Elise Grilli Explained

Elise Grilli
Birth Name:Elsa Traunstein
Birth Date:August 4, 1906
Birth Place:Austria
Death Date:November 13, 1969 (age 63)
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other Names:Elsie Traunstein
Occupation:Art critic, college professor, columnist, lecturer

Elise Traunstein Grilli (August 4, 1906 – November 13, 1969),[1] born Elsa Traunstein, was an American art critic, professor, columnist, and lecturer based in Japan from 1947 to 1969.

Early life and education

Traunstein was born in Austria, and raised in the New Jersey, the daughter of Herman Traunstein.[2] She graduated from Barnard College in 1929,[3] and completed a master's degree at Columbia University in 1932. In college she was assistant editor of the Barnard Bulletin, and won an essay contest sponsored by the College Art Association.[4] She also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Career

Grilli moved to Japan with her family after World War II, when her husband worked with the Allied Occupation Forces in Tokyo.[5] [6] She was a professor of art at Sophia University, and wrote art reviews for The Japan Times, an English-language daily newspaper.[7] [8] She lectured and organized lectures on art for the International Art Society in Tokyo.[9]

In 1964 Grilli was a visiting lecturer in East Asian art at Earlham College in Indiana,[10] and organized an exhibit of her own collection of Japanese art at the campus.[11] In 1965 and 1966 she made a lecture tour in Europe and the Middle East.[12] She lectured about art in Hawaii in 1966.[13] She also taught at UCLA.

John Canaday of The New York Times Book Review called Grilli's The Art of the Japanese Screen "the best art book to have come my way in 1970".[14]

Publications

Personal life

Traunstein married Italian-born music critic Marcel F. Grilli. They had two children, Peter[25] and Diana.[26] She died from a liver disease in Los Angeles, in 1969, at the age of 63.[27]

Notes and References

  1. Birth and death dates from the California Death Index, via Ancestry.
  2. News: 1967-08-27 . Miss Darby, Peter Grilli are Married . 2024-11-27 . The Sunday News . 74 . Newspapers.com.
  3. Barnard College, Mortarboard (1929 yearbook): 141.
  4. News: 1929-06-07 . Elsie Traunstein Wins Fine Arts Prize . 2024-11-27 . Barnard Bulletin . 2 . Newspapers.com.
  5. News: November 24, 1964 . Japanese Influence in Art Described in Earlham Talk . Palladium-Item . 7 . Newspapers.com.
  6. Web site: Transcript of interview with Marcel Grilli, May 25, 1981 . 2024-11-28 . Archival Collections, University of Maryland.
  7. News: Roderick . John . 1963-01-03 . Modern American Art Collection Drew Mixed Reactions in Tokyo . 2024-11-28 . Honolulu Star-Bulletin . 5 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: July 1, 1956 . Husband-Wife Duo Review Music, Art . The Japan Times . 6 . Internet Archive.
  9. News: Dibble . Louise . September 16, 1959 . New Art Club to Have Mrs. Grilli as Lecturer . The Japan Times . 4 . Internet Archive.
  10. News: 1964-11-22 . Critic of Japanese Art to Speak at Earlham Tuesday . 2024-11-27 . Palladium-Item . 22 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: 1964-10-29 . Japanese Art to be Displayed at McGuire Hall . 2024-11-28 . Palladium-Item . 22 . Newspapers.com.
  12. News: Starr . Mary Agnes . November 1, 1964 . Visiting Art Lecturer Thinks Americans Finding New Culture . Palladium-Item . 22 . Newspapers.com.
  13. News: 1966-03-29 . Mrs. Grilli Art Lecture Tonight . 2024-11-28 . Honolulu Star-Advertiser . 16 . Newspapers.com.
  14. News: Canaday . John . December 6, 1970 . Eight Opulent Art Books . The New York Times Book Review . 4.
  15. Book: Kakuzo Okakura . The Book of Tea . 1956-01-01 . Charles A. Tuttle Company . Internet Archive.
  16. Book: The Saburo Hasegawa Reader . 2019 . University of California Press . Johnson . Mark Dean . English . Hart . Dakin.
  17. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-eagle-japanese-art-work-pres/159860129/ "Japanese Art Work Presented in Two Titles"
  18. Mullaly, Terrence. "The Arts of Japan" The Daily Telegraph (June 26, 1959): 15; via Newspapers.com
  19. Grilli, Elise. "Art Exhibitions in Tokyo" Japan Quarterly 6(2)(April 1959): 196-.
  20. News: Grilli . Elise . September 16, 1959 . Gloomy Show by Kodo, Nika . The Japan Times . 4 . Internet Archive.
  21. Grilli, Elise. "New Trends in Japanese Painting" Japan Quarterly 7(4)(October 1960): 437-.
  22. News: 1961-04-02 . Art: Golden Screen Paintings of Japan . 2024-11-27 . The Cincinnati Enquirer . 102 . Newspapers.com.
  23. News: Grilli . Elise . January 31, 1965 . Hidai: Ancient Ink in a New Guise . The New York Times . 365.
  24. https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-books-in-brief/159859992/ "Books in Brief"
  25. Web site: Mori . Futoshi . 2024-04-20 . Peter Grilli, Long-time Friend of Donald Keene Devoted to Cultural Exchange between Japan, U.S., Shares Memories of Keene . 2024-11-27 . Japan News . en.
  26. Wilce, Matt. "Paper Lanterns" American School in Japan.
  27. News: 1969-11-16 . Elise Grilli . 2024-11-28 . The Los Angeles Times . 49 . Newspapers.com.

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