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Archives of American Art
Oral history interview with Willard Cummings
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.cummin73
- Creators:
-
Cummings, Willard Warren, 1915-1975Cummings, Paul
- Dates:
-
1973 March 20
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
82 PagesTranscript
- Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
An interview of Willard Cummings conducted 1973 March 20, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Cummings speaks of his family and its interests in art and theater; moving to Boston and his early education there; studying with Anna Ladd and at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts; his two years in Paris; going to Skowhegan during the Depression; the Art Students League and the Grand Central School; his interests in portrait painting and sculpture; his Yale art school experience; some early portrait subjects; exhibitions of his work; commercial art jobs he was involved in; his New York studio and friends in the mid-1930s; collecting American primitives; his U.S. Army service; the start of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1946; the organization of the school; his own painting technique and some portrait subjects. He recalls Philip Hale, Waldo Peirce and Edith Halpert.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Willard Cummings (1915-1975) was a painter from New York, New York and Maine.
Administration
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is 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.
Digital Content
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
More Information
General
General
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 19 min.
Keywords
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Painters -- Maine -- Interviews | Occupation | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Sound recordings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Interviews | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Hale, Philip Leslie, 1865-1931 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Halpert, Edith Gregor, 1900-1970 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Peirce, Waldo, 1884-1970 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture | 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
