Mongan, Agnes

Agnes Mongan, art historian, curator and director at Fogg Art Museum.

From the description of Oral history interview with Agnes Mongan, 1979 June 19-Aug. 30. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 657039442

From the description of Agnes Mongan interviews, 1979 June 19-Aug. 30. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 646397418

b. 1905, Somerville, Mass.; d. Sept. 15, 1996, Cambridge, Mass.

From the description of Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. (Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)). WorldCat record id: 86101309

Art historian, teacher, and museum administrator, Agnes Mongan was born in Somerville, Mass., in 1905, and earned a B.A. from Bryn Mawr in 1927. In 1928 she came to the Fogg Museum at Harvard as a special student; she remained there for over forty years, serving in various positions, finally as director. She is author of a number of works, including, with Paul J. Sachs, Drawings in the Fogg Museum of Art (1940) and, with E. Mongan, European Paintings in the Timken Art Gallery (1969). Harvard University has named the Agnes Mongan Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs in the Fogg Museum in her honor.

From the description of Interview, 1991. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232008283

Agnes Mongan (1905-1996) was an art historian, curator, and director at Fogg Art Museum.

From the description of Oral history interview with Agnes Mongan, 1979 June 19-Aug. 30. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 779477508

Art historian, curator, director, Fogg Art Museum. Born 1905. Died 1996.

From the description of Agnes Mongan interviews, 1979 June 19-1979 Aug. 30. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220188317

Agnes Mongan was born on January 21, 1905 in Somerville, Massachusetts. Mongan attended the Cambridge School, and received her B.A. in 1927 from Bryn Mawr College, where she studied art history and English literature. From 1927-1928 she studied Italian art in Florence through the Smith College Year Abroad Program, and received her A.M. from Smith in 1929. In 1928 she began working at the Fogg Art Museum as a special student. From 1929-1937 she worked as a research assistant for Paul J. Sachs, creating a catalogue of his collection of drawings. From 1937-1947, her title was Keeper of Drawings, and in 1947 she became Curator of Drawings. She was the first female curator at the Fogg, and kept the title through her retirement in 1975. From 1951-1964 she was also the Assistant Director of the Fogg, from 1964-1968 Associate Director, from 1968-1969 Acting Director, and from 1969-1971 Director. She was the first woman to direct a major art museum in the United States. From 1960-1975 she also held the title of Martin A. Ryeson Lecturer on the Fine Arts. After she retired from the position of Director in 1971, she was Director Emerita and consultant until her official retirement in 1975. Her career also included stints as Acting Director of the Timken Gallery in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, and visiting professor for various institutions, including the University of Texas at Austin. She was the recipient of seven honorary degrees, and was honored by Harvard University in 1994 when the Agnes Mongan Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs opened at the Fogg. She died on September 15, 1996.

Born in 1909, Elizabeth Mongan graduated from Miss Haskell's School for Girls in 1927. She received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College in 1931, where she majored in art history. In July 1931, she started working at the Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Connecticut, under director Winslow Ames. From 1935-1936 she taught at Sheldon Nixon School, Florence, and in 1937 became curator for Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. When the collection moved to the National Gallery of Art, she became its curator there, and was later named Curator of Graphic Arts. She left the National Gallery of Art in 1963, when she went to Paris to work on a catalogue of Paul Gaugin prints. She became the Acting Director and Curator of Prints and Drawings of the Smith College Museum of Arts, where was the Associate Director until 1975. In 1975, she became Acting Director of the Timkin Gallery. Om 1979, she worked at visiting curator in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She died in June 2002.

From the description of Papers, 1914-1993 (inclusive). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 234361053