Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Hans Namuth

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.namuth71
Creators:
Namuth, Hans
Cummings, Paul
Dates:
1971 Aug. 12-Sept. 14
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
26 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Hans Namuth conducted 1971 Aug. 12-Sept. 8, by Paul Cummings, at the artist's studio in New York, N.Y., for the Archives of American Art. Namuth speaks of his youth in Germany; the effects of Nazism on him and his family; living in Paris and Spain after leaving Germany; his first involvement with photography; living in a refugee camp; moving to New York in 1941 and working as a photographer; his activities in military intelligence during World War II; meeting Jackson Pollock in 1949 and making a film about him; and working in architectural photography.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Hans Namuth (1915 -1990) was a photographer and a filmmaker from New York, N.Y.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
These interviews are 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 others.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

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

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 5 min.
General
Partially transcribed. August 12 and September 8 sessions are transcribed; September 14 session is not transcribed.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photography -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Filmmakers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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