1. Thomas Krens was born on December 26,1946 and is the former director and Senior Advisor for International Affairs of the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation in New York City.
20 Facts About Thomas Krens
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Thomas Krens spearheaded spectacular exhibitions such as The Art of the Motorcycle and ambitious shows covering the art of entire countries, including China and Brazil.
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Thomas Krens was succeeded as director of the Guggenheim Foundation by Richard Armstrong, formerly the chief curator and director of the Carnegie Museum of Art and a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
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Thomas Krens graduated from Williams College in 1969 with a degree in political science.
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Thomas Krens was at the forefront of this movement, and became a high-profile figure in the world of art museums, corporate and foundation philanthropy, and the marketing of art to the public.
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In 1989, Krens negotiated a gift of Impressionist paintings from the widow of Justin K Thannhauser, acquired works of Minimalist art from the Panza Collection and oversaw the commissions of major artworks by Jeff Koons, Rosenquist, Rachel Whiteread and Gerhard Richter at Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin.
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In Bilbao, Thomas Krens led an acquisitions program that has included major installations of works by Richard Serra, Koons, Jenny Holzer and Louise Bourgeois.
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Thomas Krens has doubled the size of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
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In 1986, Thomas Krens first conceived of converting the recently closed Sprague Electric, Marshall Street plant in North Adams, Massachusetts into the world's largest contemporary art museum back when he was director of the Williams College Museum of Art, one of many tentative expansion projects that Thomas Krens launched or proposed when he came to the Guggenheim.
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Thomas Krens's conception came to fruition when the site became the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in 1999.
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Thomas Krens was not discouraged by those that did not get off the ground, and through persistence was able to see several huge projects to completion.
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Thomas Krens pointed out that the Guggenheim and many museums already had more objects in storage than they could hope to display, and spreading them geographically is a good solution.
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Thomas Krens denied that deaccessioning was a policy as well, though he was accused of treating the museum's collection of masterpieces as mere assets.
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The success of the Guggenheim Bilbao expansion was credited to Thomas Krens' tenacity and salesmanship, and was a major victory for him.
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In 1990, amidst a wave of US museums selling off parts of their collections, Thomas Krens was in the spotlight for selling works from what was seen as the Guggenheim's older, core collection to raise $47 million to acquire newer 1960s and 1970s Minimalist sculptures from the Panza Collection.
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Thomas Krens has been the subject of criticism, both for his businesslike style and the way he changed museums, in particular the showmanship, populism and commercialization involved.
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Thomas Krens gave up day-to-day control of the New York museum in 2005.
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Lisa Dennison became the new museum director while Krens remained director of the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, amid some grumbling that the New York City building was being neglected, and financial friction with foundation trustees.
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Thomas Krens is seen by some young museum directors as a role model, or perhaps a cautionary tale.
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Exhibitions credited to inspiration by Thomas Krens have since appeared, such as a 2009 motorcycle show in Sydney, Australia.