Oral history interview with Herbert Palmer
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 mini discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 15 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 35 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Palmer, Herbert Bearl, 1915-2006
label: Interviewer
content: Ehrlich, Susan, 1942-
label: Names
content: Ankrum Gallery
label: Names
content: David Stuart Galleries
label: Names
content: Feigen Palmer Gallery
label: Names
content: Felix Landau Gallery
label: Names
content: Irving Blum Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.)
label: Names
content: New York University -- Students
label: Names
content: Ankrum, Joan
label: Names
content: Bloch, Lucienne, 1909-1999
label: Names
content: Bluhm, Norman, 1921-1999
label: Names
content: Callahan, Harry M.
label: Names
content: Cézanne, Paul, 1839-1906
label: Names
content: Feigen, Richard L., 1930-
label: Names
content: Garabedian, Charles
label: Names
content: Grooms, Red
label: Names
content: Maillol, Aristide, 1861-1944
label: Names
content: Mullican, Lee, 1919-1998
label: Names
content: Offner, Richard, 1889-1965
label: Names
content: Onslow-Ford, Gordon
label: Names
content: Paalen, Wolfgang, 1907-
label: Names
content: Reiss, Henrietta
label: Names
content: Reiss, Winold, 1886-1953
label: Names
content: Riley, Bridget, 1931-
label: Names
content: Shapiro, Meyer
label: Names
content: Stevenson, Harold, 1929-2018
label: Names
content: Tudor, David, 1926-1996
label: Names
content: Vasa
label: Names
content: Wölfflin, Heinrich, 1864-1945
topic: label: Occupation
content: Gallery owners -- California
label: Topic
content: Art thefts
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: Palmer, Herbert Bearl, 1915-2006
label: Interviewer
content: Ehrlich, Susan, 1942-
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Herbert Palmer (1915-2006) owned the Herbert Palmer Gallery of West Hollywood, Calif. Interviewer Susan Ehrlich is an art historian from Beverly Hills, Calif.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 56 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2004 Dec. 6-22
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.palmer04
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 Herbert Palmer conducted 2004 Dec. 6 and 22, by Susan Ehrlich, for the Archives of American Art, in West Hollywood, Calif.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Palmer discusses his family background and childhood in New York City; early exposure to art exhibitions; music appreciation; attending New York University; taking classes with Winhold Reiss, Meyer Shapiro, Richard Offner, and Heinrich Wolfflin; his master's thesis on Paul Cezanne's paintings of Mount Saint Victoire; moving to California; learning to fly; meeting Lillian, his wife; founding Feigen-Palmer Gallery with Richard Feigen; other galleries in the area, including Irving Blum, David Stuart, Felix Landau, Charles Garabedian, and Joan Ankrum; Monday Night Art Walks; John Cage and David Tudor performance pieces; the many artists he's exhibited; Andy Warhol's "The Kiss"; 1968 split with Richard Feigen to become the Herbert Palmer Gallery; the theft of a Picasso sculpture in Dec. 1981 and the ensuing legal case, which involved numerous galleries and collectors; his longstanding friendships with Gordon Onslow Ford, Lee Mullican, and Wolfgang Paalen; membership to the Art Dealers Association of California; and his enjoyment of discovering art, old and new. Palmer also recalls Henriette Riess, Harold Stevenson, Lucienne Bloch, Bridget Riley, Vasa Mihich, Maillol, Red Grooms, Norman Bluhm, and others.