"Introduction" to Content and Context of Visual Arts In the Islamic World: Papers From a Colloquium In Memory of Richard Ettinghausen

Authors

Carol Bier, The Textile MuseumFollow
Priscilla P. Soucek, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

Date of this Version

1988

Document Type

Article

Citation

Bier, Carol, & Soucek, Priscilla Parsons. Content and Context of Visual Arts In the Islamic World: Papers From a Colloquium In Memory of Richard Ettinghausen, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2-4 April 1980, Planned and Organized by Carol Manson Bier. University Park: College Art Association, 1988

Abstract

The edited papers presented in this memorial volume offer tribute to Richard Ettinghausen, scholar, teacher, curator and friend, a great man who affected within his own lifetime the study of Islamic art throughout the Western world. Through the high caliber of his scholarship and his discerning connoisseurship, he had a profound effect on the intellectual development of those whom he touched through his manifold activities, whether in publications, formal lectures, or an informal sharing of his knowledge. In recognition of his many achievements he received in 1976 "Pour le Merite," the highest civil decoration awarded by the Federal Republic of Germany.

As a teacher of Islamic art at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts from 1961, where he held the Hagop Kevorkian Professorship of Islamic Art from its establishment until his death in April 1979, his training of graduate students was enhanced by his active participation in the museum world. He was active both as a curator at the Freer Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C., and as a consultant to the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, and the L. A. Mayer Memorial Institute of Islamic Art in Jerusalem. In his final museum post, as Consultative Chairman of the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1967 to 1979, he supervised not only the building and publication of that collection but also directed its permanent installation, thereby furthering knowledge of both the scholarly community and the general public. He also served on the Board of Trustees for The Hagop Kevorkian Fund, The Philiips Gallery, and The Textile Museum.

Richard Ettinghausen was generous with his time, offering advice or criticism to colleagues, students, and friends, and was also active as a public lecturer in both the United States and Europe. He was distinguished by the wide range of his interests. Very much aware of the larger cultural context of great works of art he was also concerned with the significance of objects in daily use and their connection with the life of people in the Islamic world. He encouraged his students to enhance public appreciation of Islamic art by working with museum and gallery exhibitions and by contributing to publications and educational programs.