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 134,023 ...

. 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 U ...

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

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' with a B.S. 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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, 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 Egypt ...

, 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy ...

with rank of Commander from the Italian government in 1945. He received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

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 in ...

in 1948. He became an expert in

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...

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 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 John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Re ...

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