Pantzer, Kurt F. (Kurt Friedrich), 1892-1979

Born August 21, 1892, Kurt F. Pantzer was a prominent Indianapolis lawyer heavily involved in public affairs, politics, and cultural humanities. He attended Wabash College and received art and law degrees from Harvard University between 1909 and 1920. His first job as a lawyer was in New York with the firm Winthrop & Stimson from 1920 to 1922. Pantzer returned to Indianapolis where he made a living as a lawyer with the firm Barnes, Hickman, Panzter and Boyd. In 1926 he married Katharine Ferriday, with whom he had three children: Katharine F. Pantzer, Kurt F. Pantzer, Jr., and Eric Pantzer.
His success as a lawyer gave him the financial means to become an authoritative collector of works by English artist Joseph Mallord William (J.M.W.) Turner (1775-1851) who produced some 20,000 paintings, drawings, and sketches during his lifetime. Of this vast body of work, Pantzer amassed a collection of 38 Turner watercolors, 3,000 Turner engravings, 7 Turner life portraits, a Turner library of 500 volumes, as well as correspondence of both Turner and his contemporaries.
Pantzer?s collection of supporting Turner items such as letters, manuscripts, and portraits made up what he affectionately called ?Turnerabilia.? This included extending his collection beyond Turner; he sought Turner predecessors, contemporaries, and followers. Turner?s principal champion, art critic John Ruskin (1819-1900), was also a collecting interest of Pantzer?s. Included in the Pantzer Collecting Papers are Ruskin letters and research, as well as those of Ruskin?s students, who were instructed as copyists of Turner?s works (Ruskin felt the best way to learn from the then deceased master was to emulate his style). The copies they produced, as well as artworks in the style of Turner, were also of interest to Pantzer. He took particular notice of an especially skilled copyist and student of Ruskin, Isabella Jay (1842/3-1919), after he discovered that a painting he purchased listed as a genuine Turner was actually created by Isabella Jay. Pantzer bought Jay?s original records of her Turner copies that she painted and sold (included in Series II: Other Artists). Jay was not in the business of selling her copies as Turner forgeries, rather they were merely facsimiles of his work; not until later were her pieces sold under the guise of Turner originals.
Throughout his collecting, Pantzer corresponded regularly with art dealers, historians, curators, and enthusiasts. His secretary of twenty-three years, Grace Ritchie, compiled and preserved his correspondence now contained within this collection. All effort was made to maintain original order and hierarchy when possible. Among Pantzer?s most common correspondents is John Mitchell of Mitchell & Sons Fine Paintings. After discovering the early Turners that he acquired were copies, Pantzer was wary of buying Turner art stateside. Beginning in 1954, he enlisted the help of the London art dealer Mitchell to act as his liaison for purchasing, a relationship that continued for several decades.
Pantzer?s great love of the arts is evident in his personal collection of artwork and involvement with local artistic institutions. He co-founded and directed the Indiana State Symphony Society, was a life trustee of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and member of the Governor?s Commission on the Arts. Pantzer was equally involved with other humanities organizations in the city and served on the Indiana State Museum board, Historic Landmarks Foundation board, and finance and building committees for Clowes Memorial Hall.
Pantzer moved his Turner collection to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1972 and following his death on July 8, 1979, the collection was bequeathed to the museum. Martin Krause, curator of Prints and Drawings at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, writes that Pantzer ?gave more lengthy thoughts to documenting his collection than acquiring it.? This passion for collecting and documentation, along with the diligent work of his secretary Ritchie, has made this archival collection an invaluable resource for researchers.