Oral history interview with Buffie Johnson, 1977 Nov. 22-1978 Jan. 23

Collection Information

Size: Sound recording: 2 Sound tape reels, 5 in.; 162 Pages, Transcript

Summary: An interview of Buffie Johnson conducted 1977 Nov. 22-1978 Jan. 23, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.

Johnson speaks of her childhood in New York City and Duxbury, Mass.; her early encouragement in art; studying at UCLA; life in Paris and the European scene before World War II, and studying at Academie Julian. She discusses gettting established as a painter, selling her early work, the change in her painting toward abstraction, and back towards realism; her friendship with gallery owner Howard Putzel, commissions, including painting a mural for the Astor Theater, her inspirations for painting and her interest in the women's movement. She discusses galleries in New York City; subject matter, including nature and mythology; her teaching career at Parsons; residencies at Yaddo; her writing. She recalls Tony Smith, Hans Hofmann, Stanley William Hayter, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Pablo Picasso; Francis Picabia, Barnett Newman, Joan Miro, Maya Deren, Sonia Delaunay, and Edward Melcarth, among others.

Biographical/Historical Note

Buffie Johnson (1912-2006) was a painter, muralist, and educator from Massachusetts. She studied art at UCLA and at the Academie Julian in Paris. She lived and worked in New York City.

Provenance

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.

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. This interview received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool.