John Walker (curator)

John Walker III (1906 Pittsburgh - 1995 Amberley, West Sussex) was an American art curator, and director of the National Gallery of Art, from 1956 to 1969.

Life

He graduated from Harvard University in 1930, where he studied with Paul J. Sachs. He formed the Harvard Society for Contemporary Art, with Philip Johnson, Lincoln Kirstein, and Edward M. M. Warburg.

He studied with Bernard Berenson, and worked at the American Academy in Rome. He worked with David E. Finley, in the initial installation of the National Gallery of Art.^[1] He was on the building committee. He was appointed chief curator, in January 1939. He went to Europe in 1945, to help identify Nazi plunder. He was appointed director in 1956. In 1961, he hired J. Carter Brown, as his assistant.^[2] He retired in 1969, and lived in Florida, Fishers Island, New York, and England.^[3]

Works

Self-Portrait with Donors. Little, Brown, 1974, ISBN 9780316918039
Portraits: 5,000 Years, Abrams, 1983
The National Gallery of Art: One Thousand Masterpieces. Abradale Press, 1995, ISBN 9780810981485

References

^ Roberta Smith (October 17, 1995). "John Walker, Washington Curator, Dies at 88". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/17/arts/john-walker-washington-curator-dies-at-88.html.
^ http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/walkerj.htm
^ "John Walker; National Gallery Director Helped Build Collection". The Los Angeles Times. October 18, 1995. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-10-18/news/mn-58144_1_national-gallery.

Persondata
Name	Walker, John
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1906
Place of birth
Date of death	1995
Place of death