Robert Goldwater
Encyclopedia
Robert Goldwater was an art historian, African arts scholar and the first director of the Museum of Primitive Art
, New York
, from 1957 to 1973. He was married to the late French-born American artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois
.
Born in New York City
, Goldwater received his BA in 1929 from Columbia University
, and his MA from Harvard in 1931. Goldwater was one of the early art history students to study modern art at a time when the subject was not considered worthy of serious graduate research. Goldwater was one of the participants of the informal gatherings of art scholars organized by Meyer Schapiro
(c.1935) that included Lewis Mumford
, Alfred Barr
and Erwin Panofsky
. He wrote his doctoral dissertation in 1937 at New York University
's Institute of Fine Arts under Richard Offner, on "primitivism" and Modern art. This would become the subject of his life's major works. The following year, a revised version of his dissertation appeared as the book Primitivism in Modern Painting, a pioneering work that examines the relationship between tribal art
s and 20th-century painting. In 1937, he married the French artist Louise Bourgeois
who was to go on to become a world-renowned Surrealist sculptor. In 1939 he accepted an appointment at Queens College, and taught art history there until 1956. In 1949, he co-curated a show at the Museum of Modern Art
with Director Rene d'Harnoncourt
entitled Modern Art in Your Life. In 1957 he returned to New York University as full professor of art history, and the same year became the first director of the Museum of Primitive Art
, founded by Nelson A. Rockefeller and derived in part from Rockefeller's personal collection. Goldwater organized the first exhibition of African art by a New York museum, which opened in 1957 in a town house on West 54th Street
.
In 1969, Nelson Rockefeller offered the entire Museum of Primitive Art collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, which established a curatorial department for the care, study and exhibition of the works. A new wing was proposed, to be named in honor of Rockefeller's son Michael
who disappeared in 1961 during an expedition in New Guinea
with Dutch anthropologist René Wassing. Goldwater served as Consultative Chairman of the Metropolitan Museum's Department of Primitive Art from 1971 until his death. The wing, which contains both the Metropolitan Museum's existing holdings with those of the Primitive Museum's former holdings, opened to the public in January 1982. The departmental library was renamed the Robert Goldwater Library
in Goldwater's memory.
Museum of Primitive Art
The Museum of Primitive Art, is a now defunct museum devoted to the arts of the indigenous cultures of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas as well as the early civilizations of Europe and Asia. It was founded in 1954 by Nelson Rockefeller, who donated his own collection of Tribal art. The museum...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, from 1957 to 1973. He was married to the late French-born American artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois
Louise Joséphine Bourgeois , was a renowned French-American artist and sculptor, best known for her contributions to both modern and contemporary art, and for her spider structures, titled Maman, which resulted in her being nicknamed the Spiderwoman...
.
Born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Goldwater received his BA in 1929 from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and his MA from Harvard in 1931. Goldwater was one of the early art history students to study modern art at a time when the subject was not considered worthy of serious graduate research. Goldwater was one of the participants of the informal gatherings of art scholars organized by Meyer Schapiro
Meyer Schapiro
Meyer Schapiro was a Lithuanian-born American art historian known for forging new art historical methodologies that incorporated an interdisciplinary approach to the study of works of art...
(c.1935) that included Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford was an American historian, philosopher of technology, and influential literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer...
, Alfred Barr
Alfred Barr
Alfred Hamilton Barr, Jr. , known as Alfred H. Barr, Jr., was an American art historian and the first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City...
and Erwin Panofsky
Erwin Panofsky
Erwin Panofsky was a German art historian, whose academic career was pursued mostly in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime. Panofsky's work remains highly influential in the modern academic study of iconography...
. He wrote his doctoral dissertation in 1937 at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Institute of Fine Arts under Richard Offner, on "primitivism" and Modern art. This would become the subject of his life's major works. The following year, a revised version of his dissertation appeared as the book Primitivism in Modern Painting, a pioneering work that examines the relationship between tribal art
Tribal art
Tribal art is an umbrella term used to describe visual arts and material culture of indigenous peoples. Also known as Ethnographic art, or, controversially, Primitive Art, tribal arts have historically been collected by Western anthropologists, private collectors, and museums, particularly...
s and 20th-century painting. In 1937, he married the French artist Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois
Louise Joséphine Bourgeois , was a renowned French-American artist and sculptor, best known for her contributions to both modern and contemporary art, and for her spider structures, titled Maman, which resulted in her being nicknamed the Spiderwoman...
