Finding 9: Happy 90th Birthday to Thomas Messer, Director Emeritus

Born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, on February 9, 1920, Thomas Messer came to the United States as an exchange student in 1939. Mr. Messer's relationship with the Guggenheim began in 1961 when he became Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, a position he would hold for twenty-seven years. During his tenure, Mr. Messer worked to greatly expand the museum's collection and exhibition programs. He was responsible for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's acquisition of two important collections. The first, the Thannhauser Collection, assembled by Justin K. Thannhauser, included Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and early modern works, and broadened the museum’s collection beyond its 20th-century focus. The second, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, including the Venice Palazzo that housed it, was secured by the Foundation in the 1970s. The painting and sculpture from Venice further extended the span and depth of the museum's collection to include works from movements such as Surrealism, which had been underrepresented in the New York museum. Today, on February 9, 2010, as we begin the process of surveying the records created by Mr. Messer during his tenure at the Guggenheim, we would like to wish Mr. Messer a very happy 90th birthday. Congratulations and best wishes!

—Rachel Chatalbash, archivist