Saint John the Baptist Preaching by David Finn

David Finn (born Finkelstein, August 30, 1921 – October 18, 2021) was an American

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

executive, photographer, and historian of sculpture. He is known in public relations as a co-founder of the

Ruder Finn Ruder Finn is a public relations firm with headquarters in the United States and China. It is a large privately-owned communications agency, serving corporations, governments, and non-profits. It also has offices in San Francisco, London, Washingt ...

firm. In addition to his career in public relations, Finn was a lifelong historian and photographer of sculpture.

Early life

Finn was born David Finkelstein in New York City on August 30, 1921. His father, Jonathan (1885–1971), worked as a writer; his mother, Sadie (Borgenicht), created dresses for children. His father, who employed Finn as his

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, changed the family name when David was in high school. Finn enrolled in the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

in 1939 and graduated with a bachelor's degree four years later. He then served briefly in the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during World War II.

Career

Finn co-founded the

public relations agency in 1948 along with Bill Ruder. Over the years, his clients included

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...

, John D. Rockefeller III, and

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

, among many others. Ruder Finn has also represented many

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

companies, universities, not-for-profit organizations, and foreign governments.

Historian of sculpture

Finn was also an influential historian, author and photographer of sculpture. Besides contributing his photography to books by art historians, he wrote articles about sculpture for the Congressional newspaper ''

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

'' and the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding member ...

's quarterly journal '' Sculpture Review'', which he headed as editor-in-chief during the 1990s. His photographs have appeared in over 100 books on the

history of sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, many of which he authored. Finn's photographs of sculpture have been exhibited at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, L'Orangerie in Paris, the American Cultural Center in Madrid, the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

, and the Municipal Art Society in New York. Finn applied an artistic style to his photographs of sculpture. He employed raking light and high-contrast black and white to emphasize the drama and three-dimensionality of sculpture. In addition to overall shots, he often focused on close-ups and details, which allowed him to isolate and abstract small sections of his subjects. This idiosyncratic style earned him favor with contemporary sculptors like

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

, whose work Finn photographed extensively.

David Finn Archive

Finn donated his archive of photographs to the Department of Image Collections,

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

Library, Washington, DC in 2016, where it contributes to the department's goal of providing a visual record for the study of art. The David Finn Archive includes over 140,000 images in various forms, including photographic prints, negatives, and

transparencies A transparency, also known variously as a viewfoil or foil (from the French word "feuille" or sheet), or viewgraph, is a thin sheet of transparent flexible material, typically polyester (historically cellulose acetate), onto which figures can be ...

. The subjects represented in the archive span the

and range from figural to abstract. Finn photographed both

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

non-Western The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...

sculpture, including major works from the European canon from the 12th to the 21st centuries, and examples of sculpture from

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

Oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

, and many other traditions. Finn photographed the works of important contemporary sculptors, such as

and

Eduardo Chillida Eduardo Chillida Juantegui (Basque: ''Eduardo Txillida Juantegi''; 10 January 1924 – 19 August 2002) was a Spanish Basque sculptor notable for his abstract works. Early life and career Born in San Sebastián (Donostia) to Pedro Chillida an ...

. He was noted for capturing well-known sculptures from novel angles, like many of his ''in situ'' photographs of monumental sculpture. The collection includes many of the original photographs that Finn used for his publications on various topics related to sculptural history. Much of the collection is digitized and available for viewing at the Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library website.

Personal life

Finn married Laura Zeisler in 1945. She was classmates at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

with his younger sister, Helen. They remained married until his death. Together, they had four children: Kathy, Dena, Amy, and Peter. Finn died at the age of 100 on October 18, 2021, at his home in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

Gallery

Photographs by David Finn in the David Finn Archive, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC. File:Gordon Parks next to piano by David Finn.jpg,

Gordon Parks Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006) was an American photographer, composer, author, poet, and filmmaker, who became prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s—particularly ...

next to his piano, late 1980s File:Gordon Parks in his Study by David Finn.jpg, Gordon Parks in his study, late 1980s File:David with the Head of Goliath by David Finn.jpg,

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

, detail of ''David with the Head of Goliath'', c. 1408–1409 File:Equestrian Monument to Charles III by David Finn.jpg,

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

, ''Equestrian Monument to Charles III'', c. 1807–1819 File:Donatello, Pazzi Madonna.jpg, Donatello, ''

Pazzi Madonna The ''Pazzi Madonna '' is a rectangular " stiacciato" marble relief sculpture by Donatello, since 1886 in the sculpture collections of the Bode-Museum in Berlin. Dating to around 1420 and 1425 at the beginning of Donatello's collaboration with M ...

'', c. 1422, Bode-Museum, Berlin File:Ecstasy of Saint Theresa.jpg,

Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, ; ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italians, Italian sculptor and Italian architect, architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prom ...

