Documenting and preserving the stories of artists, architects, curators, critics, dealers, and collectors, these oral histories offer firsthand accounts of the making and meaning of visual art. The Getty Research Institute holds over 1,000 oral history videos, audio recordings, and transcripts, each of which captures the voices of those who shaped the artistic landscapes of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

The selected oral histories below highlight artists of Los Angeles's vibrant postwar art scene (1945–1980), and include interviews, group panels, and symposia. You can browse all our digitized oral histories in the Library Catalog.

• African American Art History Initiative (AAAHI)
• Recording Artists Podcast
• Select Oral History Video
• Select Oral History Audio

The Getty Research Institute's African American Art History Initiative (AAAHI) was launched in 2018 to provide a more robust and accurate history of American art through archival and library acquisitions, oral histories, exhibitions, events, publications and scholar grants related to the study of African American art history. Learn more about the initiative and watch more oral histories on YouTube.

Oral Histories Related to AAAHI

These interviews were conducted as part of a collaboration with the Oral History Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

Peter Bradley: A Life in Paint
Interview transcript (PDF, 1.3 MB)

David Driskell: Life Among the Pines
Interview transcript (PDF, 26.2 MB)
Watch on YouTube

Charles Gaines: The Criticality and Aesthetics of the System
Interview transcript (PDF, 5.3 MB)

Ulysses Jenkins: A Doggerel
Interview transcript (PDF, 4.6 MB)

Richard Mayhew: Painting Mindscapes and Searching for Sensitivity
Interview transcript (PDF, 1.4 MB)

Senga Nengudi: Black Avant Gard Visual and Performance Artist
Interview transcript (PDF, 3.8 MB)

Howardena Pindell: Artist, Teacher, and Social Observer
Interview transcript (PDF, 1.4 MB)

Listen to host Helen Molesworth discuss interviews and oral histories from the Getty Research Institute's archives. Season 1 of this series looks at Radical Women, particularly artists from the 1960s and '70s including Helen Frankenthaler, Eva Hesse, Lee Krasner, Alice Neel, Yoko Ono, and Betye Saar.

Season 1, Radical Women

Watch more videos on YouTube, including multipart interviews in their entirety.

Kenneth Anger, Curtis Harrington, and Larry Jordan: Part 1 of 6 (2003)	Larry Bell (2011)	Larry Bell, Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, and Ron Miyashiro (2010)
Billy Al Bengston (2010)	Karl Benjamin (2009)	Irving Blum, Everett Ellin, Patricia Faure, et al.: Part 1 of 12 (2004)
Richard Bradshaw: Part 1 of 2 (2012)	Charles Brittin: Part 1 of 13 (2006)	Jack Brogan (2011)
Vija Celmins (2011)	Dana Chandler, Nelson Stevens, Randy Williams, and William T. Williams: Part 1 of 2 (2019)	Judy Chicago (2011)
Mary Corse (2011)	Ronald Davis: Part 1 of 2 (2011)	Melvin Edwards (2010)
Monte Factor: Part 1 of 2 (2009)	Ronald Frank (2012)	Frank Gehry: Part 1 of 2 (2011)
Maren Hassinger, Ulysses Jenkins, Barbara McCollough, et al.: Part 1 of 14 (2008)	George Herms: Part 1 of 2 (2009)	Henry Hopkins, James Byrnes, Fred Hammersley, et al.: Part 1 of 4 (2003)
Robert Irwin (2011)	Craig Kauffman: Part 1 of 4 (2008)	David Martin: Part 1 of 2 (2012)
Ed Moses (2009)	Hans Neuendorf (2001)	Victor Newlove: Part 1 of 2 (2012)
Herb Randall, Ming Smith, Dawoud Bey, Adger Cowans, and Herb Robinson: Part 1 of 2 (2019)	Ed Ruscha, Jerry McMillan, and Mason Williams: Part 1 of 4 (2007)	Betye Saar (2011)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Magdalena Abakanowicz (1986)
Digital audio recording (on-site access only)

Ansel Adams (n.d.)
Digital audio recording (on-site access only)

Betty Asher (1989)
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Demeter Balla and Károly Gink (1977)
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Billy Al Bengston (1989)
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Imre Benkõ, Ernõ Vajda, Marian Reismann, and Tamás Kovács (1977)
Digital audio recording (on-site access only)

