Oral Histories

Interview of Harold L. Glicksman

Exhibition preparator at the Pasadena Art Museum.
Subtitle:
Pasadena Art Museum: Harold L. Glicksman
Series:
Oral History of the Pasadena Art Museum
Topic:
Art
Biographical Note:
Exhibition preparator at the Pasadena Art Museum.
Interviewer:
Ratner, Joanne L.
Interviewee:
Glicksman, Harold L.
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, UCLA Oral History Program; B.A., American Studies/Art History, Scripps College; M.A., Art History/Museum Studies, University of Southern California.
Length:
2 hrs.
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:
Art history education; artists as role models; the Ferus Gallery; hired as exhibition preparator at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1963; Frederick S. Wight; museum staff in 1963; Glicksman's duties as preparator; exhibition policy; redesigning the museum's gallery space; Walter Hopps; storage conditions; working conditions in preparing exhibitions; review of exhibitions; the VIII Bienal de São Paulo; Robert Irwin; memorable exhibition openings; the museum's relationship with local artists; the decision to construct a new museum building; conceptualizing gallery space for the new building; staff reaction to the Thornton Ladd and John Kelsey design; blackmailed into muting criticisms; functional requirements; lighting problems; James T. Demetrion; John Coplans; Barbara Haskell; Barbara Berman; Penny Little; Gretchen Taylor Glicksman; the Art Alliance of the Pasadena Art Museum; Robert A. Rowan; Harold Jurgensen; Glicksman's resignation from the museum in 1969; feelings about Norton Simon's takeover of the museum; reasons for the museum's modern art focus; work at the Corcoran Gallery of Art; art and the secrets of life.