Irving Lavin

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Irving Lavin (1927–2019) was an American art historian known for studying architecture, sculpture, and painting from Late Antiquity through modern times, with a focus on how form and meaning are connected in visual art.

Early life
- Born December 14, 1927, in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Parents: Isadore Lavin and Jenny Shuff.
- Began studying philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis, earning a BA in 1949.
- Spent time at Cambridge University as Bertrand Russell’s tutee before turning to art history.

Education and training
- Studied at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts with mentors including Walter Friedländer, Richard Offner, and Erwin Panofsky.
- Master’s work with Horst W. Janson; MA in 1952.
- Harvard University: MA in 1953, PhD in 1955 (thesis on Gianlorenzo Bernini’s bozzetti).
- Served in the U.S. Army (1955–1957).

Career and contributions
- Dumbarton Oaks Senior Fellow (1957–1959); wrote an influential study on medieval art.
- Won the College Art Association’s Arthur Kingsley Porter Prize for Scholars under 40 three times (1959, 1962, 1968).
- Taught at Vassar College (1959–1961), then at New York University and its Institute of Fine Arts; conducted extensive research in Rome with various fellowships.
- In 1966, helped reveal Bernini’s earliest known portrait busts (age 13) and another early work, marking the start of many Bernini discoveries.
- In 1973, became a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, holding the chair in the School of Historical Studies previously occupied by Erwin Panofsky and Millard Meiss.
- Lavin helped broaden American art history beyond Europe, contributing to the formation of major research institutions: the Getty Research Institute, the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, the National Gallery of Art’s center, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture.
- His scholarship covered a wide range of periods and artists, including Donatello, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini, and modern artists like Picasso and Pollock. He was also known for his connections with practicing artists and for his collaborations with them.

Honors and legacy
- Won numerous honors from Italian cultural institutions; received medals and honorary memberships in Rome and Italy.
- Posthumously honored by Italian institutions for his contributions to art history.
- Lavin’s work helped integrate non-European art into mainstream American art history and inspired generations of scholars.
- Retired in 2001 but continued teaching and writing from the Institute for Advanced Study, where he lived with his wife, Marilyn Aronberg Lavin. He mentored many prominent students.

Selected publications
- Bernini and the Crossing of St. Peter’s (1968)
- Bernini and the Unity of the Visual Arts (1980)
- Past-Present: Essays on Historicism in Art from Donatello to Picasso (1993)
- Santa Maria del Fiore: Il Duomo di Firenze e la Vergine Incinta (1999)
- Caravaggio e La Tour: La Luce Occulta di Dio (2000)
- Visible Spirit: The Art of Gianlorenzo Bernini (2007–2009)
- The Silence of Bernini’s David (2018, published posthumously)

Irving Lavin passed away on February 3, 2019, in Princeton, New Jersey, at the age of 91. His archive and many publications continue to influence art-historical research today.