Thomas Pearsall Field Hoving

A man of boundless energy and determination, Thomas Hoving the visionary director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hoving’s tenure lasted from 1967 to 1977, and during those ten years, the museum was transformed from a staid and stuffy institution into a vibrant and stimulating one.

He was born in New York City to Walter Hoving, the head of Tiffany & Company, and his wife, Mary Osgood Field. Thomas Hoving grew up surrounded by New York's upper social strata. As recounted in his memoir, Making the Mummies Dance, these early experiences would be invaluable in his later dealings with the Met's donors and trustees.

After graduating from Hotchkiss School in 1949, he received a B.A. in 1953, a M.F.A. in 1958, and a Ph.D. in 1959, all from Princeton University. He went to work for the Met in 1959, serving on the staff of the medieval department at The Cloisters until 1965, when he became curator of the department. He left the Met in 1966 to become New York Mayor John V. Lindsay's parks commissioner, but in 1967 returned to the Met as director after the incumbent, James J. Rorimer, died suddenly on March 11, 1966. He assumed the directorship on March 17, 1967 and presided over a massive expansion and renovation of the museum, successfully adding many important collections to its holdings.

He left the Met on June 30, 1977 to start an independent consulting firm for museums, Hoving Associates. From 1978 to 1984 he was an arts correspondent for the ABC newsmagazine 20/20. He edited Connoisseur Magazine from 1981 to 1991; along with his memoirs of his time at the Met, he is also the author of books on a number of art-related subjects, including art forgeries, Grant Wood, Andrew Wyeth, Tutankhamen, and the 12th-century walrus ivory crucifix known as the Bury St. Edmunds Cross. Additionally, in 1999, he wrote the text for the Art For Dummies book in the "...For Dummies" series.

Hoving appeared in Who the *$&% Is Jackson Pollock?, a documentary by Harry Moses about a purported "lost" Jackson Pollock painting, in which he, through a series of memorable interviews, claimed that true painting connoisseurs are the only ones who can identify the real from the fake (fingerprints and forensic evidence are secondary).

The controversial former Met Museum director died of lung cancer on December 10, 2009. He was 78 years old.

Sources: Wikipedia, Museworthy