It's your last weekend to see "A Figure of Influence: Lincoln Kirstein and American Art." An art insider involved in the early history of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and cofounder of the New York City Ballet, Lincoln Kirstein directed considerable energy toward shaping the lives of artists and the art world. An avid collector himself, he eventually donated work by the artists he championed to several institutions, including The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. https://www.nelson-atkins.org/events/a-figure-of-influence/
| Lincoln Kirstein | |
|---|---|
Lincoln Kirstein by Walker Evans
| |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 4, 1907 Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 5, 1996 (aged 88) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) |
Fidelma Cadmus
(m. 1941; died 1991) |
| Parents | Louis E. Kirstein Rose Stein |
| Education | Berkshire School |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Writer, philanthropist |
| Known for | Co-founder of the New York City Ballet |
| Awards |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Rank | Private First Class |
| Unit | MFAA |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Lincoln Edward Kirstein (May 4, 1907 – January 5, 1996) was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, philanthropist, and cultural figure in New York City, noted especially as co-founder of the New York City Ballet. He developed and sustained the company with his organizing ability and fundraising for more than four decades, serving as the company's general director from 1946 to 1989. According to the New York Times, he was "an expert in many fields," organizing art exhibits and lecture tours in the same years.[1]
Legacy[edit]
English critic Clement Crisp wrote: "He was one of those rare talents who touch the entire artistic life of their time. Ballet, film, literature, theatre, painting, sculpture, photography all occupied his attention."
Kirstein helped organize a 1959 American tour for musicians and dancers from the Japanese Imperial Household Agency. At that time, Japanese Imperial court music, gagaku, had only rarely been performed outside the Imperial Music Pavilion in Tokyo at some of the great Japanese shrines.[1]
Kirstein commissioned and helped to fund the physical home of the New York City Ballet: the New York State Theater building at Lincoln Center, designed in 1964 by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee.[19] Despite its conservative modernist exterior, the glittery red and gold interior recalls the imaginative and lavish backdrops of the Ballets Russes. He served as the general director of the ballet company from 1948 to 1989.
On March 26, 1984, President Ronald Reagan presented Kirstein with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to the arts.[20]
Kirstein was also a serious collector. Soon after the opening at Lincoln Center of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, he contributed a significant amount of historic dance materials to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Before his death in 1996, Kirstein also donated his personal papers, artworks, and other materials related to the history of dance and his life in the arts to the division. Kirstein was also the primary patron of the artist Paul Cadmus, Fidelma's brother, buying many of his paintings and subsidizing his living expenses.[21][22] Cadmus had difficulty selling his work through galleries because of the erotically charged depictions of working class and middle class men, which provoked controversy.[6]
沒有留言:
張貼留言