author
Joseph Breck
1885–1933
A gifted museum curator and art historian, he helped shape the study and display of decorative and medieval art in the United States. His work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the early Cloisters left a lasting mark despite a life cut short at just 48.
1 Audiobook
Handbook of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts With 143 Illustrations
by Joseph Breck, Harry B. (Harry Brandeis) Wehle
About the author
Born in Massachusetts in 1885, Joseph Henry Breck studied art history at Harvard, where he also formed an important friendship with Egyptologist Herbert E. Winlock. Early in his career he joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he later served as director of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts before returning to the Met.
Breck became a leading figure in decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum, serving as curator and later assistant director. He also played a central role in the creation of The Cloisters, becoming its first director in 1932 and helping guide its vision as a home for medieval art.
Alongside his museum work, he wrote scholarly books and catalogues on subjects including Oriental rugs, Romanesque and Gothic art, and early Peruvian textiles. He died in Switzerland in 1933, but his influence on American museum practice and the presentation of medieval art continued well beyond his lifetime.