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Archives of American Art
Oral history interview with Jack Werner Stauffacher
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.stauff93
- Creators:
-
Stauffacher, Jack WernerKarlstrom, Paul J.
- Dates:
-
1993 February 8
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
38 PagesTranscript
- Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
An interview of Jack Stauffacher conducted 1993 February 8, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Stauffacher speaks of his childhood in San Mateo, California and his early interest in printing; his collaboration with his older brother, Frank, a filmmaker, and his contacts through him with other experimental filmmakers including Man Ray and Oskar Fischinger; his developing interest in post-war modernism; and his connection with avant-garde group around "Circle Magazine" in Berkeley which included Henry Miller, Kenneth Rexroth, among others.
Scope and Contents
He recounts his friendships with Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Sam Francis, Hassel Smith, and Gordon Cook; his army experience and meeting Lee Mullican; the founding of the Dynaton with Wolfgang Paalen and Gordon Onslow-Ford; the preparation and printing of the Dynaton Catalog at Greenwood Press; the 1951 film of the exhibition by his brother; the changes and breakup of Dynaton; working on artists' books such as Francis' Lapis Press; and his interest in the history of type and its connections to the classical tradition in Greenwood's printing of Phaedrus, 1976 and Horace, 1992.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Jack Werner Stauffacher (1920- ) is a typographer, designer, and publisher from San Francisco, California.
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 available on line
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 administrators. Funding for the transcription of this interview provided by Pasadena Art Alliance
Digital Content
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
More Information
General
General
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr.. 53 min.
Keywords
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Book design | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Publishers and publishing | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Dynaton (Group of artists) | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Printing -- Technique | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Stauffacher, Frank, 1914-1955 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Greenwood Press (San Francisco, Calif.) | 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
