Charles M. Kurtz

Charles M. Kurtz
Charles M. Kurtz

Portrait of Kurtz by Joaquín Sorolla, 1909
Born 1853
Died March 21, 1909 (aged 54)
Education Washington & Jefferson College[1]

Charles M. Kurtz was a prominent art critic, writer, and museum curator.[2]

He was born in 1853 to Davis Brook Kurtz and Julia Wilder.[3] The family's ancestry was traceable to Darmstadt, Germany.[3] He and his 4 siblings grew up in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.[3]

He graduated from Washington & Jefferson College in 1876.[3] He then studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City, later earning an M.A. from Washington & Jefferson in 1878.[3]

In 1881, he published the first edition of the National Academy Notes.[3] He married Julia Stephenson in 1885, and they had 3 daughters.[3]

In 1891, he was appointed as one of Halsey Ives's assistants in the Fine Arts Department of the World's Columbian Exposition, where he introduced American art audiences to Glasgow School, the Danish School, Mihály Munkácsy, Joaquim Sorolla.[3] He also worked as the Assistant Director of Fine Arts for the United States for the Paris Exposition of 1900.[3] He was the art director for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904.[3]

He was known for being an outspoken opponent of tariffs on imported art.[3]

He died on March 21, 1909.[3]

His papers are on file at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.[3]

External Links

Media related to Charles M. Kurtz at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. ^ "Washington & Jefferson College 1865-". U. Grant Miller Library Digital Archives. Washington & Jefferson College. Archived from the original on 2009-05-01. http://www.webcitation.org/5gTMK1dMA. 
  2. ^ "Charles M. Kurtz.". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). 1909-03-22. Archived from the original on 1909-03-22. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9802E6DD1131E733A25751C2A9659C946897D6CF. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pancza-Graham, Arleen (1996). "A Finding Aid to the Charles M. Kurtz Papers, 1843-1990, bulk 1884-1909, in the Archives of American Art". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/findingaids/kurtchar.pdf.