Oral history interview with Eugene V. Thaw
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 26 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Thaw, Eugene Victor
label: Interviewer
content: McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-
label: Names
content: Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Students
label: Names
content: Cleveland Museum of Art
label: Names
content: Columbia University -- Students
label: Names
content: E.V. Thaw & Co.
label: Names
content: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Pollock-Krasner Foundation
label: Names
content: St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) -- Students
label: Names
content: Castelli, Leo
label: Names
content: Franka, Gunther
label: Names
content: Held, Julius Samuel, 1905-
label: Names
content: Ketterer, Norbert
label: Names
content: Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984
label: Names
content: Landau, Jack, 1925-1967
label: Names
content: Marca-Relli, Conrad, 1913-2000
label: Names
content: Matisse, Pierre, 1900-1989
label: Names
content: Meiss, Millard
label: Names
content: Mitchell, Joan, 1926-1992
label: Names
content: Offner, Richard, 1889-1965
label: Names
content: Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957
label: Names
content: Rousseau, Theodore, 1912-
label: Names
content: Shapiro, Meyer
label: Names
content: Simon, Norton, 1907-1993
label: Names
content: Vavala, Evelyn Sandberg
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: Thaw, Eugene Victor
label: Interviewer
content: McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Eugene Thaw (1927- ) is an art dealer from New York, N.Y. James McElhinney (1952- ) is a painter and educator from New York, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 33 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2007 October 1-2
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.thaw07
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Eugene V. Thaw conducted 2007 October 1-2, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art's Art Dealers Association of America Project, at Thaw's residence, in New York, N.Y.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Thaw speaks of his childhood in New York City; Mexican art in his home including watercolors by Diego Rivera; beginning classes at the Art Student's League of New York at age 14; attending St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland; attending Columbia University for graduate courses in art history and studying with Meyer Shapiro and Millard Meiss; an early interest in Old Master, Renaissance, and German Expressionist art; studying in Florence, Italy for four months after World War II; opening The New Bookstore and Gallery with friend Jack Landau above the Algonquin Hotel upon his return to New York City; giving Joan Mitchell and Conrad Marca-Relli their first shows; ending his partnership with Landau, closing the bookstore, and moving the gallery to Madison Avenue; becoming involved in the international art market; the practice of buying and selling works of art in shares with other dealers; showing American and European artists; renaming the gallery E.V. Thaw & Company; operating essentially as a one-man gallery with very limited staff; his relationship with museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art; his personal collections, including extensive ancient Eurasian artifacts and American Indian art; establishing the Pollock-Krasner Foundation; the philanthropic vision of his own foundation, the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust; his retirement from dealing; the "hand of the artist" in historical context and its lack of significance in contemporary art; and advice for young and emerging art dealers. Thaw also recalls Richard Offner, Evelyn Sandberg-Vavala, Norbert Ketterer, Günther Franka, Pierre Matisse, Leo Castelli, Julius Held, Theodore Rousseau, Lee Krasner, Norton Simon, and others.