Frederick Mortimer Clapp Explained

Frederick Mortimer Clapp
Other Names:	Tim Clapp
Birth Date:	26 July 1879
Birth Place:	New York City, New York, US
Death Place:	New York City, New York, US
Alma Mater:	City College of New York, Yale University, University of Paris, Sorbonne
Spouse:	Maud Caroline Ede

Frederick Mortimer Clapp (July 26, 1879 – December 15, 1969)^[1] was the first Director of the Frick Collection in Manhattan, New York as well as a poet, and art historian. Clapp was the organizing Director at the Frick Collection from 1931 to 1935 and the first Director from 1935 to 1950.

Biography

Frederick M. Clapp attended the City College of New York in 1896–1898, and received his B. A. and M.A. from and Yale University in 1899–1902, and at the University of Paris (Docteur ès lettres, 1914).^[2]

He taught at City College of New York. Frank also worked at Princeton University. He married Maud Caroline Ede (Clapp) (1876–1960), an artist from Florence.^[3] In 1909, Frederick began studying at the Sorbonne to receive his PhD, and began publishing poetry in 1916.

Frederick Mortimer Clapp joined the Aviation section of the U.S. Army, prior to the creation of the air force, and was a First Lieutenant in the Signal Corps and pilot in World War I. When he returned from war, Clapp published art historical writings, often in the Princeton Journal, "Art Studies."

In 1926, Clapp became chair of the History of Art and Architecture Department at the University of Pittsburgh. There, he developed the school's art library and photography collection, which became known as the Frick Fine Arts Library and now resides in the Frick Fine Arts Building on the Oakland campus.

He was named adviser to the Frick Collection in 1931, and oversaw the development of the Frick residence into a museum in 1933, hiring the architect, John Russell Pope, and opening the museum in 1935. Frederick Mortimer Clapp was officially named director of the Frick Collection in 1936.

Frederick Mortimer Clapp was an advocate of Art History and Fine Arts University programs and spoke on the matter in public addresses.^[4]

He retired in 1951. He died at a New York City Hospital at age ninety, on December 15, 1969.

Bibliography

• Book: Clapp, Frederick Mortimer. On the Overland and Other Poems. Yale University Press. 1916. New York City, New York.
• Book: Clapp, Frederick Mortimer. New York and Other Verses. Marshall Jones Company. 1918. Boston, Massachusetts.
• Book: McComb. Arthur. Art Studies: Medieval, Renaissance and Modern. Marquand. Allan. Cook. Walter W. S.. Smith. E. Baldwin. Clapp. Frederick Mortimer. Mather. Frank Jewett. Princeton University Press. Department of Fine Arts, Harvard University; Department of Fine Arts, Princeton University. 1924. Allan Marquand. Walter William Spencer Cook. Frank Jewett Mather.
• 1926. "Cuneiform". Poetry. 28 (5): 262.
• 1926. "Domus Domini". Poetry. 28 (5): 263-264.
• 1926. "Harvesting Ice". Poetry. 28 (5): 264-265.
• 1925. Arhats in art. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
• 1926. "Awake Too Soon". Poetry. 28 (5): 265.
• 1929. What can a department of the history of art amount to? Paper given at the 33rd meeting at the Educational Clinic held in Pittsburgh.http://arcade.nyarc.org/search~S6?/aclapp/aclapp/1%2C16%2C39%2CB/frameset&FF=aclapp+frederick+mortimer+1879&16%2C%2C16
• 1936. New poems. New York: Harper & Brothers.
• 1938. Said before sunset. New York: Harper & Brothers.
• 1943. Against a background on fire, 1938–1943. New York: Harper & Brothers.
• 1947. The seeming real, 1943–1946. New York: Harper & Brothers.
• 1972. Jacopo Carucci da Pontormo his life and work. New York: Junius Press.

Further reading

• Book: Sweeney, James Johnson. Frederick Mortimer Clapp 1879–1967. 1970. Frick Collection. New York City, New York. memorial catalogue.

External links

• The Frick Collection Records of the Organizing Director – Frederick Mortimer Clapp, 1920–1937.
• The Frick Collection Central Files, 1932-1936.
• Frederick Mortimer Clapp Records. Yale University Library

Notes and References

1. Web site: . 2010. Finding Aid for The Frick Collection Records of the Organizing Director - Frederick Mortimer Clapp, 1920-1937 TFC.0300.010. 2017-03-06. The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives.
2. Frederick Mortimer Clapp 1879-1967. (Memorial catalogue). Frick Art Reference Library.
3. Web site: Frederick M. Clapp; Frederick Clapp . Dictionary of Art Historians . 2013-10-28.
4. 1929. What can a department of the history of art amount to? Paper given at the 33rd meeting at the Educational Clinic held in Pittsburgh.