Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Marian Gore "Art Scene" Interviews and Papers, 1958-1969, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.goremari
Creators:
Gore, Marian L.
Dates:
1958-1969
Languages:
The collection is in English.
Physical Description:
2.2 Linear feet
Repository:
The Marian Gore "Art Scene" interviews and papers measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1958 to 1969, with all sound recordings dated between 1962 and 1964. The core of the collection consists of 37 radio programs recorded by Marian Gore for KPFK radio in Los Angeles, California, consisting of interviews with artists, collectors, gallerists, and museum curators. A series of artist files contains notes, correspondence and other materials related to her interview subjects, and a printed materials series contains mainly exhibition posters, programs, and announcements produced by the art spaces with which her subjects were affiliated.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Marian Gore "Art Scene" interviews and papers measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1958 to 1969, with all sound recordings dated between 1962 and 1964. The core of the collection consists of 37 radio programs recorded by Marion Gore for KPFK radio in Los Angeles, California, consisting of interviews with artists, collectors, gallerists, and museum curators. A series of artist files contains notes, correspondence and other materials related to her interview subjects, and a printed materials series contains mainly exhibition posters, programs, and announcements produced by the art spaces with which her subjects were affiliated.
The "Art Scene" Interviews series contains 36 interviews from Gore's "Art Scene" radio series of interviews relating to the contemporary art scene in Los Angeles, particularly galleries and artists showing on La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood. Also found is a single episode of another KPFK program called "Seen at the galleries" and hosted by Earl Carter, featuring an interview with Jacques Lipchitz on the occasion of his retrospective at UCLA. Two interviews, with Mathias Goeritz and David Siqueiros, were conducted in Mexico City. Other interview subjects include Michel Albert, Josef Albers, Joan Ankrum, Streeter Blair, Nick Brigante, Robert Cremean, José Luis Cuevas, James Elliott, Claire Falkenstein, Balcomb Greene, Paul Gerchik, Jurgen Hansen, Walter Hopps, Roger Kuntz, Rico Lebrun, Dr. Thomas Leavitt, Jacques Lipchitz, Mario Luna, Robert Mallary, Louise Nevelson, Emilio Ortiz, Esther Robles, Otto Schniede, Fritz Schwaderer, Rufino Tamayo, Esteban Vicente, Robert Wark, and June Wayne.
Artist files include mainly brief, typewritten notes created for Gore's radio interviews, with the questions she asked her interview subjects and brief introductory or concluding remarks. Correspondence is also found in files for Robert Cremean, Iqbal Geoffrey, Balcomb Greene, Robert Mallary, Emilio Ortiz, and Esteban Vicente. Louise Nevelson's file also contains a transcript of her interview with Gore. Also found scattered in some files are notes, photographs, clippings, press releases, resumes, and exhibition programs. Note that not every person in this series has a corresponding sound recording in Series 1, and not every interviewee in Series 1 has a corresponding file in this series.
Most of the material in the Printed Materials series consists of exhibition announcements, programs, and posters from Galleries in the Los Angeles, California area, particularly those along La Cienega Boulevard. Of these, Ankrum Gallery, Ceeje Gallery, Comara Gallery, Dwan Gallery, Ferus Gallery, and Silvan Simone Gallery on Olympic Boulevard contain the most material, with many of the other files containing only one or two pieces. Of note are original prints promoting exhibitions at the Ferus and Ceeje Galleries, and a poster for an art walk along La Cienega Boulevard in the file for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged in 3 series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: "Art Scene" Interviews (1.3 linear feet, Boxes 1-2, 4)
  • Series 2: Artist Files (0.2 linear feet, Boxes 2, 4)
  • Series 3: Printed Materials (0.7 linear feet, Boxes 3-4, OV 5)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Marian L. Gore (1914-2009) volunteered as a radio interviewer for KPFK between 1962-1964, conducting a series of interviews with Los Angeles-area artists, curators, collectors, and gallerists in response to a growing awareness of Los Angeles' rapidly growing role as a creative center and art market.
Born Marian Lucille Moore on Feb. 27, 1914, in Los Angeles to Fred and Lucille Moore. Fred Moore, an attorney, defended Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti in the infamous 1921 trial. Following her divorce in the early 1960s, Gore approached the radio station KPFK, who was looking for someone to interview local artists. In a 1997 letter that accompanied her donation of the collection to the Archives, Gore writes,
"The early 1960's were an interesting and probably unique period for the Southern California art world. In Los Angeles on La Cienega Boulevard galleries had sprung up like mushrooms, and on Friday nights those who were interested in this scene would go from one gallery to another noting what artists were featured and what trends were apparent. It was a pleasurable way to meet artists as well as a social event where one could see friends and exchange impressions.
"Because I was searching for something to do, at the suggestion of a friend I had gone to radio station KPFK to volunteer my services in any way possible. It turned out to be a most fortuitous time for this offer. The management was interested in possible intervie3ws with artists, and so it all began. I had never done an interview in my life and was astounded to discover how easy it was to get artists, gallery owners, and even museum personnel to talk aobut what they did. Once this began I was swaped with requests for taped interviews, far more than I could manage."
Gore later became an antiquarian bookseller specializing in books on food and drink. She retired in 1994 and donated her book collection to the Los Angeles Public Library.

Administration

Author
Megan McShea
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Council on Library and Information Resources "Hidden Collections" grant program.
Existence and Location of Copies
All of the sound recordings in this collection were digitized for research access in 2010 and are available at the Archives of American Art offices.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated 1997 by Marian Gore.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Terms of Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Preferred Citation
KPFK "Art Scene" interviews, 1950-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- Los Angeles Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Curators -- California -- Los Angeles Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gallery owners -- California Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists -- California -- Los Angeles Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Transcripts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Comara Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dwan Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mallary, Robert, 1917-1997 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ferus Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Silvan Simone Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lebrun, Rico, 1900-1964 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kuntz, Roger, 1926-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Luna, Mario Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Leavitt, Thomas W. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gerchik, Paul Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Greene, Balcomb, 1904-1990 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hopps, Walter Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hansen, Jurgen Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Goeritz, Mathias, 1915-1990 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Elliot, James, 1943-2011 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carter, Earl Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
KPFK (Radio staion : Los Angeles, Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cremean, Robert, 1932- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brigante, Nicholas P., 1895-1989 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blair, Streeter, 1888-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ankrum, Joan Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Albers, Josef Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Siqueiros, David Alfaro, 1896-1974 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Albert, Michel (artist) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ankrum Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ceeje Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wayne, June, 1918-2011 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Geoffrey, J. Iqbal, 1939- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vicente, Esteban, 1903-2001 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wark, Robert R. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schwaderer, Fritz (Fritz Karl), 1901- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tamayo, Rufino, 1899-1991 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Robles, Esther Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schniede, Otto Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cuevas, José Luis, 1934- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ortiz, Emilio, 1936- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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