Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Richard McLanathan

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.mclana94
Creators:
McLanathan, Richard B. K.
Brown, Robert F.
Dates:
1994 August 31
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3 Items
Sound recording: 3 wav files (1 hr., 52 min.)
digital
39 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Interview of Richard B.K. McLanathan, conducted by Robert F. Brown for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution in Phippsburg, Maine, on August 31, 1994.
Scope and Contents
McLanathan speaks of his parents and his childhood in Methuen, Massachusetts and then Andover, Massachusetts; the frequent presence of formidable aunts and uncles who entertained Episcopal bishops; attendance at a "dame school" there, then at classes given by a retired teacher at Phillips Academy, Andover; the trauma of one year at Phillips Academy with its large classes and severe teachers; the effects his father's ruin in the financial crash of 1929 had on his family; attendance at Choate (graduated 1934) and Harvard College (graduated 1938) on scholarships; his several years teaching in Manhattan at a small private school and marriage (1942) to Jane Fuller, a prominent designer of knitwear; his disqualification from the military because of flat feet and his teaching in night schools as a form of alternative service; and his matriculation (1943) as a graduate student in fine arts at Harvard. McLanathan also recalls Chandler Post, Arthur Pope, Paul Sachs, Edward Forbes, and Arthur Kingsley Porter, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Richard B.K. McLanathan (1916-1998) was an art historian, administrator, and writer. McLanathan received a Ph.D from Harvard in 1951. Ass't Curator of Paintings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1946-1948, and Secretary, 1949-1956; Director, Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1957-1962; Curator of the Art Exhibit of the American National Exhibition, Moscow, Russia, 1959; New York State Council on the Arts,1960-1964; Director, American Association for Museums, 1976-1978; author of numerous publications on art.

Administration

Sponsor
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.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
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. Additional interview sessions are planned.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 52 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art, American Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Study and teaching Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians -- Maine -- Interviews Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians -- Massachusetts Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arts administrators -- Massachusetts Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Authors -- Massachusetts Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Forbes, Edward Waldo, 1873-1969 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
McLanathan, Jane Fuller Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pope, Arthur Upham, 1881-1969 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Porter, Arthur Kingsley, 1883-1933 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Post, Chandler Rathfon, 1881-1959 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sachs, Paul J. (Paul Joseph), 1878-1965 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Choate School -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harvard University -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Phillips Academy -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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