Lincoln Kirstein

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Lincoln Kirstein ( May 4, 1907 , † January 5, 1996 ) was an American writer, impresario and connoisseur in the cultural field of New York City .

Life

Kirstein was born in Rochester , New York . Kirstein studied at Harvard University , where he graduated in 1930. His interest in ballet and working with George Balanchine began when he saw a performance of Apollo by the Ballets Russes . Together with Edward MM Warburg (former classmate at Harvard University) he founded the School of American Ballet in Hartford , Connecticut in October 1933 . The studio moved to the fourth floor of a skyscraper on Madison Avenue and 59th Street in New York City's Manhattan borough in 1934 . Four months later, Kirstein and Warburg founded The American Ballet together with Balanchine and Dimitriev .

This ballet group was at times the regular cast of the Metropolitan Opera , but the collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera was unsatisfactory, as Balanchine and Kirstein were not allowed to develop enough artistic freedom. In 1940 Kirstein married Fidelma Cadmus, but the relationship was rather friendly. In 1946 Balanchine and Kirstein founded the Ballet Society , which they renamed the New York City Ballet in 1948 . Kirstein and Balanchine built the New York City Ballet into one of the most successful and innovative ballet and dance ensembles in the world in the decades that followed.

Kirstein was on friendly terms with many people in New York City's cultural scene. During his marriage, Kirstein had sexual affairs with men, which was an open secret in New York City's cultural scene. It wasn't until 1982 that Kirstein publicly mentioned his sexual orientation.

During the Second World War , Kirstein was drafted in 1943 and was part of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section (MFAA) unit of the 3rd US Army , which was supposed to secure works of art stolen by the National Socialists in Europe .

Kirstein is considered a cultural patron of his brother-in-law Paul Cadmus . He himself acquired a number of paintings from Paul Cadmus.

The English critic Clement Crisp wrote about Kirstein: He was one of those rare talents who touch the entire artistic life of their time. Ballet, film, literature, theater, painting, sculptor, photography all occupied his attention.

In 1995, Kirstein was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Representation in the film

The 2014 film Monuments Men, based on Robert Edsel's book, was directed by George Clooney and played the leading role in the role of George Stout - head of the MFAA troupe and later director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston ; Bob Balaban played the role of Private Preston Savitz , which was created for Kirstein .

Reviews

  • The Saint of Bleecker Street , Production Supervisor, December 27, 1954 - April 2, 1955
  • Misalliance , New York City Drama Company Managing Director, March 6, 1953 - June 27, 1953
  • The Ballet Caravan - Billy the Kid , choreography by Eugene Loring , May 24, 1939 - unknown
  • Filling Station , choreographed by Lew Christensen, performed January 6, 1938, Hartford Connecticut

Selected bibliographies

  • Dance: A Short History of Classic Theatrical Dancing (1935), New York: GP Putnam's Sons
  • Ballet Alphabet: A Primer for Laymen (1939), New York: Fireplace
  • 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: Button. 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, NM: Twelvetrees. ISBN 0-942642-40-6

literature

  • 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

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert M. Edsel. With Bret Witter: Monuments men . From the american. Engl. Transl. by Hans Freundl. St. Pölten: Residenz-Verl. 2013
  2. ↑ Honorary Members: Lincoln Kirstein. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed March 2, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Stefanie Peter: "Monuments Men". The hunters of the stolen Nazi treasures , cicero.de, accessed on September 10, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Kirstein, Lincoln
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ballet director
DATE OF BIRTH May 4, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Rochester (New York)
DATE OF DEATH 5th January 1996