Gerald Nordland, noted museum director, art critic, educator, and author, died in Chicago on January 15, 2019. He was 91. He donated his entire library of art books and reference works to Cudahy Library. In 2015 he also donated his papers to Loyola University Archives & Special Collections.
Among his many accomplishments, he was director of the Milwaukee Art Museum (1977-85), where he expanded collections, departments and exhibitions, improved the quality of its publications, and obtained AAM accreditation. As director of the UCLA Wight Art Gallery (1973-77), he organized early exhibitions of Burri, Diebenkorn, and fourteen American Abstract Painters. At the San Francisco Museum of Art (now SFMoMA) (1966-73), he redefined the collection’s intellectual thrust and doubled its size. As director of the Washington Gallery of Modern Art (1964-66), he mounted important exhibitions of Albers, Hofmann, Tworkov, Mondrian, and the Washington Color Painters. As dean of the Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles (1960-64), he established a new curriculum and obtained accreditation. In his long career, he co-founded Artforum magazine and was author of over 60 publications, including significant books on Lachaise, Diebenkorn, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
