Oral history interview with Michael St. Clair
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 42 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: St. Clair, Michael, 1912-1999
label: Interviewer
content: Stavitsky, Gail, 1954-
label: Interviewer
content: Driscoll, John Paul
label: Names
content: Babcock Galleries
label: Names
content: Kansas City Institute of Art
label: Names
content: Oklahoma Art Center
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art students -- Kansas -- 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. Funding for this interview was provided by the Art Dealers Association of America.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: St. Clair, Michael, 1912-1999
label: Interviewer
content: Stavitsky, Gail, 1954-
label: Interviewer
content: Driscoll, John Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Michael St. Clair (1912-1999) was an art dealer of New York, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 44 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1994 March 14 and April 28
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.stclai94
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 online.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Michael St. Clair conducted 1994 March 14- 1994 April 28, by Gail Stavitsky and John Driscoll, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: St. Clair briefly discusses his art training at the Kansas City Institute of Art and at the Art Students League and compares the teaching styles of Thomas Hart Benton and George Grosz. He talks about his work as the director of the Oklahoma (City) Art Center and designing window displays for Macy's and other department stores in New York City. Finally, he reviews his career at Babcock Galleries, focusing his discussion on his acquisition of the work of Marsden Hartley, Childe Hassam, John Kensett, and Thomas Eakins, among others.