Oral history interview with Paul Carey and Stephanie Caloia

Scope and Contents

An interview of Paul Carey and Stephanie Caloia conducted 1997 October 26, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.

Scope and Contents

The topic of discussion in this interview was pioneer modernist, Edward Hagedorn (1902-1982). Paul Carey was a fellow student at California School of Fine Arts and studio mate in San Francisco's "Monkey Block"; Stephanie Caloia was Hagedorn's final model and weekly companion. They shared reminiscences of Hagedorn from the 1920s and 1930s to the late 1970s. Carey began the interview with a discussion of Hagedorn's background, including his family circumstances, personality, ideas on art, and interest in women. Caloia recalls her years with Hagedorn (1975-1982), when he would engage models to pose for him in his Berkeley home. Eventually she became his only model and accompanied him to North Beach restaurants and bars where he apparently was a well-known character. Both interviewees related anecdotes about Hagedorn that create a picture of a complex, introspective, and mysterious loner whose striking expressionism reflects personal fears and obsessions. Hagedorn's work is receiving new attention after its "rediscovery" a decade ago.

Biographical / Historical

Paul Carey (1904-2001) was an artist from Piedmont, California. Stephanie Caloia (1951-) is an artists' model.