Oral history interview with Thurston and Sharon Twigg-Smith

Object Details

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.

Biographical / Historical: Thurston Twigg-Smith (1921-2016) is a retired newspaper publisher, philanthropist, and art collector in Honolulu, Hawaii. His wife, Sharon Twigg-Smith (1944- ) is an artist, curator, and art collector in Honolulu, Hawaii. Marcia Morse (1944- ) is an artist and arts writer in Kailua, Hawaii.

Extent: 6 Items (sound files (3 hr., 37 min.), digital, wav); 86 Pages (Transcript)

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

Citation: Oral history Oral history interview with Thurston and Sharon Twigg-Smith, 2013 April 21 - May 25. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Rights: The Archives encourages the use of the transcript of this interview for non-commercial, educational, and personal use. Please refer to the Smithsonian Institution's Terms of Use for additional information. If an interview has been transcribed, researchers should quote from the transcript. If an interview has not been transcribed, researchers should quote from the audio recording.

Scope and Contents: An interview with Thurston and Sharon Twigg-Smith conducted 2013 April 21-May 25, by Marcia Morse, for the Archives of American Art at the Twigg-Smith's home in Honolulu, Hawaii.; Thurston and Sharon Twigg-Smith speak of the Hawaiian Eye; Contempo; Yale Art Gallery; how they began collecting; stamp collecting; moving; the Spalding House; family; the Advertiser; World War II; art in Hawaii; Frank Stella, Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud; Pergussa Three; Georgia O'Keeffe; donating works; buying back works; Honolulu Museum of Art; prints; local art; Twin Farms; Serious Fun; Bay Area artists; changes in the art world, fundraising; the IRS, taxes; donating art; artists in the family; making art; family interest in art; Giclee prints; the pink house; collecting and connecting; Persimmon Puzzles; bidding on works; relationships with dealers; Ed Ruscha; Cy Twombly; Artists of Hawaii; docent work; collecting; John Singer Sargent; and Andrew Rose Gallery. The Twigg-Smiths also recall Laila Roster, Graham Salisbury, Carol Salisbury, Pat Gottfried, Jack Newton, Jacques Reynolds, Sherry Pierce, and Eli Broad.

Restrictions: This transcript is open for research. Access to the audio is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.