Oral history interview with Victor D. Spark
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 59 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Spark, Victor D. (Victor David), 1898-1991
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
label: Names
content: Duveen-Graham (Gallery)
label: Names
content: M. Knoedler & Co.
label: Names
content: New York University -- Students
label: Names
content: United States. Marine Corps
label: Names
content: Wildenstein Galleries
label: Names
content: Duveen, Albert
label: Names
content: Duveen, Joseph Duveen, Baron, 1869-1939
label: Names
content: Halpert, Edith Gregor, 1900-1970
label: Names
content: Karolik, Maxim
label: Names
content: Knoedler, Roland F., 1856-1932
label: Names
content: Wildenstein, Felix, 1883-1952
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: Art -- Economic aspects
label: Topic
content: Depressions -- 1929
label: Topic
content: World War, 1939-1945
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: Spark, Victor D. (Victor David), 1898-1991
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Victor D. Spark (1898-1991) was an art dealer from New York, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Items (Sound recording: 3 sound files (1 hr., 59 min.), digital, wav)
label: Extent
content: 55 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1975 August 5
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.spark75
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
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: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Interview of Victor D. Spark, conducted August 5, 1975, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, at Spark's New York City apartment.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Spark speaks of his early schooling at Townsend Harris Hall and NYU; his experience in the Marine Corps during World War II; working in his father's hotel business; the economic difficulties for art dealers during the Great Depression; apprenticing in galleries and working as a small art dealer; changes in the mid-century American art market; the differences between the art market for modern and contemporary art and that of older art. Spark also recalls Maxim Karolik, Edith Halpert, the gallerists Duveen, Knoedler, Wildenstein, and others.