Oral history interview with George McNeil
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound tapes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 49 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: McNeil, George, 1908-1995
label: Interviewer
content: Seckler, Dorothy Gees, 1910-1994
label: Names
content: American Abstract Artists
label: Names
content: Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Students
label: Names
content: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Pratt Institute. Art School -- Students
label: Names
content: United States. Work Projects Administration
label: Names
content: Cavallon, Giorgio, 1904-1989
label: Names
content: De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997
label: Names
content: Dehner, Dorothy, 1901-1994
label: Names
content: Diller, Burgoyne, 1906-1965
label: Names
content: Dlugoszewski, Lucia, 1931-2000
label: Names
content: Gorky, Arshile, 1904-1948
label: Names
content: Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966
label: Names
content: Hopper, Jo N. (Josephine Nivison), 1883-1968
label: Names
content: Kline, Franz, 1910-1962
label: Names
content: Levy, Edgar
label: Names
content: Manso, Leo
label: Names
content: Matulka, Jan, 1890-1972
label: Names
content: Pereira, I. Rice (Irene Rice), 1902-1971
label: Names
content: Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956
label: Names
content: Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967
label: Names
content: Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970
label: Names
content: Smith, David, 1906-1965
label: Names
content: Tworkov, Jack
label: Names
content: Vytlacil, Vaclav, 1892-1984
topic: label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Painting
label: Topic
content: Surrealism
label: Topic
content: Mural painting and decoration
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives' 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: McNeil, George, 1908-1995
label: Interviewer
content: Seckler, Dorothy Gees, 1910-1994
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: George McNeil (1908-1995) was a painter and a printmaker in Brooklyn, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 18 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1965 June 3
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.mcneil65
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 George McNeil conducted by Dorothy Seckler for the Archives of American Art. McNeil speaks of his childhood and his family; becoming interested in art during high school; attending Pratt Institute, and not being satisfied there; deciding to drop out of Pratt after attending a lecture from Vaclav Vytlacil; going to the Metropolitan Museum every day drawing and analyzing paintings; meeting Arshile Gorky while at the Metropolitan Museum; attending the Art Students League; studying with Hans Hofmann; the start of the American Abstract Artists; his involvement in the WPA's mural project; attending Teachers College at Columbia before joining the Navy; re-entering the New York art scene during the forties and liking it very much; meeting and being influenced by Pollock; his views on the state of painting; how his work has evolved; the various stages in the way a painting developed for him; how The Club and the Eighth Street Club has influenced him; the ideas discussed at The Club, and how he feels surrealism was not a big influence on them; Jackson Pollock's influence on abstract expressionism; artists he admires or has admired; and his thoughts on the contemporary art scene. He recalls Vaclav Vytlacil, Arshile Gorky, Jan Matulka, David Smith, Dorothy Dehner, Edgar Levy, Leo Manso, Burgoyne Diller, Irene Rice Pereira, Hans Hofmann, Jo Hopper, Giorgio Cavallon, Linda Lindaberg (Cavallon), Mercedes Kahls, George Byron Brown, Albert Swinden, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, Franz Kline, Jack Tworkov, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, and many others.