Oral history interview with Joseph A. Helman
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 1 sound disc. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr.,19 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Helman, Joseph A. (1937)
label: Interviewer
content: McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-
label: Names
content: Blum Helman Gallery
label: Names
content: Sotheby's (Firm)
label: Names
content: St. Louis Art Museum
label: Names
content: Albers, Josef
label: Names
content: Blum, Irving, 1930-
label: Names
content: Castelli, Leo
label: Names
content: Crawford, Ralston, 1906-1978
label: Names
content: Davis, Ronald, 1937-
label: Names
content: Greenberg, Ronald K.
label: Names
content: Johns, Jasper, 1930-
label: Names
content: Kaprow, Allan
label: Names
content: Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923-
label: Names
content: Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997
label: Names
content: Oldenburg, Claes, 1929-
label: Names
content: Pulitzer, Emily Rauh
label: Names
content: Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008
label: Names
content: Saarinen, Eero, 1910-1961
label: Names
content: Scull, Robert C.
label: Names
content: Serra, Richard, 1938-
label: Names
content: Stella, Frank
label: Names
content: Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987
place: label: Place
content: Italy -- description and travel
topic: label: Topic
content: Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Art -- Economic aspects
label: Topic
content: Art, American -- Spain
label: Topic
content: Pop art
label: Topic
content: Happenings (Art)
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: Helman, Joseph A. (1937)
label: Interviewer
content: McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Joseph A. Helman (1937- ) is an art dealer and collector in New York, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4 Items (Sound recording: 4 wav files (2 hr.,19 min.), digital)
label: Extent
content: 53 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2010 January 4
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.helman10
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
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: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Joseph A. Helman conducted 2010 January 4, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at Helman's home in New York, New York.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Helman recalls three major events from his early life--the exhibition "Masterpieces from the Berlin Museums: 1948-1949," the film "Lust for Life," and collecting--that led to his career as an art dealer; buying his first painting, which was a Jasper Johns work; meeting the art dealer Leo Castelli; opening his first gallery in St. Louis in 1969; selling his gallery to Ronald Greenberg and moving to Italy with his family; attending the Sotheby's auction of the Robert C. Scull Collection in 1973; teaming up with Irving Blum to open the Blum Helman Gallery in New York City; organizing exhibitions of established and emerging artists. Helman speaks about his relationship with Emily Rauh Pulitzer and the St. Louis Art Museum; his Happening with Allan Kaprow; the story behind Claes Oldenburg's drawing Tongue Cloud, over St. Louis, 1975; discovering the work of Ralston Crawford; introducing American art to Spain. In addition, Helman discusses the contemporary art market; collectors and the process of collecting; and the redefinition of Pop art to include British and American artists of the 1980s. Throughout the interview Helman mentions the various artists he has represented, exhibited or collected such as Richard Serra, Robert Rauschenberg, Josef Albers, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Ronald Davis, and Bryan Hunt.