who was to go on to become a world-renowned Surrealist sculptor. In 1939 he accepted an appointment at Queens College, and taught art history there until 1956. In 1949, he co-curated a show at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
with Director Rene d'Harnoncourt
Rene d'Harnoncourt
Rene d'Harnoncourt was an art curator, and a Director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, from 1949 to 1967....
entitled Modern Art in Your Life. In 1957 he returned to New York University as full professor of art history, and the same year became the first director of the Museum of Primitive Art
Museum of Primitive Art
The Museum of Primitive Art, is a now defunct museum devoted to the arts of the indigenous cultures of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas as well as the early civilizations of Europe and Asia. It was founded in 1954 by Nelson Rockefeller, who donated his own collection of Tribal art. The museum...
, founded by Nelson A. Rockefeller and derived in part from Rockefeller's personal collection. Goldwater organized the first exhibition of African art by a New York museum, which opened in 1957 in a town house on West 54th Street
54th Street (Manhattan)
54th Street is a two-mile-long, one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-West Side Highway:*The route begins at the West Side Highway . Opposite the intersection is the New York Passenger Ship Terminal and the Hudson River...
.
In 1969, Nelson Rockefeller offered the entire Museum of Primitive Art collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, which established a curatorial department for the care, study and exhibition of the works. A new wing was proposed, to be named in honor of Rockefeller's son Michael
Michael Rockefeller
Michael Clark Rockefeller , was the youngest son of New York Governor Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller and Mary Todhunter Rockefeller and a fourth generation member of the Rockefeller family...
who disappeared in 1961 during an expedition in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
with Dutch anthropologist René Wassing. Goldwater served as Consultative Chairman of the Metropolitan Museum's Department of Primitive Art from 1971 until his death. The wing, which contains both the Metropolitan Museum's existing holdings with those of the Primitive Museum's former holdings, opened to the public in January 1982. The departmental library was renamed the Robert Goldwater Library
Robert Goldwater Library
The Robert Goldwater Library in the department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a noncirculating research library dedicated to the documentation of visual arts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Native and Precolumbian America...
in Goldwater's memory.
Books
- Le Primitivisme dans l'art moderne. Denise Paulme. Paris : Presses universitaires de France (1988)
- The paintings of Arshile Gorky : a critical catalogue; by Jim M Jordan; Robert John Goldwater. New York : London : New York University Press (1982)
- Symbolism. London : Penguin Books (1979)
- Robert Goldwater : a memorial exhibition, October 1973-February 1974, The Museum of Primitive Art, New York; by Robert John Goldwater; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dept. of Primitive Art, New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1973)
- Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from the Museum of primitive art. New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1969)
- What is modern sculpture? New York, Museum of Modern Art; distributed by New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, Conn. (1969)
- Space and dream. M. Knoedler & Co. New York, Walker (1968; 1967)
- Primitivism in modern art. N.Y., Wittenborn (1966); Vintage books (1966)
- Senufo sculpture from West Africa. Museum of Primitive Art, New York, N.Y. Greenwich, Conn., Distributed by New York Graphic Society (1964)
- The Great Bieri. Museum of Primitive Art, New York (1962)
- Traditional art of the African nations; by Museum of Primitive Art, New York, Distributed by University Publishers (1961)
- Bambara sculpture from the Western Sudan. Museum of Primitive Art, New York, distributed by University Publishers (1960)
- Lipchitz. London : A. Zwemmer (1958)
- Modern art in everyday life. New York, Abrams (1955)
- Modern art in your life. New York, Museum of Modern Art (1953)
- Abstraction in art. New York, Abrams (1953)
- Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890); by Meyer Schapiro; Robert John Goldwater; New York : H.N. Abrams (1953; 1952)
- Rufino Tamayo. New York, Quadrangle Press (1947)
- Artists on art, from the XIV to the XX century. 100 illustrations; by Robert John Goldwater; Marco Treves. New York, Pantheon books (1958; 1947; 1945)
- Primitivism in modern painting. New York, London, Harper & Brothers (1967; 1938)
- Paul Gauguin. New York, H.N. Abrams (1928)
Sources
External links
- Robert Goldwater's obituary, written by Robert Rosenblum in The New York Times
- Primitivism in modern painting / by Robert J. Goldwater
- holdings of writings by Robert Goldwater in the Robert Goldwater LibraryRobert Goldwater LibraryThe Robert Goldwater Library in the department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a noncirculating research library dedicated to the documentation of visual arts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Native and Precolumbian America...