The Oral History Program
in The Museum of Modern Art Archives
The Museum of Modern Art
Museum Archives
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019-5497
moma.org/learn/resources/archives
© 2012 The Museum of Modern Art. All rights reserved.
The Museum of Modern Art, Publisher
Finding aid prepared by Molly Shea, under the direction of Michelle Elligott, 2012.
Machine-readable finding aid created by Alana Miller. Description is in
English.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Creator: |
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.). Museum Archives
|
|
Title: |
The Oral History Program |
|
Dates: |
1987- |
|
Abstract: |
Oral history interviews conducted with individuals related to The Museum of Modern Art |
The purpose of the Oral History Program is to fill gaps in the written record on specific topics. Oral histories serve to
enhance and complement the Museum Archives' holdings of documentary material with first-hand observation, recollections and
reflections. Importantly, our Oral History Program is MoMA-centric. Increasingly, interviews with artists are being undertaken
to discuss the role of the Museum in the life of the artist, as well as to interview the artist about works of art in the
Museum Collection and to discuss the artist's process, use of materials, and the larger context within which a particular
work of art was made.
Restrictions on Access
Transcripts of the oral history interviews are accessible for use in the Archives' reading room in Manhattan. Audio recordings
of the interviews are restricted and not available. Digital video footage of artists who were interviewed as part of the Museum's
2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative is available for use in the Archives' reading room in Manhattan. The Museum Archives
seeks to make the oral history interviews acessible to researchers to the fullest extent possible in accordance with signed
agreements with the participants and established access policies. Please note that some oral histories have been conducted
but have not at this time been cleared for public use and are listed in Series VII: Restricted Interviews.
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Museum of Modern Art owns all legal rights to the interviews and any transcriptions and recordings of those interviews,
including any copyrights.
Other collections containing recorded interviews in The Museum of Modern Art Archives are the Sound Recordings of Museum-Related
Events collection, the Video Recordings of Museum-Related Events collection, the David Hoffman MoMA History Interviews, and
the Calvin Tomkins Papers.
Published citations should take the following form:
Long version: Oral History Program, interview with [interviewee], [date], p. [page number]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives,
New York.
Abbreviated version: OH Program, [interviewee], [date], p. [page number]. MoMA Archives, NY.
The Oral History Program was initiated by The Museum of Modern Art Archives. In 1990 the Archives received a grant of $52,600
from the NEH to initiate its Oral History Program and to produce 40 oral histories. [Note: three oral histories in the collection
pre-date the formal establishment of the program, those of Eliza Bliss Parkinson Cobb, Sidney Janis, and Monroe Wheeler.]
Donations from foundations and individuals, and Museum in-kind contributions were utilized to match the NEH grant. Additional
funding was provided by a bequest to the Museum in 1992 from the Estate of Morris Leverton. Subsequently, the program has
been underwritten by generous contributions from the Museum's Contemporary Arts Council, International Council, and Trustee
Committee on Archives, Library and Research Support; from individual donors Leslie Garfield, Agnes Gund, Gilbert Silverman,
and Joanne Stern; and from a generous grant from an anonymous donor.
| Series I: Artists
|
|
|
|
Participants within this series are artists represented in the Museum's collection and/or have a relationship with the Museum.
In some instances, these interviews contain focused dialogue about specific works in the collection. In addition, some artists
are former Museum staff.
