Oral Histories

Interview of Frederick S. Wight

Painter. UCLA professor of art and director what became the Wight Art Gallery.
Subtitle:
Of Art and Exhibitions
Series:
Z: Orphan Interviews pre 1999
Topic:
UCLA and University of California History
UCLA Faculty
UCLA Museum Staff
Art
Biographical Note:
Painter. UCLA professor of art and director what became the Wight Art Gallery.
Interviewer:
Galm, Bernard
Interviewee:
Wight, Frederick S.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Abstract:
Family history in New York; father's scholarly pursuits; boyhood in Brooklyn and Cape Cod; early art training and influences; education at University of Virginia; travel in Europe; Académie Julien, Paris; M.A., Harvard University; employment at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Louis Sullivan, Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Lyonel Fein-inger, and José Clemente Orozco shows; György Kepes; Orozco show at Pasadena Art Museum; appointment to UCLA art department faculty, 1953; Gibson Danes; Karl With; Edward A. Dickson and development of UCLA; Walter and Louise Arensberg collection; Willitts Hole collection; shows at UCLA; Artists of Ireland, 1954; John Marin memorial exhibition, 1955; UCLA Art Council's sponsorship of exhibitions, lectures, scholarships, and fellowships; Morris Graves retrospective, 1957; Mark Tobey and Graves; Hans Hofmann and Arthur Dove shows; Walter M. Maitland donation; Modigliani: Paintings and Drawings at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1961; local artists; Lipchitz retrospective, 1963; planning Dickson Art Center and UCLA art galleries; Matisse exhibition opening galleries; supporters of art in Los Angeles; museum direction; The Negro in American Art and The Expression of Gio Ponti, 1966; conflicts between directors and artists; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; Richard J. Neutra and Rudolph Schindler; Alexander Archipenko, Jean Arp, Gerhard Marcks, and George Rickey exhibits; Transparency, Reflection, Light, and Space: Four Artists: Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman; Stanton Macdonald-Wright exhibition, 1970; cooperation with National Gallery of Art to mount Wilhelm Lehmbrück show, 1972; Lehmbrück acquisition for Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden; support and expansion under Murphy's administration; enlargement of gallery.