Francis Henry Taylor

Francis Henry Taylor (1903–57) was a distinguished American museum director and curator, heading the Metropolitan Museum of Art for fifteen years.

He was born in Philadelphia, and started his career as a curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 1931 he became director of the Worcester Art Museum Massachusetts, before joining the Metropolitan Museum in New York City as its director in 1940.

Sometimes described as a showman, he developed a theory of the museum as an institution of active public service, not simply a repository of art. He was credited with doubling the number of people visiting the museum, up to 2.3 million a year. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822588,00.html "Custodian of the Attic"] , Time Magazine, December 29, 1952 retrieved October 13, 2006]

Books

His writings include:
* "Babel's Tower: The Dilemma of the Modern Museum" (1945)
* "The Taste of Angels: A History of Art Collecting from Rameses to Napoleon" (1948, reprint 1955) - ASIN B0007HX8Y6
* "Fifty Centuries of Art" (1954)
* "Pierpont Morgan as Collector and Patron, 1837-1913" (1957), Pierpont Morgan Library - ASIN B0007DVP6I

Notes

External links

* [http://www.aaa.si.edu/search/search.cfm/fuseaction/Items.ViewImageDetails/ItemID/3490 Image of Francis Henry Taylor, Smithsonian Archives of American Art]