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Elsen (Albert Edward) Papers
SC0569
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Albert Edward Elsen papers
creator:
Elsen, Albert Edward
creator:
Elsen, Albert Edward
Identifier/Call Number: SC0569
Physical Description:
20 Linear Feet
(16 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1965-1994
These papers consist of notes, lectures, articles, and other sources Elsen compiled for the
art history courses he taught at Stanford; course readers; drafts of his published works;
transcripts of interviews he did with Bruce Beaseley, Kristina Branch, John Davis, Louis
Finkelstein, Leon Golub, Sue Gussow, Dimitri Hadzi, James Rosati, Miriam Schapiro, and
Kenneth Snelson; subject files on individual artists; and other miscellaneous files.
The course materials were originally kept in 3 ring binders of varying sizes, with some
items folded and/or inserted loose into the divisions. The materials have been removed from
the binders and foldered according to the division titles; the course title is entered on
the folder as the series.
Albert Elsen, scholar of modern sculpture who specialized in Rodin, was professor of art at
Stanford University from 1968 until his death in 1995. He was a pivotal figure in Stanford's
acquisition of outdoor sculpture and served as the curator of the Rodin collection.
Mr. Elsen was born in New York in 1927 and earned all his degrees -- bachelor's, master's
and doctoral -- from Columbia University, where he wrote his dissertation, "Rodin's 'Gates
of Hell,' " under the supervision of Meyer Schapiro. After teaching at Carleton College
(1952-1958) and Indiana University, he joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1968.
In a career that spanned more than four decades, Mr. Elsen was known as an expert on
late-19th-century and early-20th-century sculpture and as an outstanding teacher and
lecturer. He wrote books on Matisse, Seymour Lipton and Paul Jenkins as well as several on
Rodin, and two surveys of modern sculpture. His published works include
Purposes of Art;
Law, Ethics, and the Visual Arts
(with John Henry Merryman);
Origins of Modern Sculpture:
Pioneers and Premises;
and
Modern European Sculpture
1918-1945.
His former graduate students include many museum professionals, among them Kirk Varnedoe,
former chief curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art. Mr. Varnedoe
said Mr. Elsen was central in restoring Rodin's reputation, and cited his 1963 Rodin
exhibition at the Modern as the moment the sculptor's work "was annexed into the history of
modern art."
Mr. Elsen's activities took him far beyond the library and classroom. He contributed
frequently to museum exhibitions and catalogues, and served as director of the National
Gallery's enormous exhibition "Rodin Rediscovered" in 1981. He was an authority on many
facets of the art world, including museum practices, artists' rights, arts legislation, art
forgeries and art law.
With John Merryman, a Stanford law professor, he established the first university course on
art law in the early 1970's and also wrote "Laws, Ethics and the Visual Arts." And because
of Mr. Elsen, Stanford has not only an extensive collection of outdoor sculpture, but also
the second largest collection of works by Rodin in the world.
In the late 1960's Mr. Elsen was vocal in the heated art world debate on the authenticity
of sculptures made from posthumous casts. As president of the College Art Association from
1974 to 1976, he supervised the drafting of a comprehensive "Statement on Standards for
Sculptural Reproduction and Preventive Measures to Combat Unethical Casting in Bronze."
His first marriage, to Patricia Morgan Kline, ended in divorce. He was survived by his
second wife, Sharon McClenahan Elsen; a son, Matthew; two daughters, Nancy McVickar and
Katherine, and four grandchildren.
[Identification of item], Albert Edward Elsen Papers, SC 569, Stanford University Archives,
Stanford, Calif.
Administrative transfer from the Cantor Center for Visual Arts, 1999.
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the
documents or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the
Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.
None.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Administrative transfer from the Cantor Center for Visual Arts, 1999. Gift, 2016.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Art -- Study and teaching.
Artists -- Interviews. -- United States
Rosati, James,
Elsen, Albert Edward
Schapiro, Miriam,
Gussow, Sue.
Hadzi, Dimitri,
Gussow, Sue.
Beasley, Bruce,
Golub, Leon,
Finkelstein, Louis
Branch, Kristina.
Davis, John.
Branch, Kristina.
Stanford University -- General subdivision--Curricula.;
Davis, John.
Stanford University. Department of Art -- General
subdivision--Faculty.;
Stanford University--Curricula.
Elsen, Albert Edward
Stanford University. Department of
Art--Faculty.
Snelson, Kenneth,