Saarinen, Aline B. (Aline Bernstein), 1914-1972

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Aline Saarinen (1914-1972) was an art and architectural critic in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.;

She worked for the New York Times as an art and architectural critic. She married architect Eero Saarinen, the architect, after the dissolution of her first marriage to Joseph Louchheim. Aline Saarinen was the sister of art dealer Charles Alan. Eero was born in Helinski, Finland, son of architect Eliel Saarinen.

From the description of Aline and Eero Saarinen papers, 1906-1977. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 435526892

Aline Saarinen was an art and architectural critic; her husband, Eero Saarinen, was an architect; Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Aline was born Aline Bernstein in 1914. She worked for the New York Times as an art and architectural critic. She married architect Eero Saarinen after the dissolution of her first marriage to Joseph Louchheim. Aline Saarinen was the sister of art dealer Charles Alan. Eero was born in Helinski, Finland, son of architect Eliel Saarinen.

From the description of Aline and Eero Saarinen papers, 1857-1972. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122571135

Aline Bernstein Saarinen was born on March 25, 1914 in New York City. She attended Vassar College, where she took art courses and became interested in journalism, and graduated with a B.A. in 1935. She went on to receive her M.A. in the history of architecture from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University in 1941. She married Joseph H. Louchheim in 1935, and they had two sons, Donald and Harry (or Hal). They divorced in 1951.

Aline joined the staff of Art News Magazine in 1944 and served as managing editor from 1946 to 1948. She edited and provided commentary for the book, 5000 Years of Art in Western Civilization, which was published in 1946. She served as associate art editor and critic at The New York Times from 1948 to 1953 and then as associate art critic from 1954 to 1959. She received awards for her newspaper work, including the International Award for Best Foreign Criticism at the Venice Biennale in 1951, the Frank Jewett Mather Award for best newspaper art criticism in 1953, and the American Federation of Arts Award for best newspaper criticism in 1956.

In 1953, Aline interviewed the architect Eero Saarinen for an article. Eero was born in 1910 in Kirkkonummi, Finland, and received his B.F.A. in Architecture from Yale University in 1934. He began work as an architect in his father Eliel Saarinen's firm and went on to start his own firm, Eero Saarinen and Associates. Among his best-known works are the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, the Trans World Air Lines Terminal Building at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, and Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.

Aline and Eero became romantically involved shortly after they met and were married in December 1953. The following year, they had a son, Eames (named after Eero's friend, the designer and architect Charles Eames). After their marriage, Aline relocated to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where she continued to work as associate art critic for The New York Times and where she served as Director of Information Service in the office of Eero Saarinen and Associates (from 1954 to 1963).

In 1957, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship to work on a book about major American art collectors, The Proud Possessors, which was published by Random House in 1958. Thereafter, she began work on a biography of the architect, Stanford White, also for Random House; this work continued for several years, but the book was never completed. Over the years, she wrote numerous freelance articles on art, architecture, socio-cultural history, travel, and theater for magazines such as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, Saturday Review of Literature, Reader's Digest, and Cosmopolitan .

After Eero's sudden death in 1961, Aline edited the book, Eero Saarinen on His Work (1962). She then embarked upon a new career in television, appearing on shows such as "Today" and "Sunday" where she reported on manners, morals, culture, and the arts, and eventually becoming, in 1964, an NBC News correspondent for such shows as "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" and "The Frank McGee Report" in addition to the shows on which she was already appearing. In 1971, she was appointed chief of the NBC News Paris Bureau, becoming the first woman to hold such a position in television.

In the 1960s, Aline served on various arts-related committees, including the Design Advisory Committee of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Fine Arts Commission, and the New York State Council of the Arts. She received honorary degrees from the University of Michigan in 1964 and Russell Sage College in 1967.

Aline Saarinen died from a brain tumor on July 13, 1972.

