Thomas B. Hess (1920, Rye, New York – July 13, 1978) was an American art editor and curator, perhaps best known for his over twenty years at the helm of ARTnews and his championing, mounting exhibitions of the works of, and writing on the artists Willem de Kooning and

Barnett Newman Barnett Newman (January 29, 1905 – July 4, 1970) was an American artist. He has been critically regarded as one of the major figures of abstract expressionism, and one of the foremost color field painters. His paintings explore the sense o ...

Biography

Thomas Baer Hess was born in suburban Rye in Westchester County, New York, the son of New York City lawyer Gabriel Lorie Hess and his wife, Helen Baer Hess. He was then sent for his initial formal education to a boarding school in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He then went on to do his undergraduate studies in French Art and Literature at Yale University, from which he graduated

magna 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 ...

in 1942. Immediately following college, Hess worked at the Museum of Modern Art under Alfred Barr and

Dorothy Miller Dorothy Canning Miller (February 6, 1904 – July 11, 2003) was an American art curator and one of the most influential people in American modern art for more than half of the 20th century. The first professionally trained curator at the Museum ...

. Soon thereafter Hess enlisted in the United States Air Force during World War II and became a fighter pilot. in 1944 having returned from his war service Hess went to work at ARTnews under Alfred Frankfurter and in 1949 was named executive editor of the publication. He remained at the magazine in this editorial capacity until the periodical changed hands in 1972. Hess was the author of two books: ''Barnett Newman'' and ''Willem de Kooning''. He also co-edited the volumes ''Art and Sexual Politics'' (with Elizabeth C. Baker) and ''Woman as Sex Object. Studies in Erotic Art 1730-1970'' (with Linda Nochlin). In the final year of his life, Hess was appointed by the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe de Montebello to replace Henry Geldzahler as the chief curator of 20th century art at the museum. However, on July 13 of that year Hess died of a heart attack one day short of what would have been his 58th birthday. In 1979 Hess's friend the painter Joan Mitchell created a large scale quadtych ''

Salut Tom Salut Tom is a 1979 oil on canvas quadtych painting by Joan Mitchell, dedicated to the memory of her friend, art critic and curator Thomas B. Hess, who had died the previous year. The work is in the permanent collection of the National Gallery ...

'' to mark his passing.

Selected works

* ''Abstract Painting: Background and American Phase''. Viking Press, New York 1951 * ''Willem de Kooning''. G. Braziller, New York, 1959 * ''The Academy: Five Centuries of Grandeur and Misery, from the Carracci to Mao Tse-Tung''. Macmillan, New York, 1967 * ''

''. Museum of Modern Art/New York Graphic Society, New York, 1971 * ''Woman as Sex Object: studies in erotic art, 1730-1970'' (joint editor, with Linda Nochlin). London: Allen Lane, 1973 * ''Light in Art'' (joint editor, with John Ashbery). New York: Collier Books, 1971, c1969

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess B., Thomas American art curators American editors Yale University alumni 1920 births 1978 deaths Rosenwald family American expatriates in Switzerland United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II