Oral Histories

Interview of Howard Warshaw

Painter and educator at the Jepson Art Institute and UC, Santa Barabara.
Subtitle:
Los Angeles Art Community: Group Portrait, Howard Warshaw
Series:
Los Angeles Art Community - Group Portrait
Topic:
Art
Biographical Note:
Painter and educator at the Jepson Art Institute and UC, Santa Barabara.
Interviewer:
Einstein, Susan
Interviewee:
Warshaw, Howard
Persons Present:
Tape I to IV: Warshaw and Einstein; Tape V: Warshaw, Einstein, and Nancy Olexo.
Place Conducted:
Tape I: Powell Library, UCLA; Tapes II to IV: Warshaw's home in Carpinteria, California; Tape V: UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and in Warshaw's studio and home in Carpinteria, California.
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Interviewer Background and Preparation:
The interview was conducted by Susan Einstein, UCLA Oral History Program (for "L.A. Art Community: A Group Portrait"); B.A., Art History, UCLA; M.A., Art History, UC Berkeley. Photographer, UCLA Museum of Cultural History. Coauthor, Sam Francis (New York: Abrams, 1975). Einstein prepared for the interview byreviewing relevant catalogs and articles. She pursued a biographical approach within a chronological framework, although the sessions often tended toward consideration of more general issues in aesthetics and art history. The history of Mr. Warshaw's experiences in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara received special attention.
Processing of Interview:
Editing was done by Lawrence Weschler, Assistant Editor, Oral History Program. He checked the verbatim transcript against the original tape recordings and edited for punctuation, spelling, paragraphing, and verification of proper and place names. Words and phrases inserted by the editor have been bracketed. The final transcript remains in the same order as the taped material. Warshaw reviewed the transcript in two stages. He approved the transcript after making several revisions and one substantial deletion. He assisted in supplying spellings for names not previously verified.The edited transcript was reviewed by Joel Gardner, Editor, Oral History Program, before it was typed in final form. Mr. Weschler compiled the index and wrote an introduction. Other front matter was prepared by the Program staff.
Length:
6 hrs.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Series Statement:
This series includes interviews with prominent Los Angeles-based visual artists and other members of the art establishment whose careers span the period from the 1920s through the 1970s. It documents the art community of the pre-World War II period and the rise of Los Angeles as a nationally recognized art center in the postwar period. Funding for this series was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Abstract:
Childhood in New York; mother's encouragement of interest in art; classes at New York Art Students League; move to Los Angeles, 1942; early shows in small galleries; contact with Vincent Price, Dorothy Miller, Julien Levy, Eugene Berman, Rico Lebrun, and others in art world; first New York show at Levy Gallery; art in Los Angeles, late 1940s; Max Beckmann's visit to Los Angeles; James Byrnes and Los Angeles County Museum; Igor Stravinsky and émigré community; Jepson Art Institute; Lebrun's lectures; purchase prizes at Los Angeles County Museum annual shows; current trends in avant-garde art; association with Perls Gallery; appointment to faculty of University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB); contact with Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions; murals at UCSB, UCLA, and University of California, San Diego; video in teaching and creating a demonstration; the crisis in modern art.