René d'Harnoncourt (May 17, 1901 – August 13, 1968) was an Austrian-born American art curator. He was Director of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York, from 1949 to 1967.

Background

Of Austrian, Czech, and French descent, Count Rene d'Harnoncourt was born in

Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the son of Count Hubert d'Harnoncourt and his wife, the former Julie Mittrowsky. Although he showed an interest in art as a child, he received a technical education. After his family suffered severe financial losses, he moved to Paris in 1924, and went to Mexico in 1926. D'Harnoncourt initially eked out a minimal living as a commercial artist, but quickly acquired a reputation for his knowledgeable advice to American antique collectors.

Career

In 1927, d’Harnoncourt went to work for Frederick W. Davis, who operated one of the most important antiquities and folk art shops in Mexico City. Davis was among the first to collect, display and sell the work of the emerging

Mexican art Various types of visual arts developed in the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follows the history of Mexico, divided into the prehispanic Mesoamerican era, the New Spain, colonial period, with the per ...

ists such as

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

José Clemente Orozco José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siquei ...

, and Rufino Tamayo; others who frequented the shop included Miguel Covarrubias and Jean Charlot. D'Harnoncourt assisted in buying and selling antiques and contemporary works and also organized displays and exhibits in the showroom. In 1929 and 1930, d'Harnoncourt organized an exhibition of Mexican fine and applied arts at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York that then traveled to other American cities. D'Harnoncourt left Davis's shop in 1933 and moved to the United States. That year, he married Sarah Carr (1903-2001) and became host of the radio program ''Art in America''. Among many others, Margaret Lefranc was a guest speaker several times during 1934–1935, educating listeners on American and European art. He briefly taught at

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

. In 1936, d'Harnoncourt became the general manager of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB), a

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

agency created to revive Native American arts and crafts. To promote Native American craftwork, d'Harnoncourt, along with Frederic Huntington Douglas, developed an exhibit of Native American arts and crafts for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. Its success led to an even larger show at New York's

, the influential ''

Indian Art of the United States ''Indian Art of the United States'' was an exhibition of Native American art mounted at the Museum of Modern Art (New York) in 1941. Curated by Frederic Huntington Douglas, then curator of Indian art at the Denver Art Museum and Rene d'Harnoncou ...

'' exhibition that opened in January 1941. In 1944, the

appointed D'Harnoncourt to be vice president in charge of foreign activities. He proved to be an expert exhibit installer and notable collector. In 1949, the museum named him director, a position he would hold until 1967. He was responsible for a series of significant exhibitions over the course of his tenure as director, including ''Lipchitz'' (1954), ''Rodin'' (1963), and ''Picasso'' (1967). D'Harnoncourt was also an advisor to

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

. In 1965, he was appointed to a commission to choose modern art works for the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection in Albany, New York. He was a tireless advocate of modern art.

Death and legacy

D'Harnoncourt retired from the position of director in 1967. He was killed on Long Island by a drunk driver roughly a year later. D'Harnoncourt's only child, Anne Julie d'Harnoncourt (1943–2008), served as Director and eventually

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

from 1982 until her death.

Notes

* Hellman, Geoffrey T., "Profiles: Imperturbable Noble," ''New Yorker'' 35 (7 May 1960). * Lynes, Russell, ''Good Old Modern: An Intimate Portrait of the Museum of Modern Art'', Athenaeum, New York 1973 pages 264–283. * Schrader, Robert Fay, ''The Indian Arts & Crafts Board: An Aspect of New Deal Indian Policy'', University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1983, pages 124–128.

Publications

* 1931: ''The Hole in the Wall,'' Alfred A Knopf, ASIN B002N61RLK *1931: ''Mexicana,: A book of pictures,'' Alfred A Knopf, ASIN B00085UVA6 *1933: ''Beast, Bird and Fish: An Animal Alphabet,'' Alfred A. Knopf, ASIN B00085PXD6 *1946: ''ARTS OF THE SOUTH SEAS,'' The Museum of Modern Art/ Simon and Schuster, ASIN B000IVZTDY *1954: ''Ancient Arts of the Andies,'' The Museum of Modern Art, New York, ASIN B000TR8SJO *1959: ''The New American Painting, As Shown in Eight European Countries 19581–959,'' The Museum of Modern Art, ASIN B000GWXUEA *1964: ''The Museum of Modern Art: A Pictorial Chronicle,'' Art in America, ASIN B005O2GWOC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dharnoncourt, Rene 1901 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Austrian people 20th-century Austrian educators American art curators Nobility from Vienna Austrian people of Czech descent Austrian people of French descent Curators from New York City Directors of the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) Road incident deaths in New York (state) Sarah Lawrence College faculty Austrian emigrants to the United States Austrian expatriates in France Austrian expatriates in Mexico