Deane Keller

Captain Deane Keller, U.S. 5th Army, Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Officer, circa 1945

Deane Keller (December 14, 1901–April 12, 1992) was an American artist, academic, soldier, art restorer and preservationist. He taught for 40 years at Yale University's School of Fine Arts.

Early life

Keller was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1901.^[1] His father, Albert Galloway Keller, was just another member of the junior faculty at Yale; but during young Deane's formative years, his father would become the first William Graham Sumner Professor of Sociology.^[2]

As a student at Yale, he earned degrees in history and science in 1923. Further studies led to a B.F.A. from the Yale School of Fine Arts in 1926.^[1]

Keller was awarded the Gran Prix de Rome in 1926.^[3] He was a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome (FAAR) for three years.^[1]

Academic career

In 1929, Keller began his career as a member of the Yale faculty. He taught at Yale for forty years, retiring in 1970.^[4]

His academic career was interrupted by military service in the Second World War. At war's end, he returned to teach at Yale's School of Fine Arts.^[4]

World War II

Captain Deane Keller served in the U.S. 5th Army between 1943 and 1946. He was a Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Officer in Tuscany.^[5] Capt. Keller was responsible for the identification and transportation of artworks in Tuscany.^[1]

Honors

• Gran Prix de Rome, 1926.^[3]
• Legion of Merit, 1946 (United States).
• British Empire Medal, 1926 (United Kingdom).
• Crown of Italy Partisan Medal, 1946 (Italy).
• Medal of the Opera, Commune of Pisa
• Order of St John Lateran, 1946. (Vatican).

Keller was posthumously recognized for his wartime activities. His remains were apportioned and interred in New Britain, Connecticut and the Camposanto Monumentale in Pisa; that site is identified with an engraved marble slab.^[6]

Gallery

In addition to his academic career, Keller was a prolific portrait painter. He was known as the "unofficial portraitist of the Yale faculty," completing over 160 portrait commissions for the university, including faculty, corporation board members, and two presidents. Portraits for clients outside these Yale commissions included Senator Robert Taft, Governor John Davis Lodge, and Presidents William Howard Taft and Herbert Hoover.^[4]

Colin Purdie Kelly, Jr., American aviator, painted by Deane Keller

Robert A. Taft, American Senator, painted by Deane Keller

Norman Holmes Pearson, American university professor, painted by Deane Keller

See also

• Deane G. Keller
• Roberts Commission
• Nazi Plunder
• Rescuing Da Vinci
• The Rape of Europa
• Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program
• Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Deane Keller, Painter And Art Teacher, 91," New York Times. April 17, 1992.
2. ^ "Albert G. Keller, at Yale 42 Years; Professor Emeritus of the Science of Society Dies -- Taught 16,000 in Career," New York Times. November 1, 1956.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Two Get Awards in Art Competition; Grand Prix de Rome Fellowships Go to Deane Keller and Joseph Kissilewski," New York Times. May 5, 1926.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Deane Keller papers, Sterling Memorial Library, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University.
5. ^ Monuments Men Foundation: The Monuments Men> Keller, Capt. Deane
6. ^ PBS (Oregon Public Broadcasting): "The Rape of Europa.", 2006 film, aired November 24, 2008.

References

• American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas. (1946). Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 185537904
• Lavagnino, Emilio. (1946). Fifty War-Damaged Monuments of Italy. Roma: Istituto poligrafico dello Stato. OCLC 4338121
• Nicholas, Lynn H. (1995). The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe’s Teasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War. New York: Vintage Books. 10-ISBN 0-679-75686-8; 13-ISBN 978-0-679-75686-6; OCLC 32531154
• Roach, Catherine. "Collateral Damage," Yale Alumni Magazine. March 2003.
• "13 Artists Depict Washington Story; 14 Large Murals, Contributed for Bicentennial Celebration, Are Nearly Completed," New York Times. February 4, 1932.

External links

• PBS (Oregon Public Broadcasting): "The Rape of Europa.", 2006 film, aired November 24, 2008
• Monuments Men Foundation: The Monuments Men> Keller, Capt. Deane
• Obituary: "Deane Keller, Painter And Art Teacher, 91," New York Times. April 17, 1992.
• Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives, Deane Keller Papers
• Image of Keller's memorial at Camposanto in the Piazza Miracoli
• Image of Deane Keller excavating Michelangelo's Bound Slave from protective covering. Yale University Archives.
• Image of Deane Keller with Botticelli's La Primavera; the painting was then stored outside Florence for safekeeping. Yale University Archives.

Persondata
Name	Keller, Deane
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Date of birth	1901
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Date of death	1992
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