Frank Jewett Mather Jr. (6 July 1868 – 11 November 1953) was an American

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

. He was the first "modernist" (i.e., post-classicist) professor at the Department of Art and Archaeology,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He was a direct descendant of

Richard Mather Richard Mather (1596 – 22 April 1669) was a New England Puritan minister in colonial Boston. He was father to Increase Mather and grandfather to Cotton Mather, both celebrated Boston theologians. Biography Mather was born in Lowton in the p ...

a renown

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

minister in 17th century Boston.

Biography

He was born at

Deep River, Connecticut Deep River is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, Middlesex County, Connecticut. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The Deep River Center, Connecticut, town center is designated by the U. ...

, to parents Caroline Arms Graves and lawyer Frank Jewett Mather, Sr. (1835–1929). Mather graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

in 1889 and from

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

with a Ph. D. in 1892 in English philology and literature. Additionally he studied also at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. From 1893 to 1900 he served as instructor and assistant professor of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Romance languages The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...

at Williams College. In 1910, he became professor of

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

. From 1922 to 1946 he was the director of Princeton University's art museum. Mather was an editorial writer for the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

''Evening Post'' and assistant editor of the ''Nation'''' (1901–1906) and art critic for the ''Post'' (1905–1906; 1910–1911); from 1904 to 1906 was American editor of the ''

Burlington Magazine ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation sin ...

''; contributed frequently, chiefly on art subjects, to the ''Nation'', the ''Burlington Magazine'', ''Art and Progress'', and other periodicals. He became editor of ''Art Studies'' in 1923.

Publications

* * * *''The Collectors'' (1912), a volume of short stories *''Estimates in Art'' (1916) *''The Portraits of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

'' (1921) *''A History of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Painting'' (1923) *''Modern Painting: 1664–1914'' (1927) Garden City Publishing Co., inc *''Western European Painting of the Renaissance'' (1939)

Frank Jewett Mather Award

Since 1963, the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understa ...

(CAA) has presented an annual award for art journalism named in Mather's honor. The award is for "significant published art criticism that has appeared in publication in a one-year period".

References

* *

External links

* * * * Mather, Gtank Jewett American art critics American male journalists Williams College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni People from Deep River, Connecticut 1868 births 1953 deaths {{US-academic-bio-stub