Oral history interview with Tony Natsoulas
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 59 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Natsoulas, Tony, 1959-
label: Interviewer
content: Kirwin, Liza
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Penland School of Handicrafts -- Faculty
topic: label: Topic
content: Ceramicists -- California -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Art -- Philosophy
label: Topic
content: Art -- Technique
label: Topic
content: Art commissions
label: Topic
content: Artists' materials
label: Topic
content: Art -- Periodicals
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
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: Natsoulas, Tony, 1959-
label: Interviewer
content: Kirwin, Liza
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Tony Natsoulas (1959- ) is a ceramicist from Sacramento, California. Liza Kirwin is the Curator of Manuscripts, Archives of American Art, Washington, D.C.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 54 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2004 August 9-11
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.natsou04
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 Tony Natsoulas conducted 2004 August 9-11, by Liza Kirwin, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Sacramento, California.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Natsoulas speaks of growing up in Davis, California.; visiting museums as a child; early memories of working with clay; school art projects; taking art classes at the University of California, Davis while in high school; going to college at Sacramento State College and UC Davis; studying at Maryland Institute College of Art; attending art summer schools such as the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture; making life-sized clay figures; exhibiting his work; making caricature heads of famous people; including humor and nostalgia in his work; how his work has changed during his career; teaching at Penland School of Crafts; being part of the Funk art movement; choosing themes for his figures; his home studio; his working process and materials; the influence of art periodicals; working on public and private commissions; his teaching philosophy; collaborating with artist Fred Babb; influential art exhibitions; his Greek heritage; his friendship with artist Clayton Bailey; his recent solo exhibition at the Crocker Museum; titling and pricing his work; his art collection; and making artist websites. Natsoulas also recalls Robert Arneson, David Gilhooly, Francesco Clemente, Peter Voulkos, Viola Frey, Roy De Forest, and others.