INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND. This expanded, on-line version of The Artforum Index was prepared during the spring of 2002 and appears almost exactly thirty-two years after its initial publication as Artforum, 1962-1968: a cumulative index to the first six volumes. It now includes volume VII, numbers 1-4, September-December 1968. Coverage of Artforum by Art Index began with volume VII, number 5, January 1969.

Each volume is described in "Notes" at the end of this section, and "Acknowledgments" gives some history of this Index.

The original printing master was scanned using the TextBridge Pro 9.0 character-recognition program. Despite this program’s high accuracy, errors are inevitable, especially in text with so many roman numerals and abbreviations. Errors undoubtedly remain, even after multiple proofings. Over time, we will find and correct them.

In 1970 we supplied dates for many artists and authors.The information was obtained from a large variety of secondary sources. It is reasonably reliable but not authoritative, and it certainly is long out of date now. The on-line version will gradually upgrade and expand this feature, and we welcome corrections and additions.

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AN IMPERFECT TOOL. All indexes are imperfect, a talented reference librarian once told me. Following are some of the eccentricities of this imperfect tool. For those who lack the patience or inclination to read further, here are three suggestions:

1. when in doubt about a subject look in the Subject Guide;
2. refer to the Abbreviations window for unfamiliar terms;
3. for the most complete entry for any signed article, including long subtitles, illustrations, correspondence, cross-references, etc., look under the author if the article is on a general subject, or under a specific artist, museum or collection, if any of these are named in the title.

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SUBJECT GUIDE. Here the reader will find all subject headings that appear in the Index, together with variant terms and phrases. The following example is taken from the beginning of the Subject Guide:

ABC art, see

Minimal art

Aborigines, Australian, see

Pacific cultures

ABSTRACT Expressionism

"ABC art" is one of several terms that have been used to describe "Minimal art" (see below for additional information). "Pacific cultures" includes the art of the Pacific Islands and Australasia; a review of an exhibition of Australian aboriginal bark painting appears there. The capitalization of the first word of "ABSTRACT Expressionism" identifies it as a primary heading which is used in the body of the Index. Acronyms and a few variant terms and phrases such as "ABC art" may look at first glance like main headings, but the "see" reference indicates their secondary status.

Subject cross-references also appear in the body of the Index. "Abstract Expressionism," for instance, refers the user to "Action Painting," "Automatic painting," "New York art scene," and "New York School."

Headings beginning with the word "art" have been minimized, but many variant phrases appear in the Subject Guide. "Art, African," refers to "Africa." "Art, Viennese" lists both "Expressionism, Viennese" and "Vienna: recent art." "Recent" describes art that is more or less contemporaneous with the article or review in which it is discussed.

The word "contemporary" has been avoided completely in these headings, except as a reference, and "modern" has been used only once and with considerable reservations. "Contemporary art" is the main subject of Artforum, and any such heading would have to list most of the contents of every issue.

The term "Minimal art" covers that work which has been called "ABC art", "Conceptual art", " Literalist art", "Primary structures" and "Specific objects". Similarly, "Post Painterly Abstraction" is defined to include "Color-field painting", "Formalist painting", "Structurist painting" and "Systemic painting". The choice of these two terms in 1970 was an indexing expedient not intended to settle any critical disputes.

The Subject Guide contains several specialized lists. The emphasis on California art during the early years produced a large number of localized subject headings. In addition to appearing in their proper alphabetical sequence, all of these have been collected together under "California" in the Subject Guide. Similar lists appear for "Twentieth-century art" and "Recent art." All the review departments are listed under "Reviews." Also, there are lists of "Museums and galleries," "Collections," and "Print workshops." Lastly, the long lists of headings beginning with the words, "Art," "Painting," "Sculpture," etc. can be used as partial checklists of the contents of these sixty-seven issues.

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ABBREVIATIONS. Especially during its first four years, Artforum covered many individual exhibitions, The sheer number of entries required a heavy use of abbreviations. Please refer to the Abbreviations window as needed. Here is one common form of entry:

x MAGLA, group. AS. il(pt col) I:5, 17 [N]62

In full this reads: Group exhibition at the Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California. Reviewed by A[rthur] S[ecunda]. Contains illustrations including some in color. Volume I, number 5, page 17 [November], 1962

The definitions of some abbreviations contain additional information. A number of institutions have changed their names once or more since 1970. Those listings will be updated in the near future.

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MAIN ENTRIES. Each signed article has at least one complete entry, including long subtitles that may be omitted elsewhere, references to all illustrations, plus correspondence, corrections and cross-references. This does not apply to entries beginning "x" or to reviews which appear as part of a regular department, such as "Los Angeles," "San Francisco," or "New York."

The main entry for an article on a single artist is under the name of that artist.

Main entries for articles on museums or collections appear under their names.

Main entries for articles on general subjects are under the name of the author, as in the following entry for an article by Max Kozloff:

The dilemma of Expressionism: the Guggenheim Museum exhibition provokes a disenchanted view of the psychology and mechanics of Expressionist art. III:2, 32-5 N64

il(pt col): W. de Kooning, Gogh, Jorn, Munch, J. Pollock, Soutine

Reply. G. Phillips. III:4, 4 Ja65

The titles of illustrated works are listed under the individual artists. Anonymous, ancient, or primitive work appear in the author entry.

