Oral history interview with Thomas M. Messer
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hrs., 23 min.
label: General
content: End of interview session Jan. 24, 1995 (Tape 6, side B) not recorded due to equipment malfunction.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Messer, Thomas M.
label: Interviewer
content: Decker, Andrew
label: Names
content: American Federation of Arts
label: Names
content: Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, Mass.)
label: Names
content: Národní galerie v Praze
label: Names
content: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
label: Names
content: Guggenheim, Harry Frank, 1890-1971
label: Names
content: Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-1979
label: Names
content: Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944
label: Names
content: Klee, Paul, 1879-1940
topic: label: Topic
content: Art museum directors -- United States -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Messer, Thomas M.
label: Interviewer
content: Decker, Andrew
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Thomas M. Messer (1920- ) is a museum director in New York, N.Y.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 83 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1994 Oct.-1995 Jan
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.messer94
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Thomas M. Messer conducted 1994 Oct.-1995 Jan., by Andrew Decker, for the Archives of American Art, at the Americas Society, New York, N.Y.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Messer speaks about his youth in pre-World War II Czechoslavakia, his directorship of the American Federation of Arts; the Roswell Museum in Roswell, N.M.; the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He discusses his collecting interests in connection with the development of the Guggenheim, particularly Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky; his working relationship with Harry, Peter, and Peggy Guggenheim; numerous exhibitions; and the acquisitions of several major collections. Finally, he comments on post-retirement projects, particularly at the National Gallery of Prague.