Oral history interview with James S. Ackerman
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hrs., 47 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Ackerman, James S., 1919-2016
label: Interviewer
content: Brown, Robert F.
label: Names
content: New York University. Institute of Fine Arts
label: Names
content: Focillon, Henri, 1881-1943
label: Names
content: Krautheimer, Richard, 1897-
label: Names
content: Lehmann, Karl, 1894-1960
label: Names
content: Panofsky, Erwin, 1892-1968
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art historians -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews
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: Ackerman, James S., 1919-2016
label: Interviewer
content: Brown, Robert F.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: James Ackerman (1919-2016) was an art and architecture historian from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Items (sound cassettes (1 hr. 47 min.), analog.)
label: Extent
content: 20 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1991 January 2
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.ackerm91
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 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 with James Ackerman conducted 1991 January 2, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Ackerman talks about his childhood in San Francisco in a wealthy family of German-Jewish descent; travels with his family in Europe; early exposure to art and art history; education at the Cate School, California; education at Yale University, 1938-41, including recollections of teachers and curriculum, especially the charismatic teaching of Henri Focillon; graduate work at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1941 and 1945-52, including curriculum and teachers such as Karl Lehmann, Richard Krautheimer, and Erwin Panofsky; World War II experience in signal intelligence; early publications and their fortunate effect on his career, and contrast of those who solely pursued facts and those who also have ideas.