Oral history interview with Mel Ramos
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 45 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Ramos, Mel, 1935-2018
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
topic: label: Topic
content: Nude in art
label: Topic
content: Painters -- California -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Art -- Philosophy
label: Topic
content: Hispanic American artists
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: Ramos, Mel, 1935-2018
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Mel Ramos (1935-) is a painter and teacher in Oakland, Calif.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 49 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1981 May 15
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.ramos81
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 Mel Ramos conducted 1981 May 15, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art. Ramos speaks of the human figure as subject matter; contemporary iconography; the continuity of themes throughout art history; his interest in celebrities; his female nudes; his response to feminist objections to his work; the influence of Willem de Kooning, Salvador Dali, George Miyasaki, Nathan Oliveira and Wayne Thiebaud; Leta, his wife and model; his use of photographs; photo-realism; his work as part of the "painterly tradition."