Riva Castleman (August 15, 1930 – September 4, 2014) was an American

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, art curator, and author who is credited with promoting the mediums of

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...

and

illustrated book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s as serious forms of fine art. From 1976–95 she was Director of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan.

Life and career

Born Esther Riva Castleman in Chicago, Castleman was the daughter of William Castleman and Ann Castleman (née Steinberg). Her father was a printer and progressive activist who shared his love for printing and art with his daughter; passions which informed Castleman's career. After studying art and art history at the University of Iowa and the New York University Institute of Fine Arts, she joined the staff at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York as a cataloger. She later became the director of MoMa's department of prints and illustrated books in 1976, a post she held until her retirement in 1995. During Castleman's tenure at MoMa, she acquired many works by the world's leading printmakers, including Helen Frankenthaler,

Robert Indiana Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark; September 13, 1928 – May 19, 2018) was an American artist associated with the pop art movement. His iconic image LOVE was first created in 1964 in the form of a card which he sent to several friends and acq ...

, Jasper Johns,

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...

, Larry Rivers, Edward Ruscha, and Andy Warhol among others. '' The New York Times'' said that she "built the world’s pre-eminent collection of modern and contemporary prints". She also penned several books in relation to printmaking, including ''Contemporary Prints'' (1973), ''Prints of the 20th Century: A History'' (1976), ''American Impressions: Prints Since Pollock'' (1985), ''Jasper Johns: A Print Retrospective'' (1987), and ''Tatyana Grosman: A Scrapbook'' (2008). The patronage schemes Castleman initiated for the print department were equally innovative. She founded Print Associates in 1975, a collectors’ group charged with helping to fund acquisitions and organize programmes for MoMA’s print department. Riva instituted endowments allocated to print acquisitions for MoMA, an initiative not previously undertaken by any curatorial department at the Museum. Both of these systems of support established by Castleman for MoMA’s print department have been adopted by other major museums. She died at the age of 84 in

Bridgewater, Connecticut Bridgewater is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,662 at the 2020 census, down from 1,727 at the 2010 census. Bridgewater is well known as being a weekend getaway for wealthy New Yorkers, due to its scen ...

on September 4, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castleman, Riva 1930 births 2014 deaths American art historians American art curators New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni University of Iowa alumni Women art historians American women historians 21st-century American women American women curators