The collection is arranged as 4 series: Series 1: Correspondence, 1921-1978, undated (Boxes 1-16; 16 linear ft.; Reels 2108- 2128) Series 2: Writings, 1915-1968, undated (Boxes 17-19; 2.3 linear ft.) Series 3: Biographical Information, 1905-1967 (Boxes 19-21; 0.5 linear ft.) Series 4: Printed Material, 1904-1990, undated (Box 19; 0.5 linear ft.)
Access Note / Rights:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy. Use of the unmicrofilmed portion requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Summary:
The papers of Erwin Panofsky measure 19.8 linear feet and are dated 1904-1990 (bulk dates 1920-1968). They consist of correspondence, writings, biographical material, and printed material documenting Panofsky's career as an art historian, teacher, and writer. The Panofsky papers are comprised mainly of correspondence with colleagues, scholars, students, art dealers, galleries and museums, libraries, colleges and universities, organizations, and periodicals.
Citation:
Erwin Panofsky papers, 1904-1990, bulk 1920-1968. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 2108-2128 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Use Note:
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Related Materials:
Among the Archives' holdings is a collection of letters from Erwin Panofsky to art historians Wolfgang Stechow (1930-1931) and Lili Fröhlich-Bum (1931), and to Brooklyn Museum art librarian William B. Walker (1960) which is available on 35-mm microfilm reel 5136, frames 812-824. The letters to Stechow were written as he was preparing a review of Panofsky's book, <em>Hercules am Scheidewege und andere antike Bildstoffe inder neueren Kunst</em>, and provide additional information not found in the book itself. The letter to Mr. Walke is in Englishe, and the remainder are in German. The originals are still in the possession of Irving Lavin, who found them in Stechow's copy of <em>Hercules am Scsheidewege</em> given him by Mrs. Stechow.
Biography Note:
Erwin Panofsky (1892-1968), a native of Hannover, Germany, grew up in Berlin where he received a classical education at the Joachimsthalsches Gymnasium. He then studied at the universities of Berlin, Munich and Freiburg/Breslau. After earning a Ph. D. in 1914 from the University of Freiburg, Panofsky spent three years on post-doctoral study in Berlin, and during this period, married fellow student and art historian Dorothea (Dora) Mosse.
Although primarily a scholar of Gothic and Renaissance art, Panofsky had wide interests. Erwin Panofsky was a highly respected and influential scholar who was a much loved, generous, and encouraging teacher of several generations of productive scholars. Many students became his life long friends, and quite a few of them considered Panofsky the greatest teacher they had ever encountered.
He taught at the University of Hamburg from 1920 to1933, and during this period began to develop iconographic approaches to interpreting art through analysis of its subject matter's symbols, themes, and history. His work in this area eventually had international influence in the development of art history as a discipline.
Beginning in 1931, Panofsky taught at New York University, spending alternate semesters at the University of Hamburg until the Nazis dismissed all Jewish officials. He and his family fled Germany and came to the United States in 1933. During the academic year 1934/35, Panofsky held concurrent appointments at both New York University and Princeton University. He joined the faculty of the newly formed Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, in 1935, where he remained until his retirement in 1962. In addition, he continued to teach graduate seminars at New York University and Princeton Universtiy.
He was a prolific writer, and his many books and articles represent some of the 20th century's most important writings in the field of art history, particularly in the realm of iconography. Among his books are: "Idea": Ein Beitrag zur Begriffsgeschichte der älteren Kunstheorie (1924) [translated later as Idea, The History of a Concept ], Studies in Iconology (1939), Codex Huygens and Leonardo da Vinci's Art Theory (1940), The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer (1943), Abbot Suger on the Abbey Church of St. Denis and Its Art Treasures (1946), Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism (1951), Early Netherlandish Painting: Its Origins and Character (1953), Meaning and the Visual Arts (1950), Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art (1960), The Iconography of Correggio's Camera di San Paolo (1961), and Problems in Titian, Mostly Iconographic (1964).
Panofsky wrote on subjects other than art history. He was an authority on Mozart, and also wrote about the history of cinema. His 1934 article "On Movies" (originally published in Princeton University's Bulletin of the Department of Art and Archaeology ), remains a highly regarded work on the subject.
The recipient of numerous honorary degrees, Panofsky most prized the first from the University of Utrecht, 1936, as it brought great satisfaction at a time when he was still coping with the trauma of expatriation. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and several other foreign academies. In 1962, Panofsky received the Haskins Medal awarded by The Medieval Academy of America for a distinguished book in medieval history.
His wife Dora Mosse Panofsky died in 1965; in 1966, he married Gerda Soergel, also an art historian. Erwin Panofsky died in Princeton, New Jersey, March 14, 1968.
Language Note:
The records are in English and German.
Provenance:
The Erwin Panofsky papers were donated by his widow, Dr. Gerda Soergel Panofsky, in 1979 and 1990.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
