Oral history interview with Lewis W. and Erica Beckh Rubenstein
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 56 min.
label: General
content: Side B of Tape 1 is blank.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Rubenstein, Lewis W. (Lewis William), 1908-2003
label: Interviewer
content: Polcari, Stephen
label: Interviewee
content: Rubenstein, Erica Beckh, 1914-2014
label: Names
content: Vassar College -- Faculty -- Interviews
label: Names
content: Lebrun, Rico, 1900-1964
label: Names
content: Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949
label: Names
content: Rubenstein, Erica Beckh, 1914-2014
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art historians -- New York (State) -- Poughkeepsie -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Mural painting and decoration, American
label: Topic
content: Art and state
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- Poughkeepsie -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Educators -- New York (State) -- Poughkeepsie -- Interviews
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: Rubenstein, Lewis W. (Lewis William), 1908-2003
label: Interviewer
content: Polcari, Stephen
label: Interviewee
content: Rubenstein, Erica Beckh, 1914-2014
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Lewis W. Rubentstein (1908-2003) was a painter, printmaker, and teacher and teacher at Vassar College. He lived in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Erica Beckh Rubenstein (1914-2014) was an art historian, whose Ph.D. thesis at Harvard, "Taxpayers Murals," related to New Deal murals.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Items (sound cassettes (1 hr. 45 min.), analog.)
label: Extent
content: 50 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1993 February 23
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.rubens93
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview with Lewis and Erica Rubenstein conducted 1993 February 23, by Stephen Polcari, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Lewis Rubenstein discusses his early career as a fresco painter, including his training in Italy and friendship with Rico Lebrun. He talks specifically about commissioned murals at the Fogg Art Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and assisting Jose Clemente Orozco on "portable murals" for the Museum of Modern Art. He talks of his move away from realism and the themes that interested him in the 1950s and 1960s. He remembers spending summers in Provincetown and taking classes with Hans Hofmann, his work teaching studio art at Vassar College, and briefly about the visiting artists program he ran there. Erica Rubenstein talks about the significance of 1930s mural paintings, the WPA movement, and government support of the arts in general.