Jan van der Marck

Jan van der Marck (19 August 1929 – 26 April 2010) was a Dutch-born American museum administrator, art historian, and curator, focused on modern and contemporary art.[1] Van der Marck authored and published many essays, articles and books about artists and art.[2]

Jan van der Marck
van der Marck in August 1968
Born(1929-08-19)August 19, 1929
Roermond, Limburg, Netherlands
DiedApril 26, 2010(2010-04-26) (aged 80)
Huntington Woods, Michigan, US
Alma materRadboud University Nijmegen
Spouses
  • Ingeborg Lachmann
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1961; died 1988)​
  • Sheila Stamell

He worked in various museum roles at the Walker Art Center (1962–1967), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1967–?), the University of Washington, the Hopkins Center Art Galleries at Dartmouth College (1974–1980), the Center for the Fine Arts in Miami (1980–1986), and the Detroit Institute of Arts (1986–1995).[2]

Early life and education

He was born in Roermond, Netherlands, on August 19, 1929, to a family in the printing and publishing businesses.[1] He attended Radboud University Nijmegen and received his Doctor of Philosophy in 1956, and his thesis was on 19th-century Belgian book illustration.[1][3]

Career

Van der Marck arrived in the United States in 1957, after receiving a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to study museums and was able to learn from Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University.[1][3] His first museum job was in 1963 at the Walker Art Center, where he hosted exhibitions of Arman and Lucio Fontana.[1][4]

He was the founding director of Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in 1967,[5] where he hosted Dan Flavin's first major museum exhibition.[1][6] In 1969, van der Marck hosted the exhibition Art by Telephone, where artists would call in the instructions on how to build and display their artwork.[7] While he was in Chicago, van der Marck invited two unknown artists at the time, Christo and Jeanne-Claude to wrap the museum building in canvas.[1][8] After the wrapping of the building in canvas, he resigned from his position.[1]

In 1974, he joined the Hood Museum of Art (previously called Hopkins Center Art Galleries) as the director and he taught courses at Dartmouth College.[9] He caused a controversy by placing an oversized sculpture X-Delta by Mark di Suvero in the middle of a highly trafficked part of campus.[9]

In 1983, at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (previously called Center for the Fine Arts in Miami) van der Marck invited Christo and Jeanne-Claude to wrap 11 islands in Biscayne Bay in pink fabric, later named Surrounded Islands.[1][10] Van der Marck also worked with Christo and Jeanne-Claude on the work Running Fence in 1976.[6]

Van der Marck was the chief curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) from 1986 until 1995.[6] In 1995, van der Marck was fired from his role due to a residency violation, he was required to live in Detroit and he was spending significant time in Huntington Woods instead.[6][11]

He died of cancer on April 26, 2010, in Huntington Woods, Michigan, at the age of 80.[1][12]

Personal life

He married Ingeborg Lachmann in 1961; she died in 1988. His second wife was Sheila van der Marck, née Stamell.[1]

References
  1. Grimes, William (May 8, 2010). "Jan van der Marck, Museum Administrator, Dies at 80 (Published 2010)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  2. "A Finding Aid to the Jan Van der Marck Papers, 1942-2010, in the Archives of American Art, Biographical / Historical". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives (SOVA), Smithsonian. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  3. "Fine Arts Center Gets New Chief". Newspapers.com. The Miami Herald. March 9, 1980. p. 216. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  4. Kramer, Hilton (January 8, 1966). "Spatialist' Synthesis, Walker Center in Minneapolis Displays Works of Lucio Fontana, Italian Artist". Times Machine. The New York Times. p. 22. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  5. Glueck, Grace (March 12, 1967). "Art Notes; No Little Flowers, Please". Times Machine. The New York Times. p. 139. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  6. "JAN VAN DER MARCK (1929–2010)". Artforum.com. May 5, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  7. "Art by Telephone: an exhibition organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art under the sponsorship of the American National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, November 1 to December 14, 1969". The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met). Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  8. Johnson, Steve (June 2, 2020). "Christo, who died Sunday, got his American start enveloping a Chicago museum in canvas". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  9. Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art. Hood Museum of Art. UPNE. 2009. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-58465-786-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. Glueck, Grace (May 5, 1983). "Christo Drapes Miami Isles in Pink (Published 1983)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  11. "Van Der Marck Files Lawsuit To Regain His Job at DIA". Newspapers.com. Detroit Free Press. September 2, 1995. p. 27. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  12. Grimes, William (May 9, 2010). "Jan van der Marck, museum chief, 80". The New York Times. New York. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021 – via Boston.com.
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