Oral history interview with Charles Lahti, 2015

Biographical Note

Charles Lahti was born in Brunswick, GA. He is a master printer and artist. He first studied with Mary Abbott at University of Minnesota, then relocated to New York in 1977 to pursue a career in the visual arts, acting first as a printer at Styria Studios. His works are regularly exhibited and collected internationally, and he has long been devoted to the development of new artists and printmakers

Scope and Contents

Charles Lahti talks about how he first met Rauschenberg when he became a printer at Styria Studios in 1977. He discusses his work at Styria and how this meeting led to an ongoing personal relationship with Rauschenberg. He recalls assisting Rauschenberg with the installation of the set pieces for Trisha Brown’s Glacial Decoy. He talks about visits to Rauschenberg at 381 Lafayette over a number of years, including discussing Rauschenberg's collection of works by other artists and accompanying Rauschenberg on trips to take photographs in the early 1980s

Subjects

• Abstract expressionism.
• Art, Modern--20th Century.
• Installations (Art)
• Interviews.
• Lahti, Charles--Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Printmakers--United States.
• Prints--Technique.
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.
• Styria Studio.
• Vanderscoff, Cameron interviewer.

Access Conditions

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