Lincoln Kirstein

For more information on Lincoln Edward Kirstein, visit Britannica.com.

Most noted for his hand in founding the New York City Ballet and for almost half a century its director, Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996) was a visionary, a great scholar, and a distinguished critic and writer on dance and various other art forms.

Lincoln Kirstein was born to a wealthy family in Rochester, New York, on May 4, 1907. His father, Louis Kirstein, was a high-ranking executive, and eventually chairman, of Filene's Department Store. Kirstein's interest in the arts was present from a young age. When he was eight years old he created a dramatics club called "Tea for Three." He produced, wrote, and starred in all their plays and demonstrated in his organization of the club his skills as a systematic organizer. When he was 12 his mother took him and his sister to Chartres, France, where the great cathedral spurred in him a passion for windows - this later resulted in his taking a year between high school and college to work in a stained glass factory. When Kirstein was 15 he published a play in the Philips Exeter Monthly, and when he was 16 he bought his first work of art, an Ashanti figure of tulipwood that had been carved at the Wembley Empire Exhibition. That same year he spent the summer with his older sister in London and attended performances of Diaghilev's Ballet Russe.

Launched Modern Art Society

Having grown up in a grand house full of antiques and artwork from all stages of history, the contrast and excitement of the modern art scene was attractive to Kirstein. He attended Harvard University in the late 1920s and there began to make his mark in the art world. At the time art museums were wary of showing modern art (or the work of living artists) because they feared that it might not be of a good enough standard and subsequently the museum would be embarrassed. Kirstein, along with two fellow undergraduates at Harvard, Edward M.M. Warburg and John Walker III, felt this risk of embarrassment to be enticing. Together they founded the Harvard Society for Contemporary Art to do what other museums and galleries feared - "to exhibit to the public works of living contemporary art whose qualities are still frankly debatable." This society was the first organization in the United States that presented the vast range and diversity of contemporary art on a continual basis. What made it unique was that its intent was not to cater to one individual's taste or to the development of a personal collection, but rather to focus on presenting all strains of modernism. They wanted the new voices in the art world to have a place where they could be heard. The first exhibit, which ran from February 19 to March 15, 1929, included works by such varying artists as Thomas Hart Benton, Rockwell Kent, Edward Hopper, George Bellows, and Georgia O'Keefe, among many others.

Of the three founders of the Harvard Society, Kirstein was the one who was skilled in formulating ideas. The society was his idea, as were most of the exhibition themes and their rationales. Both imaginative and articulate, Kirstein was described by one friend as "impetuous … knowledgeable … overflowing with vitality …" and by another as "brilliant, seductive, violent … but isolated and lonely at the same time." In college he was intrigued by any art that reflected vitality, passion, and competence, and when he found something he cared about, his care was intense and vehement. He had sensitivity and awareness at the same time as boundless knowledge and energy and cared more about books, painting, and dance than about sports and socializing. His outlook was unique yet always direct and honest. This outlook was reflected in the society, for what was important was the idea of getting to the core. "To attain knowledge and beauty one must peel away the covering. The ideal was to know one's true instincts and to have the courage to be spontaneous."

Focus Shifted to Literary Magazine

While still at Harvard, in addition to the society, Kirstein and some associates began an undergraduate literary magazine called The Hound and the Horn. "Exemplary of everything that Kirstein would be involved in from that point on, it did not flaunt his name - which appeared only in small type in the list of editors." The periodical, however, had been his idea and had been largely overseen by him. The magazine included works by such now illustrious writers as James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, Conrad Aiken, and e.e. cummings, among others.

In November 1929, nine months after the Harvard Society's first show, the Museum of Modern Art opened in New York City. Many art critics of the time voiced the opinion that the Harvard Society had been the "germ of the Museum of Modern Art." In April 1930 the museum's trustees invited Kirstein, Warburg, and Walker to join the newly formed advisory committee. Soon after, the three young men graduated from Harvard, but only Kirstein stayed in Cambridge, where he continued to devote his energies to The Hound and the Horn and to the Harvard Society. In December 1930 and January 1931 the first Bauhaus show ever in America was installed at the Harvard Society under the guidance of Kirstein, who both wrote and designed the cover for the catalogue (although he did not cite his name as author or designer). Many exhibits later Kirstein's focus began to shift. He handed over the Harvard Society to new leaders and moved on to new endeavors.

