Gerald M. Ackerman
{{Short description|American art historian}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Gerald M. Ackerman
| birth_name = Gerald Martin Ackerman
| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|8|21}}
| birth_place = Alameda, California, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|1|1|1928|8|21}}
| death_place = Claremont, California, United States
| occupation = Art historian
Educator
| spouse = Leonard R. Simon
| alma_mater = University of California, Berkeley
Princeton University
| thesis_title = The Structure of Lomazzo's Treatise on Painting
| thesis_url = http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990018449950203941/catalog
| thesis_year = 1964
| doctoral_advisor = Rensselaer W. Lee
| academic_advisors = Erwin Panofsky
| discipline = Art history
| sub_discipline = Nineteenth-century French art
| workplaces = Bryn Mawr College
Stanford University
Pomona College
}}
Gerald "Jerry" Martin Ackerman OAL (August 21, 1928 – January 1, 2016) was an American art historian and educator. Ackerman was Professor of Art History Emeritus at Pomona College. He was a leading authority on the art of Jean-Léon Gérôme and Charles Bargue.{{cite web |last=Hess |first=F. Scott |title=Remembering Art Historian Gerald M. Ackerman |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/remembering-art-historian_b_8914690 |website=HuffPost |date=January 6, 2016}}
Career
Born in Alameda, but raised in Santa Cruz, Ackerman was born to Alois and Eva Sadler. While studying at the University of California, Berkeley, Ackerman had a brief relationship with poet Robert Duncan.{{cite book |last1=Ibson |first1=John |title=Men without Maps: Some Gay Males of the Generation before Stonewall |date=22 October 2019 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-65611-3 |page=28 |language=en}} Ackerman graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1952, and then continued on to receive a Doctor of Philosophy from Princeton University in Art History in 1964.{{cite web |title=Memorial: Gerald M. Ackerman *64 |url=https://paw.princeton.edu/memorial/gerald-m-ackerman-64 |website=Princeton Alumni Weekly |date=July 6, 2016}} His doctoral dissertation was on the painter Gian Paolo Lomazzo, supervised by Rensselaer W. Lee.{{cite web |last=Ackerman |first=Gerald M. |title=The structure of Lomazzo's treatise on painting |url=http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990018449950203941/catalog |date=February 1964 |via=Harvard Library}}
In 1959, while studying at Princeton, Ackerman began his teaching career at Bryn Mawr College as a lecturer. Six years later, he was hired at Stanford University as assistant professor of art history. In 1971, Ackerman was hired at Pomona College at the level of associate professor. Five years later, he became professor and department chair, and spent the rest of his career at Pomona. Ackerman retired from teaching in 1989 and became professor emeritus.{{cite web |last=Pohl |first=Frances |title=Gerald Ackerman, Professor Emeritus of Art History, dies at 87 |url=https://arthistory.pomona.edu/2016/01/gerald-ackerman-professor-emeritus-of-art-history-dies-at-87/ |website=Art History {{!}} Pomona College |date=January 14, 2016}} In 1994, he had a stint as Appleton Distinguished Professor at Florida State University.
In 2012, Ackerman was named Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
Personal life
In 1962, Ackerman met his long-time partner and husband, Leonard R. Simon. The couple remained together until Simon's death in 2014.{{cite web |title=Gerald Ackerman Obituary (1928 - 2016) |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/gerald-ackerman-obituary?pid=177201681 |website=Los Angeles Times |date=January 8, 2016 |via=Legacy.com}} Ackerman died two years later.
See also
- List of Bryn Mawr College people
- List of Florida State University people
- List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people: A
- List of members of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- List of people from Santa Cruz, California
- List of Pomona College people
- List of Princeton University people
- List of Stanford University people
- List of University of California, Berkeley alumni in arts and media
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://arthistorians.info/ackermang Dictionary of Art Historians profile]
- [https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/gerald-ackerman-obituary?pid=177201681 Los Angeles Times obituary]
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Category:People from Alameda, California
Category:People from Santa Cruz, California
Category:LGBTQ people from California
Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni
Category:Princeton University alumni
Category:American art historians
Category:Bryn Mawr College faculty
Category:Pomona College faculty
Category:Florida State University faculty
Category:Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Category:Stanford University Department of Art and Art History faculty