Douglas MacAgy

Douglas MacAgy
Director of the California School of Fine Arts
In office
July 1, 1945 – 1950
Preceded byWilliam Alexander Gaw
Succeeded byErnest Karl Mundt
Director of the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts (now Dallas Museum of Art)
In office
1963–1959
Director of National Exhibitions at the National Endowment for the Arts
In office
1968–1972
Personal details
Born
Douglas Guernsey MacAgy

June 8, 1913
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DiedSeptember 6, 1973(1973-09-06) (aged 60)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting placeHillside Cemetery, Deer Isle, Maine, U.S.
Spouse(s)Jermayne Noble (m. 1941–?; div.)
Elizabeth Tillett (m. 1955–1973; his death)
Children2
EducationUniversity of Toronto, Barnes Foundation, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of Pennsylvania, Cleveland School of Art, Case Western Reserve University
OccupationArt historian, curator, museum director, academic administrator, author

Douglas Guernsey MacAgy (June 8, 1913 – September 6, 1973) Canadian-born American curator, museum director, art historian, author, and academic administrator. He served as the director of the California School of Fine Arts (later known as San Francisco Art Institute) in San Francisco from 1945 to 1950.

Early life and education

Douglas G. MacAgy was born in 1913, in Winnipeg.[1] He attended the University of Toronto, the Barnes Foundation, the Courtauld Institute of Art of the University of London, the University of Pennsylvania, the Cleveland School of Art (now Cleveland Institute of Art) and Case Western Reserve University.[2]

His first marriage was in 1941 to art historian Jermayne Noble for a number of years, and ended in divorce.[3][4] MacAgy was remarried in 1955 to Elizabeth Tillett (1930–1980).[5]

Career

In 1941, he worked as an assistant curator to Grace Morley, who was the director of the San Francisco Museum of Art (now San Francisco Museum of Modern Art).[2][6] He was later promoted to curator.[2] From 1945 until 1950, MacAgy served as the director of the California School of Fine Arts (later known as the San Francisco Art Institute) in North Beach, San Francisco,[6] succeeding William A. Gaw. MacAgy transformed the school through his promotion of Modernism. When he resigned from the role at CSFA in 1950 he was succeeded by Ernest Karl Mundt, and MacAgy started a new role as the executive director of Orbit Films.[7]

MacAgy was a special consultant to the director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; and also worked as director of research for an art dealer in New York City, Wildenstein & Company.[8][9]

MacAgy served as the director of the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Arts (now merged to form the Dallas Museum of Art) from 1959 to 1963.[2][9] Under his leadership, the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Arts had merged in 1963 to form the Dallas Museum of Art.

MacAgy was the director of national exhibitions at the National Endowment for the Arts, from 1968 to 1972.[8] In 1972, he was selected as the curator of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.[2][10]

Death

MacAgy died at age 60 on September 6, 1973, at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., after suffering from a heart attack a month earlier.[2] He is buried at Hillside Cemetery in Deer Isle, Maine.

Posthumously the book, Douglas MacAgy and the Foundations of Modern Art Curatorship (2015) by David Beasley was published.[11]

Publications

  • MacAgy, Douglas (1956). Monumentality in Modern Sculpture. Houston, Texas: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
  • MacAgy, Douglas; MacAgy, Elizabeth (1959). Going For a Walk With a Line: A Step Into the World of Modern Art. Doubleday.
  • MacAgy, Douglas (1959). The Romantic Agony: From Goya to De Kooning (exhibition catalogue). Houston, Texas: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
  • MacAgy, Douglas (1961). Impressionists and Their Forebears from Barbizon: Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, March 9 - April 2, 1961 (exhibition catalogue). Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts.
  • MacAgy, Douglas (1961). The Art That Broke the Looking Glass: The Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, November 15 to December 31, 1961 (exhibition catalogue). Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts.
  • MacAgy, Douglas (1973). Jim Love in Pursuit of the Bear. Houston, Texas: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
  • MacAgy, Douglas; United States Department of the Interior (1973). The American Artist and Water Reclamation: March 25 – May 5, 1972 (exhibition catalogue). United States Government Printing Office.

References

  1. ^ "Douglas MacAgy, 60 museum consultant". The Toronto Star (Obituary). September 11, 1973. p. 16. Retrieved July 29, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Douglas G. MacAgy Dies at 60; Hirshhorn Exhibitions Curator". The New York Times (Obituary). September 7, 1973. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  3. ^ Jermayne MacAgy: [A Life Illustrated By An Exhibition : University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas, November 1968 – January 1969] (Exhibition catalogue). Houston, Texas: University of St. Thomas. 1968. OCLC 163310999.
  4. ^ Beasley, David R. (1998). Douglas MacAgy and the Foundations of Modern Art Curatorship. Simcoe, Ont.: Davus Pub. ISBN 0915317095.
  5. ^ "Elizabeth MacAgy Dies, Researcher, Consultant". The Washington Post (Obituary). September 1, 1980. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Kamiya, Gary (August 5, 2022). "How veterans and avant-garde art saved the California School of Fine Arts". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 17, 2025. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  7. ^ "Bay Area Art News, Notes". Oakland Tribune. June 18, 1950. p. 63. Retrieved July 29, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Douglas MacAgy papers, 1916–1973, Biographical/Historical Note". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
  9. ^ a b Blair, Dale (November 18, 1959). "Dallas Builds a New Home To Home To Hold Its Modern Art". The Buffalo News. p. 11. Retrieved July 29, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Sanders, Donald (May 6, 1973). "Washington Complex Using Tiny Models For Big Plans". The Herald-Sun. p. 42. Retrieved July 29, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Douglas MacAgy and the Foundations of Modern Art Curatorship, David Beasley. Davus, $19.95 trade paper (168p) ISBN 978-0-915317-09-7". Publishers Weekly (book review). September 14, 2015.
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