Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff

Art administrator, historian, teacher, author. Born in 1907 and died in 1978.

Andrew Carnduff Ritcie, b. 1907; d. 1978, Art administrator, art historian of Canaan, Conn.

Andrew Carnduff Ritchie (1907-1978) was an art administrator and historian.

Art administrator, art historian; Canaan, Conn. Born 1907, died 1978.

Art administrator, historian; born in 1907 and died in 1978.

Andrew Carnduff Ritcie (1907-1978) was an art administrator and art historian from Canaan, Conn.

Andrew Carnduff Ritchie (1907-1978) was born in Scotland. When he was 15, his family emigrated to the United States, settling in Pittsburgh. He attended the University of Pittsburgh from 1927 to 1933, earning an MFA degree in 1933. A foreign study fellowship enabled him to attend the University of London from 1933 to 1935. He was granted a PhD from that institution in 1935. His field of scholarly interest was English medieval art and 18th century painting. However his career in museum administration shows that his interest in art was far broader than this would seem to indicate. From 1935 to 1942 he held the position of lecturer and researcher at the Frick Collection in New York. During this period he also wrote book reviews for the Art Bulletin and lectured at universities in New York. In mid-1942, Ritchie became the director of the Albright Art Gallery. In June 1945, he received a one-year leave of absence from the directors of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy (B.F.A.A.) to serve in the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Division of the occupying United States 5th Army in Austria. His work recovering Nazi war loot made him in demand on the post-war lecture circuit, particularly in Western New York. Several exhibitions in 1946 and 1947 focused on recovered European art. For his work in Austria he received the Cross of the French Legion of Honor with rank of chevalier. Interesting correspondence in this collection includes letters from Baroness Alphonse de Rothschild documenting the recovery and restitution of Rothschild art and furniture, much of which was chosen during the war for Adolf Hitler's collection, and was found after the war in the famous Altausee salt mine, Salzkammergut, Austria. Ritchie's report to the directors of the Academy on his return, as well as lecture transcripts included in this series, include information about his experiences in Austria and southern Germany.

After his seven-year term at the Albright, he became director of the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, succeeding Rene D'Harnoncourt in that position. From 1957 to his retirement in 1973 he directed the Yale University Art Gallery. He died in Connecticut, August 12, 1978. In addition to catalogues and articles, his published works, included: English Painters: Hogarth to Constable (1942); Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America (1951); and Sculpture of the Twentieth Century (1953). He received many academic distinctions and was the first American citizen to ever receive a honorary doctorate from the London Royal College of Art (1970). His depth of knowledge and gift for scholarly analysis is evident in many of his letters in this collection.