H. Harvard Arnason

Hjorvardur Harvard Arnason(1909 – 1986) was an American academic, administrator, author andart historianfocusing onmodern art.His most enduring contribution was his survey of modern art,History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture & Photographywhich was first published in 1968. Now in its seventh edition, it has remained a standard volume on the modern period.

Background

Arnason was born inWinnipeg, Manitoba,Canada to Icelandic immigrants, Sveinbjorn Arnason and Maria (Bjarnadottir) Arnason. He attended theUniversity of Manitobafrom 1925 to 1927, then immigrating to the United States where he attendedNorthwestern University,graduating in 1931. he taught at Northwestern until earning hisAMdegree in 1937. He continued his studies at Princeton, where he was awarded aMaster of Fine Artsin 1939.

Career

In New York, he worked at theFrick Collectionand atHunter College.DuringWorld War II,he was field representative in Iceland for theOffice of War Informationfrom 1942 to 1944, then was promoted to assistant deputy director for Europe, in 1944 and 1945. In 1947 he was a visiting professor at theUniversity of Chicago,and then professor and chair of the art department at theUniversity of Minnesota,where he remained until 1961. In Minnesota, Arnason became director of theWalker Art Centerin 1951, holding that position for ten years, with a brief stint as aCarnegie Foundationvisiting professor at theUniversity of Hawaiʻiin 1959. In 1961 he returned to New York, to become vice-president for art administration at theGuggenheim Foundation,serving with Guggenheim directorThomas Messer.While at the Guggenheim, Arnason published his famous survey of modern art in 1968,A History of Modern Art,much of it drawn from his contacts and experiences with the Walker Museum. He left the Guggenheim in 1969. He wrote books about a number of modern artists.

Personal life

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 writerEleanor 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.

Selected works

• Arnason, H. Harvard.Directions in Modern Painting(G. David ThompsonCollection 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 andJacques Lipchitz.My Life in SculptureNew York: Viking Press, 1972
• Arnason, H. Harvard.The Sculptures ofHoudon.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.ISBN0-8109-3439-6;Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.ISBN0-13-183313-8;London: Thames & Hudson.ISBN0-500-23757-3[Fifth edition, revised by Peter Kalb, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall; London: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004.ISBN0-13-184069-X]

External links

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