Hoving, Thomas

Hoving, Thomas (Pearsall Field) (1931–  ) museum director, editor; born in New York City. He studied at Princeton (B.A. 1953; M.F.A. 1958; Ph.D. 1959). He began his career as an assistant curator at the Cloisters (1959–60), then progressed to assistant curator at the Metropolitan Museum (1960–63), associate curator (1963–65), curator (1965–66), and director (1967–77). His one year away from the Metropolitan was to serve as administrator of New York City's department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs (1966–67). He was editor-in-chief of the magazine, Connoisseur (1981–92). He is credited by some with revitalizing the acquisition program of the Metropolitan Museum and putting together extravagant and popular exhibitions, but others criticized his approach as having compromised too much the interests of the serious art lover. In addition to his early scholarly articles, he published popular works such as the memoir, Making the Mummies Dance: Inside the Metropolitan Museum (1993).