Phyllis Ackerman

author

Phyllis Ackerman

1893–1977

A pioneering interpreter of Persian art, she brought scholarship, design, and storytelling together in books that opened decorative arts to a wider audience. Her work ranged from wallpaper and tapestry to the monumental study of Iranian art she helped shape with Arthur Upham Pope.

1 Audiobook

Catalogue of the Retrospective Loan Exhibition of European Tapestries

Catalogue of the Retrospective Loan Exhibition of European Tapestries

by San Francisco Museum of Art, Phyllis Ackerman

About the author

Born in Oakland, California, in 1893, Phyllis Ackerman became an American art historian, interior designer, translator, editor, and author with a lasting interest in Persian art and architecture. Early in her career she also wrote on decorative arts more broadly, including books on wallpaper and tapestry.

Ackerman is best known for her work on Iranian and Persian art alongside her husband, Arthur Upham Pope. She played a major editorial role in A Survey of Persian Art, the landmark multi-volume publication that helped introduce generations of readers and scholars to the richness of Persian artistic traditions.

Her career moved across scholarship and design rather than staying in a single lane, which gives her writing an unusual mix of expertise and accessibility. She died in Shiraz on January 25, 1977, after a life closely tied to the study and presentation of Iranian culture.