Monday, January 24, 2022

Letter to Jim Meeker from Wallace Berman

 


There is very little correspondence from my late father, the artist Wallace Berman to anyone. I found this typewritten letter from Wallace in my Mom’s files almost two weeks ago. . For me, there are no surprises here, but hearing his thoughts on art/poetry through his ‘voice’ is pretty magnificent. The letter was sent to James Meeker, an art collector and someone Wallace admired greatly. At the moment, this is the only statement or thoughts about his art on paper by Wallace. He refused most interviews in his lifetime, nor was he interested in leaving a trail of paper behind him. Wallace requested Jim to destroy this letter after reading it. Jim kept it, and after some years after Wallace’s death, he sent it to my Mom, Shirley Berman.

Letter to Jim Meeker from Wallace Berman