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Title: Harald Keller papers
Date (inclusive): 1929-1990
Number: 920043
Creator/Collector:
Keller, Harald,
1903-1989
Physical Description:
15 Linear Feet
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
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 is in
German .
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.
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.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa920043
Acquired in 1992.
Rose Lachman processed, arranged and described the collection in early 1995. Wherever
possible, the collection retains Keller's original order and labeling.
Scope and Content of 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teachings, and travels (ca. 1930-1987); manuscripts of published and unpublished books and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.
The Papers are arranged in 4 series:
Series I. Lectures and notes, with correspondence on
verso, ca. 1939-1987;
Series II. Research notes, ca. 1930-1987, n.d.;
Series III. Manuscripts, ca. 1929-1988;
Series
IV. Correspondence, ca. 1930-1989
Keller, Harald,
1903-1989
Bibliotheca Hertziana,
Max-Planck-Institut
Cities and towns -- Europe
Art, Medieval
Architecture, Medieval -- Germany
Architecture -- Germany
Staircases -- Germany
Architecture, Baroque -- Germany
Painting, French -- 19th century
Impressionism (Art) -- France
Historical fiction
Art, Romanesque -- France
Art, French
Landscape painting, Renaissance -- Italy
Art, Renaissance -- Italy
Architecture -- Italian
Sculpture, Italian
Painting, Italian
Sculpture -- History
Painting -- History
Art -- History -- Study and teaching
Art -- History
Architecture -- History -- Study and teaching
Architecture -- History
Art, Gothic -- France
Frommel, Christoph
Luitpold
Heydenreich,
Ludwig H. (Ludwig Heinrich), 1903-1978
Keller, Harald,
1903-1989
Middeldorf, Ulrich,
1901-1983
Krautheimer,
Richard, 1897-1994
Schlumberger, Daniel
Müller, Theodor,
1905-1996
Wittkower, Rudolf
Sedlmayr, Hans,
1896-1984