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INVENTORY OF THE KARL WITH PAPERS, 1907-1984 (bulk 1945-1966)
920096
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Title: Karl With papers
Dates: 1907-1984
Date (bulk): 1945-1966
Collection Number: 920096
Creator:
With, Karl, 1891-1980
Extent:
ca. 17 linear feet
(33 boxes, 1 flat file folder)
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Research Library
Special Collections and Visual Resources
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California 90049-1688
Abstract:
Personal and professional papers of the German-born art historian and professor (1891-1980). The manuscripts, correspondence,
lecture notes, clippings, photographs, glass negatives, and audio recordings in this collection document With’s lifelong study
of Asian and modern art and his teaching, most notably at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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Language: Collection material in French
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Library Rights and Reproductions
Karl With Papers, 1907-1984, bulk 1945-1966. Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 920096.
The Karl With papers were acquired by the Getty in 1992. The archive had been organized before purchase by Gerda or Karl With.
The archive was processed in 1996 by Hillary Brown, who wrote this finding aid in June, 1997. The original folder labeling,
perhaps by With, has been retained as much as possible.
The art historian Karl With (1891-1980) was a professor, curator and museum director. He spent his early years in Bremerhaven,
Germany, where his father was a renowned physician who had an interest in art. With entered university at Freiburg in 1910
to study literature, but he was uninspired by the learning atmosphere and the dominance of the fraternity system.
In 1911, With met the Russian-born sculptor Moisey Kogan (1879-1942). This stimulated With's interest in studying art, and
he spent a wanderjahre in Europe. With attended lectures by Wölfflin in Berlin, 1911-12 and saw Leonardo's “Last Supper” in
Milan. With admired Wölfflin's analysis of style but not his emphasis on western art, and he remembers being “disillusioned”
by the “Last Supper.” Throughout his career, With remained opposed to what he called “glorified western art of the renaissance.”
More inspiring to With than either Wölfflin or Leonardo was the opening of the Yi Yuan collection of Asian art, owned by the
Baron Eduard von der Heydt. This led With to study art history at Vienna, where he earned a doctorate under Joseph Strzygowsky.
In 1913, With traveled with his classmate Oskar Vonwiller to China and Japan, eventually visiting Indonesia, Bali and Egypt.
With took many photographs of art at this time, some of which were published in
Buddischiste Plastik in Japan, 1919. Between 1919 and 1926, With published several books on Asian art.
In the 1910s, With worked for Karl Ernst Osthaus, the founder of the Folkwang Museum, Hagen and the Museum für Kunst in Handel
und Gewerbe. With made many purchases for Osthaus' museums during his travels. Upon his return in 1914, With enlisted in the
army, and he left a decorated lieutenant in 1918. After the war, With became a guest curator at the Folkwang Museum. With
learned much about industrial and craft arts, and began curating exhibits. At this time, With married his first wife Irene,
with whom he had two sons.
In 1921, With moved to Cologne to catalogue the collection of the Baron von der Heydt (catalogue published in 1924). In 1925,
he became head lecturer at the Kolner Werkschule. In 1928 then lord-mayor Konrad Adenauer selected With to direct the Kunstgewerbemuseum
in Cologne, and the Cologne Werkshulen in 1931. With was dismissed from his positions by the Nazis, who labeled his interest
in Asian and modern art “degenerate.” Much of his research material, papers, and books were destroyed upon his dismissal.
With moved to Berlin, where he worked for Ullstein Publications, and he published two books. From 1936 to 1939 With worked
for the Baron von der Heydt in Ascona, Switzerland.
In 1939 With emigrated to the United States, and soon after he married his German fiancée Gerda Becker. His first positions
were as lecturer at the Graduate School of Design in Pasadena and the University of San Francisco. From 1941 to 1948, With
taught and served as head of the newly-formed art department at Hamilton College in New York. He moved to Los Angeles in 1948
and was involved with the short-lived Modern Art Institute in Beverly Hills until 1950.
From 1948 to 1966 With taught at UCLA, where his lectures focused on prehistoric, Asian and modern art, and he developed two
popular lecture courses: “Integrated Arts” and “Man and Art.” Outside of UCLA, With guest curated exhibits and was on the
panel to select the sculptor for the central fountain of the Music Center, Los Angeles. He won many awards for his teaching,
including the distinguished teacher award in 1951 and Doctor of Fine Arts
honoris causa in 1962. With died in 1980.
Scope and Content of Collection
This archive contains professional and personal papers of Karl With. The papers document With's career from his student days
in Germany and Vienna, to his early career as a curator and museum director in Germany, and finally his many years as a distinguished
lecturer in the United States. These papers may have been organized by With in preparation of writing his autobiography, which
exists in manuscript form in this archive. Roughly a third of the archive consists of lecture notes and research files of
clippings prepared during his years at UCLA. Comments With wrote on the original folder labels are often indicated in parentheses
and quote marks.
With emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1932. Under pressure from the Nazis, he was unable to bring with him much
of his scholarly material, including manuscripts, books, and research material. There are three boxes of material from With's
years in Germany.
Media in the archive include manuscripts, press clippings, correspondence, photographs, audio discs, and glass negatives.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into three series:
Series I. Papers
Series II. Glass negatives
Series III. Oversize material
With, Karl, 1891-1980
University of California, Los Angeles
Karl-Ernst-Osthaus-Museum
Hamilton College (Clinton, N.Y.)
Art, Asian
Art, Modern
Masks
Glass negatives
Slides (photographs)
Black-and-white slides 1891-1920
Photographs, Original
Photographic prints
Sound recordings
Sound recordings—20th century
With, Karl, 1891-1980
Heydt, Eduard von der, b. 1882
Adenauer, Konrad, 1876-1967
Buddhistische Plastik in Japan bis in den Beginn. des 8 Jahrhunderts n. chr. Hrsg. Vienna: Anton Schroll & Co., 1919.
Java; brahmanische, buddhistische und eigenlebige Architektur und Plastik auf Java. Hagen in Westfalen: Folkwang Verlag, 1920.
[forward by Karl With].
Asiatische monumentalplastik. Berlin: E. Wasmuth, 1921.
Japanische Baukunst. Leipzig: E. A. Seemann, 1921.
[with Gregor Krause].
Bali. Hagen in Westfalen: Folkwang-Verlan, 1922.
Java, buddhistische und brahmanische Architektur un Plastilk auf Java. Hagen in Westfalen: Folkwang Verlag, 1922.
Chinesische Steinschnitte. Leipzig: E. A. Seemann, 1922.
Die japanische Plastik. Berlin: Verlag fur Kunstwissenschaft, 1923.
Marc Chagall. Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1923.
Bildwerk Ost- und Sudasiens aus der Sammlung Yi Yuan, mit begleitendem text von Karl With. Basel: Schwabe & Co., 1924.
Fuhrer zur Ausstellung indonesicher Textielien. Oldenburg I. O.: G. Stalling, 1925.
Chinesische kleinbildnerei in Steatit. Oldenburg I. O.: G. Stalling, 1926.
Clemens Klotz, Josef Fieth mit einer Einleitung von Karl With, Berlin: Friedrich Ernest Hübsch, 1930.
Das hohelied der Sonne; ein buch vom quell des leben. Berlin: Propylaen-Verlag, 1934.
Pasadena Art Institute presents Timeless art from the Netherlands Indies, arranged by Karl With. Pasadena, CA. February 1941 [exhibition catalogue].