The WPI Oral Histories

I Only Want to Paint [2:46:41], a lengthy cache of documentary footage, was filmed for the documentary of the same title, and captures life in Tom Wesselmann’s studio in 1998. It straddles a fine line between documentary, oral history, and diary. In it, a skeleton filmmaking crew spends days in Wesselmann’s studio, watching attentively as Wesselmann and his studio staff make decisions over color, collage materials, and scale. Large pieces of art loom over the proceedings — a corner of a Great American Nude or a Smoker, perhaps — but Wesselmann himself is undoubtedly the star of the show.

After an artist passes, we can find various ways to reconstruct the ways they thought about their own work: oral histories are one tool, while archival records are another. But rarely are we afforded such an in-depth look into how an artist thought about their own work and legacy. In I Only Want to Paint, Wesselmann is as aware of the camera’s watchful eye as he is of his own answers. He tweaks his phrasing; he returns to questions on his artistic influences and reconsiders them hours later. He sometimes repeats entire segments, workshopping words, gestures, and interpretations of his works. The picture that emerges is of an intensely thoughtful, intentional artist, working within a finely honed studio ecosystem that allowed him to produce large- and small-scale works alike that often defied neat genre categorization. We will never be able to produce a new oral history with Tom Wesselmann, but to have access to this newly transcribed footage is a rare gift for artists, researchers, and scholars.

This is Part 2 of "I Only Want to Paint".

I Only Want to Paint [2:46:41], a lengthy cache of documentary footage, was filmed for the documentary of the same title, and captures life in Tom Wesselmann’s studio in 1998. It straddles a fine line between documentary, oral history, and diary. In it, a skeleton filmmaking crew spends days in Wesselmann’s studio, watching attentively as Wesselmann and his studio staff make decisions over color, collage materials, and scale. Large pieces of art loom over the proceedings — a corner of a Great American Nude or a Smoker, perhaps — but Wesselmann himself is undoubtedly the star of the show. 

After an artist passes, we can find various ways to reconstruct the ways they thought about their own work: oral histories are one tool, while archival records are another. But rarely are we afforded such an in-depth look into how an artist thought about their own work and legacy. In All I Want To Do, Wesselmann is as aware of the camera’s watchful eye as he is of his own answers. He tweaks his phrasing; he returns to questions on his artistic influences and reconsiders them hours later. He sometimes repeats entire segments, workshopping words, gestures, and interpretations of his works. The picture that emerges is of an intensely thoughtful, intentional artist, working within a finely honed studio ecosystem that allowed him to produce large- and small-scale works alike that often defied neat genre categorization. We will never be able to produce a new oral history with Tom Wesselmann, but to have access to this newly transcribed footage is a rare gift for artists, researchers, and scholars. 

Lippincott, Inc. was founded by Donald Lippincott in 1966 as a fabrication space specifically for artists producing large-scale sculptures, not industrial design projects. Eventually joined by his brother, Alfred, the Lippincott studio quickly gained renown for its collaborative, salon-like atmosphere; its attention to artists’ aesthetic and technical considerations; and its innovative methods for constructing large-scale sculptures. Lippincott, Inc. also offered artists the option of partnership pieces: a collaboration in which the fabricator covered up front costs and materials in exchange for l an ownership stake in the finished work. The Lippincotts worked with many 20th-century artists of note, including Claes Oldenburg, Donald Judd, George Sugarman, Louise Nevelson, and others. But Tom Wesselmann’s 3-D and sculptural works hold a special place in the studio’s history. From 1980 onward, the Lippincotts worked on over 600 individual jobs for Wesselmann, which would ultimately account for almost ⅙ of the studio’s total output. Donald and Alfred developed a fond, creatively fruitful working relationship with Wesselmann that lasted from 1980 until the end of his life. The oral history highlights the arc of their years working with Wesselmann, as well as specific projects, from Wesselmann and others, that represented turning points in their own studio practices. 

