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Archives of American Art
Oral history interview with James Penney
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.penney81
- Creators:
-
Penney, James, 1910-1982Brown, Robert F.
- Dates:
-
1981 August 21-December 6
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
2 Itemssound tape reels (3 hr., 9 min.)79 PagesTranscript
- Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
Interview of James Penney, conducted by Robert F. Brown for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Clinton, New York, on August 21 and December 6, 1981.
Scope and Contents
Penney speaks of growing up in Missouri and Kansas; taking art classes at the University of Kansas; moving to New York during the Depression to pursue his art career; studying at the Art Students League; meeting his first wife, Frances Avery; exhibiting his paintings in New York; visiting museums; mural painting with the WPA; working for the Jordanoff Aviation Corporation during World War II; teaching at Bennington, the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, and Hamilton College; and some of his paintings, including An Epidemic Next Year; Workers in the Snow, Central Park; The Bombed City, 1939; and Rock of Versailles. Penney also recalls Karl Mattern, Raymond Eastwood, Albert Bloch, Randall Brubaker, Chris Ritter, Jackson Pollock, Thomas Hart Benton, George Grosz, Moses Soyer, Stuart Davis, Burgoyne Diller, Bill Palmer, and others.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
James Penney (1910-1982) was a painter and educator.
Administration
Sponsor
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 is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
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
More Information
General
General
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 9 min.
Keywords
Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
---|---|---|---|
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Educators -- New York (State) -- Interviews | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Sound recordings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Interviews | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Grosz, George, 1893-1959 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Soyer, Moses, 1899-1974 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) | Corporate Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions