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Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Avery, Sally Michel, 1902-2003  Search this
Interviewer:
Wolf, Tom  Search this
Subject:
Avery, Milton  Search this
Gottlieb, Adolph  Search this
Hartley, Marsden  Search this
Newman, Barnett  Search this
Rothko, Mark  Search this
Opportunity Club (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Mark Rothko and His Times Oral History Project  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Place of publication, production, or execution:
New York (State)
Physical Description:
66 Pages, Transcript
General Note:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 32 min.
Access Note / Rights:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Summary:
An interview of Sally Avery conducted 1982 February 19, by Tom Wolf, for the Archives of American Art's Mark Rothko and His Times oral history project.
Avery discusses the friendship between Mark Rothko and the Averys, noting especially Rothko's admiration for Milton Avery's work. She describes Avery's influence on Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb, recalling several summers spent together and their close association in New York. She mentions Rothko's and Avery's involvement with the Opportunity Gallery, and the activities of the Club and the Ten. Avery speaks of Rothko's "myth paintings" and the origination of the idea with Barnett Newman and Adolph Gottlieb. The second half of the interview focuses on Milton Avery and his manner of working. She mentions an Avery portrait of Marsden Hartley and remembers his visits with them.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Sally Avery, 1982 February 19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript available on line.
Funding:
Funding for this interview was provided by the Mark Rothko Foundation. 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.
Biography Note:
Sally Michel Avery (1902-2003) was a painter and widow of Milton Avery. Sally Avery lived in New York and Long Island.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview was conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's Mark Rothko and his Times oral history project, with funding provided by the Mark Rothko Foundation. Others interviewed on the project (by various interviewers) include: Sonia Allen, Ben-Zion, Bernard Braddon, Ernest Briggs, Rhys Caparn, Elaine de Kooning, Herbert Ferber, Esther Gottlieb, Juliette Hays, Sidney Janis, Buffie Johnson, Jacob Kainen, Louis Kaufman, Jack Kufeld, Katharine Kuh, Stanley Kunitz, Joseph Liss, Dorothy Miller, Betty Parsons, Wallace Putnam, Rebecca Reis, Maurice Roth, Sidney Schectman, Aaron Siskind, Joseph Solman, Hedda Sterne, Jack Tworkov, Esteban Vicente and Ed Weinstein. Each has been cataloged separately.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12685
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215618
AAA_collcode_avery82
Theme:
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_215618