Philadelphia Museum of Art CEO Anne d'Harnoncourt dies at 64

Philadelphia Museum of Art CEO Anne d'Harnoncourt dies at 64 By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press Writer
18 minutes ago



Anne d'Harnoncourt, the longtime chief executive of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and one of the art world's most influential women, has died. She was 64.

D'Harnoncourt died at home in Philadelphia on Monday morning of natural causes, museum spokesman Norman Keyes said. He said her death was unexpected but did not elaborate.

D'Harnoncourt came to the museum in 1967 as a curatorial assistant. She became museum director in 1982 and was named to replace Robert Montgomery Scott in 1997 as the museum's chief executive.

"She broke ground and she just kept growing," said Derek Gillman, executive director of The Barnes Foundation. "On all the three continents I've worked, the art world is very much dominated by men. ... Anne was not only impressively credentialed but massively respected."

Under her directorship, the Philadelphia Museum of Art saw a period of expansion including the purchase of a shuttered art deco landmark near the museum that added 173,000 square feet of restoration, research and gallery space. An upcoming $500 million expansion by Frank O. Gehry will be constructed 30 feet below the Philadelphia museum's east plaza.

She also led the charge to raise tens of millions of dollars to keep Thomas Eakins' masterpiece "The Gross Clinic" in the city after learning of its impending sale to a group that included Wal-Mart Stores Inc. heiress Alice Walton.

"She casts an enormous shadow, in the best sense of the word, on Philadelphia and on the art world," Edward T. Lewis, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, said. "I don't think there's any way we can ever replace her; she will become a legend."

D'Harnoncourt was born on Sept. 7, 1943, the only child of Rene d'Harnoncourt, art historian and famed director of New York's Museum of Modern Art, and Sara Carr, a fashion designer.

She is survived by her husband of 37 years, Joseph J. Rishel, a senior curator at the museum.

(This version CORRECTS corrects year named CEO to 1997 sted 1996)




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