Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Charles Duback

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.duback04
Creators:
DuBack, Charles S., 1926-
Larsen, Susan C.
Dates:
2004 December 15-2005 May 18
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
36 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Charles Duback conducted 2004 December 15-2005 May 18, by Susan C. Larsen, for the Archives of American Art, in Tenants Harbor, Maine.
Scope and Contents
Mr. Duback discusses his childhood; his Czech lineage; working at his father's bakery and gaining artistic sensibilities there; the drive to become an artist, and the financial risks therein; joining the Navy during World War II; attending trade school in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art in Newark, New Jersey; attending the Skowhegan School in Maine; his first wife Daphne Mumford; sustaining two homes, one in New York City and another in Maine, and the difficulties in maintaining them; the influence of collage on his paintings; his "strip" paintings; the opening and closing of the Landmark Gallery; making his "projections," wherein he adheres objects to a painting's canvas; and the friends he made during his time running Landmark. Duback also mentions moving from North Waldoboro, Maine to St. George, Maine; moving again to Germantown, New York; finding living in New York difficult; divorcing Mumford; his second wife Phyllis; rising tax and insurance costs and what they mean to artists; and painting as a career. Duback recalls Bernard Langlais, Helen Langlais, Edward Dugmore, Alex Katz, Wes LaFountain, Red Grooms, George Ortman, Myron Stout, George McNeil, Dennis Pinette, John Grillo, Henry Varnum Poor, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Charles S. DuBack (1926-) is a painter of Tenants Harbor, Maine. Susan C. Larsen, interviewer, is an art historian in Tenants Harbor, Maine.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview provided by the King and Jean Cummings Fund. 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.
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 discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 11 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- Maine -- Interviews Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
World War, 1939-1945 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Economic aspects Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Collage Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pinette, Dennis, 1951- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grooms, Red Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ortman, George, 1926- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stout, Myron, 1908-1987 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Katz, Alex, 1927- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Poor, Henry Varnum, 1887-1970 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Langlais, Bernard, 1921-1977 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grillo, John, 1917- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dugmore, Edward, 1915- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
McNeil, George, 1908-1995 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Landmark Gallery (New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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