Oral history interview with Amy Freeman Lee, 1980 Sept. 15

Collection Information

Size: 48 Pages, Transcript

Format: Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 19 min.

Summary: An interview of Amy Freeman Lee conducted 1980 Sept. 15, by Sandra Curtis Levy, for the Archives of American Art.

Lee speaks of her family and youth in Seguin, Texas and San Antonio, Texas; her education; longtime involvement with the University of the Incarnate Word; the development of her interest in art; her philanthropic activities; starting out as a watercolorist; influences on her painting style, including Paul Klee and Asian art. She discusses other interests and her life philosophy; humane ethics; parapsychology; Goethe; Carl Jung; hieroglyphics, and symbology. She also recalls her experiments with neon and sculpture, including Suiseiki; Texas as an artistic community; her associations with Xavier Gonzalez, Betty Parsons Gallery; memberships, boards, and volunteer work.

Biographical/Historical Note

Amy Freeman Lee (1914-2004) was a painter, lecturer, and critic from San Antonio, Texas. Studied at University of Texas, Austin, and Incarnate Word College. She was also active in animal rights causes and served as a national trustee of the Humane Society.

Provenance

This interview is 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. This interview received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool.