Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with José de Rivera

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.derive68
Creators:
De Rivera, José Ruiz, 1904-1985
Cummings, Paul
Dates:
1968 February 24
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
60 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of José de Rivera conducted 1968 February 24, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. De Rivera recalls his childhood on sugar plantations in Louisiana; his early work in New Orleans and Chicago as a mechanic; his training as a commercial artist at Chicago's Studio School and taking life drawing classes with John Norton. He talks about freelancing as a commercial artist in Chicago; his military service during World War II; traveling in Europe and Egypt and relocating to New York. Cummings and de Rivera discuss de Rivera's sculpture in some depth, as well as de Rivera's interest in artists such as Brancusi and Mondrian.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
José de Rivera (1904-1985) was a sculptor in New York, New York.

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. Funding for the interview was provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.

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 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 9 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Hispanic American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculpture, American Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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