Oral history interview with Billy Al Bengston, 1980 September 9

Collection Information

Size: 38 Pages, Transcript

Format: Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 20 min.

Summary: An interview with Billy Al Bengston conducted 1980 September 9, by Susan Larsen, for the Archives of American Art.

Bengston speaks of his youth and education, the development of his interest in art, his short career in ceramics, his affiliation with the Ferus Gallery, the arts community in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, and his motives and methods of painting. He recalls Kenneth Price and Edward Ruscha.

Biographical/Historical Note

Billy Al Bengston (1934-2022) was a painter from Venice, California.

Provenance

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.

Language Note

English .

Funding

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.