Linda Nochlin, May Stevens, Lucy Lippard and others; experimental theater; her interest in Noh theater; the Women's Caucus for Art at CAA; The Poor Farm contemporary art space; living in the Bay Area; "rethinking feminism in terms of Asian-American Women"; globalism; the fictional character she created, Rachel Marker; and other topics. She recalls Joyce Kozloff, Miriam Schapiro, Judy Chicago, Judy Baca, Claudia Bernardi, Eleanor Antin, Margo Machida, Mary Jane Jacob, Annika Marie, Whitney Chadwick, Suzanne Lacy, Allan Kaprow, Peter Selz, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Moira Roth (1933- ) is an art historian and writer in Berkeley, California.
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:
Art historians -- California -- Interviews Search this
Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
28 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1989 September 10
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Miriam Schapiro conducted 1989 September 10, by Ruth Gurin Bowman, for the Archives of American Art, Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Miriam Schapiro (1923-2015) was a Canadian-born, feminist painter and sculptor in New York, N.Y. and California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 25 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. Funding for this interview was provided by the Margery and Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Communal Fund of New York.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Research notes on the Pattern and Decoration Movement; transcripts of artist interviews, 2002; and a bound volume of Elsenheimer's unpublished Masters thesis, "Pattern in Painting: Interviews with Artists of the Pattern and Decoration Movement of the Seventies: Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, Miriam Schapiro, and Robert Zakanitch" for the Rochester Institute of Technology, 2003.
Biographical / Historical:
Artist; Arkport, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated 2003 by Barbara Elsenheimer.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Rights:
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.
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.
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.
Correspondence; writings; photographs; legal and business records; a resume; journals; a notebook; exhibition catalogs and announcements; clippings; and printed material.
REEL 2832: 2 journals, February-December 1979 and January-November 1980; and a notebook recording dreams, reflections, 1977-1979.
REELS 2833-2837: A resume; correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, Miriam Schapiro, John Canaday and others; writings for ARTWEEK, ART VOICES/SOUTH, and STATESMAN; photographs of works of art; legal and business records; exhibition catalogs and announcements; clippings; and printed material.
Printed material, photographs, correspondence, artists' files, artwork, and a diary entry documenting Joan Snyder's career as a painter and feminist artist.
A majority of the collection consists of press clippings, exhibition announcements, fliers, and brochures contained in eleven binders. Two additional binders contain slides of works of art by Snyder and one additional binder contains studio photographs and installation shots. Correspondence is personal and professional and is with artists and colleagues Ardele Lister, Richard Diebenkorn, Andrew and Marie Foley, Ruth Iskin, Hannah Hannah, Lucy Lippard, Ned Rifkin, Dore Ashton, and Miriam Schapiro among others. Artists' files include gallery, institutional and other organizational files with which Snyder was associated. Included are the Women's Caucus for Art, and the Douglass College/Rutgers Women Artists Series Files and others. Also included is one diary entry that serves as a sample of personal writing.
Biographical / Historical:
Joan Snyder (1940- ) is a painter and feminist artist in New York, New York.
Provenance:
Donated 2011 and 2014 by Joan Snyder.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Four scrapbooks compiled by Miriam Schapiro document her career as a painter, sculptor, and printmaker. Scrapbooks, arranged chronologically by date, include fliers, brochures, and related printed material documenting exhibitions and workshops; newspaper clippings; photographs; and correspondence.
Biographical / Historical:
Miriam Schapiro (1923-2015) was painter, sculptor, and printmaker in New York, New York.
Related Materials:
Additional Miriam Schapiro papers also located at: Rutgers University Libraries, New Brunswick, N.J.
