Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Gerald Nordland

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.nordla04
Creators:
Nordland, Gerald
Larsen, Susan C.
Dates:
2004 May 25-26
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
117 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Gerald Nordland conducted 2004 May 25-26, by Susan C. Larsen, for the Archives of American Art, in Chicago, Ill.
Scope and Contents
Nordland speaks about his birthplace and childhood home; parent's occupations; interests as a child; beginning interest in art history; first visits to the Los Angeles County Museum; relationship with Lincoln Kirstein; move to Yale; his book on Gaston Lachaise; attending the University of Southern California; meeting Man Ray; German sculpture; being drafted; first meeting with Richard Diebenkorn and working with Diebenkorn on a book; getting out of the Army; first paintings purchased; writing for "Frontier" magazine; the invitation to work at the Chouinard Art Institute; Institute teachers such as Richard Ruben, Robert Irwin, Don Graham; the founding of the California Institute of Arts (CalArts); classes and professors at CalArts; move to San Francisco in 1966; shows curated by Nordland on Gaston Lachaise, Fred Sommer, Peter Voulkos, Richard Diebenkorn, Burri, Caro, "African Art in Motion," Fritz Gardner, Jack Jefferson, Ed Moses, Controversial Public Art; meeting and marrying Paula Prokopoff; and other job offerings from Florida, Georgia, and California. Nordland also recalls Gifford Phillips, Mitchell Wilder, Josef Albers, Grace Moreley, Emerson Woelffer, Robert Motherwell, Arshile Gorky, Peter Voulkos, E. E. Cummings, Paul and Josephine Kantor, Adolph Gottlieb, Ynez Johnston, Richard Nickel, Clifford Still, A. E. Gallatin, Richard Diebenkorn and others. Nordland also comments on galleries including the Royer Gallery, Paul Kantor Gallery, Ferus Gallery, Landau Gallery, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Gerald Nordland (1927- 2019) was an art historian, critic, educator, curator, and author who resided in Chicago, Ill. at the time of the interview.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview provided by the Goldsmith Foundation. 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 available on line
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 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 56 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Curators -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians -- Interviews Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, American -- California -- San Francisco Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, American -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, American -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, American -- California -- Los Angeles Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lachaise, Gaston, 1882-1935 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Johnston, Ynez, 1920- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diebenkorn, Richard, 1922-1993 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of Southern California -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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