Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Robert Cottingham

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.cottin98
Creators:
Cottingham, Robert, 1935-
Brown, Robert F.
Dates:
1998 July 27
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2 Sound cassettes
Sound recording (2 hr.; 8 min.)
analog
61 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Robert Cottingham conducted 1998 July 27, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art, in Cottingham's studio, Newtown, Connecticut.
Scope and Contents
Cottingham speaks of being raised in Brooklyn; drawing from an early age; the New York World's Fair, 1939-1940, and the tremendous impact it had on him, as did buildings, signs, and great bustle of Times Square; lasting impact of Edward Hopper's "Sunday Morning," which he saw at the Whitney Museum; his love of using a T-square and triangle in industrial design courses at Brooklyn Technical High School and the influence on his work; working in a Manhattan advertising agency for 2 1/2 years; army service in Orleans, France as a mapmaker; working as an art director at Young and Rubicam advertising agency in Manhattan (1959-1964) which exposed him to great variety of print and graphic media; work in Young and Rubicam's Los Angeles office; first painting in NYC in 1963; painting steadily in L.A. which led to first shows (1968-1970) at Molly Barnes Gallery; use of photographs and sketches to produce paintings; avoidance of narrative, just suggestions of places, and incorporation of advertising signs beginning in the mid-1960s; living entirely on his paintings by 1970; breakthrough in 1969 to greater use of color, bolder design, and 3-D illusion; adoption of square format and depiction of fragmentary glimpses of things which led to leap of quality; and sticking with this mode ever since. Cottingham also recalls John Rawlings, Emerson Woelffer, Robert Irwin, Chuck and Leslie Close, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Robert Cottingham (1935- ) is a painter and printmaker from Newtown, Connecticut.

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 the 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 6 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 8 min.
General
Tape 2 (Side A) also contains last part of 4/7/98 interview with Harold Tovish.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- Interviews Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printmakers -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Times Square (New York, N.Y.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art directors Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cartographers Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Close, Chuck, 1940- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Close, Leslie Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Irwin, Robert, 1928- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rawlings, John, 1912- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Woelffer, Emerson, 1914-2003 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brooklyn Technical High School (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Molly Barnes Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Army Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Young & Rubicam Incorporated Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.) 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