Art museum remembers late collector Middledorf

Bruce Cole, IU trustee and distinguished professor emeritus, discussed his friend and fellow art historian Ulrich Middledorf Tuesday afternoon at the IU Art Museum.

Cole met Middledorf during his first day at Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, Italy.
Middledorf’s collection of medals was donated to the museum in 1987.

Cole also acted as a guide for Arne Flaten, who wrote the new IU Press publication “Medals and Plaquettes in the Ulrich Middledorf Collection at the Indiana University Art Museum.”

“The Middledorfs always extended themselves to young art historians because they believed in the future,” museum director Heidi Gealt said.

Gealt said Middledorf and his wife, Gloria, had 18th-century tastes but were comfortable in the present.

The medals Middledorf collected first gained popularity during the
Renaissance.

Art historians such as Middledorf began studying the medals extensively in the mid 20th century.

These types of medals typically featured a portrait of a friend, family member or ruler and were worn on clothing and hats.

“They’re miniature works of art,” Cole said. “They’re multidimensional.”

Cole said Middledorf collected items such as wrapping paper, New Yorker covers, Renaissance and baroque fabrics and books with “artist” in the title.

“He collected everything,” Cole said. “He was a true collector.”

Gealt said the medal collection at the museum is special because it was collected by one of the top scholars on the topic.

Middledorf started every day by reading and going through books in his office at the institute in Florence, Cole said.

“He was the greatest bibliophile I’ve ever seen,” Cole said. “I’m sure he would have loved the Internet.”

Flaten’s publication, “Medals and Plaquettes” includes more than simple descriptions of Middledorf’s collection of medals.

“(Flaten) did a lot of original research on these medals,” Cole said. “It’s a serious piece of scholarship.”

The museum’s collection includes about 300 medals and plaquettes.

“He amassed an important collection of medals on his own,” Cole said. “It was a great honor when Ms. Middledorf gave the medals to the (museum).”

Herman B Wells, then-president of IU, invited the Middledorfs to visit IU
in 1941.

Cole said the Middledorfs loved the campus and the area and even bought a salad bowl in Brown County. They displayed the bowl on their dining room table.

“That recruiting trip with Herman B Wells really did pay off,” Cole said.

— Kate Thacker