Oral history interview with George McNeil
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hrs., 14 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: McNeil, George, 1908-1995
label: Interviewer
content: Sandler, Irving, 1925-
label: Names
content: American Abstract Artists
label: Names
content: United States. Work Projects Administration
label: Names
content: Bolotowsky, Ilya, 1907-1981
label: Names
content: Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964
label: Names
content: De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997
label: Names
content: Diller, Burgoyne, 1906-1965
label: Names
content: Dlugoszewski, Lucia, 1931-2000
label: Names
content: Gallatin, A. E. (Albert Eugene), 1881-1952
label: Names
content: Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948
label: Names
content: Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903-1974
label: Names
content: Graham, John, 1887-1961
label: Names
content: Harari, Hananiah, 1912-2000
label: Names
content: Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966
label: Names
content: Hélion, Jean, 1904-1987
label: Names
content: Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944
label: Names
content: Levy, Edgar
label: Names
content: Léger, Fernand, 1881-1955
label: Names
content: Manso, Leo
label: Names
content: Marin, John, 1870-1953
label: Names
content: Matter, Mercedes
label: Names
content: Matulka, Jan, 1890-1972
label: Names
content: Miró, Joan, 1893-
label: Names
content: Morris, George L. K., 1905-1975
label: Names
content: Motherwell, Robert
label: Names
content: Pereira, I. Rice (Irene Rice), 1902-1971
label: Names
content: Rosenborg, Ralph M., 1913-1992
label: Names
content: Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970
label: Names
content: Shaw, Charles Green, 1892-1974
label: Names
content: Smith, David, 1906-1965
label: Names
content: Vytlacil, Vaclav, 1892-1984
topic: label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Art -- Philosophy
label: Topic
content: Painting
label: Topic
content: Cubism
label: Topic
content: Impressionism (Art)
label: Topic
content: Surrealism
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These interviews are 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: McNeil, George, 1908-1995
label: Interviewer
content: Sandler, Irving, 1925-
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: George McNeil (1908-1995) was a painter and printmaker from New York, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 82 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1968 Jan. 9-May 21
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.mcneil68
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 George McNeil conducted 1968 Jan. 9-May 21, by Irving Sandler, for the Archives of American Art. McNeil speaks of why he became interested in art; his early influences; becoming interested in modern art after attending lectures by Vaclav Vytlacil; meeting Arshile Gorky; the leading figures in modern art during the 1930s; his interest in Cézanne; studying with Jan Matulka and Hans Hofmann; his experiences with the WPA; the modern artists within the WPA; the American Abstract Artists (A.A.A.); a group of painters oriented to Paris called The Ten; how there was an anti-surrealism attitude, and a surrealist would not have been permitted in A.A.A; what the A.A.A. constituted as abstract art; a grouping within the A.A.A. called the Concretionists; his memories of Léger; how he assesses the period of the 1930s; the importance of Cubism; what he thinks caused the decline of A.A.A.; how he assesses the period of the 1940s; his stance on form and the plastic values in art; his thoughts on various artists; the importance of The Club; the antipathy to the School of Paris after the war; how Impressionism was considered in the 40s and 50s; slides of his paintings from 1937 to 1962, and shows how he developed as an artist; the problems of abstract expressionism; organic and geometric form; the schisms in different art groups due to politics; his teaching techniques; why he feels modern painting declined after 1912; the quality of A.A.A. works; stretching his canvases, and the sizes he uses; his recent works, and his approaches to painting. He recalls Vaclav Vytlacil, Hans Hofmann; Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Jan Matulka, John Marin, Wassily Kandinsky, Mercedes Carles Matter, Albert Swinden, Fernand Léger, Stuart Davis, Burgoyne Diller, David Smith, Edgar Levy, Leo Manso, Irene Rice Pereira, Willem de Kooning, Ilya Bolotowsky, Mark Rothko, Adolph Gottlieb, Joan Miró, Robert Motherwell, George L.K. Morris, Albert Gallatin, Charles Shaw, John Ferrin, Ralph Rosenborg, Hananiah Harari, Agnes Lyall, Jean Helion, and many others.