Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Betty M. Asher

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.asher80
Creators:
Asher, Betty
Garver, Thomas H.
Dates:
1980 June 30 and 1980 July 7
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
59 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Betty M. Asher conducted 1980 June 30 and 1980 July 7, by Thomas H. Garver, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Asher speaks of her family; education; her marriage to Dr. Leonard Asher; buying her first prints and painting from the Associated American Artists Gallery; and early purchases at the Little, Bowinkle, and Green Galleries in Los Angeles. She discusses her interest in abstract expressionism; buying art in Mexico and New York; dealers including Irving Blum, Virginia Dwan, Paul Kantor, Felix Landau, Ernest Raboff, Esther Robles, and Ileana Sonnabend; activities and members of the Modern and Contemporary Art Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; her work for Maurice Tuchman; Walter Hopps and the Pasadena Art Museum; and exhibitions and funding of the Asher/Faure Gallery.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Betty M. Asher (1914-1994) was an art collector and art dealer of Beverly Hills, California.

Administration

Sponsor
This interview was made possible by funds from the California Arts Council, The L.J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, and the Bothin Helping Fund. 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 available on the Archives of American Art website.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These interviews are 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 others.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav file. Duration is 3 hr., 30 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art dealers -- California -- Los Angeles Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Collectors -- California -- Los Angeles Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Collectors and collecting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women art dealers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art museums -- California Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blum, Irving, 1930- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Landau, Felix, 1924-2003 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Robles, Esther Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tuchman, Maurice Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asher & Faure Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Los Angeles County Museum of Art 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