Perry T. Rathbone
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Perry Townsend Rathbone (July 3, 1911 – January 22, 2000) was one of the leading American art museum directors of the 20th century. As director of the
St. Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is an art museum located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from around the world, its three-story building stands in Forest Park in ...
from 1940 to 1955, and the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...
from 1955 to 1972, he transformed these institutions from quiet repositories of art to vibrant cultural centers. Known for his sensitive installations as well as his bold publicity stunts, he increased the membership and attendance figures of both institutions exponentially, and also added significant works to their permanent collections across the board.


Biography


Early years

Rathbone was born in the Germantown neighborhood of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, on July 3, 1911, and spent his early childhood in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
where his father, Howard Betts Rathbone, worked as a salesman. His mother, Beatrice Connely Rathbone, was a school nurse. In 1917 the family moved to
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 ...
, where Perry and his older brother Westcott attended the local public schools. Perry entered
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
as a freshman in the fall of 1929 with the class of 1933. At Harvard he majored in art history and went on to take the graduate course with Professor
Paul Sachs Paul Joseph Sachs (November 24, 1878 – February 18, 1965) was an American investor, businessman and museum director. Sachs served as associate director of the Fogg Art Museum and as a partner in the financial firm Goldman Sachs. He is recogni ...
called "Museum Work and Museum Problems," which was responsible for training the first generation of museum professionals in America. Rathbone's classmates in the museum course included
Henry McIlhenny Henry Plumer McIlhenny (October 7, 1910 – May 11, 1986) was an American connoisseur of art and antiques, world traveler, socialite, philanthropist, curator, and chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Early days McIlhenny attended Harvard ...
, Charles Cunningham, John Newberry, and James Plaut.


Professional life

Upon completing the museum course in 1934, Rathbone's first job was as a lecturer in the education department 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 ...
. In 1936 he was appointed curator of Alger House, a branch museum in Grosse Point,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, where he lived with DIA director William Valentiner. In 1939 he assisted Valentiner in organizing the Masterpieces of Art exhibition at the World's Fair in New York. In 1940 Rathbone was appointed director of the
St. Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is an art museum located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from around the world, its three-story building stands in Forest Park in ...
(then the City Art Museum). At age 29, he was the youngest museum director in America. From 1943 to 1945 he served in the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, as head of combat artists, and in
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
as an officer. Upon returning from New Caledonia he married Euretta de Cosson, a British ski champion, on February 10, 1945. Three children were born to the Rathbones in St. Louis: Peter (1946), Eliza (1948), and Belinda (1950). Rathbone also was instrumental in helping the German artist
Max Beckmann Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 27, 1950) was a German painter, drawing, draftsman, printmaker, sculpture, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the m ...
move to America after the war by securing him a teaching position at
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...
, and organized his first major retrospective in the U.S. at the St. Louis Museum. He was a champion of modern art, and along with Joseph Pulitzer Jr., and
Morton May Morton David May (25 March 1914 – 13 April 1983) (known as Buster to his friends and colleagues) was an American philanthropist and art collector. He was also at various times director, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of ...
, stimulated many other collectors of modern art in St. Louis. Rathbone added key works to the permanent collection in St. Louis, including
Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters of 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...
's ''The Country School'', David Smith's ''Cockfight'', Montorsoli's ''Reclining Pan'', and a Sumerian bull's head. He was also responsible for many popular exhibitions, some of regional interest, such as ''Mississippi Panorama'' and ''Westward the Way'', others international, such as the 1949 blockbuster ''Treasures from Berlin'', which attracted an average of 12,634 visitors per day. In 1955 Rathbone left St. Louis to become director of the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
(MFA). In
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
he formed the first "Ladies Committee" for the museum with Frances Weeks Hallowell, a successful strategy for increasing membership and broadening the MFA's base of support. Rathbone staged unprecedented loan exhibitions such as ''European Art of Our Time'' and ''The Age of Rembrandt'', renovated more than fifty galleries, and increased the annual sale of publications by 1000 per cent. As temporary head of the paintings department while also serving as the museum's director, he added notable works to the collection such as
Rosso Fiorentino Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "Florentine Redhead" in Italian) or Il Rosso ("The Redhead"), was an Italian Mannerist painter who worked in oil and fresco Fresco ( or ...
's ''Dead Christ with Angels'',
Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...
's ''La Japonaise'',
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; 5 March 1696 – 27 March 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...
's ''Time Unveiling Truth'', and the anonymous fifteenth-century Flemish ''Martyrdom of Saint Hippolytus''. Arriving at the MFA in the mid-fifties, Rathbone was the first director to build their collection of modern and contemporary art, including the museum's first
Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
oil, ''Standing Figure'', 1908, first painting by
Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...
, ''The Voice'', and first
Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...
, ''Number 10'', 1949. He attracted gifts from important collectors such as Maxim Karolik and Alvan Fuller, and the Forsyth Wickes collection of eighteenth-century French art. He also acquired, in 1969, a small portrait thought to be by
Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...
, which was subsequently returned to Italy amidst a storm of controversy over its exportation and attribution to Raphael. This incident led to Rathbone's early retirement from the MFA. After resigning from the MFA in 1972 Rathbone was made head of the New York offices of
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
, and in 1977 when the firm began to hold auctions in New York, was made Museums Liaison Officer. For the period between these positions, he advised the
Chase Manhattan Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and financial services holding ...
on its art acquisitions. He retired in 1985, but continued to act as a consultant. Selections from Rathbone's journals of 1953 to 1974 were edited and published by his daughter Belinda in 2024.


