Steffanie Keim, Fordham Art Law Society

September 15, 2015

Professor John Henry Merryman (born February 24, 1920), ending a long and illustrious academic career, passed away on August 3, 2015.

Merryman was a distinguished international scholar and expert on comparative law, as well as art and cultural property law.  He also was known as the creator of the art law field.

Professor Merryman obtained a B.S. and M.S. in chemistry prior to switching to a legal career. He received a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame and an LLM, as well as JSD, from New York University School of Law.  Starting his teaching career at Santa Clara University, he was hired by Stanford Law School in 1953, where he taught a wide variety of courses throughout his for 62-year tenure – including teaching his recently developed course “Stolen Art” earlier this year.

He is the author of one of the classic texts on civil law, “The Civil Law Tradition,” and the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society of Comparative Law and the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Cavaliere ufficiale), as well as being a Guggenheim Fellow and Fulbright Research Professor.

Merryman created and taught “Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts” in the early 1970s.  He collaborated with history professor Albert E. Elsen, with whom he co-taught the class covering “tax, copyright, contracts, regulation, cultural property and ethics.” This partnership lead to the publication of a foundational text in the art law field, bearing the same title.

Leading a full life outside of academia as well, Merryman was a professional musician who financed part of his education as founder and piano player in the dance band John Merryman and His Merry Men,[6] as well as being an avid art collector.  He also chaired the design committee for the new Stanford campus in the 1970s and was instrumental in securing art works as loans.  Merryman was honored by Daniel Shapiro and Agnes Gund who donated  “The Sieve of Erathosthenes” by Mark di Suvero in his name – “the work of a great artist to celebrate a great teacher and friend of art.”

Merryman’s publications and awards are too numerous to list and his acclaim and esteem in the eyes of colleagues, scholars, students, and friends is unanimous.

Please visit https://law.stanford.edu/directory/john-henry-merryman/#slsnav-key-works for an overview of his key works and to catch a further glimpse at this giant of art law and humanity.

[5] Sharon Driscoll, John Henry Merryman: Art Law Pioneer and Much-Loved Colleague, SLS News, Aug. 5, 2015,  https://blogs.law.stanford.edu/newsfeed/2015/08/05/john-henry-merryman-art-law-pioneer-and-much-loved-colleague/