Description
German art historian and pioneering critic of the 20th-century avant-garde who took an interest in the study and development
of photography as an art form. Collection consists primarily of letters received from more than 1,000 correspondents, ca.
1911-1965. The correspondence is of a personal, intellectual, and business nature, between Roh and colleagues and fellow students,
critics, editors, gallery owners, and curators throughout Germany, France, and the United States. Letters express thanks and
complaints concerning Roh's criticism, and contain requests for reviews, catalog statements, photographs, introductions, and
articles.
Background
Franz Roh (1890-1965) was a noted art historian, photographer, and critic of the early twentieth-century avant-garde. He began
his career working for
Cicerone,
Kunstblatt, and other journals publishing on art topics. In 1925, with the encouragement of Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, he published
Nachexpressionismus-Magischer Realismus. Through this he gained prominence in the artistic circles of the avant-garde, which led to his co-publication of
Foto-Auge with Jan Tschichold in 1929. The progressivism of his work led to
Foto-Auge being sequestered and confiscated, and eventually led Roh to a brief imprisonment when he was forbidden to write by government
censors in 1933. He was, however, awarded a professorship in modern art at the University of Munich in 1946, a position he
held for the remainder of his life. He continued to promote contemporary art in the years after the war and became president
of AICA (International Association of Art Critics) in 1951. He died in Munich in 1965.
Extent
3.5 linear feet
(7 boxes)
Restrictions
Contact
Library Rights and Reproductions.
Availability
Open for use by qualified researchers.