Rene D'Harnoncourt

May 17, 1901 (age 67)

Vienna, Austria

The family's landholdings of d'Harnoncourt, were lost in the Austrian economic collapse of the 1920's, and in 1925, d'Harnoncourt went to Mexico, where he unsuccessfully sought employment as a chemist. Instead, he eked out an existence retouching news photos, designing shop displays, and painting. He found a vocation advising American collectors on antiques, and in time he became knowledgeable in pre-Columbian and Mexican folk art. Frederick Davis, a Mexico City dealer and collector, hired d'Harnoncourt as a salesman and buyer. For Davis' shop, the Sonora News Company, d'Harnoncourt arranged exhibits of Mexican modernists such as Diego Rivera and Miguel Covarrubias. He also became close to the American ambassador Dwight W. Morrow and his wife, Elizabeth Reeve Morrow. He painted a mural for them and advised them on furnishing their private residence in Cuernavaca. D'Harnoncourt illustrated two of Elizabeth Morrow's books, The Painted Pig (1930) and Beast, Bird, and Fish (1933). He also wrote and illustrated two books based on his Mexican experiences, Mexicana (1931), a picture book for adults, and Hole in the Wall (1931), for children. In 1929, at the invitation of the Mexican Ministry of Education, d'Harnoncourt assembled several collections of Mexican folk art to tour American schools. Late that year, the Carnegie Foundation asked him to organize a major exhibition of 1, 200 objects of Mexican art and crafts to be shown first at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and then to travel to various American cities. D'Harnoncourt wrote the catalog, Mexican Arts, and made important contacts while traveling with the exhibit for two years. In 1932 he returned to Austria long enough to obtain an immigration visa for the United States. D'Harnoncourt straddled several jobs in the mid-1930's: he taught art history at Sarah Lawrence College and the New School for Social Research, and from 1933 to 1934 he directed a radio program, "Art in America, " sponsored by the American Federation of Arts. His interest in native folk art prompted John Collier, the commissioner of Indian affairs of the Department of the Interior, to appoint him assistant manager and then general manager of the department's newly created Indian Arts and Crafts Board. With the assistance of Frederic H. Douglas of the Denver Art Museum, d'Harnoncourt assembled a major exhibition of Indian art that was shown in 1939 at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and then expanded and installed at the Museum of Modern Art in 1941. D'Harnoncourt and Henry Klumb designed the New York exhibit, which was called Indian Art of the United States. It ranged over three floors and featured background colors and lighting that suggested the Indians' native environment, objects juxtaposed for thematic and dramatic qualities, Navajo Indian sand painters demonstrating their craft, and a totem pole in front of the museum. The highly praised show led to a new style of American museum exhibit design, of which d'Harnoncourt was the acknowledged leader. The Museum of Modern Art suffered a crisis in the 1940's; its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr. , encountered administrative difficulties and failed to get along with trustees. He was removed in 1943 and the museum was managed through a committee of trustees. That year Nelson Rockefeller, then coordinator of the Office of Inter-American Affairs, borrowed d'Harnoncourt from the Indian Board to run the art section. He personally paid d'Harnoncourt's salary. In 1944, d'Harnoncourt joined the museum as vice-president in charge of foreign activities and director of the Department of Manual Industries. His unstated assignment was to bring peace among staff, curators, and trustees. Nelson Rockefeller again paid his salary. D'Harnoncourt was appointed director in 1949. One of his most important acts was to rehire Barr, the preeminent authority on modern art in America, as curator of collections. Barr made the museum's aesthetics the taste of modern America. D'Harnoncourt soothed the frequently ruffled feelings of prima-donna curators, wealthy collectors, and trustees. In addition to his charm, he had a connoisseur's judgment, much in contrast to Barr's scholarly approach. And d'Harnoncourt was at least the social equal, if not the superior, of the trustees. He retired from the museum on July 1, 1968. Several weeks later, he was killed by a drunken driver while walking at his summer home at New Suffolk, Long Island. D'Harnoncourt is credited with saving the Museum of Modern Art from incestuous warfare. He also reaffirmed Barr's belief that modern art was essentially European. Although the museum did show American artists, it acknowledged some American trends only belatedly and missed others altogether. Under d'Harnoncourt the museum lost some of its early avant-garde quality, and exhibits tended to be retrospectives of established artists. His personal leadership lacked an institutional foundation, and his two immediate successors lasted only a short time.

