Perry Townsend Rathbone papers
name: label: Creator
content: Rathbone, Perry Townsend, 1911-2000
label: Names
content: Allied Forces. Supreme Headquarters. Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section
label: Names
content: Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc.
label: Names
content: City Art Museum of St. Louis
label: Names
content: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
label: Names
content: Beckmann, Max, 1884-1950
label: Names
content: Faison, S. Lane (Samson Lane), 1907-2006
label: Names
content: Gonzalez, Xavier, 1898-1993
label: Names
content: Howe, Thomas Carr, 1904-1994
label: Names
content: Moore, Lamont
label: Names
content: Parkhurst, Charles
label: Names
content: Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff
label: Names
content: Sabersky, Jane, 1911-1983
label: Names
content: Stout, George L. (George Leslie)
label: Names
content: Swarzenski, Hanns, 1903-1985
label: Names
content: Valentin, Curt, 1902-1954
label: Names
content: Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold, 1880-1958
label: Names
content: Willard, Marian, 1904-1985
label: Names
content: Wittmann, Otto, 1911-2001
topic: label: Topic
content: Museum directors -- Massachusetts -- Boston
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Perry Townsend Rathbone donated his papers to the Archives of American Art in 1977 and 1988. Additional material donated by the heirs to Parry T. Rathbone represented by his daughter, Belinda Rathbone, in 2023.
creator: label: Creator
content: Rathbone, Perry Townsend, 1911-2000
setName: label: See more items in
content: Perry Townsend Rathbone papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of museum director Perry Townsend Rathbone measure 6.1 linear feet and date from 1929 to 2022.  The papers document Rathbone's career as museum director of the City Art Museum of St. Louis and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and his later work with Christie's New York office.  Found within the papers are biographical materials, correspondence with friends and colleagues, writings, professional and project files, printed materials, and photographs, mostly of exhibitions.  

There is a 1.8 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2023 that includesfiles on exhibitions, speeches, lectures; files on artists; slides and photographs of works of art; correspondence; writings by Belinda Rathbone and others. Materials date from circa 1940-2022.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Perry Townsend Rathbone (1911-2000) was a prominent museum director who worked primarily in Boston and New York City.  He was an early supporter of German Expressionism in America.  

Rathbone was director of the City Art Museum of St. Louis from 1940-1955, moving on to direct the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from 1954-1972, where he led a period of extensive reform.  After retiring from the museum, he worked for one year for the Chase Manhattan Bank as an art consultant.  Rathbone worked as director and senior vice president of Christies USA auction house from 1973-1987.  After 1987, he continued working at Christies as a consultant.  

Rathbone was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on July 3, 1911 and grew up in New Rochelle, New York. He attended Harvard College, majoring in Art History and graduating in 1933.  He then completed the graduate "museum course" taught by Professor Paul Sachs in 1934.  The Paul Sachs museum course was famous for cultivating future directors at some of this country's most prestigious museums.  After Harvard, Rathbone was appointed as curator of Alger House (later renamed the Grosse Pointe War Memorial), a branch of the Detroit Institute of Arts.  Rathbone directed the ''Masterpieces of Art'' exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair.  The success of the exhibit led to his appointment as director of the City Art Museum of St. Louis, Missouri in 1940 at the age of 29, making him the youngest American museum director at the time.

During World War II, Rathbone served in the U.S. Navy from late 1942-1945.  He was a commissioned officer in charge of the Navy Art and Poster Section, Office of Public Relations in Washington, D.C.  He supervised five Navy "combat artists," who painted naval battles and depicted the daily lives of soldiers.  He also served as an officer in New Calcedonia.  He separated from service as a Lieutenant Commander in late 1945.  This collection does not contain records directly related to his military service.  In 1945 Rathbone married Euretta de Cosson while on leave in Washington, D.C.  They had three children together: Peter, Eliza, and Belinda.

Rathbone resumed his position as the director of the City Art Museum of St. Louis after the war.  The Detroit Institute of Arts director William R. Valentiner introduced Rathbone to German Expressionism.  Rathbone helped the German Expressionist painter Max Beckmann, labeled a ''degenerate artist'' by Hitler, and his wife immigrate to America and then arranged a teaching position for Beckmann at Washington University.  Rathbone and Beckmann became close, and in 1948, Rathbone organized a Beckmann retrospective at the City Art Museum.  Beckmann made a portrait of Rathbone and one of his wife Euretta. Rathbone gave the eulogy at Beckmann's funeral in 1950.

