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DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY > People > Edith Balas

Edith Balas

Professor of Art History and Adjunct Professor (Department of History)
University of Pittsburgh Research Associate 1977-Present
Ph.D.: University of Pittsburgh, 1973
Department Member Since: 1999
At Carnegie Mellon University Since: 1977

Biography

Edith Balas, Professor of Art History, College of Humanities & Social Sciences Balas' main areas of interest are modern art (1890-1960), painting and sculpture, and the art of the Italian Renaissance. Balas published books include Bird in Flight: Memoir of a Survivor and Scholar (2011), Brancusi and His World,(2008); Brancusi & Romanian Folk Traditions, (Second Edition 2006; trans. 1999; First Edition 1987); Michelangelo's Double Self-Portraits (2004); The Early Work of Henry Koerner (2003); The Mother Goddess in Italian Renaissance Art (2002); The Holocaust in the Painting of Valentin Lustig (2001); Joseph Csaky: A Pioneer of Modern Sculpture (1998); and Michelangelo's Medici Chapel: A New Interpretation (1995). In 2003, she curated an exhibition at the Frick Art Museum, and several in Pittsburgh, Paris, New York and Budapest. She has been teaching at Carnegie Mellon since 1977, and is also an Adjunct Professor of History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh. She has published over two dozen articles in the United States, Holland, Hungary, Romania, Italy, and France, and holds an M.A. in Philosophy, 1952, Bucharest; M.A. in History of Arts, 1970, Pittsburgh; Ph.D., Pittsburgh, 1973.

selected Publications

Books
Bird in Flight; Memoire of a Survivor and Scholar. Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2010
Brancusi and His World, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2008.
Brancusi & Romanian Folk Traditions, Second Edition, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2006.
Brancusi es Brancusi (Hungarian) with Passuth Kristina, Noran Publishing, Budapest, Hungary, 2005.
Michelangelo’ Double Self-Portraits, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2004.
The Early work of Henry Koerner, Frick Art & Historical Center, 2003.
The Mother Goddess in the Italian Renaissance, Carnegie Mellon University Press, Summer 2002.
The Holocaust in the Painting of Valentin Lustig, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2001.
Joseph Csaky: A Pioneer of Modern Sculpture , American Philosophical Society, 1998 - (The Hungarian version was accepted for publication by the Press of the Hungarian Academy)
Michelangelo's Medici Chapel: A New Interpretation. American Philosophical Society, 1995.
Brancusi si Traditii Populare Romanesti, Bucuresti Romania 1998.
Brancusi and Romanian Folk Traditions, East European Monographs, Boulder Co. distributed by Columbia University Press, 1987.
Book Chapters
William Wallace: Michelangelo's Selected Scholarship in English, Garland Publishing Press, 1995 reprinted "Michelangelo's Victory Its Role and Significance" 3, 459-472 and & "Michelangelo's Florentine Slaves and the S.Lorenzo Façade"3, 43-49
Les Carnet de l'Atelier Brancusi: Brancusi et Duchamp "Brancusi, Duchamp et Dada": Centre Pompidou , Paris, 2000 63-76
International Symposium:Brancusi at his Zenith, and what Next? "The Legacy of Brancusi to the art of the XXI Century." Univers Enciclopedic 2001, 65-68

Courses Taught in History

Art and Religion
Topics in Art History
The Ballet Russe (The Russian Ballet) and its Artists
Picasso and the Twentieth Century Art

Contact Info

Department of History
BP A60-J
P: 412.268.2411
F: 412.268.1019
ebalas@andrew.cmu.edu
Edith Balas's CV

Publications