Oral history interview with Henry Tyler Hopkins
name: label: Interviewee
content: Hopkins, Henry, 1928-2009
label: Interviewer
content: Chamberlin, Wesley
label: Names
content: Art Institute of Chicago -- Student
label: Names
content: Fort Worth Art Museum
label: Names
content: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
label: Names
content: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
label: Names
content: Bell, Larry, 1939-
label: Names
content: Bengston, Billy Al
label: Names
content: Bereal, Edmund, 1937-
label: Names
content: Blum, Shirley Neilsen.
label: Names
content: Copley, William Nelson, 1919-1996
label: Names
content: Cornell, Joseph
label: Names
content: Goode, Joe, 1937-
label: Names
content: Hopps, Walter
label: Names
content: Irwin, Robert, 1928-
label: Names
content: Kline, Franz, 1910-1962
label: Names
content: Miyashiro, Ron
label: Names
content: Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956
label: Names
content: Price, Kenneth, 1935-2012
label: Names
content: Ruscha, Edward
topic: label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Art -- California -- San Francisco
label: Topic
content: Pop art
label: Topic
content: Museum directors -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These interviews are part of the Archives' 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: Hopkins, Henry, 1928-2009
label: Interviewer
content: Chamberlin, Wesley
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Henry Hopkins (1928-2009) was a director of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
function: label: Function
content: Art museums -- California -- San Francisco
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7 Sound cassettes (Sound recording)
label: Extent
content: 90 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1980 Oct. 24-Dec. 17
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.hopkin80
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound cassettes
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 Henry Tyler Hopkins conducted 1980 Oct. 24-1980 Dec. 17, by Wesley Chamberlin, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Hopkins speaks of his childhood and family background in Idaho; his education in Idaho and at the Art Institute of Chicago; his U.S. Army service as a photographer; the influence upon him of the early abstract expressionists; moving to California and getting involved in the museum community; working as a curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and developing its collection of modern works; becoming the director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the value of art appreciation over art entertainment; problems with corporate and federal support; the psychological aspects of Jackson Pollack's work; pop art; the Bay area art scene; and the role of art museums. He recalls Shirley and Walter Hopps, Ed Ruscha, Joe Goode, Larry Bell, Ed Bereal, Ron Miyashiro, Jackson Pollack, Joseph Cornell, Billy Al Bengston, Kenny Price, Robert Irwin, William Copley, Franz Kline, and many others.