Osvald Sirén

Osvald Sirén ( born April 6, 1879 in Helsinki, † June 12, 1966 in Lidingö ) was an international, Swedish art historian and professor of Finnish origin. He taught at the University of Stockholm and headed a department of the National Museum in Stockholm. His research focus was on Italian painting and East Asian art, particularly the time of the Ming and Qing Dynasty in China.

Background and education

Sirén was the son of Bruno Sirén, an Assessor, and Sigrid Leopold. He studied from 1897 Art History at the Imperial Alexander University in Helsinki under Johan Jakob Tikkanen ( 1857-1930 ). In his doctoral thesis in 1900, he dealt with the life and work of the Swedish painter Pehr Hilleström the Elder.

Life as a scientist

In the following years, Sirén dealt with the Italian painting of the Renaissance and the early Italian masters of the 13th and 14th century. He was officially introduced to Bernard Berenson, whose suggestions helped develop his own research methodology.

1908 Sirén was the first professor of art history at the University of Stockholm. In the 1910s he met in Boston on Denman W. Ross know the Chinese art. He taught both at Harvard and at Yale University ( 1916-1917 ). In the years 1917 and 1918 he made ​​his first trip to Japan, in 1922 and 1923 he spent some time in China, where he began the art of the country to systematically capture, photograph and collect. 1924 and 1925 he was curator at the Musée Guimet in Paris. From 1926 he headed the department of painting and sculpture in the Stockholm National Museum; this office he held until his retirement in 1944.

Marriage

Sirén married twice: in 1903 the dentist Myhrman Maria ( 1876-1925 ), daughter of an office manager, and in 1925 the editor Rose Félice Thérèse Charlotte Carbonel ( 1893-1976 ), daughter of lieutenant. He was Secretary General of the Nordic Theosophical Society from 1938 to 1948, became interested in Zen Buddhism and astrology. Sirén died in 1966. His private collection is preserved by the East Asian Museum in Stockholm.

Writings (selection )

Sirens scientific journal publications include over four hundred essays and contributions. He has written numerous books in various languages ​​:

• Giottino and its position in the simultaneous Florentine painting (Leipzig 1908)
• Leonardo da Vinci. Hans lefnadsöden, bildverk ... ( Stockholm, 1911 English 1916)
• The gyllene Paviljongen. Minnen från och studier Japan ( Stockholm 1919)
• Essentials in Art (London 1920)
• The walls and gardens of Beijing (London 1924)
• Les palais impériaux de Pekin (Paris, Brussels 1926, English 1926)
• Studies on Chinese sculpture of the post- Tangzeit (Berlin 1927)
• A history of early Chinese painting (London 1938)
• Kinas Trädgårdar och vad de betytt för 1700 - talets Europe, 2 parts ( Stockholm 1948-1950, English 1949-1950 )
• Chinese painting. Leading Masters and Principles ( London, New York 1956-1958 )

In addition Sirén also wrote two books of poetry:

• Accord (1902 )
• Stilla hours med natures (1913 )