Whitney Snow Stoddard (March 25, 1913 – April 2, 2003) 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 specialized in

medieval art The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at certain periods in Western Asia and Northern Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional art, gen ...

. Born in

Greenfield, Massachusetts Greenfield is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Greenfield was first settled in 1686. The population was 17,768 at the 2020 census. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Community College, the Pioneer Val ...

, Stoddard studied art history at Williams College under the direction of Karl Weston, the charismatic chair of Williams's art department 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 ...

. Upon graduation in 1935, Stoddard decided to pursue his interests in art history by entering a doctoral program at Harvard University, where he worked with Chandler Post and Wilhelm Koehler on the sculpture of Chartres Cathedral. He returned to Williams to teach art history in 1938, and, except a brief hiatus when he served in the Navy during World War II, taught at Williams for the rest of his career. In 1966, Stoddard authored what soon became the standard textbook for the study of medieval art, ''Monastery and Cathedral in France'' (later ''Art and Architecture in Medieval France''). Yet Stoddard prioritized his undergraduate teaching throughout his career at Williams. Alongside colleagues S. Lane Faison and William Pierson, Jr., he trained a new generation of art history students at Williams for careers as art historians and museum curators. Collectively known as the Williams Art Mafia, these included

Earl A. Powell III Earl Alexander Powell III (born October 24, 1943),"E ...

of 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 DC,

Glenn D. Lowry Glenn David Lowry (born September 28, 1954) is an American art historian and director of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City since 1995. His initiatives there include strengthening MoMA's contemporary art program, significantly devel ...

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 between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York,

James N. Wood James Nowell Wood (March 20, 1941 – June 11, 2010) was an American museum director who spent 25 years as head of the Art Institute of Chicago and later served as head of the J. Paul Getty Trust, starting in 2006. Biography Wood was born in ...

of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

and the

J. Paul Getty Trust The J. Paul Getty Trust is the world's wealthiest art institution, with an estimated endowment of US$7.7 billion in 2020. Based in Los Angeles, California, it operates the J. Paul Getty Museum, which has two locations—the Getty Center in the ...

and

Thomas Krens Thomas Krens (born December 26, 1946) is the former director and Senior Advisor for International Affairs of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York City.''The New York Times'' staff.Guggenheim Foundation staff From the beginning of his w ...

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 ...

in New York. Under his leadership, the Williams art history program developed into one of the finest undergraduate curricula in the country. In 1989, the College Art Association honored him with a Distinguished Teaching Award. To thank him for his pioneering work on St. Gilles and St. Trophime cathedrals, the French city of Arles gave him the honorary key to their city. Stoddard died, aged 90, in

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

Publications

Stoddard, Whitney S. ''The West Portals of Saint-Denis and Chartres.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952. Stoddard, Whitney S. ''Adventure in Architecture: Building the New Saint John's.'' London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1958. Stoddard, Whitney S. ''Art and Architecture in Medieval France: Medieval Architecture, Sculpture, Stained Glass, Manuscripts, the Art of the Church Treasuries.'' New York: Harper & Row, 1972. Stoddard, Whitney S. ''The Facade of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard: Its Influence on French Sculpture.'' Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1973. Stoddard, Whitney S. ''Sculptors of the West Portals of Chartres Cathedral: Their Origins in Romanesque and Their Role in Chartrain Sculpture: Including The West Portals of Saint-Denis and Chartres.'' New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1987.

External links

Dictionary of Art Historians: Stoddard, Whitney (Snow)
* ttps://archivesspace.williams.edu/repositories/2/resources/122 Whitney S. Stoddard papersat Williams College Archives & Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoddard, Whitney 1913 births 2003 deaths American art historians People from Greenfield, Massachusetts Harvard University alumni Williams College alumni Historians from Massachusetts