Gerald Roberts Reitlinger (born London, United Kingdom 1900, died St Leonards-on-Sea

St Leonards-on-Sea

St Leonards-on-Sea is part of Hastings, East Sussex, England, lying immediately to the west of the centre. The original part of the settlement was laid out in the early 19th century as a new town: a place of elegant houses designed for the well-off; it also included a central public garden, a...

, United Kingdom 1978) was a scholar of the economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 of art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

 and of history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, particularly the Holocaust. Reitlinger became prominent because of works such as The Economics of Taste and The SS: Alibi of a Nation.

After service in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Reitlinger studied at Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 and thereafter at the Slade School and Westminster School of Art

Westminster School of Art

The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. It was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Architectural Museum.H. M. Bateman described it in 1903 as...

. His art was on display in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 during the 1930s. He traveled extensively and wrote non-fiction works on his trips to China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he served again as a British soldier. Postwar, he wrote articles on art for newspapers and art journals.

During the 1950s he wrote two works on the Holocaust, The Final Solution and The SS: Alibi of a Nation. In 1961, he published the first of three volumes of The Economics of Taste, a work on the art market from the eighteenth century onwards, mostly in Britain and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, with much detailed information on historic prices, and a very lively commentary.

Reitlinger died from a cerebral hemorrhage in Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

. His collection of Islamic, Japanese and Chinese porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

 was willed to the Ashmolean Museum

Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...

at Oxford, where a gallery is named in his honour.

Works

• A Tower of Skulls: a Journey through Persia and Turkish Armenia, London: Duckworth, 1932.
• South of the Clouds: a Winter Ride through Yün-nan, London: Faber & Faber, 1939.
• The Final Solution, New York: Beechhurst Press, 1953.
• The SS: Alibi of a Nation, London: Heinemann, 1956 ISBN 9780138399368
• The House built on Sand, the conflicts of German policy in Russia, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1960.
• The Economics of Taste, (three volumes) London: Barrie and Rockliffe, 1961-1970.

External links

• Dictionary of Art Historians