Rene D'Harnoncourt Edit Profile

administrator illustrator art curator

Background

René d'Harnoncourt was born on May 17, 1901 in Vienna, Austria; of Austrian, Czech, and French descent. He was the son of Hubert d'Harnoncourt, an amateur historian and watercolorist, and Julianna Mittrowsky. The family, which had served the Hapsburgs, had extensive landholdings. Born with the title of count, d'Harnoncourt dropped it when he became an American citizen in 1939.

Education

D'Harnoncourt was tutored at home, and from 1918 to 1921 he studied chemistry at the University of Graz, where he also enjoyed writing poems and plays, painting and drawing, and collecting old prints. He became especially interested in Austrian folk art and French modern art.

After World War I, he continued his studies at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna. He never received a degree, but his thesis, "The Creosote Contents of Certain Soft Coals of Southern Yugoslavia, " was published in the German technical journal Brennstoff-Chemie.

Career

The family's landholdings of d'Harnoncourt, were lost in the Austrian economic collapse of the 1920's, and in 1925, d'Harnoncourt went to Mexico, where he unsuccessfully sought employment as a chemist. Instead, he eked out an existence retouching news photos, designing shop displays, and painting. He found a vocation advising American collectors on antiques, and in time he became knowledgeable in pre-Columbian and Mexican folk art.

Frederick Davis, a Mexico City dealer and collector, hired d'Harnoncourt as a salesman and buyer. For Davis' shop, the Sonora News Company, d'Harnoncourt arranged exhibits of Mexican modernists such as Diego Rivera and Miguel Covarrubias. He also became close to the American ambassador Dwight W. Morrow and his wife, Elizabeth Reeve Morrow. He painted a mural for them and advised them on furnishing their private residence in Cuernavaca. D'Harnoncourt illustrated two of Elizabeth Morrow's books, The Painted Pig (1930) and Beast, Bird, and Fish (1933). He also wrote and illustrated two books based on his Mexican experiences, Mexicana (1931), a picture book for adults, and Hole in the Wall (1931), for children.

In 1929, at the invitation of the Mexican Ministry of Education, d'Harnoncourt assembled several collections of Mexican folk art to tour American schools. Late that year, the Carnegie Foundation asked him to organize a major exhibition of 1, 200 objects of Mexican art and crafts to be shown first at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and then to travel to various American cities. D'Harnoncourt wrote the catalog, Mexican Arts, and made important contacts while traveling with the exhibit for two years. In 1932 he returned to Austria long enough to obtain an immigration visa for the United States.

D'Harnoncourt straddled several jobs in the mid-1930's: he taught art history at Sarah Lawrence College and the New School for Social Research, and from 1933 to 1934 he directed a radio program, "Art in America, " sponsored by the American Federation of Arts. His interest in native folk art prompted John Collier, the commissioner of Indian affairs of the Department of the Interior, to appoint him assistant manager and then general manager of the department's newly created Indian Arts and Crafts Board. With the assistance of Frederic H. Douglas of the Denver Art Museum, d'Harnoncourt assembled a major exhibition of Indian art that was shown in 1939 at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and then expanded and installed at the Museum of Modern Art in 1941.

D'Harnoncourt and Henry Klumb designed the New York exhibit, which was called Indian Art of the United States. It ranged over three floors and featured background colors and lighting that suggested the Indians' native environment, objects juxtaposed for thematic and dramatic qualities, Navajo Indian sand painters demonstrating their craft, and a totem pole in front of the museum. The highly praised show led to a new style of American museum exhibit design, of which d'Harnoncourt was the acknowledged leader.

The Museum of Modern Art suffered a crisis in the 1940's; its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr. , encountered administrative difficulties and failed to get along with trustees. He was removed in 1943 and the museum was managed through a committee of trustees. That year Nelson Rockefeller, then coordinator of the Office of Inter-American Affairs, borrowed d'Harnoncourt from the Indian Board to run the art section. He personally paid d'Harnoncourt's salary.

