Pinkney Near (1927 – August 29, 1990) was the curator of the

Cincinnati Museum of Art The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of ove ...

and afterward the curator of the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...

for thirty years. He was responsible for the VMFA's acquisition of many treasured works of art, including arranging for the museum to purchase from

John Lee Pratt John Lee Pratt (October 22, 1879 – December 22, 1975) was an American industrialist born on the county line of Stafford and King George County, Virginia. He received an engineering degree from the University of Virginia, entered the ranks of ...

the

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

portrait of General Nicolas Guye and from the collection of

Count Karol Lanckoroński Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Vienna, Austria, a rare marble

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

dating to the 2nd century B.C. The Guye portrait was long believed to be the most valuable single work of art in the VMFA's collection. The Goya portrait of General Guye is on view prominently in the posthumously created Pinkney Near Gallery at the VMFA.

Biography

Pinkney Near was born in New York City and was raised in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. In 1944 he graduated from St. Paul's School, and in 1950 he became the first art history graduate of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. He earned his Master's degree from Harvard in 1951, and he studied French Romanesque sculpture in Paris for three years on a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

. He remained in Europe an additional year for research on a Sachs fellowship. He married the former Henrietta Lloyd. Every summer Near, a specialist in European art, and his artist wife Henrietta Lloyd Near, a former colleague at the VMFA, traveled to Europe to acquire art for the

. Among the cities they visited were Barcelona, London, Rome, and Venice. They were sometimes accompanied by philanthropists Sydney and Frances Lewis, donors of major collections to the museum. Near began his work at the VMFA in 1958, and, except for three years (1962-1965) when he did graduate work at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and was a curator at the

Cincinnati Art Museum The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of ov ...

, he served at the VMFA in Richmond the remainder of his life. In the early years, when the museum was run by a director and a curator with a small staff, Near became the first full-time curator of the

, one of the first state-supported art museums in the United States. Pinkney Near died August 29, 1990, of pneumonia at a hospital in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, where he and his wife were visiting relatives. He was 63. His memorial service was held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond,Virginia, where he lived.

Curator of the Cincinnati Museum of Art

In 1964 Pinkney Near, curator of paintings, selected American paintings for the Cincinnati Museum's survey exhibition, ranging from early painters such as

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washi ...

, and

Washington Allston Washington Allston (November 5, 1779 – July 9, 1843) was an American painter and poet, born in Waccamaw Parish, South Carolina. Allston pioneered America's Romantic movement of landscape painting. He was well known during his lifetime for ...

to later painters

John Marin John Marin (December 23, 1870 – October 2, 1953) was an early American modernist artist. He is known for his abstract landscapes and watercolors. Biography Marin was born in Rutherford, New Jersey. His mother died nine days after his birth, ...

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realism, American realist painting, painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art ...

Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressioni ...

Robert Vickrey Robert Remsen Vickrey (August 26, 1926 – April 17, 2011) was a Massachusetts-based artist and author who specialized in the ancient medium of egg tempera. His paintings are surreal dreamlike visions of sunset shadows of bicycles, nuns in fr ...

Marsden Hartley Marsden Hartley (January 4, 1877 – September 2, 1943) was an American Modernist painter, poet, and essayist. Hartley developed his painting abilities by observing Cubist artists in Paris and Berlin. Early life and education Hartley was born ...

, Stuart Davis,

Mark Tobey Mark George Tobey (December 11, 1890 – April 24, 1976) was an American painter. His densely structured compositions, inspired by Asian calligraphy, resemble Abstract expressionism, although the motives for his compositions differ philosophi ...

Jane Freilicher Jane Freilicher (November 19, 1924 – December 9, 2014) was an American representational painter of urban and country scenes from her homes in lower Manhattan and Water Mill, Long Island. She was a member of the informal New York School beginni ...

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 ...

, and

Tom Wesselmann Thomas K. Wesselmann (February 23, 1931 – December 17, 2004) was an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement who worked in painting, collage and sculpture. Early years Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati. From 1949 ...

Curator of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Pinkney Near first came to the VMFA in 1954 for a brief visit, when he had just returned from Paris where he studied Romanesque sculpture with his Fulbright Scholarship. A year later, in 1955 he left the museum for a Sachs fellowship which sponsored further study in Europe. However, it was during this brief stay that he began the evolution of the Collections Division, and, when he returned in 1956 at the age of 29, he became curatorial assistant at the museum. Two years later he was promoted to curator but decided to pursue his graduate work at Harvard. When he returned, he became Chief Curator. Pinkney Near served as VMFA curator for 30 years, much of that time as chief administrative curator. In 1988 Near was named to the newly created post of Paul Mellon Curator and senior research curator, a post in which he worked closely with the Mellon Collection and with

Paul Mellon Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999) was an American philanthropist and an owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall ...