Began American Dance Company

While visiting in Europe, he met George Balanchine and decided that America needed a ballet company all its own. He felt Balanchine to be the right person for the job of artistic director/choreographer/ballet master. In previous trips to Europe Kirstein had seen Balanchine dance and had also seen his choreography. He had been deeply inspired by the vitality and modernity of the work. With the death of Diaghilev, the Ballet Russe had largely fallen apart, and Kirstein saw this as a perfect opportunity to start a ballet company in America with Balanchine, who was also keen on the idea. With the financial support of his friends Chick Austin and Warburg, the plan was set in motion.

On December 1, 1933, the School of American Ballet opened. Among its aims was one to "preserve and further the tradition of classical theatrical dancing in order to provide adequate material for the growth of a new national art in America." In December 1934 the American Ballet Company, which was made up of the school's first-year students, made their debut performance at Warburg's estate in White Plains, New York, and shortly afterwards at the Avery Memorial Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1935 the American Ballet became a resident ballet company in New York City. In the spring of 1936 Kirstein founded another company, called Ballet Caravan, which also emerged from the School of American Ballet. It was developed as an outlet for American choreographers, composers, and designers. It toured extensively from 1936 to 1939 until World War II ended it. When the war was over, in 1946, Kirstein, along with Balanchine, formed the "Ballet Society." As well as giving ballet performances, it sponsored lectures, film shows, and publications on dance and in 1948 took under its auspices the publication Dance Index (which Kirstein had been the editor of since 1942). From the "Ballet Society" was developed the New York City Ballet, in 1948, of which Kirstein was the general director from its inception.

In developing the company, Kirstein's primary aim was to not only create an American classic ballet, but also to stage American subjects. The first truly American ballet was Billy the Kid, which was choreographed by Eugene Loring, but the "story" was written by Kirstein himself. Other notable works included Lew Christensen's Filling Station.

Despite all the innovative activities of Kirstein in college, it was the creation of this truly American ballet company, as well as his numerous books and critiques of dance concerts, that made Lincoln Kirstein a legend in his own time. He was a patron of the arts in the truest sense, as he asked for no credit or monetary reward for all that he did - his foremost concern remained presenting innovative and passionate art to the world. Still he received many accolades. Among his many lifetime honors were the United States government Medal of Freedom, New York City's Handel Medallion and the National Medal of Arts. Dance Magazine senior editor Clive Barnes wrote that Kirstein "dreamed dreams for other people and made them happen."

Kirstein was married to Fidelma Cadmus. She died in 1991. Kirstein retired as general director of the New York City Ballet in 1989 but retained the title of general director emeritus. He died on January 5, 1996 at his home in New York City of natural causes. His impact was felt after his death. As one colleague remarked: "If Lincoln hadn't had the vision that ballet could become an important art form in this country, none of us would be here."

Further Reading

Important publications by Kirstein include: Dance (1935), Blast a Ballet, a Corrective for the American Audience (1938), Ballet Alphabet (1939), The Classic Ballet, Basic Technique and Terminology with M. Stuart (1952), Movement and Metaphor (1970), The New York City Ballet (1974), and Nijinsky Dancing (1975), Ballet:Bias and Belief (1983).

For an in-depth and fascinating look at all the ideas and contributions of Kirstein throughout his life (both in ballet and the other arts) see Nicholas Fox Weber, Patron Saints (1992). This book is the source of the quotations used in the text. Lincoln Kirstein's account of his own life up to 1933 is recorded in Mosaic (1994). For short summaries of his life and contributions to ballet specifically see: Horst Koegler, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet (2nd ed. 1982) and Francis Gadan and Robert Maillard, A Dictionary of Modern Ballet (1959). Also, Clive Barnes, "Lincoln In His Own Center" Dance Magazine (March 1996) For bits of information on Lincoln Kirstein and his influence on dance interspersed throughout more comprehensive books on the history of dance see: Mary Clarke and Clement Crisp, Introducing Ballet (1977); Irving Deakin, At the Ballet: A Guide to Enjoyment (1956); A.H. Franks, Twentieth Century Ballet (1971); Ivor Guest, The Dancer's Heritage: A Short History of Ballet (1988); Robert Harrold, Ballet (1980) (2nd ed., 1982); Arnold Haskell, Balletomania: Then and Now (1977); and Olga Maynard, The American Ballet (1959).

