Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Alberto Mijangos

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.mijang03
Creators:
Mijangos, Alberto, 1925-
Cordova, Cary
Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas
Dates:
2003 Dec. 5-12
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
65 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Alberto Mijangos conducted 2003 Dec. 5- 12, by Cary Cordova, for the Archives of American Art, in San Antonio, Tex.
Scope and Contents
Mijangos speaks of his family background, early childhood memories and early art education at San Carlos Academy of Art; the Air Force in Mexico; Los Tres Grandes, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros; coming to the United States; painting bull fighters; leaving Texas for Chicago; favorite paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago; moving to San Antonio; suspicion of being a communist; becoming a Mexican diplomat; working with Mel Casas who led Mijangos to abstraction; Con Safo; difficulty in achieving respect from Americans; moving to Oaxaca, working there and trying to fit in; returning to San Antonio, changing his lifestyle; changing inspiration, Mark Rothko and Mijangos new use for color; tee-shirt paintings; his relationship with galleries; the artistic community of San Antonio; his use of numbers and fabric in his paintings; interest and use of photography in his artwork. Mijangos also recalls Raul Gamboa, Rufino and Olga Tamayo, Gabriel Sanchez, Francisco Goitia and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Alberto Mijangos (1925-2007) was a Mexican born artist from San Antonio, Tex. Cary Cordova (1970- ) is an art historian from Austin, Tex.

Administration

Sponsor
This interview is part of the series "Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas," supported by Federal funds for Latino programming, administered by the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives. The digital preservation of this interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
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


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 5 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 48 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- Texas -- San Antonio -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mexican American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mexican American art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painting -- Technique Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Latino and Latin American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tamayo, Olga Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Goitia, Francisco, 1882-1960 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tamayo, Rufino, 1899-1991 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Siqueiros, David Alfaro, 1896-1974 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Casas, Mel, 1929-2014 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gamboa, Raul Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sanchez, Gabriel Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-7950
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions