Oral Histories

Interview of Martha Bertonneau Padve

Vice-president of the Pasadena Art Museum board of trustees.
Subtitle:
Pasadena Art Museum: Martha Bertonneau Padve
Series:
Oral History of the Pasadena Art Museum
Topic:
Art
Biographical Note:
Vice-president of the Pasadena Art Museum board of trustees.
Interviewer:
Ratner, Joanne L.
Interviewee:
Padve, Martha Bertonneau
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 Joanne L. Ratner, Researcher/Interviewer, UCLA Oral History Program; B.A., American Studies/Art History, Scripps College; M.A., Art History/Museum Studies, University of Southern California.Ratner prepared for the interview by reviewing a variety of materials directly related to the Pasadena Art Museum, including minutes of the executive committee from 1958 to 1974, calendars of events, exhibition catalogs and reviews, scrapbooks, newspaper and magazine articles, California Design files, and essays, brochures, and speeches pertaining to the museum's early history. In addition, Ratner read relevant interviews conducted by the UCLA Oral History Program for its Los Angeles Art Community: Group Portrait series.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Series Statement:
This series focuses on the history of the Pasadena Museum of Art and its role as a pathbreaking venue for contemporary art in Southern California in the 1960s.
Abstract:
Family background; move from New Orleans to Pasadena; on the differences between men and women; a European upbringing; marrying Jacob Padve; initial volunteer work for the Pasadena Art Museum; Thomas W. Leavitt; expanding the museum's volunteer service; Robert A. Rowan; Padve invited onto the board of trustees in 1966; the community and the museum; Pasadena versus the Westside; Thornton Ladd; plans to build a wing for Asian art; Wesley I. Dumm; Padve and Margaret Phelps join building fund committee in 1968; the San Marino League; the Men's Committee; public reaction to the new museum building; the museum board of trustees; financial management of the museum; Donald McMillan; the museum's acquisitions budget; the Fellows of Contemporary Art; Frederick and Marcia Weisman; William Janss; deaccessioning; exhibitions; Eudorah M. Moore and the museum; exhibition openings; the Galka Scheyer Blue Four Collection; Padve's participation on the museum's executive and education committees; the museum's art workshops; the museum program at the Art Center College of Design; Walter Hopps; evolution of legal relationship between the museum and its auxiliary groups; the museum's image; evolution of the role of museum auxiliary groups; volunteers and paid staff at the Pasadena Art Museum; Thomas G. Terbell; William C. Agee; John Coplan's 1975 Artforum article; Alfred Esberg; Gifford Phillips; Norton Simon; Padve and the Norton Simon Museum of Art; the accomplishments at the Pasadena Art Museum.