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Hudig, Ferrand Whaley

    Full Name: Hudig, Ferrand Whaley

    Gender: male

    Date Born: 1883

    Date Died: 1937

    Place Born: Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands

    Place Died: Aerdenhout, North Holland, Netherlands

    Home Country/ies: Netherlands

    Subject Area(s): decorative art (art genre)

    Career(s): curators


    Overview

    Professor of art history and decorative arts museum curator. Hudig was born in Rotterdam where his father and his brother were members of the shipping firm Hudig and Veder. The young Hudig apprenticed at the firm of Ryley and Company in London. Between 1907 and 1913 he served the Hudig and Veder firm in Amsterdam as proxy holder. Fascinated by art and literature, he left the firm at age 30 to study art history in Berlin. For two years he studied under Adolph Goldschmidt, August Grisebach, and Georg Loeschcke. In 1915 he moved to Zürich, and, following his Maturitätsprüfung, entered the graduate program. Even before graduation in 1918, he worked as an assistant director under Marinus van Notten at the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst in Amsterdam (National Museum for History and Art), a decorative arts, sculpture and architecture museum, part of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum. Hudig was obliged to specialize in decorative arts, including ceramics and glass as part of his job. In 1922 Hudig’s guide to the collection of English Pottery and China appeared. In addition to his museum duties he still had to round off his studies in Zürich. In 1923 he obtained his doctoral degree from Zürich University with a dissertation on glass, Das Glas, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Sammlung im Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst. In 1924, the Nederlandsch Museum lost its independence and became a department of the Rijksmuseum, which then was under the direction of F. Schmidt-Degener. This change necessitated the dismissal of Van Notten and Hudig was charged with the reorganization of the newly created department. In addition to his duties at the Rijksmuseum, Hudig obtained a teaching position at Amsterdam University, lecturing on Italian art. In his inaugural public lecture (October 17, 1924), Kunstgeschiedenis als een deel der beschavingsgeschiedenis, he argued for art history as a part of cultural history. In 1926 he wrote an essay on Dutch glass engravers for Wilfred Buckley’s 1926 European Glass: a Brief Outline of the History of Glass Making. Hudig served as the co-editor of Oud Holland, and he was an active member of cultural and antiquarian organizations. In 1928 he was appointed professor extraordinarius of the art history of the middle ages and the new era at Amsterdam University. He left the Rijksmuseum, eager to fully dedicate himself to his university career. In his inaugural lecture, Frederik Hendrik en de kunst van zijn tijd, he dealt with the arts under the reign of stadhouder Frederik Hendrik of Orange (1625-1647). In 1929 he published his comprehensive handbook on Delftware Faience. He fully dedicated himself to building up the institute, enjoying teaching and the yearly excursions. Among his students were Hans L. C. Jaffé and Karel G. Boon. Hudig died after a short illness in the age of 53. His successor at Amsterdam University was I. Q. van Regteren Altena. In both his inaugural lectures (1924, 1928) at Amsterdam University, Hudig expressed his conviction that art is part of a broader historical and philosophical context.


    Selected Bibliography

    [complete bibliography:] Hintzen, J. D. “Ferrand Whaley Hudig (Rotterdam 25 Juni 1883-Aerdenhout 31 Maart 1937) in Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandsche Letterkunde te Leiden 1937-1938 (1938): 158-160; [dissertation] Das Glas, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Sammlung im Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst. Zürich, 1925, also published under the same title, Vienna: s.n., 1925; “Diamond Engraving.” in Buckley, Wilfred. European Glass, a Brief Outline of the History of Glass Making. London: Ernest Benn ltd, 1926, pp. xiv-xxxiv; Frederik Hendrik en de kunst van zijn tijd. Rede uitgesproken by de aanvaarding van het ambt van buitengewoon hoogleeraar in de kunstgeschiedenis der middeleeuwen en van den nieuweren tijd aan de universiteit van Amsterdam op 1 October 1928. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1929; Delfter Fayence: Ein Handbuch für Sammler und Liebhaber. Berlin: R. C. Schmidt & Co, 1929;


    Sources

    Bredius, A. and Van Gelder, H. E. In memoriam Ferrand W. Hudig Oud Holland 55 (1937): 97-99; Hintzen, J. D. „Ferrand Whaley Hudig (Rotterdam 25 Juni 1883-Aerdenhout 31 Maart 1937) in Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandsche Letterkunde te Leiden 1937-1938 (1938): 151-160;



    Contributors: Monique Daniels


    Citation

    Monique Daniels. "Hudig, Ferrand Whaley." Dictionary of Art Historians (website). https://arthistorians.info/hudigf/.


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