Kuhn graduated from the
University of Michigan with a
Bachelor of Arts in 1923, and then continued on to
Harvard University to earn a
Master of Arts and a
Doctor of Philosophy in 1924 and 1929, respectively. His doctoral dissertation was on
Romanesque murals in
Catalonia. A year later, Kuhn joined the faculty of his alma mater. In addition to teaching, he was named Director of the
Busch-Reisinger Museum there, which was dedicated to the study of art from
Germanic countries, succeeding
Kuno Francke. Kuhn also served as the chair of the
art history department from 1949 to 1953. He retired from Harvard in 1968 and was given the title of Emeritus. During his tenure, Kuhn helped the museum acquire important works such as
Self-Portrait in Tuxedo by
Max Beckmann. Kuhn's academic career was interrupted by
World War II as, in 1942, he joined the
United States Naval Reserve as a
Navy Intelligence Officer. In addition to rising to the rank of
Lieutenant Commander, he was also assigned an Officer for
Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA) by the
Roberts Commission. In 1945, Kuhn was named Deputy Chief of the MFAA by its head,
Geoffrey Webb, and was stationed in
Frankfurt and
Versailles. They were responsible for recovering
Nazi plunder. In 1945, Kuhn returned to Harvard. In 1955, Kuhn was named a Knight of the
Order of the Polar Star by the
Government of Sweden, and four years later, was given the
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Kuhn died in
Cambridge in 1985. ==See also==