Kirstein, Lincoln (b Rochester, NY, 4 May 1907, d New York, 5 Jan. 1996). US director, writer, and patron who helped direct the course of 20th-century American ballet. He was educated at Harvard University and his keen interest in ballet led him to use some of his personal wealth to bring Balanchine to America with the promise of his own company and school. In 1934 they co-founded (with E. M. M. Warburg) the School of American Ballet of which Kirstein was president until 1989. In 1935 they co-founded the American Ballet and in 1936 Ballet Caravan which Kirstein directed until 1941. In 1946 he was co-founder and secretary of Ballet Society, becoming general director of its successor, New York City Ballet, from 1948 to 1989. He also founded the Dance Archives of New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1940, was founder and editor of the series Dance Index (New York, 1942-8), and the sponsor of Japanese theatre tours to the US, including the Grand Kabuki (1960). He was ghostwriter of part of Romola Nijinsky's biography of Nijinsky (1932-3) and was sole author of many other books including Dance (New York, 1935), Blast at Ballet, a Corrective for the American Audience (New York, 1938), Movement and Metaphor (New York, 1970), The New York City Ballet (New York, 1972), and Nijinsky Dancing (New York, 1975). In 1987 he was awarded the Handel Medallion.

As a young man, something about Lincoln Kirstein caught the interest of Walker Evans, and this photograph becomes a document which suggests something about both the photographer and his not-yet-famous subject

Lincoln Edward Kirstein (May 4, 1907 - January 5, 1996) was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, and cultural figure in New York City. According to the New York Times, he was "an expert in many fields."^[1] He was famous less for his own artistic achievement than for his social influence.

Contents 1 Early life 2 World War II 3 New York City Ballet 4 Friendships and personal life 5 Legacy 6 Honors 7 Broadway Credits 8 Selected bibliography 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links

Early life

Born in Rochester, New York, to a wealthy Jewish Bostonian family, he was educated at Harvard, from which he was graduated in 1930. His father was chairman of Filene's Department Store, in Boston, and his mother was the daughter of a successful clothing manufacturer in Rochester, New York.

His interest in ballet and George Balanchine started when he saw Balanchine's Apollo performed by the Ballet Russe. He became determined to get Balanchine to America. Together with Edward M. M. Warburg (a classmate from Harvard), they started the School of American Ballet in Hartford, Connecticut, in October 1933. The studio moved to the fourth floor of a building at Madison Avenue and 59th Street in New York City in 1934. Warburg's father invited the group of students from the evening class to perform at a private party. The ballet they did was "Serenade", the first major ballet choreographed by Balanchine in America. Just months later Kirstein and Warburg founded, together with Balanchine and Dimitriev, the American Ballet.

This became the resident company of the Metropolitan Opera. That arrangement was unsatisfactory because the Opera would not allow Balanchine and Kirstein artistic freedom.

World War II

His career was interrupted by the United States' entry into World War II. In 1943, he enlisted; and he was assigned to the U.S. Third Army. Private First Class Lincoln Kirstein He was a Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Officer..^[2]

New York City Ballet

In 1946, Balanchine and Kirstein founded the Ballet Society, renamed the New York City Ballet in 1948.^[1] He served as the company's General Director from 1946 to 1989.^[2]

Kirstein wrote in a 1959 monograph called "What Ballet Is All About":

"Our Western ballet is a clear if complex blending of human anatomy, solid geometry and acrobatics offered as a symbolic demonstration of manners -- the morality of consideration for one human being moving in time with another."^[1]

Friendships and personal life

Kirstein's eclectic interests, ambition and keen interest in high culture, funded by independent means, drew a large circle of friends who stimulated creativity in many of the arts. These included: Glenway Wescott, Monroe Wheeler, George Platt Lynes, Jared French, Bernard Perlin, Pavel Tchelitchev, Katherine Anne Porter, Barbara Harrison, Gertrude Stein, Jensen Yow, Jonathan Tichenor, Cecil Beaton, Jean Cocteau, George Tooker, Margaret French, Walker Evans and more.

He was married in 1940 to Fidelma Cadmus. While he and his wife enjoyed an amicable relationship, Kirstein also continued to pursue affairs with men. The New York art world considered his bisexuality an "open secret," although he did not publicly acknowledge his sexual orientation until 1982. A recent biography about his life has explored his relationship with Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein.

Kirstein was the primary patron of the artist Paul Cadmus, Fidelma's brother. He purchased many of his paintings and subsidized his living expenses. Cadmus had difficulty selling his work through galleries because of the erotically charged depictions of working and middle class men, which provoked great controversy.

Legacy

English critic Clement Crisp wrote:—

"He was one of those rare talents who touch the entire artistic life of their time. Ballet, film, literature, theatre, painting, sculpture, photography all occupied his attention."

Kirstein helped organize a 1959 American tour for of musicians and dancers from the Japanese Imperial Household Agency. At that time, Japanese Imperial court music gagaku had only rarely been performed outside the Imperial Music Pavilion in Tokyo at some of the great Japanese shrines.^[1]

Kirstein commissioned and helped to fund the physical home of the New York City Ballet: the New York State Theater building at Lincoln Center, designed in 1964 by architect Philip Johnson (1906-2005). Despite its conservative modernist exterior, the glittery red and gold interior recalls the imaginative and lavish backdrops of the Ballets Russes. He served as the general director of the ballet company from 1948 to 1989.

