Oral history interview with James and Beth Arient
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.arient88
- Creators:
-
Arient, James, 1946-Blum, BettyArient, Beth, 1946-
- Dates:
-
1988 April 27-29
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
213 PagesTranscript
- Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
An interview of James and Beth Arient conducted 1988 April 27-29, by Betty Blum, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
The Arients describe their backgrounds and talk about their initial interest in art and early collecting, their philosophy of collecting, their discovery of Eskimo sculpture and their first awareness of folk art. They comment on meeting Howard Finster and their subsequent relationship with him, Finster's relationship with collector Jeff Camp, the marketability of folk art, a 1987 exhibition of part of their collection at Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, and folk art patronage. They recall William Dawson and Derek Webster.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
James Arient (1946-) and Beth Arient (1946-) are folk art collectors from Chicago, Illinois. James Arient is a dentist.
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These interviews are part of the Archives' 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 others.
General
General
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 29 min.
Digital Content
More Information
Keywords
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Interviews | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Folk art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Sound recordings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Interviews | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Camp, Jeffrey Thomas, 1944- | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Dawson, William, 1901-1990 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Finster, Howard, 1916-2001 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Webster, Derek | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Repository Contact
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions
