Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- LeBrooy, Paul James, Novotny, Fritz, 1903-1983, Hendy, Philip, Sir, 1900-1980, Goldscheider, Ludwig, 1896-1973, Klumbies, Heinrich, Ungar, Frederick, Stone, Irving, 1903-1989, Unwin, Stanley, Sir, 1884-1968, Phaidon Press, Parker, K. T. (Karl Theodore), 1895-1992, Schimert, Gustav, Popham, A. E. (Arthur Ewart), 1889-1970, Clark, Kenneth, 1903-1983, Beyer, Hubertus von, Witsch, Joseph Caspar, 1906-1967, Ganz, Paul Leonhard, Fegers, Hans, 1911-, Neven Du Mont, Reinhold, 1936-, and Douglas, R. Langton (Robert Langton), 1864-1951
- Abstract:
- Art historian, poet, and translator, and co-founder, director, designer, and editor of the Phaidon Press. Collection includes letters, drafts, and manuscript revisions of books, photographic materials, annotated books, and personal papers primarily documenting Goldscheider's writings on art and artists.
- Extent:
- 6 Linear Feet (13 boxes)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
Ludwig Goldscheider Papers, 1911-1981, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 840066.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa840066
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Ludwig Goldscheider Papers consist of correspondence, writings on art and artists (including manuscripts for publications, photographs for study and book illustration), published books (many with annotations for revisions) and personal papers.
Correspondence consists mostly of letters and copies of letters to Goldscheider from individuals associated with Phaidon and other publishing houses, as well as art historians, collectors, museum personnel, critics, and dealers. These present evidence of the esteem others held for Goldscheider as a scholar and connoisseur of art and as editor and publisher of scholarly art books. There are also copies of a small number of letters written by Goldscheider. The majority of these are to his wife, Annie Goldscheider, and are of a personal, intimate nature.
The bulk of the archive consists of writings on art. These include scholarly material for a number of Goldscheider's monographs on artists and other books and articles. There are manuscripts and notes, galley sheets and final printed copies for works by Goldscheider on Michelangelo, Leonardo, Velazquez, Vermeer, Botticelli, Roman Portraits, and El Greco. The archive also includes notes for his translations of aphorisms, and original poetry by Goldscheider and other authors in drafts and final published form.
The archive holds photographic material intended for study and for book illustrations. Formats include original photographs and slides, infrared and X-ray exposures, and printed reproductions. The bulk of these are of the Le Brooy collection of Michelangelo wax and terra-cotta models and for his book on Botticelli (see Appendix: Books by Goldscheider for reference).
A number of books are included which are annotated in Goldscheider's hand for revision. These include monographs on artists.
An assortment of personal papers includes family portraits and other personal photographs, immigration and naturalization papers, travel visas and other state documents, bank account papers, and personal address books. There are also publicity materials related to Phaidon's Golden Jubilee celebrations held in London in 1973.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Ludwig Goldscheider (1896-1973) was a notable historian of art, a poet and translator, and one of the most influential art book publishers of the twentieth century. He co-founded the Phaidon Verlag publishing house with his father-in-law, Bela Horowitz, in Vienna in 1923. He wrote or otherwise oversaw production of a number of important art books for Phaidon beginning in the 1930's. These were distinguished by an abundance of high-quality illustrations, many of which were chosen by Goldscheider, as well as the use of large formats. The visual impact and richness of these large-sized editions did much to determine the development and general style of the modern form of the popular art book.
Goldscheider moved to London in 1938, remaining closely associated there with the Phaidon Press, Ltd. as editor, designer, and author, and assumed general management of the company after Horowitz's death in 1955. His monographic and other art historical studies for Phaidon were mostly on Italian Renaissance artists (notably Michelangelo and Leonardo) but topics ranged from ancient (Roman Portraiture) to modern subjects (Oskar Kokoschka), since one of his aims as an art historian was to demonstrate a continuity between Modernism and the art of past epochs. His broad art historical knowledge gained him wide recognition as a connoisseur and advisor, which many European and American scholars, collectors, dealers, and museum specialists readily acknowledge in their letters to him.
He died in London in 1973, only a few months after attending the opening of Phaidon's Golden Jubilee celebrations in honor of the firm's fiftieth anniversary. The Phaidon Press continues to publish.
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired in 1984.
- Processing information:
-
The Ludwig Goldscheider Papers were acquired in 1984 and partially processed by Getty Center staff. Carl Wuellner completed processing the archive in March-April 1996. Four books from the archive were transferred to the Getty Center Library.
- Arrangement:
-
The papers are organized in 5 series: Series I: Correspondence; Series II: Writings and Poetry; Series III: Book Illustrations and Photographs; Series IV: Books; Series V: Personal Papers.
- Physical location:
- Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers.
- Terms of access:
-
Contact Library Rights and Reproductions.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa840066
- Preferred citation:
-
Ludwig Goldscheider Papers, 1911-1981, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 840066.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa840066
- Location of this collection:
-
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
- Contact:
- (310) 440-7390