Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with José Maria Mijares

Summary

(Electronic Resource)

Oral history interview with José Maria Mijares, 1998 Jan. 17, Transcript
Collection ID:
AAA.mijare98
Creators:
Mijares Fernández, José María, 1921-
Martínez, Juan A.
Dates:
1998 Jan. 17
Languages:
Interview is in Spanish.
Physical Description:
107 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of José Maria Mijares conducted 1998 Jan. 17, by Juan A. Martínez, in Mijares' home/studio, Miami, Fla., for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Mijares discusses his background; his early interest in drawing; attending Cuba's main art school, the San Alejandro Academy of Art, Havana; his professors, Leopoldo Romanach and Armando Menocal; artistic influences of Cuban modernist painters Fidelio Ponce and Amelia Peláez; being awarded the second prize in a national exhibition in Hanava, 1944 for his work Alameda; the art movement in the 1950s "arte concreto," which involved geometric abstraction and art for art's sake; difficulties of being an artist in Cuba due to lack of galleries and collectors; teaching at San Alejandro in the late 1950s; going into exile in the mid-1960s to Miami; his work schedule of drawing and painting about 6 hours daily; favorite medium being oil on canvas, but also works with serigraphy and watercolor; briefly mentions his artistic style; and his nostalgia for Cuba which is a source of inspiration in his work.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
José Maria Mijares (1921-2004) was a painter from Miami, Fla. Born in Cuba.

Administration

Sponsor
This interview received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Funding for 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

(Electronic Resource)

Oral history interview with José Maria Mijares, 1998 Jan. 17, Transcript

(Sound Recording)

Oral history interview with José Maria Mijares, 1998 Jan. 17, Digital Sound Recording (Excerpt)

Using the Collection

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

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 30 min.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Cuban American art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Expatriate artists -- Florida -- Miami -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists -- Cuba -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Florida -- Miami Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cuban American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Latino and Latin American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peláez, Amelia, 1897-1968 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
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