Oral history interview with Lee Bontecou
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 10 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 42 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Bontecou, Lee, 1931-
label: Interviewer
content: Ashton, Dore
label: Names
content: Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Students
label: Names
content: Brooklyn College -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Leo Castelli Gallery
label: Names
content: Bellamy, Richard
label: Names
content: Brackman, Robert, 1898-
label: Names
content: Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976
label: Names
content: Doyle, Tom
label: Names
content: González, Julio, 1876-1942
label: Names
content: Hesse, Eva, 1936-1970
label: Names
content: Stankiewicz, Richard, 1922-1983
label: Names
content: Zorach, William, 1887-1966
topic: label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women sculptors
label: Topic
content: Women printmakers
label: Topic
content: Pop art
label: Topic
content: Sculpture -- Technique
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: Bontecou, Lee, 1931-
label: Interviewer
content: Ashton, Dore
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Lee Bontecou (1931- ) is a sculptor and printmaker from New York, New York. Bontecou studied at the Art Students League of New York and taught at Brooklyn College.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 118 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2009 January 10
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.bontec09
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 Lee Bontecou conducted 2009 January 10, by Dore Ashton, for the Archives of American Art, at Knoedler and Company, in New York, New York.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Bontecou speaks of her interest in art as a young child and her parents' encouragement and influences; her two years at community college before studying painting then sculpture under William Zorach at the Arts Students League in New York City; her time working, living and studying in Rome though the Fulbright Scholarship; her abstracted figural works in Rome influenced by ancient Greek and Roman sculpture; her exploration in Europe of non-American influences and her admiration of the strong design sense in Italy; returning to the United States and working in the New York City art scene and exhibiting her works at Leo Castelli's Gallery; different techniques including welding and vacuum forming; meeting her husband, Bill Giles, and raising her daughter, Vallie, in New York City; leaving New York City and the Castelli Gallery for Pennsylvania and the ability to experiment in her artwork; teaching at Brooklyn College where she worked with Morris Dorsky and enjoyed a wide range of students; her lack of affiliation with art movements, including Pop Art; her illness and her current work; and her strong belief that an M.F.A. is useless and that young artists have to make themselves. Bontecou also recalls Robert Brackman, Julio Gonzales, Alexander Calder, Richard Bellamy, Gabriel Kahn, Richard Stankewiczs, Tom Doyle, Eve Hesse, Sandra and Jack Beale, and others.