Visual art
William Valentiner
1880–1958 · art historian, museum director
German-born director of the Detroit Institute of Arts from 1924 to 1945, who built its collections and brought Diego Rivera to paint Detroit Industry.
- Born
Karlsruhe, Germany- Died
New York City, New York
aged 78- Birth name
- Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner
- Also known as
- Wilhelm Valentiner · William R. Valentiner
- Detroit years
- 1924–1945
- Field
- Visual art
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Valentiner trained in Heidelberg and the Netherlands, worked at museums in The Hague and Berlin, and in 1907 became the first curator of decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. After serving in the German army in World War I, he accepted an offer from Detroit, first as adviser and from 1924 as director of the Detroit Institute of Arts. He guided the museum into its new Paul Cret building of 1927, arranged the galleries as a walk through art history, and used the auto boom's wealth to acquire major Old Master, medieval and modern works, including German Expressionist art he had championed in Europe. In 1932 he invited Diego Rivera and, with Edsel Ford's backing, commissioned the Detroit Industry murals, defending them through the storm that followed. He became an American citizen around 1930. A city age limit for civil servants forced him to retire in 1945, and he went on to lead museums in Los Angeles and North Carolina.
Highlights
- Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, 1924–1945
- Commissioned Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry murals (1932–33)
- Oversaw the move into the new DIA building in 1927
- Built the DIA's Old Master and German Expressionist holdings
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1924–1945
Detroit Institute of Arts (Friday Night Live!)
The museum he directed for two decades and where he commissioned Rivera's murals.