Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with John Marshall

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.marsha01
Creators:
Marshall, John, 1936-
Herman, Lloyd E.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
Dates:
2001 April 5
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
6 Items
Sound recording: 6 sound files (3 hrs., 2 min.)
digital, wav
45 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of John Marshall conducted 2001 April 5, by Lloyd Herman, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Edmonds, Washington.
Scope and Contents
Marshall speaks of his childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; participating in an educational program with the Carnegie Museum; his exposure to art while in grade school and throughout his education; joining the army after high school; spending time in Germany with the army and experiencing the metalwork of that area; learning to work hard from his father; his family background; attending Grove City College, then working in construction during the day and going to classes at Carnegie Tech during the night; finally attending Cleveland Institute of Art; some of his teachers at the Institute, Kenneth Bates, Toshiko Takaezu, and John Clague; his first experiences with metal, Fred Miller, and learning how to design metal pieces; getting a job as head of the metals department at Syracuse and completing his MFA there; meeting Paul Smith and Lee Nordness, and participating in Objects: USA; his travels throughout Europe; the many commissions he has done for churches, everything from baptismal bowls, chalices, and crosses; Patrick Lannan, and how instrumental he was in Marshall's career, his collection of work that Lannan bought and where it all is now located; the different types of communities in the different areas he lived; commissions and how they were important to his career; how he challenges himself with new ideas and creations; the Handy and Harman Workshop; the difference between a university trained artist and one who has learned his/her craft outside academia; his students and how much satisfaction he has received from teaching; the decline in metal working programs at the university level; the influence of other faculty members on his work, such as Lee DuSell; the critics of metalwork, Bruce Metcalf and Gary Griffin; his involvement in the Society of North American Goldsmiths; and his two sons. Marshall also recalls John Paul Miller, Winifred Lutz, Ramona Solberg, Ruth Penington, Michael Scott, Don Bacorn, Annie Hauberg, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
John Marshall (1936- ) is a jeweler and metalsmith from Edmonds, Washington. Lloyd Herman (1936- ) is the former director of the Smithsonian Institution's Renwick Gallery from Seattle, Washington.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. 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 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 2 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Decorative arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jewelers -- Washington (State) -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Metal-workers -- Washington (State) -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Religious articles Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Europe -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Germany -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bacorn, Don Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bates, Kenneth F. (Kenneth Francis), 1904-1994 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clague, John, 1928- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
DuSell, Lee Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Griffin, Gary, 1945- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hauberg, Anne Gould Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lannan, J. Patrick Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lutz, Winifred Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Metcalf, Bruce, 1949- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Miller, Fred, (Decorative artist) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Miller, John Paul, 1918- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nordness, Lee Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Penington, Ruth, b. 1905 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scott, Michael, 1958- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smith, Paul J., 1931- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Solberg, Ramona Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Takaezu, Toshiko Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carnegie Institute of Technology -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carnegie Museum of Art -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cleveland Institute of Art -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grove City College -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Society of North American Goldsmiths Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Syracuse University -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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