Thomas Hoving

Thomas P.F. Hoving (born January 15, 1931), is an American museum executive and consultant and the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

He was born in New York City to Walter and Mary (Osgood Field) Hoving. He received a B.A. in 1953, a M.F.A. in 1958, and a Ph.D. in 1959, all from Princeton University. He went to work for the Met in 1959, serving on the staff of the medieval department at The Cloisters until 1965, when he became curator of the department. He left the Met in 1966 to become New York Mayor John V. Lindsay's parks commissioner, but in 1967 returned to the Met as director after the incumbent, James J. Rorimer, dropped dead on March 11, 1966. He assumed the directorship on March 17, 1967 and presided over a massive expansion and renovation of the museum, successfully adding many important collections to its holdings. He left the Met on June 30,1977 to start an independent consulting firm for museums, Hoving Associates. From 1978 to 1984 he was an arts correspondent for the ABC newsmagazine 20/20. He edited Connoisseur Magazine from 1981 to 1991 and is the author of several books, including Making the Mummies Dance (an account of his directorship at the Met) and Art for Dummies. He also wrote books on Andrew Wyeth, Tutankhamen, and art forgeries.

References

• Thomas Hoving. Making the Mummies Dance. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
• John A. McPhee. A Roomful of Hovings. New York: Farar, Straus, and Giroux, 1969.