H. Harvard Arnason

Hjorvardur Harvard Arnason (1909 – 1986) was an American academic, administrator, author and art historian focusing on modern art. His most enduring contribution was his survey of modern art, History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture & Photography which was first published in 1968. Now in its seventh edition, it has remained a standard volume on the modern period.^[1][2]

Background

Arnason was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Icelandic immigrants, Sveinbjorn Arnason and Maria (Bjarnadottir) Arnason. He attended the University of Manitoba from 1925 to 1927, then immigrating to the United States where he attended Northwestern University, graduating in 1931. he taught at Northwestern until earning his AM degree in 1937. He continued his studies at Princeton, where he was awarded a Master of Fine Arts in 1939.^{[citation needed]}

Career

In New York, he worked at the

In 1936, he married Elizabeth Hickox Yard, whose father was director of religion and a member of the department of political science at Northwestern University. Arnason was made a naturalized American citizen in 1940. He was married a second time to Elinor Lane Franklin in 1966. His daughter, the writer Eleanor Arnason, credits growing up in the company of avant-garde artists was a formative influence in her literary career. Arnason died in New York City on May 28, 1986.^[4]

Selected works

• Arnason, H. Harvard. Directions in Modern Painting (G. David Thompson Collection at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum). New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1961
• Arnason, H. Harvard. Philip Guston. New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1962
• Arnason, H. Harvard. Marca-Relli. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1963
• Arnason, H. Harvard. History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1968
• Arnason, H. Harvard and Jacques Lipchitz. My Life in Sculpture New York: Viking Press, 1972
• Arnason, H. Harvard. The Sculptures of Houdon. London: Phaidon, 1975
• Arnason, H. Harvard. Robert Motherwell. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1977
• Arnason, H. Harvard. 1998. History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Photography. Fourth Edition, rev. by Marla F. Prather, after the third edition, revised by Daniel Wheeler. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
  ISBN 0-13-184069-X
  ]

External links

• Oral history interview with H. Harvard Arnason
• Open to Discussion with H. Harvard Arnason
• Theodore Roszak by Arnason, H. Harvard