Oral Histories

Interview of Marcia S. Weisman

Art collector.
Subtitle:
Collecting, Sharing, and Promoting Contemporary Art in California
Series:
Z: Orphan Interviews pre 1999
Topic:
Art
Biographical Note:
Art collector.
Interviewer:
Goodwin, George M.
Interviewee:
Weisman, Marcia S.
Persons Present:
Goodwin and Weisman.
Place Conducted:
Weisman home in Beverly Hills, 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 George M. Goodwin, freelance consultant, UCLA Oral History Program; B.A., art history, Lake Forest College; M.A., history, Columbia University; Ph.D., art education, Stanford University.
Processing of Interview:
Editing was done by Rebecca Andrade, assistant editor, Oral History Program. She checked the verbatim transcript prepared by staff typists, editing for punctuation, paragraphing, correct spelling, and verification of proper names. Words and phrases inserted by the editor have been bracketed.The edited transcript was presented to Weisman for review; she and George Goodwin worked together on verifications. Mitch Tuchman, senior editor, and Sylvia Tidwell, editor, reviewed the manuscript before it was typed in final form. Front matter and index were prepared by the Oral History Program staff. Goodwin and Tuchman wrote the introduction.
Length:
21 hrs.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Abstract:
Birth in Portland, Oregon; family history in nineteenth-century California; childhood in San Francisco; father and brother, Myer and Norton Simon, in canning business in Fullerton, California; education in San Francisco and Los Angeles schools; Mills College; art appreciation courses; marriage to Frederick Weisman; painting lessons; beginning interest in art collecting, mid-1950s; Norton Simon's early collecting; visiting Ben Heller in New York; buying from Esther Robles, Felix Landau, Paul Kantor, Frank Perls, and Ferus Gallery; Max Ernst's paintings and sculpture; changing taste in art; Robert Motherwell; Mark Rothko; Robert Rauschenberg; Franz Kline; Claes Oldenburg; Isamu Noguchi; Paul Klee painting purchased from Kantor; interest in California artists: Billy Al Bengston, Lorser Feitelson, Robert Graham, Clyfford Still; Ed Kienholz and Duane Hanson; the artist in society; museums in California; Frederick Weisman, trustee of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Barnett Newman memorial at Pasadena Art Museum; Henry Moore; Willem de Kooning; Southern California art dealers; Gifford Phillips and Con-temporary Art Council; Maurice Tuchman; Kenneth Donahue; Norton Simon and Rich-ard Brown's plans for new museum; Jews as supporters of the arts; Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art; Newport Harbor Art Museum; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; changing role of art museums; beginning of art class; Andy Warhol; teaching at California State University, Long Beach; art program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Weisman collection.