Provenance:
Donated 2017 by Bernice Steinbaum, Miriam Schapiro's dealer.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of artist Ellen Lanyon measure 62.6 linear feet and 84.47 GB and date from circa 1880-2015, bulk 1926-2013. Biographical material; correspondence; interviews; writings; journals; project files; teaching files; exhibition files; personal business records; printed and broadcast material; scrapbooks; photographic material; artwork; sketchbooks; as well as sound and video recordings and digital material, provide a comprehensive view of Lanyon's career and of art circles in Chicago and New York. Correspondence with artists and friends make up a significant portion of the collection. Project and exhibition files reflect her professional and artistic career. Thousands of slides and photographs document her life and artwork over seven decades, and over seventy sketchbooks are filled with student sketches, portraits of friends and family, and preliminary drawings.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of artist Ellen Lanyon measure 62.6 linear feet and 84.47 GB and date from circa 1880-2015, bulk 1926-2013. Biographical material; correspondence; interviews; writings; journals; project files; teaching files; exhibition files; personal business records; printed and broadcast material; scrapbooks; photographic material; artwork; sketchbooks; as well as sound and video recordings and digital material, provide a comprehensive view of Lanyon's career and of art circles in Chicago and New York.
Biographical material documents Lanyon's major life events and includes calendars; addresses and contacts; life documents; awards; diplomas and school records; resumes; horoscope readings and natal chart; residence documents; personal memorabilia; family papers and memorabilia; digital material; and items relating to Lanyon's memorial.
Correspondence, both personal and professional, consists of letters, postcards, holiday and greeting cards exchanged with family, friends, artists, collectors, publishers, print shops, museums, galleries, and cultural and educational institutions. Some material is in digital format. Notable correspondents include Judy Chicago, Leon Golub, Red Grooms, Richard Hunt, Joyce Kozloff, Lucy Lippard, Gladys Nilsson, Irving Petlin, Edward Plunkett, Dorothea Rockburne, Miriam Schapiro, Buzz Spector, May Stevens, and Michelle Stuart.
Fourteen interviews are with Ellen Lanyon conducted by various interviewers on behalf of a number of organizations and consist of transcripts, sound recordings, and video recordings, some in digital format.
Writings include general writings, lectures, presentations, and thirty-seven notebooks by Lanyon. A few writings by others about Lanyon and several sound recordings of lectures by other artists are also found here.
Twenty-five journals intermittently record Lanyon's reflections on her day-to-day life including her work, obligations, and relationships.
Project files include professional activities and files documenting projects and commissions. Files may contain project proposals, correspondence, printed and digital material, applications, contracts, research notes, invoices, receipts, notebooks, sketches, plans, organizational records, and photographic material. Three multi-year projects are extensively documented, including theMiami Metamorphosis mural, Riverwalk Gateway mural, and Hiawatha Rail Line mural.
Teaching files consist of correspondence, memoranda, course descriptions and proposals, rosters, administrative documents, and printed material from a number of institutions, including Cooper Union, where Lanyon taught from the 1970s to her retirement in 1993.
Exhibition files include files for individual exhibitions, exhibitions by women artists, and chronological files. Files may contain correspondence, inventories, consignment records, layout plans, printed and digital material, and photographic material.
Personal business, inventory, and estate records document the financial and administrative history of Lanyon's career and artworks.
Printed material, broadcast material, and published video recordings document Lanyon's career, art movements in Chicago and New York, and the women's movement in art. Files may contain books, booklets, broadsides, radio and television broadcasts, brochures, exhibition announcements and catalogs, lecture announcements, news and magazine clippings, newspapers and newsletters, periodicals, press releases, programs, video recordings, digital material, source material, and posters.
Eight scrapbooks contain predominantly clippings and exhibition material documenting Lanyon's career.
Photographic material consists of thousands of prints, slides, transparencies, digital photographs, and negatives of Lanyon, family, friends, artists, places, and artwork.
A small number of artworks include a self-portrait Lanyon carved in wood, a childhood painting, a photo collage, sketches, and one folder of assignments for an art course. Artworks by others are a hand colored photograph album by Marcia Palazzolo and prints distributed by Landfall Press.
