Oral history interview with Dorothy Varian, 1980 December 6-7

Collection Information

Size: 107 Pages, Transcript

Format: Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 56 min.

Summary: An interview with Dorothy Varian conducted 1980 December 6-7, by Avis Berman for the Archives of American Art. Varian recalls her childhood in New York City; her education at Cooper Union and the Art Students League; the Whitney Studio Club and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney; associations with artists John Sloan; George Bellows; John Marin; Yasuo Kuniyoshi; Alex Brook; Katherine Schmidt; Isabel Bishop; Adolph Gottlieb; Jean Renoir; Marcel Duchamp; Henri Matisse; Jules Pascin, and Bernard Karfiol, among others. She discusses the PWAP and WPA, and working with Juliana Force. She recalls time spent in Ogunquit, Maine, and moving to Woodstock, New York. She recalls associations with art dealers: Paul Durand-Ruel; Edith Halpert; and Joseph Drummer. She discusses her artistic influences, process, materials, and her transition from representational to abstract art.

Biographical/Historical Note

Dorothy Varian (1895-1985) was a painter from New York City. She studied at Cooper Union and the Art Students League. She later lived and worked in Woodstock, New York.

Provenance

These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Language Note

English .

Funding

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service. Funding for this interview was provided by the Wyeth Endowment for American Art. This interview received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool.