Collection Information

Size: Transcript: 51 p.

Format: Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 17 min.

Summary: An interview of Elizabeth Bliss Parkinson conducted 1978 Jan. 3, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.

Parkinson speaks of her childhood with her aunt, Lizzie Bliss, Bliss' relationship with Arthur B. Davies, the formation of Bliss' art collection, and her involvement in the establishment of the Museum of Modern Art.

Biographical/Historical Note

Elizabeth Bliss Parkinson (1907-2001) was a patron and collector from New York, N.Y.

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.

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.

Transcript: microfilm reel 3198 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.

Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Elizabeth Bliss Parkinson, 1978 Jan. 3. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.