The Museum of Modern Art Archives has long recognized the value of oral history as a fundamental way to capture gaps in the written record, preserve the firsthand recollections of the individual in his or her own voice, and enrich the work of scholars and curators. To date, the Archives has created over 100 oral histories. The tabs below provide further information, video excerpts, and transcripts for various parts of the Oral History Program. In addition, you can review a comprehensive listing of oral histories. Researchers can consult transcripts and/or selected extended artists’ filmed interviews during an appointment in the Archives’ Manhattan reading room. For more information, check Visit the Archives.
Artist Oral History Initiative
In 2011, the Museum Archives received a generous grant from an anonymous donor to create the Artist Oral History Initiative. For this initiative, artists were filmed in MoMA galleries and study centers discussing works in the collection with Museum curators and scholars.
Vito Acconci
January 17, 2012
Interviewed by Jeff Weinstein
Vija Celmins
October 18, 2011
Interviewed by Betsy Sussler, Editor in Chief of Bomb Magazine
Dan Graham
November 1, 2011
Interviewed by Sabine Breitwieser, Chief Curator of Media and Performance Art
Ellsworth Kelly
May 23, 2012
Interviewed by Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture
Ellsworth Kelly transcript forthcoming.
Bruce Nauman
January 9, 2012
Interviewed by Kathy Halbreich, Laurenze Foundation Curator
Yvonne Rainer
July 7, 2011
Interviewed by Connie Butler, The Robert Lehman Chief Curator of Drawing
James Rosenquist
April 17, 2012
Interviewed by Leah Dickerman, Curator of Painting and Sculpture
Ed Ruscha
January 24, 2012
Interviewed by Christophe Cherix, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Chief Curator of Prints and Illustrated Books
Institutional Oral History Program
The Museum Archives’ Institutional Oral History Program was founded in 1990 with a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The program produced interviews with select individuals affiliated with the Museum, such as trustees, major donors, administrative and curatorial staff, artists, and dealers. Each interview focuses on the individual’s role in the Museum, with the aim of preserving MoMA’s institutional memory.
A selection of the Museum’s collection of institutional oral history transcripts is available below. Researchers must obtain advance permission from the Museum Archives to publish and/or quote from any oral history. Researchers can consult the complete collection of the Museum’s oral history transcripts in the Archives’ Manhattan reading room. For more information, see Visiting the Archives.
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. View a comprehensive listing of oral histories.