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
Vito Acconci Video Clip
Transcript (PDF)
Interview part of 2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative Video Project
|
2011 |
|
Vija Celmins Video Clip
Transcript (PDF)
Interview part of 2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative Video Project
|
2011 |
|
Chuck Close Transcript (PDF)
|
1996 |
|
Dan Graham Interview part of 2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative Video Project
|
2011 |
|
Jasper Johns Transcript (PDF)
|
1994 |
|
Jeff Koons Transcript (PDF)
|
1999 |
|
Sol LeWitt Transcript (PDF)
|
1994 |
|
Robert Mangold Transcript (PDF)
|
1999 |
|
Allan McCollum Transcript (PDF)
|
1999 |
|
Bruce Nauman Video Clip
Transcript (PDF)
Interview part of 2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative Video Project
|
2011 |
|
Yvonne Rainer Video Clip
Transcript (PDF)
Interview part of 2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative Video Project
|
2011 |
|
Robert Rauschenberg Transcript (PDF)
|
2006 |
|
Ed Ruscha Video Clip
Transcript (PDF)
Interview part of 2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative Video Project
|
2011 |
|
James Turrell Transcript (PDF)
Interview part of the 2010 MoMA PS1 Oral History Initiative
|
2010 |
|
| Series III: Administrative and Curatorial Staff
|
|
|
|
Participants within this series are former Museum staff members reflecting upon their professional experience at the Museum.
Topics include, but are not limited to, exhibition history, acquisitions, the Museum's expansion projects, recollections of
artists and other staff, and descriptions of various Museum programs.
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
Emilio Ambasz Transcript (PDF)
|
1993, 1994 |
|
Françoise Boas Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
Eileen Bowser Transcript (PDF)
|
2000 |
|
Olive Bragazzi Transcript (PDF)
|
1998 |
|
William Burback Transcript (PDF)
|
1999 |
|
Riva Castleman Transcript (PDF)
|
1995, 1996 |
|
Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum Transcript (PDF)
|
2000 |
|
Mildred Constantine Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
Helen M. Franc Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
Wilder Green Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
John B. Hightower Transcript (PDF)
|
1996 |
|
Philip Johnson Transcript (PDF)
|
1990, 1991, 1995 |
|
Betsy B. Jones Transcript (PDF)
|
1994 |
|
Victor Jules-Louis Transcript (PDF)
|
1998 |
|
Antoinette King Transcript (PDF)
|
1997 |
|
Richard H. Koch Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
Luisa Kreisberg Transcript (PDF)
|
2003 |
|
Sandra Lang Landsman Transcript (PDF)
|
1999 |
|
Alicia Legg Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
William S. Lieberman Transcript (PDF)
|
1993 |
|
Grace M. Mayer Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
Sara Mazo Transcript (PDF)
|
1993 |
|
Porter McCray Transcript (PDF)
|
1991, 1993 |
|
Pearl L. Moeller Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
Richard E. Oldenburg Transcript (PDF)
|
1999 |
|
Richard Palmer Transcript (PDF)
|
2003 |
|
Frances Pernas Transcript (PDF)
|
1994 |
|
Waldo Rasmussen Transcript (PDF)
|
1994 |
|
Eloise Ricciardelli Transcript (PDF)
|
1994 |
|
Gilbert S. Robinson Transcript (PDF)
|
2002 |
|
William S. Rubin Transcript (PDF)
|
1993, 1994 |
|
Peter Selz Transcript (PDF)
|
1994 |
|
Elizabeth Shaw Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
Robert Storr Transcript (PDF)
|
2004 |
|
Ione Ulrich Sutton Transcript (PDF)
|
1993 |
|
John Szarkowski Transcript (PDF)
|
1993 |
|
Richard Tooke Transcript (PDF)
|
1998 |
|
Kirk Varnedoe Transcript (PDF)
|
2001, 2002 |
|
Jean Volkmer Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
Monroe Wheeler Transcript (PDF)
|
1987 |
|
Stuart Wrede Advance permission from Stuart Wrede required to access interview
|
1997 |
|
| Series V: Museum Building and Expansion
|
|
|
|
Participants within this series are architects, developers and lawyers involved in the Museum's major 1984 expansion campaign
designed by architect Cesar Pelli. Other topics may include the Trust for Cultural Resources, the Museum's Sculpture Garden,
fundraising, and zoning legislation.
