Middeldorf, Ulrich, 1901-1983

German-American art historian who specialized in the areas of sculpture, bronzes and the applied arts. He was director of the Art Institute of Chicago and, in Florence, served as director and librarian of the Kunsthistorisches Institute; also was director of the Longhi Institute.

Biographical/Historical Note

Ulrich Alexander Middeldorf, born in 1901, was a German-American art historian who specialized in the study of sculpture, medals, and the minor and applied arts. He was director of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Longhi Institute, and then served as the director and librarian of the Kusthistorisches Institute until his death in 1983.

In addition to his research specializations, Middeldorf had an abiding interest in Italian art, and a collector's passion for the connection between art and fiction. He assembled a collection of fiction, much of it popular, paperback works, which include characters or plot lines that relate to art (artists, art history, forgery, etc.). This collection of Art in Fiction was acquired by the Getty Research Institute Library in 1984. Middeldorf's correspondence with Sybille Pantazzi about his art in fiction collecting and other interests (1966-1983) may be seen in Special Collections Accession no. 950004.