Thomas b hess biography

Thomas B. Hess (1920, Rye, New York – July 13, 1978) was an American art editor and curator, perhaps best known for his over twenty years at the helm of ARTnews and his championing, mounting exhibitions of the works of, and writing on the artists Willem de Kooning and Barnett Newman.^[1]

Biography

Thomas Baer Hess was born in suburban Rye in Westchester County, New York, the son of New York City lawyer Gabriel Lorie Hess and his wife, Helen Baer Hess.

He was then sent for his initial formal education to a boarding school in Switzerland. He then went on to do his undergraduate studies in French Art and Literature at Yale University, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1942.

Immediately following college, Hess worked at the Museum of Modern Art under Alfred Barr and Dorothy Miller. Soon thereafter Hess enlisted in the United States Air Force during World War II and became a fighter pilot.^[2] in 1944 having returned from his war