Five of the issues covered in this Index are devoted to special subjects. In each case, the main entry for the whole issue appears under the subject, as follows:

II:2 Ag63 "California sculpture today," see Sculpture, California, recent

II:12 Su64 "The Los Angeles scene today," see Los Angeles

IV:1 Se65 "The New York School," see New York School

V:l Se66 "Surrealism," see Surrealism

V:l0 Su67 "American sculpture," see Sculpture, United States

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This index to Artforum magazine originated as a series of typed manuscripts compiled for the use of the editorial staff. These were prepared in part by Marjorie Reeves, then at the library of the University of California, Irvine, and Mrs. Lucy Yen, then of the California Institute of Arts, Los Angeles. Ms. Reeves assembled them into a five-year cumulation. The resulting manuscript served as the basis for this index, but the printed version, published in 1970, was so much revised and expanded as to constitute almost a new work. Any shortcomings are the sole responsibility of the present editor. Suggestions, corrections, and criticisms are cordially welcomed.

Besides Ms. Reeves’ substantial assistance during the early stages of this project, many other people and institutions were very generous with their time, knowledge and resources.

Particular thanks must go to Judith Hoffberg and Philip Leider, both of whom on several occasions suggested the right solutions to difficult problems, and to Mrs. E.M. Polley, who answered numerous questions about San Francisco Bay Area art and artists.

Among the many other people who assisted in one way or another are Mrs. Nancy Andrews of the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, David and Eleanor Antin, John Baldessari, Eugenie Candau of the San Francisco Museum of Art, Herschel B. Chipp, Harold Cohen, John Coplans, L. Clarice Davis, James T. Demetrion, Claire Isaacs, Edward F. Fry, Gretchen Glicksman, Joan Hugo, Raymond A. Marlowe, Frances Preisman, Lawrence Urrutia, Dr. Kingsley Widmer, and Marlene Williams.

A number of galleries supplied much-needed information from their files, including the Artists’ Co-op and the Bolles Gallery, both of San Francisco, and the Bednarz Gallery, the Dalzell Hatfield Gallery, the David Stuart Gallery, the Esther Robles Gallery, the Feingarten Gallery, the Landau Gallery, the Los Angeles Art Association, the Rivas Gallery and the Ryder Gallery, all of Los Angeles.

A difficult task was much lightened by free access to the resources of several libraries, those of The Athenaeum, The La Jolla Museum of Art, and the University of California, San Diego, all located in La Jolla, and also the Oakland Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Art.

Greg Calvert of cybersmyth designed this on-line version, and Craig Good made it possible in the first place by scanning the original printing master.

Finally, I would like to express my everlasting gratitude to my family: to the children for their patience with this endless project; and, most of all, to my wife, Gere, who, in addition to all those things that always need doing, spent literally hundreds of hours checking information, proofreading, and assisting in other ways numerous and subtle beyond definition, and all for no more than the usual wages.

Laurence McGilvery
La Jolla, California

10 June 1970

10 June 2002

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NOTES

The volumes and issues of ARTFORUM covered in this Index are as follows:

Volume I has twelve issues from June 1962 through June 1963. Numbers 5, 6, and 7 were published without dates during the four-month period running from October 1962 through January 1963. For the purposes of this index, we have arbitrarily assigned those three issues the respective dates of [October] 1962, [November] 1962, and [December] 1962. No issue is recorded for January 1963. Pagination of all issues in Volume I begins with the first inside page, which is the colored page containing the title, contents, and masthead.

Volume II has twelve issues running consecutively from July 1963 through Summer (June) 1964. Number 2, August 1963, is a special issue titled "California sculpture today," and number 12, Summer 1964, is a special issue titled "The Los Angeles scene today." Pagination begins with the first inside page for numbers 1-7, 10, and 12; the cover is counted as the first page of numbers 8, 9, and 11.

Volume III has nine issues running from September 1964 through June 1965. No issue appeared for October 1964. Pagination begins with the cover of numbers 1 and 3-9 and with the first inside page of number 2, November 1964. Number 1, September 1964, has eight unnumbered pages of advertisements between pages 4 and 11. The two pages immediately preceding page 11 have been designated [10a-b].

Volume IV has ten issues running consecutively from September 1965 through June 1966. Number 1, September 1965, is a special issue titled "The New York School." Pagination of number 1 begins on the first inside page and runs in the following sequence: [1], [2], [2a](all Parke-Bernet advertisements), [2b](title-contents page), 3 and on. For numbers 2-10 pagination begins with the cover. Number 10 has an insert numbered 4a-b.

Volume V has ten issues running consecutively from September 1966 through Summer 1967. Number 1, September 1966, is the special issue "Surrealism," and number 10, Summer 1967, is a special issue titled "American sculpture." Pagination of all issues begins with the cover. Number 6, February 1967, has a four-page center insert numbered 36A-D. Number 8, April 1967, has a fold-out cover comprising pages [1-4].

Volume VI has ten issues running consecutively from September 1967 through Summer 1968. Pagination of all issues begins with the cover.

Volume VII, numbers 1-4, run from September through December 1968. Pagination of all issues begins with the cover. When Art Index began coverage of Artforum with volume VII, number 5 (January 1969), these four issues were orphaned. They have not been indexed until now.

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