Museum Curator and Art Historian. From 1905 to 1920, he was Director General of the Prussian State Museum system in Berlin (now the Berlin State Museums). Born Arnold Wilhelm Bode (he was ennobled in 1913), he studied law at the Universities of Berlin and Goettingen, and became a practicing lawyer in Braunschweig. He had developed an interest in art during his university days, and so put into practice that interest while in Braunschweig as he helped to organize the ducal art collection. He decided to return to school and received his Ph.D. in art history from the University of Leipzig in 1870, with a dissertation on Franz Hals. He began his career in the Prussian State Museum system in 1872 as an assistant curator. By 1890 he was director of the Gemäldegalerie. He founded the Kaiser Friedrich Museum (renamed in 1956 to the Bode Museum in his honor) in 1904 and took over the directorship of the whole system in 1905. One of his main styles in curating was to not divide a museum according to the specific art form but to have display combining art forms, so that one would see not only paintings in an exhibit room but also sculpture, period furniture, architectural pieces, and other art forms to give the impression of the era and milieu that the art was created in. Under his leadership, the museum system in Berlin became recognized as one of the leading museum complexes in the world. He was the author of a number of works on Dutch painting and Italian sculpture that are still considered to be the standard work on these topics. "Mein Leben", his autobiography, was published after his death in 1930.
Museum Curator and Art Historian. From 1905 to 1920, he was Director General of the Prussian State Museum system in Berlin (now the Berlin State Museums). Born Arnold Wilhelm Bode (he was ennobled in 1913), he studied law at the Universities of Berlin and Goettingen, and became a practicing lawyer in Braunschweig. He had developed an interest in art during his university days, and so put into practice that interest while in Braunschweig as he helped to organize the ducal art collection. He decided to return to school and received his Ph.D. in art history from the University of Leipzig in 1870, with a dissertation on Franz Hals. He began his career in the Prussian State Museum system in 1872 as an assistant curator. By 1890 he was director of the Gemäldegalerie. He founded the Kaiser Friedrich Museum (renamed in 1956 to the Bode Museum in his honor) in 1904 and took over the directorship of the whole system in 1905. One of his main styles in curating was to not divide a museum according to the specific art form but to have display combining art forms, so that one would see not only paintings in an exhibit room but also sculpture, period furniture, architectural pieces, and other art forms to give the impression of the era and milieu that the art was created in. Under his leadership, the museum system in Berlin became recognized as one of the leading museum complexes in the world. He was the author of a number of works on Dutch painting and Italian sculpture that are still considered to be the standard work on these topics. "Mein Leben", his autobiography, was published after his death in 1930.
Bio by: Kenneth Gilbert
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