Seymour Slive (September 15, 1920 – June 14, 2014) was an American

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, who served as director of the

Harvard Art Museums 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 ...

from 1975 to 1984. Slive was a scholar of

Dutch art Dutch art describes the history of visual arts in the Netherlands, after the United Provinces separated from Flanders. Earlier painting in the area is covered in Early Netherlandish painting and Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting. The hist ...

, specifically of the artists

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...

, and

Jacob van Ruisdael Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achi ...

Early life and education

A Chicago native and the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants Daniel and Sophia Rapoport, Slive received his bachelor's degree in 1943 and DPhil in 1952, both from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. He served in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

during World War II, starting in his junior year of college, and was on active duty in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

from 1942 to 1946.

Career

Slive was appointed to his first teaching position at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1950, but soon moved on to

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

, where he became an assistant professor of art and chair of department from 1952 to 1954. While there, he published his first book, ''Rembrandt and His Critics, 1630–1730''. In 1954, he joined

Harvard University 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 ...

, where he became a full professor in 1961. In 1960, was the first American professor to lecture in Russia under a Cold War exchange agreement. He was appointed chair of the Department of Fine Arts in 1968, remaining in the post until 1971. In 1973, Slive was appointed Gleason Professor of Fine Arts and later concurrently became Director of the University's

in 1975. He was the founding director during the creation and expansion of the

Arthur M. Sackler 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 ...

. He retired from Harvard in 1991 as

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

professor and as the Elizabeth and John Moore Cabot Founding Director of the Harvard University Art Museums. A

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

containing 69 essays by his students was compiled and presented in his honor on his seventy-fifth birthday in 1995.

Awards and honors

* Director,

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 ...

(1958–1962 and 1965–69) *

Fulbright 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 ...

Research Scholar (1959–1960) * Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

(1964) * Corresponding fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

(1995) * Fellow of the

Dutch Society of Sciences The Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities), located on the east side of the Spaarne in downtown Haarlem, Netherlands, was established in 1752 and is the oldest society for the scie ...

. * Honorary member, Member

Karel van Mander Karel van Mander (I) or Carel van Mander I (May 1548 – 2 September 1606) was a Flemish painter, poet, art historian and art theoretician, who established himself in the Dutch Republic in the latter part of his life. He is mainly remembe ...

Society. *

John Simon Guggenheim foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim John Simon Guggenheim (December 30, 1867 – November 2, 1941) was an American businessman, politician and philanthropist. Life Born in Philadelphi ...

fellowships (1956, 1978) * Officer of the House of Orange-Nassau (1962) *

Charles Rufus Morey Charles Rufus Morey (20 November 1877 – 28 August 1955) was an American art historian, professor, and chairman of the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University from 1924 to 1945. He had expertise in medieval art and founded the I ...

Prize, College Art Association (1970) *

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collecto ...

at Oxford (1972–73). * Board of Directors 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 ...

'' Foundation * Trustee of the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

(1978–2008) * Award for Achievement in Art History, Art Dealers Association (1979) * Member of the Consultative Committees of the J. Paul Getty Study Center (1984–91) and

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

(1992–96) * Trustee,

Norton Simon Museum The Norton Simon Museum is an art museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known as the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum and displays numerous sculptures on its grounds. Overview The Norton Sim ...

(1989–81) * Honorary degree of Doctor of Arts from

(2014) for his contributions to the world of fine art.

Works

*''Rembrandt and His Critics, 1630–1730''. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1953. *''Dutch Painting''. The Library of Great Painters. New York: Abrams, 1953. *''Drawings of Rembrandt, with a Selection of Drawings by His Pupils and Followers''. New York: Dover, 1965. *(With

Jakob Rosenberg Jakob Rosenberg (September 5, 1893 – April 7, 1980) was a German-American art historian and Rembrandt scholar. He was active in Germany until his 1937 emigration to the United States, where he joined the faculty of Harvard University. In addi ...

and Engelbert ter Kuile) ''Dutch Art and Architecture, 1600 to 1800''. Baltimore: Pelican Books, 1966. *''Frans Hals'', Volume 1 (His life and state of the literature). London: Phaidon, 1970. ** ''Frans Hals'', Volume 3 (a

catalog raisonné Catalog or catalogue may refer to: *Cataloging **'emmy on the 'og **in science and technology *** Library catalog, a catalog of books and other media ****Union catalog, a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of librarie ...

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 ...

; Kress Foundation. Studies in the History of European Art. London: Phaidon, 1974. Second edition, Phaidon, 2014. *''Jacob van Ruisdael''. Exh. cat.

Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis (; en, Maurice House) is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 854 objects, mostly Dutch Golden Age paintings. The collection contains works by Johannes Vermeer ...

and

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 ...

. New York: Abbeville,1981. * ''Frans Hals'', by Slive as editor, with contributions by

Pieter Biesboer Pieter Biesboer (born 1944), is a Dutch art historian and prolific writer on 17th-century Dutch art. His specialty is art from Haarlem. Career Biesboer was a curator at Stedelijk Museum het Prinsenhof in Delft during the years 1973-1976. Bie ...

, Martin Bijl, Karin Groen and Ella Hendriks, Michael Hoyle, Frances S. Jowell, Koos Levy-van Halm and Liesbeth Abraham, Bianca M. Du Mortier, Irene van Thiel-Stroman. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, and Antwerp: Mercatorfonds, 1989. *''Dutch Painting 1600–1800.'' New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. *''Jacob van Ruisdael: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Drawings, and Etchings''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. *''Jacob van Ruisdael, Master of Landscape''. Exh. cat. London:

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

, 2005. *''Shop Talk: Studies in Honor of Seymour Slive'', 2006. *''Rembrandt Drawings''. Los Angeles: Getty Museum, 2009. *''Jacob van Ruisdael: Windmills and Water Mills''. Los Angeles: Getty Museum, 2011. *"A Print after Jacob van Ruisdael." ''Print Quarterly'' 29 (September 2012): 320–21.

References

External links

Profile
at Dictionary of Art Historians
Profile
at International Dictionary of Art Historians
Contents of library
as offered by Ars Libri Ltd. {{DEFAULTSORT:Slive, Seymour 1920 births 2014 deaths American art historians American people of Russian-Jewish descent Directors of museums in the United States Harvard University faculty Oberlin College faculty Writers from Chicago Pomona College faculty United States Navy reservists University of Chicago alumni Slade Professors of Fine Art (University of Oxford) Rembrandt scholars Historians from Illinois Historians from California United States Navy personnel of World War II