Capt Edith Standen at Central Collecting Point Wiesbaden 1946

Edith Standen (February 21, 1905 – July 17, 1998) was an American museum curator and military officer, best known as an expert on tapestries and as one of the "

Monuments Men A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

" who located and protected art works after World War II.

Early life and education

Edith Appleton Standen was born in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

in 1905. Her father Robert Hargreave Fraser Standen was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer, born in India. Her mother Eleanor Armistead Sumner was born in Paris to American parents. Edith was raised in England and Ireland. Standen earned a B. A. at Somerville College, Oxford in 1926. After moving to the United States she gained further training in

museum studies Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and education. Terminology The w ...

at the

Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

, under Paul J. Sachs.

Career

In 1928 Standen emigrated to the United States to work at the

Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England ...

, which was founded by her uncle,

William Sumner Appleton William Sumner Appleton Jr. (May 29, 1874 – November 24, 1947) was founder of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) in 1910. He was the chief force behind much of the preservation of historic homes in the New Englan ...

. The following year, she took a job with art collector Joseph E. Widener in

Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the northern suburbs outside of Philadelphia, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly from Ce ...

. She worked on the transfer of Widener holdings to the new National Gallery of Art in 1942. That same year, she joined the

Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942 and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States ...

, and in 1945 was assigned to the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program in Germany. She signed the Wiesbaden manifesto and served for one year as Director and Officer-in-Charge at Wiesbaden Collection Center before she was discharged in 1947. Upon return to civilian life, Standen became associate curator of Textiles at 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 ...

in New York City. She published a two-volume guide, ''European Post-Medieval Tapestries and Related Hangings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art'' (1985), and dozens of scholarly articles on tapestries and textiles. Standen retired from curator work in 1970, but continued as a consultant and curator emeritus until 1988. Standen received a

Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award The Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award was established under the presidency of Lee Ann Miller (1978–80). Joan Mondale, artist and wife of vice-president Walter Mondale, helped to secure approval for a national award honoring women ...

in 1988. From 1986 to 1993, already in her eighties, she compiled a biennial newsletter on tapestries, ''Navette-Shuttle''.

Personal life and legacy

Standen became a US citizen in 1942. She died in July 1998, age 93. Standen donated her papers to the Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C.Finding aid, Edith A. Standen Papers, Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art.
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References

External links

Oral history interview with Edith A. Standen, 1994 Jan. 6-Jan. 13
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives, New York. {{DEFAULTSORT:Standen, Edith 1905 births 1998 deaths American art curators American women curators Women art historians Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Women's Army Corps soldiers Monuments men 20th-century American people