Speranza
Henry Geldzahler
Born 1935-07-09)July 9, 1935
Antwerp,
Belgium
Died August 16, 1994(1994-08-16)
Southampton, New York,
U.S.
Alma mater Yale University
Harvard University
OccupationCurator,
art historian, art critic
Henry Geldzahler (July 9, 1935 – August 16,
1994) was a curator of contemporary art in the late 20th century, as well as a
modern art art historian and art critic.
Geldzahler is best known for his work at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art and as New York City Commissioner of Cultural
Affairs, and for his social role in the art world with a close relationship with
contemporary artists.
Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Geldzahler's
Jewish family emigrated to the United States in 1940.
He graduated from Yale
University in 1957, where he was a member of Manuscript Society.
In 1960,
Geldzahler left graduate school at Harvard to join the staff of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
He became the Curator for American Art
there, and later the first Curator for 20th Century Art.
His time at the Met is
most known for his landmark 1969 exhibition, New York Painting and Sculpture:
1940-1970, which included his favourite contemporary work and became the talk of
the town.
Unlike most curators at the time, he befriended many of the
artists he was interested in, and socialized with them as part of the same art
world.
Artists he associated with included
Willem de Kooning
Jasper Johns
Larry Rivers
Frank Stella
Andy Warhol
David Hockney
Ching Ho Cheng
Larry
Stanton, and later
Jean-Michel Basquiat.
He took a temporary leave from the Met
to become the first director of the visual-arts program of the National
Endowment for the Arts, where he initiated a program of museum grants for the
purchase of art made by living American artists.
From 1977 until 1982, he was
the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for New York City, having been appointed by
Mayor Edward I. Koch.
As an openly gay man who was part of the Koch
administration and the conservative Metropolitan Museum of Art, Geldzahler
contributed significant time and effort into AIDS-related causes.
After leaving
his post for New York City, Geldzahler continued to write on art, and acted as an
independent curator, working at the alternative space P.S. 1 and the austere
high modernist Dia Art Foundation.
Geldzhaler was the curator of the 1969
Metropolitan exhibition New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970.
In
addition to authoring its catalog, Geldzhaler has also written American Painting
in the 20th Century (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1965), Charles Bell: The
Complete Works, 1970-1990 (Abrams, 1991), and Making It New: Essays, Interviews,
and Talks (Harvest Books, 1996); and co- written Art in Transit: Subway Drawings
by Keith Haring (1984) Andy Warhol: Portraits of the Seventies and Eighties
(Thames and Hudson, 1993), and many other works.
On August 16,
1994, Geldzahler died of liver cancer at the age of 59.
Hugo Vickers, Lynne
Tillman and Stephen Shore all describe Geldzahler's death as
AIDS-related.
Geldzahler is the subject of a
documentary called Who Gets to Call It Art?, by Peter Rosen.
He is depicted
in portraits by several of his artist friends, including a famous 1969 double
portrait by David Hockney of Geldzahler with his then partner, painter
Christopher Scott.
Geldzahler is depicted in a 1964 movie, Henry
Geldzahler, by Andy Warhol which consists of Geldzahler smoking a cigar and
becoming increasingly uncomfortable for 90
minutes.
Footnotes:
"Geldzahler, Henry".
dictionaryofarthistorians.org. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
Ed. Parks,
Steven; Cooper, Henry S. F. Jr., Wallace, Thomas C. (2002). Manuscript Society
(1953-2002). (New Haven, CT: Phoenix Press). Cite uses deprecated parameters
(help)
Goldberger, Paul (1994-08-17). "Henry Geldzahler, 59,
Critic, Public Official And Contemporary Art's Champion, Is Dead". The New York
Times. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
Goldberger, Paul (1994-08-17).
"Henry Geldzahler, 59, Critic, Public Official And Contemporary Art's Champion,
Is Dead". The New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
Schjeldahl, Peter (2009). "Let It Bleed: "1969" at P.S. 1". The New Yorker
(Condé Nast) (23 November): 124–125. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
Vickers, Hugo (2004). Beaton in the Sixties: More Unexpurgated Diaries. Phoenix.
p. 381. ISBN 978-0753820209.
Tillman, Lynn (1995). Velvet Years:
Warhol's Factory 1965-1967. Pavilion Books Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 978-1560250982.
^ Melia, Paul (1995). David Hockney: Volume 1 of Critical
Introductions To Art. Manchester University Press ND. p. 82. ISBN 0-7190-4405-7.
"Henry Geldzahler (1964)". warholstars.org. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
References:
Tomkins, Calvin. "Profiles: Henry Geldzahler." New
Yorker November 6, 1971: 58-60.
"Henry Geldzahler interview, 1970 Jan. 27"
Sound recordings: 2 sound tape reels; 7 in. Transcript: 76 p. (microfilm reel
3197) Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
External
links[edit]
Henry Geldzahler at the Internet Movie Database
Who Gets to
Call It Art? at the Internet Movie Database
Persondata
NameGeldzahler, Henry
Alternative
names
Short descriptionCurator, art historian, art critic
Date of
birthJuly 9, 1935
Place of birthAntwerp, Belgium
Date of deathAugust 16,
1994
Place of deathSouthampton, New York, U.S.
Categories:
American art critics
American art historians
Belgian
emigrants to the United States
Cancer deaths in New York
Deaths from liver
cancer
Harvard University alumni
Horace Mann School alumni
LGBT people
from the United States
People from Antwerp
People associated with the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
People from New York City
Yale University
alumni
1935 births
1994 deaths
American historians
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