Morrison Harris Heckscher (born December 12, 1940) is an American retired

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

and

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

who served as the Lawrence A. Fleischman Chair of the American Wing at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

from 2001 to 2014. He had worked in various curatorial roles at the Met since 1966. As chair, he oversaw a complete renovation of the interior and exhibits. He is a recipient of the Antique Dealers' Association Award of Merit and the

Winterthur Museum Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana in the United States. The museum and estate were the home of Henry Francis du Pont ...

's Henry Francis du Pont Award.

Early life and education

Heckscher was born and raised west of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and educated at the

Episcopal Academy The Episcopal Academy, founded in 1785, is a private, co-educational school for grades Pre-K through 12 based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Prior to 2008, the main campus was located in Merion Station and the satellite campus was located in ...

. His grandfather, Morris Harris, made furniture as a hobby and inspired his grandson's youthful dream of moving to rural

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

to become a cabinetmaker. Heckscher received his BA degree in American history from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

in 1962, his MA from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

in 1964, and his PhD in art history from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

( ABD 1968; PhD 1986). His dissertation focused on English architect and interior designer

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...

. Mentors included Samuel M. Green at Wesleyan, Charles F. Montgomery at Winterthur, and

Rudolf Wittkower Rudolf Wittkower (22 June 1901 – 11 October 1971) was a British art historian specializing in Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, who spent much of his career in London, but was educated in Germany, and later moved to the Unit ...

at Columbia. He developed special interests in 18th-century American furniture and 19th- and 20th-century American architecture.

Career at the Met

Heckscher arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1966 under a Chester Dale Fellowship to work with English architectural drawings in the prints department. His career in the American Wing began in 1968, when he became assistant curator of American decorative arts. He put his dissertation on hold to accept the full-time role and ultimately received his PhD in 1986. He gained promotions to Curator of American Decorative Arts in 1978, to Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang Curator of American Decorative Arts in 1998, and to Lawrence A. Fleischman Chair of the American Wing at the

in 2001. As chair, he envisioned and oversaw the decade-long renovation and reinstallation of the entire American Wing, culminating in galleries of American paintings and sculpture that opened to acclaim in 2012. Heckscher retired in 2014 and now serves as curator emeritus of the American Wing. Sylvia Yount, former chief curator at the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the supp ...

, succeeded him as chair.

Scholarly contributions

Heckscher mounted numerous Met exhibitions with accompanying catalogs: ''In Quest of Comfort: The Easy Chair in America'' (1971), ''An Architect and His Client: Frank Lloyd Wright and Francis W. Little'' (1973), ''The Architecture of Richard Morris Hunt'' (1986), ''American Rococo: Elegance in Ornament, 1750–1775'' (with

Leslie Greene Bowman Leslie Greene Bowman (born November 9, 1956) is an American museum administrator and decorative arts historian who has served as president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and runs Monticello, since 2008. She previously worked in pr ...

, 1992), ''American Furniture and the Art of Connoisseurship'' (1998); ''John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker'' (2005); ''The Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Architectural History, 1870–1995 (1995);'' and ''Creating Central Park (2008).'' His monograph ''American Furniture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Late Colonial Period, Vol. II: Queen Anne and Chippendale Styles'' (1985) won the Charles F. Montgomery Award of the Decorative Arts Society. Heckscher has served in leadership roles at the New York Chapter of the

Society of Architectural Historians The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the study and preservation of the built environment worldwide. Based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, the Society's 3,500 members inc ...

, the Society of Winterthur Fellows, the Winterthur Museum, Locust Grove Estate,

Scenic Hudson Scenic Hudson is a non-profit environmental organization in New York that was founded in 1963 to oppose a hydro-electric power project in New York. History Scenic Hudson was founded as the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference on November 8, 196 ...

, and

Strawbery Banke Strawbery Banke is an outdoor history museum located in the South End historic district of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is the oldest neighborhood in New Hampshire to be settled by Europeans, and the earliest neighborhood remaining in the pre ...

Awards

* Eric M. Wunsch Award for Excellence in the American Arts (Wunsch Americana Foundation, 2016) *

Henry Francis du Pont Henry Francis du Pont (May 27, 1880 – April 11, 1969) was an American horticulturist, collector of early American furniture and decorative arts, breeder of Holstein Friesian cattle, and scion of the powerful du Pont family. Converted into ...

Award (Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, 2016) * Iris Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship (

Bard Graduate Center The Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture is a graduate research institute and gallery located in New York City. It is affiliated with Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, Annandale-on-Hud ...

, 2013) * Frederic E. Church Award ( Olana Partnership, 2012) * Lawrence A. Fleischman Award for Scholarly Excellence in the Field of American Art History from the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

(2012) * Award of Merit from the Antique Dealers' Association (2011) * Charles F. Montgomery Award from the Decorative Arts Society (1986)

Personal life

Heckscher married Fenella Greig in 1974. She is a British-born retired pediatric endocrinologist who attended the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. The couple owns a rustic summer home on Louds Island in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

house near

Newburgh Newburgh (''"new"'' + the English/Scots word ''"burgh"'') may refer to: Places Scotland *Newburgh, Fife, a former royal burgh *Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, a village England *Newburgh, Lancashire, a village * Newburgh, North Yorkshire, a village ...

in upstate New York, in addition to an apartment on the

West Side West Side or Westside may refer to: Places Canada * West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario * West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Westside, Birmingham ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heckscher, Morrison 1940 births Living people People from Pennsylvania Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Delaware alumni Wesleyan University alumni Episcopal Academy alumni American art historians American art curators American antiques experts People associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art People associated with Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library