Jean Paul Slusser (December 15, 1886 – May 28, 1981) was a painter, designer, art critic, professor, and director of the

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with . Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alu ...

Early life

Slusser was born in 1886 in

Wauseon, Ohio Wauseon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County, Ohio, approximately 31 mi (51 km) west of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. The population was 7,568 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Wauseon was platt ...

. He graduated from Lyons Township High School in

La Grange, Illinois La Grange ( ; often spelled LaGrange) is a village (United States)#Illinois, village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. The population was 16,321 at the 2020 census. History The area around La Grange was first s ...

, and spent one year at Downers Grove High School near Chicago.

Education

Slusser studied at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1901 and a master of arts in 1911. He spent part of 1909 and 1910 studying at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. He taught rhetoric at the University of Texas from 1910 to 1912. He also attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from 1913 to 1915, and spent the summers of 1914 through 1917 at the

Art Students' League The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study fu ...

in New York City.

Career

Teaching

In 1921, he came an instructor in drawing and painting at the University of Michigan. He briefly studied at the Hans Hofmann Schule in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in 1924 and 1925, then returned to UM, and was promoted to assistant professor in 1927. He became an associate professor in 1935, then a full professor in 1944. He was one founder of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. He donated his papers to the

Bentley Historical Library The Bentley Historical Library is the campus archive for the University of Michigan and is located on the University of Michigan's North Campus in Ann Arbor. It was established in 1935 by the regents of the University of Michigan. Its mission ...

in 1981.

Painting

He lived in New York City as a freelance painter from 1919 to 1924. His paintings are included in the permanent collections of the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...

and the

Illinois State Museum The Illinois State Museum features the life, land, people and art of the State of Illinois. In addition to natural history exhibits, the main museum in Springfield focuses on the state's cultural and artistic heritage. Exhibits include local foss ...

. He also painted a mural for the post office in Blissfield, Michigan in 1935. He remained an active painter into his nineties.

Art criticism

Slusser worked as an art critic for the ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'' from 1913 to 1915, and the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

'' from 1921 to 1923. UMArt

He was known to write letters back and forth with the artist William H. Littlefield. He also worked as an art critic for the ''

Ann Arbor News ''The Ann Arbor News'' is a newspaper serving Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw and Livingston County, Michigan, Livingston counties in Michigan. Published daily online through MLive.com, the paper also publishes print editions on Thursdays a ...

''.

Museum directorship

In 1946, he was named the acting director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art. He was then named director in 1947, and served until his retirement in 1957. When he retired, Charles H. Sawyer took over. Of his work at UMMA, he said, "A University museum of art, is primarily a device for the furtherance of teaching. Its function is to conserve and display the various art works belonging to the institution, and to supplement them with showings of other material pertinent to the work pursued in the courses dealing with the theory, practice and history of the visual arts." While director, Slusser used his small annual appropriation for acquisitions to build a collection that included European and American

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

works on paper, Japanese woodblock prints, works from the Parisian

belle epoque Belle may refer to: People and fictional characters * Belle (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Belle (surname), a list of people * Southern belle, a stock character representing a young woman of the American South's upp ...

, and

German expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

works. Slusser also bequeathed UMMA many pieces from his personal collection, including artwork by

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraving, engraver, pictorial social satire, satirist, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from Realism (visual arts), realistic p ...

, and Paul Cezanne.

Legacy

Slusser died in 1981 at the age of 94. A gallery at the U-M Art and Architecture Gallery was named for him in 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slusser, JEan Paul 1886 births 1981 deaths People from Wauseon, Ohio People from La Grange, Illinois Artists from Ann Arbor, Michigan Directors of museums in the United States American art critics 20th-century American painters Painters from Ohio Painters from Illinois Painters from Michigan University of Michigan alumni Art Students League of New York alumni American muralists School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Journalists from Ohio Journalists from Illinois Journalists from Michigan 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American male artists Boston Herald people New York Herald people