Oral history interview with Bernarda Bryson Shahn
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 26 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Bryson, Bernarda
label: Interviewer
content: Kirwin, Liza
label: Names
content: Artists' Union (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: John Reed Club
label: Names
content: Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969
title: label: Topic
content: Art front
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New Jersey -- Roosevelt
label: Occupation
content: Illustrators -- New Jersey -- Roosevelt
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- New Jersey -- Roosevelt
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Women printmakers
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: Bryson, Bernarda
label: Interviewer
content: Kirwin, Liza
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Bernarda Bryson (1903-2004) was a printmaker and painter from Roosevelt, New Jersey. She is the widow of artist Ben Shahn.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 37 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1983 April 29
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.shahn83
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 Bernarda Bryson conducted 1983 April 29, by Liza Kirwin, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Bryson speaks of her family background and education; writing for the Ohio State Journal; teaching etching and lithography; meeting Diego Rivera and Ben Shahn; the formation of the Unemployed Artists Group and her role as secretary, 1933; the Gibson Committee, the John Reed Club, and the Artists' Union in New York City; founding Art Front magazine; pressure from the Communist Party; demonstrating at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1934; lithography under Adrian Dornbush; assisting Ben Shahn; her work as an illustrator; and her painting since 1971.