Jerome Klein was an American art historian and art critic and a founding member of the

American Artists' Congress The American Artists' Congress (AAC) was an organization founded in February 1936 as part of the popular front of the Communist Party USA as a vehicle for uniting graphic artists in projects helping to combat the spread of fascism. During World W ...

(AAC).

Education

Klein graduated from Columbia College in 1925 and the

Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (also known as GSAS) is the graduate school of Columbia University. Founded in 1880, GSAS is responsible for most of Columbia's graduate degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and natural scie ...

in 1932.

Career

Klein began his career as an instructor in art history at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in the late 1920s, the only member of the department interested in modern art. In 1933 Klein signed a letter protesting the decision of the university to invite

Hans Luther Hans Luther () (10 March 1879 – 11 May 1962) was a German politician and Chancellor of Germany for 482 days in 1925 to 1926. As Minister of Finance he helped stabilize the Mark during the hyperinflation of 1923. From 1930 to 1933, Luther was h ...

, the Ambassador from Nazi Germany, to speak at Columbia. Although other professors also signed the letter, Klein’s return address left on one of the letters by a careless student opponent of fascism identified Klein as the ringleader. According to

Stephen H. Norwood Stephen H. Norwood is a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma. He received his PhD at Columbia University in 1984. Norwood's 2009 book ''The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower: Complicity and Conflict on American Campuses'', drew att ...

, Columbia University President

Nicholas Murray Butler Nicholas Murray Butler () was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the deceased Ja ...

, an admirer of Italian and German

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

, fired Klein for signing the letter. Klein became the art critic for the

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

, writing also for other publications. He was a champion of the socialist artists of the 1930s, calling for a “broad, unified social-artistic engineering which would transform man’s environment for the benefit of man.” In 1935 Klein was a founding member of the

, organized in response to the call of the Popular Front and the American Communist Party for formations of literary and artistic groups against the spread of Fascism. His image can be seen in the drawing of the congress organizers by

Peppino Mangravite Peppino Mangravite (June 28, 1896 – April 26, 1978) was an Italian-American Modernist painter. Peppino Gino Mangravite was born in 1896, on Lipari, an island north of Sicily, where his father, a naval officer, was stationed. As a child he began ...

."The American Artists Congress and the Invasion of Finland". Gerald M. Monroe. ''Archives of American Art Journal''. Vol. 15, No. 1. (1975), pp. 14-20.

Bibliography

* Modern Masters, from Manet to Gauguin, 1938

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Jerome Columbia University faculty American art historians Year of birth missing Year of death missing Columbia College (New York) alumni