Oral history interview with Joseph H. Hirshhorn
name: label: Interviewee
content: Hirshhorn, Joseph H.
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
label: Names
content: Smithsonian Institution
label: Names
content: Avery, Milton, 1885-1965
label: Names
content: Burliuk, David, 1882-1967
label: Names
content: De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997
label: Names
content: Eilshemius, Louis M. (Louis Michel), 1864-1941
label: Names
content: Lerner, Abram
topic: label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Hirshhorn, Joseph H.
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1889-1981) was an art collector from New York, N.Y. Hirshhorn agreed to donate his collection of modern and contemporary art to the Smithsonian in 1966. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden opened in 1974.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Sound tape reels (Sound recording, 5 in.)
label: Extent
content: 48 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1976 Dec. 16
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.hirshh76
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound tape reels
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript available on line.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Joseph H. Hirshhorn conducted 1976 Dec. 16, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Hirshhorn discusses his childhood; working as a stockbroker; his first art acquisition of two Durer engravings; buying Barbizon paintings; his relationship with the A.C.A. Gallery, Milton Avery, David Burliuk, the Collectors Club, Willem de Kooning, Louis M. Eilshemius, Lloyd Goodrich, Edith Gregor Halpert, Abram Lerner, Louise Nevelson, and others. Hirshhorn also describes the alternative plans he considered before giving his collection to the Smithsonian Institution.