This biographical notes draws from the one on Aline Bernstein Saarinen by Seymour Brody in Jewish Heroes and Heroines of America: 150 True Stories of American Jewish Heroism, and from the one on Eero Saarinen in the Guide to the Eero Saarinen Collection at Yale University Library.

From the guide to the Aline and Eero Saarinen papers, 1906-1977, (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Haskell, Douglas Putnam, 1899-1979. Douglas Putnam Haskell papers, Series II: Personal correspondence, 1922-1979 (bulk 1940-1970). Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
referencedIn Saarinen, Eero, 1910-1961. Eero Saarinen collection, 1880-2004 (inclusive), 1938-1962 (bulk). Yale University Library
creatorOf Blake, Peter, 1920-2006. Peter Blake architectural records and papers, 1910-2006 (bulk 1980-2002). Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
creatorOf Theodore Roszak papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Museum of Modern Art exhibition correspondence relating to Eero Saarinen Archives of American Art
creatorOf First Art Film Festival in America sound recordings Archives of American Art
referencedIn Eero Saarinen collection, 1880-2004, 1938-1962 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
creatorOf Aline and Eero Saarinen papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Sage Colleges Archives. Honorary degree recipient for 1967, Aline Saarinen. The Sage Colleges Libraries
referencedIn Peter Blake architectural records and papers, 1910-2006, (bulk 1980-2002) Columbia University. Avery Architecture and Fine Arts Library. Department of Drawings and Archives.
creatorOf Saarinen, Aline B. (Aline Bernstein), 1914-1972. Correspondence with Margaret Naumburg, 1954. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Emeline Clark Roche Collection, 1815-1988 The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
referencedIn Papers of Mary E. (Mary Elisabeth) Dreier, 1797-1968 (inclusive), 1897-1968 (bulk) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Sachs, Paul J. (Paul Joseph), 1878-1965. Papers, 1903-2005. Harvard University Art Museum
creatorOf Saarinen, Aline B. (Aline Bernstein), 1914-1972. Correspondence to Van Wyck Brooks, 1959. University of Pennsylvania Library
creatorOf Abstract art around the world today Archives of American Art
referencedIn Papers of Dorothy Rodgers, 1922-1987 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Odets, Clifford, 1906-1963. Papers, 1921-1963. Indiana University
referencedIn Papers of Mary E. (Mary Elisabeth) Dreier, 1797-1968 (inclusive), 1897-1968 (bulk) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Baumgarten, Bernice, 1902-1978. Letters, 1957-1971. Indiana University
referencedIn Odets mss., 1921-1963 Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Oral history interview with Charles Alan on Aline Saarinen Archives of American Art
Relation Name
associatedWith Alan, Charles, 1908?-1975 person
associatedWith American Abstract Artists. corporateBody
correspondedWith Baumgarten, Bernice, 1902-1978. person
associatedWith Blake, Peter, 1920-2006. person
associatedWith Dorothy (Feiner) Rodgers, 1909- person
associatedWith Dreier, Mary E. (Mary Elisabeth), 1875-1963. person
associatedWith First Art Film Festival in America (1951 : Woodstock, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Haskell, Douglas Putnam, 1899-1979. person
associatedWith MARY ELISABETH DREIER, 1875-1963 person
associatedWith Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Odets, Clifford, 1906-1963. person
associatedWith Roche, Emeline Clark, 1902-1995 person
associatedWith Rodgers, Dorothy F., 1909- person
associatedWith Roszak, Theodore, 1907- person
associatedWith Saarinen, Eero, 1910-1961. person
associatedWith Sachs, Paul J. (Paul Joseph), 1878-1965. person
associatedWith White, Stanford, 1853-1906. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
United States
United States
Michigan--Bloomfield Hills
Michigan--Bloomfield Hills
Subject
Architects
Architects
Architectural historians
Architecture
Architecture
Art
Art
Women architectural critics
Women art critics
Women art historians
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1914-03-25

Death 1972-07-13

Americans

English

Information

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