, '' Ecstasy of Saint Theresa'', c. 1644-52, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome File:Male Figure from Madang Province by Anonymous.jpg, Anonymous, detail of ''Male Figure'',

Madang Province Madang is a Provinces of Papua New Guinea, province of Papua New Guinea. The province is on the northern coast of mainland Papua New Guinea and has many of the country's highest peaks, active volcanoes and its biggest mix of languages. The capi ...

, Papua New Guinea File:Coiled Serpent dli 1605809724.jpg, alt=Anonymous Aztec, "Coiled Serpent," Late-Post Classic Period, British Museum, London, Anonymous

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

, ''Coiled Serpent'', Late-Post Classic Period,

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, London File:Daphne by David Finn.jpg, Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, ''Daphne'', modeled 1853 File:Amor Caritas by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Finn.jpg,

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculpture, sculptor of the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Iris ...

, ''Amor Caritas'', c.1880-1898,

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, New Hampshire, preserves the home, gardens, and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), one of America's foremost sculptors. The house and grounds of the National Historic Site served ...

File:George Washington by Jean-Antoine Houdon.jpg,

Jean-Antoine Houdon Jean-Antoine, chevalier Houdon (; 20 March 1741 – 15 July 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor. Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment. Houdon's subjects ...

, ''George Washington'', modeled 1788, cast 1869, St. Louis, Missouri File:Socrates Trial by David Finn.jpg, Antonio Canova, detail of ''The Trial of Socrates'', c. 1790–1792 File:Creugas by David Finn.jpg, Antonio Canova, detail of ''Creugas'', c. 1795–1801 File:Brabender, Heinrich, Saint Thomas; .jpg, , ''Saint Thomas'', c. 1500, St. Dionysius Church, Rheine, Germany File:Assumption of the Virgin by David Finn.jpg, Donatello, detail of ''Assumption of the Virgin'', c. 1427–1428 File:Saint Louis of Toulouse by Donatello.jpg, Donatello, ''Saint Louis of Toulouse'', 1423–1425, Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce, Florence File:Mary the Blessed Virgin by Heinrich Brabender.jpg, Heinrich Brabender, detail of ''Mary, the Blessed Virgin'', c.1500, Falkenhof Museum File:Rondanini Pietà by Michelangelo.jpg,

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

, '' Rondanini Pieta'', 1564 File:Venus Italica by Canova.jpg, Antonio Canova, detail of '' Venus Italica'', 1804–1812

Selected bibliography

* Hartt, Frederick. ''Michelangelo's three pietàs: photographic study.'' With photography by David Finn. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1975. * Finn, David. ''Henry Moore: sculpture and environment''. With photography by David Finn, foreword by Kenneth Clark and commentaries by Henry Moore. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1976. * Clark, Kenneth. ''The Florence Baptistry Doors''. With photography by David Finn. New York: A Studio Book from Viking Press, 1980. * Pieper, Paul. ''Heinrich Brabender: Ein Bildhauer der Spätgotik in Münster''. With photography by David Finn and an introduction by Henry Moore. Münster: Coppenrath, 1984. * Wilkinson, Burke. ''Uncommon clay: the life and works of Augustus Saint Gaudens''. With photography by David Finn. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1985. * Finn, David. ''How to Look at Sculpture''. With photography by David Finn. New York: Abrams, 1989. * Finn, David. ''How to Visit a Museum''. With photography by David Finn. New York: Abrams, 1985. * McCue, George. ''Sculpture City, St. Louis: public sculpture in the "Gateway to the West."'' With photography by David Finn and Amy Binder. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1988. * Morand, Kathleen. ''Claus Sluter, artist at the Court of Burgundy''. With photography by David Finn. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991. * Reynolds, Donald Martin. ''Masters of American sculpture: the figurative tradition from the American renaissance to the millennium''. With photography by David Finn. New York: Abbeville Press, 1993. * Finn, David. ''How to Look at Photographs''. With photography by David Finn. New York: Abrams, 1994. * Avery, Charles. ''Bernini: Genius of the Baroque''. With photography by David Finn. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1997. * Chillida, Eduardo, Giovanni Carandente and Dena Merriam. ''Eduardo Chillida''. With photography by David Finn and translations by Richard Lewis-Rees. Cologne, Germany: Könemann, 1999. * Finn, David. ''How to Look at Everything''. With photography by David Finn. New York: Abrams, 2000. * Finn, David. ''20th-century American sculpture in the White House garden''. With photography by David Finn, a foreword by Hillary Rodham Clinton, and an essay by Betty C. Monkman. New York: Abrams, 2000. * Finn, David, and Susan Joy Slack. ''Sculpture at the Corcoran''. With photography by David Finn, and foreword by David C. Levy. New York: Ruder-Finn Press, 2002. * Moskowitz, Anita Fiderer. ''The façade reliefs of Orvieto Cathedral''. With photography by David Finn. London: Harvey Miller, 2009.

Citations

External links

©David Finn Archive, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC.The J. Paul Getty Museum's Collection of Finn photographs.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, David 1921 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American photographers 21st-century American photographers American art historians American men centenarians United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American public relations people