Oral history interview with Ben-Zion interview
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 5 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Ben-Zion, 1897–1987
label: Interviewer
content: Shikler, Barbara
label: Creator
content: Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project
label: Names
content: Gallery Secession (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Jewish Museum (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project
label: Names
content: Neumann, J. B. (Jsrael Ber)
label: Names
content: Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Jewish artists
label: Topic
content: Philadelphia Ten (Group of artists)
label: Topic
content: World War, 1939-1945
label: Topic
content: Art criticism
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview was conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's Mark Rothko and his Times oral history project, with funding provided by the Mark Rothko Foundation.
label: Provenance
content: Others interviewed on the project (by various interviewers) include: Sonia Allen, Sally Avery, Bernard Braddon, Ernest Briggs, Rhys Caparn, Elaine de Kooning, Herbert Ferber, Esther Gottlieb, Juliette Hays, Sidney Janis, Buffie Johnson, Jacob Kainen, Louis Kaufman, Jack Kufeld, Katharine Kuh, Stanley Kunitz, Joseph Liss, Dorothy Miller, Betty Parsons, Wallace Putnam, Rebecca Reis, Maurice Roth, Sidney Schectman, Aaron Siskind, Joseph Solman, Hedda Sterne, Jack Tworkov, Esteban Vicente and Ed Weinstein. Each has been cataloged separately.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Ben-Zion, 1897–1987
label: Interviewer
content: Shikler, Barbara
label: Creator
content: Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Ben-Zion (1897-1987) was a painter and sculptor from New York, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 56 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1982 August 3-September 21
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.benzio82
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 available on line.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Ben-Zion conducted 1982 August 3-1982 September 21, by Barbara Shikler, for the Archives of American Art's Mark Rothko and His Times oral history project.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Ben-Zion speaks of his family's background in Ukraine and Poland and their arrival in the United States after the death of his father. He remembers working as a writer for a Hebrew newspaper in the Bronx, the writing block he suffered in reaction to Nazi atrocities in Europe, and his turn to art with the patronage of J. B. Neumann. He recalls exhibiting with The Ten, meeting Mark Rothko through the Gallery Secession, and the rift that developed among members of The Ten. He describes his own commercial success, the influence of Jewish tradition upon his choices of subject matter, and his relationship with the Jewish Museum in New York. He discusses a period in which he stopped painting and returned to writing, and his later interest in sculpture. He speaks of his writings and his work habits.