# Richard Offner

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{{Short description|Historian of Florentine renaissance painting and New York University professor}}
{{Infobox academic
| honorific_prefix   = <!-- see [MOS:CREDENTIAL](/source/MOS%3ACREDENTIAL) and [MOS:HONORIFIC](/source/MOS%3AHONORIFIC) -->
| name               = Richard Offner
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| image              = File:Richard Offner.jpg
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| caption            = Professor Richard Offner, c. 1960
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| birth_name         = <!-- use only if different from full/othernames -->
| birth_date         = June 30, 1889
| birth_place        = [Vienna, Austria](/source/Vienna%2C_Austria)
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1965|08|26|1889|06|30}}
| death_place        = [Florence, Italy](/source/Florence%2C_Italy)
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| spouse             = Phillipa Offner
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| children           = [Paul Offner](/source/Paul_Offner)<br/>Antonia Offner
| parents            = 
| relatives          = 
| awards             = [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_Fellowship), 1956
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| alma_mater         = [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University)<br/>[University of Vienna](/source/University_of_Vienna) 
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| doctoral_advisor   = [Max Dvořák](/source/Max_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k)
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| discipline         = Art historian
| sub_discipline     = Italian painting of the Middle-Ages and Renaissance
| workplaces         = [University of Chicago](/source/University_of_Chicago)<br/>[Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University)<br/>[New York University](/source/New_York_University)
| doctoral_students  = <!--only those with WP articles-->
| notable_students   = <!--only those with WP articles-->
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| notable_works      = ''Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting''
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}}

'''Richard Offner''' (June 30, 1889&nbsp;– August 26, 1965) was an Austrian-American art historian dedicated to the study of [Florentine](/source/Florence) paintings from the [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance).<ref name=white>{{cite journal |last1=White |first1=John |title=Richard Offner |journal=The Burlington Magazine |date=1966 |volume=108 |issue=758 |pages=262–265 |jstor=874934 }}</ref>

==Biography==
Offner was born in [Vienna, Austria](/source/Vienna%2C_Austria), on June 30, 1889.<ref>1910 U.S. Census; Census Place: Manhattan Ward 19, New York, New York; Roll: T624_1042; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 1132; FHL microfilm: 1375055</ref> In 1891, his family emigrated to [New York City](/source/New_York_City).<ref name=dic>{{cite web |title=Offner, Richard |url=http://arthistorians.info/offnerr |website=Dictionary of Art Historians |date=February 21, 2018 |accessdate=January 28, 2020}}</ref> He pursued his undergraduate degree at [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) from 1909 to 1912, continuing as a Fellow at the [American Academy in Rome](/source/American_Academy_in_Rome) from 1912 to 1914.<ref name=white/> In 1914, he submitted his dissertation in art history under [Max Dvořák](/source/Max_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k) at the [University of Vienna](/source/University_of_Vienna). He was granted his Doctorate, however, his dissertation is now lost.<ref name=dic/>

In 1915, Offner accepted a position as an instructor of art history at the [University of Chicago](/source/University_of_Chicago). In 1920, he moved to Harvard as a Sachs Fellow. Offner then joined [New York University](/source/New_York_University) as an assistant professor in 1923, advancing to full professorship in 1927. He remained at NYU for the remainder of his career, serving as head of the fine arts department from 1930 to 1933, and as an emeritus from 1954 until his retirement in 1961.<ref name=white/><ref name=art>{{cite journal |title=Richard Offner (1879-1965) |journal=Art Journal |date=1965 |volume=25 |issue=1 |page=54 |jstor=774872 }}</ref>

Offner died in [Florence, Italy](/source/Florence%2C_Italy) on August 26, 1965, aged 76.<ref name=art/> He was survived by his screenwriter brother [Mortimer](/source/Mortimer_Offner) (who died the following month); his son [Paul](/source/Paul_Offner) (a Wisconsin State Senator), and his daughter, Antonia.<ref>[http://findingaids.princeton.edu/names/9231 Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish, 1877-1947] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425065836/http://findingaids.princeton.edu/names/9231 |date=2017-04-25 }}, findingaids.princeton.edu. Accessed September 15, 2022.</ref><ref>Vermont State Archives and Records Administration; Montpelier, Vermont; Vermont Birth Records, 1909-2008; User Box Number: PR-01778; Roll Number: S-31201; Archive Number: M-2022895</ref>

==Works==
Offner published 12 volumes of his ''Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting'' through the [Institute of Fine Arts](/source/Institute_of_Fine_Arts) at New York University.<ref name=art/> He was assisted by art historian [Klara Steinweg](/source/Klara_Steinweg), from 1930 until 1965.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Sorensen|first=Lee|title=Steinweg, Klara|url=https://arthistorians.info/steinwegk|website=Dictionary of Art Historians}}</ref>

Offner's photographic archive is now housed in the Department of Image Collections, [National Gallery of Art](/source/National_Gallery_of_Art). It was donated to the Gallery by the Institute of Fine Arts, New York, along with other scholars' collections, including: [Gertrude Coor](/source/Gertrude_Coor), [James Stubblebine](/source/James_Stubblebine), [Rudolf Meyer Riefstahl](/source/Rudolf_Meyer_Riefstahl), [Martin Weinberger](/source/Martin_Weinberger) and [Henry Russell Hitchcock](/source/Henry_Russell_Hitchcock). The Offner Archive contains 50,000 photos, clippings, negatives, research and lecture notes. His attributions and organizational system have been preserved.<ref>{{cite web |title=Institute of Fine Arts, New York University Gift. Collection Summary |url=https://library.nga.gov/permalink/01NGA_INST/1p5jkvq/alma991723973804896 |website=library.nga.gov |publisher=NGA Library |access-date=April 3, 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://library.nga.gov/permalink/01NGA_INST/1p5jkvq/alma991723973804896 Institute of Fine Arts, New York University Gift] to Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art.
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Offner, Richard}}
Category:1889 births
Category:1965 deaths
Category:Austrian art historians
Category:American art historians
Category:University of Vienna alumni
Category:University of Chicago faculty
Category:New York University faculty
Category:Harvard College alumni
Category:Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States
Category:20th-century American historians

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Richard Offner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Offner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Offner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.