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Oral history interview with Esther Robles and Robert Robles

Archives of American Art

Object Details

General
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 13 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 13 min.
Interviewee
Robles, Esther
Interviewer
Bowman, Ruth, 1923-
Interviewee
Robles, Robert Holtz (1922)
Names
Esther-Robles Gallery
Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973
Occupation
Gallery directors -- California -- Los Angeles
Provenance
These interviews are 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.
Interviewee
Robles, Esther
Interviewer
Bowman, Ruth, 1923-
Interviewee
Robles, Robert Holtz (1922)
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. This interview received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool
Biographical / Historical
Ester Waggoner Robles (1907-2001) was a gallery director from Los Angeles, California. Her husband Robert Holtz Robles (b. 1922) was active in running the gallery with Esther.
Extent
250 Pages (Transcript)
Date
1981 August 24-31
Archival Repository
Archives of American Art
Identifier
AAA.robles81
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Genre/Form
Sound recordings
Interviews
Scope and Contents
An interview of Esther Robles and Robert Robles conducted 1981 August 24-31, by Ruth Bowman, for the Archives of American Art.
Esther Robles speaks of her family background; early art training; opening her own gallery, the Esther-Robles Gallery (1947-1979); exhibitions at the gallery and artists who exhibited; the art community in Los Angeles and some of the problems in being a dealer there; her dedication to showing a variety of artists; working on the U.S. Treasury Department's Art Advisory Panel; and the closing of her gallery. Also interviewed is Robles' husband, Robert, who assisted in running the gallery. The Robles recall Stanton Macdonald-Wright; Martin Friedman; Elise Cavanna; Lorser Feitelson; Karel Appel; Robert Cremean; Claire Falkenstein; Fletcher Bennett; Morgan Russel; John Battenberg; Jules Engel; Stuart Davis; Will Barnet, among others. They also speak of other arts organizations in Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles County Museum, the Southern California Art Dealers, and the Stendahl Gallery. They recall art movements and styles shown in their gallery, including synchromism, kinetic art, and video art.
Restrictions
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1596304860018-1596304860020-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92e94f8e2-48b0-4b3e-a94c-20da3ba9dcb6
Oral history interview with Esther Robles, 1981 August 24-31, Digital Sound Recording (Excerpt)
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer
View Oral history interview with Esther Robles and Robert Robles, 1981 August 24-31, Transcript
View Finding aid

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