Thomas S. Buechner
Encyclopedia
Thomas Scharman Buechner was an aspiring artist who turned to working at museums, who became the founding director of the Corning Museum of Glass
and director of the Brooklyn Museum
, where he oversaw a major transformation in its operation and displays.
Buechner was born in Manhattan
on September 25, 1926. He was raised in Bronxville, New York
and attended the Lawrenceville School
in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
. After completing high school he was assigned to attend a training program at Princeton University
as part of his service in the United States Navy
. After completing his military service he spent a year working for the Puerto Rico
tourism board so that he could learn the Spanish language
. He came back to New York City, working as a night elevator operator at the Plaza Hotel
while he studied at the Art Students League of New York
. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris and under M.M. van Dantzig in Amsterdam
. After studying painting in Europe, he returned to the United States and took a position as an assistant manager at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
as a way to have a career in art without being an artist.
In 1951, he was named as the founding director of the Corning Museum of Glass
in Corning, New York
which he created as a place where historic and modern glass works were displayed. Many of the exhibits he developed went on tour to other museums around the country. He established the Journal of Glass Studies, which covers the history of glassmaking to the mid-20th century and New Glass Review, "an annual survey of glass in contemporary art, architecture, craft, and design".
He was named as director of the Brooklyn Museum
in 1960, making him, at 33, one of the youngest museum directors in the country. There he oversaw a program in which the museum's storage and display standards were upgraded, and many of the thousand works that had been languishing in storage were placed on view to the public. A sculpture garden he created displayed such items as capitals from Louis Sullivan
's Bayard-Condict Building
. He rescued sculptures by Daniel Chester French
representing Brooklyn and Manhattan which had sat at the Brooklyn plaza of the Manhattan Bridge
and that were removed as part of construction on the bridge's approaches, and placed them at the entrance to the museum. Buechner requested that the city give the sculptures to the museum after they were threatened with destruction as part of a project to connect the bridge to expressways on either side of the East River
.
He was hired by Corning Glass in 1971, where he served as president of the firm's Steuben Glass division from 1973 to 1982 and headed the Glass Museum there from 1973 to 1980. He retired from Corning in 1987 and devoted his time to painting, including a portrait of Alice Tully
that is on display in the foyer of Lincoln Center's
Alice Tully Hall
. Lincoln Center had commissioned Buechner to paint the full-length portrait in honor of Tully's 85th birthday.
Buechner died of lymphoma
at age 83 on June 13, 2010, in his home in Corning, New York. He was survived by his wife, the former Mary Hawkins, as well as by a daughter, two sons and seven grandchildren.
Corning Museum of Glass
The Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, New York, explores every facet of glass, including art, history, culture, science and technology, craft, and design....
and director of the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, where he oversaw a major transformation in its operation and displays.
Buechner was born in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
on September 25, 1926. He was raised in Bronxville, New York
Bronxville, New York
Bronxville is an affluent village within the town of Eastchester, New York, in the United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately north of midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County. At the 2010 census, Bronxville had a population of 6,323...
and attended the Lawrenceville School
Lawrenceville School
The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational, independent preparatory boarding school for grades 9–12 located on in the historic community of Lawrenceville, in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, U.S., five miles southwest of Princeton....
in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
Area residents often refer to all of Lawrence Township as Lawrenceville. Lawrenceville is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Lawrence Township...
. After completing high school he was assigned to attend a training program at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
as part of his service in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. After completing his military service he spent a year working for the Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
tourism board so that he could learn the Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. He came back to New York City, working as a night elevator operator at the Plaza Hotel
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
while he studied at the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris and under M.M. van Dantzig in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. After studying painting in Europe, he returned to the United States and took a position as an assistant manager at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
as a way to have a career in art without being an artist.
In 1951, he was named as the founding director of the Corning Museum of Glass
Corning Museum of Glass
The Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, New York, explores every facet of glass, including art, history, culture, science and technology, craft, and design....
in Corning, New York
Corning (city), New York
Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,842 at the 2000 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community.- Overview :The city of...
which he created as a place where historic and modern glass works were displayed. Many of the exhibits he developed went on tour to other museums around the country. He established the Journal of Glass Studies, which covers the history of glassmaking to the mid-20th century and New Glass Review, "an annual survey of glass in contemporary art, architecture, craft, and design".
He was named as director of the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
in 1960, making him, at 33, one of the youngest museum directors in the country. There he oversaw a program in which the museum's storage and display standards were upgraded, and many of the thousand works that had been languishing in storage were placed on view to the public. A sculpture garden he created displayed such items as capitals from Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
's Bayard-Condict Building
Bayard-Condict Building
The Bayard-Condict Building at 65 Bleecker Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street, at the head of Crosby Street in the NoHo neighbourhood of Manhattan, New York City is the only work of architect Louis Sullivan in New York City. It was built between 1897 and 1899 in the Chicago School style;...
. He rescued sculptures by Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
representing Brooklyn and Manhattan which had sat at the Brooklyn plaza of the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
and that were removed as part of construction on the bridge's approaches, and placed them at the entrance to the museum. Buechner requested that the city give the sculptures to the museum after they were threatened with destruction as part of a project to connect the bridge to expressways on either side of the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
.
He was hired by Corning Glass in 1971, where he served as president of the firm's Steuben Glass division from 1973 to 1982 and headed the Glass Museum there from 1973 to 1980. He retired from Corning in 1987 and devoted his time to painting, including a portrait of Alice Tully
Alice Tully
Alice Bigelow Tully was a U.S. singer, music promoter and philanthropist.Alice Tully was born in Corning, New York. She spent her high school years at the famous Westover School in Middlebury, Connecticut. Tully began her career as a mezzo-soprano, then became a soprano. She studied in Paris and...
that is on display in the foyer of Lincoln Center's
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assisted in the construction of the hall...
. Lincoln Center had commissioned Buechner to paint the full-length portrait in honor of Tully's 85th birthday.
Buechner died of lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
at age 83 on June 13, 2010, in his home in Corning, New York. He was survived by his wife, the former Mary Hawkins, as well as by a daughter, two sons and seven grandchildren.