Royal Cortissoz Biography

Royal Cortissoz (10 February 1869 – 17 October 1948, last name pronounced "Kor-tee-zus") was an American art historian and long-time art critic for the New York Herald Tribune from 1891 until his death. During his tenure, he consistently championed traditionalism and decried modernism. Of the latter, he once wrote, "It will someday prove a kind of Victorian 'dud,' with a difference, obviously, but a 'dud' just the same." In addition to his work as a critic, he penned the inscription above the statute of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial: "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever."