Harry Orr McCurry (1889–1964), known as H.O. McCurry, was a prominent civil servant who served as the director of the National Gallery of Canada (1939-1955). Born in Ottawa, Ontario on August 21, 1889, McCurry was married to Dorothy Lampman Jenkins, a musician and figure skating champion of Canada, related by marriage to

Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...

. The McCurrys were members of their Christian Science church. McCurry began his association with the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

in 1919 as Assistant Director. In 1939, he succeeded Eric Brown as the second director of the

after Brown's sudden death. His career highlights include a high-profile acquisition of a group of important Renaissance paintings from the collection of the Prince of Lichtenstein. This contributed to the Gallery's rising profile. His other purchases include works of

post impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction aga ...

and the Old Masters. McCurry was also a strong advocate of the Gallery's outreach and national art education programs. During the 1930 and 1940s time the National Gallery of Canada took an active leadership role in disseminating art across the country and McCurry was very involved with numerous arts and institutions. He managed the distribution of Carnegie money to galleries in Canada, oversaw the galleries loan program, and advised emerging directors and galleries as well as backing the Sampson-Matthews silkscreen project. McCurry retired in 1955, after sixteen years of service as director. He died in Ottawa, on May 14, 1964.

References

External links

McCurry Family Collection
at the

, Ottawa, Ontario {{DEFAULTSORT:McMurry, HO 1889 births 1964 deaths Directors of museums in Canada 20th-century Canadian civil servants Museum directors