Oral history interview with Jeffrey Deitch
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 12 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Deitch, Jeffrey
label: Creator
content: McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-
label: Names
content: Harvard Business School -- Students
label: Names
content: John Weber Gallery
label: Names
content: Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Students
label: Names
content: Acconci, Vito, 1940-
label: Names
content: Andre, Carl, 1935-
label: Names
content: Beecroft, Vanessa
label: Names
content: Callahan, Harry M.
label: Names
content: Dwan, Virginia, 1931-2022
label: Names
content: Halley, Peter
label: Names
content: Haring, Keith
label: Names
content: Koons, Jeff
label: Names
content: Panza, Giuseppe
label: Names
content: Pretto, Julian
label: Names
content: Ray, Charles
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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 administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Deitch, Jeffrey
label: Creator
content: McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Jeffrey Deitch (1950- ) is an art dealer from New York, New York. James McElhinney (1952- ) is a painter and educator from New York, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 33 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2006 May 15
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.deitch06
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Jeffrey Deitch conducted 2006 May 15, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at Deitch Projects on Grand Street, in the SoHo neighborhood of New York, New York. Deitch discusses his childhood in Hartford, Connecticut; growing up in a family business; his experience as an exchange student in France and Japan during his teenage years; his education in economics and art history at Wesleyan University; the opening of his own local art gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts; his move to New York and his first job at the John Weber gallery as a secretary; curating an exhibition called "Lives" which described how artists use their lives as an art medium; attending Harvard Business School; moving back to New York and starting an art advisory program for Citibank in 1979; his travels to Asia; his first New York gallery opening with artists Peter Halley and Charles Ray; opening Deitch Projects in 1996; the administration of the gallery, including investing in an archivist, a financial manager, and a press liaison; incorporating popular musical acts into shows, attesting to his belief in diversity in the arts; his view of gallery publicity and criticism; art fairs versus traditional art galleries; discussion of works of art such as Tu M' (1918) by Marcel Duchamp and Edouard Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergere (1881-82); and art education evolving into a more professional field. Deitch also recalls John Weber, Carl Andre, John Cage, Vito Acconci, Jeff Koons, Julian Pretto, Vanessa Beecroft, Virginia Dwan, Giuseppe Panza di Biumo, Keith Haring, and others.