Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Carroll F. Wales

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.wales92
Creators:
Wales, Carroll F., 1918-2007
Brown, Robert F.
Dates:
1992 November 10-1993 February 11
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
9 Items
sound cassettes Sound recording
203 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview with Carroll F. Wales conducted 1992 November 10-1993 February 11, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Wales discusses his childhood as an orphan in Maine; work as a designer for Cheney silk works, Manchester, Connecticut; World War II service in North Africa and Europe; education at Harvard in fine arts under Chandler Post, Frederick Deknatel, and John Coolidge; art conservation training under Morton Bradley, Frank Gettens, and Richard Buck; fellow students Evan Turner, Elizabeth Jones, John Maxon, and Dore Ashton; first jobs restoring Roman mosaic at Worcester Art Museum, Italian paintings in the Jarvis Collection at Yale, and early 19th century murals at Wesleyan University; extended work (1952-1959) through the Byzantine Institute on Byzantine frescoes in Istanbul, George Stout's work on particularly difficult projects, and the division of preparatory work among Greek Christians (figural paintings) and Turkish Moslems (decorative areas); and friendship with British archaeologist Max Mallowan and his wife, author Agatha Christie, while conserving ivories during excavations at Nimrud, Iraq.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Carroll F. Wales (1918-2007) was a restorer from Boston, Massachusetts.

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' 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 9 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 17 digital wav files. Duration is 12 hr., 20 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art -- Conservation and restoration Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Restorers -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art restorers -- Massachusetts -- Boston Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stout, George L. (George Leslie) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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