Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Fong Chow

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.chow02
Creators:
Chow, Fong
Carney, Margaret, 1949-
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
Dates:
2002 February 6
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
27 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Fong Chow conducted February 6, 2002, by Margaret Carney, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Chow's home, in New York, N.Y.
Scope and Contents
Chow speaks of his family, specifically, his grandfather who was sent to Hartford, Connecticutt, in 1874, for schooling, then studied at Columbia University and returned to China, working as general manager of one of the earliest railroads in north China; the schools Chow attended in Hong Kong; working in different media, including painting and photography; attending the Boston Museum School and then Alfred University; his relationship with Charles Harder, the head of the ceramic design department at Alfred; the "wonderful" teachers at Alfred in the early 1950s, including Katharine Nelson in painting, Marion Fosdick in sculpture, Daniel Rhodes and Ted Randall; learning production methods, as well as "studio potters work"; developing forms, new glazes, and decorations at Glidden Pottery; his "famous" pieces for Glidden Pottery, such as "New Equations" and "Charcoal and Rice"; how he became involved with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and his relationship with Alan Priest, curator of Far Eastern art; working at the Met as a curator for more than 20 years; changes at the Met during his tenure there; and his hiatus from making ceramics while working at the Met. He discusses his return to clay in 1983 and his studio near Cooper Union; he describes visiting his best friend from childhood, Pan He, a sculptor in China. He also discusses his health; his wife Chao-Ling and how they met; his current focus on photography. Chow also recalls Glidden Parker, James Romer, Bo Gyllensvard, Sergio Dello Strologo, Theodore Hobby, Paul Bollardo, Norman Arsenault, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Fong Chow (1923- ) is a Chinese American ceramicist, curator, and photographer from New York, N.Y. Margaret Carney (1949- ) is the director of the Schein Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art in Alfred, N.Y.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. 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 line.
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


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 41 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art -- Technique Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chinese American art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chinese American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Decorative arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American photographers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American ceramicists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Asian American curators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ceramics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Parker, Glidden, 1913-1980 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alfred University -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glidden Pottery (Alfred, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) -- Employees Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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