Dianne H. Pilgrim

Dianne H. Pilgrim
A professional black-and-white headshot of a smiling white woman with short blond hair.
Dianne H. Pilgrim, from a 1988 publication.
Born
Dianne DeGlow Hauserman

1941
Cleveland, Ohio
DiedDecember 2, 2019
New York City
Occupation(s)Museum professional, art historian

Dianne Hauserman Pilgrim (1941 – December 2, 2019) was an American art historian and museum professional.

Early life

Dianne DeGlow Hauserman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of John Martin Hauserman and Norma Goodwin Bloom Hauserman.[1][2] She graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1963.[3] She earned a master's degree at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts,[4] with a 1965 master's thesis on museum professional John Cotton Dana.[5]

Career

Pilgrim held research and curatorial positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Finch College Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art.[4][6] In 1988, Pilgrim became director of the Cooper Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design.[7][8] During her tenure as director, the Cooper Hewitt's historic buildings underwent a major renovation and expansion,[9] with wheelchair accessibility as a high priority.[10][11] Universal design was also a theme in the museum's exhibits during her directorship.[12] She retired from the Cooper Hewitt in 2000.[3][13]

Pilgrim was the co-author of The Machine Age in America: 1918-1941 (1986, with Richard Guy Wilson and Dickran Tashjian)[14] and The American Renaissance 1876-1917 (1979, with Richard Guy Wilson and Richard N. Murray),[15] both for the Brooklyn Museum. She also wrote exhibition catalogs, including The Power of Maps (1993) for the Cooper Hewitt and American Impressionist and Realist Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz (1973) for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[16]

Personal life

Dianne Hauserman married fellow curator James Frederick Pilgrim in 1968; they divorced in 1978.[2][17] Dianne Pilgrim described herself as having dyslexia, and she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the late 1970s.[11] She used a cane, crutches, and a wheelchair. "I used to kill myself walking from my car to my office without the wheelchair," she told an interviewer in 1987. "But I finally realized that I had to save my energy for the important things in life."[4] She died in 2019, aged 78 years, in New York City.[3]

Publications

  • American Impressionist and realist paintings and drawings from the collection of Mr. & Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz, exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 19 April through 3 June 1973, 1973
  • An American dream : (letter from Washington), 1980
  • Eighteenth century American interiors, 1982
  • The machine age in America, 1920-1941 : prospectus for an exhibition at The Brooklyn Museum, Fall 1985, 1983
  • The American Renaissance : decorative arts and interior design from 1876 to 1917

References

  1. ^ "Dianne Pilgrim". The New York Times. December 6, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Dianne Hauserman Is Engaged To James Frederick Pilgrim". The New York Times. 1968-09-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  3. ^ a b c Langen, Sara (July–August 2020). "American Art and Design Expert". The Penn Stater. 107: 92.
  4. ^ a b c Jaekle, Nancy A. (1987-01-25). "The person matters more than disability". The Herald-News. p. 25. Retrieved 2020-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Hauserman, Dianne DeGlow (1965). John Cotton Dana: the militant minority of one. OCLC 41144686.
  6. ^ Hinds, Michael deCourcy (1981-01-25). "Museum experts at home: After hours, a curator's taste may be eclectic". Chicago Tribune. p. 219. Retrieved 2020-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Kapsalis, Effie (2017-06-14). "Wonderful Women Wednesday: Dianne H. Pilgrim". Smithsonian Institution Archives. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  8. ^ "Female Influence". The Oshkosh Northwestern. 1993-12-15. p. 22. Retrieved 2020-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Rich, Frank (1997-03-23). "Dreyfuss: Designs for Living". The Courier-Journal. p. 52. Retrieved 2020-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Lupton, Ellen (2019-12-18). "Remembering Dianne Pilgrim". Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  11. ^ a b Smith, Dinitia (1996-09-08). "Renovation of Museum Opens Door for Director". The News and Observer. p. 131. Retrieved 2020-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Mayer, Barbara (1998-12-31). "Accessibility: Kitchen for Everyone on the Horizon". Northwest Herald. p. 35. Retrieved 2020-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Dobrzynski, Judith H. (1999-09-16). "Head of Cooper-Hewitt Resigns, Saying She Met Goals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  14. ^ Wilson, Richard Guy; Pilgrim, Dianne H.; Tashjian, Dickran (1986-10-22). The Machine Age in America: 1918-1941. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-1421-6.
  15. ^ "The American Renaissance, 1876-1917". The Miami Herald. 1979-12-09. p. 544. Retrieved 2020-07-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Pilgrim, Dianne H.; N.Y.), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York (1973). American Impressionist and Realist Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz: Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 19 April Through 3 June 1973. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-122-6.
  17. ^ "Distinguished Alumnus, James F. Pilgrim, Class of 1958". Richmond High School Alulmni Association. Retrieved 2020-07-08.