John Jonas Gruen (born Jonas Grunberg; September 12, 1926 – July 12, 2016) was an American

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

, author, photographer, and composer.Mark Segal, "John Jonas Gruen", '' The East Hampton Star'', August 4, 2016

Early life and education

Jonas Grunberg was born

Enghien-les-Bains Enghien-les-Bains () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departements of France, department of Val-d'Oise, France. It is located in the northern suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Enghien-les-Bains is famous as a s ...

, France, the youngest of four sons, to Abraham Grunberg who was initially a diamond dealer later became a travel writer, and Aranka Dodeles. The Jewish family moved to Berlin, Germany, in 1929; when the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

came to power in 1933, they fled persecution to Milan in 1933. The family once again moved in 1939 when they left for New York City to flee from

Italian Fascism Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

. Grunberg chose the name "John Jonas Gruen" in an attempt to Americanize himself. He learned how to speak English from Hollywood films. Gruen graduated from the High School of Commerce in New York City. Initially he attended

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 ...

. Then, in an effort to assimilate, he sought attendance at what he thought to be the most American school, the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. Gruen majored in art history and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in the discipline.

Career

After graduation from college, Gruen moved back to New York City where he settled in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. He took jobs as a book buyer at Brentano's, a publicity director at

Grove Press Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United S ...

and a photographers' agent. Throughout his early years in New York, he aspired to be a composer and composed songs including settings of poetry by E. E. Cummings,

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

and

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

. The songs were ultimately performed by Eleanor Steber and Patricia Neway. ''New Songs'', a compilation of Gruen's work, was released in 1950 and was the first record issued by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

. He became friends with composer Virgil Thomson which inspired Gruen to contribute music reviews to the

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

, later becoming part of its staff in addition to acting as the paper's art critic. Using his shortened name John Gruen, he later went on to write for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', as well as being appointed as the first chief art critic of the magazine ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

''. Later in his career with the paper, he became a dance critic as well. As a photographer, Gruen used his full name to distinguish himself from another New York photographer named John Gruen. Gruen captured images of the creative icons in his social and professional circles including

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

Jasper Johns Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and ...

, Larry Rivers,

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

and

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning ( , ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he moved to the United States in 1926, becoming a US citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married pa ...

. Many of those photographs were later acquired by the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

and presented in a 2010 exhibition, "Facing the Artist: Portraits by John Jonas Gruen". ''The Sixties: Young in the Hamptons'' (2006) and ''Two Men'' (2013) are a themed collections of his photographs.

Personal life and death

In 1948, Gruen married painter Jane Wilson, whom he met while studying at the

. Together they had one daughter, Julia Gruen, who became the executive director of the

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...

Foundation. Gruen and Wilson remained together until her death in 2015.

Death

Gruen died at the age of 89 from natural causes at his home in New York City in 2016.

Bibliography

Among Gruen's books are ''The Private World of Leonard Bernstein'' (1968), ''The Private World of Ballet'' (1975), '' Menotti: A Biography'' (1978), ''

Erik Bruhn Erik Belton Evers Bruhn (3 October 1928 – 1 April 1986) was a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, artistic director, actor, and author. Early life Erik Bruhn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the fourth child and first son of Ellen (née Eve ...

: Danseur Noble'' (1979), ''The World's Great Ballets: La Fille Mal Gardee to Davidsbundlertanze'' (1981), ''People Who Dance: 22 Dancers Tell Their Own Stories'' (1988), ''The New Bohemia: The Combine Generation'' (1990), and ''

: The Authorized Biography'' (1992) (translated into Italian). He published his autobiography, ''Callas Kissed Me...Lenny Too!: A Critic's Memoir'', in 2008."Review: ''Callas Kissed Me...Lenny Too!''
''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', August 11, 2008

Discography

*''New Songs'' (1951) *''Contemporary Christmas Carols'' (1952) *''Song Cycles Woodwind Quartets'' *''Songs to Texts by James Joyce''

References

External links

"John Gruen"
by James Gavin, ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...

'', May 1–7, 2008, issue 657
John Jonas Gruen papers
at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruen, John Jonas 1926 births 2016 deaths People from Enghien-les-Bains American art historians American art critics 20th-century American historians American Jews American male non-fiction writers American photographers American composers 20th-century American male writers American people of French-Jewish descent