Seventy-one sketchbooks are filled with student sketches, portraits of friends and family, and preliminary drawings done in pencil, watercolor, and colored pencil.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as fifteen series
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1880-2014, bulk 1926-2015 (5.3 linear feet; Box 1-6, 62, 3.94 GB; ER01-ER04)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1936-2013 (14.3 linear feet; Box 6-20, 1.51 GB; ER05-ER11)
Series 3: Interviews, circa 1975-2012 (0.7 linear feet; Box 20-21, 7.07 GB; ER12-ER19)
Series 4: Writings, Lectures, and Notebooks, circa 1947-2015 (3.2 linear feet; Box 21-24, 0.712 GB; ER20-ER24)
Series 5: Journals, 1967-2013 (1 linear foot; Box 24-25)
Series 6: Project Files, 1952-2014 (5.8 linear feet; Box 25-31, 62, OV 66, 13.42 GB; ER25-ER32)
Series 7: Teaching Files, 1953-2010 (0.9 linear feet; Box 31)
Series 8: Exhibition Files, circa 1944-2013 (2.7 linear feet; Box 32-34, 63, 3.87 GB; ER33-ER37)
Series 9: Personal Business, Inventory, and Estate Records, circa 1950-2015 (3 linear feet; Box 34-37, 9.10 GB; ER38-ER46)
Series 10: Printed and Broadcast Material, and Published Video Recordings, 1937-2013 (13.3 linear feet; Box 37-49, 63, OV 67-77, 2.18 GB; ER47-ER49)
Series 11: Scrapbooks, 1946-2013 (0.6 linear feet; Box 49-50)
Series 12: Photographic Material, circa 1920-2015 (7.7 linear feet; Box 50-57, 63, 42.44 GB; ER50-ER71)
Series 13: Artwork, circa 1938-1979 (0.2 linear feet; Box 58, 63)
Series 14: Sketchbooks, circa 1940-2010 (3.4 linear feet; Box 58-60, 64, 65)
Series 15: Unidentified Sound and Video Recordings, and Electronic Records, circa 1974-2013 (0.5 linear feet; Box 60-61)
Biographical / Historical:
Ellen Lanyon (1926-2013) was an American painter and printmaker working in Chicago and New York. She was born in Chicago, Illinois to Howard and Ellen (Nellie) Lanyon. Lanyon received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1948 and married classmate and artist Roland Ginzel that same year. In 1950, she received her MFA from the University of Iowa. As part of her post graduate work, Lanyon studied at the Courtauld Institute, University of London on a Fulbright Fellowship.
In the late 1940s, Lanyon began exhibiting her work and was featured in several Chicago and Vicinity Annual shows as well as the Momentum exhibitions. Influenced by surrealism, magic realism, and the work of the Chicago Imagists and the Hairy Who, Lanyon's subjects range from portraits of friends and family, to objects from her collection of curios, to flora and fauna. She produced paintings, drawings, print editions, artist's books, and some ceramics. In addition to her own artwork, Lanyon took on numerous commissions including the Riverwalk Gateway murals in Chicago, the Hiawatha Transit murals in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a variety of illustration work.
Lanyon was active in many professional organizations and women's organizations including the College Art Association (CAA) and the Women's Caucus for Art. She organized panels at CAA, contributed writings and editing to journals, including Heresies, and served on a variety of panels and juries. Lanyon was also on the Board of the Ox-Bow Summer School of Painting, which she attended in her youth. Over the course of her career, she taught at many colleges and universities, including Cooper Union, where she was Associate Professor.
Throughout her career, Lanyon participated in exhibitions around the country, including a retrospective of her work at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in 1999. She was also the recipient of many awards and grants including the Logan Price and a National Endowment for the Arts grant.
Lanyon and Ginzel had two children, Andrew and Lisa Ginzel.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Ellen Lanyon conducted by James Crawford in 1975.
Provenance:
A majority of the collection was donated in 2015 by Andrew Ginszel, Ellen Lanyon's son and executor. Lanyon also donated material in 1990. Portions of the collection were lent for microfilming from 1977-1981 by Lanyon and subsequently donated.
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.
Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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.
