Oral history interview with Will Barnet
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 26 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Barnet, Will, 1911-2012
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
label: Names
content: American Abstract Artists
label: Names
content: Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States
label: Topic
content: Politics in art -- United States
label: Topic
content: Surrealism
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is 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: Barnet, Will, 1911-2012
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Will Barnet (1911-) is a painter and graphic artist in New York, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 78 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1968 January 15
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.barnet68
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 3196 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 Will Barnet conducted 1968 January 15, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Barnet speaks of his youth and early interest in art, studying at the Boston Museum School and the Art Students League of New York, where he later taught, artists who influenced him early in his career, moving to New York City, and building his reputation as a graphic artist. He comments on American politics in the 1930s and 1940s and their effect on art, changes in the art scene in the 1940s and the influence of the Surrealists, teaching at the Cooper Union School, dealers and galleries he has been affiliated with and his involvement with the American Abstract Artists group. He discusses the influence of pre-Columbian art on his work, his exhibitions, and his philosophies of teaching and painting.