Honors

* Honorary
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
,
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, 1958 * Honorary
Doctor of Arts The Doctor of Arts (D.A.; occasionally D.Arts or Art.D. from the Latin language, Latin ''artium doctor'') is a List of academic disciplines, discipline-based terminal degree, terminal doctorate, doctoral academic degree, degree that was originall ...
(Art.D.),
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...
, 1958 * Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (D.H.L.),
Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...
, 1960 * Honorary
Doctor of Fine Arts Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA) is a professional doctoral degree in fine arts. It may also be awarded as an honorary degree. Description Doctoral programmes leading to DFAs in the UK are of equivalent level to a PhD, with the same requirement to demon ...
(D.F.A.),
Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...
, 1964 * Chevalier de
Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
, 1964 * Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (D.H.L.),
Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...
, 1970 * Honorary
Doctor of Fine Arts Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA) is a professional doctoral degree in fine arts. It may also be awarded as an honorary degree. Description Doctoral programmes leading to DFAs in the UK are of equivalent level to a PhD, with the same requirement to demon ...
(D.F.A.),
Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...
, 1982 * President,
Association of Art Museum Directors The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) is an organization of art museum directors from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The AAMD was established in 1916 by the directors of twelve American museums and was formally incorporated in 1969 ...
, 1959–60, 1969–70


Selected bibliography

* Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, "The Rathbone Years," 1972 * Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, "Back Bay Boston: The City as a Work of Art," 1969 * Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, "The Age of Rembrandt," 1966 * Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Max Beckmann," 1964 (with Peter Seltz) * City Art Museum, St. Louis, "Westward the Way," 1955 * City Art Museum, St. Louis, "Mississippi Panorama," 1950 * City Art Museum, St. Louis, "Max Beckmann," 1948 * City Art Museum, St. Louis, "Charles Wimar: Painter of the Indian Frontier," 1946


References


Dictionary of Art Historians


''New York Times'', January 27, 2000
Portrait by Max Beckmann
* Burt, Nathaniel, "Palaces for the People", Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1977 * Meyer, Karl E., "The Plundered Past", New York: Athenaeum, 1977 * Whitehill, Walter Muir, "Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, A Centennial History", Vol II, Cambridge, Belknap Press, 1970


External links


Harvard University archives

Archives of American Art: research collections>oral history interviews, oral history interview with Perry Townsend Rathbone, 1975, Aug. 5th.

Perry Townsend Rathbone papers, 1936–1985
at the Archives of American Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Rathbone, Perry Townsend 1911 births 2000 deaths People from Philadelphia People from New Rochelle, New York American curators United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American naval officers Military personnel from New Rochelle, New York Harvard College alumni