Oral history interview with Elizabeth Saltonstall

Object Details

General: Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 25 min.

Interviewee: Saltonstall, Elizabeth, 1900-1990
Interviewer: Brown, Robert F.
Names: Boston Society of Independent Artists; Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, Mass.); Institute of Modern Art (Boston, Mass.); Milton Academy (Milton, Mass.) -- Faculty; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. School; Windsor School (Boston, Mass.) -- Faculty; Windsor School (Boston, Mass.) -- Students; Benson, Frank Weston, 1862-1951; Bosley, Frederick A., 1881-1942; Chase, Frank Swift, 1886-1958; Clark, Henry Hunt; Cross, Anson K., 1862-1944; Hale, Philip Leslie, 1865-1931; James, Alexander, 1890-1946; Miller, George Charles, b. 1894; Presser, Josef, 1909-1967; Saltonstall, Nathaniel, 1903-1968; Thompson, Leslie P.; Wengenroth, Stow, 1906-1978

Occupation: Art teachers -- Massachusetts -- Boston; Printmakers--Massachusetts--Boston; Painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston; Art patrons -- Massachusetts -- Boston
Topic: Art -- Study and teaching -- France -- Paris; Art -- Study and teaching -- Massachusetts; Women artists; Women painters; Women printmakers; Women artists

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 administrators.

Sponsor: 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.

Biographical / Historical: Elizabeth Saltonstall (1900-1990) was a painter, printmaker, and instructor of Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Type: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Pages; Interviews; Sound recordings

Scope and Contents: An interview of Elizabeth Saltonstall conducted 1981 November 18, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.; Saltonstall discusses her experiences with art as a child in Boston (mentioning Frank Weston Benson as an influence) and her subsequent art education at the Winsor School, the art school of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and independent study in Paris. She remembers the various teaching styles of the Museum School faculty (Frederick A. Bosley, Henry Hunt Clark, Anson K. Cross, Philip Leslie Hale, Alexander James, and Leslie P. Thompson), especially as they contrasted with French teaching methods. She also speaks of her teachers in France and on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket (including Frank Swift Chase), and recalls some of her co-students (including Josef Presser). Particular mention is made of a lithography workshop taught by Stow Wengenroth, and of George C. Miller, who printed her lithography stones. Her cousin, Nathaniel Saltonstall, is discussed as a patron of the arts, especially his contributions to the establishment of the Institute of Modern Art [Institute of Contemporary Art] in Boston. She touches also on her own teaching career at Winsor School and Milton Academy, and her involvement with the Boston Society of Independent Artists and the Grace Horn Gallery.