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Phyllis Ackerman

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Phyllis Ackerman
Born1893
Oakland, California, U.S.
DiedJanuary 25, 1977 (aged 83–84)
Shiraz, Iran
Other namesPhyllis Ackerman Pope
Occupation(s)art historian, scholar, editor, writer, interior designer
Known forThe history of Persian art and architecture
SpouseArthur Upham Pope (m. 1920–1969; death)
AwardsIranian Order of Scientific Merit (1936)
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
ThesisHegel and Pragmatism (1917)

Phyllis Ackerman (1893–1977),[1] was an American art historian, interior designer and author. She was a scholar of Persian art and architecture and she worked alongside her husband Arthur Upham Pope. Her legacy was as an editor of the six volume publication, A Survey of Persian Art (1939).[2]

Early life and education

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Phyllis Ackerman was born on 1893 in Oakland, California.[3] She attended the University of California, Berkeley (U.C. Berkeley) and initially studied mathematics.[3] While there, she met faculty member Arthur Upham Pope who convinced her to switch from the study of mathematics to philosophy.[4] Ackerman received a doctorate in philosophy from U.C. Berkeley in 1917, and her thesis was titled, Hegel and Pragmatism.[4]

In 1916, Ackerman and Pope collaboratively wrote a catalog for Phoebe Hearst's Oriental rug collection that was exhibited at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.[4] She married Arthur Upham Pope in 1920 and she worked closely with him throughout her career.[3][4] In 1920, Ackerman was an art columnist at The New York Globe newspaper.[4]

Career

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Throughout her career she had a focus on tapestries and textiles of Europe and Asia.[4][5] In 1922, she wrote the catalogue to an exhibition on Gothic period tapestries at the Palace of Fine Arts.[4]

In the mid-1920s, Arthur Upham Pope started advertising his expertise on Persian arts and decorating.[6] Pope had been attracted to Persian arts because of a love of Persian rugs.[7] In 1926, Ackerman and Pope organized the first ever exhibition of Persian art at the Pennsylvania Museum of Art.[3] The same year in 1926, they helped to create the First International Congress of Oriental Art (also known as the International Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology).[3]

In 1930, Ackerman was traveling in Cairo and she was stricken with a rare form of polio.[3][4] She was 36 years old and struggled with her recovery while staying in Paris, Ackerman was able to teach herself to walk again despite a negative medical prognosis.[4]

In 1936, she was awarded the Insignia of the Order of Scientific Merit (Nešān-e ʿelmi, First Class) in Iran.[4]

Ahwahnee Hotel

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Main article: Ahwahnee Hotel

in 1927, Pope and Ackerman were involved with the interior design and decoration of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park.[6][8] They were responsible for the design specifics like the colors, floors, fabrics, rugs, finishings, beds, mattresses, linens, lighting fixtures, and flatware.[6] Jeannette Dyer Spencer [Wikidata] was hired as the resident artist, and she incorporated the patterns found in Native American baskets into mosaics used in the floor tiles.[6] The rugs used throughout the hotel were kilims, soumaks, and other flatweave rugs from the Middle East.[6] They had wanted to use Navajo rugs however they took much longer to produce and did not come in larger sizes.[6] Much of the design of the Ahwahnee Hotel was inspired by Persian-aesthetics and art; and was a mix of mixed Art Deco, Native American, Middle Eastern, and Arts and Crafts styles.[9][10]

Ansel Adams photo documented the designs, at the time of opening.[6] From 1927 until around 1939 at the start of World War II, the hotel maintained the interior design by Pope and Ackerman.[6] During World War II, the hotel moved the decorations into storage and used the space as a military hospital.[6]

Asia Institute

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Main article: Asia Institute

The Asia Institute was founded in 1928 by Ackerman and Pope as part of the American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology.[11]

In 1964, Ackerman and Pope had a state visit to Iran, at which time they were asked by the Pahlavi royal family to revive the Asia Institute in Shiraz, which was part of the Pahlavi University.[4] In 1966, Ackerman (at the age of 73) moved to Iran to accompany Pope, who served as the director of the program.[4]

