Anne d'Harnoncourt

Anne Julie d'Harnoncourt (September 7, 1943 – June 1, 2008) was an American curator, museum director, and art historian specializing in modern art. She was the director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), a post she held from 1982 until her sudden death in 2008. She was also an expert scholar on the works of French artist Marcel Duchamp.

Biography

Early life and education d'Harnoncourt was born on September 7, 1943, in Washington, D.C. d'Harnoncourt grew up in New York City as the only child of René d'Harnoncourt, the director of the Museum of Modern Art from 1949 to 1967, who was of Austrian, Czech and French descent and Sarah (née Carr), a fashion designer. From 1949 to 1961 she attended The Brearley School in New York City. She then came to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) as a curatorial assistant in the Department of Painting and Sculpture from 1967 through 1969. In 1969, she was hired as assistant curator of twentieth-century art by the Art Institute of Chicago, a position she held until 1971.

Curatorship at the Philadelphia Museum In 1972, d'Harnoncourt returned to the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a curator of twentieth century art. The renovated structure, now named the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, opened in September 2007. After her death in 2008, Cleveland Museum of Art director Timothy Rub was chosen as her successor.

Service on boards and committees Regent of the Smithsonian Institution Board of Directors, The Henry Luce Foundation Board of Trustees, The Japan Society Board of Directors, The Fabric Workshop and Museum Board of Trustees, Fairmount Park Art Association Board of Trustees, The Philadelphia Award Board of Directors, The John Cage Trust Board of Directors, ARTstor Museum Panel, National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Panel, National Endowment for the Arts Board of Trustees, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Board of Trustees, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Indo/U.S. Sub-commission on Education and Culture Harvard University Art Museums Visiting Committee National Endowment for the Arts Indemnity Panel Board of Advisors, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Visiting Committee, J. Paul Getty Museum Board of Advisors, State Hermitage Museum

Recognition d'Harnoncourt received numerous awards during her life, including:

Captain Jonathan Fay Prize, Radcliffe College (1965) Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Republic of France (1995) Philadelphia Award (1997) Founders Award for Exemplary Service to History, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (2001) Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Princeton University, (2005) Order of the Aztec Eagle, Republic of Mexico (2007)

The Philadelphia Museum of Art dedicated an outdoor area, called the Anne d'Harnoncourt Sculpture Garden, to the late director in honor of her tenure and love of art and the city. It has exhibited sculptures by Thomas Schutte, Scott Burton, Sol LeWitt, and Isamu Noguchi amongst others. Following her death, the museum renamed the western entrance roadway between 25th and Kelly Drive to the Spring Garden Bridge, from "Art Museum Drive" to "Anne d'Harnoncourt Drive".