Oral Histories

Interview of Rosamund Felsen

Founder of the Rosamund Felsen Gallery.
Subtitle:
Exhibiting Los Angeles Artists
Series:
Interviews not in a series, part one
Topic:
Art
Biographical Note:
Founder of the Rosamund Felsen Gallery.
Interviewer:
Barnett, Teresa
Interviewee:
Felsen, Rosamund
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Abstract:
Early interest in art and theater; opts for marriage over pursuing a college education; marries Sidney B. Felsen after dissolution of first marriage; early encounters with Los Angeles art galleries and artists; Wallace Berman; the beginnings of Gemini GEL; key players and their roles at Gemini GEL; artists who worked with Gemini; Felsen is asked to leave Gemini; accepts position as curator of prints at the Pasadena Art Museum; Felsen's innate sense of how to arrange an exhibition; return to Gemini and dissolution of second marriage; the early years of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; reasons for the Pasadena Art Museum's demise; the museum's importance in the development of contemporary art in Los Angeles; agrees to assist Timothea Stewart in opening the Timothea Stewart Gallery on La Cienega Boulevard; opens the Rosamund Felsen Gallery; early exhibitions at the gallery; the emergence of the conceptual art of the seventies; Felsen's exhibition philosophy; the collapse of the art market in the early nineties; Felsen moves her gallery to Bergamot Station in Santa Monica; the high quality of current Los Angeles art; Felsen's decision to build her gallery around younger, local artists; Los Angeles art collectors; financial considerations that influence the making and exhibiting of art; press coverage of art in Los Angeles; Los Angeles's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA); the impact of contemporary art venues in Los Angeles; Felsen's gallery since its move to Bergamot Station.