Jim Dine is an American artist active from the mid-1950s onward whose work defies neat categorization. An accomplished painter, printmaker, sculptor, and as of recently, poet, Dine is often closely associated with both the Pop Art and Neo-Expressionist movements. Along with Marcus Ratliff and Wesselmann, with assistance from Judson Church minister Bud Scott, he co-founded the Judson Gallery, an experimental art space that hosted exhibitions from all three co-founders as well as fellow artists like Claes Oldenburg and Allan Kaprow. Dine, like Wesselmann, also hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he first met Wesselmann as a young man. Highlights from his interview include candid reflection on Wesselmann’s shifting artistic phases and influences, memories of the Happenings, discussion of Wesselmann’s relationship with psychoanalysis, and an examination of Dine’s own artistic process. 

Susan Stedman is a curator, arts administrator and manager for artist’s estates. She has held positions at the Museum of Modern Art and the New York State Council of the Arts. She met Romare Bearden in the 1960s and was a friend—and fierce supporter of his work—until his passing. Highlights of her oral history include descriptions of Bearden and the artistic climate in the 1960s and 1970s, memories of meeting her husband, artist William “Bill” Majors, and recollections of the Spiral collective and the Cinque Gallery. 

Sheila Rohan is the youngest sister of Nanette Rohan Bearden and the sister-in-law of Romare Bearden. She was a principal dancer of the founding company of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Later, she was a soloist and Ballet Mistress for the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre. Rohan was instrumental in the development of the Romare Bearden Foundation and serves on the board of directors. Highlights of her oral history include memories of her time dancing under Arthur Mitchell at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, recollections of visits to St. Maartens with Romare and Nanette, and a discussion of her and her sisters’ work to preserve Bearden’s artistic legacy.

Myron Schwartzman, Professor Emeritus of English at Baruch College, is the author of the biography Romare Bearden: His Life and Art (1990). Having befriended Bearden in 1977, Schwartzman conducted extensive interviews with the artist over the course of several years, deepening their relationship and informing his narrative. Highlights of the interview include depictions of Schwartzman’s visits to Bearden’s family home on St. Maarten and to Bearden’s birthplace of Charlotte, North Carolina; memories of spending time with Bearden and friends in the Long Island City studio; and discussions of the personal, artistic, and historical roots of Bearden’s oeuvre.

Jerald Melberg has owned and operated the Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte, North Carolina for the past forty years. Prior to opening the gallery, Melberg was a curator at the Mint Museum where he curated the retrospective, Romare Bearden, 1970-1980. Having befriended Bearden while working on the exhibition, Melberg subsequently curated several exhibitions of his work at his gallery. Highlights from Melberg's oral history include anecdotes of his first meetings with Bearden, memories of challenges and triumphs while curating the major retrospective at the Mint, and reflections on Bearden's legacy today. 

KEYWORDS: Romare Bearden, Mint Museum, curation, Arne Ekstrom, retrospectives, gallerists, art dealers, Al Murray, collages, recordkeeping, Milton Bloch, collective memory 

This interview was conducted in French. Visit the Gonzalès Oral History webpage to download a French or English transcript.

Marie-Caroline Sainsaulieu is a French art historian specializing in late 19th-century and early 20th-century French painting. While working on the catalogue raisonné of Henri Manguin, she met Jacques de Mons, with whom she published a catalogue raisonné of Eva Gonzalès’s works in 1990. Sainsaulieu’s interview gives fascinating insight into her personal background with art and architecture that informs her research, as well as detailed historical context for Gonzalès’ life, works, and contemporary significance.

KEYWORDS: Eva Gonzalès, Théodore Géricault, Henri Manguin, Charles Joshua Chaplin, Édouard Manet, Jacques de Mons, Reims Cathedral, Berthe Morisot, French Impressionism, archival research, droit moral, catalogue raisonnés

Johanne Bryant-Reid is the current co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation, as well as a serious art collector and dedicated philanthropist. While working as a Human Resources Executive at Merrill Lynch in New York, Bryant-Reid became immersed in New York’s art scene, often using art as a tool for philanthropic fundraising. She joined the Board of the RBF in 2002, and became co-director in 2009. Highlights of her oral history include her first meeting with Bearden, memories of the artists’ salons and social circles of the 1980s, and reflections on her own art collection.

KEYWORDS: Romare Bearden Foundation, collage, Russell Goings, Cordier & Ekstrom, Roy Crosse, art collectors, Norman Lewis, Merrill Lynch, artists’ estates, E.T. Williams, Grace Stanislaus, Diedra Harris-Kelley, artists’ archives, From Process to Print, Cinque Gallery