Yale Bulletin & Calendar
Obituary

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GEORGE A. KUBLER

George A. Kubler, Sterling Professor Emeritus of the History of Art and one of the foremost authorities on pre-Columbian art and architecture and European art, died Oct. 3 at his Hamden, Connecticut home. He was 84 years old.

Professor Kubler's research was concentrated particularly on Mexican and Aztec art. He was one of the first scholars to treat pre- Columbian works with the same degree of validity commanded by European art. His first book, "The Religious Architecture of New Mexico," was published in 1940. Scores of award-winning books and ground-breaking articles followed, including the two-volume "The Architecture of the 16th Century in Mexico," "The Art and Architecture of Spain and Portugal and Their American Dominions," "Art and Architecture in Ancient America," "The Shape of Time: Remarks on the History of Things," and "The Portuguese Plain Architecture 1528-1706." His article on Peruvian indigenous culture, titled "The Kuchua in the Colonial World," is regarded as an archetypal ethnographic study.

Born July 26, 1912, George Alexander Kubler was the son of an art historian who died when young George was 8 years old. He lived in Europe with his mother until her death, at which time he was sent to boarding school back in the United States. He subsequently earned both a bachelor's and Ph.D. degree from Yale 1934 and 1940, respectively .

Professor Kubler joined the Yale faculty as an instructor of the history of art in 1938 and was appointed professor of the history of art in 1947. He chaired the department 1953-56 and was director of graduate studies 1957-64. He served as editor of the History of Art Series of the Yale University Press and also edited the Art Bulletin. In 1963 he was named the first incumbent of the newly established Robert Lehman Professorship of the History of Art. He was appointed Sterling Professor of the History of Art in 1975. Professor Kubler retired from active teaching in 1983.

Throughout his career Professor Kubler earned numerous awards and honors, including three Guggenheim Fellowships, an American Council of Learned Societies Grant-in-Aid for research in Mexico, the Order of the Aztec Eagle by the Mexican Government, and several visiting lectureships and honorary degrees. He was appointed the 1985-86 Kress Professor at the Center for Advanced Studies at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

In 1991 Professor Kubler was awarded the William Clyde DeVane Medal, the oldest and most prestigious award for teaching in Yale College. During the presentation of the award Professor Kubler was lauded for his "thinking and guidance [which] pushed graduate students, leading Robert Thompson to Africa and Vincent Scully to roam the world. For over 40 years, you guided undergraduates to art deemed artifact at other institutions and opened minds to both method and material ... "

Professor Kubler is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Bushnell Kubler, three daughters, and a son.


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