Adelyn Dohme Breeskin (1896–1986) was an American curator, museum director, and art historian known for her longtime leadership of the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

and

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar De ...

scholarship.

Biography

Adelyn Dohme was born in 1896 in Baltimore to Alfred Robert Louis Dohme and Emmie Blumner (Dohme). In 1918, she received her bachelor's degree from the Boston School of Fine Arts, Crafts, and Decorative Design. Breeskin then served as an assistant in the print department of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

with Kathryn B. Child under the curator of prints, William Mills Ivins. In 1920, she married the violinist Elias Breeskin (1895–1969), but the couple divorced in 1930."Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme, née Dohme" ''Dictionary of Art Historians''
/ref> Breeskin moved to Baltimore to work as a curator in the

and was promoted to director of the museum in 1942. As the director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, Breeskin established a works on paper collection, supervised an exhibit of

John Russell Pope John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 1935), the Jeffe ...

, mounted the show “Abstract Expressionism,” oversaw expansion to the institution, acted as commissioner for the American Contingent of 30th Venice Biennale, and negotiated the donation of Etta and Claribel Cone Collection. In 1962, Breeskin left the Baltimore Museum of Art to become the head of Washington Gallery of Modern Art. Breeskin curated shows such as “Roots of Abstract Art in America” in 1965, but she resigned two years later. From 1960 to 1974, she served as the curator of contemporary painting and sculpture at the National Collection of Fine Arts later called the

National Museum of American Art The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

where she featured artists such as

Milton Avery Milton Clark Avery (March 7, 1885 – January 3, 1965Haskell, B. (2003). "Avery, Milton". Grove Art Online.) was an American modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City. He was the husband ...

, H. Lyman Sayen, William J. Johnson, and Bob Thompson. In 1972, Dohme signed her name to the ''Ms''. campaign: “We Have Had Abortions” which called for an end to "archaic laws" limiting reproductive freedom, they encouraged women to share their stories and take action.

Mary Cassatt

Beginning her research in the 1940s, Breeskin authored two catalogue raisonnés on Cassatt’s paintings, oils, and pastels and Cassatt’s watercolors and drawings. She acted as curator of the Cassatt retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in 1970 though she was simultaneously working on the Sayn and Johnson shows. Several hours a week, Breeskin devoted time to adding information to her catalogues and answering numerous questions from collectors from around the world.Jan Keene Muhlert, "Adelyn Dohme Breeskin: A Tribute." 11:1 (Spring, 1997) Chicago: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 94-96.

Awards

1956 President of the Association of Art Museum Directors, 1976 Katherine Caffey Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in the Museum Profession, 1984 Saluted by Women’s caucus of the

American Association of Museums American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

as “an exemplary model whose distinguished career is permanently etched in the fertile ground of American art history.”, 1985

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

presented her their highest award, the Gold Medal for Exceptional Service

References

External links

*"Adelyn Breeskin's farewell dinner (sound recording), 1962 Apr. 16," Archives of American Ar

*"Oral history interview with Adelyn Dohme Breeskin," 1974 June 27" Archives of American Ar

*"Adelyn Dohme Breeskin papers, 1934–1978," Archives of American Ar

*Alan Wurtzburger, "Alan and Janet Wurtzburger Papers 1955–1969" Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Ar

*Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection Records

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breeskin, Adelyn 1896 births 1986 deaths American art historians People from Baltimore Directors of museums in the United States Women museum directors American women historians Women art historians 20th-century American women 20th-century American people Historians from Maryland

Biography

Mary Cassatt

Awards

See also

References

External links