In 1944, d'Harnoncourt joined the museum as vice-president in charge of foreign activities and director of the Department of Manual Industries. His unstated assignment was to bring peace among staff, curators, and trustees. Nelson Rockefeller again paid his salary. D'Harnoncourt was appointed director in 1949. One of his most important acts was to rehire Barr, the preeminent authority on modern art in America, as curator of collections. Barr made the museum's aesthetics the taste of modern America. D'Harnoncourt soothed the frequently ruffled feelings of prima-donna curators, wealthy collectors, and trustees. In addition to his charm, he had a connoisseur's judgment, much in contrast to Barr's scholarly approach. And d'Harnoncourt was at least the social equal, if not the superior, of the trustees.

He retired from the museum on July 1, 1968. Several weeks later, he was killed by a drunken driver while walking at his summer home at New Suffolk, Long Island. D'Harnoncourt is credited with saving the Museum of Modern Art from incestuous warfare. He also reaffirmed Barr's belief that modern art was essentially European. Although the museum did show American artists, it acknowledged some American trends only belatedly and missed others altogether. Under d'Harnoncourt the museum lost some of its early avant-garde quality, and exhibits tended to be retrospectives of established artists. His personal leadership lacked an institutional foundation, and his two immediate successors lasted only a short time.

Achievements

Under d'Harnoncourt's leadership, the Museum of Modern Art consolidated its position as the leading modern-art museum in the world. He directed numerous exhibitions, many of which were known for their innovative installation techniques, such as Art of the South Seas (1946), in collaboration with Ralph Linton and Paul S. Wingert; Modern Art in Your Life (1949); Ancient Arts of the Andes (1954), in collaboration with Wendell C. Bennet; and shows on the sculpture of Henry Moore (1946), Jacques Lipchitz (1954), Jean Arp (1958), and Pablo Picasso (1967). D'Harnoncourt excelled at fund-raising, and the museum expanded both in collections and space. Beyond the museum, he made substantial contributions to the art program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and he helped Nelson Rockefeller to found the Museum of Primitive Art. His activities also helped stimulate the Mexican folk-art revival of the 1920's.

Works

The Painted Pig: A Mexican Picture Book The Painted Pig: A Mexican Picture Book

Modern Art in Your Life Modern Art in Your Life

Indian Art Of The United States Indian Art Of The United States

$Ancient Arts of the Andes \/ with an Introduction by Rene D\'Harnoncourt ; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in Collaboration with the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Ancient Arts of the Andes \/ with an Introduction by Rene D\'Harnoncourt ; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in Collaboration with the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts$ $Arts of the South Seas, by Ralph Linton and Paul S. Wingert, in collaboration with Ren\u00E9 d\'Harnoncourt. Arts of the South Seas, by Ralph Linton and Paul S. Wingert, in collaboration with Ren\u00E9 d\'Harnoncourt.$ The New American Painting, As Shown in Eight European Countries 1958-1959 The New American Painting, As Shown in Eight European Countries 1958-1959

The New American Painting, As Shown in Eight European Countries 1958-1959 The New American Painting, As Shown in Eight European Countries 1958-1959

Mexicana,: A book of pictures Mexicana,: A book of pictures

book
- The Painted Pig: A Mexican Picture Book
  (When the toymaker forgets to make him a piggy bank, a you...)
- Arts of the South Seas, by Ralph Linton and Paul S. Wingert, in collaboration with René d'Harnoncourt.
  (Arts of the South Seas By Ralph Linton and Paul S. Winger...)
- Mexicana,: A book of pictures
  (Satisfaction guaranteed.)
- The New American Painting, As Shown in Eight European Countries 1958-1959
  (art book)
- Modern Art in Your Life
- Indian Art Of The United States
- Ancient Arts of the Andes / with an Introduction by Rene D'Harnoncourt ; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in Collaboration with the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Personality

A "gentle giant, " d'Harnoncourt impressed people with his knowledge of art, impeccable dress, courtly European manners, witty conversation, and size--he stood over six feet, six inches and weighed about 230 pounds. Nelson Rockefeller consulted with him on primitive art in the mid-1930's and became his most prominent sponsor and a close friend.

Connections

While with the Mexican exhibition he met Sarah Carr of Chicago, an advertising copy editor; they were married on May 29, 1933, and had one child, Anne Julie d'Harnoncourt (1943-2008).

Father:: Hubert d'Harnoncourt
Spouse:: Sarah Carr
Daughter:: Anne Julie d'Harnoncourt
Friend:: Nelson Rockefeller

Main Photo