Oral history interview with Dorothy Lichtenstein, 2015

Biographical Note

Dorothy Lichtenstein was born Dorothy Herzka in New York City. She was the wife of the late artist Roy Lichtenstein, a contemporary and friend of Robert Rauschenberg. After studying art history at Arcadia University, she became director of the Paul Bianchini Gallery in New York, where she organized Pop art exhibitions and associated projects. Lichtenstein also worked in New York with William Copley, editing and publishing portfolios of artists' works for the Letter Edged in Black Press. She is the President of the Board of Directors of the Lichtenstein Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors of the Rauschenberg Foundation. She is also on the boards of Studio in a School and the Trisha Brown Dance Company, a member of the Director's Advisory Council of MASS MoCA, and a Lifetime Trustee of the Parrish Art Museum. In 2001, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication made her an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Scope and Contents

Dorothy Lichtenstein, wife of the late artist Roy Lichtenstein, describes the 1960s in New York, meeting her husband and Rauschenberg as young, critically acclaimed artists in a time of international interest. She talks about their different artistic temperaments and styles, and the friendship between artistic peers who never actually collaborated. She recounts the mass exodus of artists from New York and describes her family's own decision to acquire property in Captiva in 1980. She talks about the transition into a position on the Rauschenberg board of directors and eventually traveling with Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI). She also describes Change Inc. and the beginnings of Rauschenberg’s philanthropic works. Lichtenstein analyzes the impact of the artists of the 50s and 60s New York School and compares it to the contemporary art world and the emergent trend of art as an investment and artist as legitimate profession. She also describes the role of artists' foundations and the role of the Rauschenberg Residency for contemporary artists

Subjects

• Abstract expressionism--United States.
• Art, Modern--20th century--United States.
• Captiva Island (Fla.)
• Interviews.
• Lichtenstein, Dorothy--Interviews.
• Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997.
• Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Parrish Art Museum.
• Pop art--United States.
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.
• Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange.
• Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.
• Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
• Sinclair, Sara, interviewer.
• Theobalds, Jeanmarie, interviewer.
• Trisha Brown Company.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2015