Oral history interview with Dorothy Varian
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 56 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Varian, Dorothy, 1895-1985
label: Interviewer
content: Berman, Avis
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
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: Varian, Dorothy, 1895-1985
label: Interviewer
content: Berman, Avis
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Dorothy Varian (1895-1985) was a painter from New York City. She studied at Cooper Union and the Art Students League. She later lived and worked in Woodstock, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 107 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1980 December 6-7
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.varian80
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 the 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 Dorothy Varian conducted 1980 December 6-7, by Avis Berman for the Archives of American Art. Varian recalls her childhood in New York City; her education at Cooper Union and the Art Students League; the Whitney Studio Club and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney; associations with artists John Sloan; George Bellows; John Marin; Yasuo Kuniyoshi; Alex Brook; Katherine Schmidt; Isabel Bishop; Adolph Gottlieb; Jean Renoir; Marcel Duchamp; Henri Matisse; Jules Pascin, and Bernard Karfiol, among others. She discusses the PWAP and WPA, and working with Juliana Force. She recalls time spent in Ogunquit, Maine, and moving to Woodstock, New York. She recalls associations with art dealers: Paul Durand-Ruel; Edith Halpert; and Joseph Drummer. She discusses her artistic influences, process, materials, and her transition from representational to abstract art.