26 Facts About James Harithas

James Harithas was an American museum curator, director, and founder.

Menelaus James "Jim" Harithas was born in Lewiston, Maine, the eldest of three children.

James Harithas's father Nikolaus was a lawyer and county judge, who had immigrated from Greece to attend Yale University.

James Harithas painted in oils and played piano and violin.

James Harithas enrolled at the University of Maine at Orono, but left after three semesters.

James Harithas quit school and hitchhiked to New York City to become a painter in the manner of Pollock, Kline or de Kooning.

James Harithas drew and doodled in school, winning prizes for his work.

James Harithas finished his undergraduate degree at the University of Maine.

James Harithas obtained an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania.

James Harithas landed a curatorial position with the De Cordova Museum in 1962.

In 1969, James Harithas initiated a new approach to the Corcoran Biennial.

James Harithas ended the former juried selection process, taking full responsibility for inviting all participants.

James Harithas reconfigured the exhibition format, creating twenty-three separate solo exhibitions stationed throughout the museum.

From 1971 to 1974 James Harithas served as the Everson Museum of Art's director in Syracuse, New York.

James Harithas spent considerable time working with Central New York's prison population.

James Harithas left the Everson in 1974 for the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

Colleagues told James Harithas a move to Houston was too far from the mainstream art world and would ruin his career.

In February 1976, James Harithas presented transplanted Texan Julian Schnabel's first solo show in the CAMH's Lower Gallery.

Flush with post-flood cash, James Harithas mounted a series of ambitious projects.

The Breadline debacle combined with dwindling funds and lack of faith in James Harithas' leadership led the board to hire a business manager with tacit power over the director at a salary equal to his.

Shortly after his arrival in Houston, James Harithas met his second wife, Ann O'Connor Williams Robinson.

James Harithas's first collaboration with the CAMH was a post-flood exhibition, arranged by Harithas, of her Kachina doll collection.

James Harithas later constructed the art car Swamp Mutha, from a 1982 Monte Carlo, with Jesse Lott.

James Harithas remained fully engaged with the Station Museum until his death.

James Harithas gave a 2022 interview and produced a catalog for Clark V Fox: Subversion and Spectacle, the last show in the space.

James Harithas died in Houston on March 23,2023, at the age of 90.