Anne d'Harnoncourt
Anne d'Harnoncourt | |
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Born | René d'Harnoncourt and Sarah Carr | September 7, 1943
Anne Julie d'Harnoncourt (September 7, 1943 – June 1, 2008) was an American
Biography
Early life and education
d'Harnoncourt was born on September 7, 1943, in
Beginning career
D'Harnoncourt's first museum experience was at the Tate Gallery, London where she worked for six months as part of an MA degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, preparing full catalog entries on thirty Pre-Raphaelite paintings and drawings in the collection in 1966–67.[3] She graduated from there in 1967 with a Master of Arts degree in nineteenth-century painting.[4] She then came to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) as a curatorial assistant in the Department of Painting and Sculpture from 1967 through 1969.[1] During this time she helped oversee the installation of one of Marcel Duchamp's greatest and last major art installations, Étant donnés (1968) along with the coordination of Duchamp's wife Alexina Duchamp and his step-son Paul Matisse.[5] In 1969, she was hired as assistant curator of twentieth-century art by the Art Institute of Chicago, a position she held until 1971.[1] In that year, she also married Joseph J. Rishel, who was also an Assistant Curator at the Art Institute of Chicago at the time.[6]
Curatorship at the Philadelphia Museum
In 1972, d'Harnoncourt returned to the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a curator of twentieth century art.[6] She served in the position from 1972 and 1982. A specialist in the art of Marcel Duchamp, in 1973, she co-organized a major retrospective exhibition of his work, which originated in Philadelphia and traveled to the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.[6] Other exhibitions organized or co-organized by Anne included Futurism and the International Avant-Garde (1980), Violet Oakley (1979), Eight Artists (1978) and John Cage: Scores & Prints (1982).
During her tenure as curator, she reinstalled the permanent galleries in the wing of the PMA devoted to 20th-century art, creating rooms specifically dedicated to the work of Duchamp and the sculptor Constantin Brâncuși. Under her curatorship, the PMA made the commitment to substantially build their contemporary collection, acquiring important works by Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt, Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Elizabeth Murray, Claes Oldenburg, Katherine Anne Porter, Dorothea Rockburne, James Rosenquist, and Frank Stella among others.[1]
Directorship of the Philadelphia Museum
In 1982, d'Harnoncourt, at the age of 38, was appointed the director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, replacing
Each exhibition was accompanied by an illustrated book-length catalog, while other PMA publications under her leadership have included British Paintings in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1986), Handbook of the Collections (1995), Gifts in Honor of the Museum's 125th Anniversary (2002), and Italian Paintings 1250–1450 (2004).
Between 1992 and 1995, in a massive building project undertaken to reinstall all of the PMA European collections, over 90 galleries were renovated and relit, while thousands of works of art were examined, conserved and placed in fresh contexts.[1] Twenty galleries for modern and contemporary art were renovated and reopened in the fall of 2000.
As part of the long range plan, and in celebration of the PMA 125th anniversary year, a capital campaign with a goal of $200 million was formally launched in December 2000. Over $246 million was raised by the end of the campaign in 2004.[1] In the same year, the PMA broke ground on repurposing of a landmark building across the street and embarked on a comprehensive master plan for its use and the additional steps necessary to meet its 25-year requirements for new or renovated space.[7] The renovated structure, now named the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, opened in September 2007.[7] It houses greatly expanded, state-of-the-art facilities for the PMA collections of prints, drawings, and photographs, costumes and textiles, modern and contemporary design, and Library and Archives.
The Gross Clinic
In 2006, d'Harnoncourt led a successful campaign to keep Thomas Eakins's masterpiece, The Gross Clinic, in Philadelphia by capital fundraising.[3] Gathering more than 3600 donors from all fifty states and collaborating with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, politicians and philanthropists, together they raised $68 million to ensure that the painting would not move out of state.[8][4]
Death
D'Harnoncourt died unexpectedly on 1 June 2008, in Philadelphia, from cardiac arrest.[6] She was survived by her longtime husband, Joseph J. Rishel, who is a senior curator of European painting before 1900 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[9] After her death in 2008, Cleveland Museum of Art director Timothy Rub was chosen as her successor.[10]
Service on boards and committees
- Regent of the Smithsonian Institution
- Board of Directors, The Henry Luce Foundation
- Board of Trustees, The Japan Society
- Board of Directors, The Fabric Workshop and Museum
- Board of Trustees, Fairmount Park Art Association
- Board of Trustees, The Philadelphia Award
- Board of Directors, The John Cage Trust
- Board of Directors, ARTstor
- Museum Panel, National Endowment for the Arts
- Visual Arts Panel, National Endowment for the Arts
- Board of Trustees, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- Board of Trustees, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
- Indo/U.S. Sub-commission on Education and Culture
- Harvard University Art MuseumsVisiting Committee
- National Endowment for the Arts Indemnity Panel
- Board of Advisors, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art
- Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
- Visiting Committee, J. Paul Getty Museum
- Board of Advisors, State Hermitage Museum
Recognition
d'Harnoncourt received numerous awards during her life, including:
- Captain Jonathan Fay Prize, Radcliffe College (1965)[1]
- Elected member of the American Philosophical Society (1988)[11]
- Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Republic of France (1995)[1]
- Elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1995)[12]
- Philadelphia Award (1997)[13]
- Founders Award for Exemplary Service to History, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (2001)
- Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Princeton University, (2005)[14]
- Order of the Aztec Eagle, Republic of Mexico (2007)[1]
- Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial Founder's Award (2007)[15]
The
See also
- List of directors of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Women in the art history field
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Anne d'Harnoncourt Papers: Historical Notes", Philadelphia Museum of Art, Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ a b "Anne d'Harnoncourt, 64; Led Philadelphia Art Museum", The Washington Post, Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "Anne d'Harnoncourt" Archived 2008-06-12 at the Wayback Machine, Dictionary of Art Historians, Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ S2CID 191351221.
- ^ "Marcel Duchamp: Étant donnés", Philadelphia Museum of Art, Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d Grimes, William. "Anne d'Harnoncourt, Who Led Philadelphia Museum, Dies at 64", The New York Times, Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ a b "History: Perelman Building", Philadelphia Museum of Art, Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ Vogel, Carol. "Philadelphia Raises Enough Money to Retain 'The Gross Clinic,' an Eakins Masterpiece", The New York Times, Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ Smith, Roberta. "An Appraisal of Anne d'Harnoncourt, Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art", The New York Times, Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ Vogel, Carol. "Timothy Rub of Cleveland Museum is Named to Lead Philadelphia Museum of Art", The New York Times, Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ^ "Anne d'Harnoncourt". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ^ "1997 - Anne d'Harnoncourt" Archived 2014-11-19 at the Wayback Machine, Philadelphia Award, Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ Quiñones, Eric. "Princeton awards six honorary degrees", Princeton University, Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ "2007 Founder's Award: Anne d'Harnoncourt" Archived December 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Fleisher Art Memorial, Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ a b "On View: Sculpture Garden", Philadelphia Museum of Art, Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "Philadelphia Museum of Art - Collections Object : Giant Three-Way Plug (Cube Tap)". www.philamuseum.org. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ a b "Sculpture Garden Named for Late Art Museum Director". CBS Philly. CBS Broadcasting Inc. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2017.