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INVENTORY OF THE HARALD KELLER PAPERS, 1929-1990
920043
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Title: Harald Keller papers
Date (inclusive): 1929-1990
Collection number: 920043
Creator:
Keller, Harald, 1903-
Extent:
15 lin. ft.
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Research Library
Special Collections and Visual Resources
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California 90049-1688
Abstract:
German art historian and teacher (1903-1989). Lecture notes, correspondence, and manuscripts compiled during Keller’s 35-year
academic career cover major periods and works in the history of art and architecture. Papers include research notes and annotated
copies of several Keller publications, including his dissertation. The correspondence documents Keller’s relationships with
numerous art historians, including Richard Krautheimer, Christoph Frommel, Hans Sedlmayr, L.H. Heydenreich, K. Müller, Ulrich
Middeldorf, and Rudolf Wittkower.
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Language: Collection material in German
Open for use by qualified researchers, except letters from Keller to Elfriede R. Knauer (Philadelphia), 1976-1989, 11 letters.
Sealed until 2019.
Contact
Library Rights and Reproductions
Harald Keller papers, 1929-1990, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 920043.
The Getty purchased the Harald Keller papers in 1992.
Rose Lachman processed, arranged and described the collection in early 1995. Wherever possible, the collection retains Keller's
original order and labeling.
Harald Keller was trained as an art historian in Leipzig, Heidelberg, and Munich by such influential scholars as Wilhelm Pinder,
Heinrich Wölfflin, C. G. Heise at the Lübeck Museum and Hans Jantzen in Frankfurt. Keller served as Assistant Director of
the Hertziana in Rome from 1930 - 1935. He wrote 20 books and over 100 articles. In his 35 years as a teacher, Keller helped
shape a generation of German art historians, in part by supervising 53 dissertations. The course and lecture notes included
among his papers provide a precise record of his teaching methods and document a formative period in the discipline.
Scope and Content of the Collection
Harald Keller's papers span the years 1929-1990 and comprise extensive lecture and course notes from 35 years of teaching
(mostly undated); research notes related to his writings, teachings, and travels (ca. 1930-1987); manuscripts of published
and unpublished books and articles, arranged chronologically (ca. 1935-1988); and correspondence with students and colleagues,
including some on the versos of lectures and notes. (1930-1989).
Keller taught widely on art subjects, and his detailed, carefully-composed course and lecture notes deal with aspects of painting,
sculpture, architecture, and urbanism from the Early Christian and Byzantine eras to the Impressionist period. His manuscripts
likewise cover a broad range of topics, including Baroque staircases (the subject of his dissertation), Renaissance landscape,
Italian Gothic sculpture, urbanism in Italy, Central Europe and the Baltic countries, Impressionism, the history of portraiture,
a scholarly autobiography, and notes for an historical novel. Many manuscripts included in the collection contain his annotations,
as does a printed copy of his dissertation,
Das Treppenhaus im deutschen Schloss- und Klosterbau des Barock.
The reverse side of many of the pages of lecture and course notes contain correspondence between Keller and art historians,
primarily from the years 1938 - 1963. Series IV contains significant correspondence with other scholars and includes 50 letters
(1943-1989) from Richard Krautheimer, rich in detail about their common scholarly interests and the work of other colleagues,
11 letters (1974-1980) from Christoph Frommel, as well as letters from Hans Sedlmayer, Rudolf Wittkower, L.H. Heydenreich,
T. Müller and others.
Arrangement
The Papers are arranged in 4 series:
Series I. Lectures and notes, with correspondence
Series II. Research notes
Series III. Manuscripts
Series IV. Correspondence
Keller, Harald, 1903-
Bibliotheca Hertziana, Max-Planck-Institut
Architecture—History
Architecture—History—Study and teaching
Art—History
Art—History—Study and teaching
Painting—History
Sculpture—History
Painting, Italian
Sculpture, Italian
Architecture—Italian
Art, Renaissance—Italy
Landscape painting, Renaissance—Italy
Art, French
Art, Romanesque—France
Art, Gothic—France
Art, Medieval
Cities and towns—Europe
Architecture—Germany
Architecture, Medieval—Germany
Architecture, Baroque—Germany
Staircases—Germany
Impressionism (Art)—France
Painting, French—19th century
Historical fiction
Frommel, Christoph Luitpold
Krautheimer, Richard, 1897-
Müller, Theodor, 1905-
Heydenreich, Ludwig Heinrich, 1903-
Schlumberger, Daniel
Sedlmayr, Hans, 1896-
Middeldorf, Ulrich Alexander, 1901-
Wittkower, Rudolf