290:. Parker felt that the decorative arts were, in a sense, an undiscovered realm, and his meticulous research efforts and concern for historic interiors and objects led to several important findings. It was Parker, for example, who discovered that windows in the Metropolitan's Sagredo bedroom had originally been located on the opposite wall, but were interchanged during installation and relocation to allow for natural and then electric light. He considered the importance of adaptation and original intention with regards to Museum installations, and he attempted to impart that knowledge whenever possible.
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Parker was elected curator, a position he held until his retirement in 1993, when he was elected
Curator Emeritus. The name and scope of the department continued to evolve, ultimately adopting its current nomenclature European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. Parker’s specialization in French furnishings and interiors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, earned him a guiding role in the installation of the Wrightsman Galleries, an extensive ensemble of period rooms. These spaces, including both rooms taken from historic buildings and recreations intended to show related works of
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274:. This project occupied Parker for nearly three decades, as various rooms were installed, refurbished and reinstalled. In 2007, the galleries’ technical infrastructure was modernized, the lighting revamped, and the objects rearranged; yet Parker’s meticulous research and work is still evident, and the galleries are among the Museum’s most renowned installations.
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Upon his return to the United States in 1951, Parker joined the
Department of Renaissance and Modern Art (as the decorative arts contingent of the Metropolitan Museum of Art was then called) as a curatorial assistant. He was appointed assistant curator in 1954, and associate curator in 1962. In 1968,
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Parker began his career as a specialist in
European decorative arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1951, was appointed assistant curator in 1954, associate curator in 1962 and curator in 1968. He was appointed Curator Emeritus in 1993, upon his retirement. Over the course of his career he
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developed a specialization in French and
English furniture. He was once described by a colleague as a “curator’s curator,” who quietly inspired his associates as his duties developed and expanded over the course of his four-decade career. Heeding the advice of the Metropolitan’s director,
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Metropolitan Museum of Art (Manhattan, New York). “Recent Deaths : James Parker, Curator
Emeritus, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts.” The biweekly: A newsletter for the Staff and Volunteers of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 6, 2001, page
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In addition to the French period rooms, Parker supervised the installation of a number of permanent spaces devoted to
English and German objects. Parker wrote scores of articles on subjects ranging from
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Parker died on June 20, 2001, and was survived by nieces
Elizabeth K. Parker and Nancy Gray Parker Wilson, and nephews, Cortlandt Jr. and Stephen Ward; as well as fourteen grandnieces and nephews.
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ornaments, as well as assisting in the research and writing for several publications devoted to the Kress, Sheafer and
Wrightsman collections. He lectured and served as an adjunct professor at
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Parker, James. “J. Parker’s Report on his World War II Army
Service 7/3/87.” Photocopy, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Entries by James Parker, curator and Clare LeCorbeiller, associate curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts.
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from 1914 to 1924. Due to his father's military career, his formative years were spent in many places, including Vermont, England, Hawaii, and Massachusetts.
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in an authentic setting, reflect the encyclopedic collection of French decorative arts of two of the Museum’s most significant contemporary patrons,
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332:“James Parker, 77, Curator of European Decorative Arts at the Met: A love of art that ran in a family was fulfilled in creating period rooms.”
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Draper, James David. “A life at The Met: James Parker and the collecting of Italian furniture.” Apollo, January 1993, pages 20-24.
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Collecting Point, one of the World War II restitution archival depots for recovered art objects established in Germany by the
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Oral History Project interview with James Parker, August 9, 12, 19, 1994, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives.
221:. He returned to Harvard College in February 1946 and graduated with a degree in modern European history in 1948.
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Dulling, Corey. “James Parker, at 77; was Met curator for 4 decades.” Boston Globe, June 24, 2001, page A25.
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in 1942 to study modern European history and left in 1943 to serve in the United States Army. He was in the
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154:(January 22, 1924 – June 20, 2001) was an American art historian. He served for nearly three decades as a
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182:, served as a general as well. His maternal grandfather, Morris Gray, had served as president of the
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Johnson, Ken. “Gilding the Ancien Régime.” The New York Times, November 9, 2007, page E44.
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Finding aid for the James Parker Records in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives.
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Oral history interview with James Parker, 1994 August 9-19
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in Southborough, Massachusetts, in 1942. He enrolled at
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from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives, New York.
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People associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art
311:Metropolitan Museum of Art (Manhattan, New York).
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317:. New York: The Museum : H.N. Abrams, 1996.
46:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
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399:United States Army personnel of World War II
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424:American expatriates in the United Kingdom
252:Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program
246:, London. In 1950, he briefly assisted at
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439:St. Mark's School (Massachusetts) alumni
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434:Military personnel from Massachusetts
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357:A Guide to the Wrightsman Galleries
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53:Please help
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384:2001 deaths
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284:gilt-bronze
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166:Early life
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