Chinese Art Scholar Dies

A Harvard authority on Chinese art and archaeology whose work changed the way scholars study the field died earlier this month.

Rockefeller Professor of Oriental Art Emeritus Max Loehr, 84, died September 16 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Nashua, New Hampshire. Loehr's emphasis on style revolutionized the interpretation of Chinese art through the course of a career that spanned a half-century, his colleagues said.

"Max Loehr not only substantially contributed to the substance of our knowledge, but he also methodologically revised the ways in which we do research," said Robert D. Mowry, who is associate curator of Oriental art at the Sackler Museum. "His contributions were not only to Harvard but to the entire field of Chinese art and archaeology."

Mowry said that Loehr derived great personal satisfaction from combining teaching with research.

Loehr was named to his chaired professorship at Harvard in 1960, a position he held until his retirement in 1974. At Harvard, he served as curator of Oriental art at the Fogg Art Museum in addition to teaching courses in Chinese jade, paintings and ceramics.

The professor earned his doctorate in art history at the University of Munich in 1936 and received an honorary masters degree from Harvard in 1960.

Before coming to Harvard, he held professorships and museum positions throughout the world, including professor of Far Eastern art and archaeology at the University of Michigan (1951-60), lecturer in Far Eastern art at the University of Munich (1950-51) and associate professor at Tsingua University, China (1947-48).

Throughout his career, Loehr proved to be a prolific writer. He published eight books and dozens of articles on Chinese art, including Chinese Bronze Age Weapons and Chinese Art: Symbols and Images.

The professor was a member of the American Oriental Society, the College Art Association of America, the Association for Asian Studies and was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Loehr is survived by his wife of over 60 years, Irmgard Loehr, two sons, Klaus F. Loehr and Thomas M. Loehr and a granddaughter, Elise A. Loehr.

"My father's interests were tremendous and wide-ranging," Thomas said, "In addition to his work in Chinese art he was a very accomplished watercolorist, sailor and classical guitarist. This taught me to appreciate the wide breadth of the music and art worlds at a very young age and for that I am grateful."

Memorial services will be held Sunday, October 30 at Memorial Church.