Audio interview with Irwin Touster, 1994 Mar 2
Scope and Contents
In this audio interview with Martica Sawin, Irwin Touster discusses his tenure as Chair of Fine Arts (BFA) at Parsons School of Design, beginning in 1974. Touster relates the details of his joining the faculty at the behest of Dean David C. Levy and the hiring of many of the department's staff under his purview, including Larry Rivers, Elaine De Kooning, Jane Wilson, Stuart Shedletsky (also interviewed for this project), Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe, and... Eric Gibson. Touster and Sawin also discuss the post-graduation lives of many alumni, the department's teaching philosophy,and the value of the foundation-year method of art education.
See moreDates
- 1994 Mar 2
Participant Biography
Irwin Touster was born in 1921. While serving in the United States Armed Forces during World War Two, Touster was a cartoonist for Yank, a magazine for servicemembers. Following his return from overseas, Touster cartooned for several publications including the New Yorker and the Saturday Review of Literature. He received a bachelor's degree from New York University and pursued graduate studies in Art Education at the University of New Hampshire. Touster chaired the Fine Arts Department of Parsons beginning in 1974, and simultaneously served as the art critic for the Woodstock Times. He retired from Parsons in 1992. Touster's work has been shown at a number of galleries. He is also the author of several books, including a memoir, the Motel and Other Digressions (2012).
Container Summary
00:57:17 duration; Includes PDF transcript