Theodore Sizer (March 19, 1892 – June 21, 1967) was an American professor of the history of art at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and a director of the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

. He was named the first Pursuivant of Arms for Yale University in 1963.

Biography

His parents, Robert Ryland Sizer, a lumber industry executive, and Mary T. Thomsen, were married in 1890. Theodore, their first child, was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on March 19, 1892. During his early life, he was given the nickname "Tubby". He was graduated '' cum laude'' with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree in Fine Arts from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1915. On October 14, 1916, he married Caroline Wheelwright Foster. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he enlisted as a private in the 27th Infantry Division and was promoted to corporal, then sergeant. After officer training, he was commissioned a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

and served in Philadelphia loading transports. After his discharge from the army in January, 1919, he made several trips to South America for his employer. In 1922, he was named curator of prints and of Asian art at the

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

, where he worked until 1927. Starting in 1927 at Yale University as an associate professor of the history of art, he became a professor in 1931 and held that position until 1957, when he retired as

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. Also in 1927, he started as an associate director of the Yale University Art Gallery and was its director from 1940 to 1947. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program as a lieutenant colonel. He was the first chief of the program operations for Germany in March 1944. He had to stop this effort due to illness and received a medical discharge in May 1944. For his work, he was awarded the Order of the Crown of Italy with rank of Commander from the Italian government in 1945. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1947 for Fine Arts Research. He was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

in 1948. He became an expert in heraldry and was commissioned in 1953 by the secretary of Yale, Carl A. Lohmann, to design banners for ten Yale colleges and schools for commencement. He received the Yale Medal in 1962 for service to the university. In 1963, he was named Yale's first Pursuivant of Arms. He designed a new flag for the city of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

that was officially adopted on February 3, 1964. Sizer published over one hundred and sixty items, especially about the life and works of the American artist John Trumbull.

Works

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sizer, Theodore 1892 births 1967 deaths Writers from New York City Writers from New Haven, Connecticut Harvard University alumni Yale University faculty American art historians Military personnel from New York City United States Army officers Monuments men Directors of museums in the United States Flag designers Members of the American Antiquarian Society Military personnel from New Haven, Connecticut Historians from New York (state) Historians from Connecticut

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links