Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Jean Milant

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.milant15
Creators:
Milant, Jean, 1943-
Drohojowska-Philp, Hunter
Dates:
2015 July 20
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
4 Items
Sound recording: 4 sound files (3 hr., 7 min.)
digital, wav
102 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Jean Milant, conducted 2015 July 20, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art at Milant's home in Los Angeles, California.
Scope and Contents
Jean Milant discusses growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and his French and German heritage; his introduction to art instruction in high school and further studies at the University of Wisconsin; his trips to Europe and New York City as an undergraduate art student; his time as a graduate student at the University of New Mexico, and his work at the Tamarind Institute printmaking program and his introduction to Los Angeles; his work at Tamarind with Ed Ruscha, Sam Francis, Ed Moses, and Ken Price, among others; the beginnings of Cirrus Gallery and Cirrus Editions and his search for backers for the two endeavors; his partnership with Terry Inch as a backer for Cirrus. Mr. Milant also describes the decision to move his gallery and printmaking shop to downtown Los Angeles in 1979; the support of Robert Egelston and the collector Donald Marron and other collectors who first subscribed to his print editions; his experiences in France with Minnie de Beauvau-Craon; the gallery and museum scene in Los Angeles in the early '70s and '80s; his efforts to promote Los Angeles as a vibrant center of art, including trips to Europe in the early '70s to show his artists; the creation of Ed Ruscha's prints using food; working with Bruce Nauman and John Baldessari to create prints; the creation of the Los Angeles Visual Arts group of L.A. art dealers; his involvement with the creation of the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art in 1974; his work with the artist Guy de Cointet and Mr. Cointet's early performances at Cirrus Gallery; the opening of MOCA in 1984; his desire to create a think-tank institute to help create a viable future for art. Mr. Milant also recalls Garo Antreasian, Newton Harrison, June Wayne, Frank Gehry, Robert Irwin, Eugene Sturman, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Ken Tyler, Riko Mizuno, Irving Blum, Gerry Rosen, Robert Overby, David Trowbridge as well as Chris Burden, Greg Card, Karen Carson, Craig Kauffman, Marian Goodman, Alain Rivière, Charles Christopher Hill, Steven Leiber, Viva, Michel Auder, and Jonas Wood, among others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Jean Robert Milant (1943- ) is an art dealer and publisher in Los Angeles, California. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is an art critic and writer from Beverly Hills, California.

Administration

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.

Digital Content


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art -- Study and teaching Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Prints -- Technique Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Europe -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
France -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York (N.Y.) -- 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
Art dealers -- California -- Los Angeles Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publishers -- California -- Los Angeles Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Antreasian, Garo Z., 1922-2018 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Auder, Michel Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Baldessari, John, 1931- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blum, Irving, 1930- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Burden, Chris, 1946- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Card, Greg S., 1945- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carson, Karen, 1943- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cointet, Guy de, 1934-1983 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
de Beauvau-Craon, Minnie Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Egelston, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Francis, Sam, 1923-1994 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gehry, Frank O., 1929- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Goodman, Marian Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harrison, Newton, 1932- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hill, Charles Christopher Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Inch, Terry Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Irwin, Robert, 1928- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kanemitsu, Matsumi Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kauffman, Craig, 1932-2010 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Leiber, Steven Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Marron, Donald B. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mizuno, Riko Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Moses, Ed, 1926- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nauman, Bruce, 1941- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Overby, Robert, 1935-1993 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Price, Kenneth, 1935-2012 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rivière, Alain, 1958- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rosen, Gerry Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ruscha, Edward Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sturman, Eugene Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trowbridge, David, 1945- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tyler, Kenneth E. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Viva, 1938- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wayne, June, 1918-2011 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wood, Jonas, 1977- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cirrus Editions Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cirrus Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Los Angeles Visual Arts (Organization) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tamarind Institute Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of New Mexico -- Student Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of Wisconsin Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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