Oral history interview with Gerald Nordland
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 56 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Nordland, Gerald
label: Interviewer
content: Larsen, Susan C.
label: Names
content: University of Southern California -- Students
label: Names
content: Diebenkorn, Richard, 1922-1993
label: Names
content: Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948
label: Names
content: Johnston, Ynez, 1920-
label: Names
content: Lachaise, Gaston, 1882-1935
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art historians -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Curators -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Art, American -- California -- San Francisco
label: Topic
content: Art, American -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art, American -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Art, American -- California -- Los Angeles
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: Nordland, Gerald
label: Interviewer
content: Larsen, Susan C.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Gerald Nordland (1927- 2019) was an art historian, critic, educator, curator, and author who resided in Chicago, Ill. at the time of the interview.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 117 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2004 May 25-26
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.nordla04
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 on line
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Gerald Nordland conducted 2004 May 25-26, by Susan C. Larsen, for the Archives of American Art, in Chicago, Ill.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Nordland speaks about his birthplace and childhood home; parent's occupations; interests as a child; beginning interest in art history; first visits to the Los Angeles County Museum; relationship with Lincoln Kirstein; move to Yale; his book on Gaston Lachaise; attending the University of Southern California; meeting Man Ray; German sculpture; being drafted; first meeting with Richard Diebenkorn and working with Diebenkorn on a book; getting out of the Army; first paintings purchased; writing for "Frontier" magazine; the invitation to work at the Chouinard Art Institute; Institute teachers such as Richard Ruben, Robert Irwin, Don Graham; the founding of the California Institute of Arts (CalArts); classes and professors at CalArts; move to San Francisco in 1966; shows curated by Nordland on Gaston Lachaise, Fred Sommer, Peter Voulkos, Richard Diebenkorn, Burri, Caro, "African Art in Motion," Fritz Gardner, Jack Jefferson, Ed Moses, Controversial Public Art; meeting and marrying Paula Prokopoff; and other job offerings from Florida, Georgia, and California. Nordland also recalls Gifford Phillips, Mitchell Wilder, Josef Albers, Grace Moreley, Emerson Woelffer, Robert Motherwell, Arshile Gorky, Peter Voulkos, E. E. Cummings, Paul and Josephine Kantor, Adolph Gottlieb, Ynez Johnston, Richard Nickel, Clifford Still, A. E. Gallatin, Richard Diebenkorn and others. Nordland also comments on galleries including the Royer Gallery, Paul Kantor Gallery, Ferus Gallery, Landau Gallery, and others.