, who provided important gifts of art, both paintings and sculpture portraying animals, to the museum. Through the years Near acquired for the museum some of its greatest treasures, including paintings by

Théodore Géricault Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is ''The Raft of the Medusa''. Although he died young, he was one of the pioneers of the Romantic ...

Claude Lorraine Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...

's "Battle on a Bridge,"

Aristide Maillol Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University P ...

's "The River,"

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

's "Irises by the Pond,"

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...

's "William Smith and His Grandson,"

Angelica Kauffmann Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...

's "Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures," and Jean-Bapiste Blin de Fontenay's monumental "Buffet Under a Trellis." In 1976 Near announced the VMFA's purchase of American sculptor Isamu Noguchi's polished stainless steel sculpture "Open Lock," completed in 1964. In 1982 Chief curator Near announced the acquisition of a 42" bronze cast of

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (11 May 1827 – 12 October 1875) was a French sculptor and painter during the Second Empire under Napoleon III. Life Born in Valenciennes, Nord, son of a mason, his early studies were under François Rude. Carpeaux en ...

's ''Genius of the Dance''. Among the exhibits curated by Near was one called ''Three Masters of Landscape: Fragonard, Robert and Boucher'' which, although small, presented interesting issues due to the variability of the works. The exhibit made use of a recently acquired work by Jean Honore Fragonard entitled ''Landscape With Three Washerwomen".

Research and publications

Pinkney Near wrote ''The Whistlers:A Family Reunion'', published in 1965 by the

, followed in 1981 by ''Three Masters of Landscape: Fragonard, Robert, and Boucher'', which was published by the

. While at the VMFA, the museum also published his book ''Apollo''. In 1985, his book ''French Paintings'' was published by the

University of Virginia Press The University of Virginia Press (or UVaP) is a university press that is part of the University of Virginia. It was established in 1963 as the University Press of Virginia, under the initiative of the university's then President, Edgar F. Shannon ...

. Near, along with two other art experts,

Julien Binford Julien Binford (December 25, 1908 – September 12, 1997) was an Americans, American painting, painter. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and then in France. Settling in Powhatan County, Virginia, he was known for his paintings of the ru ...

(professor emeritus at

Mary Washington College The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washing ...

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg wi ...

) and William Campbell (Curator of American Paintings at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington) selected the paintings by the deceased artist

Gari Melchers Julius Garibaldi Melchers (August 11, 1860 – November 30, 1932) was an American artist. He was one of the leading American proponents of Naturalism (art), naturalism. He won a 1932 Gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Bio ...

for permanent display in the Gari Melchers Memorial Gallery at Belmont, the

Falmouth, Virginia Falmouth is a census-designated place (CDP) in Stafford County, Virginia, United States. Situated on the north bank of the Rappahannock River at the falls, the community is north of and opposite the city of Fredericksburg. Recognized by the U. ...

, home of the artist. Near was an author of many of the VMFA exhibition catalogs and illustrated books, including ''French Paintings: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon''.

List of major works

*Near, Pinkney L, and John Rewald. French Paintings: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Richmond: The Museum, 1985. *Near, Pinkney L, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Hubert Robert, and François Boucher. Three Masters of Landscape, Fragonard, Robert, and Boucher: A Loan Exhibition on Display at the Virginia Museum, November 10 to December 27, 1981. Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1981. *Near, Pinkney L. Treasures in the Virginia Museum. Richmond: Virginia Museum, 1974. *Near, Pinkney L, and William Blake. William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job. , 1975. *Near, Pinkney L. Apollo. Richmond, VA, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1985

Pinkney Near memorial lectures in art history

Following the death of Pinkney Near in 1990 a series of memorial lectures in art history featuring notable art historians was begun at Art6 Gallery in Richmond in his honor. All but the last of the series was presented in the main gallery at Art6. Speakers in the series included Mia Genoni, Suzanne Foley,

Robert Hobbs Robert Carleton Hobbs is an art historian and curator specializing in twentieth-century art. Since 1991 he has held the Rhoda Thalhimer Endowed Chair of American Art in the School of Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, a highly ranked art d ...

, Matthew Affron, Richard Woodward, Joseph Dye III, Mitchell Merling, Belle Pendleton, and Susanne Kilgore Arnold. The final lecture in the series was given by then VMFA curator of contemporary art John B. Ravenal at the

, now director at the

DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is a 30-acre sculpture park and contemporary art museum on the shore of Flint's Pond in Lincoln, Massachusetts, 20 miles northwest of Boston. It was established in 1950. It is the largest park of its kind ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Near, Pinkney American art curators American art historians 1927 births People from New York City People from Baltimore Johns Hopkins University alumni 1990 deaths Harvard University alumni People associated with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Historians from New York (state) Historians from Maryland