Oral history interview with V. V. Rankine
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 53 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Rankine, V. V., 1920-2004
label: Interviewer
content: Kirwin, Liza
label: Names
content: Betty Parsons Gallery
label: Names
content: Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)
label: Names
content: David Herbert Gallery
label: Names
content: Institute of Contemporary Arts  (Washington, D.C.)
label: Names
content: Jefferson Place Gallery
label: Names
content: Albers, Josef
label: Names
content: Bader, Franz, 1903-1994
label: Names
content: Brooks, James, 1906-1992
label: Names
content: Callahan, Harry M.
label: Names
content: Cunningham, Merce
label: Names
content: Davis, Gene, 1920-1985
label: Names
content: De Kooning, Elaine
label: Names
content: De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997
label: Names
content: Denney, Alice, 1922-2023
label: Names
content: Dorrance, Nesta, 1925-1999
label: Names
content: Downing, Thomas, 1928-1985
label: Names
content: Duncan, Augustin
label: Names
content: Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster), 1895-1983
label: Names
content: Gabo, Naum, 1890-1977
label: Names
content: Gilliam, Sam, Jr. (1933-2022)
label: Names
content: Gorky, Agnes
label: Names
content: Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948
label: Names
content: Graham, John, 1887-1961
label: Names
content: Guston, Philip, 1913-1980
label: Names
content: Halle, Kay
label: Names
content: Hare, David, 1917-1992
label: Names
content: Helburn, Theresa, 1887-1959
label: Names
content: Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995
label: Names
content: Kennedy, Kit
label: Names
content: Kiesler, Frederick
label: Names
content: Kinney, Gilbert H.
label: Names
content: Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984
label: Names
content: Lassaw, Ibram, 1913-2003
label: Names
content: Leopold, Richard
label: Names
content: Louis, Morris, 1912-1962
label: Names
content: Magruder, Esther
label: Names
content: Merrill, Kevin
label: Names
content: Nelson, Wretha
label: Names
content: Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988
label: Names
content: Newman, Bonnie
label: Names
content: Noland, Kenneth, 1924-2010
label: Names
content: Ozenfant, Amédée, 1886-1966
label: Names
content: Pace, Stephen, 1918-2010
label: Names
content: Parsons, Betty, 1900-1982
label: Names
content: Penn, Arthur, 1922-
label: Names
content: Phillips, Duncan, 1886-1966
label: Names
content: Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956
label: Names
content: Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008
label: Names
content: Renault, Jean
label: Names
content: Richman, Robert
label: Names
content: Russo, Alexander
label: Names
content: Sheridan, Walt
label: Names
content: Sherman, Saul
label: Names
content: Snelson, Kenneth, 1927-2016
label: Names
content: Soyer, Moses, 1899-1974
label: Names
content: Soyer, Raphael, 1899-1987
label: Names
content: Sweeney, James Johnson, 1900-
label: Names
content: Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953
label: Names
content: Truitt, Anne, 1921-2004
label: Names
content: Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987
label: Names
content: Yektai, Manoucher, 1922-
label: Names
content: Youngerman, Jack, 1926-2020
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Women sculptors
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These interviews are 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 others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Rankine, V. V., 1920-2004
label: Interviewer
content: Kirwin, Liza
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: V.V. Rankine (1920-2004) was a painter and sculptor from Washington, D.C. Variable forms of the artist's name are notably E. R. (Elvine Richard) Rankine, Vivian Scott Rankine, and her married name, Mrs. Paul Scott.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 34 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1990 Mar. 2-22
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.rankin90
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of V. V. Rankine conducted 1990 Mar. 2-22, by Liza Kirwin, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Rankine discusses the evolution of her nickname, V.V.; discovering her dyslexia; growing up in Boston; auditioning for a part in, "The Philadelphia Story"; her art studies with Amedee Ozenfant from 1944 to 1946; her studies at Black Mountain College with Josef Albers and Willem De Kooning in 1947; her friendship with Morris Louis and watching him work; living with her brother-in-law Arshile Gorky, in New York City; her first one-woman show at the David Herbert Gallery in New York in 1962; exhibiting at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York and at the Jefferson Place Gallery in Washington, D.C.; Robert Richman and the Institute of Contemporary Arts; the relationship between her painting and her sculpture; favorite shapes and materials; and her summer home in East Hampton and artist friends there. Rankine also recalls Robert Rauschenberg, Jack Youngerman, Manoucher Yektai, Betty Parsons, Ibram Lassaw, Buckminster Fuller, Elaine De Kooning, Arthur Penn, Richard Leopold, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Ken Noland, Morris Louis, Ray Johnson, Kenneth Snelson, David Hare, Frederick Kiesler, Raphael Soyer, Moses Soyer, Jean Renault, Agnes Gorky, Esther Magruder, James Johnson Sweeney, Jim Brooks, John Graham, Phillip Guston, Duncan Phillips, Theresa Helburn, Augustine Duncan, Tom Downing, Gene Davis, Alice Denney, Nesta Dorrance, Kevin Merrill, Sam Gilliam, Dylan Thomas, Kay Halle, Kit Kennedy, Naum Gabo, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Anne Truitt, Wretha Nelson, Franz Bader, Louise Nevelson, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Bonnie Newman, Alexander Russo, Walt Sheridan, Gilbert Kinney, Saul Sherman, Steve Pace, Lee Krasner, and others.