Oral history interview with Samuel George Cahan
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 9 min.
label: General
content: This interview was previously dated 1969. Judging from his comments about his age at the time of the interview, it could have been 1967. Listed transcription dates were changed to reflect the new date.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Cahan, Samuel George, 1886-1974
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
topic: label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These interviews are 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 others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Cahan, Samuel George, 1886-1974
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Samuel George Cahan (1886-1974) was an illustrator in New York, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 30 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1967 March 11 and July 12
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.cahan67
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 Samuel George Cahan conducted 1967 March 11 and July 12, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Cahan discusses his childhood poverty and early love of drawing. He recounts being discovered by a newspaper editor at the age of twelve while drawing a picture on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant. He discusses becoming a staff artist at the New York World at age fifteen and his many years working for that newspaper; his interactions with other artists at the paper, such as George Luks; and his extensive experience covering court cases. He also discusses the illustration work he later did for magazines such as Collier's and his portraits of notable people including Albert Einstein and Woodrow Wilson. He speaks of learning to etch and use oil paint; exhibiting at the National Academy and French & Company Gallery; studying with Robert Henri; his landscape works and paintings of Jewish subjects; and his involvement with the Art Students League. In addition, he mentions the artists John Sloan and Walt Kuhn. His wife also speaks towards the end of the second interview.