Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Luchita Hurtado, 1994 May 1-1995 Apr. 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Biographical data; family and personal correspondence, with letters from Julie and Man Ray, William Valentiner, Wolfgang Paalen, Dorothy Miller, and others; published and unpublished writings on art and poetry; printed material; photographs of the Weschers (two by Dina Woelffer), Benny Goodman, Man Ray, Valentiner, and others, including a photograph of Julie Ray by Man Ray, and a photo of Constance Stothart by Man Ray, 1950; sketches; collages; and miscellany [ca. 700 study photographs, negatives and reproductions of works of art, and 19 negatives of the Weschers have not been microfilmed].
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Wescher (1896-1974) was an art historian and administrator in Santa Monica, Calif. He and his wife Mary collected pre-Columbian art and 20th century painting. Mary's first husband was Herbert Stothart, who won an Academy Award for the musical score for "The Wizard of Oz."
Provenance:
Donated 1977 by Mary Wescher.
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 historians -- California -- Santa Monica Search this
An interview of Venezuelan born American paitner, Luchita Hurtado, conducted 1994 May 1-1995 Apr. 13, by Amy Winter and Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, Women in the Arts in Southern California Oral History Project.
1994 May 1 session: The interview focuses on Hurtado's family background; years with her second husband, artist and collector Wolfgang Paalen; the surrealist artist group, Dynaton, living and traveling in Mexico with Paalen, moving to San Francisco and her relationships with artists, collectors; influences on her painting; and Surrealism. Among those mentioned are Rufino and Olga Tamayo, Isamu Noguchi, Gordon Onslow Ford, Jacqueline Johnson, Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varos, Leonora Carrington, Edward James, Lucienne Bloch, Stephen Dimitroff, Grace McCann Morley, Sybil Moholy-Nagy, Jack and Frank Stauffacher, James Broughton, Rene d'Harnoncourt, Julius Karlebach, Herbert (Joe) Spinden, and Robert Motherwell.
April 13, 1995 session: Hurtado continues with a focus on the California years, discussing her reasons for settling there, the Dynaton group and her circle of friends; her third husband, Lee Mullican; the birth of her son Matthew Mullican; her work; California and Mexican imagery; importance of experience and senses, particularly smell, to her creativity and work; importance of her family; and difficulties of pursuing art as a career for a woman, wife and mother; and life in Taos, N.M. She recalls Jean Varda, Shiela and Giles Healey, Mary and Paul Wescher, and Joyce Kozloff.
Biographical / Historical:
Luchita Hurtado (1920-2020) was a painter from Santa Monica, Calif. and Arroyo Seco, N.M. She was born in Caracas, Venezuela.
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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
