Oral history interview with I.J. (Isaac J.) Sanger
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 6 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Sanger, I. J. (Isaac J), 1899-1986
label: Interviewer
content: Pennington, Estill Curtis
label: Names
content: American Institute of Graphic Arts
label: Names
content: Columbia University -- Students
label: Names
content: University of Virginia -- Students
label: Names
content: YMCA of the USA
label: Names
content: Dow, Arthur W. (Arthur Wesley), 1857-1922
label: Names
content: Heckman, Albert
label: Names
content: Pins, Jacob, 1917-
label: Names
content: Von Groschwitz, Gustave, 1906-1991
topic: label: Occupation
content: Furniture designers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Painters -- Maryland -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Painting, Modern
label: Topic
content: Printmakers -- Maryland -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Prints
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 others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Sanger, I. J. (Isaac J), 1899-1986
label: Interviewer
content: Pennington, Estill Curtis
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: I. J. Sanger (1899-1986) was a painter and printmaker of Marlow Heights, Md.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 16 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1981 November 17
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.sanger81
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: Interview of I.J. (Isaac) Sanger, conducted 1981 November 17, by Estill Curtis "Buck" Pennington, for the Archives of American Art, in New York, N.Y.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Sanger speaks of his first encounters with art as a child growing up in rural Virginia, and of his first industrial art classes, taken at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville while he was still attending high school in Free Union. After graduating, he received what he describes as his first real training in art while working for the carpentry shop at Columbia University in New York in the early 1920s. While attending Columbia, he found work as a furniture designer for the YMCA [Young Men's Christian Association]. Sanger also worked for his professor Albert Heckman, doing linoleum cuts for "Aesop's Fables," which Heckman was illustrating. He explains that it was Heckman who encouraged him to continue practicing print making. Until then, he had been working in oil and water color while studying "Art Structure" with Arthur Dow.
label: Scope and Contents
content: When the Depression hit in 1929, Sanger lost his position with the YMCA and worked odd jobs until Albert Heckman introduced him to Gustave von Groschwitz, who brought him on to the WPA. During the 1930s, he received widespread recognition for his work; his prints were selected by the American Institute of Graphic Arts for their "50 Prints of the Year" show in 1928 and 1929. Following his work with the WPA, Sanger served the army in World War II at Camp Kearns in Utah. He explains how he continued expanding his portfolio throughout the War, and once it was over, spent 25 years as a commercial artist. He relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1951 and became a member of the Washington Print Society while Prentiss Taylor was secretary. In D.C., he was a graphic designer for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, but kept up his own private work, which Jacob Pins featured at the Smithsonian Castle. After formally retiring in 1966, Sanger decided to dedicate his time to travel, but adds that he still makes print making, painting, and furniture design a priority.