In 1955 Rathbone became the director of the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston. During his tenure there he expanded the museum by 80,000 square feet, doubled the staff, and oversaw the renovations of 57 of the Museum's 189 galleries. He mounted exhibitions of Rembrandt, Matisse, Modigliani, Cezanne, van Gogh and Courbet.  The Boston Museum's first acquisitions of Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Constantine Brancusi, Paul Klee, Alberto Giacometti and other works by 20th-century artists occurred under Rathbone's directorship.  Rathbone also served as curator of paintings and wrote the catalog essays for many of the museum's exhibitions.  Working with Frances Weeks Hallowell, he established the first "Ladies Committee" for the museum, which substantially increased membership. He was appointed as Chevalier de Légion d'Honneur by the French government in 1964.

In 1969, the Museum of Fine Arts purchased what was believed to be a Raphael portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga, 1505, from a Genoa art dealer.  The work was meant to be the highlight of the museum's centennial celebration.  However controversy arose when the Italian government alleged that the work was smuggled out of the country and the museum was forced to return the painting to the Italian government.   The situation caused Rathbone to resign in 1972.  

At the request of David Rockefeller, Rathbone became an art consultant to Chase Manhattan Bank for one year.  In 1973, he became director of Christie's auction house in New York and senior vice president in 1977, working there until 1987, when he retired but still worked as a consultant.  

Perry Townsend Rathbone died on January 22, 2000 at the age of 88.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6.1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1929-2022
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.rathperr
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Transcripts
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Interviews
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1930-1982 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-1985 (1.1 linear feet; Box 1-2)

Series 3: Writings, 1929-1967 (0.8 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 4: Professional Files, 1938-1984 (2 linear feet; Box 2-4, OV 6)

Series 5: Printed Materials, 1954-1975 (0.2 linear feet; Box 4-5, OV 6)

Series 6: Photographs, 1936-1972 (0.1 linear feet; Box 5)

Series 7: Unprocessed Addition, (1.8 linear feet; Box 7-9)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: This collection was fully processed by Rihoko Ueno in October 2012 with funding provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Transcripts
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of museum director Perry Townsend Rathbone measure 6.1 linear feet and date from 1929 to 2022.  The papers document Rathbone's career as museum director of the City Art Museum of St. Louis and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and his later work with Christie's New York office.  Found within the papers are biographical materials, correspondence with friends and colleagues, writings, professional and project files, printed materials, and photographs, mostly of exhibitions.  

Biographical materials contain curriculum vitae, biographical sketches, citations for honorary degrees and for Rathbone's appointment as Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, a passport, a transcript of an interview with Rathbone and articles written by others about Rathbone, including one by S. Lane Faison.   

Correspondence is with Rathbone's friends and colleagues.  Notable correspondents include Max Beckmann, Xavier Gonzalez, Hanns Swarzenski, Curt Valentin, Jane Sabersky, William R. Valentiner, and Marian Willard, among others.  Rathbone knew several art historians and conservators who served in the U.S. Army as members of the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section, also known as the Monuments Men.  Correspondence with these colleagues is arranged together as a subseries and includes correspondence with S. Lane Faison, Thomas Carr Howe, Lamont Moore, Charles Parkhurst, Andrew Ritchie, George Leslie Stout, and Otto Wittman.  Most of the correspondence with other Monuments Men is post World War II. 

Writings by Rathbone consist of student papers, typescript drafts of articles and entries for exhibition catalogs, notes and notebooks from European trips, and lectures.  

Professional files encompass a range of documents related to Rathbone's museum directorships, projects, travels and professional affiliations.  The folders about his work at the City Art Museum of St. Louis and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston include correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, press releases and notes.  There are also folders on specific projects such as the renovation of the historic Dederer-Blodgett House and Rathbone's membership on various art commissions and committees.  Also found within this series are correspondence, notebooks, receipts, itineraries and vouchers for Rathbone's business trips to Europe and other locations while working for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.


Printed materials include news clippings, articles, press releases, a few art magazines and exhibition catalogues, and invitations to events.  There are also black and white photographs of exhibitions, including a Max Beckmann exhibit, and a few images of Rathbone.

There is a 1.8 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2023 that includesfiles on exhibitions, speeches, lectures; files on artists; slides and photographs of works of art; correspondence; writings by Belinda Rathbone and others.   Materials date from circa 1940-2022.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview of Perry Townsend Rathbone conducted in 1975-1976 by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art's oral history program.