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
Donald H. Elliott Transcript (PDF)
|
1994 |
|
Philip Johnson Transcript (PDF)
|
1990, 1991, 1995 |
|
Richard Koch |
1991 |
|
Cesar Pelli Transcript (PDF)
|
1994 |
|
Richard Weinstein Transcript (PDF)
|
1991 |
|
| Series VI: MoMA PS1
|
|
|
|
Participants within this series have an important connection to MoMA PS1 Contemporary Art Center. In 2000, MoMA became affiliated
with PS1, and the two institutions fully merged in 2010, thus extending the reach of both institutions. Topics in this series
may include MoMA PS1's founding, commissioned artwork, MoMA PS1's studio program, exhibition history, fundraising, and its
merger with MoMA.
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
John Comfort Transcript (PDF)
|
2011 |
|
Tom Finkelpearl Transcript (PDF)
|
2010 |
|
James Turrell Transcript (PDF)
|
2010 |
|
| Series VII: Exhibition Documentaries
|
|
|
|
From 2003 to 2009, the Museum undertook a series of oral history-inspired interviews related to special MoMA exhibitions.
These exhibition documentaries featured curators and artists discussing the exhibition in situ. The series of exhibition documentaries
was initiated in 2003 under the guidance of Mary Lea Bandy, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, and CK Studios produced
the videos. DVD copies of the interviews are available in the MoMA Archives, and the HDCam masters are held by the Museum's
Department of Film.
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
Matisse Picasso [MoMA Exh. #1906, February 13, 2003 - May 19, 2003] Participants include Chief Curator at Large John Elderfield and Department of Painting and Sculpture Chief Curator Kirk Varnedoe.
See also Video Recordings of Museum-Related Events, 2008-213.
|
2003 |
|
Friedlander [MoMA Exh. #1943, June 5, 2005-August 29, 2005] Participants include artist Lee Friedlander and Department of Photography Chief Curator Peter Galassi.
See also Video Recordings of Museum-Related Events, 2008-46.
|
2003 |
|
Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne and Pissarro 1865-1885 [MoMA Exh. #1944, June 26, 2005-September 12, 2005] Participants include Department of Painting and Sculpture Curator Joachim Pissarro and Chief Curator John Elderfield.
See also Video Recordings of Museum-Related Events, 2008-47.
|
2005 |
|
Elizabeth Murray [MoMA Exh. #1955, October 28, 2005-January 9, 2006] Participants include artist Elizabeth Murray and Department of Painting and Sculpture Curator Robert Storr.
See also Video Recordings of Museum-Related Events, 2008-48 and 2008-48D.
|
2005 |
|
Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years [MoMA Exh. #2007, June 3, 2007-September 24, 2007] Participants include artist Richard Serra and Dia Foundation Curator Lynne Cooke.
See also Video Recordings of Museum-Related Events, 2008-49.
|
2007 |
|
| Series VIII: Restricted Interviews
|
|
|
|
Interviews within this series are unavailable for public access at this time.
|
| Artists
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
Richard Hamilton |
2009 |
|
Ellsworth Kelly 2012 interview part of 2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative Video Project
|
1991, 1999, 2012 |
|
Jim Rosenquist Interview part of 2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative Video Project
|
2012 |
|
Robert Ryman |
1993 |
|
Yoko Ono Interview part of 2011-2012 Artist Oral History Initiative Project
Transcript of audio recording only
|
2011 |
| Trustees and Donors
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
Agnes Gund |
2009,2012 |
|
Donald B. Marron |
1994, 1996 |
|
David Rockefeller |
1991, 2001 |
| Administrative and Curatorial Staff
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
Carolyn Lanchner |
2003 |
|
Deborah Wye |
2011 |
|
Kynaston McShine |
2010, 2011 |
|
Bernice Rose |
2002 |
| Art World
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
Paula Cooper |
1996 |
| Exhibition Documentaries
|
|
Title |
Date |
|
Martin Puryear [MoMA Exh. #2021. November 4, 2007-January 14, 2008] Participants include artist Martin Puryear and Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture John Elderfield.
See also Video Recordings of Museum-Related Events, 2010-18 and 2010-18D.
|
2007 |
|
