2. Records of the Directors

Abstract Henri Gabriel Marceau was a scholar, art historian, architect, and served as Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1955 to 1964. This collection contains the records of the Director’s office during Henri Gabriel Marceau’s term as Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They represent both major developments and events at the museum, as well as daily administrative activities during that period. Many significant capital improvements took place during Marceau’s directorship,...

Abstract The Anne d'Harnoncourt Records correspond to the quarter of a century that Anne d'Harnoncourt (1943-2008) served as the George D. Widener Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), assuming the additional responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer in 1997. During her tenure, d'Harnoncourt led the Museum through milestones that transformed its collections, exhibitions, curatorial and educational missions, and physical environment. The records she compiled during that time provide the...

Abstract From 1925 to 1955, Fiske Kimball served as director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, steering the institution from what he described as "a minor provincial position to become one of the leading museums of America." The Fiske Kimball Records document Kimball's efforts in achieving this transformation in collaboration with the museum's officers, staff, and the Fairmount Park Commission, and with the assistance of private benefactors and City funding. Comprised primarily of correspondence,...

Abstract

Alice Beamsderfer was the Assistant Director for Collections and Project Support at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and is as of 2020 the Deputy Director. Following the unexpected death in June 2008 of Anne d'Harnoncourt, the Museum's Director and Chief Executive Office, Beamsderfer also was named Interim Head of Curatorial Affairs.