Karl E. Fortess interviews with artists, Circa 1963-1985

Collection Information

Size: 5.6 Linear feet

Summary: The recorded interviews with artists by Karl Fortess measure 5.6 linear feet and date from circa 1963 to 1985. The interviews consist of 203 cassettes containing 263 interviews, averaging 35 minutes, of painters, sculptors, printmakers, and art teachers. Fortess conducted 79 of the interviews as a pilot for and as part of a grant from Office of Education, U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare at Boston University's School of Applied Arts. Included in the collection is the final report for the grant, June 1968, summarizing the objective was "to develop a library of taped interviews with contemporary American painters, sculptors, and graphic artists, such interviews to be concerned with questions of technical, professional and personal interest" and the evaluation process and outcomes of the value of the interviews as a teaching resource for faculty and students. The interviews followed guidelines to include background, training, work patterns, interests, teachers, influences, teaching experiences, attitudes toward teaching, and opinions on art trends. Fortess continued interviewing artists after completion of the grant, including many with artists associated with the Woodstock, N.Y. art community.

Biographical/Historical Note

Karl E. Fortess (1907-1993) was a painter, printmaker and teacher, of Boston, Massachusetts and Woodstock, N.Y. Fortess was born in Antwerp, Belgium on October 13, 1907, and became an American citizen in 1923. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Students League in New York, and the Woodstock School of Painting with Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Fortess taught at the Art Students League, Brooklyn Museum Art School, Louisiana State University, Fort Wright College, and Boston University School of Fine and Applied Arts. He was a member of the Artists Equity Association, Society of American Graphic Artists, American Association of University Professors, and the British Film Institute. He was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1946, was named an Associate of the National Academy of Design in 1960 and elected to full Academician in 1971. While on the faculty at Boston University, Fortess conceived and prepared a grant proposal to the Office of Education, U.S. Dept. Of Health, Education and Welfare, to conduct a study on the benefits to faculty and students in higher education of recorded interviews with artists as a resource, and devoted much of his later career to interviewing artists.

Provenance

The interviews were donated by Karl Fortress between 1978 and 1985.

Language Note

English .

Funding Note

The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.