Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Olin Dows

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.dows63
Creators:
Dows, Olin, 1904-1981
Phillips, Harlan B. (Harlan Buddington), 1920-1979
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project
Dates:
1963 October 31
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
111 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Olin Dows conducted on 1963 October 31, by Harlan Phillips for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Dows speaks of his youth and education at Harvard and Yale; parental and family influence; his European travels; his philosophy of painting; the influence of Mexican painters; dealers he knew and worked with; joining the Public Works of Art Project; how the PWAP was administered; the effect of politics on the project; artists who were involved in it; mural competitions and problems with them; the media and public image of the project; art criticism; the long-term effects of the project; camaraderie among those involved. He recalls Edward Bruce and Forbes Watson.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Olin Dows (1904-1981) was an art administrator in Washington, D.C.

Administration

Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript: 35mm microfilm reel 3418 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
For information on how to access this interview contact Reference Services.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav file. Duration is 4 hr., 16 min.
General
Sound quality is poor.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art and state Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Federal aid to the arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arts administrators -- Washington (D.C.) -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bruce, Edward, 1879-1943 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Watson, Forbes, 1880-1960 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Federal Art Project Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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