Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Harold Rosenberg

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.rosenb70
Creators:
Rosenberg, Harold, 1906-1978
Cummings, Paul
Dates:
1970 December 17-1973 January 28
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
244 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Harold Rosenberg conducted 1970 December 17-1973 January 28, by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art over nine sessions.
Scope and Contents
Rosenberg speaks on a wide variety of topics including Marxism and Communism; art criticism; teaching and the philosopy of art; how his interest in art developed over the years; getting his writings published and starting a magazine; what intrigues him about the avant-garde; when and why he started painting; action painting; the inaccuracies in art history about Avant-gardism and Surrealism; working as a mural painter for the College Art Association; moving from the WPA's art project to the writer's project, and becoming an art editor; what happened to the works of art done under the WPA after it ended; and moving to the Hamptons.
Scope and Contents
He speaks in detail on the New York art scene during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s; The Club; writing about art; politics and art; Shakespeare and literature's influence on art and vice versa; the various economic aspects of art; how the Depression affected him and the people he knew; the projects he worked on in the WPA; and working for the OWI after the WPA disbanded.
Scope and Contents
He recalls Mark Rothko, Harold Baumbach, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Peter Blume, Helen Lundberg, André Breton, Arshile Gorky, Roberto Matta, Jackson Pollock, David Smith, Lee Krasner, Fernand Léger, Joan Miró, Jim Leshay, Stuart Davis, Bruce Inverarity, Barney Newman, Mark Tobey, Gregorio Prestopino, and many others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Harold Rosenberg (1906-1978) was a writer and educator 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 5 sound tapes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 10 hr., 4 min.
General
Interview transcript is not in chronological order; arrangement designated by the interviewer Paul Cummings.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art, American Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Economic aspects Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Philosophy Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Political aspects Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art and literature Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art criticism Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Surrealism Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Avant-garde (Aesthetics) -- New York (State) -- New York Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Motherwell, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Baumbach, Harold, 1903- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blume, Peter, 1906-1992 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Inverarity, Robert Bruce, 1909-1999 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Matta, 1912-2002 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Miró, Joan, 1893- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Breton, André, 1896-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Léger, Fernand, 1881-1955 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smith, David, 1906-1965 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tobey, Mark Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lundeberg, Helen, 1908-1999 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Prestopino, Gregorio Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Work Projects Administration Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Club (New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Office of War Information. Washington, D.C. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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