The Anne Swartz interviews with artists measure 2.3 linear feet and contain video interviews with contributors to the Pattern and Decoration movement, conducted in 1998 for the production of the documentary Pattern and Decoration: The Great Untold Story (1999). Additional video of exhibitions and studio space are included, as well as the final version of the documentary.
Scope and Contents:
The Anne Swartz interviews with artists measure 2.3 linear feet and contain video interviews with contributors to the Pattern and Decoration movement, conducted in 1998 for the production of the documentary Pattern and Decoration: The Great Untold Story (1999).
Video interviews are conducted with artists Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Jean Lowe, Kim MacConnel, Izhar Patkin, Jeff Perrone, Miriam Schapiro, Ned Smyth, and Robert Zakanitch. Also found are interviews with curators John Perreault of Urban Glass and Holly Solomon of the Holly Solomon Gallery, both of New York City. Interviewees discuss the development, features, and success of the Pattern and Decoration movement from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, particularly as it relates to the feminist art movement. Unedited footage is found on camera original DVCPRO videocassettes, and all cassettes containing interviews also have duplicate VHS videocassettes. Five additional DVCPRO videocassettes contain b-roll production video. The final version of the documentary Pattern and Decoration: The Untold Story is found on both a DVCPRO dub master and a VHS distribution copy.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 2 series.
Series 1: Unedited Video for Documentary, 1998-1999 (Boxes 1-3; 23 folders)
Series 2: Pattern and Decoration: The Great Untold Story, 1998-1999 (Box 4; 1 folder)
Biographical / Historical:
Anne Swartz is an art historian and art history professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Swartz created the interviews while working on a documentary project commissioned by the school.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2011 by Anne Swartz.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
Copyright for video interviews retained by the donor, Anne Swartz.
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.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Miriam Schapiro, 1989 September 10. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Miriam Schapiro and Mary Swift. Interview with Miriam Schapiro, 1987 October. Mary Swift papers, 1973-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Miriam Schapiro. Miriam Schapiro letter to Lucy R. Lippard, 1980 May 13. Lucy R. Lippard papers, 1930s-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Roberts, Colette Jacqueline, 1910-1971 Search this
Type:
Sound Recording
Date:
1967 March
Citation:
Miriam Schapiro and Colette Jacqueline Roberts. Interview with Miriam Schapiro, 1967 March. Colette Roberts Papers and Interviews with Artists, 1918-1971. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of art critic and photographer Max Kozloff measure 1.4 linear feet and date from circa 1950-2015. The collection provides a glimpse into the work life of a prolific twentieth century American art critic through biographical material, correspondence with artists and critics, interviews, many unpublished writings, and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art critic and photographer Max Kozloff measure 1.4 linear feet and date from circa 1950-2015. The collection provides a glimpse into the work life of a prolific twentieth century American art critic through biographical material, correspondence with artists and critics, interviews, many unpublished writings, and printed material.
Notable correspondents include David Antin, Allan Kaprow, Phil Leider, Dore Ashton, Jasper Johns, Robert Motherwell, Susan Sontag, Linda Nochlin, Miriam Schapiro, and others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1950-1970 (2 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1961-2014 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Interviews, 1993-2014 (4 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Writings, circa 1950s-2015 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1965-2015 (8 folders; Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Max Kozloff (1933- ) is an art critic and photographer in New York City. He received his BA in Art History from the University of Chicago in 1953 and studied at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, from 1959-1963. Kozloff wrote the art column for The Nation from 1961-1968, was associate and contributing editor to Artforum from 1963-1974 and executive editor from 1974-1976. Kozloff has published numerous essays and books, among them, Renderings (1969), Jasper Johns (1972), The Privileged Eye (1987), New York: Capital of Photography (2002), and The Theatre of the Face (2007). As a photographer, he has held exhibitions both in New York and internationally. Kozloff is the recipient of various awards and prizes including two NEA grants and a Guggenheim fellowship.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Max Kozloff conducted by Annette Leddy in 2014.
Provenance:
Max Kozloff donated his papers to the Archives of American Art in 2016.
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.
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.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Art criticism -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Citation:
Max Kozloff papers, circa 1950-2015. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
