With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Theodore Sizer
Architecture/Design, Education/Curation
1892 – 1967
Administrator of the Works Progress Administration program in New Haven County during the 1930s, who designed the Yale University college coat of arms in 1963.
- Biography/Description of Work
Theodore Sizer was born in New York City, and got the nickname ‘Tubby’ as a child. He attended the Pomfret School in Connecticut where he studied drawing among other extracurricular subjects, and attended Harvard University. After graduation he worked for Muller, Schall & Co., an import-export business located in New York. When the US entered World War I, Sizer joined the army and worked for the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives division of the Military (he was one of the first officers chosen to serve in this division). In 1922 he transitioned to the art world becoming curator of prints at the Cleveland Museum of Art. In 1927 he was hired as an associate professor of art history at Yale University, becoming full professor in 1931 and teaching through 1957. In 1929, he also became associate director of the Yale University Art Gallery, and in 1940 director, retiring in 1947. In his capacity as director of the Public Works of Art Project from 1933 to 1935, he was able to commission murals and wall panels for public buildings throughout New Haven.
- Sources view
- http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/ArtsCultureTourism/PublicArt/Wpa.asp; http://www.americanantiquarian.org/aasproceedings?page=32; http://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44497941.pdf; ‘Theodore Sizer, Art Teacher and Heraldist, Dies: Professor at Yale…” New York Times (1923-Current file). June 22, 1967. Accessed December 10, 2015 http://search.proquest.com/docview/118026628?accountid=47114; http://www.monumentsmenfoundation.org/the-heroes/the-monuments-men/sizer-maj.-theodore; Wigren, Chris. ‘Theodore Sizer House: 392 Sperry Road,’ January 16, 2009. Accessed at CT Trust Office
- Associated Resource(s)