Oral history interview with Jack Beal, 1968 March 27

Collection Information

Size: 35 Pages, Transcript

Format: Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 10 min.

Summary: An interview of Jack Beal conducted 1968 March 27, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.

Beal speaks of his family background, southern artists, the Chicago Art Institute, studying with Kathleen Blackshear, the "Wells Street Group", the influence of Arshile Gorky and Chicago artists. He discusses refusing a scholarship to the Hans Hofmann School; the Cedar Bar; the New York art world; his wife, Sandra; painting with Ivan and Susan Michod and the "color" of color television. Beal comments on making a movie with Tom Doyle, William Giles, Michael Kirby, and Stanley Landsman; living off the land; and overcoming the "masterpiece complex."

Biographical/Historical Note

Jack Beal (1931- 2013) was a painter from Oneonta, New York.

Provenance

This interview is part of the Archives' 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 .