Oral history interview with Oscar Chelimsky
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 34 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Chelimsky, Oscar
label: Interviewer
content: Plante, Michael
label: Names
content: Galerie Huit
label: Names
content: Geist, Sidney
label: Names
content: Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966
label: Names
content: Keene, Paul F., Jr., 1920-2009
label: Names
content: Kulicke, Robert M. (Robert Moore), 1924-2007
label: Names
content: Olitski, Jules, 1922-2007
label: Names
content: Pollack, Reginald
label: Names
content: Rivers, Haywood Bill, 1922-2001
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Artists -- France -- 20th century -- Interviews
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: Chelimsky, Oscar
label: Interviewer
content: Plante, Michael
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Oscar Chelimsky (1923-2010) was a painter.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 48 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1990 August 28-September 5
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.chelim90
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 Oscar Chelimsky conducted 1990 August 28-September 5, by Michael Plante, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Chelimsky recalls his studies at Cooper Union, the Art Students League (1939-1943), and the Hans Hofmann School of Art (1946-1947) and describes Hofmann's teaching methods. Chelimsky discusses his decision to go to Paris in 1948; his brief studies at the Fontainebleu School and the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere; his studio in Paris; the French attitude toward Americans in postwar Paris; a proposed exhibition of American painters in France at the Galerie des Beaux Arts in 1963; Americans exhibiting at the various salons and galleries in Paris; and the founding of the cooperative Galerie Huit and the artists involved including Bill Rivers, Jules Olitski, Reginald Pollack, Robert Kulicke, Sidney Geist, and Paul Keene. Chelimsky also discusses the evolution of his style, his move back to the United States in 1970, and his continuing investigation of the "open form" in his paintings.