Oral history interview with Esther Robles and Robert Robles
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 13 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 13 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Robles, Esther, 1907-2001
label: Interviewer
content: Bowman, Ruth, 1923-
label: Interviewee
content: Robles, Robert Holtz (1922)
label: Names
content: Esther-Robles Gallery
label: Names
content: Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973
topic: label: Occupation
content: Gallery directors -- California -- Los Angeles
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: Robles, Esther, 1907-2001
label: Interviewer
content: Bowman, Ruth, 1923-
label: Interviewee
content: Robles, Robert Holtz (1922)
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Ester Waggoner Robles (1907-2001) was a gallery director from Los Angeles, California. Her husband Robert Holtz Robles (b. 1922) was active in running the gallery with Esther.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 250 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1981 August 24-31
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.robles81
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 is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Esther Robles and Robert Robles conducted 1981 August 24-31, by Ruth Bowman, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Esther Robles speaks of her family background; early art training; opening her own gallery, the Esther-Robles Gallery (1947-1979); exhibitions at the gallery and artists who exhibited; the art community in Los Angeles and some of the problems in being a dealer there; her dedication to showing a variety of artists; working on the U.S. Treasury Department's Art Advisory Panel; and the closing of her gallery. Also interviewed is Robles' husband, Robert, who assisted in running the gallery. The Robles recall Stanton Macdonald-Wright; Martin Friedman; Elise Cavanna; Lorser Feitelson; Karel Appel; Robert Cremean; Claire Falkenstein; Fletcher Bennett; Morgan Russel; John Battenberg; Jules Engel; Stuart Davis; Will Barnet, among others. They also speak of other arts organizations in Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles County Museum, the Southern California Art Dealers, and the Stendahl Gallery. They recall art movements and styles shown in their gallery, including synchromism, kinetic art, and video art.