Robert Ryman 1979: An Interview

Robert Ryman first moved to New York City with the intention of becoming a jazz musician. After working for several years as a gallery attendant at the Museum of Modern Art and a brief assignment in the Art Division of the Public Library comprised his “art education.” From the outset, Ryman was not interested in realistic representation. In his first paintings and collages from the mid-1950s, he experimented with material, color and brushwork, eventually reducing the painting to its barest elements. Eventually, he settled on a square with white paint as the basis of his investigation. “I don’t really know what it will look like when its finished--sometimes it’s a big surprise, which is good, when some discovery has been made that I didn’t consider at the beginning,” Ryman says in this interview with Kate Horsfield.

A historical interview originally recorded in 1979 and re-edited in 2003.