Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Leo Holub

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.holub97
Creators:
Holub, Leo, 1916-2010
Karlstrom, Paul J.
Art Schools in California Oral History Project
Dates:
1997 July 3
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2 Sound cassettes
Sound recording (90 min)
analog
34 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Leo Holub conducted 1997 July 3, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in San Francisco, Calif.
Scope and Contents
Holub discusses his background, being born in Arkansas, moving to New Mexico, and then to Oakland, Calif. (1923); early educational experiences in Oakland, and later at the Art Institute of Chicago; seeing Edward Weston's photographic work at an exhibition in Chicago, and admiring Weston's nude studies of Charis Wilson; his return to the Bay Area; his studio on Montgomery St. (Monkey Block); meeting painter Matthew Barnes, who had assisted Diego Rivera with his murals at the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA), 1931-1932; his experiences as a student at CSFA- its program and instructors which included Maurice Sterne, Gottardo Piazzoni, Lee Randolph, Dick Hackett, Otis Oldfield, William Gaw, Spencer Mackey, and Victor Arnautoff; fellow students including Hassel Smith, Ed Corbett, and Florence Michelson (his future wife); and his beginning awareness of modernism.
Scope and Contents
Holub discusses his involvement with the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939); apprenticeship with industrial designer Joe Sinel and the advent of the product design era; his founding of Design Development Associates, and staying only a year before moving to Grass Valley, Calif. for his son's health; his return to the Bay Area, succeeding Emmy Lou Packard at the San Francisco Planning Office graphic arts dept.; working at the housing agency and redevelopment agency and as chief designer for the Bay Area Rapid Transit report.
Scope and Contents
He recalls his encounter with Ansel Adams at the 1955 Yosemite workshop where Holub produced a pictorial map of Yosemite; Adam's "zone system" of exposing for shadows and developing for highlights; going on to teach at CSFA (1955-1957), where Imogen Cunningham was a guest instructor; Minor White replacing him; his ten years at Stanford University's planning office (1960-1970); his campus views "Stanford Scene" that were used by the university to appeal for more space for the art dept., and his shows at Stanford's art gallery in 1964 and at the Washington, D.C. home of Vice President Walter Mondale in 1980.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Leo Holub (1916-2010) was a photographer, lithographer, and teacher from San Francisco, Calif.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview was provided by the Bente and Gerald E. Buck Collection. 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


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographers -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Study and teaching -- California Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art Schools -- California Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arnautoff, Victor Mikhail, 1896-1979 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Barnes, Matthew Rackham, 1880-1951 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Corbett, Edward, 1919- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cunningham, Imogen, 1883-1976 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gaw, William A. (1891-1973) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hackett, Dick Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Holub, Florence Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mackey, Spencer, 1880-1958 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mondale, Walter F., 1928- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oldfield, Otis, 1890-1969 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Packard, Emmy Lou, 1914-1998 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Piazzoni, Gottardo, 1872-1945 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Randolph, Lee F., b. 1880 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sinel, Joseph Claude, 1889-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smith, Hassel, 1915-2007 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sterne, Maurice, 1878-1957 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Weston, Edward, 1886-1958 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
White, Minor Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wilson, Charis, 1914-2009 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stanford University. Dept. of Art Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of California, San Francisco. School of Fine Arts -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of California, San Francisco. School of Fine Arts -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art Schools in California Oral History Project Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940 : San Francisco, Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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