Meller (Peter) papers, approximately 1923-2008

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Summary

Title:
Peter Meller papers
Dates:
approximately 1923-2008
Creators:
Meller, Péter, 1923-2008
Abstract:
Career files of University of California, Santa Barbara, Professor of Art History emeritus Peter Meller (1923-2008).
Extent:
81 Linear Feet (81 cartons)
Language:
English , German , Italian , Hungarian .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Peter Meller papers, UArch FacP 55. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains notes, notices, drafts of essays related to Italian and German Renaissance art, correspondence, sketches, photographs, and slides. Material in the collection spans the course of Meller's professional career, and covers both his scholarly and artistic output.

Biographical / historical:

Peter [Meller] was born in Budapest in 1923. Growing up in a privileged and cultured environment, he was encouraged in his pursuit of creative interests. At school he excelled in the study of Greek and Latin. Although his father was Jewish, his mother was Catholic, so he was able to continue his education until the occupation of Hungary by German troops in the spring of 1944, when he had to go into hiding. He and his immediate family escaped the deportations, but 17 members of his father's extended family perished in the Holocaust. After the war, he completed his degree in the history of art and began his academic career, teaching but also serving as a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts. Sympathetic to the aims of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, he fled with his wife and daughter across the border into Austria to escape the brutal Soviet suppression. He worked in Italy for a decade before accepting a permanent position at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he remained for the rest of his life, frequently visiting Europe in connection with his scholarly work.

Excerpted from the book The Zodiac of Wit: Peter Meller and the Graphic Imagination, by Robert Williams, (Regents of the University of California, 2012).

Acquisition information:
Bequest, 2012, 2013.
Physical location:
Some of this collection is located at the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF).
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Inventory created by Miriam Szőcs and Andrea Rózsavölgyi, of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, in 2016; revised by Zachary Liebhaber, 2020. Additions processed by Kylie Hamuel, and finding aid revised by Rebecca Vasquez, 2024.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-08-16 10:43:49 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Part of the collection is stored offsite. Advance notice is required for retrieval.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder where the UC Regents do not hold copyright. For copyright status contact the Department of Special Research Collections.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Peter Meller papers, UArch FacP 55. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
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