Mario Amaya (October 6, 1933 – June 29, 1986) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

art critic, museum director and magazine editor, and (1972–1976) director of the

New York Cultural Center New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

and (1976–1979) the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. He was also (1969–1972) the chief curator of the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Bev ...

and the founding editor of London's ''

Art and Artists Hansom Books was a British publisher founded in 1950 by Philip Dosse to produce the magazine ''Dance and Dancers''. Magazines in a similar format were then founded to cover other arts, so forming the Seven Arts Group. The other titles were '' Ar ...

'' magazine. He studied Art Nouveau for 35 years, for some of this time under the teaching of the artist

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...

Background

Mario Anthony Amaya was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1933. After graduating from Brooklyn College in 1958, he travelled to England and was from 1962 to 1968 the assistant editor of the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

magazine ''About the House''. While still in England he was (from 1965–1968) the (founding) editor of ''

'' magazine.

Shooting

On June 3, 1968, Amaya was in

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

's office when radical feminist

Valerie Solanas Valerie Jean Solanas (April 9, 1936 – April 25, 1988) was an American radical feminist known for the ''SCUM Manifesto'', which she self-published in 1967, and for her attempt to murder artist Andy Warhol in 1968. Solanas had a turbulent child ...

opened fire and shot both him and Warhol. Amaya, 34 at the time, was discharged from hospital after receiving treatment of bullet grazes on his back.

Curatorial work

While in his curatorial positions he mounted major exhibitions of Art Nouveau. Examples include "Realism Now" (1972), "Blacks: USA" (1973), "Women Choose Women" (1973), and "Bouguereau" (organized with Robert Isaacson, 1975); he also arranged a retrospective of photographer

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to eac ...

(1975). When he became the director of the

in 1972, he helped strengthen the Center's position as one of the liveliest of New York's museums at the time. Amaya used his position at the Cultural Center to house over 150 shows in three years. Amaya also contributed to many galleries, and lectured and acted as a visiting professor at the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

Writings

Amaya wrote books on art. ''Pop As Art: A Survey of the New Super Realism'' (1965), ''Art Nouveau'' (1966), and ''Tiffany Glass''. In the early 1970s, when living in London, Mario Amaya was engaged in research for a proposed biography of

Lee Miller Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977), was an American photographer and photojournalist. She was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, where she became a fashion and fine art ...

(with which she co-operated), but the project came to nothing.

Death

Amaya died from complications of AIDS on June 29, 1986, in hospital in Kensington and Chelsea, London, at the age of 52.

References

Notes Sources *Amaya, Mario. ''Art Nouveau.'' Studio Vista, Ltd., London, 1966; *Bourdon, D. "New York Museum Crisis: Two Bite Dust." ''Art in America,'' vol.63, No.5, 1975; *Russell, John. "Mario Amaya, 52, Art Critic, Editor and Museum Director," ''The New York Times'' June 30, 1986; *Russell, John. "Obituary," ''Art in America,'' vol.74, 1986; *''The Globe and Mail'' No. 36968, June 4, 1968. {{DEFAULTSORT:Amaya, Mario 1933 births 1986 deaths AIDS-related deaths in England American art critics American expatriates in England American shooting survivors Directors of museums in the United States Brooklyn College alumni Writers from Brooklyn 20th-century American non-fiction writers Journalists from New York City University at Buffalo faculty