Kirstein's and Balanchine's collaboration lasted until the latter's death in 1983. On March 26, 1984, President Ronald Reagan presented Kirstein with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to the arts.

Kirstein was a serious collector. Early in the history of the Dance Collection, he gave the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts a wealth of rare dance materials. Before his death in 1996, Kirstein donated all his papers, artworks, and other materials related to the history of dance and his life in the arts to the Dance Collection. These treasures in the Kirstein collection will inform future generations' pursuing the knowledge of dance.

Honors

• Presidential Medal of Freedom, US.^[1]
• National Medal of Arts, US, 1985.^[1]
• Royal Society of Arts, Benjamin Franklin Medal, UK, 1981.^[1]
• National Society of Arts and Letters, National Gold Medal of Merit Award, US.^[1]

Broadway Credits

• The Saint of Bleecker Street [Original, Play, Drama, Play with music] Production Supervisor Dec 27, 1954 - Apr 2, 1955
• Misalliance [Revival, Play, Comedy] New York City Drama Company Managing Director Mar 6, 1953 - Jun 27, 1953
• The Ballet Caravan - Billy the Kid choreographed by Eugene Loring - May 24, 1939 - [unknown]
• Filling Station [Original, Ballet, One Act] choreographed by Lew Christensen, premiered January 6, 1938, Hartford Connecticut.

Selected bibliography

• Dance: A Short History of Classic Theatrical Dancing (1935), New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Ballet Alphabet: A Primer for Laymen (1939), New York: Kamin
• The Latin-American Collection of the Museum of Modern Art (1943), New York: The Museum of Modern Art
• The Classic Ballet: Basic Technique and Terminology (with Muriel Stuart, 1952), New York: Knopf
• Movement & Metaphor: Four Centuries of Ballet (1970), New York: Praeger
• The New York City Ballet (1973), New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-46652-7
• Rhymes of a Pfc (rev. ed. 1980), Boston: David R. Godine. ISBN 0-87923-330-3
• Ballet, Bias and Belief: Three Pamphlets Collected and Other Dance Writings (1983), New York: Dance Horizons. ISBN 0-87127-133-8
• Quarry: A Collection in Lieu of Memoirs (1986), Pasadena, Calif.: Twelvetrees. ISBN 0-942642-27-9
• The Poems of Lincoln Kirstein (1987), New York: Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11923-2
• Tchelitchev (1994), Santa Fe, N.M.: Twelvetrees. ISBN 0-942642-40-6

See also

• Roberts Commission
• Nazi Plunder
• Rescuing Da Vinci
• The Rape of Europa
• Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program
• Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Anderson, Jack. "Lincoln Kirstein, City Ballet Co-Founder, Dies," New York Times. January 6, 1996.
2. ^ ^{a b} Monuments Men Foundation: Kuhn, Monuments Men> Kirstein, Pfc. Lincoln E.

References

• American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas. (1946). Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 185537904
• Dirda, Michael. "The man who did more for the arts in America than anyone else," Washington Post. April 22, 2007.
• Hume, Patrick. Martin Duberman's Review of The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein," ArtsEdior. June 4, 2007.
• Kimmelman, Michael. "Kirstein’s Lust for Art and Artists," New York Times. May 11, 2007.
• Leddick, David (2000). Intimate Companions: A Triography of George Platt Lynes, Paul Cadmus, Lincoln Kirstein, and Their Circle. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-20898-7. 
• Duberman, Martin (2007). The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein. New York: Knopf. ISBN 1400041325. 
• Nichols, Lynn H. (1995). The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe’s Teasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War. New York: Vintage Books. 10-ISBN 0-679-75686-8; 13-ISBN 978-0-679-75686-6; OCLC 32531154
• Scannell, Vernon (1976). Not Without Glory: Poets of the Second World War. London: Woburn Press. ISBN 0-7130-0094-5
• Scannell, Vernon (1977). A Proper Gentleman. London: Robson Books. ISBN 0-903895-86-2

External links

• PBS (Oregon Public Broadcasting): "The Rape of Europa.", 2006 film, aired November 24, 2008
• Monuments Men Foundation: Kirstein, Pfc. Lincoln E.
• Obituary: Anderson, Jack. "Lincoln Kirstein, City Ballet Co-Founder, Dies," New York Times. January 6, 1996.

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