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Archives of American Art
Oral history interview with James S. Ackerman
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.ackerm91
- Creators:
-
Ackerman, James S., 1919-2016Brown, Robert F.
- Dates:
-
1991 January 2
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
2 Itemssound cassettes (1 hr. 47 min.)analog.20 PagesTranscript
- Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
An interview with James Ackerman conducted 1991 January 2, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Ackerman talks about his childhood in San Francisco in a wealthy family of German-Jewish descent; travels with his family in Europe; early exposure to art and art history; education at the Cate School, California; education at Yale University, 1938-41, including recollections of teachers and curriculum, especially the charismatic teaching of Henri Focillon; graduate work at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1941 and 1945-52, including curriculum and teachers such as Karl Lehmann, Richard Krautheimer, and Erwin Panofsky; World War II experience in signal intelligence; early publications and their fortunate effect on his career, and contrast of those who solely pursued facts and those who also have ideas.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
James Ackerman (1919-2016) was an art and architecture historian from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Administration
Sponsor
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript is available on Archives of American Art's website.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
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.
Digital Content
More Information
General
General
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hrs., 47 min.
Keywords
Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
---|---|---|---|
Art historians -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews | Occupation | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Sound recordings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Interviews | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Focillon, Henri, 1881-1943 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Krautheimer, Richard, 1897- | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Lehmann, Karl, 1894-1960 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Panofsky, Erwin, 1892-1968 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
New York University. Institute of Fine Arts | Corporate Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions