Anda Rottenberg (born 23 April 1944) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

art historian, art curator, art critic, and writer recognized for her contributions to recognizing Poland's art world. She is former director of the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and member of the

International Association of Art Critics The International Association of Art Critics (French: ''Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art'', AICA) was founded in 1950 to revitalize critical discourse, which suffered under Fascism during World War II. Affiliated with UNESCO AICA wa ...

(AICA), International "Manifesta" Foundation and the International "Germinations" Foundation. She launched Egit, one of the first foundations for art in Poland, served as Director of the Department of Art at the Ministry of Culture and Art, was curator and commissioner of the Polish Pavilion in the Venice Biennial from 1973-2001, and was instrumental in establishing the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.

Biography

Anda Rottenberg was born in 1944. Her mother was

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

from Petersburg, and her father was a

Polish Jew The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

from the town of

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; ; ; ; ) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. With a population of 83,116 as of 2021, it is the largest city in the Beskid S ...

. All of his family was murdered during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Rottenberg grew up in

Legnica Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. Le ...

. In 1963, she moved to

, where she earned a degree in the

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics ...

at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. She wrote the following books: ''Sztuka w Polsce 1945-2005'' (en. "Art in Poland 1945-2005"), ''Draught - Texts on Polish Art of the ‘80s'' (2009), ''Here You Are'' (2009), and an autobiography ''Proszę bardzo!'' (en. "You're welcome!"). The main reason for writing the latter book was her anger at the police who were unable to find the body of her son (he was a drug addict and died in unknown circumstances). In her autobiography, Rottenberg also wrote about her mother, who survived the siege of

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was sentenced to prison for stealing a few spoons of food: she met there her future husband, Rottenberg's father.Anda Rottenberg, ''Proszę bardzo'', Warszawa: W.A.B. 2009, p. 346. Anda Rottenberg received the Officer's Cross Order of Polonia Restituta (2001), the Commander's Cross Order of Polonia Restituta (2011), Aleksander Gieysztor Prize (2013), and

Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis The Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture () or Gloria Artis Medal, is a departmental decoration of Poland in arts awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland to persons and organizations for distinguish ...

(2014).

Career

Anda Rottenberg is a Warsaw-based curator and writer. She established Egit in 1986, one of the earliest art foundations in Poland. She was Director of the Department of Art within the Ministry of Culture and Art in 1991-1992, Director of Mazowiecka Gallery in Warsaw from 1991-1993, and Director of the George Soros Center for Contemporary Art 1992-1993. She was Director of the National Gallery of Art, Zachęta, in Warsaw from 1993-2001 and orchestrated exhibitions featuring Polish artists on an international stage, with presentations in Venice and São Paulo Biennials. Rottenberg was instrumental in establishing the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rottenberg, Anna 1944 births Living people Polish art historians 20th-century Polish Jews Polish women writers University of Warsaw alumni Polish women art historians Polish women curators Polish people of Jewish descent Art curators