Oral history interview with Elsie Driggs, 1985 October 30-December 5

Collection Information

Size: 304 Pages, Transcript

Format: Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 13 digital wav files. Duration is 8 hr., 30 min.

Summary: An interview of Elsie Driggs conducted 1985 October 30-December 5, by Francine Tyler, for the Archives of American Art. Driggs recalls her family and early life in New York and Pennsylvania; education; travels to Italy; Pittsburgh steel factory subject matter; her Precisionist and Classicist painting style; influence of Piero della Francesca and Cezanne; Art Students League; WPA; her husband, Lee Gatch; associations wiht Maurice Sterne, George Bridgman; Charles Demuth; Charles Sheeler; George Luks; Leo Stein; Niles Spencer; Georgia O'Keeffe; J.B. Naumann; Elsa Schmid; Francis Bacon; Balthus; Ned Bruce, among others. She discusses her paintings and process, influences, materials, and technique; industrial and natural subject matter; New York art galleries, including Frank Rehn Gallery and Staempfli Gallery; art patrons; commissions; murals; and her residency at Yaddo.

Biographical/Historical Note

Elsie Driggs (1898-1992) was an artist from New York City known for her Precisionist paintings.

Provenance

This interview is part of the Archives' 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.