Shirley Berman (2003)
Digital audio recording

Irving Blum (1986)
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Ricardo Bofill (1986)
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Louise Bourgeois (1987)
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Trisha Brown (1985)
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Hans Burkhardt (1989)
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Cameron (1986)
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John Chamberlain (1971)
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A. Charmet and Laszlo Vamos (1977)
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John Coplans (1987)
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Claire Copley (2003)
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Charles Cowles (2003)
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Ralston Crawford (n.d.)
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Emil De Antonio (n.d.)
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Mark Di Suvero (various dates)
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Virginia Dwan (1988)
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János Eifert; Tamas Révész; Károly Hemzõ (undated)
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Betty and Monte Factor (1989)
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Öyvind Fahlström (various dates)
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Lilly Fenichel (1989)
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Elfriede Fischinger (1989)
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Simon Forte (1976)
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Helen Frankenthaler (part of the Barbara Rose Audio Recordings, various dates)
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Helen Frankenthaler (part of the Irving Sandler Selected Audio Recordings, 1973)
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Gallery 32 conversations: Betye Saar, Suzanne Jackson, and Timothy Washington (part of the Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. Recordings, 2009)

Philip and Beatrice Gersh (1989)
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Károly Gink, Tamas Féner, and Imre Benkõ (undated)
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Judith Goldman (n.d.)
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Elyse and Stanley Grinstein (1989)
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Tanya Grossman (1969)
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Robert Halff (1989)
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Juan Hamilton (1987)
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Joan Hazelette (1989)
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Michael Heizer (1971)
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Al Held (1980s and 1991)
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Joseph Helman (1991)
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Károly Hemzõ, Tamás Urbán, and Kata Kálmán (undated)
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Eva Hesse (Part of Selected Audio Recordings from Cindy Nemser papers, 1970)
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David Hockney (n.d.)
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Henry Hopkins (1994)
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Holly Hotchuer ("Restoration," n.d.)
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Sharon Hunt (undated)
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Robert Irwin (part of the Barbara Rose Audio Recordings, various dates)
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Robert Irwin (Robert Irwin Papers, undated)
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Edwin Janss (1988)
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Jasper Johns (n.d.)
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Phillip Johnson (various dates)
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Donald Judd (part of the Irving Sandler Selected Audio Recordings, 1987)
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Donald Judd (part of the Selected Audio Recordings from Phyllis Tuchman Interviews with Artists, 1976)
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Kata Kálmán, et. al (undated)
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Paul Kantor (1989)
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Kasmin (n.d.)
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Craig Kauffman (1986)
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Gábor Kerekes (undated)
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Tamás Kovács, Péter Horváth, and János Eifert (undated)
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Lee Krasner (Part of the Barbara Rose Audio Recordings, 1975, 1980)
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Lee Krasner (Part of Selected Audio Recordings from Cindy Nemser papers, 1972–1974, undated)
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Felix Landau (1989)
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Edward Leffingwell (1988)
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Sol LeWitt (1983)
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Les Levine (1968)
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Alexander Liberman (1970)
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Roy Lichtenstein (1974)
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Lucy Lippard (1980)
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Helen Lundeberg (1988)
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John Mason (1988)
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John McCracken (1979)
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Richard Meier (n.d.)
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Dorothy Miller (1980)
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Joan Mitchell (1971)
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A. Monetti (1991)
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Edward Moses (1986)
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Robert Motherwell (1969)
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Barton Myers (1994)
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John Myers (1968)
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Alice Neel (Part of Selected Audio Recordings from Cindy Nemser papers, 1971–1975)
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Rolf Nelson (1988)
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Georges Noel (n.d.)
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Annina Nosei (2003)
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William Olander (1988)
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Claes Oldenburg (1986)
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Yoko Ono (1990)
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Dennis Oppenheim (n.d.)
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Vincent Price (various dates)
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Yvonne Rainer (1990)
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Robert Rauschenberg (part of the Barbara Rose Audio Recordings, n.d.)
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Robert Rauschenberg (part of the Clare Spark interviews with artists, curators, and intellectuals, 1971)
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Larry Rivers (1980)
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Robert and Vivian Rowan (1988)
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William Rubin (n.d.)
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Edward Ruscha (undated)
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Betye Saar (Part of Selected Audio Recordings from Cindy Nemser papers, 1975)
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Richard Serra (n.d.)
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Richard Smith (various dates)
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Donald Sultan (1988)
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Maurice Tuchman (2003)
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Ken Tyler (various dates)
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David Warren (1991)
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June Wayne (1989)
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John Weber (1988)
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Marcia Weisman (1989)
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Robert Whitman (1970)
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Nicholas Wilder (1983)
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Terry Winters (1991)
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