Oral history interview with Raquel Rabinovich
name: label: Interviewee
content: Rabinovich, Raquel, 1929-
label: Interviewer
content: McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-
label: Names
content: Hispanic American Arts Center (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Station Hill Press
label: Names
content: Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827
label: Names
content: Borges, Jorge Luis, 1899-1986
label: Names
content: Braque, Georges, 1882-1963
label: Names
content: Cézanne, Paul, 1839-1906
label: Names
content: Del Giocondo, Lisa, 1479-
label: Names
content: Denes, Agnes
label: Names
content: Farina, Ernesto, 1912-
label: Names
content: Herzberg, Julia P.
label: Names
content: Johns, Jasper, 1930-
label: Names
content: Kelly, Robert, 1956-
label: Names
content: Lenin, Vladimir Ilʹich, 1870-1924
label: Names
content: Lhote, André, 1885-1962
label: Names
content: Maggi, Marco, 1957-
label: Names
content: Martin, Agnes, 1912-2004
label: Names
content: Mondolfo, Rodolfo, 1877-1976
label: Names
content: Mondrian, Piet, 1872-1944
label: Names
content: Pavia, Philip, 1915-2005
label: Names
content: Perón, Juan Domingo, 1895-1974
label: Names
content: Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973
label: Names
content: Quasha, George
label: Names
content: Rockburne, Dorothea
label: Names
content: Schwabsky, Barry
label: Names
content: Stein, Charles, 1944-
label: Names
content: Strauss, David Levi
label: Names
content: Velázquez, Diego, 1599-1660
label: Names
content: Weintraub, Linda
label: Names
content: Zimmer, William, 1946-2007
place: label: Place
content: Argentina -- Description and Travel
label: Place
content: Denmark -- Copenhagen -- Description and Travel
label: Place
content: Egypt -- description and travel
label: Place
content: France -- Paris -- Description and Travel
label: Place
content: India -- description and travel
label: Place
content: Machu Picchu Site (Peru)
label: Place
content: Nepal -- Description and Travel
label: Place
content: New York (N.Y.) -- Description and Travel
label: Place
content: Thailand -- description and travel
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Political activists
label: Topic
content: Buddhism
label: Topic
content: Minimal art
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Women sculptors
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: Rabinovich, Raquel, 1929-
label: Interviewer
content: McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Raquel Rabinovich (1929-2025) was a painter, sculptor, and installation artist in Rhinebeck, New York.
label: Biographical / Historical
content: James McElhinney (1952- ) is a painter and educator from New York, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4 Items (Sound recording: 4 sound files (3 hr., 6 min.), digital, wav)
label: Extent
content: 64 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2012 September 25 and October 9
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.rabino12
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 with Raquel Rabinovich conducted 2012 September 25 and October 9, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at Rabinovich's home, in Rhinebeck, New York.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Rabinovich speaks of growing up in Argentina; becoming aware of art; reproductions and books; European art; her Jewish heritage; her parents moving to Argentina before World War I; Jewish persecution; her parents' background; living in Cordoba; speaking Spanish and Yiddish growing up; quiet reflections; church; art exposure; traveling and moving to Paris; the influence of Ernesto Farina; Peron's dictatorship and rebellion; attending medical school and the call of art; political activities and spending time in jail; meeting Jose and moving to Scotland; Paris and exposure to artwork; teachings of Andre Lhote; her early works; abstraction; painting; the Mona Lisa; darkness and light; "The Dark is Light Enough"; exposure to literature and poetry; living in Copenhagen; meeting Jorge Luis Borges; the Book of Sand; her siblings; her children and her relationship to them; staying up to date with current events; libraries and a lack of books growing up; meditation; texture and the monochromatic works; interest in Jasper Johns' work; meeting Jasper Johns; living in New York; trip to Machu Picchu and spending the night outdoors; "Cloister, Crossing, Passageway 1.32"; glassworks and transparency; exhibiting artwork; her divorce; Rodolfo Mondolfo; environment and exposure; quiet contemplation; spending time with artwork; commissioned work near High Falls; "River Library"; libraries as places of knowledge; minimalism; the 1980s; her daughter's wedding and her relationship with Jose; stones; traveling to Nepal, Thailand, India, and Egypt; temples; Buddhism; "Chhodrtens"; garbhagrihas; NEA fellowship and residency in Paris; "Thrones for the Gods"; INTAR Gallery; "Gateless Gates"; artifacts; Pabhavikas sculpture; Charles Stein; Linda Weintraub; George Quasha; Station Hill Press; "Enfolded Darkness" and "Light Unworn". Rabinovich also recalls Baron Hughes, Beethoven, Lenin, Diego Velazquez, Andre Lhote, Mondrian, Picasso, Braque, David Levi Straus, Robert Kelly, Cezanne, Philip Pavia, Agnes Martin, Dorothea Rockburne, Barry Schwabsky, Bill Zimmer, Agnes Denes, Louisa Valenzuela, Julia Herzberg, and Marco Maggi.