Oral history interview with Raymond E. Lewis
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 41 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Lewis, R. E.
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
label: Names
content: Childs Gallery
label: Names
content: R. E. Lewis, Inc.
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- California
label: Topic
content: Prints -- Collectors and collecting -- California
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: Lewis, R. E.
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Raymond Lewis is an art dealer from San Rafael, Calif.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 63 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1981 Dec. 7-1982 Jan. 7
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.lewis81
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: 35mm microfilm reel 3417 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Raymond E. Lewis conducted 1981 Dec. 7-1982 Jan. 7, by Paul J. Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Lewis speaks of his childhood in New York, moving to California, his early plans to become a veterinarian, his education in art history at Berkeley, and teaching art in high schools. He discusses his move to Boston and work at Childs Gallery; his 1952 return to California, where he started his own print gallery; collectors who became clients of the print shop; lack of coverage of the graphic arts in art history education; the differences between "old masters" galleries and contemporary art galleries; and the importance of hands-on experience with prints.