A Survey of Persian Art (1939–1960)

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The Pope–Ackerman Mausoleum (2008), near Khaju Bridge in Isfahan, Iran

Pope was Editor, and Ackerman Assistant Editor of the six volume book series, A Survey of Persian Art, (Oxford University Press, first published in 1939).[4] This was the largest and most significant publication dedicated to Persian culture, and featured 71 contributing authors.[4]

Death and legacy

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Pope died in 1969, and Ackerman remained in Iran, she lived on a pension granted by the Iranian government and Empress Farah Diba Pahlavi.[4] Ackerman died on January 25, 1977, in Shiraz, Iran.

The couple was buried in the honorary Pope–Ackerman Mausoleum, near the Khaju Bridge along the Zayanderud river in Isfahan, Iran.[4][12]

Controversy

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In the 1920s and 1930s, Pope and Ackerman bought works of art and sold them to collectors and museums in order to fund the Asia Institute, as well as the Survey of Persian Art.[4] Some of the objects sold by the couple were later discovered to be well-made forgeries.[4] Ackerman had written in books about some of these forgeries and it is unclear if they knew they were modern works.[4]

In 2014, Richard Nelson Frye died in Boston, he was a former Harvard University professor, Persian art historian and served as the second director of the Asia Institute.[12] He wanted to be buried alongside Pope and Ackerman in the Mausoleum. However, in 2014, Frye was named a "C.I.A. operative" by Iranian political leaders, which caused an uprising and vandalism of the Pope–Ackerman Mausoleum.[12]

Publications

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  • Ackerman, Phyllis (1933). Tapestry: The Mirror of Civilization. New York City, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780404002794.[5]
  • Ackerman, Phyllis (1945). Ritual Bronzes of Ancient China. New York City, NY: The Dryden Press. OCLC 458360754.
  • Ackerman, Phyllis (1947). "Masterpieces of Persian Art". The Art Bulletin. doi:10.2307/3047102. ISSN 0004-3079. JSTOR 3047102.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Phyllis Pope Dies at 83, an Expert on Asian Art". The New York Times. 1977-02-01. p. 27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  2. ^ MitwirkendeR., Pope, Arthur Upham, HerausgeberIn. Ackerman, Phyllis (1939). A Survey of Persian art : from prehistoric times to the present. Oxford Univ. Pr. OCLC 255110809.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e f Blair, Sheila S.; Bloom, Jonathan M. (2009-07-02). Ackerman, Phyllis. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t2082039.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Montgomery, Cornelia (July 20, 2002). "Ackerman, Phyllis". iranicaonline.org. Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  5. ^ a b Wilson, P. w (1933-04-16). "Civilization's Course Reflected in the Art of Tapestry; An Unusual Approach To History in Dr. Ackerman's Book TAPESTRY: THE MIRROR Of CIVILIZATION". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i O'Bannon, George W. (February 1988). "The Ahwanee Hotel, Phyllis Ackerman and Arthur Upham Pope". Oriental Rug Review. 8/3. Archived from the original on 2012-09-16.
  7. ^ "Under The Rug". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. 1945-07-14. pp. 22–23. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  8. ^ Ginsberg, Steve (February 25, 1987). "Yosemite". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  9. ^ Snow Country. February 1990. pp. 44–. ISSN 0896-758X.
  10. ^ Anthony Pioppi; Chris Gonsalves (April 14, 2009). Haunted Golf: Spirited Tales from the Rough. Globe Pequot. pp. 90–. ISBN 978-1-59921-747-5.
  11. ^ Frye, Richard N. (July 20, 2003). "Asia Institute". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  12. ^ a b c Erdbrink, Thomas (2014-04-14). "American's Wish for Iranian Burial Riles Hard-Liners". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  13. ^ Aga-Oglu, Mehmet; Pope, Arthur Upham; Ackerman, Phyllis; Schroeder, Eric (March 1947). "Masterpieces of Persian Art". The Art Bulletin. 29 (1): 53. doi:10.2307/3047102. ISSN 0004-3079. JSTOR 3047102.
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